WILLIAM J. CLINTON | 1993-2001
During the administration of William Jefferson Clinton, the nation enjoyed more peace and economic well being than ever before. He could point to the lowest unemployment and inflation in modern times, reduced welfare roles and dropping crime rates in many places, and the highest home ownership in the country's history.
Born William Jefferson Blythe IV on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas, three months after his father died in a traffic accident, he adopted his stepfather’s name in high school. Clinton graduated from Georgetown University and in 1968 won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. He received a law degree from Yale in 1973, and entered politics in Arkansas. He was elected Arkansas Attorney General in 1976, and in 1978 won the governorship. Losing a bid for a second term, he regained the office four years later, and served until he won the 1992 presidential race. Clinton and his running mate, Senator Al Gore Jr., represented a new generation in American political leadership. For the first time in 12 years the same party held the White House and Congress. But that edge was brief. The Republicans won both houses of Congress in 1994.
President Clinton proposed the first balanced budget in decades and achieved a budget surplus. He called for a great national initiative to end racial discrimination and sought legislation to upgrade education, protect jobs of parents who must care for sick children, restrict handgun sales and strengthen environmental rules. In the world, he dispatched peace keeping forces to war-torn Bosnia and bombed Iraq when Saddam Hussein stopped United Nations inspections for evidence of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. He was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second term.
In 1998, as a result of issues surrounding personal indiscretions with a young woman White House intern, Clinton was the second U.S. president to be impeached by the House of Representatives. He was tried in the Senate and found not guilty of the charges brought against him. He apologized to the nation for his actions and continued to have unprecedented popular approval ratings for his job as president.
In the final months of his presidency, Clinton shared the spotlight with his wife, Hillary Rodham, who declared her candidacy for the New York Senate. The Clintons split their time between the White House and a new residence in Chappaqua, New York. The first lady campaigned vigorously, often with the president at her side. When Mrs. Clinton was sworn in as a senator in the 107th Congress, her husband and daughter Chelsea watched silently from the Gallery another unprecedented moment in a tumultuous presidency.
