Bill Clinton

In his farewell address on January 18, 2001, President Bill Clinton stated:

His statement underscores the optimism felt during the first decade after the Cold War. Overall, Clinton's presidency was not free from foreign-policy blunders and scandal. Yet he left office on a wave of popularity.

Bill Clinton: Presidency

Bill Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States. He served between 1993 and 2001. At the beginning of his first term, Clinton showed little interest in foreign policy than his predecessors and sought to focus on the economy. This period was an optimistic time after the end of the Cold War when many believed that the world had entered a better era.

As time went on, however, the U.S., under Clinton's leadership, got involved in conflicts in the Balkans, Middle East, and Africa. However, the 1990s are generally considered a time of relative peace for the U.S.

Fig. 1 - President Bill Clinton, 1993. Source: Executive Office of the President of the United States (public domain).

Bill Clinton: Interesting Facts

Bill Clinton was educated at:

• Georgetown University;
• University College, Oxford;
• Yale Law School.

The 42nd president has had a long political career as:

• Governor of Arkansas twice (1979-1981, 1983-1992);
• Attorney General of Arkansas (1977-1979).

He is the husband of Hillary Clinton, who was:

• New York State Senator ( 2001-2009);
• Secretary of State (2009-2013);
• Democratic Presidential nominee (2016).

Bill Clinton made many media appearances, including those with other heads of state, displaying his talent:

• Playing the saxophone.

Clinton was one of the youngest U.S. presidents in the country's history. He was also the second president to be impeached.

Bill Clinton: Accomplishments and Failures

There are many issues for which Bill Clinton is famous. They include:

Bill Clinton: Domestic Politics

Bill Clinton focused on the economy, such as keeping a balanced budget. In domestic politics, he also pursued the following initiatives:

• Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act passed in 1994);
• Clinton Health Care Plan (failed to pass in 1993).

Trade

The Bill Clinton presidency led to significant developments in domestic and international trade.

NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) was an agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. NAFTA was signed in 1992 by the previous President, George H.W. Bush, the Mexican leader Carlos Salinas, and the Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. However, NAFTA came into effect under Clinton in 1994. The purpose of this agreement was to facilitate free trade, for instance, by removing tariffs on imported goods between the three countries.

Fig. 2 - NAFTA Initialing Ceremony, 1992. Standing: President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (Mexico), President George H. W. Bush (U.S.), Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Canada). Source: United States Government (public domain).

The critical areas of NAFTA included:

• agricultural products;
• cars;
• textiles.

NAFTA had mixed results:

• the growth of trade between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico;
• an economic integration on the continent;
• outsourcing which resulted in job loss.

NAFTA was also linked to:

• North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (to fight pollution);
• North American Agreement for Labor Cooperation (to improve labor conditions).

Overall, NAFTA raised questions about the benefits and drawbacks of free trade.

Bill Clinton: Foreign Policy

During Bill Clinton's presidency, the United States had few military involvements with boots on the ground. He preferred to link foreign policy with trade. In his Budget Message to Congress in 1994, President Clinton expressed his emphasis on the role of economics in the realm of international relations:

NATO Expansion

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was established in 1949 as a military alliance that challenged the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Soviet counterpart, the Warsaw Pact, dissolved after the Cold War. NATO was preserved even though it no longer had an opponent.

At this time, Russia, the legal heir of the Soviet Union, was promised no expansion toward its borders, but no agreement was signed. In 1999, NATO carried out its fourth enlargement to include:

• The Czech Republic,
• Hungary,
• Poland.

In the decades since, NATO continued to expand into the historic Russian sphere of influence closer to the Russian borders. Many American politicians and academics, such as George Kennan and Henry Kissinger, criticized this move as aggressive and destabilizing for the region.

