222-404: [REDACTED] Bill Clinton 's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas , took office following his victory over Republican incumbent president George H. W. Bush and independent businessman Ross Perot in the 1992 presidential election . Four years later, in
444-547: A 51 day siege . During the operation on April 19, 1993, the buildings caught fire and 75 of the residents died, including 24 children. The raid had originally been planned by the Bush administration; Clinton had played no role. Boris Yeltsin CPSU membership Elections First term Second term Post-Presidency [REDACTED] Media gallery Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007)
666-414: A Bachelor of Science in foreign service degree in 1968. Georgetown was the only university where Clinton applied. In 1964 and 1965, Clinton won elections for class president . From 1964 to 1967, he was an intern and then a clerk in the office of Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright . While in college, he became a brother of service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa . He
888-725: A Peruvian couple, both undocumented immigrants , to work in her home. Baird withdrew her nomination and Clinton next chose Kimba Wood , who was quickly forced to withdraw due to somewhat similar problems. Janet Reno , a Florida state's attorney , was nominated for Attorney General a few weeks later, and she won confirmation in March 1993. After experiencing difficulty with these nominations, as well as that of Lani Guinier , Clinton brought in David Gergen , who had previously served in Republican administrations, to serve as Counselor to
1110-499: A centrist Third Way philosophy of governance. His policy of fiscal conservatism helped to reduce deficits on budgetary matters. Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history. The Congressional Budget Office reported budget surpluses of $ 69 billion in 1998, $ 126 billion in 1999, and $ 236 billion in 2000, during the last three years of Clinton's presidency. Over
1332-549: A $ 16 billion stimulus package primarily to aid inner-city programs desired by liberals, but it was defeated by a Republican filibuster in the Senate. Clinton inherited major budget deficits left over from the Reagan and Bush administrations; fiscal year 1992 had seen a $ 290 billion deficit. In order to cut the deficit, Bentsen, Panetta, and Rubin urged Clinton to pursue both tax increases and spending cuts. They argued that by taming
1554-518: A 52 percent to 48 percent margin. In 1976, Clinton ran for Arkansas attorney general . Defeating the secretary of state and the deputy attorney general in the Democratic primary, Clinton was elected with no opposition at all in the general election, as no Republican had run for the office. In 1978, Clinton entered the Arkansas gubernatorial primary. At just 31 years old, he was one of
1776-477: A Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund to support both specialized financial institutions and traditional banks serving lower-income communities. In addition, the Medicare Benefit Package was expanded. The Earned Income Tax Credit was expanded to give a larger benefit to working families and allow childless workers to benefit as well. In 1996, Congress passed a 20% increase in
1998-405: A November 14, 1995 deadline to approve the bill. After the deadline, the government would be forced to temporarily shut down due to a lack of funding. In reaction, Clinton presented his own plan that did not include spending cuts to Medicare but would balance the budget by 2005. As Clinton refused to sign the Republican bill, major portions of the government suspended operations until Congress enacted
2220-716: A November 1992 ceremony in Budapest, apologized for the 1956 Soviet intervention in Hungary and handed over to president Árpád Göncz documents from the Communist Party and KGB archives related to the intervention. A treaty of friendship was signed in May 1992 with Lech Wałęsa 's Poland, and then another one in August 1992 with Zhelyu Zhelev 's Bulgaria. On 2 January 1992, Yeltsin, acting as his own prime minister , ordered
2442-625: A bigger economic issue than the deficits, Clinton decided to pursue deficit reduction as the major economic priority of his first year in office. In doing so, he reluctantly abandoned a middle-class tax cut that he had championed during the campaign. Clinton presented his budget plan to Congress in February 1993, proposing a mix of tax increases and spending reductions that would cut the deficit in half by 1997. Republican leaders strongly opposed any tax increase, and they pressured congressional Republicans to unite in opposition to Clinton's budget, and not
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#17327760245672664-523: A budget agreement in 1997 that provided for relatively small changes to the budget. In 1998, the federal government experienced the first budget surplus since the 1960s. Reflecting the importance of the budget surplus, the New York Times described the end of budget deficits as "the fiscal equivalent of the fall of the Berlin Wall." Though Republican leaders called for large tax cuts in light of
2886-681: A candidate (non-voting) member of the Politburo . At that point he formally left the Secretariat to concentrate on his role in Moscow. Over the coming year he removed many of the old secretaries of the gorkom, replacing them with younger individuals, particularly with backgrounds in factory management. In August 1986, Yeltsin gave a two-hour report to the party conference in which he talked about Moscow's problems, including issues that had previously not been spoken about publicly. Gorbachev described
3108-447: A capitalist market economy by implementing economic shock therapy , market exchange rate of the ruble , nationwide privatization , and lifting of price controls . Economic downturn, volatility, and inflation ensued. Amid the economic shift, a small number of oligarchs obtained most of the national property and wealth, while international monopolies dominated the market. A constitutional crisis emerged in 1993 after Yeltsin ordered
3330-601: A closer look at the realities of Soviet life. In May 1981, he held a question-and-answer session with college students at the Sverdlovsk Youth Palace, where he was unusually frank in his discussion of the country's problems. In December 1982 he then gave a television broadcast for the region in which he responded to various letters. This personalised approach to interacting with the public brought disapproval from some Communist Party figures, such as First Secretary of Tyumen Oblast , Gennadii Bogomyakov, although
3552-597: A conference committee settled the differences between the House and Senate. The House passed the final bill in a 218–216 vote. After intensely lobbying Bob Kerrey and other Democratic senators, Clinton won passage of his bill in the Senate in 50–50 tie vote; Vice President Gore broke the tie . Clinton signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA–93) into law on August 10, 1993. The bill provided for $ 255 billion in spending cuts over
3774-652: A crime against our people by making their standard of living so incomparably lower than that of the Americans." An aide, Lev Sukhanov, was reported to have said that it was at that moment that "the last vestige of Bolshevism collapsed" inside his boss. In his autobiography, Against the Grain: An Autobiography , written and published in 1990, Yeltsin hinted in a small passage that after his tour, he made plans to open his line of grocery stores and planned to fill it with government-subsidized goods to alleviate
3996-430: A deep credit crunch shut down many industries and brought about a protracted depression. The reforms devastated the living standards of much of the population, especially the groups dependent on Soviet-era state subsidies and welfare programs. Through the 1990s, Russia's GDP fell by 50%, vast sectors of the economy were wiped out, inequality and unemployment grew dramatically, whilst incomes fell. Hyperinflation , caused by
4218-399: A federal three-strikes law that enhanced criminal penalties for repeat offenders. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban barred the sale of several kinds of semi-automatic rifles , but the provision did not apply to the 1.5 million semi-automatic rifles already in the possession of private owners, nor did it affect other types of guns. Liberal Democrats gave environmentalism a higher priority than
4440-470: A few months earlier. After leaving office, he kept a low profile and was accorded a state funeral upon his death in 2007 . Domestically, he was highly popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, although his reputation was damaged by the economic and political crises of his presidency, and he left office widely unpopular with the Russian population. He received praise and criticism for his role in dismantling
4662-475: A firm second-place finish. Winning the big prizes of Florida and Texas and many of the Southern primaries on Super Tuesday gave Clinton a sizable delegate lead. However, former California governor Jerry Brown was scoring victories and Clinton had yet to win a significant contest outside his native South. With no major Southern state remaining, Clinton targeted New York, which had many delegates. He scored
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#17327760245674884-628: A five-year period, with much of those cuts affecting Medicare and the military. It also provided for $ 241 billion in new revenue over five years; most of that revenue came from an increased gasoline tax or from higher taxes on those who made over $ 100,000 per year. After Republicans took control of Congress in the 1994 elections, incoming Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich promised a conservative "revolution" that would implement tax cuts, welfare reform, and major domestic spending cuts. Gingrich failed to deliver major conservative reforms in
5106-567: A grenade, which blew off the thumb and index finger of his left hand. With friends, he would go on summer walking expeditions in the adjacent taiga , sometimes for many weeks. In September 1949, Yeltsin was admitted to the Ural Polytechnic Institute (UPI) in Sverdlovsk . He took the stream in industrial and civil engineering, which included courses in maths, physics, materials and soil science, and draftsmanship. He
5328-520: A group of congressional Republicans developed a plan consisting of government subsidies and the implementation of a mandate that would require individuals to purchase health insurance. The administration formed a task force, led by First Lady Hillary Clinton , that was charged with creating a plan that would provide for universal health care . Assigning a major policy role to the First Lady was unprecedented and sparked controversy. Rejecting calls for
5550-561: A jazz trio, The 3 Kings , with Randy Goodrum , who became a successful professional pianist. In 1961, Clinton became a member of the Hot Springs Chapter of the Order of DeMolay , a youth group affiliated with Freemasonry , but he never became a Freemason. He briefly considered dedicating his life to music, but as he noted in his autobiography My Life : Clinton began an interest in law at Hot Springs High, when he took up
5772-409: A lack of motivation among construction workers, an irregular supply of materials, and the regular theft or vandalism of available materials. He soon imposed fines for those who damaged or stole materials or engaged in absenteeism, and closely monitored productivity. His work on the construction of a textile factory, for which he oversaw 1000 workers, brought him wider recognition. In June 1958 he became
5994-575: A law professor at the University of Arkansas . In 1974, he ran for the House of Representatives . Running in the conservative 3rd district against incumbent Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt , Clinton's campaign was bolstered by the anti-Republican and anti-incumbent mood resulting from the Watergate scandal . Hammerschmidt, who had received 77 percent of the vote in 1972, defeated Clinton by only
6216-672: A leader, deeming him controlling and patronizing, but committed himself to the latter's project of reform. In April 1985, Gorbachev appointed Yeltsin head of the Construction Department of the Party's Central Committee. Although it entailed moving to the capital city, Yeltsin was unhappy with what he regarded as a demotion. There, he was issued a nomenklatura flat at 54 Second Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street, where his daughter Tatyana and her son and husband soon joined him and his wife. Gorbachev soon promoted Yeltsin to secretary of
