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| William Jefferson Clinton | |
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| In office January 20 1993 – January 20 2001 | |
| Vice President | Albert Gore, Jr. |
| Preceded by | George H. W. Bush |
| Succeeded by | George W. Bush |
| 42nd Governor of Arkansas | |
| In office January 11, 1983 – December 12, 1992 | |
| Lieutenant | Winston Bryant (1983-1991) Jim Guy Tucker (1991-1992) |
| Preceded by | Frank D. White |
| Succeeded by | Jim Guy Tucker |
| 40th Governor of Arkansas | |
| In office January 9, 1979 – January 19, 1981 | |
| Lieutenant | Joe Purcell |
| Preceded by | Joe Purcell (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Frank D. White |
| In office 1977 – 1979 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Guy Tucker |
| Succeeded by | Steve Clark |
| Born | August 19 1946 Hope, Arkansas |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Hillary Rodham Clinton |
| Children | Chelsea Clinton |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University University College, Oxford Yale Law School |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Religion | Baptist |
| Signature | 
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William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19 1946)Biography of William J. Clinton, The White House was the forty-second President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president, older only than Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. He became president at the end of the Cold War, and is known as the first baby boomer president, as he was born in the period after World War II.Marc Sandalow, Clinton Era Marked by Scandal, Prosperity: 1st Baby Boomer in White House Changed Notions of Presidency, San Francisco Chronicle; January 14, 2001 He is the husband of the junior United States Senator from the state of New York and a Democratic candidate in the 2008 US presidential election, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Clinton was described as a New Democrat and was largely known for the Third Way philosophy of governance that came to epitomize his two terms as president.Joe Klein, \'The Natural\': The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton, 2003, ISBN 0-7679-1412-0 His policies, on issues such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, have been described as "centrist."William Safire, "Essay; Looking Beyond Peace," New York Times, December 6, 1993.Michael Duffy, "Secrets Of," Time Magazine, Nov 29, 1993. Clinton presided over the longest period of peace-time economic expansion in American history, which included a balanced budget and a reported federal surplus.whitehouse.gov -- April 2, 1999: The Longest Peacetime Expansion in HistoryLibrary of Congress - House Report 105-648 - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 1999. Clinton reported a surplus of $559 billion at the end of his presidency, based on Congressional accounting rules. His presidency was also quickly challenged. On the heels of a failed attempt at health care reform with a Democratic Congress, Republicans won control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years.H-net Online Book Review: Benjamin Ginsberg and Alan Stone, eds. Do Elections Matter. Third Edition. Armonk, N.Y. (1997) In his second term he was impeached by the U.S. House for perjury and obstruction of justice,Clinton impeached December 19, 1998 but was subsequently acquitted by the United States Senate and completed his term.Washingtonpost.com Clinton Accused - Special report. Polls of the American electorate taken at this time showed that up to 70% were against pursuing the allegations. (N Y Times December 21, 1998).
Clinton left office with a 65% approval rating, the highest end-of-presidency rating of any President who came into office after World War II. Since leaving office, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the William J. Clinton Foundation to promote and address international causes, such as treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS and global warming. In 2004, he released a personal autobiography, "My Life".
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William Jefferson Blythe III in 1950 at age four. Known at the time as Billy, he did not formally adopt his stepfather\'s name until age fourteen.
William Jefferson Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III in Hope, Arkansas. His father was William Jefferson Blythe, Jr., a traveling salesman, who died in a car accident three months prior to the birth of his son.Biography of William J. Clinton, The White House Following Bill\'s birth, his mother, Virginia Dell Cassidy (1923-1994), traveled to New Orleans to study nursing, leaving Clinton in Hope with her parents, Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and operated a small grocery store. http://immigration.about.com/library/blbillclinton.htm About.com article At a time when the Southern United States was still segregated, Clinton\'s grandparents defied social convention and sold goods on credit to people of all races. http://immigration.about.com/library/blbillclinton.htm About.com article In 1950, Clinton\'s mother returned from nursing school and shortly thereafter married Roger Clinton, who together with his brother owned an automobile dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas.My Life, Bill Clinton, Random House, 2004, ISBN 0-375-41457-6 As such, Bill moved to Hot Springs in 1950 to live with his mother and stepfather.
