William J. Clinton

Vietnam Draft

Like many in his generation, Clinton said he agonized over the possibility of being drafted into the Vietnam war. He was accepted into the University of Arkansas’ ROTC program, which helped him avoid the draft, but never served his time there. After reneging on his ROTC commitment, Clinton reentered the draft, but said he was saved by a high number in the lottery, 311.“Bill Clinton’s Draft Letter,” ABC’s Nightline, February 12, 1992 l

Accusations about whether Clinton dodged the draft arose just days before the 1992 New Hampshire presidential primary when a letter he wrote to his ROTC commander 22 years earlier was leaked to the media. In the letter, Clinton said he “opposed and despised” the war and called the draft “illegitimate.” Clinton, then at Oxford, said he would reenter the draft “to maintain my political viability within the system.”“Bill Clinton’s Draft Letter,” ABC’s Nightline, February 12, 1992 On the day the letter was leaked, Clinton appeared on ABC’s “Nightline,” and said, “I did not dodge the draft, I did not do anything wrong.”“Bill Clinton’s Draft Letter,” ABC’s Nightline, February 12, 1992 

Drug Use

With his character an issue in the 1992 presidential campaign, Clinton admitted that he had smoked marijuana “a time or two” while at Oxford. But, in one of his most memorable and parodied remarks, he added, “I didn’t inhale.” He said he didn’t like marijuana and never again tried it.“Clinton Tried Marijuana as a Student, He Says,” The New York Times, March 30, 1992.

Political Career

Clinton ran for office for the first time in 1974, shortly after graduating from law school. It was for an Arkansas congressional seat held by a popular incumbent Republican and Clinton lost, but only by 4  points. Two years later, he was elected attorney general of his home state and two years after that, in 1978 at age 32, he became the state’s youngest governor.“Hillary Rodham Clinton, Encyclopedia of Arkansas.  Arkansas voters denied him a second term as governor, but Clinton came back in 1982 and won two more terms as the state’s chief executive.Official White House Biography of William J. Clinton

Clinton enjoyed widespread recognition for his efforts as governor to improve Arkansas public schools, which ranked among the nation’s worst. In an effort led by Hillary Rodham Clinton, Arkansas raised taxes and funneled the money to the education system. There were signs of improvement, but the state’s schools still ranked near the bottom nationally.Ayres, B. Drummond Jr., “Candidate's Record; Despite Improvements, the Schools In Arkansas Are Still Among Worst,” The New York Times, April 1, 1992.

At a time when Democrats could not escape the label of “tax and spend liberals” with presidential nominees like Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis and former Vice President Walter Mondale,Shapiro, Walter; Painton, Priscilla, “Baby-boomer Bill Clinton: A Generation Takes Power,” Time, Nov. 16, 1992.  Clinton began gaining national attention as a “new Democrat” with centrist views on welfare reform, criminal justice, education and economic growth that he said had broader voter appeal and which, in 1992, he parlayed into a bid for the presidency.“Bill Clinton, New Democrat,” Democratic Leadership Counsel Blueprint Magazine, July 25, 2004.

1992 Presidential Race

President George H.W. Bush was riding high in the polls after the successful Persian Gulf war and many prominent Democrats, accepting Bush’s second term as inevitable, declined to challenge him in 1992. But Clinton entered the race and despite mixed success in early primaries, went on to win his party’s nomination.“Bill Clinton, New Democrat,” Democratic Leadership Counsel Blueprint Magazine, July 25, 2004.

Even while the president’s approval ratings were high, however, 75 percent of Americans believed the country was on the wrong track as early as 1991.Dowd, Maureen, “Sifting Strategies: What Went Wrong, and Right; Bush: As the Loss Sinks In, Some Begin Pointing Fingers,” The New York Times, Nov. 5, 1992. Bush also had alienated conservative voters when he broke his 1988 campaign pledge, “Read my lips, no new taxes” while working out a 1990 budget compromise with CongressRosenthal, Andrew, “White House; Bush Says Raising Taxes Was Biggest Blunder of His Presidency,” The New York Times, March 4, 1992.  and conservative journalist Pat Buchanan challenged Bush in the 1992 primaries, further weakening him.Dowd, Maureen, “Sifting Strategies: What Went Wrong, and Right; Bush: As the Loss Sinks In, Some Begin Pointing Fingers,” The New York Times, Nov. 5, 1992.

