Bill Clinton
Clinton pushed another controversial issue during this period: that of free trade. In 1993, Clinton supported the
North American Free Trade Agreement for ratification by the U.S. Senate. Despite being negotiated by his Republican predecessor, Clinton (along with most of his Democratic Leadership Committee allies) strongly supported free trade measures. Though the measure was opposed by some anti-trade Republicans, most of the opposition came from protectionist Democrats and supporters of Ross Perot. Ultimately, the treaty was ratified, a major legislative victory.
Clinton also signed into law the
Brady Bill, which imposes a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases so that background checks can be done to help keep handguns away from criminals. President Clinton expanded the
Earned Income Tax Credit, which benefits
working class families with dependent children.
The most important item on Clinton's legislative agenda, however, 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. 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.
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. They lost control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years.
The spotlight shifted to the
Contract with America spearheaded by
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. This initiative presented a blanket of traditional Republican proposals, plus a number of anti-corruption measures. Without a friendly legislative body, Clinton shifted from pushing new policy to blocking the Republican (GOP) agenda.
In August of 1993, Clinton signed the
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 which passed Congress without a single Republican vote. It raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.2% of taxpayers, while cutting taxes on 15 million low-income families and making tax cuts available to 90 percent of small businesses.
[Presidential Press Conference - 08/03/1993] Additionally, it mandated that the budget be balanced over a number of years, and put spending restraints in place. The Republicans objected vociferously, claiming that it would wreck the economy. In November of 1994, the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. They were furious at being strait jacketed into spending cuts by the bill, but they couldn't ignore it without appearing to be softer on deficit spending than the Democrats.
In 1996, the GOP passed a budget with significant spending cuts thinking that Clinton could either sign the bill (a major political defeat) or veto it (resulting in a shutdown of most government services). GOP leaders believed that their recently energized supporters would stand with them, while the shutdown would be blamed on Clinton's veto of the spending bills. Clinton instead vetoed the bills and staged a media blitz, rallying his constituencies to blame the shutdown on the Republicans. The public largely agreed with Clinton's interpretation of the situation, and the Republicans suffered a major political defeat and cost them Congressional seats in the 1998 midterm elections. The perception that the congressional Republicans were dangerous reactionaries stayed with them for the remainder of the Clinton presidency, and Clinton repeatedly made skillful use of this perception to pass his initiatives while blocking theirs.
Clinton cleverly managed the other major challenge posed by the Contract with America: that of
welfare reform. The welfare system, unpopular with middle-class voters, was a major target of the Republicans. However, rather than present the programs as inefficient, bureaucratic and expensive, as they had (unsuccessfully) done in the past, their new tactic was to focus on the success of welfare in its stated goal: fighting poverty. In this they were more successful. Using statistics often compiled by welfare advocates to demand more spending, they pointed to a widening gap between rich and poor and the emergence of a dependent welfare "underclass." Under their proposed welfare reform, individuals could not receive benefits for more than five years. States, meanwhile, would receive "block grants" of federal funds that they would be free to spend on anti-poverty initiatives as they wished, rather than according to federal rules. This amounted to a major shift in welfare policy, and was bitterly contested by Democrats. Clinton, however, supported the plan (to the fury and astonishment of even some members of his Cabinet). In his 1996 State of the Union speech, Clinton promised to "end welfare as we know it". He later signed the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996.
This proved to be a major political victory, and a vindication of his strategy of "triangulation." Republicans were robbed of the issue with which they were getting the best traction, while Clinton was presented as a fair-minded, mainstream moderate.
Significant events of the second term
In the
1996 presidential election a few months later, 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). The Republicans lost a few seats in the House and gained a few in the Senate, but overall retained control of the Congress. Although he did not win a clear majority of the popular vote, Clinton received over 70% of the electoral college vote.
Throughout 1998, there was a controversy over Clinton's relationship with a young White House intern,
Monica Lewinsky. Clinton initially denied the affair while testifying in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. The opposing lawyers asked Mr. Clinton about it during his deposition. Mr. Clinton stated "I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. I've never had an affair with her." Four days later he also said, "There is not a sexual relationship, an improper sexual relationship, or any other kind of improper relationship."[
1]
Clinton then appeared on national television on January 26 and stated: "Listen to me, I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." However, after it was revealed that investigators had obtained a semen-stained dress as well as testimony from Lewinsky, Clinton changed tactics and admitted that an improper relationship with Lewinsky had taken place: "Indeed I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible."
He apologized to the nation, agreed to pay a $25,000 court fine, settled his sexual harassment lawsuit with
Paula Jones for $850,000 and was temporarily disbarred from practicing law in Arkansas and before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was not tried for perjury in a court. However, he did admit to "testifying falsely" in a carefully worded statement as part of a deal to avoid indictment for perjury.
In a
lame duck session after the 1998 elections, the Republican-controlled House voted to impeach Clinton. The next year, the Senate voted to acquit Clinton of what many have alleged were politically-motivated charges.
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 90's, 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. However, these negotiations proved unsuccessful. Critics charged Clinton with trying to "shoot the moon" to benefit his historical legacy, but instead making the situation worse with a botched negotiation. Supporters consider Clinton to have attempted to address new tensions from the recent outbreak of violence at its root causes, and that Clinton can hardly be blamed for a decades-old conflict. Some further argue that the perception that Arafat walked away from an offer that supposedly contained all of his previously stated demands enabled the US to pursue a more pro-Israel policy in later years.
Despite occasional political troubles, Clinton remained popular with the majority of the American people. In addition to his political skills, Clinton also benefited from a very skillful management of the US economy. Under Clinton, the United States had a projected federal budget surplus for the first time since 1969.
[http://www.cbo.gov/budget/historical.pdf] While Clinton, Congress and the private sector have all been given credit at different times, this economic success was a source of immense political strength for Clinton. He remained popular through and beyond the end of his terms in office.
Legislation and programs
Major legislation signed
*
1993-02-05 -
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993*
1993-08-10 -
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 - Raised income tax rates;
income tax, top rate: 39.6%;
corporate tax: 35%
*
1993-09-21 - creation of the
AmeriCorps volunteer program
*
1993-11-30 -
Brady Bill*
1994-09-13 -
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, part of an omnibus crime bill, the federal
death penalty was expanded to some 60 different
offenses (see
Federal assault weapons ban)
*1995 -
Executive Order 12958, created tough new standards for the process of classifying documents.
*
1996-02-01 -
Communications Decency Act*[[1996-02-08}} - {{Telecom Reform Act}}: eliminated major ownership restrictions for radio and television groups.
*{{1996-02-26}} - Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a {{welfare reform}} bill
*{{1996-03-14}} - authorized $100 million {{counter-terrorism}} agreement with {{Israel}} to track down and root out {{terrorism|terrorists}}.
