Transcript Bill Clinton - Spartanburg County School District One

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
42th President
AP US History
By: Ashley Peace
STARTING OUT
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Bill Clinton attended Georgetown
University to major in international
affairs.
Bill Clinton spent the summer after his
sophomore year at Georgetown
University he worked on the campaign
of a Democratic candidate for governor,
George McGovern, who was running
against President Richard Nixon.
The candidate lost but Bit made
contacts that helped him land a post in
the Washington office of Arkansas
senator J. William Fulbright.
As a junior assistant, he stuffed
envelopes and answered the phone.
Fulbright was an early critic of the
Vietnam War, and Clinton’s views were
often influenced by what he heard.
A BEGINNING IN POLITICS
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After graduation in 1973, Bill landed a teaching job at the
University of Arkansas Law school, in the college town of
Fayetteville.
Before his first year of teaching ended, 27-year-old Bill
Clinton announced his first run for public office- for a seat in
the U.S. Congress from the 3rd District in Arkansas.
He won the Democratic primary and faced Republican
congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt in November.
Hammerschmidt was popular in the district, while Clinton
was barely known.
He ran a great campaign and was catching up to his
experience opponent, but it wasn’t enough- he lost by 6,000
votes
GOVERNOR OF ARKANSAS
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Even though Clinton lost his first election, he was a rising
political star.
In 1976 he was encouraged to run for attorney general.
No Republican ran against Clinton, so he had the free time
to direct the campaign to elect Democrat Jimmy Carter for
president- both were elected.
Clinton worked hard as attorney general, but he saw the
position as a stepping-stone.
In 1978 he announced he would run for governor and
demonstrated his talents as a campaigner, receiving 63
percent of the vote.
Bill Clinton, just 32, had become the youngest governor of a
U.S. state in 40 years.
(CONT)
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In April 1980, Fidel Castro
announced that anyone who was
unhappy in Cuba could leave.
On June 1, 1980, a group of
refugees at Fort Chaffee rioted,
and about 300 escaped, causing
alarm in the small towns near the
base.
Governor Clinton was forced to call
out the National Guard to help
round up the escapees and to
protect them from angry
Arkansans who resented their
presence.
The images of chaos at Fort
Chaffee shocked voters and made
Clinton look like a weak governor
who couldn’t protect his state.
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Clinton moved aggressively to introduce new policies to Arkansas,
one of the poorest states in the nation.
The state government was deep in debt, its education system was
one of the poorest, and unemployment was high.
Clinton pushed for education reforms, worked to control clear-cutting
of the state’s forests by timber companies, and fought for a plan to
improve the state’s sadly run-down highways.
To pay for highway repairs, he persuaded the legislature to raise
license fees on cars, which ended up being very unpopular.
When he was criticized, he would deny responsibility or shift the
blame.
At the end of his term, votes turned him out in favor of Frank White,
a savings and loan executive.
REELECTION FOR GOVERNOR
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Clinton went to work at Little Rock
law firm but spent most of his time
campaigning for re-election.
In the 1982 race, Clinton admitted
his mistakes and used his charm to
convince the voters to re-elect him.
He won in 1982 and again in 1984.
Voters then supported him for two,
four-year terms in 1986 and 1990.
As governor, Clinton advocated
educational reform, appointing
Hillary Clinton to lead a committee
to draft higher standards for
Arkansas schools.
One of the administration’s
proposals called for competence
tests for all teachers.
Governor Clinton’s sweeping
education reforms positively
impacted Arkansas schools.
FUTURE PRESIDENT MATERIAL
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Bill Clinton was viewed as someone
who stood a good chance of winning
the presidency for the Democratic
Party, which had been out of office
since 1981.
At the National Democratic
convention in Atlanta, Clinton was
chosen to give the nominating
speech for Michael Dukakis, proving
him with his first national
presentation to a mass political
audience, but it turned out to be a
disaster.
In 1989, President George H. W.
Bush appointed Clinton co-chair of a
national meeting of governors to
discuss education matters.
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Clinton was engaging in activities
that seemed destined to result in
his candidacy at the Democratic
National Convention in 1992.
Clinton convinced the delegates to
the Democratic Leadership Council
that a drastic shift was needed if
the Democrats were to get any
chance at regaining the presidency.
The Ronald Reagan presidency had
gained ascendancy by a landslide in
1980- Reagan portrayed the
Democrats as big spenders and
supporters of big government.
