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KEY FIGURE

Who was Vince Foster and how did he die?

VINCE Foster, a deputy White House counsel, was one of the key figures in 1990s politics.

He is portrayed by Matthew Floyd Miller in the much-anticipated TV series  that focuses on.

Vince Foster was a deputy White House counsel under the Bill Clinton administration
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Vince Foster was a deputy White House counsel under the Bill Clinton administrationCredit: Reuters

Who was Vince Foster?

Vince Foster was an American attorney from Hope, .

He served as deputy counsel during the first six months of the Clinton administration, between January 1993 and July 1993.

In 1971, Foster joined Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas.

He was a childhood friend of  and White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty.

After Clinton's 1992 election he joined his White House staff as deputy counsel.

Foster's tasks included vetting administration employees, preparing executive orders, analyzing the legal effect of various policies, examining international treaties, discussing the ramifications of authorizations for use of military force, and authorizing expenditures within the White House.

The White House travel office controversy, the first major ethics dispute of the Clinton administration erupted in May 1993.

Seven employees of the White House Travel Office were fired and eventually replaced by friends of Bill and .

The heavy media attention forced the White House to reinstate most of the employees in other jobs and remove the Clinton associates from their travel roles.

Struggling with depression, Foster found himself the target of critical Wall Street Journal articles in June and July 1993.

What was Vince Foster's cause of death?

Foster continued to struggle with criticism, loss, insomnia, and .

He was prescribed the anti-depressant medication trazodone over the phone by his Arkansas doctor, starting with a low initial dosage.

He was found dead in Fort Marcy Park in Virginia on July 20, 1993.

An autopsy determined that he was shot in the mouth and no other wounds were found on his body and his death was classed as a suicide.

What happened between Vince Foster and Linda Tripp?

started working at the White House under the George H W Bush administration and later she worked for Bernard Nussbaum and Foster under the Clinton administration.

She was the one who served Foster his last meal, a cheeseburger and M&M’s, and was one of the last people to see Foster alive.

In an interview with the FBI after his death, Tripp recalled Foster had lunch on a couch in his office while reading a newspaper.

The report states: "He removed the onions from his hamburger, which struck Tripp as odd in retrospect.

Linda Tripp was one of the last people who saw Foster alive
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Linda Tripp was one of the last people who saw Foster alive

"She couldn’t understand why he would do that if he was planning to commit suicide.

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"It did not make sense to her that he might be worried about his breath if that were the case. Tripp does not know if Foster likes or dislikes onions."

Tripp would eventually become a key figure in exposing the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in 1998 after secretly recording intern talking about the affair with former president Bill Clinton.

Watch the trailer for Impeachment: American Crime Story on FX

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