6438-694: A leading figure among the New Democrats , a group of Democrats who advocated welfare reform, smaller government, and other policies not supported by liberals. Formally organized as the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the New Democrats argued that in light of President Ronald Reagan 's landslide victory in 1984 , the Democratic Party needed to adopt a more centrist political stance in order to succeed at
6660-541: A longtime Senator from Texas and the 1988 Democratic vice presidential nominee, to serve as his first Secretary of the Treasury. At the start of Clinton's first term, Bentsen, OMB Director Leon Panetta , Secretary of Labor Robert Reich , and policy coordinator Robert Rubin were Clinton's top economic advisers. Clinton's first term foreign policy team was led by National Security Advisor Anthony Lake and Secretary of State Warren Christopher , both of whom had served in
6882-666: A moderate and as a member of the New Democrat wing of the Democratic Party, and he headed the moderate Democratic Leadership Council in 1990 and 1991. In the first primary contest, the Iowa Caucus , Clinton finished a distant third to Iowa senator Tom Harkin . During the campaign for the New Hampshire primary , reports surfaced that Clinton had engaged in an extramarital affair with Gennifer Flowers . Clinton fell far behind former Massachusetts senator Paul Tsongas in
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7104-417: A police officer and a civilian, Rector shot himself in the head, leading to what his lawyers said was a state where he could still talk but did not understand the idea of death. According to both Arkansas state law and federal law, a seriously mentally impaired inmate cannot be executed. The courts disagreed with the allegation of grave mental impairment and allowed the execution. Clinton's return to Arkansas for
7326-417: A policy of triangulation between conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats. By co-opting some of Republican ideas, Morris argued that Clinton could boost his own popularity while blocking the possibility of the drastic reforms advocated by some conservatives. The Republican Congress presented Clinton with a budget plan that cut Medicare spending and instituted major tax cuts for the wealthy, giving him
7548-464: A professor of history and media studies at Rutgers University , argued that: By the end of the Clinton presidency, the numbers were uniformly impressive. Besides the record-high surpluses and the record-low poverty rates, the economy could boast the longest economic expansion in history; the lowest unemployment since the early 1970s; and the lowest poverty rates for single mothers, black Americans, and
7770-734: A promise he failed to keep. By election time, the economy was souring and Bush saw his approval rating plummet to just slightly over 40 percent. Finally, conservatives were previously united by anti-communism, but with the end of the Cold War, the party lacked a uniting issue. When Pat Buchanan and Pat Robertson addressed Christian themes at the Republican National Convention —with Bush criticizing Democrats for omitting God from their platform—many moderates were alienated. Clinton then pointed to his moderate, "New Democrat" record as governor of Arkansas, though some on
7992-638: A public figure. One was his visit as a Boys Nation senator to the White House to meet President John F. Kennedy . The other was watching Martin Luther King Jr. 's 1963 " I Have a Dream " speech on TV, which impressed him so much that he later memorized it. With the aid of scholarships, Clinton attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., receiving
8214-565: A rapid approach and those favoring a gradual or slower approach. On January 1, 1992, Yeltsin signed accords with U.S. President George H. W. Bush , declaring the Cold War officially over after nearly 47 years. A visit to Moscow from Havel in April 1992 occasioned the written repudiation of the Soviet intervention and the withdrawal of armed forces from Czechoslovakia. Yeltsin laid a wreath during
8436-535: A resounding victory in New York City, shedding his image as a regional candidate. Having been transformed into the consensus candidate, he secured the Democratic Party nomination, finishing with a victory in Jerry Brown's home state of California. During the campaign, questions of conflict of interest regarding state business and the politically powerful Rose Law Firm , at which Hillary Rodham Clinton
8658-542: A result of these startups saw massive stock gains in the Nasdaq Composite and the S&;P 500 , although these gains would eventually be lost in their entirety by 2003. Clinton oversaw the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history. Months into his first term, he signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 , which raised taxes and set the stage for future budget surpluses. He signed
8880-585: A senior work superintendent ( starshii prorab ) and in January 1960 was made head engineer ( glavni inzhener ) of Construction Directorate Number 13. At the same time, Yeltsin's family was growing; in September 1956, he married Girina. She soon got work at a scientific research institute, where she remained for 29 years. In August 1957, their daughter Yelena was born, followed by a second daughter, Tatyana, in January 1960. During this period, they moved through
9102-407: A single Republican would vote in favor of Clinton's proposed bill. Senate Democrats eliminated the implementation of a new energy tax in favor of an increase in the gasoline tax , but Clinton successfully resisted efforts to defeat his proposed expansion of the earned income tax credit . By narrow margins, the Senate and the House of Representatives both passed versions of Clinton's budget bill, and
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9324-526: A single-payer system, she proposed a health care plan based on the extension of employer-based health insurance. Individuals not insured by employers would be insured by the government. The plan would also expand the government's regulatory role in a concept known as "managed competition", with the government setting a minimum level of benefits that each plan could provide. Additionally, the plan would prevent insurers from charging different rates to customers based on age and pre-existing conditions . After winning
9546-486: A special legislative session —the longest in Arkansas history. Many have considered this the greatest achievement of the Clinton governorship. He defeated four Republican candidates for governor: Lowe (1978), White (1982 and 1986), Jonesboro businessmen Woody Freeman (1984), and Sheffield Nelson of Little Rock (1990). Also in the 1980s, the Clintons' personal and business affairs included transactions that became
9768-410: A stopgap measure. The government shut down again on December 16 after Clinton vetoed a Republican budget proposal that would have extended tax cuts to the wealthy, cut spending on social programs, and shifted control of Medicaid to the states. After a 21-day government shutdown, Republicans, in danger of being seen as extremists by many in the public, accepted Clinton's budget. Clinton secured passage of
9990-534: A succession of apartments. On family holidays, Yeltsin took his family to a lake in northern Russia and the Black Sea coast. In March 1960, Yeltsin became a probationary member of the governing Communist Party and a full member in March 1961. In his later autobiography, he stated that his original reasons for joining were "sincere" and rooted in a genuine belief in the party's socialist ideals. In other interviews he instead stated that he joined because membership
10212-539: A third child, Valentina. Between 1939 and 1945, Yeltsin received a primary education at Berezniki's Railway School Number 95. Academically, he did well at primary school and was repeatedly elected class monitor by fellow pupils. There, he also took part in activities organized by the Komsomol and Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization . This overlapped with Soviet involvement in
10434-408: A wide range of journals published in the country and also claimed to have read an illegally printed samizdat copy of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 's The Gulag Archipelago . Many of his concerns about the Soviet system were prosaic rather than ideological, as he believed that the system was losing effectiveness and beginning to decay. He was increasingly faced with the problem of Russia's place within
10656-563: A year to $ 24.9 billion. In terms of housing, funding for federal housing assistance grew from an average of $ 20.4 billion a year in the eight years before Clinton's term to an average of $ 29 billion a year during his presidency. In 1997, a child tax credit was introduced that directly reduced a family's income tax bill by $ 500 per eligible child. In addition, federal funding for the Head Start program rose from $ 3.3 billion (in constant 2000 dollars) to $ 5.3 billion in 2000. In 1993, AmeriCorps
10878-399: Is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi honorary band fraternity. Upon graduating from Georgetown in 1968, Clinton won a Rhodes Scholarship to University College, Oxford , where he initially read for a B.Phil. in philosophy, politics, and economics but transferred to a B.Litt. in politics and, ultimately, a B.Phil. in politics. Clinton did not expect to return for the second year because of
11100-723: The 1912 election . Later studies showed that Perot drew his voters roughly equally from Clinton and Bush. Clinton's victory included a sweep of the Northeastern United States , and he also won several states in the Midwest , the West , and the South . By far voters' disappointment with the economy was the major favor in voting against the incumbent, with abortion a lesser factor. In the concurrent congressional elections , Democrats retained control of their majorities in both
11322-513: The 1992 Republican National Convention placed a heavy emphasis on social issues, Clinton's campaign focused on the state of the economy, which was still emerging from the early 1990s recession . On election day, Clinton won 43% of the popular vote and a wide majority in the Electoral College . Bush won 37.4% of the popular vote, while Perot took 18.9%, the strongest showing by a third party or independent presidential candidate since
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#173277602456711544-699: The 1996 presidential election , he defeated Republican nominee Bob Dole and Perot again (then as the nominee of the Reform Party ), to win re-election. Clinton served two terms and was succeeded by Republican George W. Bush , who won the 2000 presidential election . Clinton's presidency coincided with the rise of the Internet . This rapid rise of the Internet under Clinton led to several dot-com startups , which quickly became popular investments and business ventures. The dot-com bubble from 1997 to 2000 as
11766-492: The AIDS United Action five point plan. Clinton won the 1992 presidential election (370 electoral votes) against Republican incumbent George H. W. Bush (168 electoral votes) and billionaire populist Ross Perot (zero electoral votes), who ran as an independent on a platform that focused on domestic issues. Bush's steep decline in public approval was a significant part of Clinton's success. Clinton's victory in
11988-554: The Belavezha Accords , the three presidents declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed "as a subject of international law and geopolitical reality", and announced the formation of a voluntary Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place. On 17 December, in a meeting with Yeltsin, Gorbachev accepted the fait accompli and agreed to dissolve the Soviet Union . On 24 December, by mutual agreement of
12210-637: The Carter administration . Vice President Gore and First Lady Hillary Clinton emerged as two of the most influential figures of the Clinton administration, and Clinton solicited their opinions on a wide range of issues. Clinton decided to appoint the first female Attorney General, settling on little-known corporate lawyer Zoë Baird . In what became known as the Nannygate matter, the Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that Baird had hired
12432-668: The Central Bank of Russia 's loose monetary policy, wiped out many people's personal savings, and tens of millions of Russians were plunged into poverty. Some economists argue that in the 1990s, Russia suffered an economic downturn more severe than the United States or Germany had undergone six decades earlier in the Great Depression . Russian commentators and even some Western economists, such as Marshall Goldman , widely blamed Yeltsin's economic programme for
