Bill Clinton Inaugurated (1993)
Jan 20th, 1993, winning only 43% of the popular vote, with George H.W. Bush having 37.4% of the popular vote, Bill Clinton became the 42nd president of the United States. He faced a Congress with dwindling Democratic majorities and a growing right-wing Republican insurgency that sought tax reductions for the wealthy, elimination of the capital gains tax for corporations, state rights, reduction of the federal budget and Medicare and federal regulations, revival of the Reagan Revolution social agenda for school prayer, anti-abortion, immigration restriction, neo-isolationism that was xenophobic, unilateralist, anti-internationalist, opposed participation in UN peacekeeping missions. He is known as the first Baby Boomer president, and his vice president was Al Gore.
President Clinton signs the NAFTA (1993)
Also in 1993, Clinton controversially supported ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement by the U.S. Senate. Clinton, along with most of his Democratic Leadership Committee allies, strongly supported free trade measures; there remained, however, strong intra-party disagreement. Opposition chiefly came from anti-trade Republicans, protectionist Democrats and supporters of Ross Perot. The bill passed the house with 234 votes against 200 (132 Republicans and 102 Democrats voting in favor, 156 Democrats, 43 Republicans, and 1 independent against). The treaty was then ratified by the Senate and signed into a law by the President on 1 January 1994.
Bill Clinton Inaugurated for Second Term (1996)
Bill Clinton (49.3%) defeated Republican Bob Dole (40.7%) in the presidential election Nov. 6, the first Democratic incumbent to win re-election since 1936, but Republicans continued to control Congress and the voter turnout was the lowest since 1924.
Clinton appointed Madeleine Albright Dec. 12 to replace Warren Christopher and to become the first woman Secretary of State; she was born in Prague 1937, her family driven out by Stalin 1948, earned Ph.D at Columbia 1976, became the "Lady of Steel" adept at "threat-based diplomacy"
Lewinsky Scandal (1998)
On January 21, 1998, the media and prominent Republicansraised controversy over Clinton's relationship with a young White House intern named Monica Lewinsky, resulting in the Lewinsky scandal. In a lame duck session after the 1998 elections, for the belief Clinton lied about his relationship with Lewinsky in a sworn deposition in the Paula Jones law suit, the Republican-controlled House voted to impeach Clinton. The following year, the Republican-controlled Senate voted to acquit Clinton and he remained in office to complete his term.