*{{1996-04-09}} - {{Line Item Veto Act of 1996|Line Item Veto Act}}
*{{1996-04-24}} - {{Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act}}
*{{1996-08-20}} - {{Minimum wage}} Increase Act
*{{1996-09-21}} - {{Defense of Marriage Act}}, allowed states to refuse recognition of {{same-sex marriage}}s performed in other states or foreign countries, and established a definition of marriage for purposes of federal law (only) which prevents recognition of domestic or foreign same-sex marriages by the Government of the United States.
*{{1997-08-05}} - {{Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997}}
*{{1998-10-28}} - {{Digital Millennium Copyright Act}}
*{{1998-10-31}} - {{Iraq Liberation Act}}
Major legislation vetoed
*{{United States budget process|national budget}}
*H.R. 1833, {{partial birth abortion}} ban
*Twice vetoed {{welfare reform}} before signing
*the {{Private Securities Litigation Reform Act}}. {{Congress}} overrode the veto, however, to enact the bill into law.
Proposals not passed by Congress
*{{Clinton health care plan|Health care reform}}
*{{Campaign finance reform}} (1993)
Initiatives
*Appointed a committee on {{Social Security (United States)|Social Security}} Reform and then dismissed their recommendations without ever proposing legislation.
*Tried to get {{Ehud Barak}} of {{Israel}} and {{Yasser Arafat}} of the {{Palestinian National Authority}}, to agree to a final {{Israeli-Palestinian conflict|settlement agreement}}.
*Initiated the {{Don't ask, don't tell}} policy toward {{gay}}s in the military, 1993.
*Reversed a ban on senior {{Sinn Féin}} politicians entering the U.S.
*Proposed a national challenge to end the racial divide in America, the {{One America Initiative}}.
*{{Extraordinary rendition}} got approval for the first time in the USA from the Clinton administration.
Cabinet
| - | OFFICE> OFFICER | TERM | | - | President}} | Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 |
|---|
| Vice President}} | {{Al Gore}} | 1993-2001 |
| - | State}} | {{Warren M. Christopher}} | 1993-1997 |
|---|
| {{Madeleine K. Albright}} | 1997-2001 |
| {{United States Secretary of the Treasury|Treasury}} | {{Lloyd Bentsen}} | 1993-1994 |
| {{Robert E. Rubin}} | 1995-1999 |
| {{Lawrence H. Summers}} | 1999-2001 |
| {{United States Secretary of Defense|Defense}} | {{Les Aspin}} | 1993-1994 |
| {{William J. Perry}} | 1994-1997 |
| {{William S. Cohen}} | 1997-2001 |
| Justice}} | {{Janet Reno}} | 1993-2001 |
| Interior}} | {{Bruce Babbitt}} | 1993-2001 |
| {{United States Secretary of Agriculture|Agriculture}} | {{Mike Espy}} | 1993-1994 |
| {{Daniel R. Glickman}} | 1994-2001 |
| {{United States Secretary of Commerce|Commerce}} | {{Ronald H. Brown}} | 1993-1996 |
| {{Mickey Kantor}} | 1996-1997 |
| {{William M. Daley}} | 1997-2000 |
| {{Norman Y. Mineta}} | 2000-2001 |
| {{United States Secretary of Labor|Labor}} | {{Robert B. Reich}} | 1993-1997 |
| {{Alexis M. Herman}} | 1997-2001 |
Health and
Human Services}} | {{Donna E. Shalala}} | 1993-2001 |
| Education}} | {{Richard Riley}} | 1993-2001 |
{{United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|Housing and
Urban Development}} | {{Henry G. Cisneros}} | 1993-1997 |
| {{Andrew Cuomo}} | 1997-2001 |
| {{United States Secretary of Transportation|Transportation}} | {{Federico F. Peña}} | 1993-1997 |
| {{Rodney E. Slater}} | 1997-2001 |
| {{United States Secretary of Energy|Energy}} | {{Hazel O'Leary}} | 1993-1997 |
| {{Federico F. Peña}} | 1997-1998 |
| {{Bill Richardson (politician)>Bill Richardson}} | 1998-2001 |
| {{United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Affairs}} | {{Jesse Brown}} | 1993-1997 |
| {{Togo D. West, Jr.}} | 1998-2000 |
{{Image:ClintonAdmin.jpg|center|300px|thumb|President Clinton's Cabinet, circa 1993}}
Supreme Court appointments
Clinton appointed the following justices to the {{Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court}}, both now widely viewed as the most liberal members of the the court:
*{{Ruth Bader Ginsburg}} - 1993, making Clinton the first Democratic president to appoint a female Supreme Court justice.
*{{Stephen Breyer}} - 1994
The economy
During Clinton's tenure, the U.S. enjoyed continuous economic expansion, reductions in unemployment, and growing wealth through a massive rise in the {{stock market}}. The economic boom ended in the first quarter of 2000, approximately 10 months before his term ended in January 2001, possibly indicative of a {{stock market bubble}}. Although the reasons for the expansion are continually debated, Clinton proudly pointed to a number of economic accomplishments, including:
*More than 22 million new jobs created
*Homeownership rate increase from 64.0% to 67.5%
*Lowest unemployment rate in 30 years
*Higher incomes at all levels
*Largest budget deficit in American history converted to the largest surplus of over $200 billion
*Lowest government spending as a percentage of GDP since 1974
[Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget: Fiscal Year 2000 - United States Government Printing Office (GPO)]*Higher stock ownership by families than ever before
*220% increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 300% increase in the NASDAQ from 1993 to 2001
The reasons for this growth are hotly debated, but Clinton supporters cite his
1993 tax increase which they believe assisted in reducing the annual budget deficits every year of his tenure. These deficit reductions stimulated consumption and consumer spending and strengthened the dollar, which encouraged foreign investment in the United States economy.
Alan Greenspan supported the 1993 tax increase, which was approved by Congress without a single Republican vote.
[Behind the Boom - Bob Woodward, The Washington Post, 2000-11-12, 2000 ]Trade
|
President Clinton signs NAFTA. |
Clinton made it one of his goals as president to pass trade legislation that lowered the barriers to trade with other nations. He broke with many of his supporters, including
labor unions, and those in his own party to support free-trade legislation.
[AFL CIO on Trade] Opponents argued that lowering
tariffs and relaxing rules on imports would cost American jobs because people would buy cheaper products from other countries. Clinton countered that free trade would help the America because it would allow the U.S. to boost its exports and grow the economy. Clinton also believed that free trade could help move foreign nations to economic and political reform.
Clinton's first trade proposal was the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which would gradually reduce tariffs and create a free-trading bloc North American countries–the United States,
Canada, and
Mexico. Opponents of NAFTA, led by Ross Perot, claimed it would force American companies to move their workforces to Mexico, where they could produce goods with cheaper labor and ship them back to the United States at lower prices. Clinton, however, argued that NAFTA would increase U.S. exports and create new jobs. He convinced many Democrats to join most Republicans in supporting trade agreement and in 1993 the Congress passed the treaty.
