The late presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush was associated with the vast military success in the Gulf War and the associated increase in approval ratings. Nevertheless, in the 1992 presidential election, he lost the political race to Bill Clinton – the first democratic candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt (Kornacki, 2019). One of the reasons for Clinton’s success was the focus on domestic policies and the national economy (Boys, 2020).
Despite the initial skepticism and Clinton’s lack of experience in foreign policies, he was able to restore the public image of the democratic party (Boys, 2020). Consequently, Clinton’s campaign utilized the grand rhetoric method, similar to Trump’s recent slogans of ‘making America great again’ but to a more moderate degree (Boys, 2020). As a result, a combination of intelligent domestic strategy, the restored public faith in democrats, and the grand rhetoric marketing allowed Bill Clinton to win the 1992 presidential election.
Nevertheless, Clinton’s two presidential terms were associated with a large number of scandals regarding both his political decisions and private life. During the first term, Clinton made significant progress in the national economy and advancement of racial equality in America (White, 2018). The public perceived this time as a period of peaceful prosperity and generally approved of the president’s decisions, which allowed Clinton to win the 1996 re-election (White, 2018). However, his future career was darkened by various scandals and accusations. Some of them included a concealed relationship with Monica Lewinsky, sexual assault, substance usage, and avoidance of military draft for the Vietnam war, which eventually led to impeachment (White, 2018). Clinton’s public image was quickly deteriorating, specifically due to the marketing campaign against him conducted by the republican party (White, 2018). As a result, despite the high approval rating, the scandals made Bill Clinton leave office.
References
Boys, J. (2020). Grand strategy, grand rhetoric: The forgotten covenant of campaign 1992. Political Studies Association, 41(1), 80-94.
Kornacki, S. (2019). 1992: Bill Clinton builds a winning coalition, Jackson is diminished. NBC News. Web.
White, M. (2018). Son of the sixties: The controversial image of Bill Clinton. History, 103(354), 100-123.