Summary of Key Aspects of the Clinton Era

Clinton's Foreign Policy

  • Middle East Peace Initiatives:
    • Clinton presided over a historic meeting between Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasir Arafat in 1993, achieving agreement in principle on self-rule for Palestinians within Israel.
    • Efforts to broker a permanent settlement between Israelis and Palestinians continued throughout the 1990s without success.
  • Iraq:
    • Saddam Hussein evaded U.N. inspectors monitoring Iraqi weapons programs.
    • In 1998, the U.S. and Britain launched air strikes against Iraqi weapons facilities after Iraq was found non-compliant with U.N. rules.
  • Terrorism:
    • The U.S. conducted missile attacks against alleged terrorist sites in Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation for bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
  • Other Peacemaking Efforts:
    • Clinton sought to foster peace in Northern Ireland and the Korean peninsula.
    • He traveled to India and Pakistan to reduce rivalry between the two nuclear powers.
  • Post-Cold War Principles:
    • Clinton became a strong opponent of isolationism.
  • Balkans:
    • American troops were committed to a NATO peacekeeping contingent in Bosnia in late 1995.
    • NATO expanded to include Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in 1997.
    • U.S.-led NATO forces launched an air war against Serbia in 1999 in response to ethnic cleansing in Kosovo; this bombing campaign initially failed to prevent ethnic terror.
  • China:
    • Clinton shifted from criticizing China's human rights record to seeking improved trade relations.
    • He supported the China trade bill, passed in May 2000, making China a full trading partner of the U.S.
  • Rwanda:
    • The U.S. stood on the sidelines during the catastrophic ethnic violence, where half a million people died.
  • Haiti:
    • Clinton committed troops to restore democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power in 1994.

Clinton Scandals and Impeachment

  • Whitewater Controversy:
    • Arose from a failed real estate investment known as the Whitewater Land Corporation.
    • Led to the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the Clintons' role.
  • Monica Lewinsky Scandal
    • In January 1998, allegations surfaced of an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and that Clinton lied about it under oath.
  • Impeachment Proceedings:
    • The House of Representatives passed two articles of impeachment against Clinton: perjury and obstruction of justice, in December 1998.
  • Senate Trial:
    • The Senate voted against conviction on both charges in January and February 1999.

Clinton's Legacy

  • Designated major swaths of undeveloped land as protected wilderness.
  • Won public support for health-care improvements in the form of a "patients' bill of rights."
  • Took advantage of federal budget surpluses to win congressional approval for hiring more teachers and police officers.
  • Defeated a bill to protect the tobacco industry from litigation. Continued to support lawsuits meant to reimburse the federal government the 20 million a year the government spent on smokers' health.
  • Addressed gun control following the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.

Economic Policies

  • NAFTA and Free Trade: Clinton supported the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, creating a free-trade zone encompassing Mexico, Canada, and the United States.
  • World Trade Organizaiton: Clinton promoted the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
  • Campaign Finance Reform: Clinton paid lip service to the cause of campaign finance reform. Both parties had grown dependent on vast sums to finance television ads for their candidates.