Bill Clinton

William Jefferson Clinton
42nd President of the United States
In office January 20 1993 – January 20 2001
Vice President	Albert Gore, Jr.
Preceded by	George H. W. Bush
Succeeded by	George W. Bush
52nd Governor of Arkansas
In office January 11, 1983 – December 12, 1992
Lieutenant	Winston Bryant (1983-1991) Jim Guy Tucker (1991-1992)
Preceded by	Frank D. White
Succeeded by	Jim Guy Tucker
50th Governor of Arkansas
In office January 9, 1979 – January 19, 1981
Lieutenant	Joe Purcell
Preceded by	Joe Purcell
Succeeded by	Frank D. White
Personal details
Born	(1946-08-19) August 19, 1946 Hope, Arkansas
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Hillary Rodham Clinton
Signature

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. Before his presidency, Clinton served nearly twelve years as the 50th and 52nd Governor of Arkansas. Clinton was the third-youngest person to serve as president, after Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. Clinton is considered the first baby boomer president and presided over the American transition from the political order of the Cold War. Clinton was a New Democrat politician and was mainly responsible for the Third Way philosophy of governance that came to epitomize his two terms as president.

Clinton presided over the longest period of peace-time economic expansion in American history, which included a balanced budget and a federal surplus. His first term saw the passage of economic legislation such as the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. In 1994, because of several perceived failures, including an unsuccessful attempt at health care reform, Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. Clinton's second term was largely marked by impeachment proceedings. He was subsequently acquitted by the United States Senate and remained in office to complete his term. Other events of Clinton's second term include the Kosovo War.

Clinton left office with polls revealing that many questioned his morals and ethics; however, he also retained a 65% approval rating, the highest end-of-presidency rating among all the Presidents that came into office after World War II. Since leaving office, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the William J. Clinton Foundation to promote and address international causes, such as treatment and prevention of HIV/ AIDS and global warming. In 2004, he released a personal autobiography, My Life. His wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is the Junior United States Senator from the state of New York, where they both currently reside.

Early life and education

William Jefferson Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III in Hope, Arkansas, and raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas. His father was William Jefferson Blythe, Jr., a traveling salesman, who died in a car accident three months prior to the birth of his son. In 1950, his mother, Virginia Dell Cassidy (1923–1994), married Roger Clinton, a partner (with his brother) in an automobile dealership.

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Bill Clinton in 1950

It was not until Billy (as he was known then) turned 14 that he formally adopted his stepfather's surname of Clinton; although, he had assumed use of Clinton prior to that. Clinton claims his stepfather was a gambler and an alcoholic who regularly abused his mother and, at times, his half-brother, Roger, Jr.

In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. John's Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and Hot Springs High School - where he was an active student leader, avid reader, and musician. He was in the chorus and played the saxophone, winning first chair in the state band's saxophone section. He briefly considered dedicating his life to music, but as he noted in his autobiography My Life:

(…) Sometime in my sixteenth year I decided I wanted to be in public life as an elected official. I loved music and thought I could be very good, but I knew I would never be John Coltrane or Stan Getz. I was interested in medicine and thought I could be a fine doctor, but I knew I would never be Michael DeBakey. But I knew I could be great in public service.

In 1963, two influential moments in Clinton's early life contributed to his decision to become a public figure. One was his visit to the White House to meet President John F. Kennedy, as a Boys Nation senator. The other was listening to Martin Luther King's 1963 I Have a Dream speech (which he memorized).

Clinton was also a member of Youth Order of DeMolay (but never actually became a Freemason). He is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, Inc.

With the aid of scholarships, Clinton attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., receiving a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (B.S.F.S.) degree in 1968. It was at Georgetown that he interned for Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright. While in college he became a brother of Alpha Phi Omega and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

On graduation he won a Rhodes Scholarship to University College, Oxford where he studied government. He developed an interest in rugby, playing at Oxford and later for the Little Rock Rugby club in Arkansas. While at Oxford he also participated in Vietnam War protests, including organizing an October 1969 Moratorium event. In later life he admitted smoking cannabis at the university, but claimed that he "never inhaled". Clinton's time at Oxford is affectionately remembered around the city today.

After Oxford, Clinton attended Yale Law School and obtained a Juris Doctor degree in 1973. While at Yale, he began dating law student Hillary Rodham who was a year ahead of him. They married in 1975 and their only child, Chelsea, was born in 1980.

Early political career

Governor of Arkansas

After graduating from Yale Law School, Clinton returned to Arkansas and became a University of Arkansas law professor. A year later, in 1974, he ran for the House of Representatives. The incumbent, John Paul Hammerschmidt, defeated Clinton with 52% of the vote. In 1976, Clinton was elected Attorney General of Arkansas without opposition in the general election.

Clinton with Jimmy Carter in 1978

In 1978, Bill Clinton was elected Governor of Arkansas for the first time; at 32, he was the youngest governor in the country. He worked on educational reform and on the infrastructure of Arkansas's roads, but his first term also was fraught with difficulties, including an unpopular motor vehicle tax and citizens' anger over the escape of Cuban refugees (from the Mariel boatlift) detained in Fort Chaffee in 1980. Running for re-election in 1980, Clinton was defeated by Republican challenger Frank D. White. As Clinton once joked, he was the youngest ex-governor in the nation's history.