12654-457: The Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997. The successful passage of welfare reform in the 1990s was President Clinton's strategy of "triangulation"-purposely positioning himself midway between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, thereby building a majority coalition and enabling him to take full credit for the results. The strategy was called " triangulation ". Shortly after
12876-656: The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 , which deregulated trading of derivatives . The bill also included the " Enron loophole ", which lessened regulation of energy trading by companies such as Enron . Clinton also signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 , which represented the first major overhaul of the Communications Act of 1934 . Clinton supported the right of homosexual individuals to serve in
13098-572: The Dmitrov labor camp. Yeltsin and his mother then were ejected from their residence and were taken in by friends; Klavdiya worked at a garment factory in her husband's absence. In October 1936, Nikolai returned; in July 1937, the couple's second child, Mikhail, was born. That month, they moved to Berezniki , in Perm Krai , where Nikolai got work on a potash combine project. In July 1944, they had
13320-937: The George McGovern campaign for the 1972 United States presidential election in order to move in with her in California. The couple continued living together in New Haven when they returned to law school. Clinton eventually moved to Texas with Rodham in 1972 to take a job leading McGovern's effort there. He spent considerable time in Dallas , at the campaign's local headquarters on Lemmon Avenue, where he had an office. Clinton worked with future two-term mayor of Dallas Ron Kirk , future governor of Texas Ann Richards , and then unknown television director and filmmaker Steven Spielberg . After graduating from Yale Law School , Clinton returned to Arkansas and became
13542-572: The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA). The act repealed a provision of the New Deal's Glass–Steagall Act of 1933 that had required banks to either classify themselves as either commercial bank , which were subject to federal oversight and protections like deposit insurance , or as investment banks , which faced less regulations but did not benefit from federal protections. The financial services industry had attempted to repeal this provision of
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#173277602456713764-608: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act . The bipartisan bill granted people the right to keep their insurance plan if they changed jobs, and also contained several other health care reforms. In October 1996, Senator Ted Kennedy introduced a bill to provide health care coverage for children of the working poor, to be financed via a 75 cents a pack cigarette tax increase. Working with Clinton and Republican Senator Orrin Hatch , Kennedy won passage of
13986-463: The House of Representatives and the Senate , and Speaker of the House Tom Foley and Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell both remained in their posts. Republicans Robert H. Michel and Bob Dole continued to serve as House Minority Leader and Senate Minority Leader, respectively. Clinton used his inaugural address to deal with his uncertain mandate from the voters and lack of national experience. He drew heavily upon his lifelong study of
14208-443: The Line Item Veto Act of 1996 , becoming the first president to obtain that power although many had sought it. Its effect was very brief as the act was soon ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Clinton v. City of New York . Combined with a strong economy, the 1993 deficit reduction plan produced smaller budget deficits each year. With the improving state of the federal budget, Clinton and congressional Republicans reached
14430-504: The Monica Lewinsky scandal and impeachment made 1998 a lost year. Clinton concluded happily with Act VI by deregulating the banking system in 1999. In foreign policy, Clinton initiated a bombing campaign in the Balkans, which led to the creation of a United Nations protectorate in Kosovo . He played a major role of the expansion of NATO into former Eastern Bloc countries and remained on positive terms with Russian President Boris Yeltsin . During his second term, Clinton presided over
14652-422: The National Landscape Conservation System , a collection of 15 U.S. National Monuments and 14 National Conservation Areas to be managed by the Bureau of Land Management in such a way as to keep them "healthy, open, and wild." A major issue involved low fees charged ranchers who grazed cattle on public lands. The "animal unit month" (AUM) fee was only $ 1.35 and was far below the 1983 market value. The argument
14874-508: The North American Free Trade Agreement and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act but failed to pass his plan for national health care reform . Starting in the mid-1990s, he began an ideological evolution as he became much more conservative in his domestic policy, advocating for and signing the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act , the State Children's Health Insurance Program and financial deregulation measures. He appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer to
15096-481: The Oslo I Accord and Camp David Summit to advance the Israeli–Palestinian peace process , and assisted the Northern Ireland peace process . Clinton won re-election in the 1996 election , defeating Republican nominee Bob Dole and Reform Party nominee Perot. His second term was dominated by the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal , which began in 1995, when he had a sexual relationship with the then 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky . In January 1998, news of
15318-463: The Senate , where he was acquitted on both charges. During the last three years of Clinton's presidency, the Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus—the first such surplus since 1969. Clinton left office in 2001 with the joint-highest approval rating of any U.S. president. His presidency ranks among the middle to upper tier in historical rankings of U.S. presidents . However, his personal conduct and misconduct allegations have made him
15540-419: The State Committee for Construction . At the next meeting of the Central Committee on 24 February 1988, Yeltsin was removed from his position as a Candidate member of the Politburo. He was perturbed and humiliated but began plotting his revenge. His opportunity came with Gorbachev's establishment of the Congress of People's Deputies . Yeltsin recovered and started intensively criticizing Gorbachev, highlighting
15762-626: The Supreme Court . The first vacancy arose in March 1993, when Associate Justice Byron White informed Clinton of his impending retirement. Clinton considered various nominating political leaders like Mario Cuomo and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt , whom he believed could become leaders on the court in a similar fashion to Earl Warren . After weeks of consideration, Clinton began to favor appointing an experienced jurist, and he conducted interviews with Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg , both of whom served as federal appellate judges. Clinton announced Ginsburg's nomination in June 1993 and she
15984-772: The U.S. Supreme Court . In foreign policy, Clinton ordered U.S. military intervention in the Bosnian and Kosovo wars , eventually signing the Dayton Peace agreement . He also called for the expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe and many former Warsaw Pact members joined NATO during his presidency. Clinton's foreign policy in the Middle East saw him sign the Iraq Liberation Act which gave aid to groups against Saddam Hussein . He also participated in
16206-615: The United States Courts of Appeals and 305 judges to the United States district courts . Among Clinton's appellate appointees were future Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor , as well as Merrick Garland , who was nominated to the Supreme Court in 2016, though his nomination was never acted on by the Senate. Garland would later go on to become Attorney General under Joe Biden in 2021. Clinton proposed
16428-515: The Ural State Technical University . After joining the Communist Party, he rose through its ranks, and in 1976, he became First Secretary of the party's Sverdlovsk Oblast committee. Yeltsin was initially a supporter of the perestroika reforms of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev . He later criticized the reforms as being too moderate and called for a transition to a multi-party representative democracy . In 1987, he
16650-612: The Vietnam War . Aller's 1971 suicide had an influential impact on Clinton. British writer and feminist Sara Maitland said of Clinton, "I remember Bill and Frank Aller taking me to a pub in Walton Street in the summer term of 1969 and talking to me about the Vietnam War. I knew nothing about it, and when Frank began to describe the napalming of civilians I began to cry. Bill said that feeling bad wasn't good enough. That
16872-419: The federal budget . Polls taken in early June 1992 showed Bush leading the race, followed by Perot and then Clinton. From July to September, Perot temporarily dropped out of the race, causing severe damage to his candidacy. At the 1992 Democratic National Convention , Clinton selected Senator Al Gore of Tennessee as his running mate, and the successful convention helped unify Democrats behind Clinton. While
17094-621: The "Boy Governor". He worked on educational reform and directed the maintenance of Arkansas's roads, with wife Hillary leading a successful committee on urban health care reform. However, his term included an unpopular motor vehicle tax and citizens' anger over the escape of Cuban refugees (from the Mariel boatlift ) detained in Fort Chaffee in 1980. Monroe Schwarzlose, of Kingsland in Cleveland County , polled 31 percent of
17316-447: The 1992 election had several unique characteristics. Voters felt that economic conditions were worse than they actually were, which harmed Bush. A rare event was the presence of a strong third-party candidate. Liberals launched a backlash against 12 years of a conservative White House. The chief factor was Clinton's uniting his party, and winning over a number of heterogeneous groups. Clinton's " third way " of moderate liberalism built up
17538-804: The 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party , he previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992. Clinton, whose policies reflected a centrist " Third Way " political philosophy , became known as a New Democrat . Clinton was born and raised in Arkansas . He graduated from Georgetown University in 1968, and later from Yale Law School , where he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham . After graduating from law school, Clinton returned to Arkansas and won election as state attorney general, followed by two non-consecutive tenures as Arkansas governor . As governor, he overhauled
17760-684: The Central Committee for construction and capital investment, a position within the powerful CPSU Central Committee Secretariat , a move approved by the Central Committee plenum in July 1985. With Gorbachev's support, in December 1985, Yeltsin was installed as the first secretary of the Moscow gorkom of the CPSU . He was now responsible for managing the Soviet capital city, which had a population of 8.7 million. In February 1986, Yeltsin became
17982-508: The Central Committee showed no concern. In 1981, he was awarded the Order of Lenin for his work. The following year, Brezhnev died and was succeeded by Yuri Andropov , who in turn ruled for 15 months before his own death; Yeltsin spoke positively about Andropov. Andropov was succeeded by another short-lived leader, Konstantin Chernenko . After his death, Yeltsin took part in the Central Committee plenum which appointed Mikhail Gorbachev
18204-569: The Clinton health care bill would lead to health care rationing , reduced choices, and increased costs. The Health Insurance Association of America 's " Harry and Louise " ad campaign proved especially important in influencing the public against the Clinton health care bill. Meanwhile, Congressmen Newt Gingrich and columnist Bill Kristol convinced congressional Republicans to resist any form of compromise. Clinton's decision not to engage congressional Democrats and moderate Republicans early in 1993, and his own refusal to compromise on various aspects of
