BILL CLINTON
In 1992, Bill Clinton was outsider challenger to incumbent George H. W. Bush (he was the Governor of Arkansas). Bush's term was marked by economic problems and during his re-election bid, Bush was unable to keep Reagan's conservative coalition together. He also faced an independent challenger from billionaire businessmen Ross Perot, who managed to steal votes from the incumbent rather than the challenger from Arkansas. Clinton, on the other hand, was a centrist democrat who promoted liberal social policies but who wanted to pursue more fiscally conservative policies than the New Deal and Great Society Democrats. This approach appealed to the US electorate and he managed to serve 2 terms. Despite leaving office with high approval ratings and being consistently ranked highly among all past presidents, his presidency was also mired by sex scandals and the rise of a more partisan style of politics in Washington.
Domestic Policies
Foreign Policy
Newt Gingrich, the Contract with America, government shutdowns and the rise of partisanship
After 40 years of Democratic control of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, a prominent Republican congressmen from Georgia, sought to seize back control of the house by appealing directly to the conservative coalition that Reagan built during the 1980's. In particular, he tried to win over the far-right wing of the Republican Party. In order to do this, he co-authored the 'Contract with America" which made promises about the very specific actions the Republican Party would take if they held the House of Representatives. This was a very unique and powerful document at the time as it also hinted at rebuilding the public's political trust in Washington.
It worked. The 'Contract with America' was released 6 weeks before the 1994 mid-term congressional elections and the Republicans took back the lower house of Congress. However, it also saw the rise of partisanship in Washington as the Republicans began attempting to keep those promises. One of them was to shrink the size of government and this eventually brought them into conflict with Clinton. Clinton vetoed the Republican budget of 1995 and Gingrich responded by refusing extend the government debt ceiling. This would have led the US government to default on its debt obligations and therefore resulted in a government shutdown between November 1995 and January 1996.
Domestic Policies
- Attempts at Healthcare reform
- Clinton's economic policy
- Welfare reform
- Gays in the Military
- Diversity in government
Foreign Policy
- Somali Civil War
- Rwandan Genocide
- NAFTA, GATT and WTO
- Yugoslavia
- Haiti
Newt Gingrich, the Contract with America, government shutdowns and the rise of partisanship
After 40 years of Democratic control of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, a prominent Republican congressmen from Georgia, sought to seize back control of the house by appealing directly to the conservative coalition that Reagan built during the 1980's. In particular, he tried to win over the far-right wing of the Republican Party. In order to do this, he co-authored the 'Contract with America" which made promises about the very specific actions the Republican Party would take if they held the House of Representatives. This was a very unique and powerful document at the time as it also hinted at rebuilding the public's political trust in Washington.
It worked. The 'Contract with America' was released 6 weeks before the 1994 mid-term congressional elections and the Republicans took back the lower house of Congress. However, it also saw the rise of partisanship in Washington as the Republicans began attempting to keep those promises. One of them was to shrink the size of government and this eventually brought them into conflict with Clinton. Clinton vetoed the Republican budget of 1995 and Gingrich responded by refusing extend the government debt ceiling. This would have led the US government to default on its debt obligations and therefore resulted in a government shutdown between November 1995 and January 1996.
This meant that thousands of federal employees were sent home without pay and some government services were temporarily halted, having a knock-on effect on the population. The fallout from this was bad for Gingrich and Republicans, who the US public blamed for the shutdown. Clinton emerged from the crisis the victor and it boosted his approval ratings. It also played a key part in his 1996 election victory. His Republican opponent, Senator Bob Dole, played a key role in ending the budget crisis in January 1996 because he realized that the specter of a continual government shutdown would harm his electoral hopes. However, the current hyper-partisanship, failure for both parties to compromise and 'reach across the aisle' and congressional deadlock can be traced back to Newt Gingrich and the government shutdown of 1995/6.
Monica Lewinsky and Impeachment
In January 1998, there were rumors that Clinton had been involved in an extra-marital relationship with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. This was used by Clinton's political opponents to drive him from office and ultimately led to his impeachment.
This relationship was alleged to have occurred between November 1995 and March 1997. It appears that other White House staff were suspicious that this relationship may have been taking place as they attempted to move Lewinsky to the Pentagon, worrying that she was spending too much time with the president. Lewinsky's alleged relationship with Clinton first surfaced publically when she was mentioned in a sworn affidavit from an Arkansas women called Paula Jones. Jones was claiming that Clinton had sexually harassed her while he was still Governor of Arkansas and was using the alleged Lewinsky affair as evidence that Clinton was demonstrating a pattern of sexual misbehavior.
