Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton served as president of the United States from 1993-2001. He was only the second president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives, after Andrew Johnson. Clinton never won a majority of the popular vote.
Clinton won in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote, capitalizing on public discontent with a weak economy. In his first two years in office, 1993 through 1994, Clinton failed at his massive attempt to gain 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. That ended much of Clinton's power. Though reelected against a weak Republican candidate in 1996 (Bob Dole), Clinton spent the remainder of his presidency combatting scandals, one of which (the Monica Lewinsky scandal) resulted in his impeachment.
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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