18426-652: The Congress of People's Deputies, the Inter-Regional Group of Deputies, and on 29 July 1989 was elected one of the five co-chairmen of the Inter-Regional Group. On 16 September 1989, Yeltsin toured a medium-sized grocery store ( Randalls ) in Texas . Leon Aron, quoting a Yeltsin associate, wrote in his 2000 biography, Yeltsin, A Revolutionary Life (St. Martin's Press): "For a long time, on
18648-549: The Democratic nomination in April 1992. Bush defeated a challenge from conservative commentator Pat Buchanan to win his party's nomination. Meanwhile, independent candidate Ross Perot , a billionaire businessman from Texas, emerged as a major factor in the race. Perot ran a populist campaign that focused on voters disillusioned with both parties, and he emphasized his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and his desire to balance
18870-510: The Democratic nomination were former Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts, former Governor Jerry Brown of California, and Bill Clinton , who had served as the Governor of Arkansas since 1983. Clinton emerged as the front-runner for the nomination after the first set of primaries in February 1992. A founding member of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council , Clinton overcame opposition from more liberal Democrats like Brown and clinched
19092-636: The GLBA since the 1980s, and they were finally successful due to cooperation from Secretary of the Treasury Rubin and Clintonians, who believed that the financial industry needed looser regulation in order for it to remain competitive globally. The bill passed both houses of Congress with only minimal resistance. Opposition to the plan came primarily from liberals like Senator Paul Wellstone , who feared that looser banking regulations would lead to financial crises. Shortly before leaving office, Clinton signed
19314-564: The New Deal, and the "supply-side liberalism" of the 1970s. In 1993 substantive changes were made to food stamps while the HUD Demonstration Act of 1993 authorized several demonstrations, including "an Innovative Homeless Initiatives Demonstration program, the section 8 pension fund demonstration, and the NCDI program." A Direct Student Loan Program was introduced, along with an Early Head Start program for children aged 0 to 3 and
19536-518: The New Hampshire polls. Following Super Bowl XXVI , Clinton and his wife Hillary went on 60 Minutes to rebuff the charges. Their television appearance was a calculated risk, but Clinton regained several delegates. He finished second to Tsongas in the New Hampshire primary , but after trailing badly in the polls and coming within single digits of winning, the media viewed it as a victory. News outlets labeled him "The Comeback Kid" for earning
19758-652: The President . Secretary of Defense Les Aspin resigned in the aftermath of the Battle of Mogadishu and was succeeded by William Perry . Bentsen and McLarty also left office in 1994, and they were replaced by Rubin and Panetta, respectively. After Clinton's re-election, Panetta stepped down and was replaced by former deputy chief of staff Erskine Bowles . Madeleine Albright became the first female Secretary of State, Sandy Berger succeeded Lake as National Security Adviser, and former Republican Senator William Cohen became
19980-563: The Protestant Bible, his education at Catholic Georgetown University, and the inaugural addresses of Ronald Reagan , Richard Nixon , John Kennedy , Jimmy Carter , and Woodrow Wilson . Mack McLarty , a long-time friend of Clinton who had led a successful business career and had served as the chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party, became Clinton's first chief of staff. Clinton convinced Lloyd Bentsen ,
20202-566: The Republican Revolution swept the country. Clinton vetoed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995 . He assembled a bipartisan coalition to pass welfare reform and successfully expanded health insurance for children . While Clinton's economy was strong, his presidency oscillated dramatically from high to low and back again, which historian Gil Troy characterized in six Acts. Act I in early 1993
20424-665: The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, one of the republics of the Soviet Union . His family, who were ethnic Russians, had lived in this area of the Urals since at least the eighteenth century. His father, Nikolai Yeltsin, had married his mother, Klavdiya Vasilyevna Starygina, in 1928. Yeltsin always remained closer to his mother than to his father; the latter beat his wife and children on various occasions. The Soviet Union
20646-610: The Second World War , during which Yeltsin's paternal uncle, Andrian, served in the Red Army and was killed. From 1945 to 1949, Yeltsin studied at the municipal secondary school number 1, also known as Pushkin High School . Yeltsin did well at secondary school, and there took an increasing interest in sports, becoming captain of the school's volleyball squad. He enjoyed playing pranks and in one instance playing with
20868-475: The Secretary of Defense. According to reporter John Harris, Berger's close rapport with Clinton made him the leading foreign policy figure of Clinton's second term, as well as the most influential National Security Advisor since Henry Kissinger . John Podesta assumed the position of Chief of Staff in 1998, while Lawrence Summers replaced Rubin as Treasury Secretary in 1999. Clinton appointed two justices to
21090-619: The Senate refused to ratify it since the agreement did not apply to the rapidly growing emissions of developing countries , such as China, India, and Indonesia. The key person on environmental issues was Bruce Babbitt , the former head of the League of Conservation Voters , who served for all eight years as Clinton's Secretary of the Interior . According to John D. Leshy: The Interior Department worked to protect scenic and historic areas of America's federal public lands. In 2000 Babbitt created
21312-403: The Senate. He appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court . With a 66% approval rating at the time he left office, Clinton had the highest exit approval rating of any president since the end of World War II . His preferred successor, Vice President Al Gore , was narrowly defeated by George W. Bush in the heavily-contested 2000 presidential election , winning
21534-447: The Soviet Union, transforming Russia into a representative democracy, and introducing new political, economic, and cultural freedoms to the country. Conversely, he was accused of economic mismanagement, abuse of presidential power, autocratic behavior, corruption, and of undermining Russia's standing as a major world power. Boris Yeltsin was born on 1st February 1931 in the village of Butka, Talitsky District , Sverdlovsk Oblast , then in
21756-513: The Soviet Union; unlike other republics in the country, the RSFSR lacked the same levels of autonomy from the central government in Moscow. In the early 1980s, he and Yurii Petrov privately devised a tripartite scheme for reforming the Soviet Union that would involve strengthening the Russian government, but it was never presented publicly. By 1980, Yeltsin had developed the habit of appearing unannounced in factories, shops, and public transport to get
21978-537: The Soviet government, ministry by ministry—including the Kremlin. On 6 November 1991, Yeltsin issued a decree banning all Communist Party activities on Russian soil. In early December 1991, Ukraine voted for independence from the Soviet Union. A week later, on 8 December, Yeltsin met Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk and the leader of Belarus , Stanislav Shushkevich , in Belovezhskaya Pushcha . In
22200-510: The Sverdlovsk obkom then unanimously voted to appoint Yeltsin as its first secretary. This made him one of the youngest provincial first secretaries in the RSFSR, and gave him significant power within the province. Where possible, Yeltsin tried to improve consumer welfare in the province, arguing that it would make for more productive workers. Under his provincial leadership, work started on various construction and infrastructure projects in
22422-632: The UPI volleyball team. He avoided any involvement in political organizations while there. During the summer 1953 break, he traveled across the Soviet Union, touring the Volga , central Russia, Belarus , Ukraine , and Georgia ; much of the travel was achieved by hitchhiking on freight trains. It was at UPI that he began a relationship with Naina Iosifovna Girina , a fellow student who would later become his wife. Yeltsin completed his studies in June 1955. Leaving
22644-426: The United States in September 1989, an allegation which appeared to be confirmed by a TV account of his speech; however, popular dissatisfaction with the regime was strong, and these attempts to smear Yeltsin only added to his popularity. In another incident, Yeltsin fell from a bridge. Commenting on this event, Yeltsin hinted that he was helped to fall by the enemies of perestroika , but his opponents suggested that he
22866-626: The Ural Polytechnic Institute, Yeltsin was assigned to work with the Lower Iset Construction Directorate in Sverdlovsk; at his request, he served the first year as a trainee in various building trades. He quickly rose through the organization's ranks. In June 1956 he was promoted to foreman ( master ), and in June 1957 was promoted again, to the position of work superintendent ( prorab ). In these positions, he confronted widespread alcoholism and
23088-472: The Vietnam War, would understand and appreciate his position. After Oxford, Clinton attended Yale Law School and earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1973. In 1971, he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham, in the Yale Law Library ; she was a class year ahead of him. They began dating and were soon inseparable. After only about a month, Clinton postponed his summer plans to be a coordinator for
23310-645: The Yeltsin-backed candidacy of Yegor Gaidar for the position of Russian Prime Minister . An agreement was brokered by Valery Zorkin , president of the Constitutional Court , which included the following provisions: a national referendum on the new constitution; parliament and Yeltsin would choose a new head of government, to be confirmed by the Supreme Soviet; and the parliament was to cease making constitutional amendments that change
23532-452: The affair made tabloid headlines. This scandal escalated throughout the year, culminating in December when Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives , becoming the first U.S. president to be impeached since Andrew Johnson . The two impeachment articles that the House passed were centered around perjury and Clinton using the powers of the presidency to commit obstruction of justice. In 1999, Clinton's impeachment trial began in
23754-403: The aged. Clinton proposed a $ 30 billion economic stimulus package in his first year in office, but his proposal was blocked by Senate Republicans, and he would be unable to win the passage of any similar proposal for the remainder of his presidency. Clinton held office at a time when monetarism had supplanted Keynesianism as the dominant theory of economic growth among many in Washington. Under
23976-482: The balance of power between the legislative and executive branches. Eventually, on 14 December, Viktor Chernomyrdin , widely seen as a compromise figure, was confirmed in the office. The conflict escalated soon, however, with the parliament changing its prior decision to hold a referendum. Yeltsin, in turn, announced in a televised address to the nation on 20 March 1993, that he was going to assume certain "special powers" to implement his programme of reforms. In response,
24198-483: The basis of the Whitewater controversy investigation, which later dogged his presidential administration. After extensive investigation over several years, no indictments were made against the Clintons related to the years in Arkansas. According to some sources, Clinton was a death penalty opponent in his early years, but he eventually switched positions. However he might have felt previously, by 1992, Clinton
24420-602: The bill created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which imposed new work requirements for and lifetime limits on aid recipients, and shifted responsibility for the administration of the programs to the states. Due in part to the improving economy and the expansion of the earned income tax credit, the number of Americans receiving cash public assistance declined from 12.2 million in 1996 to 5.3 million in 2001. Commentators have sometimes speculated that Clinton's emphasis on entrepreneurship and
