Clinton: affair nearly ended my marriage

Bill Clinton has admitted for the first time that his affair with Monica Lewinsky nearly destroyed his relationship with his wife and daughter.

The former president says that the scandal put him "in the doghouse" with wife Hillary, while Chelsea Clinton nearly stopped talking to him.

Speaking in the run-up to the release of his autobiography, My Life, he reveals that it was nearly a year before Mrs Clinton, now a senator in New York, made up her mind not to leave him after learning the sordid details of his relationship with the White House intern. He says he still cannot give a rational explanation for his adultery.

"I did something for the worst possible reason - just because I could," Mr Clinton says in an interview to be shown on American TV this Sunday.

"I think that's just about the most morally indefensible reason anybody could have for doing anything.

"I've thought about it a lot. And there are lots of more sophisticated explanations, more complicatedpsychological explanations-But none of them are an excuse. Only a fool does not look to explain his mistakes."

Mr Clinton first tried to deny the Lewinsky affair when it was uncovered in 1998, going on TV to tell Americans: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman".

Behind the scenes, he says, the family went into counselling. "We'd take a day a week," Mr Clinton says. We did it together. We did it individually. We did family work."

Mrs Clinton has already told in her 2002 autobiography how she "wanted to wring Bill's neck".

Barely a year after the Lewinsky scandal, Mr Clinton faced impeachment over claims that he had committed perjury and obstructed justice while giving evidence in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Arkansas hotel receptionist Paula Jones.

In the hour-long interview, the former president calls his successful fight against impeachment a "badge of honour", adding: "I didn't quit. I never thought of resigning and I stood up to it and beat it back." My Life goes on sale on Monday.