Democratic Party in the Clinton Administration in the United States
Democratic Party The Clinton Era
Introduction to Democratic Party in the Clinton Administration
In 1992 the Democratic Party recaptured the presidency after 12 years when Bill Clinton won the election. Clinton and his vice president, Al Gore, pledged to improve the economy, which had been depressed during much of Bush’s presidency. Although Clinton was successful in revitalizing the economy, the Democrats lost their majority in Congress in the 1994 elections.
Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress for the first time in more than 40 years after the 1994 elections. The Democratic president and the Republican Congress often had trouble agreeing on legislation. The Republican Congress passed bills for welfare reform and tax cuts, which President Clinton vetoed. In addition, the federal government had two partial shutdowns when the Republicans and Democrats could not agree on a federal budget for the 1996 fiscal year.
In 1996 President Clinton and Vice President Gore were reelected. However, Republicans retained their control of Congress. In the spring of 1997 Clinton and Congress announced that they had agreed on a federal budget plan to eliminate the deficit in five years. The government actually eliminated the deficit in one year, and by 1998 the budget showed a surplus.
In 1997 the Democratic Party came under scrutiny for illegal campaign contributions and fundraising practices. At issue were allegations that the Democratic Party had collected contributions from foreign companies and individuals, who under campaign finance rules are not allowed to contribute money to political campaigns. There were also questions about whether Clinton tried to raise funds by holding coffee groups and allowing donors to spend the night in the White House. Committees formed by both houses of Congress began to investigate whether the Democratic Party had accepted illegal campaign contributions and whether these contributions were used as a way for people to gain access to the president. In addition, the Department of Justice began an investigation but refused to appoint an independent counsel, claiming no conflict of interest.
In 1998 the party was shaken by revelations that Clinton had had an affair with a 24-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, and then tried to conceal it. Democratic leaders and members of Congress rallied behind the president when he insisted that he had not had sexual relations with Lewinsky. However, an independent counsel investigated the Lewinsky matter and uncovered evidence that Clinton had lied. Clinton was eventually impeached by the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, but the Senate failed to remove him from office. The Republicans could not muster the required 67 votes.
Although the scandal left Democrats disillusioned and embittered with the president, it benefited the party. The Republicans misjudged the voters’ fatigue with the issue and their support of the president, and they made the scandal a central issue in the 1998 elections. Democrats, who were expected to lose seats as the president’s party traditionally does in off-year elections, gained five seats in the House of Representatives and avoided losses in the Senate. After the election, congressional Democrats wanted to express their displeasure with Clinton’s conduct by adopting an official rebuke, called a censure, but Republicans moved ahead with impeaching the president. People seemed to side with the Democrats, and the scandal left the Republicans, rather than the Democrats, in disarray.” (1)
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Guide to Democratic Party in the Clinton Administration
In this Section
Democratic Party, Jacksonian Party, Democratic Party in the North-South Conflict period, Democratic Party in the Lincon Administration, Democratic Party Divisions, Wilsonian Era, New Deal, Democratic Party After Eisenhower, Democratic Party in the Carter Administration, Democratic Party in the Reagan Administration, Democratic Party in the Clinton Administration, Al Gore, Democratic Party in the Bush Administration, Barack Obama.
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