SECTION 2: The Clinton Presidency
▲ Sixteen-year-old Bill Clinton meets President Kennedy on July 26, 1963. A campaign button proclaims his own presidential bid nearly 30 years later.
WITNESS HISTORY 
AUDIO
Becoming President
In 1963, a high school student named Bill Clinton from Hope, Arkansas, went to the White House as part of a youth leadership conference. He was first in line to shake President Kennedy’s hand. Thirty years later, Clinton was sworn in as President of the United States.
“Thomas Jefferson believed that to preserve the very foundation of our nation, we would need dramatic change from time to time. Well, my fellow citizens, this is our time…. And so today, we pledge an end to the era of deadlock and drift—a new season of American renewal has begun.”
—Bill Clinton, First Inaugural Address, 1993
Objectives
- Explain why Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992.
- Assess the success of Clintonⅅs domestic policies.
- Describe the Contract With America and its impact.
- Analyze the Clinton impeachment.
Terms and People
- William Jefferson Clinton
- H. Ross Perot
- Family Medical Leave Act
- Brady Bill
- Newt Gingrich
- Contract With America
- Kenneth Starr
- impeachment
NoteTaking
Reading Skill: Summarize Create an outline like the one below as you read to summarize information about the Clinton presidency.
- The 1992 Election
- Bush’s popularity plummets
- Clinton runs as “New Democrat”
- Clinton carries the election
- Clinton’s Domestic Policies
Why It Matters The conservative revolution of the 1980s had kept Republicans in the White House for 12 straight years and influenced every branch of government. The election of Bill Clinton to the presidency in 1992 signaled that Americans were ready for a change. Clinton’s position as a moderate, practical Democrat had broad appeal for a wide range of voters. Section Focus Question: What were the successes and failures of the Clinton presidency?
The 1992 Election
After the 1991 Persian Gulf War ended, President George H.W. Bush’s approval rating reached 91 percent. In less than one year, however, public opinion had changed. Saddam Hussein had stayed in power, continuing to threaten peace in the Middle East. The American economy had gone into recession and the federal deficit had risen. People were angered by Bush’s betrayal of his 1988 campaign pledge not to raise taxes. Bush’s sinking popularity opened up the way for the Democratic challenge.
Clinton Raises the Challenge
The Democrats nominated William Jefferson Clinton, governor of Arkansas, as their presidential candidate. Clinton was born in 1946 into a humble home and had worked his way through college and law school before being elected governor of Arkansas in 1978. To widen his appeal and distance himself from traditional “tax and spend” liberals, Clinton promoted himself as a “New Democrat.” New Democrats were centrists who sought to
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