It was not until Billy (as he was known then) turned fourteen that he formally adopted his stepfather\'s surname of Clinton, although he had assumed use of it before then. Clinton has said that he remembers his stepfather as a gambler and an alcoholic who regularly abused his mother and, at times, his half-brother, Roger, Jr.My Life, Bill Clinton, Random House, 2004, ISBN 0-375-41457-6First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, David Maraniss, Random House, 1996, ISBN 978-0684818900
In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. John\'s Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and Hot Springs High School - where he was an active student leader, avid reader, and musician.President Bill Clinton\'s Hometown Homepage. Retrieved on 2007-02-01. He was in the chorus and played the tenor saxophone, winning first chair in the state band\'s saxophone section. He briefly considered dedicating his life to music, but as he noted in his autobiography My Life:
| “ | (…) Sometime in my sixteenth year I decided I wanted to be in public life as an elected official. I loved music and thought I could be very good, but I knew I would never be John Coltrane or Stan Getz. I was interested in medicine and thought I could be a fine doctor, but I knew I would never be Michael DeBakey. But I knew I could be great in public service.Clinton, Bill (June 22, 2004). My Life. Knopf, 52. | ” |
In 1963, two influential moments in Clinton\'s life contributed to his decision to become a public figure. One was his visit to the White House to meet President John F. Kennedy, as a Boys Nation senator.My Life, Bill Clinton, Random House, 2004, ISBN 0-375-41457-6First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, David Maraniss, Random House, 1996, ISBN 978-0684818900 The other was listening to Martin Luther King\'s 1963 I Have a Dream speech (he memorized Dr. King\'s words).It All Began in a Place Called Hope. Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
With the aid of scholarships, Clinton attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., receiving a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (B.S.F.S.) degree in 1968. He spent the summer of 1967, the summer before his senior year, working as an intern for Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright.My Life, Bill Clinton, Random House, 2004, ISBN 0-375-41457-6 While in college he became a brother of Alpha Phi Omega and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.Clinton, brother of Alpha Phi Omega. Clinton was also a member of Youth Order of DeMolay, but he never actually became a Freemason.Famous Non-Masons. Retrieved on 2006-12-20. He is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi\'s National Honorary Band Fraternity, Inc.
Upon graduation he won a Rhodes Scholarship to University College, Oxford where he studied Government.First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, David Maraniss, Random House, 1996, ISBN 978-0684818900 He developed an interest in rugby union, playing at Oxford and later for the Little Rock Rugby club in Arkansas. While at Oxford he also participated in Vietnam War protests, including organizing an October 1969 Moratorium event.My Life, Bill Clinton, Random House, 2004, ISBN 0-375-41457-6 In later life he admitted to smoking cannabis at the university, but claimed that he "never inhaled".First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, David Maraniss, Random House, 1996, ISBN 978-0684818900
After Oxford, Clinton attended Yale Law School and obtained a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1973.First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, David Maraniss, Random House, 1996, ISBN 978-0684818900 While at Yale, he began dating law student Hillary Rodham who was a year ahead of him. They married in 1975 and their only child, Chelsea, was born in 1980.
During his study at Yale, Clinton took a job with the McGovern campaign and was assigned to lead McGovern\'s effort in Texas. He spent considerable time in Dallas, Texas, at the McGovern campaign\'s local headquarters on Lemmon Avenue where he maintained an office. There, Clinton met and worked with Ron Kirk, who would be elected mayor of Dallas twice, the future governor of Texas Ann Richards, and film director and producer Steven Spielberg.
After graduating from Yale Law School, Clinton returned to Arkansas and became a University of Arkansas law professor. A year later, in 1974, he ran for the House of Representatives. The incumbent, John Paul Hammerschmidt, defeated Clinton with 52% of the vote. In 1976, Clinton was elected Attorney General of Arkansas without opposition in the general election.First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, David Maraniss, Random House, 1996, ISBN 978-0684818900
Clinton, as the newly elected Governor of Arkansas meeting with President Jimmy Carter in 1978.