Clinton seized on the floundering economyElving, Ron, “Whose Recession is Over? Not Obama's,” National Public Radio, Oct. 30, 2009. even as Bush was focused on the Democrat’s character, and, with billionaire independent candidate Ross Perot cutting into Bush’s support in the three-way general election,Dowd, Maureen, “Sifting Strategies: What Went Wrong, and Right; Bush: As the Loss Sinks In, Some Begin Pointing Fingers,” The New York Times, Nov. 5, 1992. Clinton prevailed.

1996 Presidential Race

After a failed effort on health-care reform that was widely perceived as extremely liberal, Democrats suffered serious setbacks in the 1994 congressional elections when Republicans, led by Gingrich, took control of the House for the first time in 40 years. But Clinton rebounded by 1996 to face a challenge from 1996 presidential rival Bob Dole, the former Senate Republican leader from Kansas.“1996: Little Ideas, Big Dividends,” Kennesaw State University, Georgia. l Dole, like Bush, assailed Clinton’s growing list of personal scandals in questioning his fitness for office while Clinton largely stuck to discussing issuesStaats, Craig, “Clinton, Dole Spar In Town Hall Debate,” CNN, Oct. 16, 1996. Clinton easily defeated Dole.“1996: Little Ideas, Big Dividends,” Kennesaw State University, Georgia. l

Impeachment

Following a five-year investigation that began with the Whitewater real-estate deal, the House impeached Clinton on Dec. 19, 1998 on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice related to his extramarital affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Two other articles of impeachment, a perjury charged linked to Clinton’s attempts to cover-up an extramarital affair with former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones and an abuse-of-power charge related to his attempted cover-up of his affair with Lewinsky, were defeated. All votes were largely along party lines.“House impeaches Clinton, President will face Senate trial on perjury, obstruction of justice charges,” CNN, Dec. 19, 1998.

The charges were forwarded to the Senate, which acquitted Clinton on Feb. 12, 1999. Neither of the two articles of impeachment brought by the House won a simple majority let alone the two-thirds necessary to convict Clinton of high crimes and misdemeanors.Baker, Peter; Dewar, Helen, “The Senate Acquits President Clinton,” The Washington Post, Feb. 13, 1999.

Speaking briefly in the Rose Garden after the vote, Clinton said he was “profoundly sorry” for his actions and the “great burden they have imposed on the Congress and on the American people.” Rather than claim vindication, he said, “This can be and this must be a time of reconciliation and renewal for America."Baker, Peter; Dewar, Helen, “The Senate Acquits President Clinton,” The Washington Post, Feb. 13, 1999.

Post-Presidency

In a move to establish residency in the state in which his wife was running for Senate, Clinton moved to Chappaqua, N.Y., after leaving office in 2001 and, through a privately-financed foundation bearing his name, remains extremely active on a host of issues internationally, from childhood obesity to AIDS to global warming.William J. Clinton Foundation His autobiography, “My Life,” for which he was paid $15 million,McIntire, Mike, “Clintons Made $109 Million in Last 8 Years,” The New York Times, April 5, 2008. was published in 2004.

Despite criticism that he was a potential liability to her, Clinton assisted his wife’s presidential campaign in 2008. Bill Clinton in January 2009 was forced to submit to the victor of that race - Barack Obama - his foundation records for ethics scrutiny before Hillary Rodham Clinton could become Obama's secretary of state.Douglas, William, "Senate confirms Clinton as secretary of state by 94-2," McClatchy Newspapers, Jan. 21, 2009.

The Clinton Presidential Library and Museum and the Clinton School of Public Service are located at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. The school boasts that its holdings “are the largest within the Presidential Library system.”The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. 

Terrorism

Terrorists with ties to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network attacked U.S. interests at least four times between 1993 and 2000, starting with the first bomb attack on the World Trade Centers in New York.“Bill Clinton on Homeland Security,” On The Issues.That was followed by the 1996 car bombing of Kohbar Towers in Saudi Arabia;McIntyre, Jamie; Collings, Anthony, “Saudis allege Iran behind bombing, No punishment expected for Air Force officials,” CNN, Dec. 12, 1996. the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania;Marshall, Andrew, “US bombs terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan,” The Independent,  Aug. 21, 1998.  and the 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen.“Yemen Frees USS Cole Bomb Plotter,” Associated Press/CBS News, Oct. 26, 2007.

