The Clinton Presidency - The First Term, 1992-96 (Electronic book text)

The first Democratic president for twelve years, Williams Jefferson Clinton entered the White House on a note of optimism, pledged to give priority to economic policy and his domestic agenda of healthcare and welfare reforms. President Clinton - the 'Man from Hope' - faced what looked like a fresh opportunity to move ahead with legislation. The years of 'gridlock', whereby a president of one political party faced a Congress dominated by another, were over. In the event the presidency of these years faced major difficulties. Clinton had been elected on 43 percent of the vote, and Congressional Democrats, far from winning election on Clinton's coattails, were ahead of him in their constituencies. Working with Congress was a formidable task, especially with the heavy agenda of the economic recovery package, the North America Free Trade Agreement, health and welfare bills. Uncertainties abroad, from Somalia to Haiti, from Bosnia to Northern Ireland, added to the pressures on the White House. The first two years of the Clinton presidency were seen by observers as one of successes and missteps, of continued questions of character and political style, of wide fluctuations in the president's popularity and achievements. After November 1994, when the Republicans gained control of both chambers of Congress- the House of Representatives for the first time in forty years - the years of gridlock and confrontation seemed set to return with a vengeance. But two years later Clinton was reelected to a second term. The 'comeback kid' had shown once again his resilience, political abilities and refusal to accept setbacks. But it was a different Clinton: the centrist 'New Democrat' had moved to the right, accommodating to a Republic-driven domestic agenda.