In 1978, Bill Clinton was elected Governor of Arkansas for the first time; at 32, he was the youngest governor in the country. He worked on educational reform and the infrastructure of Arkansas\'s roads, but his first term also was fraught with difficulties, including an unpopular motor vehicle tax and citizens\' anger over the escape of Cuban refugees (from the Mariel boatlift) detained in Fort Chaffee in 1980. A political maverick, Monroe Schwarzlose of Kingsland in Cleveland County, polled a surprising 31% of the vote against Clinton in the 1980 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Some suggested that Schwarzlose\'s unexpected voter turnout foreshadowed Clinton\'s defeat in the general election that year by Republican challenger Frank D. White. As Clinton once joked, he was the youngest ex-governor in the nation\'s history.First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, David Maraniss, Random House, 1996, ISBN 978-0684818900
Following his electoral defeat, Clinton joined his friend Bruce Lindsey\'s law firm of Wright, Lindsey and Jennings, though he spent most of the next two years working on his re-election campaign. In 1982, Clinton reclaimed his old job as governor and kept it for another 10 years, helping Arkansas transform its economy and significantly improving the state\'s educational system. He became a leading figure among the New Democrats.The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton, Joe Klein, 2003, ISBN 0-7679-1412-0 The New Democrats, organized within the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) were a branch of the Democratic Party that called for welfare reform and smaller government, a policy supported by both Democrats and Republicans. He served as Chair of the National Governors Association from 1986 to 1987, bringing him to an audience beyond Arkansas.First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, David Maraniss, Random House, 1996, ISBN 978-0684818900
Clinton made economic growth, job creation and educational improvement high priorities of his administration. He removed the sales tax from medicine for senior citizens and increased the home property tax exemption for the elderly. Clinton was also responsible for some state educational improvement programs, notably more spending for schools, rising opportunities for gifted children, an increase in vocational education, and raising of teachers\' salaries.First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, David Maraniss, Random House, 1996, ISBN 978-0684818900The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton, Joe Klein, 2003, ISBN 0-7679-1412-0
Clinton\'s approach answered conservative criticism during his terms as governor, but personal and business transactions made by the Clintons during this period became the basis of the Whitewater investigation, which dogged his later presidential administration.The Clinton Wars, ISBN 0-374-12502-3, 2003, ISBN ISBN 0-374-12502-3 After very extensive investigation over several years, no indictments were made against the Clintons related to the years in Arkansas.First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, David Maraniss, Random House, 1996, ISBN 978-0684818900The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, John F. Harris , 2005, ISBN 0-375-50847-3
There was some media speculation in 1987 that Clinton would enter the race for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination after then-New York Governor Mario Cuomo declined to run and Democratic front-runner Gary Hart left the nomination owing to revelations about marital infidelity.
Often called the "Boy Governor" at that time because of his youthful appearance, Clinton decided to remain as Arkansas governor and postpone his presidential ambitions until 1992.David Maraniss, First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton (New York: Random House, 1996; ISBN 978-0684818900). Clinton then endorsed Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis for the nomination. He did, however, give the opening night address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, a nationally-televised speech that introduced him to the American public, but was criticized for its length[citation needed]. Presenting himself as a moderate and a member of the New Democrat wing of the Democratic Party, he headed the moderate Democratic Leadership Council in 1990 and 1991.Joe Klein, The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton (2003; ISBN 0-7679-1412-0).Bob Woodward, The Choice: How Clinton Won (1996; ISBN 0-684-81308-4).
In 1992, Clinton was the early favorite of the Democratic Party for the presidential nomination and was able to garner the support of many superdelegates even before the first nominating contests were conducted. However, Clinton\'s presidential bid ran into difficulty in the opening weeks. First he finished well behind in the Iowa caucus, which was largely uncontested due to the presence of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who subsequently won. Secondly the campaign encountered difficulty when, during the New Hampshire Primary campaign, revelations of a possible extramarital affair with Gennifer Flowers began to surface. Clinton and his wife Hillary decided to go on 60 Minutes following the Super Bowl to refute these charges of infidelity, as Clinton had fallen far behind former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas in the New Hampshire polls.
Their television appearance was a calculated risk, but it seemed to pay off as Clinton regained several delegates. He finished second to Tsongas in the New Hampshire primary, but the media viewed it as a moral victory for Clinton, since he came within single digits of winning after trailing badly in the polls. Clinton cleverly labeled himself "The Comeback Kid" on election night to help foster a perception of being the underdog and as a result led New Hampshire by a large percentage. Tsongas, on the other hand, picked up little or no momentum from his victory.
