The Nineties: A Book

by Chuck Klosterman

Hill and Thomas both testified before fourteen senators to express and deny the accusations of harassment. The committee chairman was Delaware senator Joe Biden. Thomas spoke first, Hill spoke second, and then Thomas spoke again. The content of these testimonials—and especially Thomas’s repudiation of what Hill had said—now seems outrageous. But in 1991, the most outrageous aspect was that these things were being talked about at all. Thomas was more emotional than Hill. He denied everything and referred to himself as “a victim of this process,” explaining how his life and reputation had been destroyed by Hill’s accusations (which he said were especially hurtful because Hill “was a person I considered a friend” who had “never raised any hint that she was uncomfortable with me”). Throughout his testimony, he used the awkward phrase “sex harassment” instead of “sexual harassment,” which (either intentionally or accidentally) reiterated the fact that the relationship between Hill and Thomas was never physical. He also proposed a clever and persuasive gambit: Thomas said he would no longer put up with the humiliation of having his life dissected in public, and that the Senate should just confirm him or not confirm him, almost as if he no longer cared about the job itself. “I never asked to be nominated,” he said. “It was an honor. Little did I know the price, but it was too high.”