William Jefferson Clinton

William Jefferson Clinton (Democrat) was PresidentOfTheUnitedStates from 1993-2001.

DeleteMe: And it seems like the media doesn't want to let him go :-)

In 1992 his main opponents were incumbent George Bush (Republican) and Ross Perot (Reform Party). In 1996 it was Bob Dole (Republican) and again Ross Perot (Reform Party).

He was impeached in 1999 by the House of Representatives, but not convicted by the United States Senate, mainly? for Perjury -- lying under oath to a Grand Jury regarding matters related to his sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky.

He is also known for granting presidential pardons which were considered highly controversial due to the nature of the felons pardoned and their alleged financial involvement with both Clinton and the family of his first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

During his time in office, he was one of the most popular Presidents in history, despite the scandals. Many people viewed the scandals as being merely sexual in nature, and not worthy of political consequences. Partisans of this view might argue that the impeachment was more about politics than any genuine concern with lying to the Grand Jury.

In 1999, in conjunction with a Congress controlled by the Republican party he balanced the US budget for the first time since 1969.

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There's a great deal more to be said about him -- let's try to keep it nonpartisan and encyclopedic?

Indeed, and statements like "the most controversial Presidential Pardon in US history" should probably be left till more than 4 weeks after the event. -- Gareth Owen

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RE: Controversial Pardon. Excuse me for being an ignorant European, but what exactly happened?? -- WojPob

The PresidentOfTheUnitedStates has the power, under the UnitedStatesConstitution, to pardon people for crimes committed.

Clinton critics argue that Clinton's many last minute pardons were more political than those of the past, and in some cases are baffling except in light of large donations to Clinton campaigns.

Clinton supporters can no doubt point to many other highly political pardons in history, including for example Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon. I'm sure that in the entire sordid history of politics, there have been many other cases of apparent pardons for money.

Clinton was considered by some to be the most Machiavellian president of the United States often using presidential powers to decrease the focus on troublesome scandals. He ordered the bombing of Kosovo the day of the Monica Lewinsky impeachment vote and bombed an asprin factory in Sudan to cover up ? He used whatever was politically expedient to further his policies such as observing Confederate Day while govenor of Arkansas and then condeming Confederate flags while president.

Bill Clinton was a two (more?) time governor of the state of Arkansas.

Major legislation he signed:

• Welfare Reform - vetoed twice - signed the third time

• NAFTA - the previous president George Bush, was largely responsible for getting NAFTA enacted

• Tax increase on Social Security recipients

• Minimum wage increase

Major legislation he failed to get passed through Congress:

• Healthcare Reform - socialized/nationalized health care (similar to Canada and the United Kingdom)

• Social Security Reform - He appointed a committee on Social Security Reform and then dismissed their recommendations

Actually, although a significant fraction of Americans wanted a system like that, others, wary of a large complex system did not, and what Hillary Clinton and all the conferences etc. ended up with was a difficult-to-summarize public/private mish-mash.

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Didn't he also create (have something to do with creating) the AmeriCorps. These people do good stuff, imho. Then there is all the stuff about national health care, nafta, welfare reform, increasing money for student loans ... lots more than the scandal happened. He was also the governor of Arkansas a few times. (this page entails lots of hmwk) --PhillipHankins

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Clinton's compromises on environmental and social issues were a great disappointment to the more progressive and/or radical types who vote Democrat sometimes. However, he did promote dialogue on race issues during his presidency, both in speeches and with a small budget.