The Clinton Years 1993-2001www.buschistory.net

Topic 29

General Information

• 1. Clinton was the first Democrat to serve two full terms as president since Franklin D. Roosevelt

• 2. That 1992 election also brought the Democrats full control of both houses of Congress as well as the presidency, for the first time since the administration of the last Democratic president, Jimmy Carter

1992 Presidential ElectionA Three Way Race

– Middle-class tax cuts and a national health-care system

– Clinton won 370 electoral votes to Bush’s 168

1992 Presidential Debate: Video Clip

Clinton 1992 Campaign Ad

1992 Election Results

Some Domestic Points

1. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 19932. Failed Attempt at Health Care Reform3. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy for Gays in the Military 4. Longest Economic growth in US History

The Economy – wow!• More than 22 million new jobs created

• Homeownership rate increase from 64.0% to 67.5%

• Lowest unemployment rate in 30 years - Income increased

• Largest budget deficit in American history converted to the largest surplus of over $200 billion

• 220% increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 300% increase in the Nasdaq from 1993 to 2001

• Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 - A Tax increase on upper income individuals and realignment of the Federal Tax Code

• Dot – Com Boom

A Positive Trend

• 1993 – Economic Plan passes w/o a single Republican vote (Omnibus Reconciliation Act)

• Brady Handgun Act (11/1993)• Upper Class Tax Increases/Spending Cuts• Lowered the deficit from $290 billion in

1992 to $203 billion by 1994. • 1999 - $124 B Budget Surplus• $1.5 Trillion surplus projected into the next

administration

Take a look!

CBO 2009

Domestic Policies and Events

• Increased Minimum Wage - $5.15 Per Hour• Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell• Many women placed in high positions – Atty.

General, Secs. Of Energy, State, HEW for example.

• Failed attempt at Health Care reform• The rise of the Internet• Record low unemployment rates

NAFTA – Jan. 1, 1994

• NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)

– Free trade and investment between the US, Canada and Mexico

– Gradual elimination of all tarriffs– Very controversial– By 2010 Canada and Mexico were the

top two purchasers of US exports – By 2010 they were the second and

third largest suppliers of goods to the United States

Republican Showdown/Shutdownhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EUn5YwLtB0

• 1996 Federal Budget Issues– Medicare– Education– Environment– Health CareClinton Vetoed a Republican spending bill cutting all of the above

• Nov-Dec 1996• 46% Blamed

Republicans, 27% Democrats

• Clinton’s popularity soared

• Doomed the 1996 election for Republicans

Oklahoma City Bombing

• April 19, 1995• Federal Building –

Oklahoma City • 168 Killed• Domestic Terrorism

– Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were convicted of the crime.

Re-election

• In 1996 Clinton defeated Bob Dole of Kansas.

• The only Democrat to win reelection to a 2nd term of office as president since FDR

Foreign Policy Challenges

Oslo Accords– A series of meetings -1993-

1999 and agreements– Clinton hosted the signing

of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

– Agreed to self-rule for Palestinians in return for the Palestinians recognizing Israel’s right to exist

– Never fully realized

Foreign Policy Challenges

Somalia– January 1993 – Pres. Bush

sent troops to help the UN distribute food.

– Mogadishu – Black Hawk Down Oct. 1993. 18 US deaths

– Public support diminished– Clinton withdrew the

remaining soldiers.Rwandan Genocide 1994 – US did not intercede

Foreign Policy Challenges

Former Yugoslavia– 1992-1999: Violence raged

between the new countries formed from the breakup of Yugoslavia.

– Clinton helped broker the Dayton Accords to end fighting in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

– He urged NATO to act against Serbia.

– The Serb army was forcing ethnic Albanians from the Serbian region of Kosovo.

Foreign Policy Challenges

Haiti – 1991 Military Coup– Sept. 1994: Clinton

pledged the use of American troops to restore Pres. Aristede after a military Coup.

– The presence of UN forces helped bring about a generally peaceful change in government.

Scandals and impeachment

• Whitewater real estate deal– Fed. Prosecutor Kenneth Starr led an

investigation into a failed real estate investment the Clintons were involved in during the 1970s.

• Paula Jones sexual harassment case– Jones sued Clinton for sexual harassment

while he was governor of Arkansas. – Information emerged suggesting that

Clinton had an improper relationship with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.

• Monica Lewinsky case– Clinton accused of lying under oath

about Monica Lewinsky.– House approved two articles of

impeachment but the Senate did not have the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Clinton.

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21sUX-r1Iyw

The End of an Era

• Pres. Clinton left office with a 65% approval rating – The highest since Pres. Eisenhower

• He left office with a decreasing Federal debt, a Federal Budget surplus, low unemployment and rising GDP