Tipsheet

Whitewater's Ken Starr Who Led Independent Counsel into Bill Clinton Dead at 76

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  September 13, 2022 7:05 PM

It was announced on Tuesday night that Ken Starr, a judge who also served as the 39th Solicitor General under President George H.W. Bush, and was best known for his role in leading the Whitewater investigations into President Bill Clinton, has died. He was 76-years-old. His death was reportedly due to complications from surgery at the Baylor St. Luke Medical Center. 

The Whitewater investigations later led to investigating the president's sexual improprieties with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, who was an intern at the time. It was Starr's report that he had come to the conclusion that President Clinton lied under oath about the affair in a sworn deposition that led to Clinton's impeachment, for which he was ultimately acquitted of.

Starr had also served as president of Baylor University from 2010-2016 and before then was the dean of the law school at Pepperdine University. 

Controversy also followed Starr during his time as president at Baylor, for which there was an investigation into his mishandling of sexual assault accusations made. Although Starr was cleared, he resigned. 

As one can see from the news release from Baylor University, though, Starr is still remembered fondly, with the release highlighting many of his accomplishments, specifically the Pro Futuris strategic vision that he had in 2012, which Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. described as having "placed Baylor on the path to where we are today as a Christian Research 1 institution." 

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The news release, also quoted Dr. Livingstone as saying that "Judge Starr was a dedicated public servant and ardent supporter of religious freedom that allows faith-based institutions such as Baylor to flourish" and that "Ken and I served together as Deans at Pepperdine University in the 2000s, and I appreciated him as a Constitutional law scholar and a fellow academician who believed in the transformative power of higher education."

The death of conservative figures tends to bring out the worst of people on Twitter, as the trends for "Ken Starr" but also "Brett Kavanaugh," who was part of the Whitewater investigation, show. 

That being said, there were also tributes pouring in under the trend. Lewinsky (yes, that Lewinsky), was not among the haters, as she had the decency to mention how it was more important to focus on "those who love him."