Femme fatale Paula Jones

It is unclear whether to consider Paula Jones a femme fatale or more nearly a victim. She held a state job in Arkansas during Bill Clinton's time as that state's governor. According to her testimony, she was propositioned by the governor in his office, and he underlined the point he was trying to make by dropping trou.

Jones filed a sexual harassment suit in the amount of $750,000. A sort of witness was a state trooper who was stationed outside the governor's door at the time. Clinton's legal advisors argued that since he had become the nation's president, he was (as were a couple of major corporations in the 2008-2009 banking collapse) "too big to fail." The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed and allowed Jones' civil suit to go forward. In the end, Clinton settled out of court with Jones for $850,000, most of which reportedly was gobbled up by her lawyers, as is the usual custom.

But for the Jones suit, Clinton's later affair with Monica Lewinsky might never have become public.

As for Jones, she posed for Penthouse magazine, had a badly needed nose job and in 2002 was briefly back in the public eye in a celebrity boxing match, which she lost to former skater Tonya Harding. At last report, Jones was making her living more quietly, in real estate sales.