U.S. HISTORYMS. ERAQI

President Bill Clinton

The Clinton Administration

Essential Question:

How should historians judge the impact, effectiveness, and legacy of the Clinton administration?

Clinton’s Early Years

Bill Clinton meets President John F. Kennedy as a 16 year-old delegate of Boy’s Nation on June 6, 1963

Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham at Yale Law School, January 1972

Bill Clinton runs for Student Council

President at Georgetown University

Education

Georgetown University, Oxford University, Yale Law School

Early interest in politics

Attorney general of Arkansas at 30 years of age

Nation’s youngest governor at 32 years of age (Arkansas)

Bill Clinton taking the Oath of Office as the Governor of Arkansas on January 9, 1979

1992 Presidential Election

Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1992

Pushed for middle-class tax cuts and a national health-care system

Relied on his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, a top lawyer

Clinton presented himself as the protector of the middle class.

Clinton won 370 electoral votes to Bush’s 168, although Clinton won less than 50 percent of the popular vote.1992 Presidential Debate: Video Clip

Clinton 1992 Campaign Ad

1992 Election Results

Clinton’s Domestic Issues

Budget Deficit Campaigned on promise to

reduce taxes for the middle class

However, Clinton raised taxes. Critics complained that the tax

increase would hurt the economy but this did not happen.

Health Care Health care costs were rising

and tens of millions of Americans had little or no health insurance.

Hillary Clinton headed a special task force which proposed a government-sponsored program of health care.

The plan was defeated after months of debate.

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Chief Justice William Rehnquist administers the oath of office to President William Jefferson Clinton on January 20, 1993. Daughter Chelsea and wife Hilary Rodham Clinton stand by his side. In his Inaugural Address as the nation’s 42nd president, Clinton invited his fellow citizens to “celebrate the mystery of the American renewal” and to help him “revitalize our democracy.”

A “New Democrat” in the White House

Despite being an excellent persuader, Clinton got off to a rocky start.

Clinton unsuccessfully promoted a plan for national health insurance.

This led to Republican control of the House and Senate after the 1994 elections.

Led by Newt Gingrich, a new breed of younger conservative Republicans swept the Congressional elections of 1994.

Republicans promoted a “Contract with America” to cut welfare and eliminate affirmative action.

Failure to compromise on a budget in 1995 shut the government down and proved a public relations disaster for the GOP.

Clinton undercut Republicans by adopting many of their positions to his own.

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After the 1994 midterm election gave Republicans control of the House of Representatives for the first time in forty years, the new Speaker, Newt Gingrich of Georgia, presented a list of legislative initiatives to be completed within the first one hundred days of the new session. On April 7, 1995, he appeared at a rally on Capitol Hill to celebrate the success of the Republicans’ “Contract with America.”

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Other Domestic Challenges

Terrorism Terrorists

exploded a bomb in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.

Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were convicted of the crime.

The bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 killed168 and injured approximately 700.

Timothy McVeigh

Re-election

In 1996 Clinton defeated Bob Dole of Kansas.

The only Democrat to win reelection to a 2nd term of office as president since FDR

Foreign Policy Challenges

Oslo Accords 2nd U.S. Attempts Clinton hosted the

signing of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Agreed to self-rule for Palestinians in return for the Palestinians recognizing Israel’s right to exist

Never fully realized

Foreign Policy Challenges

Somalia Bush sent troops to

help the UN distribute food to victims of the civil war.

UN forces also worked to end the fighting.

After a number of Americans died, Clinton withdrew the remaining soldiers. Stopped U.S. from

sending help to Rwanda.

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U.S. Army Military Police stop and search vehicles for weapons and explosives at this checkpoint near Vitina, Kosovo in Yugoslavia, 1999. They were part of the NATO led international force sent to attack Serbian forces in Kosovo.

Foreign Policy Challenges

Haiti Clinton pledged the

use of American troops to lead a UN mission to remove a military dictator.

The presence of UN forces helped bring about a generally peaceful change in government.

Foreign Policy Challenges

Former Yugoslavia Violence raged between

the new countries formed from the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Clinton helped broker the Dayton Accords to end fighting in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He urged NATO to act against Serbia.