[Roll Call Vote - H.R. 3450]Clinton also held meetings with leaders of
Pacific Rim nations to discuss lowering trade barriers. In
November 1993 he hosted a meeting of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in
Seattle, Washington, which was attended by the leaders of 12 Pacific Rim nations. In
1994, Clinton arranged an agreement in
Indonesia with Pacific Rim nations to gradually remove trade barriers and open their markets.
Officials in the Clinton administration also participated in the final round of trade negotiations sponsored by the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), an international trade organization. The negotiations had been ongoing since
1986. In a rare move, Clinton convened Congress to ratify the trade agreement in the winter of 1994, during which the treaty was approved. As part of the GATT agreement, a new international trade body, the
World Trade Organization (WTO), replaced GATT in
1995. The new WTO had stronger authority to enforce trade agreements and covered a wider range of trade than did GATT.
Clinton faced his first defeat on trade legislation during his second term. In
November 1997, the Republican-controlled Congress delayed voting on a bill to restore a presidential trade authority that had expired in 1994. The bill would have given the president the authority to negotiate trade agreements which the Congress was not authorized to modify–known as "fast-track negotiating" because it streamlines the treaty process. Clinton was unable to generate sufficient support for the legislation, even among the Democratic Party.
Clinton faced yet another trade setback in
December 1999, when the WTO met in Seattle for a new round of trade negotiations. Clinton hoped that new agreements on issues such as agriculture and intellectual property could be proposed at the meeting, but the talks fell through. Anti-WTO protesters in the streets of Seattle disrupted the meetings
[Security Increased for WTO Protests - PBS] and the international delegates attending the meetings were unable to compromise mainly because delegates from smaller, poorer countries resisted Clinton's efforts to discuss labor and environmental standards.
[Wrapping Up the WTO - PBS]That same year, Clinton signed a landmark trade agreement with
China. The agreement–the result of more than a decade of negotiations–would lower many trade barriers between the two countries, making it easier to export U.S. products such as automobiles, banking services, and motion pictures. However, the agreement could only take effect if China was accepted into the WTO and was granted permanent "normal trade relations" status by the U.S. Congress. Under the pact, the United States would support China's membership in the WTO. Many Democrats as well as Republicans were relunctant to grant permanent status to China because they were concerned about human rights in the country and the impact of Chinese imports on U.S. industries and jobs. Congress, however, voted in
2000 to grant permanent normal trade relations with China.
The Clinton administration negotiated a total of about 300 trade agreements with other countries.
[Clinton on Foreign Policy at University of Nebraska] Clinton's last treasury secretary,
Lawrence Summers, stated that the lowered tariffs that resulted from Clinton's trade policies, which reduced prices to consumers and kept inflation low, were technically "the largest tax cut in the history of the world."
[Address by Lawrence H. Summers, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury]Foreign policy
|
Clinton embraces British Prime Minister Tony Blair. |
|
Clinton plays the saxophone presented to him by Russian President Boris Yeltsin at a private dinner in Russia, January 13, 1994 |
Clinton assumed office shortly after the fall of the
Soviet Union and end of the
Cold War, but nevertheless was forced to confront numerous international conflicts. Shortly after taking office, Clinton had to decide whether the United States, as a world
superpower, should play a role in the conflicts and violence occurring in
Somalia,
Rwanda,
Bosnia,
Kosovo, and
Haiti. While these areas were embroiled in conflict and chaos, the interests of the United States were unclear.
Initially, Clinton was reluctant
[Presidential Press Conference - 1993-04-23] to become involved militarily, a move which would risk American lives in regions bitterly frayed by ethnic and religious discord. However, Clinton came to believe
[Presidential Remarks - 1993-09-23] that the United States had a stake in the protection of human rights and the promotion of the political and economic stability of remote countries. As Commander in Chief, Clinton ordered armed forces to these regions to end fighting, maintain peace, and protect innocent civilians, and few American lives were lost in military action. Clinton also spent much of his foreign policy effort on trying to end the conflicts in
Northern Ireland and the
Middle East (Specifically Israel/Palestine).
Africa
Just weeks before Clinton took office, President George H. W. Bush had deployed American soldiers to Somalia, a coastal nation on the
Horn of Africa, where people were suffering and dying from starvation and civil war. The soldiers were sent to guard food and other relief supplies from being stolen by warring factions. After soldiers faced fire from armed clans and 18 soldiers were killed in
1993, the mission quickly lost popularity with the American people. Fearing anarchy resulting in the starvation of Somalia's civilians and to help US Forces defend themselves,
[White House Press Breifing on Somalia - 1993-10-07] Clinton increased troop presence in the country. Demands for withdrawal, however, grew louder and Clinton ordered troops out of the county in March 1994.
[Overview of the US intervention in Somalia]In
April 1994, a civil war erupted in Rwanda between
Hutu and
Tutsi ethnic groups. Over the next few months, an estimated 500,000 to 1 million Rwandans, mainly Tutsi, were massacred. A few weeks after the war began, millions had fled the country for safety, spawning the growth of refugee camps in neighboring countries. As thousands more died of disease and starvation in these refugee camps, Clinton ordered airdrops of food and supplies for refugees. In July, he sent 200 non-combatant troops to the Rwanda capital of
Kigali to manage the airport and distribution of relief supplies. These troops were subsequently withdrawn by
October 1994. Clinton and the
United Nations faced criticism for a weak response to the massacre. When Clinton traveled to
Africa in
1998, he apologized for the international community's failure to respond to the massacres.
[Speech by President to Survivors Rwanda - 1998-03-25]In
August 1998 terrorists bombed the United States embassies in the capitals of two East African countries,
Nairobi, Kenya, and
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. About 250 people were killed, and more than 5,500 were injured. After intelligence linked the bombings to
Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi Arabian living in
Afghanistan who was suspected of terrorist activity, Clinton ordered missile attacks on sites in Afghanistan and
Sudan in retaliation for the bombings at the U.S. embassies and to deter future terrorist attacks.
[U.S. missiles pound targets in Afghanistan, Sudan - CNN] The Clinton administration maintained that the sites–a chemical factory at
Khartoum (the capital of Sudan) and several alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan–were involved in terrorist activities.
The Balkans
Much of the focus of Clinton's foreign policy during his first term was the civil war in
Bosnia and
Herzegovina (often referred to simply as Bosnia), a nation in southeastern Europe that declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1992 (see
Wars of Yugoslav Succession. This declaration was the catalyst of a war between
Bosnian Serbs, who wanted Bosnia to remain in the Yugoslav federation, and Bosnian Muslims and
Croats. The Bosnian Serbs, who were supported by
Serbia, were better equipped than the Muslims and the Croats and controlled much of the countryside. They besieged cities, including the capital of
Sarajevo, causing widespread suffering. Clinton proposed bombing Serb supply lines and lifting an embargo that prevented the shipment of military arms to the former Yugoslavia but European nations were opposed to such a move. In 1994 Clinton opposed an effort by Republicans in Congress to lift the arms embargo, as it were, because the U.S. allies in Western Europe were still resistant to that policy.
