Bill Clinton1993-2001

Biography

• William Jefferson Blythe III born in Hope, Arkansas

• Father died before he was born• In 1950 his mother re-married,

Roger Clinton, & the family moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas

• While in high school he was an avid reader, student leader, & musician (saxophone)• Went to White House & met JFK

in ’63

Biography

• Went to Georgetown U. • Interned for Arkansas Senator during summer of ’67

• Won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford• Participated in Vietnam protests while there• Used his influence w/ a Senator to avoid being drafted• Legal, but criticized by opponents

• Next, went to Yale Law School in ‘73• Met Hillary in a Yale library• Married in ’73

• Law professor at U. of Arkansas in ’74• Ran for H.O.R. in ‘74, but lost• Elected Attorney General of Arkansas in ‘76

Biography

• Elected governor of Arkansas in ’78

• Served as governor ‘78-80 & ‘82-’92

• Youngest governor in the country, only 32 y.o.• The “Boy Governor”

• “New Democrat”• Education reform was top

priority• Also focused on economic

growth & job creation

First Term

• Jan. 1993, inaugural address• Feb. 1993, announced plan

to raise taxes & fix deficit• Aug. 1993, law that cut

taxes for low-income families & small businesses, & raised taxes on wealthiest 1% of taxpayers

• Sept. 1993, speech to Congress aimed at universal coverage w/ a nat’l health care plan• Plan was defeated

First Term

• Nov. 1993, Whitewater Scandal emerges• Clinton, while

Governor, forced others into illegal loans while making land deals

• Clinton was never charged

• Dec. 1993, Clinton implements “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”• Repealed in 2011• Compromise after

attempt to allow gays to openly serve in military was shot down

First Term

• Oct. 1994, launches 1st White House website

• Nov. 1994, Democrats lost control of Congress in mid-term elections

• Sept. 1996, Clinton signs Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) • Marriage=one man &

one woman

• Despite DOMA, Clinton viewed as 1st President to champion gay rights

• Sept. 1996, passed bill aimed at curbing illegal immigration

Election of 1996

• Opponents:• Bob Dole,

Republican, Senator from Kansas

• Ross Perot, Reform Party, Businessman from Texas

• Televised debates featured only Dole & Clinton, not Perot

• Dole was 73 y.o., seemed old & frail at times• Reference to “Brooklyn”

Dodgers, Dodgers left Brooklyn in 1957

• Clinton maintained lead in polls throughout

Election of 1996

2nd Term

• Oct. 1997, Clinton announces he will get hearing aids

• Balanced Budget Act of 1997 greatly reduces spending

• 1998, House votes to impeach Clinton • Perjury & obstruction of

justice—related to Monica Lewinsky

• 2nd Pres. to be impeached

2nd Term

• Clinton was acquitted on all charges• Votes were mostly along party lines; 2/3 need to convict• Trial lasted 21 days; ended on Feb. 12, 1999

Foreign Policy

• Somalia, 1993—Battle of Mogadishu, 18 American soldiers killed—U.S. forces withdrawn

• Bosnia, 1995—U.S./NATO aircraft attack Bosnian Serb targets• Deployed peacekeepers to Bosnia in ‘95

• Hoped to capture Osama Bin Laden• Al-Qaeda bombed U.S. embassies in E. Africa in ‘98• Clinton ordered missile strikes on terrorist targets in Afghanistan

& Sudan

• NATO bombing campaign in Yugoslavia in ‘99• Ethnic cleansing/genocide

• Four-day bombing campaign against Saddam Hussein/Iraq in ‘98

Etc.

• Appeared on Arsenio Hall & MTV• Admitted to smoking pot• Toni Morrison, “the first Black President”• Played the saxophone• Loved McDonald’s• “Bubba”• Several sexual accusations• Jones, Flowers, Lewinsky

Legacy????

• The good…. • The bad…