President William Clinton

Clinton’s Background Political Background 1992 Election At 30, Clinton was the Attorney General for Arkansas At 32, he became the youngest Governor Although a Democrat, he was not as conservative as the Republicans but not as liberal as Democrats > centrist 1992 Election Key features included health care & middle class tax cuts Wife Hillary Clinton was a major feature

Presidential Election of 1992 Democrat – Bill Clinton ran as “protector of middle class” with VP Al Gore Republican – President George H.W. Bush Independent – Ross Perot Electoral Votes – Clinton 370 to Bush’s 168 Popular Votes – Clinton received less than 50% of popular vote & Perot earned 19% of popular vote but no electoral votes

1992 Presidential Election

Clinton’s Domestic Policies Deficit Reduction Although Clinton initially proposed cutting taxes for the middle class, he raised taxes due to the budget deficit This led to a long period of low unemployment & interest rates Health-Care Reform Costs were high & tens of millions of people had little or no health insurance Clinton’s created a special task force led by wife Hillary to investigate Response to Clinton’s plan was mixed but defeated in Congress after months of debate

Mid-Year Congressional Election Defeat of Clinton’s health-care reform showed discontent with his leadership as he failed to deliver on campaign promises Mid-year elections led to Republican victories Republican Newt Gingrich campaigned on a “Contract With America” with plans to balance the budget, fight crime & get tax cuts Republicans gained 54 seats in the House, 8 in the Senate, & took control of both houses for the 1st time in 40 years

Clinton’s Challenges Oklahoma City Bombing (1995) Terrorists exploded a bomb in the Oklahoma City Federal Building killing 168 people & injuring 500. Americans Timothy McVeigh & Terry Nichols were convicted McVeigh was executed & Nichols got life in prison http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDlSPALk-yM 1996 Presidential Election Democrat Clinton defeated Republican Bob Dole & Independent Ross Perot again

Oklahoma City Bombing 1996 Presidential Election

Clinton’s Foreign Policy Oslo Accords 1993 Clinton hosted the signing of this peace agreement between Israel & the Palestinians Both agreed to self-rule for Palestinians in certain areas & Palestine recognized Israel’s right to exist Somalia, Africa (1993) Bush had sent UN troops to help distribute food to victims starving from the Civil War. In 1993 the UN tried to end the fighting The worst American incident occurred in Mogadishu where 18 soldiers were killed & 84 wounded *Black Hawk Down Clinton withdrew forces & the experience discouraged him from sending troops to Rwanda in 1994 to stop the genocide http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmLGzZkTr5U

Mogadishu, Somalia - Africa

Foreign Policy continued Haiti 1994 The U.S. helped the U.N. settle a violent dispute with the goal of removing a military dictator The U.S. presence helped bring a peaceful change in gov’t

Foreign Policy continued Yugoslavia This country was formed after WWI with several ethnic groups who were historic enemies. In the Cold War, it was held together by Tito but his death in the 80s lead to the unraveling of the country In the 90s the country no longer existed & it its place were several smaller countries with lots of violence 1995 Clinton helped get the Dayton Accords signed to stop fighting in Bosnia & Herzegovina 1999 NATO intervened against Serbia with the goal of stopping the army’s attempt to force ethnic Albanians from the Serbian region of Kosovo NATO bombing forced Serbian troops to leave Kosovo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae_cTGvxYGI

International Trade NAFTA – North American Free Trade Association U.S., Mexico, & Canada became 1 large free trade zone Products could be sold across borders without tariffs or trade barriers Started by Bush but Clinton had to get support Critics said it could cost American jobs but Clinton thought it would increase trade WTO – World Trade Organization Replaced GATT & settled trade disputes & set rules for global trade

Scandal Whitewater Scandal Throughout Clinton’s 1st term, he & Hillary faced an investigation regarding an investment in the 1970s in real estate known as Whitewater The Clinton’s & their business partners were questioned about improper behavior in getting and using loans Special prosecutor Kenneth Starr led the investigation There were no Whitewater-related charges against the Clinton’s but 3 of their former business associates were found guilty of various crimes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwojP_PhOWs