1. President William Clinton

2. Clinton’s Background Political Background 1992 Election
At 30, Clinton was the Attorney General for Arkansas
At 32, he became the youngest Governor
Although a Democrat, he was not as conservative as the Republicans but not as liberal as Democrats > centrist
1992 Election
Key features included health care & middle class tax cuts
Wife Hillary Clinton was a major feature

3. Presidential Election of 1992
Democrat – Bill Clinton ran as “protector of middle class” with VP Al Gore
Republican – President George H.W. Bush
Independent – Ross Perot
Electoral Votes – Clinton 370 to Bush’s 168
Popular Votes – Clinton received less than 50% of popular vote & Perot earned 19% of popular vote but no electoral votes

4. 1992 Presidential Election

5. Clinton’s Domestic Policies
Deficit Reduction
Although Clinton initially proposed cutting taxes for the middle class, he raised taxes due to the budget deficit
This led to a long period of low unemployment & interest rates
Health-Care Reform
Costs were high & tens of millions of people had little or no health insurance
Clinton’s created a special task force led by wife Hillary to investigate
Response to Clinton’s plan was mixed but defeated in Congress after months of debate

6. Mid-Year Congressional Election
Defeat of Clinton’s health-care reform showed discontent with his leadership as he failed to deliver on campaign promises
Mid-year elections led to Republican victories
Republican Newt Gingrich campaigned on a “Contract With America” with plans to balance the budget, fight crime & get tax cuts
Republicans gained 54 seats in the House, 8 in the Senate, & took control of both houses for the 1st time in 40 years

7. Clinton’s Challenges Oklahoma City Bombing (1995)
Terrorists exploded a bomb in the Oklahoma City Federal Building killing 168 people & injuring 500.
Americans Timothy McVeigh & Terry Nichols were convicted
McVeigh was executed & Nichols got life in prison
1996 Presidential Election
Democrat Clinton defeated Republican Bob Dole & Independent Ross Perot again

8. Oklahoma City Bombing
1996 Presidential Election

9. Clinton’s Foreign Policy
Oslo Accords 1993
Clinton hosted the signing of this peace agreement between Israel & the Palestinians
Both agreed to self-rule for Palestinians in certain areas & Palestine recognized Israel’s right to exist
Somalia, Africa (1993)
Bush had sent UN troops to help distribute food to victims starving from the Civil War.
In 1993 the UN tried to end the fighting
The worst American incident occurred in Mogadishu where 18 soldiers were killed & 84 wounded
*Black Hawk Down
Clinton withdrew forces & the experience discouraged him from sending troops to Rwanda in 1994 to stop the genocide

10. Mogadishu, Somalia - Africa

11. Foreign Policy continued
Haiti 1994
The U.S. helped the U.N. settle a violent dispute with the goal of removing a military dictator
The U.S. presence helped bring a peaceful change in gov’t

12. Foreign Policy continued
Yugoslavia
This country was formed after WWI with several ethnic groups who were historic enemies.
In the Cold War, it was held together by Tito but his death in the 80s lead to the unraveling of the country
In the 90s the country no longer existed & it its place were several smaller countries with lots of violence
1995 Clinton helped get the Dayton Accords signed to stop fighting in Bosnia & Herzegovina
1999 NATO intervened against Serbia with the goal of stopping the army’s attempt to force ethnic Albanians from the Serbian region of Kosovo
NATO bombing forced Serbian troops to leave Kosovo

14. International Trade NAFTA – North American Free Trade Association
U.S., Mexico, & Canada became 1 large free trade zone
Products could be sold across borders without tariffs or trade barriers
Started by Bush but Clinton had to get support
Critics said it could cost American jobs but Clinton thought it would increase trade
WTO – World Trade Organization
Replaced GATT & settled trade disputes & set rules for global trade

15. Scandal Whitewater Scandal
Throughout Clinton’s 1st term, he & Hillary faced an investigation regarding an investment in the 1970s in real estate known as Whitewater
The Clinton’s & their business partners were questioned about improper behavior in getting and using loans
Special prosecutor Kenneth Starr led the investigation
There were no Whitewater-related charges against the Clinton’s but 3 of their former business associates were found guilty of various crimes