But in 1982, Clinton reclaimed his old job as governor and kept it for another 10 years, helping Arkansas transform its economy and significantly improving the state's educational system. He became a leading figure among the New Democrats, a branch of the Democratic Party that called for welfare reform and smaller government, a policy supported by both Democrats and Republicans, and served as Chair of the National Governors' Association from 1986 to 1987, bringing him to an audience beyond Arkansas.

Clinton's approach mollified conservative criticism during his terms as governor, but personal and business transactions made by the Clintons during this period became the basis of the Whitewater investigation, which dogged his later presidential administration. After very extensive investigation over several years, no indictments were made against the Clintons related to the years in Arkansas.

Campaign for the Democratic nomination

There was some media speculation in 1987 that Clinton would enter the race for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination after then-New York Governor Mario Cuomo declined to run and Democratic front-runner Gary Hart bowed out due to revelations about marital infidelity. Often referred to as the "Boy Governor" at the time because of his youthful appearance, Clinton decided to remain as Arkansas governor and postpone his presidential ambitions until 1992. He did, however, give the opening night address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, a nationally-televised speech that introduced him to the American public, but was criticized for its length. Presenting himself as a moderate and a member of the New Democrat wing of the Democratic Party, he headed the moderate Democratic Leadership Council in 1990 and 1991.

In 1992, Clinton was the early favorite of Democratic Party insiders and elected officials for the presidential nomination; therefore, he was able to rack up scores of superdelegates even before the first nominating contests were conducted. In spite of this, Clinton began his 1992 presidential quest on a sour note by finishing near the back of the pack in the Iowa caucus, which was largely uncontested due to the presence of favorite-son Senator Tom Harkin, who was the easy winner. Clinton’s real trouble began during New Hampshire Primary campaign, when revelations of a possible extramarital affair with Gennifer Flowers began to surface. Clinton and his wife Hillary decided to go on 60 Minutes following the Super Bowl to rebut those charges of infidelity, which had started to take their toll, as Clinton had fallen way behind former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas in the New Hampshire polls. In fact, his campaign was beginning to unravel. Their TV appearance was a calculated risk, but it seemed to pay off as Clinton regained some of his lost footing. He still finished second to Tsongas in the New Hampshire Primary, but the media viewed it as a moral victory for Clinton, since he came within single digits of winning after trailing badly in the polls. Clinton shrewdly labeled himself “The Comeback Kid” on election night to help foster this perception and came out of New Hampshire on a roll. Tsongas, on the other hand, picked up little or no momentum from his victory.

Clinton used his new-found momentum to storm through the Southern primaries, including the big prizes of Florida and Texas, and build up a sizable delegate lead over his opponents in the race for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination. However, there were still some doubts as to whether he could secure the nomination, as former California Governor Jerry Brown was scoring victories in other parts of the country and Clinton had yet to win a significant contest outside of his native South. With no major Southern state remaining on the primary calendar, Clinton set his sights on the delegate-rich New York Primary, which was to be his proving ground. Much to the surprise of some, Clinton scored a resounding victory in New York. It was a watershed moment for him, as he had finally broken through and shed his image as a regional candidate and as centrist Democrat whose standing with Northern liberals was questionable. Having been transformed into the consensus candidate, he took on an air of inevitability and was able to cruise to the nomination, topping it off with a victory on Brown’s home turf in the California Primary.

Presidential election

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Bill Clinton with H. Ross Perot, Independent, and George H.W. Bush, Republican, in a national debate

Main article: United States presidential election, 1992

Clinton won the 1992 presidential election (43.0% of the vote) against Republican George H. W. Bush (37.4% of the vote) and billionaire populist H. Ross Perot, who ran as an independent (18.9% of the vote) on a platform focusing on domestic issues; a large part of his success was Bush's steep decline in public approval. Previously described as "unbeatable" because of his approval ratings in the 80 percent range during the Persian Gulf conflict, Bush saw his public approval rating drop to just over 40% by election time because of a souring economy.

Additionally, Bush reneged on his promise ("Read My Lips: No New Taxes!") not to raise taxes when he compromised with Democrats in an attempt to lower the Federal deficits; this hurt him among conservatives. Clinton capitalized on Bush's policy switch, repeatedly condemning the president for making a promise he failed to keep.

Finally, Bush's party base was in disarray. Conservatives had previously been united by anti-communism, but with the end of the Cold War, new issues would have to emerge. The 1992 Republican National Convention was perceived by some moderate voters to have been usurped by religious conservatives, and did not inspire them. All this worked in Clinton's favor. Clinton could point to his moderate, 'New Democrat' record as governor of Arkansas. Liberal Democrats were impressed by Clinton's academic credentials, his 1960s-era protest record, and support for social causes such as women's abortion issues. Many Democrats who had supported Ronald Reagan and Bush in previous elections switched their allegiance to Clinton.

