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Despite never winning a majority of the popular vote during either of his elections, President Clinton enjoyed good public approval ratings during parts of his second term.<ref>[http://www.pollingreport.com/clinton-.htm]</ref>  Clinton won in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote versus President [[George H. W. Bush's]] 37%, capitalizing on public discontent with a weak economy and public displeasure with Bush's proposed tax increases, and Ross Perot, a popular third candidate.  In his first two years in office, 1993 through 1994, Clinton was unable to "reform" health-care in the United States with a [[socialism| socialized]] health-care plan.  It was a tough sell in the wake of the collapse of Soviet Bloc only a few years earlier.  His approach consisted of appointing a planning committee with secret members to reshape this important sector of the economy.{{fact}} The [[Association of American Physicians and Surgeons]] successfully sued to force disclosure of the committee financing, expenses and membership. The program ultimately became so unpopular after two years the Democratically controlled Congress shielded its members records by never bringing it to floor for a vote.

Despite never winning a majority of the popular vote during either of his elections, President Clinton enjoyed good public approval ratings during parts of his second term.<ref>[http://www.pollingreport.com/clinton-.htm]</ref>  Clinton won in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote versus President [[George H. W. Bush's]] 37%, capitalizing on public discontent with a weak economy and public displeasure with Bush's proposed tax increases, and Ross Perot, a popular third candidate.  In his first two years in office, 1993 through 1994, Clinton was unable to "reform" health-care in the United States with a [[socialism| socialized]] health-care plan.  It was a tough sell in the wake of the collapse of Soviet Bloc only a few years earlier.  His approach consisted of appointing a planning committee with secret members to reshape this important sector of the economy.{{fact}} The [[Association of American Physicians and Surgeons]] successfully sued to force disclosure of the committee financing, expenses and membership. The program ultimately became so unpopular after two years the Democratically controlled Congress shielded its members records by never bringing it to floor for a vote.

In 1994, voters expressed their high disapproval of Clinton by giving a victory to Republicans in Congress.  This event was tagged the "Republican Revolution," and began a series of showdowns with the Republican-led Congress.{{fact}} These showdowns were epitomized by the budget conflict with then-Speaker of the House [[Newt Gingrich]] in 1995. Gingrich refused to pass Clinton's budget proposal, and the latter threatened to shut down the government as Reagan had done in the 1980s.  Clinton did not back down, however, and eventually had his budget passed [http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/commentprint082800d.html]. This showdown backfired for the Republicans, as it reinvigorated Clinton's flagging approval ratings, which would remain above 60% for most of his presidency[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Clinton_approval_rating.JPG].

In 1994, voters expressed their high disapproval of Clinton by giving a victory to Republicans in Congress.  This event was tagged the "Republican Revolution," and began a series of showdowns with the Republican-led Congress.{{fact}} These showdowns were epitomized by the budget conflict with then-Speaker of the House [[Newt Gingrich]] in 1995. Gingrich refused to pass Clinton's budget proposal, and the latter threatened to shut down the government as Reagan had done in the 1980s.  Clinton did not back down, however, and eventually had his budget passed [http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/commentprint082800d.html]. This showdown backfired for the Republicans, as it reinvigorated Clinton's flagging approval ratings, which would remain above 60% for most of his presidency[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Clinton_approval_rating.JPG]. Clinton was reelected in 1996 with 49.2% of the popular vote against Republican candidate  ([[Robert Dole | Bob Dole]]), who won 41%, and "populist" candidate, [[H. Ross Perot]], who won 8%.  

Clinton was reelected in 1996 with 49.2% of the popular vote against Republican candidate  ([[Robert Dole | Bob Dole]]), who won 41%, and "populist" candidate, [[H. Ross Perot]], who won 8%. Clinton spent a lot of the remainder of his presidency combating scandals. {{fact}} The special prosecutor's report was not released until well into Clinton's second term, and brought the issue of Clinton giving false testimony in a civil lawsuit while President to light which resulted in his impeachment and disbarment from the legal profession.{{fact}} The main charge was that he lied about a sexual relationship with an employee in an attempt to avoid paying damages to another employee for sexual harassment. After a brief trial, the Senate failed to make clear what constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/02/12/impeachment/</ref> Abroad the impeachment process had little impact on Clinton's image: despite the trial was widely followed and discussed he remains one of the most popular recent US presidents.

Clinton spent part of his second term combating scandals. {{fact}} The special prosecutor's report was not released until well into Clinton's second term, and brought the issue of Clinton giving false testimony in a civil lawsuit while President to light which resulted in his impeachment and disbarment from the legal profession.{{fact}} The main charge was that he lied about a sexual relationship with an intern, Monica Lewinsky, in an attempt to avoid paying damages to another employee, Paula Jones, for sexual harassment (the harrassment charges never led to any trial). Accused of receiving [[fellatio]] from an intern in the Oval Office, his [[semen]] having stained her blue dress, he found guilty of perjury because of his claim that "I did not have [[sex]] with that woman".  Clinton became the second sitting president to be impeached by the US House of Representatives. After a brief trial, the Senate failed to make clear what constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/02/12/impeachment/</ref> and the US Senate voted not to remove him from office, although he later lost his law license in Arkansas.  Abroad the impeachment process had little impact on Clinton's image: despite the trial was widely followed and discussed he remains one of the most popular recent US presidents.

Clinton became the second sitting president to be impeached by the US House of Representatives. During his second term Clinton committed perjury in connection to the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit.{{fact}} Accused of receiving [[fellatio]] from an intern in the Oval Office, his [[semen]] having stained her blue dress, he found guilty of perjury because of his claim that "I did not have [[sex]] with that woman".  However, the US Senate voted not to remove him from office, although he later lost his law license in Arkansas.  His term also saw an increase in terrorism directed at the United States. {{fact}} These incidents included the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the Alfred P. Murrah building bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995, the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. {{fact}} Clinton responded by striking back at [[al Qaeda]], the organization responsible for the attacks. {{fact}} He launched cruise missile strikes aimed to kill al Qaeda's leader [[Osama bin Laden]] [http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/20/us.strikes.01/], and began planning to invade [[Afghanistan]] in order to capture bin Laden and overthrow the [[Taliban]] government[http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/nov2001/afgh-n20.shtml].

His term saw an increase in terrorism directed at the United States. {{fact}} These incidents included the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the Alfred P. Murrah building bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995, the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. {{fact}} Clinton responded by striking back at [[al Qaeda]], the organization responsible for the attacks. {{fact}} He launched cruise missile strikes aimed to kill al Qaeda's leader [[Osama bin Laden]] [http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/20/us.strikes.01/], and began planning to invade [[Afghanistan]] in order to capture bin Laden and overthrow the [[Taliban]] government[http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/nov2001/afgh-n20.shtml].

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. {{fact}}  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. {{fact}}  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>