Clinton, William Administration

William jefferson clinton (b.1946) was the 42nd president of the United States and served from 1993–2001. Al Gore, former U.S. senator from Tennessee, served as his vice president. The leading priorities of the Clinton administration included equality for all Americans, increased safeguards of the environment, and the international spread of democracy.

The popularity of these policies with the American public, combined with strong economic times, led to Clinton's high approval ratings throughout his presidency. Despite his popularity, he experienced several setbacks during his years as president. During the 1994 mid-term elections, the Republicans gained both houses of Congress. Many believed that the Republican wins were attributed to the strong turnout of religious conservatives who opposed Clinton's policies and questioned his ethics and moral behavior. The Republican-led Congress presented legislative roadblocks for Clinton. The agenda of conservatives clashed with the more liberal-leaning policies of the Clinton administration.

As a result of this political divide, legislative battles ensued, making it difficult for Clinton to push his policies through Congress. In the greatest showdown of his presidency, the Republican-dominated Congress tried to impeach Clinton for his questionable conduct with a former White House intern and accusations of perjury; however, the impeachment atempt failed.

Clinton held the presidency during a unique time in American history. With the recent collapse of the Soviet Union and its policies, the United States found itself in a new leadership role in the post-Cold War era. Clinton seized this opportunity to forge new consensus between government, business, and society. His policies ranged from helping poor Americans to promoting greater free trade globally. Another Clinton political priority was to find a viable, nationally based health care policy, which turned out to be a failure. Despite this setback, he forged ahead with other policies.

Clinton had particular success with environmental issues. For example, he campaigned to protect the environment through the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. The Clinton administration further set environmental policies by empowering special interest groups in their quest to achieve their goals. Supported by the strongly pro-green vice president, Al Gore, the Clinton team pursued a variety of environmental goals that often came into conflict with the interests of big business.

The explosion of the Internet and mobile communications during the Clinton presidency led to the mobilization of social and nongovernmental groups. These groups used the new technologies to organize grassroots movements to galvanize support for certain policies in a swift and efficient manner—something that had not occurred before. Environmental groups, for instance, greatly benefited from the growing technology and used it to promote their agenda in new ways. Their efforts gave prominence to such issues as recycling, oil spill prevention/clean up, and land conservation. Global warming and the release of greenhouse gases into the environment were addressed through the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, which aimed to limit emissions on an international basis. Clinton favored the use of market-based initiatives rather than government-sponsored regulation in managing environmental change.