The Serb army was forcing ethnic Albanians from the Serbian region of Kosovo.

High Crimes and Misdemeanors

Throughout his political career, Bill Clinton faced questions of morality.

In 1998, a sex scandal embroiled the White House, leading to impeachment inquiries. The midterm election resulted in Democratic gains, due in part to the economic prosperity.

The Republican House voted to impeach Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice but failed to convict him.

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What events led to scandal and impeachment proceedings during the Clinton presidency?

Whitewater real estate deal Kenneth Starr led an investigation

into a failed real estate investment the Clintons were involved in during the 1970s.

Paula Jones sexual harassment case Jones sued Clinton for sexual

harassment while he was governor of Arkansas and she was a state employee.

Information emerged suggesting that Clinton had an improper relationship with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.

Monica Lewinsky case Clinton accused of lying under oath

about Monica Lewinsky. House approved two articles of

impeachment but the Senate did not have the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Clinton.

Lesson 2

NEW IMMIGRATION

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The New Immigrants and Their Communities

The 2000 census showed that the U.S, population had experienced greater growth than any other decade.

More than one-third of the population increase came from foreign immigration, the Latino and Asian populations increasing by 70 percent.

Most Mexican immigrants struggled in low-paying, often dangerous jobs.

Immigrants formed their own communities and maintained their group identity.

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FIGURE 31.1 Continent of Birth for Immigrants, 1990–2000 By 2000, the number of foreign-born residents and their children—56 million according to the Census Bureau—had reached the highest level in U.S. history.

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The sign at this 1996 vigil in Echo Park, Los Angeles, reads, “This fruit is the product of immigrants’ labor.” Members of the city’s Latino community bless fruit baskets as they protest a state crackdown on illegal immigration and the increase of the border patrol guards.

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The “Globalization” President

Now that the Cold War had ended, Clinton sought to replace containment with humanitarianism.

Transnational human rights emerged as another issue. Human rights became factors in trade and diplomatic relations (i.e.-

China). Clinton pushed through a series of trade agreements

(NAFTA and GATT), which raised fears that jobs were being sent abroad

The UN humanitarian mission to Somalia was a failure.Heightened ethnic nationalism and religious

fundamentalism created unrest across the globe, especially in the Balkans.

The civil war in Kosovo between the Serbians and Albanians was the worst foreign crisis of Clinton’s presidency.

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WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

Clinton’s Domestic Issues Cont.

Worked to Develop NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) to eliminate barriers to trade

and investment between the US, Canada and Mexico

At $248.2 billion for Canada and $163.3 billion for Mexico, they were the top two purchasers of US exports in 2010

At $276.4 billion for Canada and $229.7 billion for Mexico, they were the second and third largest suppliers of goods imports to the United States in 2010

Global Warming

Climate change was a controversial issue that required international solutions.

The United States did not sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming that had been signed by 169 other nations.

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GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTALISM

V.P. AL GORE

More than 5,000 activists gathered in Seattle in November 1999 to demonstrate against the meeting of the World Trade Organization. The event, which was marked by a violent clash with police and the arrest of dozens of protestors, marked the beginning of a movement for global economic justice.

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Lesson 3

TECHNOLOGY & GLOBALIZATION

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Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley in northern California emerged as the capital of the American computer industry.

Although Silicon Valley resembled a suburb, it was a sprawl of two dozen cities that expanded rapidly as the computer industry grew.

Silicon Valley divided along class lines: the white male managers and engineers lived in

affluent communities. non-unionized, Latino, and Asian workers lived

in poor communities.By the early 1990s, the Silicon Valley had lost its

boomtown atmosphere as competition increased.

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An Electronic Culture

New computer and telecommunications technologies transformed American cultural life.

VCRs and cable TV revolutionized the American entertainment industry.

The most revolutionary aspect of the electronic culture was the Internet.

The new information technologies gave rise to a media community that transcended national boundaries.

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Other Domestic Challenges

Internet The internet emerged as a

major means of communication and commerce.

People were concerned about inappropriate material on the Internet.

The White House tried to pass a law to limit sexually explicit material, but the Supreme Court ruled that it violated the right to freedom of speech.