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| | The Republican Congress that took over in 1995 passed several important conservative laws, including a massive welfare reform () and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Clinton, chastened by the landslide defeat of his Democratic Party, began to govern more like a conservative. He also wanted to win reelection in 1996, and he knew he had to move in the same direction as teh nation: to the "right" (more conservative). | | The Republican Congress that took over in 1995 passed several important conservative laws, including a massive welfare reform () and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Clinton, chastened by the landslide defeat of his Democratic Party, began to govern more like a conservative. He also wanted to win reelection in 1996, and he knew he had to move in the same direction as teh nation: to the "right" (more conservative). |
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| − | Bill Clinton 1992-2000: Dem. Pres. hurt by failed health care plan and Monica Lewinski sex scandal; 1st budget surplus in years
| + | On April 19, 1995, domestic terrorism hit the United States when Timothy McVeigh exploded a massive truck bomb in front of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This caused the building to collapse and kill 168 people, including children in a day care center that was in the building, and injured over 800. Reportedly McVeigh was angry at the federal government for a raid that it conducted against a group in Waco, Texas, which occurred exactly two years earlier and resulted in the deaths of dozens of citizens. Speculation that McVeigh had foreign help for this attack was never proven, and McVeigh himself was executed after a lengthy trial that included testimony by a friend who described how McVeigh intended to do this. A jury did not grant the prosecutor's request to impose the death penalty on a colleague of McVeigh, who instead received life imprisonment. |
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| − | Bombing of the Federal Building "1995: on 2nd anniversary of govt raid in Waco, in retaliation Timothy McVeigh bombed govt bldg in Oklahoma City"
| + | Clinton's approval rating increased based on his response to this terrorism, and based on an improving economy. In 1996, the Republicans nominated the aging Senator Bob Dole, a moderate Republican, to run against Clinton. Clinton, along with his Vice President Al Gore, won reelection easily. |
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| | + | By the 1997 the internet was becoming very popular, and the nation began to experience the "dot-com" boom that would last until 2000. The <> |
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| | + | Bill Clinton Monica Lewinski sex scandal; 1st budget surplus in years |
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| | Monica Lewinsky 1998: Clinton lied about his relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky; led to his impeachment (but not his removal) | | Monica Lewinsky 1998: Clinton lied about his relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky; led to his impeachment (but not his removal) |