His election ended an era of Republican rule of the White House for the previous 12 years, and 20 of the previous 24 years. That election also brought the Democrats full control of both branches of Congress, the House of Representatives and Senate. Clinton would be the first president to enjoy this privilege since President Jimmy Carter did in the late-1970s.

Presidency, 1993-2001

Main articles: Clinton Administration and Foreign policy of the Clinton Administration

Significant events of the first term

The Clinton cabinet
Office	Name	Term
President	Bill Clinton	1993–2001
Vice President	Al Gore	1993–2001
Secretary of State	Warren M. Christopher	1993–1997
Madeleine K. Albright	1997–2001
Secretary of the Treasury	Lloyd Bentsen	1993–1994
	Robert E. Rubin	1995–1999
Lawrence H. Summers	1999–2001
Secretary of Defense	Les Aspin	1993–1994
	William J. Perry	1994–1997
William S. Cohen	1997–2001
Attorney General	Janet Reno	1993–2001
Secretary of the Interior	Bruce Babbitt	1993–2001
Secretary of Agriculture	Mike Espy	1993–1994
Daniel R. Glickman	1994–2001
Secretary of Commerce	Ronald H. Brown	1993–1996
	Mickey Kantor	1996–1997
William M. Daley	1997–2000
Norman Y. Mineta	2000–2001
Secretary of Labor	Robert B. Reich	1993–1997
Alexis M. Herman	1997–2001
Secretary of Health and Human Services	Donna E. Shalala	1993–2001
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Henry G. Cisneros	1993–1997
Andrew Cuomo	1997–2001
Secretary of Transportation	Federico F. Peña	1993–1997
Rodney E. Slater	1997–2001
Secretary of Energy	Hazel O'Leary	1993–1997
	Federico F. Peña	1997–1998
Bill Richardson	1998–2001
Secretary of Education	Richard Riley	1993–2001
Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Jesse Brown	1993–1997
Togo D. West, Jr.	1998–2000

Clinton was inaugurated on January 20, 1993 as the 42nd President of the United States. In his inaugural address he declared that:

"Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."

Shortly after taking office, Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which required large employers to allow their employees to take unpaid leave because of pregnancy or serious medical condition. While this action was popular, Clinton's attempt to fulfill another campaign promise of allowing openly gay men and lesbians serving in the armed forces was the subject of criticism. His handling of the issue garnered criticism from both the left (for being too tentative in promoting gay rights) and the right (for being too insensitive to military life). After much debate, the Congress - which has sole power under the U.S. Constitution to regulate the armed forces - implemented the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, stating that homosexual men and women may serve in the military as long as their sexuality is kept secret.

By 1999, Clinton said he didn't "think any serious person could say" that the way the policy was being implemented was not "out of whack". Some gay rights advocates criticized Clinton for not going far enough and accused him of making his campaign promise simply to get votes and contributions. These advocates felt Clinton should have integrated the military by executive order, noting that President Harry Truman ended segregation of the armed forces in that manner. Clinton's defenders argued that an executive order might have prompted the then-Democrat-controlled Senate to write the exclusion of gays into law, potentially making it even harder to integrate the military in the future.

Clinton promoted another controversial issue during this period regarding free trade. In 1993, Clinton supported the North American Free Trade Agreement for ratification by the U.S. Senate. Despite being negotiated by his Republican predecessor, Clinton (along with most of his Democratic Leadership Committee allies) strongly supported free trade measures. Opposition came from anti-trade Republicans, protectionist Democrats and supporters of Ross Perot. However despite this opposition, the treaty was ratified by the Senate and signed into law by the President on 1 January 1994.

Clinton signed the Brady Bill, which imposed a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases. He also expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, which benefited working class families with dependent children.

One of the most prominent items on Clinton's legislative agenda was a health care reform plan, the result of a taskforce headed by Hillary Clinton, aimed at achieving universal coverage via a national healthcare plan. Though initially well-received in political circles, it was ultimately doomed by well-organized opposition from conservatives, the American Medical Association, and the health insurance industry. Despite his party holding a majority in the House and Senate, the effort to create a national healthcare system ultimately died under heavy public pressure. It was the first major legislative defeat of Clinton's administration.

Two months later, after two years of Democratic Party control under Clinton's leadership, the mid-term elections in 1994 proved disastrous for the Democrats. This was the first time the Democratic Party had lost control of both houses of Congress in 40 years.

In August of 1993, Clinton signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, which passed Congress without a single Republican vote. It raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.2% of taxpayers, while cutting taxes on 15 million low-income families and making tax cuts available to 90 percent of small businesses. Additionally, it mandated that the budget be balanced over a number of years, through the implementation of spending restraints. This helped oversee the longest peace-time economic expansion in USA history.

Significant events of the second term

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President Clinton's Cabinet post 1997. The President is seated front right, with Vice President Al Gore seated front left. Madeleine Albright, the first female United States Secretary of State is standing behind.

