1. Presidency of Bill Clinton

2. Election of 1992

3. 1st Budget Health Care Reform  Limited federal spending, increase income taxes 40% on the richest Americans, cut taxes for low- income Americans and Introduced a federal gasoline tax  Aimed at fixing the recession that started in the early 90’s  He proposed guaranteed health insurance for every American. Appointed Hillary Clinton as the head of the Task Force on healthcare. Congress didn’t pass any form of the proposed plan. It was a major defeat for Clinton.  Could have been the first major health care reform bill

4. Economic Recovery Contract with America  Clinton eliminated Cold War restrictions, helped grow the computer industry in the US, reduced military spending & closed military bases. By the end of his presidency unemployment was down & profits were up.  He balanced the budget in 1999.  Proposed by Newt Gingrich, it proposed a program of conservative principles. It attempted to win control of the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections. Gingrich argued that the government was too large, and was no longer responsive to the people.  sought to restore balance between the government and citizens

5. The Balkans Crisis NAFTA  Post Cold War tensions developed in Yugoslavia between Christians Serbs and Muslim Bosnians. Some Serbs adopted a policy of “ethnic cleansing” which was basically genocide. Clinton helped negotiate a peace in Bosnia, and US troops were sent in as part of a NATO peacekeeping force.  Clinton’s interventions led to a compromise, peace & end to bloodshed and killing  North American Free Trade Agreement- originally negotiated by George H. Bush. Clinton pushed it through Congress creating a new trade association with Mexico and Canada, that gradually phased out tariffs between the three countries.  It is believed that free trade between nations stimulates the economies of the nations involved.

6. WTO Israel  General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade –GATT (1947) was replaced by the World Trade Organization WTO in 1994. It is an international organization that established rules for global trade & helps to settle trade disputes.  It accelerated globalization  The Clinton Administration followed Bush’s lead in working toward peace between Israel the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) & Jordan  Continuing to work on peace in the Middle East

7. Somalia Iraq  US & UN forces were unable to end fighting between rival war lords in Somalia. President Clinton withdrew US troops when no further progress was in sight  The US didn’t want to be entangled in a civil war in another country  (think Vietnam)  Clinton sent US troops to the Middle East to pressure Saddam Hussein to withdraw Iraqi troops from the Kuwait border. He later took steps to force Hussein to allow UN inspectors to enter Iraq to continue their inspection for nuclear & biological weapons  Laid the foundation for the US invasion of Iraq in the 2000s.

8. Impeachment & Scandal  In 1999 Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about a sexual affair between himself and a White House Intern, and for obstruction of justice. The House of Representatives voted for impeachment, the Senate fell short of the two-thirds vote required.  Second President to be impeached but not convicted; it furthered our distrust of the government.

9. Movers and Shakers of the 1990’s