By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff, 4/14/2000

WASHINGTON - Cornered by talk of his past scandals, President Clinton insisted yesterday that he does not want a pardon from his successor - and that anyway, he won't be needing one.

Further, Clinton said his painful but historic impeachment will be a feature of his presidential library.

''I have no interest'' in a pardon, a clearly irritated Clinton told a questioner at a luncheon meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. ''I wouldn't ask for it. I don't think it would be necessary.

''I'm not ashamed of the fact that they impeached me,'' he added. ''That was their decision, not mine. And it was wrong. As a matter of law, Constitution, and history, it was wrong. I'm glad I didn't quit, and I'm glad we fought it and the American people stuck with me. And I am profoundly grateful.''

On Wednesday, Vice President Al Gore told the group that Clinton would neither ask for nor accept a pardon; White House spokesman Joe Lockhart repeated the sentiment later.

But when asked point-blank yesterday by a member of the nation's preeminent newspaper organization, Clinton bristled.

''I think it's interesting that you would ask that question without going through the facts here,'' Clinton said. ''And no one has yet written the full story. I can imagine why you wouldn't, particularly given the way a lot of this has been covered.''

''I don't want'' a pardon, he insisted, ''and I am prepared to stand before any bar of justice I have to stand before. But I would like just once to see someone acknowledge the fact that this Whitewater thing was a lie and a fraud from the beginning and that most people with any responsibility over it have known it for years.''

In most of his public appearances the past few months, Clinton has been at ease, jocular, and somewhat wistful at his impending departure from office. He frequently jokes about how he is ''not running for anything'' and that some people treat him as if he already had left the White House.

He has been aggressively trying to seal a positive legacy, speaking out on such issues as prescription drugs for senior citizens, gun control, and peace in Northern Ireland.

But controversies from Clinton's past have crept back into his life recently. The independent counsel, Robert Ray, said this week that he would not rule out indicting Clinton after the president leaves office. He and Hillary Rodham Clinton also must wait out the final reports, expected later this year, on the investigations of Whitewater and the White House travel office.

Yesterday's assemblage of editors reminded Clinton that the scandals are not yet behind him. Of the four questions to the president, the first two related to the fallout of the Monica S. Lewinsky episode and other investigations.

Clinton's annoyance with the questions was echoed by Lockhart later in the day.

''These are purportedly reasonably intelligent people, but I think it demonstrates just how isolated some newspaper editors are from the rest of the country,'' Lockhart said. ''They get a chance to ask the president about anything, any challenges that face America and ... the best they can come up with is two questions about impeachment.

''The country has moved past this,'' he said. ''Unfortunately, many major newspaper editors haven't. It may be some reason for declining circulation.''

Asked whether he would include his impeachment as part of his presidential library, Clinton said: ''Yes, we'll deal with it. And I will deal with it.''

However, he added pointedly, ''I have a slightly different take on it than many of you do, at least than the Washington media does.''

Given that impeachment was such a historic part of Clinton's presidency, ''he really has to'' include it in the library, said William Leuchtenberg, a presidential scholar at the University of North Carolina. Presidential libraries typically have museums attached to them, and ''it would be hard to imagine that they could do an exhibit on the presidency of Bill Clinton without doing part on impeachment,'' he said.

The president did not specify how his library would deal with the his impeachment by the House and his subsequent trial and acquittal by the Senate. But Clinton made it clear he saw himself as a victim in the proceedings.

''I made a terrible personal mistake. I think I paid for it. I won that lawsuit, remember,'' Clinton said, referring to the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, which was dismissed by a judge but later settled for $850,000. ''I settled it anyway, because of the political nature of the people that were reviewing it. I gave away half my life savings to settle a lawsuit I'd won, because I wanted to go back to work being president.''

Despite his obvious displeasure with the questions from the group, Clinton declined an offer to give the editors ''constructive criticism.''

''The only difference in me and somebody writing you a letter to the editor giving constructive criticism is that what I'll get from my constructive criticism is a bomb on the head,'' Clinton said, drawing chuckles. ''I realize I'm not running for anything, but I'm not totally dumb here.''