In the 1996 presidential election, Clinton was re-elected, receiving 49.2% of the popular vote over Republican Bob Dole (40.7% of the popular vote) and Reform candidate Ross Perot (8.4% of the popular vote), becoming the first Democrat to win reelection to the presidency since Franklin Roosevelt. The Republicans lost a few seats in the House and gained a few in the Senate, but overall retained control of the Congress. Clinton received 379, or over 70% of the Electoral College votes, with Dole receiving 159 electoral votes.

On January 21, 1998, a controversy was raised by the media and prominent Republicans over Clinton's relationship with a young White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, resulting in the Lewinsky scandal. In a lame duck session after the 1998 elections, the Republican-controlled House voted to impeach Clinton for matters relating to the scandal. The Republican-controlled Senate then voted to acquit Clinton the following year, and he remained in office to complete his term.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, enacted by Clinton on October 21, 1998, served as the first significant amendment to the Copyright Act since 1976. The DMCA extended the protection of intellectual property to outlaw reverse engineering of digital protection. It also provided a framework for sound recording copyright owners and recording artists to seek public performance royalties under statute, which proved to be a landmark achievement for the recording industry.

In the closing year of his Administration, Clinton attempted to address the Arab-Israeli conflict. After initial successes such as the Oslo accords of the early-1990s, the situation had quietly deteriorated, breaking down completely with the start of the Second Intifada. Clinton brought Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat together at Camp David. However, Barak and Arafat could not find common ground, and the negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful.

Further information: Camp David 2000 Summit

Clinton remained popular with the public throughout his two terms as President, ending his presidential career with a 65% approval rating, the highest end-of-term approval rating of any President since Eisenhower. In addition to his political skills, Clinton also oversaw a boom of the US economy. Under Clinton, the United States had a projected federal budget surplus for the first time since 1969.

Legislation and programs

Major legislation signed

• 1993-02-05 - The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
• 1993-08-10 - Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 - Raised income tax rates; income tax, top rate: 39.6%; corporate tax: 35%
• 1993-09-21 - creation of the AmeriCorps volunteer program
• 1993-11-30 - Brady Bill
• 1994-09-13 - Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, part of an omnibus crime bill, the federal death penalty was expanded to some 60 different offenses (see Federal assault weapons ban)
• 1996-02-01 - Communications Decency Act
• 1996-02-08 - Telecom Reform Act: eliminated major ownership restrictions for radio and television groups.
• 1996-02-26 - Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a welfare reform bill
• 1996-03-14 - authorized $100 million counter-terrorism agreement with Israel to track down and root out terrorists.
• 1996-04-09 - Line Item Veto Act
• 1996-04-24 - Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
• 1996-08-20 - Minimum wage Increase Act
• 1996-09-21 - Defense of Marriage Act, allowed states to refuse recognition of certain same-sex marriages, and defined marriage as between a male and female for purposes of federal law
• 1997-08-05 - Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997
• 1998-10-28 - Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• 1998-10-31 - Iraq Liberation Act

Major legislation vetoed

• national budget
• H.R. 1833, partial birth abortion ban
• Twice vetoed welfare reform before signing
• the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Congress overrode the veto, however, to enact the bill into law.

Proposals not passed by Congress

• Health care reform
• Campaign finance reform (1993)

Initiatives

• Tried to get Ehud Barak of Israel and Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian National Authority, to agree to a final settlement agreement.
• Initiated the Don't ask, don't tell policy toward gays in the military, 1993.
• Reversed a ban on senior Sinn Féin politicians entering the U.S.
• Proposed a national challenge to end the racial divide in America, the One America Initiative.
• Extraordinary rendition got approval for the first time in the USA from the Clinton administration.

Supreme Court appointments

Clinton appointed the following justices to the Supreme Court:

• Ruth Bader Ginsburg - 1993, making Clinton the first Democratic president to appoint a female Supreme Court justice.
• Stephen Breyer - 1994

Public approval

Clinton's approval ratings throughout his presidential career

While Clinton's job approval rating varied over the course of his first term, ranging from a low of 36 percent in mid-1993 to a high of 64 percent in late-1993 and early-1994, his job approval rating consistently ranged from the high-50s to the high-60s in his second term. Clinton's approval rating reached its highest point at 73 percent approval in the aftermath of the impeachment proceedings in 1998 and 1999.

A CNN/USA TODAY/Gallup poll conducted as he was leaving office, revealed deeply contradictory attitudes regarding Clinton. Although his approval rating at 68 percent was higher than that of any other departing president since polling began more than seventy years earlier, only 45 percent said they would miss him. While 55 percent thought he "would have something worthwhile to contribute and should remain active in public life", and 47 percent rated him as either outstanding or above average as a president, 68 percent thought he would be remembered for his "involvement in personal scandal" rather than his accomplishments as president, and 58 percent answered "No" to the question "Do you generally think Bill Clinton is honest and trustworthy?" 47 percent of the respondents identified themselves as being Clinton supporters.

In May 2006, a CNN poll comparing Clinton's job performance with that of his successor, George W. Bush, found a majority of respondents said Clinton outperformed Bush in six different areas questioned.

