Bill Clinton was the 42nd president of the United States of America. He was born William Jefferson Blythe III in the year 1946. He joined politics in the early 1970s where he first vied for the post of Congress in Arkansas which is his place of birth1.
He was defeated on his first attempt. Clinton became a Governor in 1978 in the state of Arkansas, two years after serving as the state’s attorney general. However, he was not successful in trying to defend his position for the second time, but he regained it four years later. He served as the governor until the year 1992 when he vied for the United States Presidency and defeated the then President George W. Bush.
He was elected in the year 1993 for his first term and was re-elected for the second term in the year 2001. Clinton’s presidency came immediately after the cold war. He was also the first president of the generation that is referred to as the Baby Boomers generation2. Bill Clinton is considered to be one of the best presidents that the United States has ever had. This is due to the credits that are attributed to his leadership. For instance, it is during his reign that the United States enjoyed the most peace. In addition, the economic well being of the country was at its best for the first time. Clinton was able to point to the employment problem in the country. During his tenure, the level of unemployment went down to the lowest level for the first time in the country’s history.
In addition, security in the country improved. The rate of crimes was at the lowest. This is due to the fact that Clinton was able to implement security systems that would deal with crime and hence reduce it significantly. The other credit that has been attributed to the leadership of President Bill Clinton is the fact that the inflation rate at the time went down for the first time in 30 years prior to his election. This means that the rate of economic growth was at the high for the first time in that period.
The dollar was also doing well against other currencies and hence the reduction in the inflation rate. Further, President Clinton ensured that the people of the United States had opportunities to create wealth. He created a wealth-creating environment by making it easier and cheaper for the people to start investment venture3. Most of the people were able to own homes during the period, a credit that has also been attributed to his leadership. Clinton advocated for reduced welfare rolls.
President Clinton’s first term went into the record as the time when the US recorded a budget surplus. This is an indicator of the efficiency of Clinton’s government in the utilization of public resources as well as the collection of revenue. It means that the country was able to collect more revenue than it could spend. In other words, the United States did not have to depend on funding from outside for its budgetary items were all financed.
President Roosevelt was the only other ever Democratic president in the US. President Clinton’s first reign marked an end to a-12 year run of a no dominant party in the Congress and the presidency. However, this did not last for long. In the year 1994, the Republicans took over both Congress houses. The democrats are known to be advocates of racial equality in the United States. This is a country that, for a long time, has been faced with cases of racial discrimination. Clinton rallied the nation to practice no discrimination on the basis of race. The call was a form of celebration for his election to the office of the president.
Clinton faced impeachment in 1998, thereby going into the record as the second president of the US to face the motion of lack of confidence. Clinton was facing the impeachment motion because of a relationship scandal involving him and one of the women who was an intern in the high office of the country. The House of Representatives impeached him. He was later tried in the house of the senate. Upon being found not guilty of the charges he was accused of, he resumed as the president of the United States. The president was remorseful about the situation and he asked the nation’s forgiveness. This helped him to gain the love of the people.
Beyond the boundaries of the United States, President Bill Clinton was also doing well. For instance, he sent peace keeping troops to Bosnia a country that was war torn. This was a great step in the efforts to restore peace in the country. He was also set to fight terrorism in the globe. In doing so, he bombed Iraq at a time when the then president Saddam Hussein refused to allow the United Nations into the country in their effort to search for reported nuclear bomb4.
There was also evidence of biological weapons in Iraq and this was seen as a threat to the national security. In addition to the fight against terrorism, President Bill Clinton was also a great advocate of the international trade. He believed that this was a positive move towards globalization and that it could help in developing the economies of many nations. In doing so, he advocated for reduction of tariffs which were acting as barriers to international trade.
Reduction of tariffs would be important in that it could reduce the cost of exporting and importing goods hence boosting international trade. Further, President Bill Clinton joined the campaign against drug trafficking. This was in the bid to reduce drugs in the United States as well as in other nations. It is important to note that drug trafficking is one of the vices that are associated with crime. Therefore, by reducing drug trafficking, the ripple effect would be a significant reduction of crime an attribute that Bill Clinton was also associated with. In his first term, he also became a global proponent to the expanded NATO.
Bill Clinton also achieved accolades due to his social impact in the country. As it has been mentioned earlier, it was during his tenure that the rate of employment was at its high for the first time. This meant that the life styles and the living conditions of the people of the United States were good a factor that was important for their social life5. Of most significance is the fact that during his presidency, gay and lesbians rights were addressed.
For the first time, gays and lesbians were to be allowed to serve in the military. They were however allowed only in conditions that they did not tell their sexual orientation. This was in the light of a compromise that became famously referred to as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” The policy of allowing gay and lesbians stayed in effect through out his reign as the president.
Clinton also focused on health and in the year 1993, an ambitious health bill that was referred to as the Clinton Health care plan of 1993 was passed. This was a bill that was aimed at addressing some of the health related issues that affected the citizens of the United States of America. The official name for this bill was Health Security Act but some people referred to it unofficially as the Hillarycare, naming it after Clinton’s wife and the first lady Mrs. Hillary Clinton.
It is important to note that health was one of the major items that Bill Clinton used in his campaigns. The aim of this bill was to allow for universal provision of health services to all the citizens of the United States. This bill was actually his first agenda and it is the reason as to why it became the first bill to be implemented following his election. Despite the fact that it was successful and effective, it was not without controversy as some distractors were opposing it claiming that the process of implementing it was wanting.
Bibliography
Leuchtenburg, William E. The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
White, Mark J. The presidency of Bill Clinton: The Legacy of a New Domestic and foreign Policy. London: I.B. Tauris, 2012.
Footnotes
- Mark J White, The Presidency of Bill Clinton: The Legacy of a New Domestic and Foreign Policy (London: I.B. Tauris, 2012), p. 123.
- William E Leuchtenburg, The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), p. 45.
- William E Leuchtenburg, The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), p. 47.
- Mark J White, The Presidency of Bill Clinton: The Legacy of a New Domestic and Foreign Policy (London: I.B. Tauris, 2012), p. 126.
- William E Leuchtenburg, The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), p. 45.