Clinton used his new-found momentum to win many of the Democratic Southern primaries, including the big prizes of Florida and Texas, and build up a sizable delegate lead over his opponents in the race for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination. However, former California Governor Jerry Brown was scoring victories elsewhere and Clinton had yet to win a significant contest outside of his native South.
With no major Southern state remaining on the primary calendar, Clinton targeted the New York primary, which contained a large number of delegates and was to be his proving ground. He scored a resounding victory in New York City, shedding his image as a regional candidate. Having been transformed into the consensus candidate, he secured the Democratic Party nomination, finishing with a victory in Jerry Brown\'s home state of California.
Clinton won the 1992 presidential election (43.0% of the vote) against Republican incumbent George H. W. Bush (37.4% of the vote) and billionaire populist H. Ross Perot, who ran as an independent (18.9% of the vote) on a platform focusing on domestic issues; a significant part of his success was Bush\'s steep decline in public approval. Previously described as "unbeatable" because his approval ratings were in the 80% range during the Persian Gulf conflict, Bush saw his public approval rating plummet to just over 40% by election time because of a souring economy.The choice: how Clinton won, Bob Woodward,1996, ISBN 0-684-81308-4
Additionally, Bush reneged on his promise not to raise taxes when he compromised with Democrats in an attempt to lower the Federal deficits; this damaged both his credibility and thus his approval rating among conservatives. Clinton capitalized on Bush\'s policy switch, repeatedly condemning the president for making a promise he failed to keep.The choice: how Clinton won, Bob Woodward, 1996, ISBN 0-684-81308-4
Finally, Bush\'s party base was in disarray. Conservatives had previously been united by anti-communism, but with the end of the Cold War, new issues had yet to emerge. The 1992 Republican National Convention was perceived by some moderate voters to have been uninspiring and usurped by religious conservatives.Le Beau, Bryan. The Political Mobilization of the New Christian Right. Creighton University. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. All of this worked in Clinton\'s favor. Clinton could point to his moderate, "New Democrat" record as governor of Arkansas, though some on the far left remained suspicious of him leading up to the election.Walker, Martin, Tough love child of Kennedy, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1240962,00.html>. Retrieved on 12 October 2007 Many Democrats who had supported Ronald Reagan and Bush in previous elections switched their allegiance to Clinton.Clinton beats Bush to the White House, BBC News, 1992.
His election ended an era of Republican rule of the White House for the previous 12 years, and 20 of the previous 24 years. The election also gave the Democrats full control of both branches of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Clinton was the first president to enjoy this windfall since Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s.
However, questions of conflict of interest regarding state business and the politically powerful Rose Law Firm, at which Hillary Rodham Clinton was a partner, arose during the campaign. Further concern arose when Bill Clinton announced that voters would be getting two presidents "for the price of one". Considering Hillary Clinton\'s prominent role in the administration, especially in projects such as health care, adoption and foster care reform, and foreign policy, "co-presidents" became a popular deragotary term for the Clintons among conservatives[citation needed].