Public image

Clinton reading with a child in Chicago, September, 1998

As the first Baby Boomer president, Clinton was the first president in a half century not shaped by World War II. The public image of Clinton was important throughout his presidency and his innovative use of sound-bite-ready dialogue, personal charisma and public perception orientated campaigning, is often cited as one of the major reasons for his high public approval ratings. With his pioneering use of pop culture in his campaigning, such as playing the saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show, Clinton was sometimes described as the "MTV president".

Clinton was also very popular among African-Americans and made improving race relations a major theme of his presidency.

Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison in 1998 called Clinton "the first Black president," saying "Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas," and, despite his career accomplishments, comparing Clinton's scrutinized sex life to the stereotyping and double standards that blacks typically endure.

Post-presidential career

Public speaking and campaigning

Hillary Clinton re-enacts being sworn in as a U.S. Senator by Vice President Gore as Bill and Chelsea Clinton observe.

Clinton has engaged in a career as a public speaker on a variety of issues. In his speaking engagements around the world, he continues to comment on aspects of contemporary politics. One notable theme is his advocacy of multilateral solutions to problems facing the world. Clinton's close relationship with the African American community has been highlighted in his post-Presidential career with the opening of his personal office in the Harlem section of New York City.

After the Clintons had moved to Chappaqua, New York, in the northern suburbs of New York City, at the end of his Presidency, he assisted his wife, Hillary Clinton, in her campaign for office as Senator from New York. Clinton also campaigned for a number of Democratic candidates for the Senate in the 2002 elections, but only one was voted into office.

On July 26, 2004, Clinton spoke for the fifth consecutive time to the Democratic National Convention, using the opportunity to praise candidate John Kerry. In it, he criticized President George W. Bush's depiction of Kerry, saying that "strength and wisdom are not opposing values." Unfortunately for Kerry, despite Clinton's strong speech, the post convention bounce to his poll numbers was less than was hoped for.

Clinton has given dozens of paid speeches each year since leaving office, mostly to corporations and philanthropic groups in North America and Europe, earning sums from $100,000 to $200,000 per speech. He earned more than $30 million in speaking fees from 2001 to 2005, according to his wife’s Senate ethics reports. In 2007 it is now estimated that he has amassed around $40m (£20m) from speaking fees.

Clinton is currently active supporting his wife, Hillary Clinton as a democratic candidate for the Presidential election of 2008. He has helped make public speeches supporting his wife and engaged in efforts to help raise funds for her candidacy.

William J. Clinton Presidential Center

Main article: William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park

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Bill Clinton on The Daily Show, promoting My Life

Clinton dedicated his presidential library, the William J. Clinton Presidential Center, which is the largest in the nation, in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 18, 2004. Under rainy skies, Clinton received words of praise from former presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush, as well as from the current president, George W. Bush. He was also treated to a musical rendition from Bono and The Edge from U2, who expressed their gratitude at Clinton's efforts to resolve the Northern Ireland conflict during his presidency.

My Life

In 2004, Clinton released a personal autobiography, My Life. The book was published by the Knopf Publishing Group at Random House on June 22, 2004, and set a worldwide record for single day non-fiction book sales according to the publisher. Later released as an audio book, total sales sold in excess of 400,000 copies. He recieved in advance, US $12 million as a writers fee.

William Clinton Foundation

Main article: William J. Clinton Foundation

The Foundation promotes and provides for a number of humanitarian causes. Within the foundation, the Clinton Foundation HIV and AIDS Initiative (CHAI) strives to make treatment for HIV/AIDS more affordable and to implement large-scale integrated care, treatment, and prevention programs. While in Sydney to attend a Global Business Forum, Clinton signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of his presidential foundation with the Australian government to promote HIV/AIDS programs in the Asia-Pacific region.

Clinton with former President George H. W. Bush in January 2005.

The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), funded by the Clinton Foundation, was inaugurated September 15-September 17, 2005 in New York City to coincide with the 2005 World Summit. The focus areas of the initative include attempts to address world problems such as global public health, poverty alleviation and religious and ethnic conflict.

On May 3, 2005, Clinton announced through the William J. Clinton Foundation an agreement by major soft drink manufacturers to stop selling sugared sodas and juice drinks in public primary and secondary schools.

Other humanitarian work

Clinton has also engaged in humanitarian work in cooperation with fellow former-President George H. W. Bush, specifically in the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami disaster and Hurricane Katrina. They were later awarded on October 5, 2006, the 2006 Philadelphia Liberty Medal for their work on the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund and Bush-Clinton Tsunami Fund. They also spoke together at the funeral of Boris Yeltsin.

On January 3 2005, President George W. Bush named Clinton and George H. W. Bush to lead a nationwide campaign to help the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. On February 1, 2005, he was selected by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to head the United Nations earthquake and tsunami relief and reconstruction effort.

Five days later, Clinton appeared with Bush on the Super Bowl XXXIX pre-game show on Fox in support of their bipartisan effort to raise money for relief of the disaster through the USA Freedom Corps, an action which Bush described as "transcending politics". Thirteen days later, they traveled to the affected areas to see the relief efforts.