24642-555: The bill, further damaged any hope of passing a major health care bill. With Republicans unified against his plan, and with his own party divided, Clinton decided to abandon health care reform in September 1994. Within a month of taking office, Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 . The act, which had been vetoed twice by Bush, guaranteed workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave for certain medical and family reasons, including pregnancy. In August 1996, Clinton signed
24864-471: The bipartisan Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and won ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement , despite opposition from trade unions and environmentalists. Clinton's most ambitious legislative initiative, a plan to provide universal health care , faltered, as it never had majority support in Congress due to the Republican Revolution . In the 1994 elections ,
25086-486: The budgetary surplus, Clinton successfully resisted any major budgetary changes in the last three years of his term. In 1997, Clinton agreed to a deal with Republicans that lowered the tax rate on capital gains to 20 percent, implemented a $ 500 child tax credit, increased funding for children's health care, and raised the federal cigarette tax from 24 cents per pack to 39 cents per pack. Republicans did, however, block some of Clinton's favored policies, including an increase of
25308-658: The cause of world peace", having "a powerful collaborator in his wife", and for winning "general applause for his achievement of resolving the gridlock that prevented an agreed budget". During the Vietnam War, Clinton received educational draft deferments while he was in England in 1968 and 1969. While at Oxford, he participated in Vietnam War protests and organized a Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam event in October 1969. He
25530-480: The challenge to argue the defense of the ancient Roman senator Catiline in a mock trial in his Latin class. After a vigorous defense that made use of his "budding rhetorical and political skills", he told the Latin teacher Elizabeth Buck it "made him realize that someday he would study law". Clinton has identified two influential moments in his life, both occurring in 1963, that contributed to his decision to become
25752-534: The city of Sverdlovsk, including a subway system , the replacement of its barracks housing, new theaters and a circus, the refurbishment of its 1912 opera house, and youth housing projects to build new homes for young families. In September 1977, Yeltsin carried out orders to demolish the Ipatiev House , the location where the Romanov royal family had been killed in 1918, over the government's fears that it
25974-442: The constitution, Yeltsin announced in a televised address his decision to disband the Supreme Soviet and Congress of People's Deputies by decree. In his address, Yeltsin declared his intent to rule by decree until the election of the new parliament and a referendum on a new constitution, triggering the constitutional crisis of October 1993 . On the night after Yeltsin's televised address, the Supreme Soviet declared Yeltsin removed from
26196-616: The controversial execution of Ricky Ray Rector , would go forward as scheduled. During his time as governor in the 1980s, Arkansas was the center of a drug smuggling operation through Mena Airport . CIA agent Barry Seal allegedly imported three to five billion dollars worth of cocaine through the airport, and the operation was linked to the Iran–Contra affair . Clinton was accused of knowing about this operation, although nothing could be proven against him. Journalist Sam Smith tied him to various questionable business dealings. Clinton
26418-520: The country's disastrous economic performance in the 1990s. Many politicians began to quickly distance themselves from the programme. In February 1992, Russia's vice president, Alexander Rutskoy denounced the Yeltsin programme as "economic genocide". By 1993, conflict over the reform direction escalated between Yeltsin on the one side, and the opposition to radical economic reform in Russia's parliament on
26640-628: The country's problems. On 4 March 1990, Yeltsin was elected to the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia representing Sverdlovsk with 72% of the vote. On 29 May 1990, he was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), although Gorbachev personally pleaded with the Russian deputies not to select Yeltsin. A part of this power struggle
26862-473: The deficit, Clinton would encourage Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to lower interest rates, which, along with increased confidence among investors, would lead to an economic boom. Some of Clinton's advisers also believed that a focus on cutting the deficit would be politically beneficial since it would potentially help Democrats shed their supposed "tax and spend" reputation. Though Secretary of Labor Robert Reich argued that stagnant earnings represented
27084-402: The deregulation of the financial and telecommunications industry. Clinton's second term also saw the first federal budget surpluses since the 1960s. The ratio of debt held by the public to GDP fell from 47.8% in 1993 to 33.6% by 2000. His impeachment in 1998 arose after he denied claims of having an affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky under oath. He was acquitted of all charges by
27306-507: The dissolution of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin resolved to embark on a programme of radical economic reform. Surpassing Gorbachev's reforms, which sought to expand democracy in the socialist system, the new regime aimed to completely dismantle socialism and fully implement capitalism, converting the world's largest command economy into a free-market one. During early discussions of this transition, Yeltsin's advisers debated issues of speed and sequencing, with an apparent division between those favoring
27528-512: The draft and avoid serving in uniform. He issued a notarized statement during the 1992 presidential campaign: During the 1992 campaign, it was revealed that Clinton's uncle had attempted to secure him a position in the Navy Reserve , which would have prevented him from being deployed to Vietnam. This effort was unsuccessful and Clinton said in 1992 that he had been unaware of it until then. Although legal, Clinton's actions with respect to
27750-501: The draft and deciding whether to serve in the military were criticized during his first presidential campaign by conservatives and some Vietnam veterans, some of whom charged that he had used Fulbright's influence to avoid military service. Clinton's 1992 campaign manager, James Carville , successfully argued that Clinton's letter in which he declined to join the ROTC should be made public, insisting that voters, many of whom had also opposed
27972-461: The draft and received a high number (311), meaning that those whose birthdays had been drawn as numbers 1 to 310 would be drafted before him, making it unlikely he would be called up. (In fact, the highest number drafted was 195.) Colonel Eugene Holmes, the Army officer who had been involved with Clinton's ROTC application, suspected that Clinton attempted to manipulate the situation to avoid
28194-430: The draft and so he switched programs; this type of activity was common among other Rhodes Scholars from his cohort. He had received an offer to study at Yale Law School , and so he left early to return to the United States and did not receive a degree from Oxford. During his time at Oxford, Clinton befriended fellow American Rhodes Scholar Frank Aller. In 1969, Aller received a draft letter that mandated deployment to
28416-471: The economy improved in mid-to-late 1990s. Though much of the credit for the strong economy was assigned to Greenspan, the Clinton administration also basked in the approval of Americans who enjoyed the benefits of a strong economy, and good economic conditions helped Clinton remain popular despite controversies over his personal life. Clinton presided over a period of deregulation in the telecommunications and financial industries. In 1999, Clinton signed into law
28638-444: The economy-focused Clinton did. The Clinton administration responded to public demand for environmental protection. Clinton created 17 national monuments by executive order, prohibiting commercial activities such as logging, mining, and drilling for oil or gas. Clinton also imposed a permanent freeze on drilling in maritime sanctuaries. Other presidential and departmental orders protected various wetlands and coastal resources and extended
28860-418: The eight years of the Clinton administration, the abortion rate declined by 18 percent. On February 15, 1993, Clinton made his first address to the nation, announcing his plan to raise taxes to close a budget deficit . Two days later, in a nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress , Clinton unveiled his economic plan. The plan focused on reducing the deficit rather than on cutting taxes for
29082-595: The election ended twelve years of Republican rule of the White House and twenty of the previous twenty-four years. The election gave Democrats full control of the United States Congress , the first time one party controlled both the executive and legislative branches since Democrats held the 96th United States Congress during the presidency of Jimmy Carter . According to Seymour Martin Lipset ,
29304-529: The end of his presidency, the Clintons moved to 15 Old House Lane in Chappaqua, New York , in order to quell political worries about his wife's residency for election as a U.S. Senator from New York. "Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." Inaugural address, January 20, 1993. After his presidential transition , Clinton
29526-531: The end of the government shutdown, Clinton announced his plan to pursue major changes to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which provided financial assistance to low-income families with children. Clinton believed that the program inadvertently trapped many poor families and individuals in a cycle of poverty, and he favored shifting funding from AFDC to job training and child care programs. Republicans shared Clinton's goal of making major changes to
29748-502: The execution was framed in an article for The New York Times as a possible political move to counter "soft on crime" accusations. Bush's approval ratings were around 80 percent during the Gulf War , and he was described as unbeatable. When Bush compromised with Democrats to try to lower federal deficits, he reneged on his promise not to raise taxes , which hurt his approval rating. Clinton repeatedly condemned Bush for making
29970-446: The existing moratorium on new oil leases off the coast line through 2013. After the Republican victory in the 1994 elections, Clinton vetoed a series of budget bills that contained amendments designed to scale back environmental restrictions. Clinton boasted that his administration "adopted the strongest air-quality protections ever, improved the safety of our drinking water and food, cleaned up about three times as many toxic waste sites as
30192-455: The expansion of which was a major priority for the government. He gained a reputation within the construction industry as a hard worker who was punctual and effective and who was used to meeting the targets set forth by the state apparatus. There had been plans to award him the Order of Lenin for his work, although this was scrapped after a five-story building he was constructing collapsed in March 1966. An official investigation found that Yeltsin
30414-414: The federal minimum wage and legislation designed to provide free prescription drugs to seniors. When Clinton took office, approximately twenty percent of American adults lacked health insurance, despite the fact that the United States spent more on health care than other developed countries . Many liberals advocated the establishment of a single-payer healthcare system similar to that of Canada , while
30636-528: The first hundred days of the 104th Congress , but many observers continued to wonder if the Speaker would seize stewardship over domestic policy from the office of the president. Meanwhile, with conservatism on the rise and New Deal liberalism in retreat, Clinton hoped to forge a new consensus that did not totally reject government interventionism. In reaction to his party's electoral defeat, Clinton hired consultant Dick Morris , who advocated that Clinton pursue
