US Presidents For Dummies

by Marcus Stadelmann

  Foreign policy was Bush’s great love, and he excelled at it. His major foreign policy accomplishments include

  The invasion of Panama: In December 1989, President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama. The Panamanian dictator, Manuel Noriega, was actively involved in drug smuggling, and he nullified a democratic vote that he had lost. The murder of a U.S. marine by Noriega’s forces was the last straw that prompted Bush to invade the country with 24,000 U.S. troops. The troops captured and removed Noriega from office in January 1990. He was brought back to the United States for trial. Noriega was subsequently tried in the United States in April 1992, convicted of drug trafficking, and incarcerated.

  German unification: President Bush played an active role in convincing Soviet president Gorbachev to allow Germany, which had been divided since 1945 (see Chapter 17), to reunify in 1990.

  START I (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty): This treaty, ratified in 1991, reduced U.S. and Soviet nuclear arsenals. The number of nuclear warheads was cut to 8,500 for the United States and 6,500 for the Soviet Union.

  The Understanding on Nuclear Arms Reduction Resolution: This resolution, signed in 1992, further reduced the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia (after the collapse of the Soviet Union). The new numbers were 3,500 warheads for the United States and 3,000 for Russia.

  The end of the Cold War: With the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991, the United States had won the Cold War. It was the only remaining superpower. Bush proceeded slowly, trying not to antagonize Russia, and assured Russia economic aid.

  Bush was also actively involved in the liberation of Eastern Europe from Soviet control. He advocated a slow, cautious transition and extended economic aid to the new democracies in Eastern Europe.

  The Gulf War: In 1990, Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq, invaded neighboring Kuwait. Kuwait holds some of the largest oil reserves in the world, and it neighbors U.S. ally Saudi Arabia. Bush was afraid that Saudi Arabia would be Iraq’s next target. Bush created an international alliance sanctioned by the United Nations, including such unlikely allies as the Soviet Union and many Arab countries, to punish Iraq.

  Having problems at home

  President Bush’s foreign policy successes lifted his approval rating to an astonishing 91 percent, the highest ever for a sitting president. He seemed to be a shoo-in for reelection in 1992, but domestic problems interfered. Bush wasn’t nearly as successful with domestic politics as he was with foreign policy. His problems at home included:

  The deficit: By 1989, the budget deficit had risen to $350 billion annually. The overall budget deficit reached $3.2 trillion — the highest it had ever been. In 1991, the Bush administration, together with Congress, increased taxes to reduce the deficit.

  The collapse of the savings and loan industry: President Reagan and Congress deregulated the savings and loan industry in 1982. This freed institutions to engage in risky speculation, and many institutions were mismanaged. By 1989, approximately 1,000 savings and loan businesses had collapsed or were on the verge of collapsing. The government had to step in and spend an estimated $500 billion to bail these industries out so that millions of Americans didn’t lose their savings.

  Operation Desert Storm

  Operation Desert Storm — the liberation of Kuwait — began on January 17, 1991, and lasted just a few weeks. On February 27, 1991, United States marines liberated Kuwait City, the capital of Kuwait. Iraq was defeated, and the war was over. The allied alliance lost fewer than 200 soldiers, while Iraq lost 100,000 soldiers.

  Kuwait was free, but Hussein was still in power. Bush knew that removing Hussein would anger his Arab allies and destabilize the Persian Gulf region, allowing Iran to take over the region. Bush is still widely criticized for his decision not to remove Hussein from power in Iraq.

  Finding some success with domestic policy

  The Bush administration succeeded in some areas of domestic policy. The following are some of the most notable successes:

  The Americans with Disabilities Act: This act made it mandatory for government installations, businesses, and public places to eliminate any physical obstacle that handicapped citizens may be facing. For example, elevators had to be installed in all government facilities.

  The Clean Air Act: This act provided higher standards for air quality.

  NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement): Bush proposed NAFTA in 1991. It eliminated most tariffs between the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and made provision for eligible Latin American countries to join at a later date. Congress stalled the agreement until President Clinton signed it in 1993.

  President Bush appointed the second African American justice to the Supreme Court. (The first was Thurgood Marshall, who was appointed by President Johnson in 1967). In 1991, he appointed Clarence Thomas, who narrowly won confirmation in a bitter Senate battle.

  Losing reelection in 1992

  President Bush fully expected to win reelection in 1992. He had many great foreign policy successes, and he thought that would be good enough. In addition, he was opposed by a Democratic governor, with a lot of personal baggage, from a small state.

  But what ultimately cost Bush the election was a third party candidate, H. Ross Perot, a billionaire from Texas. Perot siphoned off conservative votes and won almost 20 percent of the total vote. Studies show that almost two-thirds of all Perot voters would have voted for Bush had Perot withdrawn.

  During the candidate debates, Bush seemed disinterested. On election night, he lost badly, receiving only 37 percent of the popular vote and 168 electoral votes. The Democrat Bill Clinton won the presidency with 43 percent of the popular vote and 370 electoral votes.