[Remarks by President on Larry King Live]Clinton contiued to pressure Western European countries throughout 1994 to take strong measures against the Serbs. But in November, as the Serbs seemed on the verge of defeating the Muslims and Croats in several strongholds, Clinton changed course and called for conciliation with the Serbs.
[Press Briefing by Ambassador Albright on US U.N. Relations] In
November 1995 Clinton hosted peace talks between the warring parties in
Dayton, Ohio. The parties reached a peace agreement known as the
Dayton Accords, leaving Bosnia as a single state made up of two separate entities with a central government.
In the spring of
1998, ethnic tension in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)–the state formed from the former Yugoslav republics of Serbia and Montenegro–heightened when Serb forces moved into the southern province of
Kosovo. More than 90 percent of the citizens of Kosovo were ethnic
Albanians, many of whom supported independence from the FRY. The Serbs, however, had considered the region sacred territory for six centuries. Serb forces were mobilized into the province to quail Albanian rebels, but accounts of Serb atrocities against civilians sent hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing to neighboring countries.
After attempting a peace settlement, Clinton threatened the Serbs with possible military strikes. In March, military forces from the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including the United States, began launching missiles and bombs on military installations in Kosovo and Serbia. It was the first time in NATO's history that its forces had attacked a European country. In June 1999 NATO and FRY military leaders approved an international peace plan for Kosovo, and the attacks were suspended.
Haiti
A
September 1991 military coup, led by Lieutenant General
Raoul Cédras, had ousted the country's elected president,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide escaped to the United States. In 1993 thousands of Haitians tried to flee to the United States as well, but more than half were sent back to Haiti by the
United States Coast Guard. Although Clinton had criticized former president George Bush for returning Haitian refugees to their country, he continued part of Bush's policy because he feared that accepting refugees might encourage many more to flee to the United States and slow the formation of a democratic government in the country.
[Presidential Town Hall Meeting - 1993-02-10]In 1994 Clinton publicly demanded that the Haitian government step aside and restore democratic rule. Congress was united in opposition to American intervention.
[The U.S. Congress and Multilateral Humanitarian Intervention (PDF)] However, Clinton deployed a large military force to the country in
September 1994. Just before the troops reached Haiti, Clinton sent a delegation led by former President
Jimmy Carter to urge Cédras to step down and leave the country. Cédras agreed and surrendered the government to Aristide. Cédras and his top lieutenants left the country in October, and just days later, American forces escorted Aristide into the capital. The democratic government was restored without a military fight.
The Middle East
Clinton was also deeply involved in the Middle East to negotiate peace agreements between
Arabs, including the
Palestinians and
Israelis. Secret negotiations mediated by Clinton between Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin and
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman
Yasser Arafat led to a historic declaration of peace in
September 1993, called the
Oslo Accords. Clinton personally arranged for the peace accord to be signed at the White House on
September 13,
1993. The agreement allowed a limited Palestinian self-rule in the Israeli-occupied
West Bank and
Gaza Strip. In
July 1994 Clinton helped coordinate a historic compromise between longtime enemies Israel and
Jordan to end their state of war. With this agreement between Jordan's
King Hussein and Israel's Rabin, Jordan became only the second Arab state (after
Egypt) to normalize relations with Israel.
The 1993 and 1995 peace agreements between Israel and Palestine, however, did not end the conflict in the Middle East. As the peace process came to a stall, Clinton invited Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat to peace talks on the
Wye River in
October 1998. The two leaders signed yet another agreement, known as the
Wye River Memorandum, which called for Israel to transfer more territory in the West Bank to the Palestinians. In return, the Palestinians agreed to take steps to curb terrorism. They also agreed to a timetable to negotiate a final resolution of the Palestinian fight for an independent state.
After an abrupt outbreak of violence sparked by the agreement,
[A History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict] however, Netanyahu refused to cede any West Bank territory and placed new demands upon Palestine. This move led to a backlash against Netanyahu's government in Israel.
[Isreali Elections 1999 -- Character, Political Culture, and Centrism] As a result, in
May 1999 Israelis elected
Ehud Barak, the leader of a political coalition that favored resuming the peace process, to replace Netanyahu as prime minister. Clinton continued to work passionately
[Clinton, Bill. My Life. New York: Knopf Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN 0375414576] on negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Throughout his last year in office, Clinton came close to arranging a final peace settlement but failed, according to Clinton, as a result of Arafat's reluctance.
[President Clinton's Statement on Death of Yasser Arafat]Clinton was also confronted with problems in
Iraq. In
1991, three years before Clinton became president, the United States participated in the
Persian Gulf War to liberate
Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. In 1991 the warring parties signed a cease-fire agreement requiring Iraq to eliminate its
weapons of mass destruction and allow inspectors from the
United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) to monitor the country's adherence to the agreement.
The UNSCOM team faced resistance from Iraq, which blocked inspections and hid deadly germ agents and warheads.
[Chronolgy of Iraq - Royal United Services Institute] Clinton threatened military action several times when Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein attempted to stall the UNSCOM inspections.
[Remarks by President on UN Security Council Resolution on Iraq - 1997-11-12] In
December 1998 Clinton ordered four days of concentrated air attacks against military installations in Iraq. After the bombing, Hussein blocked any further UN inspections. For several months afterward, U.S. air assaults continued to target defense installations in Iraq, in response to what the Clinton administration claimed were "provocations" by the Iraqi military,
[Remarks by President on Iraq - 1998-12-19] including antiaircraft fire and radar locks on American planes and missiles.
Korea
North Korea's feared aim to create
nuclear weapons and
ballistic missiles was a serious problem for the Clinton Administration. In
1994, North Korea, a signatory of the
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, refused to allow international inspectors to review two nuclear waste sites. The inspectors wanted to see if North Korea was in violation of the treaty since they were suspected of reprocessing spent fuel into
plutonium, which could be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.
[North Korea's Nuclear Program (PDF)] Despite diplomatic pressure and repeated warnings by Clinton,
[Remarks by President on CNN Telecast of a Global Forum with Clinton, 1994-05-03] North Korea refused to allow the inspections and even raised the prospect of war with
South Korea, an ally of the United States.
After private diplomacy by former president Jimmy Carter, the Clinton administration reached a breakthrough with North Korea in
October 1994 when North Korea agreed to shut down the nuclear plants that could produce materials for weapons if the United States would help North Korea build plants that generated electricity with light-water nuclear reactors. These reactors would be more efficient and their waste could not easily be used for nuclear weaponry.
[Press Briefing by Ambassador Gallucci on Korea] The United States also agreed to supply fuel oil for electricity until the new plants were built, and North Korea agreed to allow inspection of the old waste sites when construction began on the new plants.
