Washington: Hillary Rodham Clinton kept her schedule packed when allegations exploded that her husband had an affair with a White House intern, according to papers released today that show her daily activities as first lady.

The private crisis came at the most public of times for the wife who initially believed her husband s protestations of innocence, before his story crumbled.

She had speeches scheduled, at home and abroad. She appeared by Bill Clinton s side at an education event where he angrily dismissed the reports of his womanising. And if that were not enough, there was his State of the Union address.

Her schedule has her choosing flowers for a black-tie dinner, congratulating "Guns Aren t Cool" award winners and reading to kids in the week in January 1998 that upended her life and threatened his presidency. She denounced a "vast right-wing conspiracy" in a TV interview.

The National Archives in Washington and former President Clinton s presidential library in Arkansas jointly released her first lady schedules after months of pressure from critics who say the Clintons were delaying the disclosure.

In all, 11,046 pages have been made available. Nearly 4,800 pages have parts blacked out. Archivists said that s to protect the privacy of third parties. Schedules for more than 30 days of activities were not included in this release.

Senator Clinton said in her memoirs that she had little choice but to carry on with her appearances when the Monica Lewinsky revelations came out.

Source : PTI