  Retiring, and advising

  George Bush left office in 1993 and moved back to Houston, Texas. He wrote his memoirs, and at press time, was still giving speeches around the country. When asked about his greatest success as president, Bush replied, “By the grace of God, America won the Cold War.”

  Bush’s proudest moments involved his sons. In 1994, his son George W. Bush became governor of Texas, and in 1998, another son, Jeb, won the governorship of Florida. Then, Governor George W. Bush became president in 2001.

  Today, George Bush is involved in his son’s administration, advising him on foreign affairs.

  Scandal Amid Domestic Policy Success: Bill Clinton

  Bill Clinton, shown in Figure 24-2, is one of the most controversial U.S. presidents in history. He achieved great successes in domestic policy and was the first Democrat to be elected to two terms since Franklin Roosevelt.

  Clinton single-handedly transformed the Democratic Party, moving it to the center of the political spectrum. He effectively used the media to communicate with the public. He was also a wizard at campaigning.

  Clinton could have been considered a great U.S. president if it had not been for the many scandals involving him and his administration. From the Whitewater financial scandal to his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky, which got him impeached by the House of Representatives but not convicted in the Senate, to Pardongate — the money-for-pardons scandal that marred his last days in office and beyond — Clinton’s terms seemed to be full of scandals. He is the only president to have been involved in a scandal as he left office. His record doesn’t bode well for his future ranking among U.S. presidents.

  Figure 24-2: Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the United States.

  Courtesy of the Library of Congress

  Overcoming the odds

  Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe, IV, in Hope, Arkansas in 1946. His father, a traveling salesman, was killed a few months before his birth. His mother remarried, and Bill took his stepfather’s last name, Clinton. His stepfather was an alcoholic who frequently beat his wife and the two boys (Bill and his stepbrother, Roger). At the age of 14, Clinton stood up to his stepfather and threatened him. The violence stopped.

  Clinton was an excellent student and very active in school politics
— he ran for so many offices that the principal finally told him that he’d held enough offices. He was also an avid saxophone player. He won first prize in a statewide contest and started a band with two friends called the “Three Blind Mice.”

  In 1963, the American Legion’s Boys Nation Program selected Clinton to travel to Washington to meet President Kennedy. After this meeting, Clinton made up his mind to enter politics. To this end, he attended Georgetown University and graduated with a degree in international affairs in 1968.

  After graduating from Georgetown, he received a Rhodes scholarship to travel and study at Oxford University in Great Britain. At Oxford, he protested the United State’s involvement in the ongoing war in Vietnam. Clinton knew that he wouldn’t have to serve in Vietnam because he had a very high number in the draft lottery.

  In 1970, Clinton received a scholarship to study law at Yale, where he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham. They shared the same political views, and both worked for George McGovern during his 1972 presidential campaign.

  Clinton graduated in 1973 and moved back to Arkansas to teach law at the University of Arkansas. Hillary Rodham joined the faculty in 1974 and married Clinton in 1975.

  Clinton’s early political career

  In 1974, Clinton ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He figured the timing was good, with the Republican Party discredited by Watergate. He faced incumbent Republican congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt and nearly won, receiving 48 percent of the vote.

  Clinton’s near-upset brought him to the attention of the Arkansas Democratic Party. The party saw him as an up-and-coming politician and nominated him for attorney general in 1976. Clinton easily won the race. In 1978, the governor of Arkansas, David Pryor, ran for the Senate, leaving the governorship open. Clinton won the election for the governorship and became the nation’s youngest governor at the age of 32.

  Governing Arkansas — Part 1

  When Clinton took over in Arkansas, the state was in shambles. It ranked low in national rankings of income, education, and standard of living. Clinton wanted to change all that.

  Clinton needed money to improve education and the Arkansas infrastructure, so he implemented a tax increase. As an environmentalist, Clinton opposed the tree-harvesting practices of Arkansas’s largest employers — paper companies. His tax increase and opposition to tree harvesting made him widely disliked in the state and led to his defeat when he ran for reelection in 1980.

  Clinton wasn’t discouraged. He learned from his mistakes and was ready to run again in 1982. He apologized to the people of Arkansas for the mistakes he made during his first term and won the election with 55 percent of the vote. He governed Arkansas for the next 10 years, winning reelection three more times.

  Governing Arkansas — Part 2

  Clinton became one of the most successful governors in the United States. In 1986, Newsweek magazine ranked him the fifth-best governor in the country, and in 1991, he was ranked the best governor by his fellow governors.

  As governor, Clinton pushed for education reform, job growth, and the inclusion of minorities in state government. He increased taxes to help pay teachers higher salaries, provided poor students with scholarships, and changed the high school curriculum in Arkansas to emphasize hard sciences, such as mathematics and physics. As a result of Clinton’s programs, the graduation rate in Arkansas increased, and tests showed that Arkansan children were learning much more and much better than they had been.