Clinton was inaugurated on January 20, 1993 as the 42nd President of the United States. In his inaugural address he declared that:
| “ | Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.Bill Clinton First Address, 1993. | ” |
Shortly after taking office, Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which required large employers to allow their employees to take unpaid leave because of pregnancy or a serious medical condition. While this action was popular, Clinton\'s attempt to fulfill another campaign promise of allowing openly homosexual men and women to serve in the armed forces garnered criticism from the left (for being too tentative in promoting gay rights) and from the right (for being too insensitive to military life). After much debate, Congress implemented the "Don\'t Ask, Don\'t Tell" policy, stating that homosexual men and women may serve in the military as long as their sexuality is kept secret. Later in his presidency, in 1999, Clinton said he did not "think any serious person could say" that the way the policy was being implemented was not "out of whack".President seeks better implementation of \'do not ask, do not tell\' - CNN, 1999-12-11 Some gay rights advocates criticized Clinton for not going far enough and accused him of making his campaign promise simply to get votes and contributions.Stranger Among Friends. - book reviews - John Cloud, Washington Monthly, November 1996Washington Blade Editorial: Bush Has Mandate to Let Gays Serve - Kevin Naff, Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, 2003-01-10 These advocates felt Clinton should have integrated the military by executive order, noting that President Harry Truman ended racial segregation of the armed forces in that manner. Clinton\'s defenders argued that an executive order might have prompted the Senate, which then had a Democratic majority, to write the exclusion of gays into law, potentially making it even harder to integrate the military in the future.The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton, Joe Klein, 2003, ISBN 0-7679-1412-0
The Clinton-Gore administration launched the first official White House website on 21 October, 1994."Welcome to the White House". Retrieved on 2007-06-06. "The Clinton White House Web Site". Retrieved on 2007-06-06. It was followed by three more versions, resulting in the final edition launched in 2000."Welcome to the White House". Retrieved on 2007-06-06. "The Clinton White House Web Site: Part 2: Preserving the Clinton White House Web Site". Retrieved on 2007-06-06. The White House website was part of a wider movement of the Clinton administration toward web-based communication. According to Robert Longley, "Clinton and Gore were responsible for pressing almost all federal agencies, the U.S. court system and the U.S. military onto the Internet, thus opening up America\'s government to more of America\'s citizens than ever before. On 17 July 1996, President Clinton issued Executive Order 13011 - Federal Information Technology, ordering the heads of all federal agencies to fully utilize information technology to make the information of the agency easily accessible to the public."Longley, Robert. The Clinton White House Web Site: Part 1: Perhaps the most important Web site in American history. About.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-06.
Also in 1993, Clinton promoted another controversial issue, this time regarding free trade when he supported the North American Free Trade Agreement for ratification by the U.S. Senate. Clinton, along with most of his Democratic Leadership Committee allies, strongly supported free trade measures; there remained, however, strong intra-party disagreement over the decision. Opposition chiefly came from anti-trade Republicans, protectionist Democrats and supporters of Ross Perot. The bill passed the house with 234 votes against 200 opposed (132 Republicans and 102 Democrats voting in favor, 156 Democrats, 43 Republicans, and 1 independent against). The treaty was then ratified by the Senate and signed into law by the President on 1 January 1994.Livingston, C. Don, Kenneth A. Wink; "The Passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the U.S. House of Representatives: Presidential Leadership or Presidential Luck?" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997
Clinton signed the Brady Bill, which imposed a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases. He also expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, a subsidy for low income workers.The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, John F. Harris , 2005, ISBN 0-375-50847-3
One of the most prominent items on Clinton\'s legislative agenda was a health care reform plan, the result of a taskforce headed by Hillary Clinton, aimed at achieving universal coverage via a national healthcare plan. Though initially well-received in political circles, it was ultimately doomed by well-organized opposition from conservatives, the American Medical Association, and the health insurance industry. However, John F. Harris, a biographer of Clinton\'s, states that the program failed because of a lack of co-ordination within the White House.The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, John F. Harris , 2005, ISBN 0-375-50847-3 Despite his party holding a majority in the House and Senate, the effort to create a national healthcare system ultimately died under heavy public pressure. It was the first major legislative defeat of Clinton\'s administration.The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton, Joe Klein, 2003, ISBN 0-7679-1412-0The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, John F. Harris , 2005, ISBN 0-375-50847-3
Two months later, after two years of Democratic Party control under Clinton\'s leadership, the mid-term elections in 1994 proved disastrous for the Democrats. This was the first time the Democratic Party had lost control of both houses of Congress in 40 years.
In August 1993, Clinton signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, which passed Congress without a single Republican vote. It cut taxes for 15 million low-income families, made tax cuts available to 90% of small businesses,Presidential Press Conference - 08/03/1993. and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.2% of taxpayers.1994 State of the Union Address. Additionally, it mandated that the budget be balanced over a number of years, through the implementation of spending restraints.
Clinton receiving the 2000 Charlemagne Prize for his contribution to European integration.
In the 1996 presidential election, Clinton was re-elected, receiving 49.2% of the popular vote over Republican Bob Dole (40.7% of the popular vote) and Reform candidate Ross Perot (8.4% of the popular vote), becoming the first Democrat to win reelection to the presidency since Franklin Roosevelt. The Republicans lost a few seats in the House and gained a few in the Senate, but overall retained control of the Congress. Clinton received 379, or over 70% of the Electoral College votes, with Dole receiving 159 electoral votes.
