Clintonism
Essay by 24 • March 23, 2011 • 431 Words (2 Pages) • 958 Views
William Jefferson Clinton was the President of the United States of America from noon on January 20th 1993 to noon on January 20th 2001. He served two terms in office, as a Democrat. Clinton was born on August 19, 1946 in Hope, Arkansas. In 1974 he ran for a seat in the House but failed, but four years later he was elected Governor of Arkansas. His wife Hillary Rodham Clinton played a very active role in his political career and is now a Senator of New York.
Clintonism has one basic form which is a triangle. The triangle was the Clintonites, the Republicans, and the Democrats in Congress. A “play” that Clintonism was founded on is Fake Left, Go Right. As is fairly obvious when this didn’t work the Democrats would become rather annoyed with the Clinton administration. If a play like this worked, Clintonites would be in the middle like thoughtful moderates. This worked well to his and his Vice President Albert Arnold Gore’s advantage. They were able to pass much of the legislation they wanted.
Clintonism did not seem to help the Democratic Party by any means. Congress was lost during his terms in office. When he first gained office Democrats had a majority with a fifty-seven to forty-three lead in the Senate, a 258 to 176 lead in the House, and a
thirty to eighteen lead on governorships. In 2000 Republicans had a majority with a fifty-five to forty-five lead in the Senate, a 222-211 lead in the House, and a thirty to eighteen lead on governorships. Clinton was also the only Democrat since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to be re-elected and was the first Democrat elected in 28 years. That’s seven elections before a Democrat won.
The secondary meaning of Clintonism is what Clinton said in the Monica Lewinsky trial. All of the things that sounded foolish and were misleading. An example of that is the quote “I did not have sex with that woman.”
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