Editing Bill Clinton (section)

==Governor of Arkansas (1979–1981, 1983–1992)==
{{Main|Governorships of Bill Clinton}}

[[File:Bill Clinton 1978.jpg|thumb|left|Clinton meets with President [[Jimmy Carter]], 1978]]

In 1978, Clinton entered the Arkansas gubernatorial primary. At just 31 years old, he was one of the youngest gubernatorial candidates in the state's history. Clinton was elected [[Governor of Arkansas]] in [[1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election|1978]], having defeated the Republican candidate [[Lynn Lowe]], a farmer from [[Texarkana, Arkansas|Texarkana]]. Clinton was only 32 years old when he took office, the youngest governor in the country at the time and the second youngest governor in the history of Arkansas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=95|title=Bill Clinton (1946–) |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |access-date=September 15, 2018}}</ref> Due to his youthful appearance, Clinton was often called the "Boy Governor".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/opinion/12wed4.html | title=Bill and Hillary Clinton's Pitch in Iowa: 'I Love the '90s' | newspaper=The New York Times | first=Adam | last=Cohen | date=December 12, 2007 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Boy Clinton: The Political Biography | author=R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. | publisher=Eagle Publishing | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLSJ5oJG3fcC&pg=PA236| isbn=978-0-89526-439-8 | year=1996|page=236}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/27/us/little-rock-hopes-clinton-presidency-will-put-its-dogpatch-image-to-rest.html | title=Little Rock Hopes Clinton Presidency Will Put Its Dogpatch Image to Rest | first=Michael | last=Kelly | work=The New York Times | date=November 27, 1992 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> He worked on educational reform and directed the maintenance of Arkansas's roads, with wife Hillary leading a successful committee on urban health care reform. However, his term included an unpopular motor vehicle tax and citizens' anger over the escape of Cuban refugees (from the [[Mariel boatlift]]) detained in [[Fort Chaffee]] in 1980. Monroe Schwarzlose, of [[Kingsland, Arkansas|Kingsland]] in [[Cleveland County, Arkansas|Cleveland County]], polled 31&nbsp;percent of the vote against Clinton in the Democratic gubernatorial primary of 1980. Some suggested Schwarzlose's unexpected voter turnout foreshadowed Clinton's defeat by Republican challenger [[Frank D. White]] in the general election that year. As Clinton once joked, he was the youngest ex-governor in the nation's history.<ref name="First in His Class" />

After leaving office in January 1981, Clinton joined friend [[Bruce Lindsey]]'s Little Rock law firm of Wright, Lindsey and Jennings.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bill Clinton Timeline |author=Jonathan W. Nicholsen |url=http://www.timeline-help.com/bill-clinton-timeline.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123110248/http://www.timeline-help.com/bill-clinton-timeline.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 23, 2008 |publisher=Timeline Help |access-date=August 30, 2011 }}</ref> In 1982, he was elected governor a second time and kept the office for ten years. Effective with the 1986 election, Arkansas had changed its gubernatorial term of office from two to four years. During his term, he helped transform Arkansas's economy and improved the state's educational system.<ref name=pendleton /> For [[senior citizen]]s, he removed the [[sales tax]] from medications and increased the home property-tax exemption.<ref name="The Natural" /> He became a leading figure among the [[New Democrats (United States)|New Democrats]], a group of [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] who advocated welfare reform, smaller government, and other policies not supported by liberals. Formally organized as the [[Democratic Leadership Council]] (DLC), the New Democrats argued that in light of President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s [[1984 United States presidential election|landslide victory in 1984]], the Democratic Party needed to adopt a more centrist political stance in order to succeed at the national level.<ref name="The Natural">{{Cite book | last=Klein | first=Joe | title=The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton | url=https://archive.org/details/naturalmisunders00klei| url-access=registration | publisher=Doubleday | year=2002 | isbn=978-0-7679-1412-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=127&subid=173&contentid=252794 |title=Bill Clinton, New Democrat |publisher=DLC |date=July 25, 2004 |access-date=August 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309143615/http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=127&subid=173&contentid=252794 |archive-date=March 9, 2012 }}</ref> Clinton delivered the [[Democratic response to the State of the Union address|Democratic response]] to Reagan's [[1985 State of the Union Address]] and served as chair of the [[National Governors Association]] from 1986 to 1987, bringing him to an audience beyond Arkansas.<ref name="First in His Class" />
[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan with Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton walking in the Cross Hall (cropped).jpg|thumb|Governor and [[Mrs. Clinton]] attend the Dinner Honoring the Nation's Governors in the White House with President Ronald Reagan and first lady [[Nancy Reagan]], 1987]]
In the early 1980s, Clinton made reform of the Arkansas education system a top priority of his gubernatorial administration. The Arkansas Education Standards Committee was chaired by Clinton's wife Hillary, who was also an attorney as well as the chair of the [[Legal Services Corporation]]. The committee transformed Arkansas's education system. Proposed reforms included more spending for schools (supported by a sales-tax increase), better opportunities for gifted children, vocational education, higher teachers' salaries, more course variety, and compulsory teacher competency exams. The reforms passed in September 1983 after Clinton called a special [[Arkansas General Assembly|legislative session]]—the longest in Arkansas history.<ref name=pendleton>{{cite news|last1=Pendleton|first1=Scott | title=Governor Gets High Marks for Public Education Reforms | url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1992/0721/21062.html | work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] | date=July 21, 1992}}</ref> Many have considered this the greatest achievement of the Clinton governorship.<ref name="First in His Class" /><ref name="The Natural" /> He defeated four Republican candidates for governor: Lowe (1978), White (1982 and 1986), [[Jonesboro, Arkansas|Jonesboro]] businessmen [[Woody Freeman]] (1984), and [[Sheffield Nelson]] of Little Rock (1990).<ref name=AllPolitics1 />