Clinton denied rumors that he was
about to announce his candidacy for
president.
EYEING THE PRESIDENCY
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In July 1991 he admitted he was considered to fun for president.
October3, 1991, speaking form the Old State House in Little Rock,
Arkansas, Clinton announced his intention to become a candidate for the
presidency.
Clinton promised that if he were elected, he would impose higher taxes on
the rich, making possible lower taxes for the middle class and the poor.
Clinton suggested that, after eleven years of Republican leadership, the
United States was heading toward a disastrous direction.
Under the Reagan-Bush administrations, the nation had built up a
staggering four-trillion dollar debt by 1991.
Clinton promised that he would work strenuously to reduce the national
debt and the interest payments required to service that debt.
He vowed to put the Social Security and Medicare systems on a firmer
financial footing.
CLINTON’S CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT
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Clinton’s first stop on the campaign trail was New Hampshire, which
holds the earliest national primaries in the US.
Clinton was on the Democratic ballot with five other candidates, and
finished second.
It was surprising since two scandals involving Clinton surfaced
during the primary, the first being a prolonged sexual affair with
Gennifer Flowers and the second being a letter he had written while
he was a college student in an effort to avoid being drafted.
When the scandals were made public, many voters wrote Clinton off,
remembering how previous politicians had been destroyed by
similar allegations, but eventually forgave him.
Although the 1992 election was between George W. Bush and Bill
Clinton, a third candidate, H. Ross Perot, declared his candidacy as
an independent.
Clinton easily won primaries in most of the southern states, as well
as in Illinois, New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
(CONT)
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By June, he had won California, whose electoral votes, combined
with the others he received, spelled a clear victory for him at the
Democratic Convention held later on.
The voters had qualms about Clinton because of the scandals
involving him, but they had greater qualms with President Bush
because of the weakening of the national economy.
Perot appeared frequently on television, but when asked pointed
questions about how he would deal with the economic problem, he
said he wished he would have know he was going to be asked that
question because he had charts he could have brought with him
that would have clarified his answer.
Perot later withdrew his candidacy on the last day of the Democratic
National Convention, only to reenter the race in October, shortly
before the election, saying he had made a mistake to withdraw.
Shortly before the election, Clinton, Bush, and Perot engaged in a
debate on national television.
OUTCOME OF THE 1992 ELECTION
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At this point in time, the election
appeared to be anybody’s.
The final tally showed Clinton with
43 percent of the vote, Bush with 38
percent, and Perot with only 19
percent.
Clinton had won 32 states and Bush
won 18.
Clinton became the second-youngest
president of the Unites States, only a
little older on the day of his
inauguration than Theodore
Roosevelt when he was first elected.
Clinton was also the first president
to be born after World War 2,
making him a part of the baby
boomer generation.
CLINTON’S PROMISES
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Clinton was inaugurated on January 20, 1993.
He had vowed to bolster the nation’s economy, to support gun control and crime
prevention, to overhaul the health care and welfare systems, to make the federal
government more efficient, and to sign the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA).
By the end of his first year, Clinton had battled Congress to secure adoption of an
economic package that combined tax increases and spending cuts.
His 1993 economic package passed without a single Republican vote in
either chamber of Congress.
This economic policy lowered the deficit from $290 billion in 1992 to $203
billion by 1994.
By 1999, surging tax revenues had generated a surplus of $124 billion.
HEALTHCARE
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One problem that face American society was health care.
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Many American families had no health insurance and had little
access to the medical care that one might expect to take for
granted in a society as rich as that of the United States.
The president appointed Hillary Clinton to head a task force
to investigate how the health care system in the US could
and should be altered.
Although it carried no salary, this appointment raised cries of
impropriety, and the final report of the task force was harshly
criticized in many area.
This report opened needed dialogue about a pressing
national problem and might have led to positive outcomes
had not another scandal, Whitewater, erupted about the
same time the report was released.
THE WHITEWATER PROBLEM
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During their time in Arkansas’s executive mansion, Bill and Hillary Clinton
had taken a financial interest in a land development project called
Whitewater.
The Clintons were friends of James and Susan McDougal, who were
principals in the Whitewater project.
James MacDougal was accused of misappropriating funds, and it appears
that the Clintons might have been involved in questionable activities relating
to the Whitewater project.
