Bill Clinton: The 42nd American President - Article Example

 Bill Clinton: The 42nd American President I. Biography Bill Clinton is one of the most popular US presidents, as he had high approval ratings in his term. His presidency is marked by openness of America especially in trade and education and is generally considered a good run, but his personal life is also riddled with a lot of scandals. Bill Clinton, as he is popularly known, is born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, a birthday he shared with his grandfather (Clinton, 2004). He did not know his biological father as William Jefferson Blythe, Jr. died in a car accident three months before he was born. Because she was a widow, Virginia Dell Cassidy studied nursing in New Orleans to fend for her and her son, immediately after her son William was born. She left the baby in her parents’ home in Hope, Arkansas. Her parents, Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, had a grocery store in Hope which gave credit to blacks and whites alike, even if the town was still heavily segregated. Because of this, Clinton’s grandparents heavily influenced him in his political career, especially on the matters of civil rights and racism. Edith was also a private nurse in Hope. As a beautiful young widow, Virginia Cassidy went out with a number of men but finally settled for Roger Clinton, Sr. Clinton, Sr. was the owner of the Buick dealership store in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Shortly after the marriage, the family moved to Arkansas. It was a good marriage at first, and Clinton, Sr. was a good father for young Bill. However, Clinton, Sr. was an alcoholic and abused his mother a lot. When Bill was ten, Virginia became pregnant with Roger, Jr., and young Bill remarked that that pregnancy was the couple’s attempt to salvage their marriage. Bill loved his younger brother and enjoyed being an older brother. However, when he was fourteen, his mother divorced and remarried Roger Clinton, Sr. This proves that the Clinton-Cassidy marriage was on for the long haul and William Jefferson Blythe III legally changed his name to William Jefferson Clinton as a gesture of love for his stepfather (Clinton, 2004). He was an active school leader and an A student. He was always on the top three of his elementary and high school classes. He was also a musician. He attended St. John’s Catholic Elementary School and Hot Springs High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas and it was there that he decided to have a career in politics even if he loved music and biology (he contemplated being a musician and a doctor but knew he would be great as a public servant). This decision was rooted on two important events in his young life: one was when he was listening to Martin Luther King’s speech in 1963 (The “I Have a Dream” speech, which he memorized) and the other one was meeting President John F. Kennedy as a Boys Nation senator from his school (Clinton, 2004). As mentioned in his autobiography, he only applied in one university: Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He never considered attending an Ivy League University, largely because of his desire to relive his experience in Washington D.C. with President John F. Kennedy. With a scholarship, he attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. In 1967, he spent his summer interning for Senator Fulbright. He was also a member of the Freemason fraternity DeMolay but he never became a freemason. He graduated with a degree in Foreign Service in 1968. After college, he became a Rhodes scholar and attended Oxford University and studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He shifted to history but still left Oxford early to pursue Law in Yale University. In Oxford, he learned how to play rugby; he also participated in Vietnam War protests (Clinton, 2004). In Yale, he met fellow Yale Law student Hillary Rodham. Because of his involvement with Hillary Rodham, he quit as a coordinator of the McGovern campaign for the presidential election in 1972. He was supposed to manage the campaign in the Southern States but since Rodham was to work in San Francisco, he did not quit and moved to California to be with his girlfriend. He earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1973. As with his plan to be a politician in Arkansas, he went back and became a law professor in University of Arkansas while Rodham was left in the East Coast. After a year, he decided to run for the House of Representatives. This was the start of his political career. He lost to Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt but then he won when he ran as attorney-general in 1976, a year after he married Hillary Rodham (they had daughter Chelsea in 1980). He won and became the Arkansas Attorney-General. In 1978, he became the youngest governor in America at the age of 32, as he was elected as the governor of Arkansas. His gubernatorial work focused on education reforms in Arkansas and roads as Hillary worked on urban health care reform committee. He lost the gubernatorial post in 1980 but then reclaimed it in the 1982 gubernatorial race. He kept the post until he became president (Clinton, 2004). In ten years as a governor for Arkansas, he changed the state’s economy and educational system, he also became a leading poster boy for The New Democrats. The New Democrats was a branch of the Democrat party the urged welfare reform and smaller government which was supported by both Democrats and Republicans. He transformed the Arkansas education system from the worst one into one of the best in America. This is because his top priority was education. Together with his wife Hillary Rodham, the Arkansas Education Standards Committee succeeded in revamping the state’s educational system; first by improving state educational programs, raising public school teachers’ salaries, offering varied courses in the State University, higher educational budget, increase in vocational education, offering more opportunities for gifted children and a licensure examination for aspiring teachers. For many people, this is the greatest achievement of Clinton’s gubernatorial career. His presidency was one of the most popular administrations in American politics. He had a wide variety of programs and this proved that his administration is a well-rounded one. His administration also had a lot of budget surpluses in spite of budget deficits that he inherited from the Bush administration. He signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act that taxed the 1.2% of the taxpayers (the wealthy) while cutting taxes for low-income families and small business. He also signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. He also made the health care reform a priority, as well as family and maternal health, signing the Family and Medical Leave Act. He signed the Omnibus Crime Bill which expanded death penalty even to non-fatal crimes like drugs and murder of federal officers. He also tried to curb the illegal immigration rates in America by signing the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. He modernized the federal agencies by pursuing web-based communication through all the offices, so that more government information could be accessible to the public (Clinton, 2004). He was well-loved by the people and he was the only Democrat president to win two straight terms after Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His administration had the lowest unemployment rate, had the lowest inflation rate, low crime rate and high home ownership. However, his presidency is tainted with a lot of scandals. His personal life was tumultuous, largely because of his indiscreet