  Clinton also pushed for laws to make Arkansas attractive to large businesses. This strategy worked: Many businesses moved to Arkansas to take advantage of cheap, skilled labor and tax breaks.

  Running for president in 1992

  Clinton had announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in October 1991, starting his path to the presidency. He was active in the Democratic Leadership Council, a group of moderate Democrats trying to impact national politics through progressive policies. This group provided him with the political foundation and issues necessary to run for the presidency, though he still faced an uphill battle to win the Democratic presidential nomination. He was helped by the fact that many prominent Democrats sat out the 1992 election, believing that President Bush was unbeatable.

  By the spring of 1992, Clinton had emerged as the frontrunner for the Demo-cratic nomination, which he easily received that summer.

  He ran his campaign as a New Democrat, conservative on many social issues, such as the death penalty, which he supported. He based his campaign solely on domestic issues, knowing that Bush was stronger on foreign policy. Clinton emphasized the weakening economy and promised a turnaround. He advocated a tax cut for the middle class, promised to reduce the deficit, and called for a cut in defense spending. Most importantly, he advocated health care reform and welfare reform.

  During his campaign, Clinton had to overcome personal attacks involving a long-lasting relationship he had with an Arkansas state employee and nightclub singer, Gennifer Flowers. Clinton and his wife appeared on the television show 60 Minutes to defend their marriage and ask the media and the public to respect their privacy. The strategy worked. Clinton’s affair didn’t become an issue in the 1992 campaign.

  Clinton excelled in the candidate debates and went on to beat Bush in November. An independent candidate, H. Ross Perot, helped Clinton by draining votes from Bush. At 46, Clinton became the third-youngest president in U.S. history and the first president born after WWII.

  President William Jefferson Clinton (1993–2001)

  Clinton assumed office in January 1993, saying in his inaugural address, “There is nothing wrong with America that can’t be fixed with what is right in America.”

  Clinton was ready to implement reforms quickly. However, one of his first proposals almost destroyed his presidency. Clinton proposed legislation lifting the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military. The military, the Republican Party, and many Democrats were incensed and opposed to the plan. This opposition, combined with the public’s negative reaction to the change in policy, forced Clinton to back down. A compromise was struck. Today a don’t ask, don’t tell policy is in place. In other words, superiors cannot ask whether a serviceperson is homosexual, and gays and lesbians in the military cannot openly admit to their sexual orientation.

  Succeeding at home

  Clinton achieved major domestic successes, giving the U.S. economy eight years of unprecedented growth. Clinton’s successes include the following:

  Reducing the federal deficit: When Clinton assumed office, the budget deficit had reached $290 billion. To combat the deficit, Clinton passed a major tax increase in 1993, which together with spending cuts was supposed to reduce the deficit by $500 billion over the next five years. By 1997, the federal government ran a surplus of $70 billion, the first surplus since 1969. The surplus was available to pay off the country’s national debt, which topped $5 trillion.

  The Crime Bill: This bill put more police officers on the street to help reduce crime. It also banned assault weapons and implemented controls on handgun purchases.

  The Family and Medical Leave Act: This act, passed in 1993, provided new parents with an unpaid 12-week leave. It also included similar leaves for people caring for sick relatives or recovering from serious illness.

  Americorps: This new program allowed students to perform community service to finance college or repay student loans.

  Welfare reform: In 1996, Bill Clinton initiated major welfare reform. The bill limited lifetime welfare benefits to 5 years and required able adults on welfare to go back to work after being on welfare for 2 years.

  The 1997 tax cut: Clinton kept his 1992 campaign promise when he signed a major tax cut into law in 1997.

  Safe Drinking Water Act: This act, passed in 1996, improved the quality of drinking water by tightening the standards of the Clean Water Act, passed in 1977 to regulate water pollution nationwide. Under the act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can set wate
r quality standards to assure safe drinking water for the U.S. public.

  Failing with healthcare

  One of Clinton’s major campaign promises was to reform the healthcare system in the United States. To fulfill this promise, Clinton appointed his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as the leader of a task force. This task force, entitled the Presidential Task Force on National Healthcare Reform, had the job of coming up with a way to restructure the U.S. healthcare system.

  The task force’s plan was more than 240,000 words long and contained provisions that would obligate businesses to provide medical insurance for their employees. Opponents — primarily insurance companies, other businesses, and Republicans — criticized the plan as too complicated and charged that it gave the federal government too much control over medical care. The opponents launched a successful public relations effort to get the public on their side. With the public opposed to it, the task force’s plan was never even submitted to Congress.

  Losing Congress in 1994

  By 1994, Bill Clinton had become an unpopular president. His support for the rights of homosexual military personnel and his failed healthcare plan created resentment, especially among white male voters. These voters turned out heavily in 1994 and voted for Republican congressional candidates.