Transcript The Clinton Years 1993

The Clinton Years
1993-2001
www.buschistory.net
Topic 29
General Information
• 1. Clinton was the first Democrat to serve two
full terms as president since Franklin D.
Roosevelt
• 2. That 1992 election also brought the
Democrats full control of both houses of
Congress as well as the presidency, for the first
time since the administration of the last
Democratic president, Jimmy Carter
1992 Presidential Election
A Three Way Race
– Middle-class tax cuts and
a national health-care
system
– Clinton won 370
electoral votes to Bush’s
168
1992 Presidential Debate: Video Clip
Clinton 1992 Campaign Ad
1992 Election Results
Some Domestic Points
1. The Family and Medical Leave
Act of 1993
2. Failed Attempt at Health Care
Reform
3. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy for
Gays in the Military
4. Longest Economic growth in
US History
The Economy – wow!
•
More than 22 million new jobs created
•
Homeownership rate increase from 64.0% to 67.5%
•
Lowest unemployment rate in 30 years - Income increased
•
Largest budget deficit in American history converted to the largest
surplus of over $200 billion
•
220% increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 300% increase
in the Nasdaq from 1993 to 2001
•
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 - A Tax increase on
upper income individuals and realignment of the Federal Tax Code
•
Dot – Com Boom
A Positive Trend
• 1993 – Economic Plan passes w/o a single
Republican vote (Omnibus Reconciliation
Act)
• Brady Handgun Act (11/1993)
• Upper Class Tax Increases/Spending Cuts
• Lowered the deficit from $290 billion in
1992 to $203 billion by 1994.
• 1999 - $124 B Budget Surplus
• $1.5 Trillion surplus projected into the next
administration
Take a look!
CBO 2009
Domestic Policies and Events
• Increased Minimum Wage - $5.15 Per Hour
• Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell
• Many women placed in high positions – Atty.
General, Secs. Of Energy, State, HEW for
example.
• Failed attempt at Health Care reform
• The rise of the Internet
• Record low unemployment rates
NAFTA – Jan. 1, 1994
• NAFTA (North
American Free Trade
Agreement)
– Free trade and investment between
the US, Canada and Mexico
– Gradual elimination of all tarriffs
– Very controversial
– By 2010 Canada and Mexico were the
top two purchasers of US exports
– By 2010 they were the second and
third largest suppliers of goods to the
United States
Republican Showdown/Shutdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EUn5YwLtB0
• 1996 Federal Budget
Issues
– Medicare
– Education
– Environment
– Health Care
Clinton Vetoed a
Republican spending bill
cutting all of the above
• Nov-Dec 1996
• 46% Blamed
Republicans, 27%
Democrats
• Clinton’s popularity
soared
• Doomed the 1996
election for Republicans
Oklahoma City Bombing
• April 19, 1995
• Federal Building –
Oklahoma City
• 168 Killed
• Domestic Terrorism
– Timothy McVeigh
and Terry Nichols
were convicted of
the crime.
Re-election
• In 1996 Clinton
defeated Bob Dole of
Kansas.
• The only Democrat to
win reelection to a 2nd
term of office as
president since FDR
Foreign Policy Challenges
Oslo Accords
– A series of meetings -19931999 and agreements
– Clinton hosted the signing of
a peace agreement between
Israel and the Palestinians.
– Agreed to self-rule for
Palestinians in return for the
Palestinians recognizing
Israel’s right to exist
– Never fully realized
Foreign Policy Challenges
Somalia
– January 1993 – Pres. Bush
sent troops to help the UN
distribute food.
– Mogadishu – Black Hawk
Down Oct. 1993. 18 US
deaths
– Public support diminished
– Clinton withdrew the
remaining soldiers.
Rwandan Genocide 1994 – US
did not intercede
Foreign Policy Challenges
Former Yugoslavia
– 1992-1999: Violence raged
between the new countries
formed from the breakup of
Yugoslavia.
– Clinton helped broker the
Dayton Accords to end
fighting in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
– He urged NATO to act
against Serbia.
– The Serb army was forcing
ethnic Albanians from the
Serbian region of Kosovo.
Foreign Policy Challenges
Haiti
– 1991 Military Coup
– Sept. 1994: Clinton
pledged the use of
American troops to
restore Pres. Aristede
after a military Coup.
– The presence of UN
forces helped bring
about a generally
peaceful change in
government.
Scandals and impeachment
•
Whitewater real estate deal
– Fed. Prosecutor Kenneth Starr led an
investigation into a failed real estate
investment the Clintons were involved in
during the 1970s.
•
Paula Jones sexual harassment case
– Jones sued Clinton for sexual harassment
while he was governor of Arkansas.
– Information emerged suggesting that
Clinton had an improper relationship with
a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.
•
Monica Lewinsky case
– Clinton accused of lying under oath about
Monica Lewinsky.
– House approved two articles of
impeachment but the Senate did not have
the two-thirds majority necessary to
convict Clinton.
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21sU
X-r1Iyw
The End of an Era
• Pres. Clinton left office
with a 65% approval
rating – The highest
since Pres. Eisenhower
• He left office with a
decreasing Federal
debt, a Federal Budget
surplus, low
unemployment and
rising GDP