On January 21, 1998, a controversy was raised by the media and prominent Republicans"Time Line", Washington Post Special Report: Clinton Accused, The Washington Post, September 13, 1998, p. A32. over Clinton\'s relationship with a young White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, resulting in the Lewinsky scandal.The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, John F. Harris , 2005, ISBN 0-375-50847-3 In a lame duck session after the 1998 elections, the Republican-controlled House voted to impeach Clinton for matters related to the scandal. The Republican-controlled Senate then voted to acquit Clinton the following year, and he remained in office to complete his term.Clinton acquitted by Senate, CNN, 1999.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, enacted by Clinton on October 21, 1998, served as the first significant amendment to the Copyright Act since 1976. The DMCA extended the protection of intellectual property to outlaw reverse engineering of digital protection. It also provided a framework for sound recording copyright owners and recording artists to seek public performance royalties under statute, which proved to be a landmark achievement for the recording industry.Recording Industry Association of America (October 21, 1998). "Senate Ratifies Historic Treaties Securing Copyright Online". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
The Elián González affair took prominent stage during early 2000. The boy survived a boat wreck as his family fled from Cuba, but his mother died, setting off an international legal fight for where the boy should stay. Eventually the administration, via Janet Reno, had González forcefully obtained and returned to Cuba.
Two notable military events occurred during Clinton\'s second term. The first was Operation Desert Fox, a bombing campaign designed to weaken Saddam Hussein\'s grip on power over Iraq, a consistent theme of the Bush-Clinton era. The four-day campaign lasted from December 16 to December 19, 1998. It began after Clinton signed H.R. 4655 into law on October 31, 1998, which instituted a policy of "regime change" against Iraq, though it explicitly stated that it did not speak to the use of American military forces.Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, H.R.4655, One Hundred Fifth Congress of United States of America at Second Session; Library of CongressThe Iraq Liberation Act, Statement by the President, Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release, October 31, 1998 The law was signed months after his State of the Union Address to Congress where Clinton warned Congress of Saddam Hussein\'s pursuit of nuclear weapons:
| “ | Together we must also confront the new hazards of chemical and biological weapons, and the outlaw states, terrorists and organized criminals seeking to acquire them. Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade, and much of his nation\'s wealth, not on providing for the Iraqi people, but on developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them. The United Nations weapons inspectors have done a truly remarkable job, finding and destroying more of Iraq\'s arsenal than was destroyed during the entire gulf war. Now, Saddam Hussein wants to stop them from completing their mission. I know I speak for everyone in this chamber, Republicans and Democrats, when I say to Saddam Hussein, "You cannot defy the will of the world," and when I say to him, "You have used weapons of mass destruction before; we are determined to deny you the capacity to use them again.The Washington Post (January 27, 1998). "Senate Ratifies Historic Treaties Securing Copyright Online". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-07-15. | ” |
The second was Operation Allied Force, a 1999 NATO bombing campaign against the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Clinton authorized the use of American troops in the mission to stop the ethnic cleansing and genocideCohen, William (April 7, 1999). "Secretary Cohen\'s Press Conference at NATO Headquarters".Clinton, Bill (June 25, 1999). "Press Conference by the President". of Albanians at the hands of the nationalist Serbians. General Wesley Clark was Supreme Allied Commander of NATO at the time and oversaw the mission. The bombing campaign ended on June 10, 1999, with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 adopted that same day, placing Kosovo under UN administration and authorizing a peacekeeping force.Resolution 1244 adopted by the United Nations Security Council on June 10 1999. NATO claimed to have suffered zero deaths in combat,The Impact of the Laws of War in Contemporary Conflicts (PDF) by Adam Roberts on April 10 2003 at a seminar at Princeton University titled "The Emerging International System — Actors, Interactions, Perceptions, Security". Retrieved January 25 2007. and two deaths total from an Apache helicopter crash.Two die in Apache crash by BBC News on May 5 1999. Retrieved January 25 2007. Opinions in the popular press criticized pre-war genocide claims by Clinton and his administration as greatly exaggerated.Pilger, John (September 4, 2000). "US and British officials told us that at least 100,000 were murdered in Kosovo. A year later, fewer than 3,000 bodies have been found". New Statesman.Pearl, Daniel and Block, Robert (December 31, 1999). "War in Kosovo Was Cruel, Bitter, Savage; Genocide It Wasn’t". The Wall Street Journal, p. A1. A U.N. Court ruled that genocide did not take place, although it did recognize, "a systematic campaign of terror, including murders, rapes, arsons and severe maltreatments"."Kosovo assault \'was not genocide\'". (September 7, 2001). BBC. The term "ethnic cleansing" was used as an alternative to "genocide" to denote not just ethnically motivated murder but also displacement, though critics charge there is no difference.Encylopaedia Britannica - Ethnic Cleansing. Slobodan Milošević, the President of Yugoslavia at the time, was eventually charged with the "murders of about 600 individually identified ethnic Albanians" and "crimes against humanity"."The charges against Milosevic". (July 5, 2004). BBC.