On August 31, 2005, following the devastation of the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, Clinton again teamed with George H. W. Bush to coordinate private relief donations, in a campaign similar to their earlier one in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami.

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Clinton, along with Pres. George W. Bush, Laura Bush, and Pres. George H. W. Bush pay their respects to Pope John Paul II before the pope's funeral.

In April 2007 Clinton made his first visit to new United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. The 45-minute meeting, called at Clinton's request, touched on a host of topics, including the continuing human tragedy in Africa, especially in the Darfur region. The Middle East, the conflict in Iraq and Iran's nuclear standoff with the U.N. were also on the agenda, as well as the continuing HIV-AIDS crisis, explained U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe. In an exclusive interview with NewsMax.com before he left Clinton said:

"We just wanted to have a visit. You know we have talked about the work I did for the U.N. before [tsunami aid relief]. We talked about all the issues. And, I invited him to come to the Clinton Global Initiative during the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, in September 2007. We talked about a lot of things. I think he has got a good handle on his new job. I think he will do just fine."

Environment

On August 1, 2006, the William J. Clinton Foundation entered into a partnership with the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group to create the Clinton Foundation Climate Change Initiative (CCI), agreeing to provide resources to allow the participating cities to enter into an energy-saving product purchasing consortium and to provide technical and communications support.

On December 9, 2005, speaking at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal, Clinton publicly criticized the Bush Administration for its handling of emissions control. Further, Clinton twice visited the University of California, Los Angeles in 2006 to promote initiatives concerning the environment. First, on August 1, 2006, he met with Tony Blair, Ken Livingstone, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Gavin Newsom to advertise the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group. On October 13, 2006, he spoke in favor of California Proposition 87 on alternative energy, which was voted down.

Personal health

On September 2, 2004, Clinton had an episode of angina and was evaluated at Northern Westchester Hospital. It was determined that he had not suffered a coronary infarction, and he was sent home, returning the following day for angiography, which disclosed multiple vessel coronary artery disease. He was transferred to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, where he underwent a successful quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery on September 6, 2004. The medical team stated that, had he not had surgery, he would likely have suffered a massive heart attack within a few months. On March 10, 2005, he underwent a follow-up surgery to remove scar tissue and fluid from his left chest cavity, a result of his open-heart surgery. He has since recovered.

Honors and accolades

In 2000 Clinton received the International Charlemagne Prize of the city of Aachen, a prestigious European prize.

In February 2004, Clinton (along with Mikhail Gorbachev and Sophia Loren) won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for narrating the Russian National Orchestra's album Wolf Tracks and Peter and the Wolf. Clinton won a second Grammy in February 2005, Best Spoken Word Album for My Life.

On November 22, 2004, New York Republican Governor George Pataki named Clinton and the other living former presidents (Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush) as honorary members of the board rebuilding the World Trade Center.

The 2005 J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding was awarded to Clinton by the Fulbright Association. Clinton received the award in a ceremony in Washington on April 12, 2006.

In 2005, the University of Arkansas System opened the Clinton School of Public Service on the grounds of the Clinton Presidential Center.

On March 5, 2006, he received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Pace University, and is the first recipient of the Pace University President's Centennial Award. Following reception of the honorary degree, he spoke to the students, faculty, alumni and staff of Pace, officially kicking off the centennial anniversary of the university.

On May 13, 2006, Clinton was the commencement speaker along with George H. W. Bush at Tulane University in New Orleans. They both received honorary Doctorates of Laws from Tulane University. Clinton spoke to the students, faculty and alumni of Tulane and of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina that Tulane students had known firsthand.

In Europe, Bill Clinton remains immensely popular, especially in a large part of the Balkans and in Ireland. In Priština, Kosovo, a five-story picture of the former president was permanently engraved into the side of the tallest building in the province as a token of gratitude for Clinton's support during the crisis in Kosovo.

On December 3 2006, Clinton was made an honorary chief and Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu by Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Michael Somare. Clinton was awarded the honor for his "outstanding leadership for the good of mankind during two terms as US president" and his commitment to the global fight against HIV/AIDS and other health challenges in developing countries.

In March 2007, Clinton received the 2007 TED Prize.

On April 28th, 2007, Clinton received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Michigan at the Spring Commencement Ceremony where he was the graduation speaker.

Controversies

Main articles: Lewinsky scandal, Whitewater (controversy), and Troopergate

Impeachment and trial in the Senate

Main article: Impeachment of Bill Clinton

The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist presiding.

In 1998, as a result of allegations that he had lied during grand jury testimony regarding his testimony during the Paula Jones civil deposition, Clinton was the second U.S. president to be impeached by the House of Representatives (the other being Andrew Johnson). The House held no serious impeachment hearings before the 1998 mid-term elections. Though the mid-term elections held in November 1998 were at the 6-year point in an 8-year presidency (a time in the electoral cycle where the party holding the White House usually loses Congressional seats) the Democratic Party actually gained several seats. The Republican leadership then called a lame duck session in December 1998 to hold impeachment proceedings.