The right wing of the Republican Party called for an investigation by
Congress, but the Democratic majority scuttled the investigation.
Vince Foster, the Clinton’s attorney, was under suspicion for illegal dealings
relation to Whitewater.
On July 20, 1993, his body was found in Fort Marcy Park near Alexandria,
Virginia, with a single bullet hole in the head.
Foster’s death , even though it was ruled as suicide, set the White House
into turmoil.
(CONT)
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Some suspected that Foster had been murdered to keep him quiet.
Hillary Clinton was accused of removing crucial papers from his office
as soon as she heard of his death.
These rumors raised embarrassing questions for the president and the
first lady.
Although no immediate action taken regarding Whitewater, Attorney
General Janet Reno appointed an independent counsel, Kenneth Starr,
to investigate Whitewater.
When Starr subpoenaed documents from the fist lady regarding billing
practices at the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, that she was involved in
during Bill’s governorship, she claimed that the documents were
misplaced and did not get them to Starr until months later when they
mysteriously surfaced.
THE PAULA JONES CONTROVERSY
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Two Arkansas troopers who had worked for Clinton during his terms as
governor admitted to reporters that when Clinton was governor, they
had arranged assignations for him in hotel rooms.
This scandal generated a lawsuit against Clinton by Paula Jones, who
claimed that the then-governor lured her into a hotel room where he
proposed that they commit a sex act.
A legal question arose as to whether a sitting president could be
required to defend himself against such an accusation while he still
held office.
It was finally ruled that the suit could proceed, with the president giving
a deposition under oath in answer to questions posed by the
prosecuting attorney.
The president still continued to attend to affairs of the state.
Paula Jones received financial assistance in her lawsuit from the
Rutherford Foundation, a conservative think-tank that was opposed to
Clinton and all that he stood for.
The upshot of the Paul Jones lawsuit was that Clinton eventually paid a
substantial financial settlement to Jones in order to close the case and
keep to it out of court.
(CONT)
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The economy began to show renewed vigor and finally to expand in
ways that affected nearly all Americans.
Inflation was coming under control, free enterprise seemed to be
flourishing, and unemployment was decidedly declining.
On February 5, 1993, Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave
Act in to law, and on November 30, he signed the Brady bill, which
imposed a five-day waiting period on those wishing to buy handguns.
On December 1993, he signed the highly controversial NAFTA into
law.
and the Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which led to
the establishment in 1995 of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Congress also approved a deficit reduction bill, rules allowing
abortion counseling in federally funded clinics, a waiting period for
handgun purchases (the Brady Bill), and a national service program.
THE 1996 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
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The Paula Jones case broke in May, 1994,
and the press covered it quite fully- this
scandal and others were partly
responsible for the Democrats’ losing their
majorities in both the House and the
Senate in the off-year election in 1994.
The American people acknowledged that
Clinton was an effective president and his
approval ratings remained high.
By the time that the 1996 elections were
held, the public had been able to separate
Clinton’s private life from his professional
life.
Running against Republican senator Bob
Dole, Clinton won by a landslide with 49
percent of the vote to Dole’s 41 percent.
Ross Perot ran again as an independent,
but received only 8 percent.
Clinton received 276 electoral votes while
Doles received 156 electoral votes.
PRESIDENT FOR THE 2ND TIME
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In January 1997, Bill Clinton took the oath of office for the
second time.
In 1996, Clinton signed a bill to “end welfare as we know it.”
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It required able-bodied people who received welfare payments to
work, and limited the number of years they could receive welfare
payments.
In May 1997 he led the drive for the Welfare to Work
Partnership, a program to help more people get off welfare,
get needed education and training, and find jobs.
The booming economy, reduced military spending, and
Clinton’s economic initiatives also helped continue dramatic
reductions of the government’s deficit.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
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He improved his international image when the Israel–Jordan peace
agreement was signed at the White House in the summer of 1994 by
Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein.
In the fall of that year, the administration succeeded in restoring
Haiti's ousted president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to power.
Clinton scored again by bolstering Russian president Boris Yeltsin's
popularity with promises of economic aid.
The problems in Eastern Europe were Clinton's next big challenge.
Though he wanted desperately to end the brutal ethnic cleansing in
Bosnia, he did not want to commit American ground troops to do so.
A peace accord involving American peacekeeping troops was
ultimately signed in Dayton, Ohio, in Nov. 1995.