[repeat]Mexico
Clinton faced yet another foreign crisis in early
1995, when the value of the
peso, the currency of
Mexico, began to fall sharply and threatened the collapse of the Mexican economy. Clinton believed the collapse of Mexico's economy would have a negative impact on the United States because of their close economic ties. He proposed a plan that would have helped Mexico ease out of financial crisis, but the new Republican-controlled Congress, fearing that voters would not favor aid money to Mexico, rejected the plan. In response, Clinton drafted a $20 billion loan package for Mexico to restore international confidence in the Mexican economy. The loan was approved and Mexico completed its loan payments to the United States in
January 1997, three years ahead of schedule. However, issues such as drug smuggling and U.S. immigration policies continued to strain relations between the United States and Mexico during Clinton's terms in office.
Cuba
After negotiations with representatives of the Cuban government, Clinton revealed in
May 1995 a controversial policy reversing the decades-old policy of automatically granting asylum to Cuban refugees. Some 20,000 Cuban refugees detained at
Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in
Cuba were to be admitted to the United States over a period of three months. In order to prevent a mass exodus of refugees to the United States, all future refugees would be returned to Cuba.
Relations between the United States and Cuba deteriorated in
February 1996 when Cuba shot down two American civilian planes. Cuba accused the planes of violating Cuban airspace. Clinton tightened sanctions against Cuba and suspended charter flights from the United States to Cuba, hoping this would cripple Cuba's tourism industry.
In their response to the incident, the U.S. Congress passed the
Helms-Burton Act in
March 1996. Some parts of the bill strengthened an embargo against imports of Cuban products. Title III, however, made the bill controversial because it allowed American citizens whose property was seized during and after the
1959 Cuban Revolution to sue in American courts foreign companies that later invested in those properties. Title III sparked an immediate uproar from countries such as Mexico,
Canada, and members of the
European Union because they believed that they would be penalized for doing business with Cuba. In response, Clinton repeatedly suspended Title III of the legislation (the act gave the president the right to exercise this option every six months).
Clinton softened his Cuban policy in
1998 and
1999. In
March 1998, at the urging of
Pope John Paul II, Clinton lifted restrictions and allowed humanitarian charter flights to resume. He also took steps to increase educational, religious, and humanitarian contacts in Cuba. The U.S. government decided to allow Cuban citizens to receive more money from American friends and family members and to buy more American food and medicine.
Northern Ireland
Clinton also sought to end the conflict in Northern Ireland by arranging a peace agreement between the
Catholic and
Protestant factions. In 1998 former Senator
George Mitchell–whom Clinton had appointed to assist in peace talks–brokered an accord that became known as the
Good Friday agreement. It called for the
British Parliament to hand over administrative power of the province to a new Northern Ireland assembly that would include members of both religious communities. Months of stalemate followed the agreement, mainly due to the refusal of the
Irish Republican Army (IRA), a largely Catholic paramilitary group, to surrender its weapons. Mitchell returned to the region and arranged yet another blueprint for a further peace settlement that resulted in a
December 1999 formation of a power-sharing government, which was to be followed by steps toward the IRA's disarmament. That agreement faltered as well, although Clinton continued peace talks to prevent the peace process from collapsing completely.
Other Issues
In 1996 Clinton signed the United States onto the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), a landmark international agreement that prohibited all signatory nations from testing nuclear weapons. The following year, he sent the treaty to the Senate for ratification and they rejected it in
October 1999. International reaction to the Senate's action was uniformly negative, and the rejection was a political setback for Clinton, who had lobbied actively for its approval. Despite the rejection of the treaty, Clinton promised that the United States would continue to maintain a policy of not testing nuclear weapons, which had been in place since 1992.
Throughout the
1990s, the Congress refused to appropriate funds for the United States to pay its dues to the
United Nations. By 1999 the United States owed the UN at least $1 billion in back dues. That same year Clinton reached a compromise with Republicans in Congress to submit more than $800 million in back dues. Republicans in the House of Representatives had insisted that UN debt repayments be accompanied by restrictions on U.S. funding for international groups that lobbied for abortion rights in foreign countries.
[Online News Hour - Paying U.N. Dues] Clinton had vetoed similar measures in the past, but he agreed to the restrictions when faced with the prospect that the United States would lose its vote in the
UN General Assembly for nonpayment of dues.
The Lewinsky scandal
In 1998, as a result of allegations that he had lied during grand jury testimony regarding his relationship with
Monica Lewinsky, a young female White House intern, Clinton was the second U.S. president to be
impeached by the House of Representatives. The House held no serious impeachment hearings before the 1998 mid-term elections: Republican candidates rarely mentioned the issue of impeachment, but Democrats generally came out strongly against impeachment. In spite of the allegations against the President, his party picked up seats in the Congress. The Republican leadership called a
lame duck session in December 1998 to hold impeachment proceedings.
Although the
House Judiciary Committee hearings were perfunctory and ended in a straight party line vote, the debate on the Floor of the House was lively. The two charges which were narrowly passed by the House were for
perjury and
obstruction of justice. The perjury charge arose from Clinton's testimony about his relationship to
Monica Lewinsky during a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by former Arkansas-state employee
Paula Jones. The obstruction charge was based on his actions during the subsequent investigation of that testimony. Two other charges were voted down.
Impeachment trial in the Senate
The Senate refused to convene to hold an impeachment trial before the end of the old term, so the trial was held over until the next Congress.
On
February 12, the Senate concluded a 21-day trial with the vote on both counts falling short of the Constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority to convict and remove an office holder. The final vote was generally along party lines, with all of the votes to convict being cast by Republicans. On the perjury charge 55 senators voted to acquit, including 10 Republicans, and 45 voted to convict; on the obstruction charge the Senate voted 50-50.
[Clinton acquitted; president apologizes again - CNN, 1999-02-12] Clinton, like the only other president to be impeached,
Andrew Johnson, served the remainder of his term.
Chinese espionage
|
President Clinton with John Huang (center) and James Riady (right) in the Oval Office |
Throughout his second term in office, President Clinton's policies of
engagement and
transparency with the
People's Republic of China came under intense scrutiny by Congress and the media. It was learned that political appointees and fund-raisers of his (
John Huang,
Charlie Trie,
James Riady, et al.) either had direct ties to Chinese intelligence, or were found to have been illegally donating money wired to them from
Asian sources to Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign and legal defense trust. The issue was compounded when it was learned that a top Chinese arms merchant (
Wang Jun) was allowed to attend a White House "coffee" meeting with Clinton and a number of his campaign donors in February 1996. These questions gained added urgency after Congress released the unanimous report known as the Cox Report in 1999, which documented that China had acquired intelligence about the United States' top military secrets. According to the report,
MIRV,
encryption,
satellite,
ICBM, and advanced
nuclear weapon technology was stolen. Many members of Clinton's staff learned of the thefts as early as July 1995, but Clinton himself was not told until July 1997.
Pardongate
The
Bill Clinton pardons controversy involved a grant of clemency to
FALN bombers in 1999 and pardons to his brother
Roger, tax-evading long-time fugitive billionaire
Marc Rich and others in 2001 (see
List of people pardoned by Bill Clinton).