Also in the 1980s, the Clintons' personal and business affairs included transactions that became the basis of the [[Whitewater controversy]] investigation, which later dogged his presidential administration.<ref name="Clinton Wars">{{Cite book | last=Blumenthal | first=Sidney | title=The Clinton Wars | publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux | edition=1st | year=2003 | isbn= 978-0-374-12502-8}}</ref> After extensive investigation over several years, no indictments were made against the Clintons related to the years in Arkansas.<ref name="First in His Class" /><ref name="The Survivor">{{Cite book | last= Harris | first=John F. | title=The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House | publisher=Random House Trade Paperbacks | year=2006 | edition=1st | isbn= 978-0-375-76084-6}}</ref>

According to some sources, Clinton was a [[Capital punishment in the United States|death penalty]] opponent in his early years, but he eventually switched positions.<ref name="mbsrgd" /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=bill_clintons_death_penalty_waffle_ | title=Bill Clinton's Death Penalty Waffle—and Why It's Good News for Execution's Foes | first=Alexander | last=Nguyen | date=July 14, 2000 | work=[[The American Prospect]] | access-date=August 30, 2010 | quote=In his early days, Clinton opposed the death penalty. And while he and his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton were both teaching at the University of Arkansas Law School, she wrote an appellate brief that helped save a mentally retarded man from execution. "Clinton was against the death penalty," says Arkansas attorney Jeff Rosenzweig, who, like Clinton, grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas. "He told me so." | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205011359/http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=bill_clintons_death_penalty_waffle_ | archive-date=December 5, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref> However he might have felt previously, by 1992, Clinton was insisting that Democrats "should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent".<ref name="Hartman2015">{{cite book|last=Hartman|first=Andrew|title=A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fW__BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA121|year=2015|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-25464-7|page=121}}</ref> During Clinton's final term as governor, [[Capital punishment in Arkansas|Arkansas performed its first executions]] since 1964 (the death penalty had been reinstated in 1976).<ref>{{cite web |title=Reinstatement of the Death Penalty |url=https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/reinstatement-of-the-death-penalty.html |website=Findlaw |access-date=November 24, 2022}}</ref> As governor, he oversaw the [[List of people executed in Arkansas|first four executions carried out]] by the state of Arkansas since the death penalty was reinstated there in 1976: one by [[electric chair]] and three by [[lethal injection]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/execution-database?filters%5Bstate%5D=Arkansas|title=Execution Database &#124; Death Penalty Information Center|work=[[Death Penalty Information Center]]|access-date=January 25, 2020}}</ref> To draw attention to his stance on capital punishment, Clinton flew home to Arkansas mid-campaign in 1992, in order to affirm in person that the controversial execution of [[Ricky Ray Rector]] would go forward as scheduled.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Applebome |first1=Peter |title=The 1992 Campaign: Death Penalty; 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 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=November 24, 2022 |date=January 25, 1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Soss|first1=Joe|last2=Langbein|first2=Laura|last3=Metelko|first3=Alan R.|title=Why Do White Americans Support the Death Penalty?|journal=The Journal of Politics|date=September 27, 2001|volume=65|issue=2|page=399|doi=10.1111/1468-2508.t01-2-00006|s2cid=38112237|issn=0022-3816 }}</ref>

