Editing Bill Clinton (section)

==Presidential campaigns==
===1992 presidential candidacy===
{{Main|Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign|1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1992 United States presidential election}}

In the first primary contest, the [[Iowa caucuses|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 the New Hampshire polls.<ref name="First in His Class" /> Following [[Super Bowl XXVI]], Clinton and his wife Hillary went on ''[[60 Minutes]]'' to rebuff the charges.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 27, 2021|title=The women of 'Impeachment' explained: Hillary Clinton and Bill's infidelity|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-10-27/impeachment-american-crime-story-hillary-clinton-edie-falco|access-date=October 30, 2021|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Their television appearance was a calculated risk, but Clinton regained several delegates. He finished second to Tsongas in the [[1992 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|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 a firm second-place finish.<ref>{{cite news |first=Amy |last=Herstek |url=https://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/11/clinton.nh/index.html |title=Clinton thanks New Hampshire for making him the 'Comeback Kid' |date=January 11, 2001 |agency=CNN|access-date=February 22, 2020 }}</ref>

Winning the big prizes of Florida and Texas and many of the [[Southern United States|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.<ref name="First in His Class" /><ref name="The Choice" /> With no major Southern state remaining, Clinton targeted New York, which had many delegates. He scored a resounding victory in New York City, shedding his image as a regional candidate.<ref name="The Choice" /> 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.<ref name="First in His Class" />

During the campaign, questions of [[conflict of interest]] regarding state business and the politically powerful [[Rose Law Firm]], at which Hillary Rodham Clinton 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.<ref>{{Cite news | last=Ifill | first=Gwen | title=Hillary Clinton Defends Her Conduct in Law Firm | work=The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/17/us/the-1992-campaign-hillary-clinton-defends-her-conduct-in-law-firm.html | date=March 17, 1992 | access-date=March 28, 2008}}</ref> Further concern arose when Bill Clinton announced that, with Hillary, voters would be getting two presidents "for the price of one".<ref>{{Cite news | last1=MacGillis | first1=Alec |last2=Kornblut |first2=Anne E. | title=Hillary Clinton Embraces Her Husband's Legacy | newspaper=The Washington Post | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/21/AR2007122102588.html | page=A1 | date=December 21, 2007 | access-date=March 28, 2008}}</ref>

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 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 the execution was framed in an article for ''[[The New York Times]]'' as a possible political move to counter "soft on crime" accusations.<ref name="mbsrgd">[[George Stephanopoulos]], ''All Too Human: A Political Education'', 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-316-92919-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | last=Applebome | first=Peter | title=Arkansas Execution Raises Questions on Governor's Politics | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/25/us/1992-campaign-death-penalty-arkansas-execution-raises-questions-governor-s.html | work=The New York Times | date=January 25, 1992 | access-date=March 28, 2008}}</ref>

Bush's [[United States presidential approval rating|approval ratings]] were around 80&nbsp;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 [[Read my lips: no new taxes|promise not to raise taxes]], which hurt his approval rating. Clinton repeatedly condemned Bush for making a promise he failed to keep.<ref name="The Choice" /> By election time, the economy was souring and Bush saw his approval rating plummet to just slightly over 40&nbsp;percent.<ref name="The Choice" /><ref>{{Cite news | title=How the Presidents Stack Up: A look at U.S. presidents' job-approval ratings | work=The Wall Street Journal | year=2006 | url=https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html | access-date=October 30, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081025015927/http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html| archive-date= October 25, 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> 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 [[1992 Republican National Convention|Republican National Convention]]—with Bush criticizing Democrats for omitting God from their platform—many moderates were alienated.<ref>{{cite web | last=Le Beau | first=Bryan | title=The Political Mobilization of the New Christian Right | date=December 10, 1998 | publisher=[[Creighton University]] | url=http://are.as.wvu.edu/lebeau1.htm | access-date=December 1, 2006 | archive-date=December 6, 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206022453/http://are.as.wvu.edu/lebeau1.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> Clinton then pointed to his moderate, "New Democrat" record as Governor of Arkansas, though some on the more liberal side of the party remained suspicious.<ref>{{Cite news | last=Walker | first=Martin | title=Tough love child of Kennedy | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1992/jan/06/usa.martinwalker | location=London | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=January 6, 1992 |access-date=October 12, 2007}}</ref> Many Democrats who had supported Ronald Reagan and Bush in previous elections switched their support to Clinton.<ref name=BBConthisday>{{cite news | title=On this day (November 4) in 1992: Clinton beats Bush to the White House | work=BBC News | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4/newsid_3659000/3659498.stm | date=November 4, 1992 | access-date=October 31, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081218141055/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4/newsid_3659000/3659498.stm| archive-date= December 18, 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> 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".<ref name=BBConthisday />