FALN pardons
Bill Clinton pardoned sixteen members of the
FALN organization. These men belonged to a
Puerto Rican freedom terrorist group, which was responsible for planting over 130 bombs in public places in the U.S. They killed six people and injured seventy. The FALN represented the single largest terrorism campaign in the U.S. "Yet Clinton's clemency released individuals from prison after serving less than twenty years of terms running from fifty-five to ninety years." President Clinton did not follow formal pardon procedures. He skipped the Department of Justice and attorneys. The
FBI did not conduct any background checks, and the FALN did not execute a formal request. These facts, coupled with the Department of Justice's 1996 denial of their clemency, make Clinton's motives questionable. Clinton received bipartisan condemnation and public fury.
The House of Representatives later passed a resolution condemning Clinton's pardon as an explicitly illegal action. Investigations were launched to find reasonable grounds for the clemency. However, "Congressional efforts to learn more about the FALN matter came to an end when Clinton invoked executive privilege to refuse subpoenas from congressional committee." As the critics raged, the White House maintained that the pardon power is not subject to legislative deliberation. It is speculated that Clinton pardoned members of the FALN in exchange for funds for his wife's New York senatorial campaign in 2000.
[[2]Marshall M. Raucci, Providence College]Pardons on the last day of office
On Clinton's last day in office, he pardoned over 200 convicted felons, including his brother Roger who had completed a prison sentence on drug charges and
Dan Rostenkowski, the former Chairman of
House Ways and Means Committee who had been convicted on corruption and mail fraud charges.
Carlos Vignali (convicted of cocaine trafficking) and Almon Braswell (convicted of fraud), both of whom were clients of Clinton's brother-in-law
Hugh Rodham, were pardoned. Rodham later returned the $400,000 in legal fees he earned representing Vignali and Braswell.
[ [3] ] Clinton pardoned
Fife Symington, a Republican governor from Arizona, as a remembrance of Symington's life-saving rescue of him when they were both teenagers. Another one of those pardoned was
Marc Rich, a financier who had fled the United States decades before for tax evasion and other illegal activities including buying illegal oil from the Islamic Republic of
Iran. Though his company put up a $200 million dollar bond on behalf of Rich and his partner, Rich fled the country before being indicted and was never tried or incarcerated. Many questioned the pardon because his wife, Denise Rich, was a generous donor to the Clinton campaigns and to his library. These actions quickly led to public hearings by Congress, headed by Congressman
Dan Burton, into the legality of all of Clinton's presidential pardons. Federal prosecutor
Mary Jo White was appointed to investigate as well. The investigation revealed that Denise Rich's last donation to the Clinton library came a year before Marc Rich's attorney's discussed asking her to lobby Clinton on his behalf. Burton, as part of his investigation, listened to taped recordings of Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Barak pleading with Clinton to pardon Rich as well. Rich had provided millions of dollars in financing for Palestinian development projects, and the Israelis considered Rich a significant part of the peace process.
[Sidney Blumenthal The Clinton Wars. (2003). ISBN 0-37-412502-3] Marc Rich was required to pay a $100 million dollar fine as part of the pardon and to waive all
statutes of limitation in regards to any future civil charges.
James Comey later replaced Mary Jo White, and he closed the investigation without filing any indictments.
Galagate
In June 2000, in an effort to raise money for Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign, Clinton detailed a friend and fund raiser from
Chicago,
James Levin, to serve as his direct liaison with a controversial Hollywood internet entrepreneur,
Peter F Paul. Paul had expressed an interest, through
Democratic National Committee Chairman
Ed Rendell, in becoming a major contributor to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign in order to engage Bill Clinton's post White House "rainmaking" services for his public company,
Stan Lee Media. Paul hosted and underwrote fundraising events at Spago Restaurant and a reception for 150 in Bel Air,on
2000-06-09, including Larry King, Melanie Griffith, Sean Young, Angelica Huston to generate support for Hillary Clinton's senate race. Paul was thereafter induced by Bill and Hillary Clinton, through Levin, to produce the largest fundraising event of Hillary Clinton's campaign, the
Hollywood Gala Salute to President William Jefferson Clinton on
2000-08-12. Paul paid more than $1.2 million to produce the gala. Hillary Clinton's campaign filed four false FEC reports omitting both fundraising events from
2000-06-09 and misreporting Paul's contributions to the
2000-08-12 event. As a result, Hillary Clinton's finance director David Rosen was indicted and tried in May 2005, for election fraud, but was acquitted of all charges.
In 2003 Paul filed a
civil fraud and coercion suit against Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, James Levin and Gary Smith, which was upheld by the
California Supreme Court to proceed to trial (although the case against Hillary Clinton was dismissed), and a
trial date was set for
2007-03-27.
Miscellaneous accusations and criticisms
Willey and Broaddrick allegations
In March 1998, White House aide
Kathleen Willey alleged that Clinton had sexually assaulted her. In the end, the
Robert Ray report deemed Willey an "unreliable witness" because of, "the differences between her deposition and Grand Jury statements, as well as her acknowledgment of false statements to the office of the Independent Counsel".
[Sidney Blumenthal The Clinton Wars. (2003). ISBN 0-37-412502-3] On February 24, 1999,
Juanita Broaddrick claimed on television that Bill Clinton had raped her 21 years previously. However, Broaddrick herself had denied the charge in her own sworn affidavit just two months before [
4]. That affidavit remains the only statement under oath which Broaddrick has made about the alleged incident.
Political "co-opting" and "triangulation"
Clinton was criticized by those on the right and the left for his practice of "co-opting" Republican policies, and "triangulating" himself. The triangulation practice caused the public to see Clinton on top of a triangle, putting himself above the Republicans and Democrats. The theory was that Clinton was, in his eyes, "doing the business of the American people", and not getting involved in
partisan politics. He always stressed he was being
bipartisan, but in the end many progressives concluded that he was simply a "Republican-lite".
Politically conservative policies that he supported and passed while he was President were
NAFTA,
GATT,
welfare reform, more
crimes eligible for
the death penalty, the
Defense of Marriage Act, and
deregulating the
telecommunications industry. He dropped a nominee,
Lani Guinier, from a key
civil rights post because of her
Black Power ideological views. Environmental advocacy groups faulted Clinton in many areas, such as allowing the reversal of
automobile fuel efficiencies and allowing more
pesticide use in the United States.
[[5] Environmental Working Group 1998-05-21] Progressives like
Ralph Nader and
union leaders complained that Clinton's enthusiastic support of
free trade cost the Democrats the Congress in 1994. They argued he alienated working class voters and the party's traditional liberal base, and these voters figured that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats cared very much for them.