Somalia

The U.S. involvement in Somalia began during the previous George H. W. Bush administration due to instability that led to the Somali Civil War. At that time, the U.S. pursued humanitarian goals. However, Clinton decided to increase American presence in Somalia and target its warlords. The decision backfired and led to the Black Hawk Down incident (Operation Gothic Serpent) on October 3-4, 1993.

• During the Battle of Mogadishu, two of the four U.S. Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and ended up in the enemy-controlled territory. Involved in urban warfare, 73 U.S. soldiers were wounded and 18 killed. Some dead bodies were dragged through the streets and televised in the U.S.

Because of this foreign-policy blunder, the Clinton administration received substantial criticism and displayed better restraint in committing boots on the ground in other conflicts.

Fig. 3 - U.S. Marine helicopter patrolling Mogadishu, Somalia, 1992. Source: U.S. Air Force (public domain).

Haiti

A crisis broke out in Haiti after a military regime changed against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In response to the subsequent turmoil in that country, American and Canadian peacekeepers were sent to help in October 1993. The peacekeepers were insufficiently equipped and were forced to turn around when they encountered a mob armed with machetes promising them "another Somalia."³ Clinton's critics argued that the events in Somalia and Haiti damaged America's image.

Rwanda

An estimated half a million people were killed in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. However, because of the failures in Somalia and Haiti, the Clinton administration chose not to intervene. Later, the President called this decision a failure.

Iraq

President George H. W. Bush challenged Iraq during the Gulf War (1990-1991). Bill Clinton continued his predecessor's foreign policy by signing the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act, which sought to topple the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein by meddling in that country's domestic politics. This document was later used as a precedent for the 2003 invasion of that country under the false pretext of finding weapons of mass destruction. The war destabilized the region for decades.

International Terrorism

The Clinton administration wanted to capture the terrorist Osama bin Laden but was unsuccessful. Bin Laden's organization Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for bombing American embassies in East Africa in 1998, with an overall death toll in the hundreds.

Balkan Wars

The dissolution of Yugoslavia, a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country in the Balkans, led to conflicts in the region with complex roots. They included:

• Bosnian War (1992-1995)
• Kosovo War (1998-1999)

The Bosnian War resulted in the Dayton Accords signed in 1995 in Ohio by:

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Croatia
• Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)

The agreement put an end to the war. Richard Holbrooke acted as the leading U.S. peace negotiator.

Fig. 4 - President Slobodan Milosevic (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), President Alija Izetbegovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and President Franjo Tudjman (Croatia) sign a draft of the Dayton Peace Accords, 1995. Source: U.S. Air Force (public domain).

However, regional unrest continued. In 1999, NATO bombed Serbia and Montenegro (then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), which it viewed as aggressors, between March and June. NATO supporters argue that the U.S.-led NATO intervention saved the Kosovo Albanians.

Critics asserted that the strikes resulted in civilian deaths, ranging from hundreds to thousands. These included ethnic Serbs and the staff at the Chinese embassy. Furthermore, NATO employed depleted uranium linked to increased cancer rates. Critics also argued that NATO used this opportunity to expand into the Balkans:

• Kosovo Force (KFOR) NATO military bases;
• North Macedonia NATO membership (2020).

Bill Clinton: Impeachment

In late 1998, the process of impeaching President Clinton began. Impeachment was linked to a lawsuit about sexual harassment filed by Paula Jones and Clinton's inappropriate physical relationship with Monica Lewinsky. The latter was 22 years old and worked as a White House aide.

Impeachment was launched by the House of Representatives and was followed by a Senate trial in 1999. The President faced the following charges:

• obstruction of justice (influencing legal proceedings)
• perjury (lying under oath)

The House of Representatives impeached Clinton. However, he was acquitted by the Senate.

The Monica Lewinsky scandal was broadly covered in the media.

Bill Clinton in 2001

At the end of his second term in 2001, Bill Clinton left office. He had one of the highest approval ratings of all U.S. presidents despite the foreign-policy blunders, failure to pass universal healthcare, and the impeachment scandal.