30858-538: The hastily called 9th Congress of People's Deputies attempted to remove Yeltsin from the presidency through impeachment on 26 March 1993. Yeltsin's opponents gathered more than 600 votes for impeachment but fell 72 votes short of the required two-thirds majority. During the summer of 1993, a situation of dual power developed in Russia. From July, two separate administrations of the Chelyabinsk Oblast functioned side by side, after Yeltsin refused to accept
31080-404: The ideological conformity that was expected within the authoritarian state. Yeltsin played along with the personality cult surrounding Brezhnev, but he was contemptuous of what he saw as the Soviet leader's vanity and sloth. He later claimed to have quashed plans for a Brezhnev museum in Sverdlovsk. While First Secretary, his world-view began to shift, influenced by his reading; he kept up with
31302-510: The injured Yeltsin from his hospital bed to the Moscow party plenum two days later where he was ritually denounced by the party faithful in what was reminiscent of a Stalinist show trial before he was fired from the post of First Secretary of the Moscow Communist Party . Yeltsin said he would never forgive Gorbachev for this "immoral and inhuman" treatment. Yeltsin was demoted to the position of First Deputy Commissioner for
31524-546: The job despite objections that he was not a longstanding party member. That year, Yeltsin and his family moved into a four-room apartment on Mamin-Sibiryak Street, downtown Sverdlovsk. Yeltsin then received his second Order of the Red Banner of Labor for his work completing a cold-rolling mill at the Upper Iset Works, a project for which he had overseen the actions of 15,000 laborers. In the late 1960s, Yeltsin
31746-404: The latter unambiguously condemned the Soviet intervention in 1968. Although restored to his position, Gorbachev had been destroyed politically. Neither union nor Russian power structures heeded his commands as support had swung over to Yeltsin. By September, Gorbachev could no longer influence events outside of Moscow. Taking advantage of the situation, Yeltsin began taking over what remained of
31968-412: The latter's death. In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. John's Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and the segregated Hot Springs High School , where he was an active student leader, avid reader, and musician. Clinton was in the chorus and played the tenor saxophone , winning first chair in the state band's saxophone section. While in high school, Clinton performed for two years in
32190-593: The liberalization of foreign trade , prices , and currency. At the same time, Yeltsin followed a policy of "macroeconomic stabilization", a harsh austerity regime designed to control inflation. Under Yeltsin's stabilization programme, interest rates were raised to extremely high levels to tighten money and restrict credit . To bring state spending and revenues into balance, Yeltsin raised new taxes heavily, cut back sharply on government subsidies to industry and construction, and made steep cuts to state welfare spending. In early 1992, prices skyrocketed throughout Russia, and
32412-523: The middle class, which had been high on his campaign agenda. Clinton's advisers pressured him to raise taxes, based on the theory that a smaller federal budget deficit would reduce bond interest rates. President Clinton's attorney general Janet Reno authorized the FBI's use of armored vehicles to deploy tear gas into the buildings of the Branch Davidian community near Waco, Texas, in hopes of ending
32634-489: The military after they revealed their homosexuality. In September 1996, Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act , which denied federal recognition to same-sex marriages , though it had passed with a veto-proof majority and he called the law unnecessary and divisive. On taking office, Clinton revoked a gag order that had prevented abortion counseling in federally funded clinics. He also signed an executive order allowing
32856-484: The military, and, along with Secretary of Defense Les Aspin , he developed a plan that would allow openly gay individuals to serve in the military. Clinton's proposal received strong pushback from military leaders, especially Marine Commandant Carl Epting Mundy Jr. In response, General Colin Powell suggested a compromise solution in which the military would not ask recruits about their sexual orientation, but would retain
33078-545: The minimum wage, which boosted earnings for nearly 10 million Americans. As part of the Clinton Administration's welfare reforms, over 200,000 people on welfare received housing vouchers to help them move closer to jobs, while a welfare-to-work tax credit encouraged businesses to hire long-term welfare recipients. In addition, communities received federal support to design transportation solutions to help low-income workers get to work. Better nutritional support
33300-487: The more liberal side of the party remained suspicious. Many Democrats who had supported Ronald Reagan and Bush in previous elections switched their support to Clinton. Clinton and his running mate, Al Gore , toured the country during the final weeks of the campaign, shoring up support and pledging a "new beginning". On March 26, 1992, during a Democratic fund raiser of the presidential campaign, Robert Rafsky confronted then Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas and asked what he
33522-436: The nation's fiscal health and put the nation on a firm footing abroad amid globalization and the development of anti-American terrorist organizations. During his presidency, Clinton advocated for a wide variety of legislation and programs , most of which were enacted into law or implemented by the executive branch. His policies, particularly the North American Free Trade Agreement and welfare reform , have been attributed to
33744-611: The national level. Clinton delivered the Democratic response to Reagan's 1985 State of the Union Address and served as chair of the National Governors Association from 1986 to 1987, bringing him to an audience beyond Arkansas. In the early 1980s, Clinton made reform of the Arkansas education system a top priority of his gubernatorial administration. The Arkansas Education Standards Committee
33966-447: The national sex offender registry. In November 1993, Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act , which required a background check for gun purchasers. In 1994, Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act , which included a provision known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban . The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act provided funding for 100,000 local law enforcement officials, and established
34188-402: The new General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , and thus de facto Soviet leader , in March 1985. Gorbachev was interested in reforming the Soviet Union and, at the urging of Yegor Ligachyov , the organizational secretary of the Central Committee, soon summoned Yeltsin to meet with him as a potential ally in his efforts. Yeltsin had some reservations about Gorbachev as
34410-424: The newly elected pro-parliament head of the region. The Supreme Soviet pursued its foreign policies, passing a declaration on the status of Sevastopol . In August, a commentator reflected on the situation as follows: "The President issues decrees as if there were no Supreme Soviet, and the Supreme Soviet suspends decrees as if there were no President." ( Izvestia , 13 August 1993). On 21 September 1993, in breach of
34632-430: The officer in charge of the program that he opposed the war, but did not think it was honorable to use ROTC, National Guard, or Reserve service to avoid serving in Vietnam. He further stated that because he opposed the war, he would not volunteer to serve in uniform, but would subject himself to the draft, and would serve if selected only as a way "to maintain my political viability within the system". Clinton registered for
34854-400: The other CIS states (which by this time included all of the remaining republics except Georgia), the Russian Federation took the Soviet Union's seat in the United Nations. The next day, Gorbachev resigned and handed the functions of his office to Yeltsin. On 26 December, the Council of the Republics , the upper house of the Supreme Soviet, voted the Soviet Union out of existence, thereby ending
35076-451: The other. Throughout 1992 Yeltsin wrestled with the Supreme Soviet of Russia and the Congress of People's Deputies for control over government, government policy, government banking, and property. In 1992, the speaker of the Russian Supreme Soviet, Ruslan Khasbulatov , came out in opposition to the reforms, despite claiming to support Yeltsin's overall goals. In December 1992, the 7th Congress of People's Deputies succeeded in turning down
35298-478: The party had addressed a leader of the party in such a manner in front of the Central Committee since Leon Trotsky in the 1920s. In his reply, Gorbachev accused Yeltsin of "political immaturity" and "absolute irresponsibility". Nobody in the Central Committee backed Yeltsin. Within days, news of Yeltsin's actions leaked and rumors of his "secret speech" at the Central Committee spread throughout Moscow. Soon, fabricated samizdat versions began to circulate – this
35520-471: The passage of OBRA–93 and the ratification of NAFTA in 1993, the President made health care his major area of legislative focus in 1994. Though many corporations supported Clinton's health care proposal in hopes of reducing their own costs, several other groups strongly objected to the plan. Liberals criticized Clinton for not proposing more far-reaching reforms, while conservatives attacked the expansion of government. Interest groups ran ad campaigns alleging that
35742-409: The plane to Miami, he sat motionless, his head in his hands. 'What have they done to our poor people?' he said after a long silence." He added, "On his return to Moscow, Yeltsin would confess the pain he had felt after the Houston excursion: the 'pain for all of us, for our country so rich, so talented and so exhausted by incessant experiments'." He wrote that Mr. Yeltsin added, "I think we have committed
35964-472: The popular vote. Historians and political scientists generally rank Clinton as an above-average president. President George H. W. Bush 's popularity in the aftermath of the successful 1991 Gulf War convinced many prominent Democrats to sit out the 1992 presidential election. With party leaders like Mario Cuomo and Dick Gephardt staying out of the running, the 1992 Democratic primary field consisted of relatively unknown candidates. Among those who sought
36186-418: The post-industrial sector was the co-option of conservative ideas first presented by Reagan Republicans in the 1980s. However Brent Cebul argues that triangulation represented a traditional liberal effort to structure the economy with the goals of creating new jobs, and producing fresh tax revenues that can support progressive policy innovations. This tradition goes back to the local and state policies inspired by
36408-447: The potential candidacy of Hillary for governor, initially favored—but ultimately vetoed—by the First Lady). For the nomination, Clinton endorsed Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis . He gave the nationally televised opening night address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention , but his speech, which was 33 minutes long and twice the length it was expected to be, was criticized for being too long. Clinton presented himself both as
36630-450: The presidency for breaching the constitution, and Vice-president Alexander Rutskoy was sworn in as acting president. Between 21 and 24 September, Yeltsin was confronted by popular unrest. Demonstrators protested the terrible living conditions under Yeltsin. Since 1989, GDP had declined by half. Corruption was rampant, violent crime was skyrocketing, medical services were collapsing, food and fuel were increasingly scarce and life expectancy
36852-450: The president she had a new slogan for his reelection campaign: "I'm going to end welfare as we know it for farmers." Clinton was annoyed and retorted, "Farmers are good people. I know we have to do these things. We're going to make these cuts. But we don't have to feel good about it." Bill Clinton [REDACTED] William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe ; born August 19, 1946) is an American lawyer and politician who served as