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
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In the summer of 1996,
Congress passed a
sweeping reform bill ,
fulfilling Clinton’s 1992
campaign promise to
“end welfare as we know
it.”
The legislation replaced
the long standing Aid to
Families with Dependent
Children (AFDC) program
with a system of block
grants to individual
states.
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It also dropped the eligibility
of legal immigrant for
welfare assistance during
the first five years of their
residency.
Clinton also won an
increase in the minimum
wage to %5.15 per hour.
The President blocked
Republican attempts to bar
public education to children
of illegal immigrants.
(CONT)
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During his campaign, Clinton vowed to end the exclusion of homosexuals
from military service.
A federal court ruling just days after Clinton’s election moved that
controversial topic onto the public agenda, where it was difficult for the
President to set it aside until a more convenient time.
A political fight ensued with conservative members of Congress and the
leadership of the armed forces
Clinton compromised by agreeing to delay a decision on gays in the military
for six months.
He ultimately proposed a policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” meaning that the
military services would not ask about the sexual orientation of serve
personnel and that these personnel would not be required to divulge this
information.
Liberals and gays felt betrayed by the President, and conservatives overrode
the administration’s executive directive by writing a more restrictive policy
into law in a defense authorization bill.
THE MONICA LEWINSKY AFFAIR
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A former White House worker, Linda Tripp, who had been transferred
to the Pentagon and who apparently held a grudge against Clinton,
had become the friend and confidante of a 21 year old White House
aide, Monica Lewinsky.
Lewinsky was an appealing young lady who had gone out of her way
to ingratiate herself to the president.
Lewinsky had greater access to Clinton’s White House office than
aides generally are permitted
She revealed to Tripp that she was sexually involved with Clinton
The story broke on January 21, 1998, after Tripp had gone to the
Independent Counsel Kenneth Star with tapes of Lewinsky’s latenight telephone alls to her detailing her sexual adventures in the
pantry off the Oval Office.
Clinton went before the nation on television and denied categorically
that he had had sexual relations “with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.”
Starr persisted his investigation, which now extended far beyond his
original charge to investigate Whitewater.
(CONT)
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When the Lewinsky story hit the press,
few in the White House thought that the
president could survive the accusations
and continue in office.
His protests of innocence were received
skeptically, but he was finally backed
into a corner when Lewinsky produced a
blue dress stained with semen that she
claimed was from the president.
She had told Tripp about this dress, and
Tripp had urged her to preserve it.
Clinton was forced to submit to DNA
testing, which conclusively that the
semen was his.
Refusing to admit defeat, Clinton again
appeared on television and admitted to
the public that he had acted
inappropriately with Lewinsky; he was
guilty.
IMPEACHING PRESIDENT CLINTON
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The last and only president to be impeached before 1998 was Andrew
Johnson shortly after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
Rich Nixon avoided impeachment by resigning from the presidency before
they could impeach him.
The House of Representatives listened to several days of testimony and
read The Starr Report, which outlined every detail of the relationship
between Clinton and Lewinsky.
The House voted to bring the matter before the Senate because a 2/3 vote
was required for conviction and it seemed certain the president would be
vindicated, freed from any question of guilt.
After hearings that dragged out for several days, the Senate on February
12, 1999, voted on the two articles of impeachment lodged against the
president” perjury and obstruction of justice.
(CONT)
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In the final vote, 55 senators (45
Democrats and 10 Republicans)
voted against convicting the president
of perjury, while another 45 ( all
Republicans) voted for conviction,
giving the president the numbers he
needed to be acquitted of the charge.
On the charge of obstruction of
justice, the president did not do as
well; he received a simple majority for
acquittal
Fifty Senators, including 5
Republicans who jumped ship, voted
against conviction and another 50
voted for conviction; a conviction of
either charge would have meant
Clinton’s removal from office.
WORKS CITED
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"Bill Clinton (1946-)." Miller Center of Public Affairs . Ed. Russell L Riley.
Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.
http://millercenter.org/president/clinton.
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Cohen, Daniel. The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton. Brookfield:
Twenty-First Century Books, 2000. Print.
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McCollum, Sean. Bill Clinton. New York: Children's Press, 2005. Print.
Encyclopedia of Presidents.
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"William Jefferson Clinton." Information Please. Pearson Education, 2007. Web.
17 Mar. 2011. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0760626.html.
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