| | Clinton also signed into law the [[Violence Against Women Act]], which opened the federal courts to claims of domestic disputes between men and women, which had always been handled under state rather than federal law. A key provision of this law was later ruled unconstitutional in [[United States v. Morrison]].<ref>http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-5.ZS.html</ref> | | Clinton also signed into law the [[Violence Against Women Act]], which opened the federal courts to claims of domestic disputes between men and women, which had always been handled under state rather than federal law. A key provision of this law was later ruled unconstitutional in [[United States v. Morrison]].<ref>http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-5.ZS.html</ref> |
| − | In 1994, voters expressed their high disapproval of Clinton by giving a landslide victory to Republicans in Congress, where Republicans won 49.9% of the popular vote (compared to the Democrat's 44%). This event was tagged the "Republican Revolution," in which Republicans promised America reforms including term limits, presidential line-item veto, and a balanced budget. That ended much of Clinton's power. He was reelected with 49.2% of the popular vote against a weak Republican candidate in 1996 ([[Robert Dole | Bob Dole]]) and a weaker "populist" candidate, [[H. Ross Perot]]. The re-election of Clinton despite the demonstrated preference of the electorate in 1994 for Republican candidates may well be due to the electorate's preference for a [[divided government]], in which the executive branch and the congress are representative of different parties, unlike the elections in 2002 or 2004. Clinton spent the remainder of his presidency combating scandals. A special prosecutor was named to investigate Clinton for allegations of impropriety in the Whitewater real-estate scandal, an investment of Clinton's in a failed real estate venture. Although nothing came out of this investigation, and it turned out that Clinton actually lost money on his investment, one of the results of the investigation was that the special prosecutor turned to investigating other Clinton activities, one of which (the [[Monica Lewinsky]] scandal) resulted in his impeachment. After a brief trial, the Senate acquitted all charges. | + | In 1994, voters expressed their high disapproval of Clinton by giving a landslide victory to Republicans in Congress, where Republicans won 49.9% of the popular vote (compared to the Democrat's 44%). This event was tagged the "Republican Revolution," and ended much of Clinton's power. He was reelected with 49.2% of the popular vote against a weak Republican candidate in 1996 ([[Robert Dole | Bob Dole]]) and a weaker "populist" candidate, [[H. Ross Perot]]. The re-election of Clinton despite the demonstrated preference of the electorate in 1994 for Republican candidates may well be due to the electorate's preference for a [[divided government]], in which the executive branch and the congress are representative of different parties, unlike the elections in 2002 or 2004. Clinton spent the remainder of his presidency combating scandals. A special prosecutor was named to investigate Clinton for allegations of impropriety in the Whitewater real-estate scandal, an investment of Clinton's in a failed real estate venture. Although nothing came out of this investigation, and it turned out that Clinton actually lost money on his investment, one of the results of the investigation was that the special prosecutor turned to investigating other Clinton activities, one of which (the [[Monica Lewinsky]] scandal) resulted in his impeachment. After a brief trial, the Senate acquitted all charges. |
| | Under Clinton's presidency, the economy boomed, creating the largest ever budget surplus. <ref>http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/09/27/clinton.surplus/</ref> | | Under Clinton's presidency, the economy boomed, creating the largest ever budget surplus. <ref>http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/09/27/clinton.surplus/</ref> |