Although the House Judiciary Committee hearings were perfunctory and ended in a straight party line vote, the debate on the Floor of the House was lively. The two charges that were passed in the House (largely on the basis of Republican support but with a handful of Democratic votes as well) were for perjury and obstruction of justice. The perjury charge arose from Clinton's testimony about his relationship to Monica Lewinsky during a sexual harassment lawsuit (later dismissed) brought by former Arkansas-state employee Paula Jones. The obstruction charge was based on his actions during the subsequent investigation of that testimony. The Senate later voted to acquit Clinton on both charges.

The Senate refused to convene to hold an impeachment trial before the end of the old term, so the trial was held over until the next Congress. Clinton was represented by Washington law firm Williams & Connolly.

On 1999-02-12, the Senate concluded a 21-day trial with the vote on both counts falling short of the Constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority to convict and remove an office holder. The final vote was generally along party lines, with no Democrats voting guilty. Although for both charges, some Republicans voted not guilty. On the perjury charge 55 senators voted to acquit, including 10 Republicans, and 45 voted to convict; on the obstruction charge the Senate voted 50-50. Clinton, like the only other president to be impeached, Andrew Johnson, served the remainder of his term.

Disbarment

In a separate case, Clinton was disbarred from his Arkansas law license for five years and ordered to pay $25,000 in fines to that state's bar officials. The agreement came on the condition that Whitewater prosecutors would not pursue federal perjury charges against him. In October 2001, Clinton was suspended by the Supreme Court and, facing disbarment from the high court as well, Clinton resigned from the Supreme Court bar in November.

Administrative controversy

Main articles: White House personnel file controversy and White House travel office controversy

The White House travel office controversy began on May 19, 1993, when several longtime employees of the White House Travel Office were fired. A whistleblower's letter, written during the previous administration, triggered an FBI investigation, which revealed evidence of financial malfeasance. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr investigated the firings and could find no evidence of wrongdoing on the Clintons' part.

The White House personnel file controversy of June 1996 arose around improper access to FBI security-clearance documents. Craig Livingstone, head of White House security, improperly requested, and received from the FBI, personnel files without asking permission of the subject individuals. In March 2000, Independent Counsel Robert Ray determined that there was no credible evidence of any criminal activity. Ray's report further stated "there was no substantial and credible evidence that any senior White House official was involved" in seeking the files.

Campaign finance and the pardons

Main articles: 1996 United States campaign finance controversy and Bill Clinton pardons controversy

The 1996 United States campaign finance controversy was an alleged effort by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to influence the domestic policies of the United States, prior to and during the Clinton administration and also involved the fundraising practices of the administration itself.

On his last day in office (January 20, 2001), Clinton issued 140 pardons. Most of the controversy surrounded Marc Rich and allegations that Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, accepted payments in return for influencing the president's decision-making regarding the pardons. The controversy was similar to one faced by Clinton's predecessor, George H. W. Bush, when he pardoned six Reagan administration officials accused or convicted in connection with the Iran-Contra affair and Orlando Bosch during his lame duck period.

Sexual assault and rape allegations

Main articles: Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick

Two claims of sexual misconduct on the part of Bill Clinton were alleged by Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick (referred to as Jane Doe #5 by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr so as to differentiate her from the many women allegedly linked to Clinton), during the Clinton Administration. Neither claim was proven in a court of law; neither claim ever resulted in charges being made. In the Willey case no charges were brought and with regard to a rape allegation by Broaddrick the Arkansas statute of limitations had long since expired, and Broaddrick's only sworn statement was a denial of the allegations she subsequently made.

See also

Further information: [[:Category:Bill Clinton]]

Further reading

Primary sources

• Bill Clinton, My Life. (2004). ISBN 0-375-41457-6.
• Sidney Blumenthal The Clinton Wars. (2003). ISBN 0-374-12502-3
• Kenneth Starr The Starr Report: The Findings of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr on President Clinton and the Lewinsky Affair (1998) ISBN 1-891620-24-X
• George Stephanopoulos All Too Human: A Political Education (1998) ISBN 0-316-92919-0
• S. Daniel Abraham Peace is Possible, foreword by Bill Clinton