On March 26, 1992, during a Democratic [[Fundraising|fund raiser]] of the presidential campaign, [[Robert Rafsky]] confronted then Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas and asked what he was going to do about [[AIDS]], to which Clinton replied, "I feel your pain".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.thinkprogress.org/the-future-of-gay-parents-on-television-378cc67a76b5/|title=The Future of Gay Parents On Television|work=ThinkProgress|first=Alyssa|last=Rosenberg|date=November 1, 2012}}</ref> 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 National Convention|Democratic Convention]], and to sign onto the [[AIDS United]] Action five point plan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://actupny.org/campaign96/rafsky-clinton.html|title=The ACT UP Historical Archive: Bob Rafsky Confronts Candidate Bill Clinton, 1992|website=actupny.org}}</ref>

[[File:ElectoralCollege1992.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Results for the 1992 United States presidential election|1992 electoral vote results. Clinton won 370–168.]]
Clinton won the [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 presidential election]] (370 electoral votes) against Republican incumbent George H. W. Bush (168 electoral votes) and billionaire [[populism|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.<ref name=BBConthisday /> Clinton's victory in 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]],<ref name="whitehouse.gov bio" /> 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]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/one_item_and_teasers/partydiv.htm | title=Party Division in the Senate, 1789–present | publisher=United States Senate | access-date=August 30, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110718045714/https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/one_item_and_teasers/partydiv.htm| archive-date= July 18, 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://artandhistory.house.gov/house_history |title=House History |publisher=United States House of Representatives |access-date=August 30, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026183800/http://artandhistory.house.gov/house_history/ |archive-date=October 26, 2011 }}</ref>

According to [[Seymour Martin Lipset]], 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lipset |first1=Seymour Martin |title=The Significance of the 1992 Election |journal=PS: Political Science and Politics |date=1993 |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=7–16 |doi=10.2307/419496 |jstor=419496 |s2cid=227288247 }}</ref>

===1996 presidential candidacy===
{{Main|Bill Clinton 1996 presidential campaign|1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1996 United States presidential election}}

[[File:ElectoralCollege1996.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Results for the 1996 United States presidential election|1996 electoral vote results. Clinton won 379–159.]]
Leading up to the [[1996 United States presidential election|1996 presidential election]], Clinton's chances of being re-elected initially seemed slim, partially due to his growing untrust among the general public due to the [[Whitewater controversy]]<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dispatch-presidents-rating-rises/160801933/ President's rating rises]. [[Associated Press]]. March 29, 1994. Retrieved December 12, 2024.</ref><ref>Germond, Jack W., Witcover, Jules (February 6, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-press-clintons-beginning-to-look/160898377/ Clinton's beginning to look beatable, even to Democrats]. ''[[Daily Press (California)|Daily Press]]''. Retrieved December 14, 2024.</ref> and the lopsided defeat of national Democrats in the 1994 elections.<ref>Brown, Peter A. (November 9, 1994). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/casper-star-tribune-republicans-take-con/160487514/ Republicans take control of both houses of Congress]. ''[[Casper Star-Tribune]]''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref><ref>Beltrame, Julian (January 26, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen-can-comeback-kid-come/160487069/ Can Comeback Kid come back again?]. ''[[The Ottawa Citizen]]''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref> His [[approval rating]] got as low as 40 percent in early 1995, which led to several high-profile Democrats suggesting he drop out of the race.<ref>Cannon, Angie (January 23, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-star-new-chance-to-redefine/160898023/ New chance to redefine the presidency]. ''[[The Standard-Star]]''. Retrieved December 12, 2024.</ref><ref>Thompson, Robert E. (February 13, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-democrats-pon/160908989/ Democrats ponder presidential challenges]. ''[[The San Francisco Examiner]]''. Retrieved December 14, 2024.</ref> However, in mid-1995, as a result of a rebounding economy and the growing unpopularity of congressional Republicans, public opinion of Clinton up-ticked<ref>Lewis, Kathy (April 26, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-pierce-tribune-clintons-empathy-ra/160490140/ Clinton's empathy raises approval rating]. ''[[Treasure Coast Newspapers|Fort Pierce Tribune]]''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-clinton-approval-over-50/160487794/ Clinton approval over 50% in two polls]. ''[[National Post]]''. May 17, 1995. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref><ref>Kondracke, Morton (December 2, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-facts-as-poll-ratings-climb-clinton/160506279/ As poll ratings climb, Clinton takes leadership role]. ''[[Brazosport Facts]]''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref> and early 1996 polls found he had a lead of up to 20 points over his likely Republican opponent [[Bob Dole]].<ref>Balz, Dan (March 27, 1996). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/saint-john-times-globe-dole-clinches-in/160490998/ Dole clinches in California]. ''Saint John Times Globe''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref>