affairs with women. In 1998, Clinton was impeached, largely because of these indiscretions from Paula Jones to Monica Lewinsky. He was found not guilty of the crimes that were brought against him, but still he apologized for his actions. After all these scandals, he still proceeded to enjoy high approval ratings. He left his office in 2001 and George W. Bush, a Republican, took over. Reaction: The most striking feature of the Clinton presidency is perhaps his approval ratings. Even if he had committed glaring mistakes to the American people, especially to his family: Hillary and Chelsea, the people overlooked this and he continued being a popular leader with more than 70% approval ratings. In his presidency, America experienced the largest economic expansion with the rate of 4% per year ever since he became president. He paid of $360B of debt and the budget deficit was converted into budget surplus in his regime but at the same time enacted tax cuts to people in need thus increasing incomes at all levels of the society. The lowest rate in 1988 was like $2,000 but in Clinton’s era, it rose to a median of $6,000. There were 22 million new jobs and many people bought houses for themselves. His era also the least welfare rolls ever and along with that, his administration also has the record of having the lowest spending. Because of the general affluence effected by the Clinton administration, America’s crime rates, infant mortality rates, teen pregnancy rates, poverty rates and unemployment rates plummeted. All these factors are tell-tale signs poverty and bringing down these figures are quite significant in maintaining a good country. As the quality of life became better, education and medical services also got better. The American education standards got higher as indicated by high SAT scores of the 4th, 8th and 12th graders. The federal budget for education has doubled, and the government also gave enough student loans with tax credits to help students. The administration also gave out scholarships to a lot of deserving people. They also introduced the Federal Work-Study to allow students to work their way to college. He also connected 95% of American schools to the internet, making learning faster, more convenient, more stimulating and of course, more technologically advanced. One of the most famous bills that have been enacted in the Clinton administration is the Family and Medical Leave Act that enables employees to take unpaid leaves whenever a baby in a family is born or if someone is sick. This is done so that the families, especially working people, can find balance in their personal and professional life. His cabinet is also one of the most diverse cabinet in American history. Now, the critics of Clinton would probably cite his misdemeanors and his personal shortcomings as his major flaws as a leader. Needless to say, they are right. His mistakes are largely because of his weaknesses as a person though, not as leader. As a leader, he is strong and intelligent, as he demonstrated that he can veer America from bankruptcy even with budget deficits acquired by the previous administration. But why is he that successful? Why is he loved by the people? What is the “secret for his success?” I think because it’s his background. He is not a rich man. He is a quintessential rags-to-riches character, a self-made man. Unlike other presidents, usually Republicans, they were born rich. Clinton, on the other hand, grew up with social problems like domestic abuse and racial segregation that made him more attuned to the harsh realities of the society, but at the same time he grew up with enough love that would boost his confidence to do what he thinks is right and appropriate. That love from his mother, step-father and grandparents inspired him to be a responsible fellow that would lead his people from the rut. It also helped that he was in an impressionable age when the idealists were all around the American consciousness: Martin Luther King, Jr. and President John F. Kennedy are undeniable influences to Clinton’s ideology. What Clinton wants are simple things in life: stable jobs, a time for family and more opportunities that are not limited to a single color or race. It’s what everyone wants. He did not need to study in fancy schools to know what the American people needed. All he needed to learn about the needs of the people, he learned when he was growing up. He understood women and working women, as his mother, grandmother and wife were working women. He knew that people had to take a moment off from work because he had that experience when his stepfather died. That’s who he thought about when he signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, which also reflective of the needs of the greater American people. Civil rights were important for him. Growing up in his grandfather’s grocery store, he was exposed to the hardships that the blacks encountered. He never understood racism because they weren’t racists (plus he had many black friends surrounding him while he was growing up) themselves but in time, he did and when he heard Martin Luther King, Jr., he became more passionate about civil rights. Through Clinton, America has seen diversity and tolerance and this made for a more open and educated country as he lives by the teaching of his grandfather: look up to people others looked down on, because we’re not so different after all (Clinton, 2004). Speaking of education, it is also one of the Clinton administration’s thrusts. Education is very important when you are maintaining a nation, as these students are going to be the future leaders of the country. It is a smart move for the Clinton administration to allot a huge budget on education; and to have a lot of students learn from excellent teachers with good curricula. His own good experience with American education inspired him to offer a lot more educational opportunities for kids. Humble enough to recognize that “he is not the smartest kid, but made it well because of good education”, he made education accessible to a lot of people like him: smart but poor, with a conviction that these students would be future (good) leaders of the country like him. However, his scandals tainted his image, especially as a family man. It is a well-known fact that Hillary Rodham is one of the biggest brains behind the Clinton administrations. Without her, the Clinton administration would not be as successful. Now the scandals concerning about their marriage was a threat not only in their marriage but also on their political power. These threats stem from Clinton’s weaknesses concerning women. Of course, as a leader, these actions seem unforgivable, but at the end of the day, the man is just a man with a lot of weaknesses, particularly beautiful women. The Americans recognized this and forgave him because it’s a human flaw. Fortunately, his wife is also an acute observer of the human condition and an astute politician, and kept their marriage/political unit. As a president, there a lot of accomplishments William Jefferson Clinton reached. His was quite popular to the working class, the students and to the minorities, as he lived their lives too once, and never forgot that. He was a husband and father and although he committed several mistakes here and there, his accomplishments shadow these misdemeanors. He led a public life and this invited scrutiny. For all it’s worth, he was a sport and he played his game quite well. Well into his senior-citizen years now, Bill Clinton lives to see how the American people who scrutinized him judge him according to his accomplishments. Reference: Clinton, William J. My Life. New York: Alfred Knopf. 2004. Print. Read More