-->
|
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 percent in 1993 to a high of 64 percent in 1993 and 1994
[Job Performance Ratings for President Clinton, accessed 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 percent 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
[Poll: Majority of Americans glad Clinton is leaving office - Keating Holland, CNN, 2001-01-10] conducted as he was leaving office, revealed deeply contradictory attitudes regarding Clinton. Although his approval rating at 68 percent was higher than that of any other departing president since polling began more than seven decades earlier, only 45 percent said they would miss him. While 55 percent thought he "would have something worthwhile to contribute and should remain active in public life", and 47 percent rated him as either outstanding or above average as a president, 68 percent thought he would be remembered for his "involvement in personal scandal" rather than his accomplishments as president, and 58 percent answered "No" to the question "Do you generally think Bill Clinton is honest and trustworthy?" 47 percent of the respondents identified themselves as being Clinton supporters.
In May 2006 a CNN poll comparing President Clinton's job performance with that of successor, President George W. Bush, a strong majority of respondents said President Clinton outperformed Bush on most issues.
The poll of 1,021 adult Americans was conducted May 5-7 by Opinion Research Corp. for CNN. Margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
When asked which man was more honest as president, 46 percent favored Clinton to 41 percent for Bush. Respondents favored Clinton by greater than 2-to-1 margins when asked who did a better job at handling the economy (63 percent Clinton, 26 percent Bush) and solving the problems of ordinary Americans (62 percent Clinton, 25 percent Bush).
On foreign affairs, the margin was 56 percent to 32 percent in Clinton's favor; on taxes, it was 51 percent to 35 percent for Clinton; and on handling natural disasters, it was 51 percent to 30 percent, also favoring Clinton.
 |
Clinton sitting with a child. |
As the first
Baby Boomer president, Clinton was the first president in a half century not shaped by World War II. With his sound-bite-ready dialogue and pioneering use of pop culture in his campaigning, such as playing his saxophone on
The Arsenio Hall Show, Clinton was sometimes described as the "
MTV president". Until his inauguration as president, he had earned substantially less money than his wife, and had the smallest net worth of any president in modern history, according to
My Life, Clinton's autobiography. Clinton was popular among
African-Americans and made improving race relations a major theme of his presidency.
[A Conversation With President Bill Clinton on Race in America Today - interview with Clinton, Center for American Progress, 2004-07-16]The couple was a political partnership unknown since Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Many jokes implied that Hillary was the real
President of the United States.
Social conservatives were put off by the impression of Clinton having been a "
hippie" during the late 1960s, his coming-of-age era. In the 1960s, however, Clinton might not have been viewed as such by many of those in the hippie subculture. Clinton avoided the draft with a student deferment while studying abroad during the
Vietnam War. Clinton's marijuana experimentation, excused by Clinton's statement that he "didn't inhale", further tarnished his image with some voters. In terms of policy Clinton was to the right of most recent Democratic candidates for the presidency on many issues - he supported the
death penalty,
curfews, uniforms in public schools, and other measures opposed by
youth rights supporters, and he expanded the
War on Drugs greatly while in office.
"First Black President"
Nobel Prize-winning author
Toni Morrison in 1998 called Clinton "the first Black president," saying "Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas," and comparing Clinton's scrutinized sex life despite his career accomplishments to the
double standards blacks face.
[[6]New Yorker, Morrison, Toni, 1998, October]Like other former American presidents, Clinton has engaged in a career as a public speaker on a variety of issues (earning $875,000 in 2004, according to President Clinton's financial disclosure statements). In his speaking outside the country and in public forums, he continues to comment on aspects of contemporary politics. One notable theme is his advocacy of multilateral solutions to problems facing the world. Clinton's close relationship with the
African American community has been highlighted in his post-Presidential career with the opening of his personal office in the
Harlem section of
New York City. He assisted his wife,
Hillary Clinton, in her campaign for office as
Senator from
New York.
In February 2004, Clinton (along with
Mikhail Gorbachev and
Sophia Loren) won a
Grammy Award for
Best Spoken Word Album for Children for narrating the
Russian National Orchestra's album
Peter and the Wolf/Wolf Tracks. Clinton won a second Grammy in February 2005,
Best Spoken Word Album for
My Life.
|
Hillary Clinton is sworn in as a U.S. Senator by Vice President Gore as Bill and Chelsea Clinton observe. |
Clinton's autobiography,
My Life, was released in June 2004.
On
2004-07-26, Clinton spoke for the fifth consecutive time to the
Democratic National Convention, using the opportunity to praise candidate
John Kerry. Many Democrats believed that Clinton's speech was one of the best in Convention history. In it, he criticized President George W. Bush's depiction of Kerry, saying that "strength and wisdom are not opposing values."
On
2004-09-02, Clinton had an episode of
angina and was evaluated at
Northern Westchester Hospital. It was determined that he had not suffered a
coronary infarction, and he was sent home, returning the following day for
angiography, which disclosed multiple vessel
coronary artery disease. He was transferred to
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, where he underwent a successful quadruple
coronary artery bypass surgery on
2004-09-06. The medical team claimed that, had he not had surgery, he would likely have suffered a massive
heart attack within a few months. On
2005-03-10, he underwent a follow-up surgery to remove scar tissue and fluid from his left chest cavity, a result of his open-heart surgery.
He dedicated his
presidential library, which is the largest in the nation, the
William J. Clinton Presidential Center, in
Little Rock, Arkansas on
2004-11-18. Under rainy skies, Clinton received words of praise from former presidents
Jimmy Carter and
George H. W. Bush, as well as from the current president,
George W. Bush. He was also treated to a musical rendition from
Bono and
The Edge from
U2, who expressed their gratitude at Clinton's efforts to resolve the Northern Ireland conflict during his presidency.
On
2004-11-22, New York Republican Governor
George Pataki named Clinton and the other living former presidents (
Gerald Ford,
Jimmy Carter, and
George H. W. Bush) as honorary members of the board rebuilding the
World Trade Center.
In 2005, the
University of Arkansas System opened the
Clinton School of Public Service on the grounds of the Clinton Presidential Center.
On
2005-12-09, speaking at the
United Nations Climate Change Conference in
Montreal, Clinton publicly criticized the Bush Administration for its handling of emissions control.
While in
Sydney to attend a Global Business Forum, Clinton signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of his presidential foundation with the Australian government to promote HIV/AIDS programs in the Asia-Pacific region.
On
2006-05-03, Clinton announced through the
William J. Clinton Foundation an agreement by major soft drink manufacturers to
stop selling sugared sodas and juice drinks in public primary and secondary schools.
On
2006-03-05, he received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from
Pace University, and is the first recipient of the Pace University President's Centennial Award. Following reception of the honorary degree, he spoke to the students, faculty, alumni and staff of Pace, officially kicking off the centennial anniversary of the university. Also in 2006 Clinton was awarded the
J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding.
|
Clinton, along with Pres. George W. Bush, Laura Bush, and Pres. George H. W. Bush pay their respects to Pope John Paul II before the pope's funeral. |
Friendship with George H.W. Bush
There had been reported signs of a friendship growing between Clinton and George H.W. Bush. After the official unveiling of his White House portrait in June 2004, the Asian Tsunami disaster, Hurricane Katrina, and the
2004 election, Clinton and Bush met, although the nature of the meetings did not appear to include a reconciliation of political opinions.
|
Clinton with former President George H.W. Bush in January 2005. |
On
2005-01-03, President George W. Bush named Clinton and George H. W. Bush to lead a nationwide campaign to help the victims of the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. On
2005-02-01, he was selected by UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan to head the
United Nations earthquake and tsunami relief and reconstruction effort. Five days later, he appeared with Bush on the
Super Bowl XXXIX pre-game show on
Fox in support of their bipartisan effort to raise money for relief of the disaster through the
USA Freedom Corps, an action which Bush described as "transcending politics." Thirteen days later, they traveled to the affected areas to see the relief efforts.