37074-428: The rank of colonel . Also in 1978, Yeltsin was elected without opposition to the Supreme Soviet . In 1979 Yeltsin and his family moved into a five-room apartment at the Working Youth Embankment in Sverdlovsk. In February 1981, Yeltsin gave a speech to the 26th CPSU Congress and on the final day of the Congress was selected to join the Communist Party Central Committee. Yeltsin's reports to party meetings reflected
37296-431: The right to discharge those who were gay. Clinton resisted the compromise policy, which became known as " don't ask, don't tell ", but congressional leaders of both parties made it clear that they would reverse any executive order allowing gay individuals to openly serve in the military. Clinton ultimately accepted the don't ask, don't tell policy, and over the ensuing ten years approximately 10,000 people were discharged from
37518-477: The same reason. Clinton had repeatedly promised to encourage gays in the military service, despite what he knew to be the strong opposition of the military leadership. He tried anyway, and was publicly opposed by the top generals, and forced by Congress to a compromise position of " Don't ask, don't tell " whereby gays could serve if and only if they kept it secret. He devised a $ 16-billion stimulus package primarily to aid inner-city programs desired by liberals, but it
37740-462: The share of families with investments in stocks rose from 32 percent in 1989 to 51 percent in 2001. Income inequality also grew, as the richest households earned a higher proportion of the total income. Nonetheless, median household income, adjusted for inflation to 2000 dollars, grew from $ 38,262 in 1995 to $ 42,151 in 2000. By 2000, the unemployment rate had declined to four percent, while the poverty rate had declined to 11.3 percent. David Greenberg,
37962-413: The slow pace of reform in society, the servility shown to the general secretary, and opposition to him from Ligachyov making his position untenable, before requesting to resign from the Politburo, adding that the City Committee would decide whether he should resign from the post of First Secretary of the Moscow Communist Party . Aside from the fact that no one had ever quit the Politburo before, no one in
38184-403: The slow pace of reform in the Soviet Union as his major argument. Yeltsin's criticism of the Politburo and Gorbachev led to a smear campaign against him, in which examples of Yeltsin's awkward behavior were used against him. Speaking at the CPSU conference in 1988, Yegor Ligachyov stated, " Boris, you are wrong ". An article in Pravda described Yeltsin as drunk at a lecture during his visit to
38406-428: The small group of women likely to be affected should not become pawns. Catholic bishops condemned his move. Clinton vetoed another such law in 1997. Republicans later passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act , which was signed by President George W. Bush in 2003. In October 1996, Clinton signed into law the Amber Hangerman Child Protection Act, which created the child abduction AMBER Alert system for news stations and
38628-427: The speech as a "strong fresh wind" for the party. Yeltsin expressed a similar message at the 27th Congress of the CPSU in February 1986 and then in a speech at the House of Political Enlightenment in April. On 10 September 1987, after a lecture from hard-liner Yegor Ligachyov at the Politburo for allowing two small unsanctioned demonstrations on Moscow streets, Yeltsin wrote a letter of resignation to Gorbachev who
38850-456: The state's education system and served as chairman of the National Governors Association . Clinton was elected president in the 1992 election , defeating the incumbent Republican Party president George H. W. Bush and the independent businessman Ross Perot . He became the first president to be born in the Baby Boomer generation. Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history. He signed into law
39072-572: The subject of substantial scrutiny. Since leaving office, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the Clinton Foundation to address international causes such as the prevention of HIV/AIDS and global warming. In 2009, he was named the United Nations special envoy to Haiti . After the 2010 Haiti earthquake , Clinton founded the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund with George W. Bush and Barack Obama . He has remained active in Democratic Party politics, campaigning for his wife's 2008 and 2016 presidential campaigns . Clinton
39294-417: The theory of monetarism, Clinton's fiscal policies would have relatively little impact on the economy. Instead, monetarists contended that the economy was guided by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors , a group of appointed officials who set monetary policy. Throughout Clinton's presidency, Alan Greenspan served as the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and he emerged as an especially prominent public figure as
39516-462: The two previous administrations combined, [and] helped to promote a new generation of fuel-efficient vehicles and vehicles that run on alternative fuels". Vice President Gore was keenly concerned with global climate change, and Clinton created the President's Council on Sustainable Development. In November 1998, Clinton signed the Kyoto Protocol , an international agreement in which developed countries committed to reducing carbon emissions . However,
39738-421: The unconstitutional dissolution of the Russian parliament , leading parliament to impeach him. The crisis ended after troops loyal to Yeltsin stormed the parliament building and stopped an armed uprising; he then introduced a new constitution which significantly expanded the powers of the president. After the crisis, Yeltsin governed the country in a rule by decree until 1994, as the Supreme Soviet of Russia
39960-453: The use of fetal tissue in medical research. These early policies moves signaled Clinton's break with the socially conservative policies of his predecessors. Clinton also signed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act , which made it a federal crime to obstruct abortion clinics and places of worship. In April 1996, Clinton vetoed a bill to prohibit late or partial birth abortion calling the procedure potentially life-saving and arguing that
40182-462: The vote against Clinton in the Democratic gubernatorial primary of 1980. Some suggested Schwarzlose's unexpected voter turnout foreshadowed Clinton's defeat by Republican challenger Frank D. White in the general election that year. As Clinton once joked, he was the youngest ex-governor in the nation's history. After leaving office in January 1981, Clinton joined friend Bruce Lindsey 's Little Rock law firm of Wright, Lindsey and Jennings. In 1982, he
40404-423: The welfare system, but they were unwilling to fund the job training programs and wanted to prevent legal immigrants from receiving welfare benefits. Clinton twice vetoed Republican plans that terminated AFDC, but he ultimately decided that he favored the Republican reform plan over no reform at all. In July 1996, Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act , which terminated AFDC. In its place,
40626-501: The world's oldest, largest and most powerful Communist state. Economic relations between the former Soviet republics were severely compromised. Millions of ethnic Russians found themselves in newly formed foreign countries. Initially, Yeltsin promoted the retention of national borders according to the pre-existing Soviet state borders, although this left ethnic Russians as a majority in parts of northern Kazakhstan , eastern Ukraine, and areas of Estonia and Latvia . Just days after
40848-558: The years of the recorded surplus, the gross national debt rose each year. At the end of the fiscal year (September 30) for each of the years a surplus was recorded, the U.S. Treasury reported a gross debt of $ 5.413 trillion in 1997, $ 5.526 trillion in 1998, $ 5.656 trillion in 1999, and $ 5.674 trillion in 2000. Over the same period, the Office of Management and Budget reported an end of year (December 31) gross debt of $ 5.369 trillion in 1997, $ 5.478 trillion in 1998, $ 5.606 in 1999, and $ 5.629 trillion in 2000. At
41070-415: The youngest gubernatorial candidates in the state's history. Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas in 1978 , having defeated the Republican candidate Lynn Lowe , a farmer from Texarkana . Clinton was only 32 years old when he took office, the youngest governor in the country at the time and the second youngest governor in the history of Arkansas. Due to his youthful appearance, Clinton was often called
41292-401: Was inaugurated as the 42nd president of the United States on January 20, 1993. Clinton was physically exhausted at the time, and had an inexperienced staff. His high levels of public support dropped in the first few weeks, as he made a series of mistakes. His first choice for attorney general had not paid her taxes on babysitters and was forced to withdraw. The second appointee also withdrew for
41514-456: Was "Bush League" with amateurish distractions. By mid-1993 Clinton had recovered to Act II, passing a balanced budget and the NAFTA trade deal. Act III, 1994, saw the Republicans mobilizing under Newt Gingrich , defeating Clinton's healthcare reforms, and taking control of the House of Representatives for the first time in forty years. The years 1995 to 1997 saw the comeback in Act IV, with a triumphant reelection landslide in 1996 . However, Act V,
41736-450: Was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as the president of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1961 to 1990. He later stood as a political independent , during which time he was viewed as being ideologically aligned with liberalism . Yeltsin was born in Butka , Ural Oblast . He would grow up in Kazan and Berezniki . He worked in construction after studying at
41958-415: Was a necessity for career advancement. His career continued to progress during the early 1960s; in February 1962 he was promoted chief ( nachal'nik ) of the construction directorate. In June 1963, Yeltsin was reassigned to the Sverdlovsk House-Building Combine as its head engineer, and in December 1965 became the combine's director. During this period he was largely involved in building residential housing,
42180-473: Was a partner, arose. Clinton argued the questions were moot because all transactions with the state had been deducted before determining Hillary's firm pay. Further concern arose when Bill Clinton announced that, with Hillary, voters would be getting two presidents "for the price of one". Clinton was still the governor of Arkansas while campaigning for U.S. president, and he returned to his home state to see that Ricky Ray Rector would be executed. After killing
42402-463: Was absent. Secessionist sentiment in the Russian Caucasus led to the First Chechen War , War of Dagestan , and Second Chechen War between 1994 and 1999. Internationally, Yeltsin promoted renewed collaboration with Europe and signed arms control agreements with the United States. Amid growing internal pressure, he resigned by the end of 1999 and was succeeded as president by his chosen successor, Vladimir Putin , whom he had appointed prime minister
42624-447: Was accused of being a kulak in 1930. His farm, which was in Basmanovo (also known as Basmanovskoye), was confiscated, and he and his family were forced to reside in a cottage in nearby Butka. There, Nikolai and Ignatii's other children were allowed to join the local kolkhoz ( collective farm ), but Ignatii himself was not; he and his wife, Anna, were exiled in 1934 to Nadezhdinsk , where he died two years later. As an infant, Yeltsin
42846-488: Was accused of serious sexual misconduct in Arkansas, including allegations of using the Arkansas State Police to gain access to women ( Troopergate affair ). The killing of Don Henry and Kevin Ives in 1987 started various conspiracy theories that accused Clinton and the Arkansas state authorities of covering up the crime. In 1987, the media speculated that Clinton would enter the presidential race. Clinton decided to remain as Arkansas governor (following consideration for
43068-402: Was also accused by Gennifer Flowers to have used cocaine as governor and his half-brother Roger was sentenced to prison in 1985 for possession and smuggling of cocaine, but was later pardoned by his brother after serving his sentence. During his time in Arkansas, there were also other scandals such as the Whitewater controversy involving the Clintons' real estate dealings, and Bill Clinton
