Bill Clinton

The Internet During the mid-1990s, localized computer networks began to be interconnected as part of the “World Wide Web,” forever changing how we communicate Between 1997 and 2000, internet use soared 300% The internet also sparked a boom in “dot.com” companies, briefly driving economic prosperity in the late 1990s

The Deficit and Taxes Clinton had campaigned on a platform of economic recovery through reduction of the federal deficit To do this, he was forced to increase taxes on the middle-class and on fuels

Health Care Failure Clinton had also promised health care reform to provide health insurance to the 40 million Americans without it Clinton lacked enough political support in Congress for his reforms and was not able to fulfill this campaign promise

Family Medical Leave Act Bill passed in 1993 Provides workers up to 12 weeks per year of unpaid family leave for the birth or adoption of a child, or for dealing with a serious illness of themselves or a close family member

AmeriCorps Created in 1993 to put people to work improving low-income housing, tutoring students in reading, or in cleaning up the environment While in AmeriCorps, you earn a small salary and scholarship money for continuing your education Expanded by Pres. Bush Over 500,000 Americans have participated in the program

Crime & Gun Control Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993: requires federal background check before the purchase of a handgun, disallows handgun ownership for convicted felons, illegal aliens, the mentally ill, drug addicts, and domestic abusers Clinton also won funding for building new prisons and putting over 100,000 more police officers on the streets

Balancing the Budget Clinton allowed the federal government to shut down in 1995 rather than accept a Republican-backed budget which cut into social program spending Eventually the two sides compromised and produced a balanced budget bill that was acceptable to all parties

Welfare Reform Act Passed in 1996 Limited recipients to no more than 2 consecutive years on welfare and no more than 5 years total Required those receiving welfare to work Gave tax breaks to any company hiring a person on welfare

1996 Election Democrats nominated Clinton for a 2nd term Republicans nominated Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas Billionaire H. Ross Perot ran once again as an independent Clinton won, but in a fairly close race

Budget Surplus As the economy recovered, so did federal tax collections, leading to a federal budget surplus – the government actually took in more in taxes than it spent from 1997 to 2002

Children’s Programs Banned tobacco advertising aimed at children or teenagers Children’s Health Insurance Program: provides health insurance for children whose families can not afford it Expanded federal loans for college tuition Expanded funding for Head Start

Scandals Travelgate: scandal over the questionable dismissal of White House Travel Office staff Troopergate: scandal over Clinton’s use of state troopers to cover-up his extramarital affairs while Governor of Arkansas Whitewater: scandal over Clinton’s alleged arranging of illegal loans to a real estate developer while Governor

The Monica Lewinsky Scandal In 1998, Clinton was accused of having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky When questioned under oath, Clinton lied about his relationship, committing the crime of perjury Clinton later admitted to the affair and apologized

Impeachment In Dec. 1998, Clinton was impeached The House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment for perjury and obstruction of justice related to the Lewinsky scandal In Feb. 1999, Clinton was acquitted by the Senate in a narrow vote

Somalia Battle of Mogadishu: Oct. 3- 4, 1993 US forces on a peace-keeping mission in Somalia were ambushed while attempting to rescue the crews of two helicopters which had been shot down 19 Americans were killed and 73 wounded Popularized in the movie Black Hawk Down US forces left Somalia

Haiti After a military coup overthrew the democratically elected government of Haiti, the UN put a trade embargo in place To end the violence in Haiti, Clinton ordered US troops to invade and restore order, but Haiti’s new rulers were convinced to step down by former Pres. Carter before the invasion took place US troops still took up position in Haiti for many weeks to ensure a peaceful transition

Bosnia Civil war between Orthodox Christian Serbs, Catholic Croatians, and Bosnian Muslims broke out between 1991 and 1995 US-led NATO forces were used to end the fighting and to enforce the 1996 Dayton Accords peace plan

Kosovo Civil war broke out in 1998 between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo Again, US-led NATO forces were used to bring an end to the fighting and to enforce a peace plan

Middle Eastern Peace? Clinton orchestrated an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in which the two sides agreed to negotiate over Palestinian rights in Israel Unfortunately, no lasting peace agreement was ever struck

NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement Passed in 1994 Canada, Mexico, and the US joined into a “free trade zone” Increased US trade with its neighbors, but shifted many manufacturing jobs to Mexico while the US became a service and technology based economy

European Union Formed in 1993 Created to promote economic and political cooperation amongst European states Members share a common currency (the Euro) Weakened US political and economic influence in Europe, as EU members began to cut back on US imports

Kyoto Protocol International environmental conference, held in Japan in 1997 38 nations plus the EU agreed to reduce greenhouse emissions, but the US never approved the plan and pulled out of the talks in 2001

Oklahoma City Bombing April 19, 1995 Terror attack carried out by American Timothy McVeigh, an anti-government militiaman Truck bomb detonated in front of the federal building, killing 168 McVeigh was later executed for his role in the attack

Terror Attacks World Trade Center bombing: Feb. 26, 1993, Islamic terrorists detonated a truck bomb under the WTC in an attempt to bring down the North Tower, killing 6 and injuring over 1000 US Embassy bombings: US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were attacked by terror bombers in Aug. 1998 USS Cole: US warship which was attacked in Oct. 2000 by al Qaeda suicide bomber, killing 17

Election of 2000 Democrats nominated Vice-President Al Gore Republicans nominated Texas Governor George W. Bush Environmentalist and reformer Ralph Nader ran as an independent

Controversy In one of the closest elections in US history, Bush won by only 6 electoral votes, thanks largely to his victory in Florida The votes in Florida were so close that a recount was called, but due to problems with the ballots, recounting was difficult and required too much interpretation of voter intent

Bush v Gore When Bush was declared the winner in Florida, Gore sued The US Supreme Court was forced to rule on the validity of the election results and found that a hand recount of ballots, requiring interpretation of voter intent, was unfair, thereby allowing the election results to stand