Difference between revisions of "Bill Clinton"
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| − | '''Bill Clinton''' (full name: William Jefferson Clinton) served as the 42nd [[President of the United States of America]] from 1993-2001, following [[George H. W. Bush]] and preceding [[George W. Bush]]. His election is notable as he never won a majority of the popular vote, though he won more votes than any of his opponents, unlike his successor. He was impeached by the US House of Representatives during his second term for lying in grand jury testimony connected to the Paula Jones lawsuit. However, the US Senate voted not to remove him from office. His term also saw an increase in terrorism directed at the United States. These incidents included the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. | + | '''Bill Clinton''' (full name: William Jefferson Clinton) served as the 42nd [[President of the United States of America]] from 1993-2001, following [[George H. W. Bush]] and preceding [[George W. Bush]]. His election is notable as he never won a majority of the popular vote, though he won more votes than any of his opponents, unlike his successor. He was impeached by the US House of Representatives during his second term for lying in grand jury testimony connected to the Paula Jones lawsuit. However, the US Senate voted not to remove him from office. His term also saw an increase in terrorism directed at the United States. 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. Unlike his successor, the Clinton administration caught the terrorist masterminds behind the 1993 and 1995 attacks, Ramzi Yousef and Timothy McVeigh. |
[[Image:billclinton.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Bill Clinton]] | [[Image:billclinton.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Bill Clinton]] | ||
Revision as of 22:59, March 10, 2007
Bill Clinton (full name: William Jefferson Clinton) served as the 42nd President of the United States of America from 1993-2001, following George H. W. Bush and preceding George W. Bush. His election is notable as he never won a majority of the popular vote, though he won more votes than any of his opponents, unlike his successor. He was impeached by the US House of Representatives during his second term for lying in grand jury testimony connected to the Paula Jones lawsuit. However, the US Senate voted not to remove him from office. His term also saw an increase in terrorism directed at the United States. 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. Unlike his successor, the Clinton administration caught the terrorist masterminds behind the 1993 and 1995 attacks, Ramzi Yousef and Timothy McVeigh.
Clinton won in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote, capitalizing on public discontent with a weak economy and public displeasure with President George H. W. Bush's proposed tax increases, and Ross Perot, a popular third candidate. In his first two years in office, 1993 through 1994, Clinton failed at his massive attempt to "reform" health-care in the United States by some sort of government-backed universal health-care insurance, which many conservatives felt would result in effective government control of the health care system. His approach consisted of appointing a planning committee with secret members to reshape this important sector of the economy. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons successfully sued to force disclosure of the committee members and ultimately to defeat the program.
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.[1]
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 ( 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. [2]
Clinton also attempted to use the American military to kill Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, an action which was seen by some as an attempt to distract the nation from the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Some have also applied this criticism to his successor.
Bill Clinton's wife, Hillary Clinton, has long sought to become president herself. She used her position of influence to obtain the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate without opposition in 2000, and was elected in this safely Democratic state. Reelected in 2006, she is now running for president in 2008.
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