On
2005-08-31, following the devastation of the
Gulf Coast by
Hurricane Katrina, Clinton again teamed with George H. W. Bush to coordinate private relief donations, in a campaign similar to their earlier one in response to the
Indian Ocean tsunami. Clinton was highly critical of the federal government's response to the hurricane, saying that the government "failed" the people affected, and that an investigation into the response was warranted.
[Clinton: Government 'failed' people - CNN, 2005-09-05]*Clinton is 6' 1½" (1.87m) tall.
*Clinton is
left-handed (other
sinistral Presidents include James A. Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush).
*Following the
death of Pope John Paul II on
2005-04-02 Clinton stirred up a mini-controversy saying the late pontiff, "may have had a mixed legacy…there will be debates about him. But on balance, he was a man of God, he was a consistent person, he did what he thought was right." Clinton sat with both President George W. Bush and former President George H.W. Bush as the first current or former American heads of state to attend a papal funeral.
*On
2006-05-13, Clinton was the commencement speaker along with George H. W. Bush at
Tulane University in New Orleans. They both received honorary Doctorates of Laws from
Tulane University. Clinton spoke to the students, faculty and alumni of Tulane and of the devastation caused by
Hurricane Katrina that Tulane students know firsthand.
*Clinton is an amateur
saxophonist (other recent musical presidents include pianists
Harry Truman and
Richard Nixon).
*Clinton is allergic to
dust,
mold,
pollen, and
cat dander, mildly allergic to
beef and
dairy products. [
7]
*Clinton was a brother of
Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity and
Kappa Kappa Psi, a band service fraternity.
*Clinton was the only President to be married to a member of Congress:
Hillary Rodham Clinton's service as a
Senator officially began 18 days before his second term ended.
*Clinton has basic knowledge of
German; he studied German in college as his language-of-choice.
*Clinton owned two pets during his presidency: a male chocolate-colored
Labrador Retriever named "
Buddy" and a
cat named "
Socks". Socks arrived in 1993 and was the first cat to live in the White House since President Carter's daughter's cat
Misty Malarky Ying Yang. Clinton acquired Buddy as a puppy in 1997 and named him after his late uncle. Buddy and Socks fought frequently at the White House and were kept in separate quarters. Since this would be no longer possible in the Clintons' smaller home in
Chappaqua, New York, Socks was given away to Clinton's secretary when he left office. Buddy died after being run over by a car near the Clintons' Chappaqua house in 2002.
*
Centraal Beheer, a Dutch insurance company famous for its humorous commercials, once had a TV commercial involving Clinton and a
voodoo doll. This commercial was taken down after a few weeks at the request of the White House.
*Clinton reportedly owned a 1970
El Camino at one time. Speaking to a group of GM employees, Clinton joked, "It had
astro-turf in the back. You don't want to know why."
*In November of 1997 President Clinton made history by being the first sitting President to speak to a
gay rights organization. He gave a speech at a formal dinner hosted by the
Human Rights Campaign [
8].
* The
Clinton thumb gesture was popularized by Clinton.
*Clinton's campaign song during his first Presidential campaign was "
Don't Stop" [Thinking About Tomorrow] by
Fleetwood Mac. He even managed to persuade the then-defunct group to perform for his inaugural ball in 1993.
*Clinton is, to date, the only sitting U.S. President to have shaken hands with Cuban President
Fidel Castro. The two leaders found themselves standing next to each other at a U.N. photo op in September 2000. As the 150 leaders in attendance were exiting for lunch, a chance bottle neck at the door put the two leaders side by side and the handshake took place. They shook hands and exchanged what was described as small talk for a couple of minutes. Richard Nixon shook Castro's hand when he was Vice-President, and Jimmy Carter has done so during his post-presidential years. [
9]
* The first presidential
Webcast, held by President Bill Clinton on
1999-11-08 live from
Georgetown University, is currently the only bona fide Internet-age broadcast in a
Presidential library. The two hour internet broadcast entitled
Townhall with President Clinton, hosted by
Al From of the
Democratic Leadership Council and directed by
Marc Scarpa, was billed as an "Online Town Hall Meeting" ushering in 'The New Politics of the Information Age'".
*Appeared in a commercial with preceding president
George Herbert Walker Bush encouraging donations to the
Red Cross and other charities after the
2004 Tsunami.
*Appeared in a commercial for
Nickelodeon's
Let's Just Play Get Healthy Challenge.
*During the
1998 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Clinton made a bet with
Canadian Prime Minister
Jean Chretien on the playoff series between the
Washington Capitals and the
Ottawa Senators where the loser of the series had to wear the opposing team's jersey, The
Capitals won the series four games to one and Chretien had to wear a Capitals jersey.
*In
2003, he became the only politican to be the highlight of an
E! True Hollywood Story.
Primary sources
*Bill Clinton,
My Life. (2004). ISBN 0-37-541457-6.
*
Sidney Blumenthal The Clinton Wars. (2003). ISBN 0-37-412502-3
*
Kenneth W. Starr The Starr Report: The Findings of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr on President Clinton and the Lewinsky Affair (1998) ISBN 1-89-162024-X
*
George Stephanopoulos All Too Human: A Political Education (1998) ISBN 0316929190
*
*
White House biography*
William J. Clinton Foundation official website
*
Clinton Global Initiative official website
*
Clinton Presidential Library official website
*
Clinton School of Public Service*
Clinton Accountability Project*
Free ebook of Bill Clinton at
Project Gutenberg*
The American Presidency Project at UCSB: The Most Comprehensive Resource on the Web*
First Inaugural Address, via
Yale Law School*
Second Inaugural Address, via
Yale Law School*
Audio recordings of Clinton's speeches, via
Yale Law School*
Executive Orders signed by Clinton, via
Michigan State University*
Pardons Granted By President Clinton, via
United States Department of Justice*
Draft Articles of Impeachment, 1998, via
United States House of Representatives*
Clinton Found in Contempt of Court by Federal Judge Susan Webber Wright*
Documents: U.S. condoned Iraq oil smuggling, via
CNN*
Political donations made by Bill Clinton, via Newsmeat
*
Bill Clinton, Governor of Arkansas, et al., appellants v. M.C. Jeffers, et al., 498 U.S. 1019 (1991), via
United States Department of Justice*
Video of Bill Clinton denying the Lewinsky affair*
Paul v William J Clinton et al civil fraud and coercion suit