=== Scandals and allegations ===
During his time as governor in the 1980s, Arkansas was the center of a drug smuggling operation through [[Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport|Mena Airport]]. [[CIA]] agent [[Barry Seal]] allegedly imported three to five billion dollars worth of [[cocaine]] through the airport, and the operation was linked to the [[Iran–Contra affair]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/mena-intermountain-municipal-airport-4070/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |language=en-US}}</ref> Clinton was accused of knowing about this operation, although nothing could be proven against him.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morrison |first=Micah |date=1994 |title=Mysterious Mena |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB833927551906129500 |website=Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-06-11 |title=What Was Clinton's Role In 'Mena Mystery!?' - Oakland Post {{!}} HighBeam Research |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2359062.html |access-date=2024-07-28 |archive-date=June 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611030940/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2359062.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Journalist [[Sam Smith (journalist)|Sam Smith]] tied him to various questionable business dealings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Sam |date=1998 |title=Arkansas Connections: A Time-line of the Clinton Years by Sam Smith |url=https://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/clinton/arkansas.htm |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=ontology.buffalo.edu}}</ref> Clinton was also accused by [[Gennifer Flowers]] to have used cocaine as governor<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=1999-08-24 |title=Aides: Clinton Never Used Coke - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aides-clinton-never-used-coke/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> and his half-brother Roger was sentenced to prison in 1985 for possession and smuggling of cocaine, but was later [[Bill Clinton pardon controversy|pardoned by his brother]] after serving his sentence.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Purdum |first=Todd S. |date=2001-02-23 |title=THE CLINTON PARDONS: THE BROTHERS; Siblings Who Often Emerge In an Unflattering Spotlight |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/23/us/clinton-pardons-brothers-siblings-who-often-emerge-unflattering-spotlight.html |access-date=2024-07-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> During his time in Arkansas, there were also other scandals such as the [[Whitewater controversy]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Engelberg |first=Stephen |date=1994-03-13 |title=THE NATION; Untangling the Threads Of the Whitewater Affair |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/13/weekinreview/the-nation-untangling-the-threads-of-the-whitewater-affair.html |access-date=2024-07-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> involving the Clintons' real estate dealings, and Bill Clinton was accused of serious sexual misconduct in Arkansas, including allegations of using the [[Arkansas State Police]] to gain access to women ([[Troopergate (Bill Clinton)|Troopergate affair]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clinton Tried To Derail Troopers' Sex Allegations |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/stories/pj122193.htm |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> The [[killing of Don Henry and Kevin Ives]] in 1987 started various [[Clinton body count conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] that accused Clinton and the Arkansas state authorities of covering up the crime.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weiss |first=Philip |date=1997-02-23 |title=Clinton Crazy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/23/magazine/clinton-crazy.html |access-date=2024-07-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===1988 Democratic presidential primaries===
[[File:Bill Clinton 1986.jpg|thumb|upright|Clinton in 1986]]
In 1987, the media speculated that Clinton would enter the presidential race. Clinton decided to remain as Arkansas governor (following consideration for the potential candidacy of Hillary for governor, initially favored—but ultimately vetoed—by the First Lady).<ref name=autogenerated1>[[David Maraniss]], ''First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton'' (New York: Random House, 1996; {{ISBN|978-0-684-81890-0}}).</ref> For the nomination, Clinton endorsed [[Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts governor]] [[Michael Dukakis]]. He gave the nationally televised opening night address at the [[1988 Democratic National Convention]], but his speech, which was 33 minutes long and twice the length it was expected to be, was criticized for being too long.<ref>{{Cite magazine | last=Church | first=George J. | title=Cover: Is Bill Clinton For Real? | url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974739,00.html | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=January 27, 1992 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> Clinton presented himself both as a moderate and as a member of the New Democrat wing of the Democratic Party, and he headed the moderate Democratic Leadership Council in 1990 and 1991.<ref name="The Natural" /><ref name="The Choice">{{Cite book | last=Woodward | first=Bob | author-link=Bob Woodward | title=The Choice: How Bill Clinton Won | publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] | year=2005 | isbn= 978-0-7432-8514-8}}</ref>