Popular books

• Peter Baker The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton (2000) ISBN 0-684-86813-X
• James Bovard Feeling Your Pain: The Explosion and Abuse of Government Power in the Clinton-Gore Years (2000) ISBN 0-312-23082-6
• Joe Conason and Gene Lyons The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton (2003) ISBN 0-312-27319-3
• Elizabeth Drew On the Edge: The Clinton Presidency (1994) ISBN 0-671-87147-1
• Nigel Hamilton Bill Clinton: An American Journey (2003) ISBN 0-375-50610-1
• John F. Harris The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House (2005) ISBN 0-375-50847-3
• Christopher Hitchens No One Left to Lie to: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton (1999) ISBN 1-85984-736-6
• Michael Isikoff Uncovering Clinton: A Reporter's Story (1999) ISBN 0-609-60393-0
• Mark Katz Clinton and Me: A Real-Life Political Comedy (2004) ISBN 978-0786869497
• Joe Klein The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton (2003) ISBN 0-7679-1412-0
• David Maraniss First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton (1996) ISBN 0-684-81890-6
• David Maraniss The Clinton Enigma: A Four and a Half Minute Speech Reveals This President's Entire Life (1998) ISBN 0-684-86296-4
• Dick Morris with Eileen McGann Because He Could (2004) ISBN 0-06-078415-6
• Roger Morris Partners in Power: The Clintons and Their America (1996) ISBN 0-89526-302-5
• Richard A. Posner An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton (1999) ISBN 0-674-00080-3
• Mark J. Rozell The Clinton Scandal and the Future of American Government (2000) ISBN 0-87840-777-4
• Michael Waldman POTUS Speaks: Finding the Words That Defined the Clinton Presidency (2000) ISBN 0-7432-0020-9
• Ivory Tower Publishing Company Achievements of the Clinton Administration: the Complete Legislative and Executive (1995) ISBN 0-88032-748-0

Academic studies

• Cohen; Jeffrey E. "The Polls: Change and Stability in Public Assessments of Personal Traits, Bill Clinton, 1993-99" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 31, 2001
• Cronin, Thomas E. and Michael A. Genovese; "President Clinton and Character Questions" Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 28, 1998
• Davis; John. "The Evolution of American Grand Strategy and the War on Terrorism: Clinton and Bush Perspectives" White House Studies, Vol. 3, 2003
• Edwards; George C. "Bill Clinton and His Crisis of Governance" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 28, 1998
• Fisher; Patrick. "Clinton's Greatest Legislative Achievement? the Success of the 1993 Budget Reconciliation Bill" White House Studies, Vol. 1, 2001
• Glad; Betty. "Evaluating Presidential Character" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 28, 1998
• Harris, John F. The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House. (2005) ISBN 0-375-50847-3, biography
• William G. Hyland. Clinton's World: Remaking American Foreign Policy (1999) ISBN 0-275-96396-9
• Jewett, Aubrey W. and Marc D. Turetzky; " Stability and Change in President Clinton's Foreign Policy Beliefs, 1993-96" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 28, 1998
• Johnson, Fard. "Politics, Propaganda and Public Opinion: The Influence of Race and Class on the 1993 - 1994 Health Care Reform Debate." (2004). ISBN 1-4116-6345-4
• Laham, Nicholas, A Lost Cause: Bill Clinton's Campaign for National Health Insurance (1996)
• Lanoue, David J. and Craig F. Emmert; "Voting in the Glare of the Spotlight: Representatives' Votes on the Impeachment of President Clinton" Polity, Vol. 32, 1999
• Livingston, C. Don, Kenneth A. Wink; "The Passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the U.S. House of Representatives: Presidential Leadership or Presidential Luck?" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997
• Maurer; Paul J. "Media Feeding Frenzies: Press Behavior during Two Clinton Scandals" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 29, 1999
• Nie; Martin A. "'It's the Environment, Stupid!': Clinton and the Environment" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997
• O'Connor; Brendon. "Policies, Principles, and Polls: Bill Clinton's Third Way Welfare Politics 1992-1996" The Australian Journal of Politics and History, Vol. 48, 2002
• Poveda; Tony G. "Clinton, Crime, and the Justice Department" Social Justice, Vol. 21, 1994
• Renshon; Stanley A. The Clinton Presidency: Campaigning, Governing, and the Psychology of Leadership Westview Press, 1995
• Renshon; Stanley A. "The Polls: The Public's Response to the Clinton Scandals, Part 1: Inconsistent Theories, Contradictory Evidence" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 32, 2002
• Rushefsky, Mark E. and Kant Patel. Politics, Power & Policy Making: The Case of Health Care Reform in the 1990s (1998) ISBN 1-56324-956-1
• Schantz, Harvey L. Politics in an Era of Divided Government: Elections and Governance in the Second Clinton Administration (2001) ISBN 0-8153-3583-0
• Wattenberg; Martin P. "The Democrats' Decline in the House during the Clinton Presidency: An Analysis of Partisan Swings" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 29, 1999
• Wattier; Mark J. "The Clinton Factor: The Effects of Clinton's Personal Image in 2000 Presidential Primaries and in the General Election" White House Studies, Vol. 4, 2004
• Smithers, Luken J. "The Miracle Whip"

External links

• Extensive essay on Bill Clinton and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
• Full audio of a number of Clinton speeches via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)
• White House biography
• William J. Clinton Foundation official website
• Clinton Global Initiative official website
• Clinton Presidential Library official website
• Clinton Presidential Materials Project Archive of press releases and transcripts of speeches from the administration.
• Clinton School of Public Service
• WorldCat Identities page for 'Clinton, Bill 1946-'
• Works by Bill Clinton at Project Gutenberg
• Bill Clinton at IMDb
• The Wanderer- A profile of Clinton in the New Yorker, 18 September 2006. Clinton's most extensive interview in his post-presidency
• Bill Clinton Coat of Arms - "Armigerous American Presidents Series" article from the American Heraldry Society.