43290-470: Was also required to study Marxist–Leninist doctrine and choose a language course, for which he selected German, although never became adept at it. Tuition was free and he was provided a small stipend to live on, which he supplemented by unloading railway trucks for a small wage. Academically, he achieved high grades, although temporarily dropped out in 1952 when afflicted with tonsillitis and rheumatic fever . He devoted much time to athletics , and joined
43512-412: Was attracting growing foreign and domestic attention. He was also responsible for punishing those living in the province who wrote or published material that the Soviet government considered to be seditious or damaging to the established order. Yeltsin sat on the civil-military collegium of the Urals Military District and attended its field exercises. In October 1978, the Ministry of Defence gave him
43734-470: Was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, at Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Arkansas . He is the son of William Jefferson Blythe Jr. , a traveling salesman who died in an automobile accident three months before his birth, and Virginia Dell Cassidy (later Virginia Kelley). Blythe had initially survived the crash, but drowned in a drainage ditch. His parents had married on September 4, 1943, but this union later proved to be bigamous, as Blythe
43956-476: Was chaired by Clinton's wife Hillary, who was also an attorney as well as the chair of the Legal Services Corporation . The committee transformed Arkansas's education system. Proposed reforms included more spending for schools (supported by a sales-tax increase), better opportunities for gifted children, vocational education, higher teachers' salaries, more course variety, and compulsory teacher competency exams. The reforms passed in September 1983 after Clinton called
44178-463: Was christened in the Russian Orthodox Church ; his mother was devout, and his father unobservant. In the years after his birth, the area was hit by the famine of 1932–1933 ; throughout his childhood, Yeltsin was often hungry. In 1932, Yeltsin's parents moved to Kazan , where Yeltsin attended kindergarten . There, in 1934, the OGPU state security services arrested Nikolai, accused him of anti-Soviet agitation , and sentenced him to three years in
44400-436: Was confirmed by the Senate two months later, making her the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court alongside Sandra Day O'Connor . Harry Blackmun retired in 1994, and Clinton successfully nominated Breyer to succeed Blackmun. The appointments did not greatly affect the ideological balance of the Rehnquist Court , as conservatives continued to hold a narrow majority on the Supreme Court. Clinton also appointed 66 judges to
44622-421: Was defeated by a Republican filibuster in the Senate. His popularity at the 100 day mark of his term was the lowest of any president at that point. Public opinion did support one liberal program, and Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 , which required large employers to allow employees to take unpaid leave for pregnancy or a serious medical condition. This action had bipartisan support, and
44844-408: Was elected governor a second time and kept the office for ten years. Effective with the 1986 election, Arkansas had changed its gubernatorial term of office from two to four years. During his term, he helped transform Arkansas's economy and improved the state's educational system. For senior citizens , he removed the sales tax from medications and increased the home property-tax exemption. He became
45066-410: Was established, a community service program that provided young people with an opportunity to serve their communities and earn money for college or skills training. In just five years, nearly 200,000 young people were enrolled in the program. Clinton presided over a " Goldilocks economy ", a period of low inflation and low unemployment. During the 1990s, the Dow Jones Industrial Average quadrupled, and
45288-414: Was going to do about AIDS , to which Clinton replied, "I feel your pain". The televised exchange led to AIDS becoming an issue in the 1992 presidential election. On April 4, then candidate Clinton met with members of ACT UP and other leading AIDS advocates to discuss his AIDS agenda and agreed to make a major AIDS policy speech, to have people with HIV speak to the Democratic Convention , and to sign onto
45510-462: Was holidaying on the Black Sea. When Gorbachev received the letter he was stunned – nobody in Soviet history had voluntarily resigned from the ranks of the Politburo. Gorbachev phoned Yeltsin and asked him to reconsider. On 27 October 1987 at the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the CPSU , Yeltsin, frustrated that Gorbachev had not addressed any of the issues outlined in his resignation letter, asked to speak. He expressed his discontent with
45732-577: Was insisting that Democrats "should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent". During Clinton's final term as governor, Arkansas performed its first executions since 1964 (the death penalty had been reinstated in 1976). As Governor, he oversaw the first four executions carried out by the state of Arkansas since the death penalty was reinstated there in 1976: one by electric chair and three by lethal injection . To draw attention to his stance on capital punishment, Clinton flew home to Arkansas mid-campaign in 1992, in order to affirm in person that
45954-422: Was instrumental in the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union in December of that year. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the RSFSR became the Russian Federation, an independent state. Through that transition, Yeltsin remained in office as president. He was later reelected in the 1996 election , which critics claimed to be pervasively corrupt. He oversaw the transmission of Russia's command economy into
46176-399: Was not culpable for the accident. Within the local Communist Party, Yeltsin gained a patron in Yakov Ryabov [ ru ] , who became the first secretary of the party gorkom in 1963. In April 1968, Ryabov decided to recruit Yeltsin into the regional party apparatus, proposing him for a vacancy in the obkom 's department for construction. Ryabov ensured that Yeltsin got
46398-467: Was not until Clinton turned 15 that he formally adopted the surname Clinton as a gesture toward him. Clinton has described his stepfather as a gambler and an alcoholic who regularly abused his mother and half-brother, Roger Clinton Jr. The physical abuse only ceased after a then-14-year-old Bill challenged his stepfather to "stand and face" him, though the verbal/emotional abuse continued. Bill would eventually forgive Roger Sr. for his abusive actions near
46620-440: Was permitted to visit the West for the first time as he was sent on a trip to France. In 1975, Yeltsin was then made one of the five obkom secretaries in the Sverdlovsk Oblast, a position that gave him responsibility not only for construction in the region but also for the forest and the pulp-and-paper industries. Also in 1975, his family relocated to a flat in the House of Old Bolsheviks on March Street. In October 1976, Ryabov
46842-399: Was planning to attend law school in the U.S. and knew he might lose his deferment. Clinton tried unsuccessfully to obtain positions in the National Guard and the Air Force officer candidate school , and he then made arrangements to join the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program at the University of Arkansas . He subsequently decided not to join the ROTC, saying in a letter to
47064-493: Was popular with the public. Two days after taking office, on January 22, 1993—the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade —Clinton reversed restrictions on domestic and international family planning programs that had been imposed by Reagan and Bush. Clinton said abortion should be kept "safe, legal, and rare"—a slogan that had been suggested by political scientist Samuel L. Popkin and first used by Clinton in December 1991, while campaigning. During
47286-399: Was promoted to a new position in Moscow. He recommended that Yeltsin replace him as the First Secretary of the Party Committee in Sverdlovsk Oblast. Leonid Brezhnev , who then led the Soviet Union as General Secretary of the party's Central Committee , interviewed Yeltsin personally to determine his suitability and agreed with Ryabov's assessment. At the Central Committee's recommendation,
47508-447: Was provided for low-income families, with Congress (under Clinton's watch) increasing federal support for several critical nutritional and housing support programs. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children went from average annual funding levels of $ 2.7 billion in the eight years before Clinton took office to $ 3.9 billion under his presidency, while the Food Stamp program went from an average of $ 21.3 billion
47730-405: Was simply drunk. On 26 March 1989, Yeltsin was elected to the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union as the delegate from Moscow district with a decisive 92% of the vote, and on 29 May 1989, he was elected by the Congress of People's Deputies to a seat on the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union . On 19 July 1989, Yeltsin announced the formation of the radical pro-reform faction in
47952-670: Was still married to his fourth wife. Virginia traveled to New Orleans to study nursing soon after Bill was born, leaving him in Hope with her parents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and ran a small grocery store. At a time when the southern United States was racially segregated , Clinton's grandparents sold goods on credit to people of all races. In 1950, Bill's mother returned from nursing school and married Roger Clinton Sr. , who co-owned an automobile dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas , with his brother and Earl T. Ricks . The family moved to Hot Springs in 1950. Although he immediately assumed use of his stepfather's surname, it
48174-532: Was that the federal government in effect was subsidizing ranchers, with a few major corporations controlling millions of acres of grazing land. Babbitt and Oklahoma Congressman Mike Synar tried to rally environmentalists and raise fees, but senators from the Western United States successfully blocked their proposals. Although Governor Clinton had a large farm base in Arkansas, as president he sharply cut support for farmers and raised taxes on tobacco. At one high level policy meeting budget expert Alice Rivlin told
48396-428: Was the beginning of Yeltsin's rise as a rebel and growth in popularity as an anti-establishment figure. Gorbachev called a meeting of the Moscow City Party Committee for 11 November 1987 to launch another crushing attack on Yeltsin and confirm his dismissal. On 9 November 1987, Yeltsin apparently tried to kill himself and was rushed to the hospital bleeding profusely from self-inflicted cuts to his chest. Gorbachev ordered
48618-459: Was the first person to resign from the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , which established his popularity as an anti-establishment figure. In 1990, he was elected chair of the Russian Supreme Soviet and in 1991 was elected president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), becoming the first popularly-elected head of state in Russian history. Yeltsin allied with various non-Russian nationalist leaders and
48840-458: Was the first time I encountered the idea that liberal sensitivities weren't enough and you had to do something about such things". Clinton was a member of the Oxford University Basketball Club and also played for Oxford University's rugby union team. While Clinton was president in 1994, he received an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree and a fellowship from the University of Oxford , specifically for being "a doughty and tireless champion of
49062-487: Was the opposition between the power structures of the Soviet Union and the RSFSR. In an attempt to gain more power, on 12 June 1990, the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted a declaration of sovereignty. On 12 July 1990, Yeltsin resigned from the CPSU in a dramatic speech before party members at the 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , some of whom responded by shouting "Shame!" During May 1991 Vaclav Havel invited Yeltsin to Prague where
49284-425: Was then under the leadership of Joseph Stalin , who led the one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Seeking to transform the country into a socialist society according to Marxist–Leninist doctrine, in the late 1920s Stalin's government had initiated a project of mass rural collectivisation coupled with dekulakization . As a prosperous farmer, Yeltsin's paternal grandfather, Ignatii,
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