Clinton’s reaction to the attacks varied. He was focused on his economic agenda at the time of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and he dismissed it as a law enforcement matter rather than a national security threat.Miniter, Richard, “An Unheeded Warning, When al Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center in 1993, Bill Clinton shrugged,” Opinion Journal/The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 30, 2003. He imposed economic sanctions on Iran, which was implicated in the Kohbar Towers bombing“Clinton Signs Iran-Libya Sanctions Act of 1996,” Global Security, Aug. 5, 1996. and launched cruise missiles into Afghanistan and Sudan in response to the embassy bombings.“Announcing the strike,” The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS, Aug. 20, 1998.

Oklahoma City Bombing

Clinton was pushing to expand the federal government’s police and intelligence-gathering powers to combat international terrorism when a truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla., on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people, including children.Seelye, Katharine Q., “Dole Asks for Cooperation on Terrorism Bill,” The New York Times, June 3, 1995. 

After the bombing Clinton pushed for additional measure to address domestic terrorism,Torry, Jack, “Senate approves Clinton’s anti-terrorism package,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 8, 1995. including broader wiretapping authority, which congressional Republicans refused to grant.Gray, Jerry, “Senate Votes to Aid Tracing of Explosives,” The New York Times, June 6, 1995. 

Welfare Reform

Declaring, “The era of big government is over,”“‘The era of big government is over,’” CNN, Jan. 27, 1996. Clinton and a Republican Congress ended the nation’s Depression-era welfare system, replacing it with one that gave states more control over who would get benefits, limited the amount of time any one could collect it and pushed millions of recipients into jobs within two years.Froomkin, Dan, “Welfare's Changing Face,” The Washington Post, July 23, 1998. 

Health-Care Reform

One of Clinton’s most ambitious legislative initiatives was to provide health care coverage to all Americans, a 1993 effort headed by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, an unprecedented official role for a first lady.Friedman, Thomas L., “Hillary Clinton To Head Panel On Health Care,” The New York Times, Jan. 26, 1993. The effort floundered almost immediately when health care and consumer groups were shut out of the secret deliberations over the planPear, Robert, “White House Shuns Bigger A.M.A. Voice in Health Changes,” The New York Times, March 5, 1993.in a move that a federal judge later ruled was improper.Pear, Robert, “Judge Puts Limits on Secret Sessions for Health,” The New York Times, March 11, 1993. While the cost of the proposal alarmed White House economic advisers and CongressPear, Robert, “Economic Advisers Caution President on Medical Costs,” The New York Times, May 22, 1993. hit was the administration’s focus on cost-cutting in the health-care industryPear, Robert, “Clinton Offering Health Plan with Guarantee of Coverage and Curb on Private Spending,” The New York Times, Sept. 11, 1993. that fueled public opposition and ultimately defeated the bill.Clymer, Adam, “Hillary Clinton Says Administration Was Misunderstood on Health Care,” The New York Times, Oct. 3, 1994.

Gays in the Military

Clinton pledged during the 1992 campaign to end the military’s ban on gays,Clymer, Adam, “Lawmakers Revolt on Lifting Gay Ban in Military Service,” The New York Times, Jan. 27, 1993.but ran into opposition from Congress and the Pentagon.

He settled for a compromise, dubbed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” that allowed gays to serve if they don’t reveal their sexual orientation and barred commanders from asking subordinates if they were gay. The compromise became emblematic of what critics said was Clinton’s willingness to sacrifice core values for political gain.Friedman, Thomas L., “Clinton's Gay Policy: Cave-In or Milestone?” The New York Times, July 25, 1993. The policy did not prevent gays from being discharged on the basis of their sexual orientation. Between 1994 and 2009, more than 12,500 gay service members were forced out of the military.Cook, Greg, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Statistics for 2009,” Digital News Report, March 12, 2009.

Kosovo

Clinton was reluctant to commit U.S. ground forces to risky overseas missions,Feaver, Peter D., “The Clinton Mind-Set,” The Washington Post, March 24, 2004.but he agreed in 1999 to join a NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia to stop the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians by Serbian forces.“Clinton: Serbs must be stopped now, U.S. on verge of attack; divided Senate to unify on Kosovo mission,” CNN March 23, 1999. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 and in November 2009 erected a 10-foot statue of Clinton in Pristina to honor the 10th anniversary of the conflict.“Statue hails Bill Clinton's role in war against Serbia,” Agence France-Presse, Nov. 1, 2009.