Bill Clinton's Presidency

Bill Clinton served as the 42nd president of the United States. Prior to running for president, he graduated from Georgetown University, was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford, and received a law degree from Yale. After serving one term as the state’s Attorney General, Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas in 1978. At just 32 years old, Clinton was the youngest governor that America had seen in about 40 years. As governor, Clinton introduced reforms in education, welfare, and healthcare. He also became a leader of a moderate wing of the Democratic Party called the New Democrats. Unlike extreme progressives and liberals, the New Democrats wanted to decrease the size and scope of the federal government. In 1992, Clinton secured the presidential nomination for the Democratic Party and chose Al Gore, a senator from Tennessee, as his running mate. In his campaign, Clinton argued that 12 years of Republican leadership had led to political and economic stagnation. He went on to win the election, defeating both Bush, the Republican candidate and incumbent president, and Perot, an independent third-party candidate.

In his first term, Clinton had an ambitious agenda for domestic reforms that was centered on economic growth and reducing the federal budget deficit. He signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, which raised taxes for the wealthiest 1.2% and cut taxes for small businesses and those with lower-incomes. This legislation set the stage for an economic resurgence and a surplus in the federal budget. Clinton also signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law. This eliminated trade and investment barriers between the US, Canada, and Mexico. As a result, all 3 countries experienced a growth in GDP, trade and investment flourished, and certain industries were boosted. Clinton’s administration, however, was less successful in its health care ambitions. Clinton endorsed a massive health care reform act that was aimed at universal coverage, but the bill failed to move through Congress and became a political disaster. This resulted in Republicans regaining control in both the House and the Senate in 1994. Regardless, Clinton embraced more centrist policies and made an impressive political comeback. He signed laws that controlled violent crime, protected law enforcement officials, and increased the national minimum wage.

Clinton easily won reelection in 1996, making him the first Democratic president to serve a second term since Franklin D. Roosevelt. However, Clinton’s second term in office was marred by scandal. It was discovered that the president lied to Congress and the American public about having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, his White House intern. As a result, Clinton became the second president in US history to be impeached. The House of Representatives charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice, but the Senate acquitted him and he was not removed from office. Despite the scandal and his impeachment, Clinton left the White House with the highest job-approval rating of any president in the post-WW2 era. His overall time in office was characterized by peace and economic well being, evident through the lowest unemployment and inflation rates in modern times, the highest homeownership in American history, a decline in crime rates, and a reduction in welfare rolls. 

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bill-Clinton

https://www.biography.com/us-president/bill-clinton

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/modern-us/1990s-america/a/bill-clinton-as-president

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/william-j-clinton/