Unlike Bush in the 1992 election, Clinton's incumbency greatly benefited him in the general election,<ref>Weeks, Linton (June 11, 2012). [https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2012/06/11/154745966/why-its-good-to-be-the-incumbent Why It's Good To Be The Incumbent]. ''[[NPR]]''. Retrieved December 10, 2024.</ref> as most Americans felt the country was going in the right direction.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bob-dole-on-life-after-losing-the-1996-presidential-election/2012/09/28/eaef4102-f78e-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html|title=Bob Dole on life after losing the 1996 presidential election|first=Bob|last=Dole|date=September 30, 2012|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Along with Dole, Clinton once again faced Ross Perot, who was nominated by the [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]], but he garnered significantly less support than he did in the 1992 election.<ref>Kelly, John Michael (August 19, 1996). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-stuart-news-outside-parties-losing-s/160492328/ Outside parties losing steam]. ''The Stuart News''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref> In the month leading up the election, pundits were predicting [[landslide victory|a big win]] for Clinton, as his approval rating saw a high of 60 percent<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-orlando-sentinel-clinton-leads-dole/160543498/ Clinton leads Dole in poll – approval rating reaches 60%]. ''[[Associated Press]]''. September 4, 1996. Retrieved December 8, 2024.</ref> and pollsters finding he was favored with voters in over 30 states.<ref>Raum, Tom (November 1, 1996). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-virginian-clinton-headed-toward/160666784/ Clinton headed toward a landslide?]. ''[[The News-Virginian]]''. Retrieved December 10, 2024.</ref><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/syracuse-herald-journal-state-by-state/160665681/ State by state, it's Clinton]. ''[[Syracuse Herald-Journal]]''. November 1, 1996. Retrieved December 10, 2024.</ref><ref>Apple Jr., R.W. (October 25, 1996). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-press-democrat-perot-gambit-no-help/160667844/ Perot gambit no help for desperate Dole]. ''[[The Press Democrat]]''. Retrieved December 10, 2024.</ref>

On election day, Clinton won 379 [[Electoral College (United States)|electoral votes]], securing reelection and defeating Dole, who received 159 electoral votes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Defines a Landslide Victory in Politics? |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-a-landslide-election-3367585 |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref> Clinton garnered 49.2 percent of the popular vote to Dole's 40.7 percent and Perot's 8.4 percent. With his victory, he became the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections since [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=November 6, 1996|title=Clinton Rides Landslide First Democrat To Be Re-Elected Since Roosevelt|work=[[The Spokesman-Review]]|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/nov/06/clinton-rides-landslide-first-democrat-to-be-re/|access-date=August 14, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Clinton@2">{{Cite book | last=Jones | first=Charles O. | title=The Presidency in a Separated System | url=https://archive.org/details/presidencysepara00jone | url-access=limited | publisher=[[The Brookings Institution]] | year=2005 | page=[https://archive.org/details/presidencysepara00jone/page/n336 318]}}</ref>