In the closing year of his administration, Clinton attempted to address the Arab-Israeli conflict. After initial successes such as the Oslo accords of the early-1990s, the situation had quietly deteriorated, breaking down completely with the start of the Second Intifada. Clinton brought Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat together at Camp David.The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, John F. Harris , 2005, ISBN 0-375-50847-3 However, Barak and Arafat could not find common ground, and the negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful.The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, John F. Harris , 2005, ISBN 0-375-50847-3
In November 2000, Clinton became the first president to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War.Clinton\'s Vietnam Visit, BBC News 2000 Clinton remained popular with the public throughout his two terms as President, ending his presidential career with a 65% approval rating, the highest end-of-term approval rating of any President since Dwight D. Eisenhower.Langer, Gary. "Historical Presidential Approval Ratings", abcnews.go.com, January 17, 2001. Retrieved on 2007-01-20. Clinton also oversaw a boom of the U.S. economy. Under Clinton, the United States had a projected federal budget surplus for the first time since 1969.Historical Budget Data (PDF). Congressional Budget Office (January 26, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-20.
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Major legislation signed
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Major legislation vetoed
Proposals not passed by Congress Initiatives
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Clinton appointed the following justices to the Supreme Court:
Clinton\'s approval ratings throughout his presidential career
While Clinton\'s job approval rating varied over the course of his first term, ranging from a low of 36% in mid-1993 to a high of 64% in late-1993 and early-1994,Job Performance Ratings for President Clinton. Retrieved on 2006-02-25. his job approval rating consistently ranged from the high-50s to the high-60s in his second term.Bill Clinton: Job Ratings - PollingReport.com Clinton\'s approval rating reached its highest point at 73% approval in the aftermath of the impeachment proceedings in 1998 and 1999.Poll: Clinton\'s approval rating up in wake of impeachment - CNN, 1998-12-20
A CNN/USA TODAY/Gallup poll conducted as he was leaving office, revealed deeply contradictory attitudes regarding Clinton.Poll: Majority of Americans glad Clinton is leaving office - Keating Holland, CNN, 2001-01-10 Although his approval rating at 68% was higher than that of any other departing president since polling began more than seventy years earlier, only 45% said they would miss him. While 55% thought he "would have something worthwhile to contribute and should remain active in public life", 68% thought he would be remembered for his "involvement in personal scandal" rather than his accomplishments as president, and 58% answered "No" to the question "Do you generally think Bill Clinton is honest and trustworthy?". 47% of the respondents identified themselves as being Clinton supporters. 47% said he would be remembered as either "outstanding" or "above average" as a president while 22% said he would be remembered as "below average" or "poor".Poll: Majority of Americans glad Clinton is leaving office - Keating Holland, CNN, 2001-01-10
In recent public rankings of American presidents, Bill Clinton ranked highly. The Gallup Organization published a poll in February 2007 that asked respondents to name the greatest president in U.S. history; Clinton came in fourth place, capturing 13% of the vote. In a 2006 Quinnipiac University poll that asked respondents to name the best president since World War II, Clinton ranked second with 25% of the vote, 3% behind Ronald Reagan. However, in the same poll, when respondents were asked to name the worst president since World War II, Clinton came in third with 16% of the vote, 1% behind Nixon and 18% behind George W. Bush.Presidents and History. pollingreport.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
In May 2006, a CNN poll comparing Clinton\'s job performance with that of his successor, George W. Bush, found that a strong majority of respondents said Clinton outperformed Bush in six different ar