Prior to this, Lewinsky was confiding in her relationship with a co-worker Linda Tripp, who began secretly recording their conversations. When news of the scandal leaked, Clinton denied under oath that he had been in a sexual relationship with Lewinsky. An independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, who had been investigating both Clintons for alleged financial misconduct during a real estate deal (the Whitewater Scandal), expanded his investigation to include the Lewinsky scandal. Starr's report concluded that Clinton had been involved in a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, that he had lied under oath about it and that he was therefore guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice.
While criminal charges were not filed, the Republican-controlled congress passed articles of impeachment against Clinton, who faced a 21-day trial in the Senate. In December 1998, Clinton was found not guilty of both offenses by a majority of senators and kept his job. During this period, a number of Republican senators and congressmen who had called on Clinton to resign were revealed to had affairs and chose to resign their positions.
While it can be argued that Clinton could be accused of being reckless in his personal life, it is also fair to say that he was a victim of the partisanship that emerge in Washington politics during the 1990's and was the subject of intense scrutiny. He kept his job largely because:
However, the scandal still cast a shadow over the 2000 presidential election. This election was contested by Al Gore (his vice-president) and George W. Bush (son of George H. W, Bush and Governor of Texas) and was one of the tightest in US history. Ultimately, Bush won by a narrow margin in Florida (although he was assisted by a Supreme Court decision in Gore vs. Bush). Gore has subsequently claimed that US public fatigue over the sex scandals led to a lower Democratic voter turnout that cost him the election. Clinton claimed that Gore's reluctance to allow Clinton to help him campaign in states such as Arkansas and New Hampshire cost Gore those states and therefore the election.
Monica Lewinsky and Impeachment
In January 1998, there were rumors that Clinton had been involved in an extra-marital relationship with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. This was used by Clinton's political opponents to drive him from office and ultimately led to his impeachment.
This relationship was alleged to have occurred between November 1995 and March 1997. It appears that other White House staff were suspicious that this relationship may have been taking place as they attempted to move Lewinsky to the Pentagon, worrying that she was spending too much time with the president. Lewinsky's alleged relationship with Clinton first surfaced publically when she was mentioned in a sworn affidavit from an Arkansas women called Paula Jones. Jones was claiming that Clinton had sexually harassed her while he was still Governor of Arkansas and was using the alleged Lewinsky affair as evidence that Clinton was demonstrating a pattern of sexual misbehavior.
Prior to this, Lewinsky was confiding in her relationship with a co-worker Linda Tripp, who began secretly recording their conversations. When news of the scandal leaked, Clinton denied under oath that he had been in a sexual relationship with Lewinsky. An independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, who had been investigating both Clintons for alleged financial misconduct during a real estate deal (the Whitewater Scandal), expanded his investigation to include the Lewinsky scandal. Starr's report concluded that Clinton had been involved in a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, that he had lied under oath about it and that he was therefore guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice.
While criminal charges were not filed, the Republican-controlled congress passed articles of impeachment against Clinton, who faced a 21-day trial in the Senate. In December 1998, Clinton was found not guilty of both offenses by a majority of senators and kept his job. During this period, a number of Republican senators and congressmen who had called on Clinton to resign were revealed to had affairs and chose to resign their positions.
While it can be argued that Clinton could be accused of being reckless in his personal life, it is also fair to say that he was a victim of the partisanship that emerge in Washington politics during the 1990's and was the subject of intense scrutiny. He kept his job largely because:
- Hillary Clinton remained loyal to him throughout the entire process
- There was disagreement over the legal definition of 'sexual relations' which was enough to find him acquitted of perjury
- The US public were becoming increasingly disgusted by the intense nature of the investigations of Kenneth Starr, which did not neglect to document any salacious detail. Many believed the scandal was being orchestrated by his opponents for political gain
- His presidency maintained high approval ratings because of the way the economy was performing
However, the scandal still cast a shadow over the 2000 presidential election. This election was contested by Al Gore (his vice-president) and George W. Bush (son of George H. W, Bush and Governor of Texas) and was one of the tightest in US history. Ultimately, Bush won by a narrow margin in Florida (although he was assisted by a Supreme Court decision in Gore vs. Bush). Gore has subsequently claimed that US public fatigue over the sex scandals led to a lower Democratic voter turnout that cost him the election. Clinton claimed that Gore's reluctance to allow Clinton to help him campaign in states such as Arkansas and New Hampshire cost Gore those states and therefore the election.
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