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Clinton's first major foray into national politics occurred when he was enlisted to speak at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, introducing candidate Michael Dukakis. Clinton's address, scheduled to last 15 minutes, became a debacle as Clinton gave a notoriously dull speech that lasted over half an hour (he joked about the length of this speech at the 1992 convention).
Despite this setback, Clinton prepared for a run in 1992 against incumbent president George H. W. Bush. In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, President Bush seemed undefeatable, and several potential Democratic candidates — notably New York Governor Mario Cuomo — passed on what seemed to be a lost cause. Governor Clinton won the Democratic Party's nomination handily by positioning himself as a straight-talking everyman, adopting the unofficial campaign slogan of "It's the Economy, Stupid!", and playing saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show.
Clinton chose U.S. Sen. Albert A. Gore Jr. ( D- Tenn.) to be his running mate on July 9, 1992. Initially this decision sparked criticism from strategists due to the fact that Gore was from Clinton's neighboring state of Tennessee. However, in retrospect, many now view Clinton's choice of Gore as a helpful factor in the successful 1992 campaign.
Clinton's opponents raised various "character" issues during the campaign, including his avoidance of military service during the Vietnam War, and his glib response to a question about past marijuana use. Allegations of womanizing and shady business deals also were raised. While none of these alleged flaws led to Clinton's defeat, they did fuel unusually vehement opposition to Clinton's policies among many conservatives from the very beginning of his presidency.
Clinton won the 1992 presidential election against the Republican Bush and independent candidate H. Ross Perot, largely on a platform focusing on domestic issues, notably the economic recession of the pre-election period — using the line "It's the economy, stupid!", in his campaign headquarters. For more information about Clinton's campaign, see Bill Clinton presidential campaign, 1992.
Clinton was the first Democrat to serve two full terms as President since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His election ended an era in which the Republican party had controlled the Presidency for 12 consecutive years, and for 20 of the previous 24 years. That election also brought the Democrats full control of the political branches of the federal government, including both houses of Congress as well as the Presidency, for the first time since the administration of Jimmy Carter.
Clinton's first act as president was to sign executive order 12834 (entitled "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees"), which placed substantial restrictions upon the ability of his senior political appointees to lobby their colleagues after they leave office. The order was rescinded by Clinton in executive order 13184 of December 28, 2000.
Shortly after taking office, Clinton fulfilled a campaign promise by signing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which required large employers to allow their employees to take unpaid leave because of a family or medical emergency. While this action was popular, Clinton's initial reluctance to fulfill another campaign promise relating to the acceptance of openly gay members of the military garnered criticism from both the left (for being too tentative in promoting gay rights) and the right (for being too insensitive to military life). After much debate, Clinton and the Pentagon agreed to a " Don't ask, don't tell" policy, which officially remains in effect.
frame Yitzhak Rabin, Clinton, and Yasser Arafat during the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993. As president, Clinton was characterized as being a much more "hands on" president than some of his Republican predecessors. While Bush and Reagan had operated under what some critics dubbed an Imperial Presidency of bureaucratic "courtiers," Clinton had much more fickle relationships with his aides, and did not delegate them significant powers. He went through four White House Chiefs of Staff — a record number of men in a position that had once been the epicenter of the Imperial Presidency. This is not to say that Clinton was without political confidants in the White House. The First Lady played an active role in helping the President form policy, and Clinton's two best friends and most loyal supporters, Paul Begala and James Carville, could often be seen defending the President's policies in Washington and the media.
After two years of Democratic party control under the leadership of President Clinton, the mid-term elections in 1994 proved disastrous for the Democrats. They lost control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years, in large part due to a failed attempt to create a comprehensive health care system under a plan developed by the First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
After the 1994 election, the spotlight shifted to the Contract with America spearheaded by Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. The Republican-controlled Congress and President Clinton sparred over the budget, resulting in a series of government shutdowns at a political penalty to the Republicans.
President Clinton embraces British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In the 1996 presidential election, Clinton was re-elected by a healthy margin over Republican Bob Dole and Reform candidate Ross Perot, while the Republicans retained control of the Congress but lost a few seats.
Clinton developed a close working relationship with Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, when he was elected in 1997.
In 1999, in conjunction with a Congress controlled by the Republican Party he balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969.
He took a personal interest in The Troubles in Northern Ireland and paid three visits there while he was president in order to encourage peace. This helped both sides in the divided community there to begin to talk, setting in motion the process that lead to the Provisional Irish Republican Army commencing disarmament on October 23, 2001.
Clinton was targeted for assassination several times. One plot was scheduled to be carried out during his late 1994 visit to the Philippines as part of the broader Operation Bojinka, but was never carried out. In 2002, al-Qaeda was discovered to have plotted to kill Clinton toward the end of the president's term.
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