The Clinton years.

Factual Questions
1

I remember Clinton being elected when I was in 4th grade (age 9) and going out of office when I was a senior (age 17). Needless to say, these aren’t exactly years when onepays attention to politics.

So, what happened during these years? What did he do? What good did he do, and what bad?

I don’t care about the Lewinsky thig, I just want to know about his policies.

I have this vague impression that Clinton was a good president. But I’m not sure, since I was oblivious to politics during those years.

Thanks.

2

I don’t really like much of what Clinton did nor many of his policies, so I am not going to say much. One thing I want to say though is his choice to handle domestic terrorism as a police matter (1st bombing of the WTC), instead of a millitary matter.

3

Well, whether he was a good or bad president depends on your personal politics.

Here are some historically important highlights (some from memory, and some stolen from this site.)

1993:

  • Appointed Ruth Badar Ginsburg to the Supreme Court.
  • Somalia peacekeeping debacle
  • Made the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays in the military.
  • The Arafat-Rabin conferences as the White House. (Lot of good that did.)
  • Signed Brady Gun Control Bill
  • Signed NAFTA

1994:

  • Appointed Stephen Breyer to the Supreme Court.
  • Whitewater scandal
  • Fired Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders over chicken-choking scandal.
  • Paula Jones scandal
  • Haiti’s military junta forced out under threat of invasion from US. Aristide is reinstated. (Lot of good that did.)

1995:

  • Clinton-Yeltsin conference in Moscow
  • Government “shut-down” stunt during budget fight with Republican congress
  • Normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam
  • Dayton Accords ends Serbian-Croat-Bosnian wars.

1996:

  • Signed welfare-reform act
  • Air strikes on Iraq in retaliation for attacking Kurdish-controlled territory
  • Partial-birth abortion ban vetoed
  • Madeline Albright appointed Secretary of State

1997:

  • DNC Chinese campaign contribution scandal
  • UN Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
  • Supreme Court unanimously rejects Clinton’s request that the Paula Jones lawsuit against him be delayed until he leaves office.

1998:

  • Good Friday accords in Northern Ireland.
  • “Depends on what the meaning of is is.”
  • Six-nation Africa tour
  • Air strikes on Afghanistan following Kenya and Tanzania embassy bombings
  • Federal budget surplus
  • Clinton impeached

1999:

  • Clinton acquitted
  • NATO air strikes against Slobodan Milosovic in Yugoslavia
  • Test Ban Treaty rejected by Senate

2000:

  • Clinton visits Vietnam
  • Hillary Clinton elected Senator from NY (First woman elected to statewide office in NY).
  • Dozens of last-minute pardons issued, including the scandalous Marc Rich pardon.
4

I’m decidedly not of the same politcal persuasion as Bill Clinton. I will say, though, that he did a good job as President for the express reason that he didn’t really do anything. Sure, he attended to the day to day business of the government, exactly as any administrator does. It doesn’t take a great man to do that, though, although a bad man could really screw it up, which I don’t think happened. Even friedo’s list doesn’t show anything substantial.

Yeah, this is a good answer to the OP. Eight years of trying to leave a legacy, and there’s nothing memorable other than getting impeached. Dang it, that’s coming out slanted and political, but I’m trying to say (despite being Republican) that he didn’t do a bad job – he did nothing, which is exactly what we needed.

5

You can certainly argue about where to give credit (President? Congress? Federal Reserve? Economy, generally?), but it’s a fact that during the Clinton years, we went from the then-record-setting deficits of the Reagan years to a balanced budget. I say “then-record-setting,” since the current Administration/Congress/bad economy have pushed the deficit to new heights.

During the Clinton years, we also enjoyed low inflation and low unemployment. Again, trying to ferret out the reasons for this leads inexorably to Great Debates territory, but the raw data are pretty clear.

Some will always argue that Clinton “inherited” an improving situation from the first Pres. Bush, or that the economic situation would have been rosy no matter who was in the White House. Like it or not, however, most Presidents are judged largely by what happens during their watch (e.g., Hoover got blamed for the Great Depression, but blame would more properly have been placed on the Harding and Coolidge administrations that preceded his).