119-574: The Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights was established in 1998 by American president Bill Clinton to honor outstanding promoters of rights in the United States . The award was first given on the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , honoring Eleanor Roosevelt 's role as the "driving force" in the development of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The award
238-620: A 51 day siege . During the operation on April 19, 1993, the buildings caught fire and 75 of the residents died, including 24 children. The raid had originally been planned by the Bush administration; Clinton had played no role. In August, Clinton signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 , which passed Congress without a Republican vote. It cut taxes for 15 million low-income families, made tax cuts available to 90 percent of small businesses, and raised taxes on
357-414: A Bachelor of Science in foreign service degree in 1968. Georgetown was the only university where Clinton applied. In 1964 and 1965, Clinton won elections for class president . From 1964 to 1967, he was an intern and then a clerk in the office of Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright . While in college, he became a brother of service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa . He
476-494: A centrist Third Way philosophy of governance. His policy of fiscal conservatism helped to reduce deficits on budgetary matters. Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history. The Congressional Budget Office reported budget surpluses of $ 69 billion in 1998, $ 126 billion in 1999, and $ 236 billion in 2000, during the last three years of Clinton's presidency. Over
595-507: A 52 percent to 48 percent margin. In 1976, Clinton ran for Arkansas attorney general . Defeating the secretary of state and the deputy attorney general in the Democratic primary, Clinton was elected with no opposition at all in the general election, as no Republican had run for the office. In 1978, Clinton entered the Arkansas gubernatorial primary. At just 31 years old, he was one of
714-536: A Democrat in the presidential and U.S. Senate primaries too. On June 20, 2020, during a virtual convention, the Reform Party again nominated Rocky de la Fuente for president. De la Fuente defeated three other recognized candidates, Max Abramson , Souraya Faas , and Ben Zion (formerly the nominee for the Transhumanist Party ). Darcy Richardson from Florida was nominated for vice president. In September 2023,
833-523: A case-by-case basis. Perot could not have qualified for the debates in 1992 under these rules, and was able to show that various famous U.S. presidents would likewise have been excluded from the modern debate by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Despite legal action by the Perot team, and an 80 percent majority of Americans supporting his participation in the debates, the Commission refused to budge and Perot
952-508: A centrist " Third Way " political philosophy , became known as a New Democrat . Clinton was born and raised in Arkansas . He graduated from Georgetown University in 1968, and later from Yale Law School , where he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham . After graduating from law school, Clinton returned to Arkansas and won election as state attorney general, followed by two non-consecutive tenures as Arkansas governor . As governor, he overhauled
1071-526: A conservative, but criticized Pat Buchanan , saying: "I'm on the conservative side, but Buchanan is Attila the Hun ." He withdrew from the race citing the party's infighting, as did Jesse Ventura and the Minnesota Reform Party. Donald Trump stated: "So the Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke, a neo-Nazi, Mr. Buchanan, and a communist, Ms. Fulani. This is not company I wish to keep." "Mr. Duke"
1190-571: A court order obtained by a dissident faction associated with the Independence Party of New York . Therefore, the Weill/McEnulty ticket appeared on the ballot only in Mississippi, in which it received 481 votes. An erroneous news report was broadcast by ABC News that stated the party had endorsed John McCain . Frank MacKay of the dissident Independence Party of New York faction had made
1309-529: A few states. In the 2000 , 2004 , and 2008 elections, the American Reform Party supported Ralph Nader for president. The ARP is not a political party in the conventional sense. It does not have ballot access in any state, and it does not run candidates. It supports third-party candidates and independents who support the primary principles of the Party's platform. About 2010–2011, the party shifted from
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#17330860367141428-470: A firm second-place finish. Winning the big prizes of Florida and Texas and many of the 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. With no major Southern state remaining, Clinton targeted New York, which had many delegates. He scored
1547-548: A jazz trio, The 3 Kings , with Randy Goodrum , who became a successful professional pianist. In 1961, Clinton became a member of the Hot Springs Chapter of the Order of DeMolay , a youth group affiliated with Freemasonry , but he never became a Freemason. He briefly considered dedicating his life to music, but as he noted in his autobiography My Life : Clinton began an interest in law at Hot Springs High, when he took up
1666-560: A law professor at the University of Arkansas . In 1974, he ran for the House of Representatives . Running in the conservative 3rd district against incumbent Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt , Clinton's campaign was bolstered by the anti-Republican and anti-incumbent mood resulting from the Watergate scandal . Hammerschmidt, who had received 77 percent of the vote in 1972, defeated Clinton by only
1785-660: A leading figure among the New Democrats , a group of 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 landslide victory in 1984 , the Democratic Party needed to adopt a more centrist political stance in order to succeed at
1904-422: A means to pull independents or conservative independents to their policies, to their agenda." In February, Congressional candidates filed to run as Reform Party candidates in all four of Mississippi 's congressional districts, but none for any statewide offices. Among these were Barbara Dale Washer, Tracella Lou O'Hara Hill, and Anna Jewel Revies. In April 2010, former Vice President Dan Quayle condemned
2023-647: 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. In the first primary contest, the 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
2142-548: A number of far-right extremists remained with the party. By the October 2003, National Convention, the Reform Party had only begun rebuilding, but several former state organizations had elected to rejoin now that the interference from the Freedom Parties was gone. They increased their ranks from 24 to 30 states and managed to retrieve ballot access for seven of them. (Buchanan's poor showing in 2000 had lost ballot access for almost
2261-417: 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
2380-717: A promise he failed to keep. By election time, the economy was souring and Bush saw his approval rating plummet to just slightly over 40 percent. 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 Republican National Convention —with Bush criticizing Democrats for omitting God from their platform—many moderates were alienated. Clinton then pointed to his moderate, "New Democrat" record as governor of Arkansas, though some on
2499-615: A public figure. One was his visit as a Boys Nation senator to the White House to meet President John F. Kennedy . The other was watching Martin Luther King Jr. 's 1963 " I Have a Dream " speech on TV, which impressed him so much that he later memorized it. With the aid of scholarships, Clinton attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., receiving
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#17330860367142618-533: A relatively centrist platform to a Tea Party -style fiscal conservative one. In the 2012 presidential election , the ARP endorsed Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney against incumbent president Barack Obama . In the 2016 presidential election , the Party endorsed the Republican candidate Donald Trump . In 1998, the Reform Party received a boost when Jesse Ventura was elected Governor of Minnesota. According to
2737-522: A resounding victory in New York City, shedding his image as a regional candidate. 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. During the campaign, questions of conflict of interest regarding state business and the politically powerful Rose Law Firm , at which Hillary Rodham Clinton
2856-747: A sign of dissatisfaction, and views them skeptically." Kristin M. Davis , the Manhattan madam involved in the Eliot Spitzer scandal, announced on June 27, 2010, that she was running for governor on an independent line in New York State using the name, Reform Party without Reform Party authorization after failing to secure the Libertarian Party nomination. Davis condemned the Democrats and Republicans for catering to wealthy white males, saying: "Where are
2975-422: A single electoral vote, no other third-party or independent candidate has since managed to receive as high a share of the popular vote. The party has nominated other presidential candidates over the years, including Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader . Its most significant victory came when Jesse Ventura was elected Governor of Minnesota in 1998 , although he left the party shortly into his term. Donald Trump
3094-531: A special legislative session —the longest in Arkansas history. Many have considered this the greatest achievement of the Clinton governorship. He defeated four Republican candidates for governor: Lowe (1978), White (1982 and 1986), Jonesboro businessmen Woody Freeman (1984), and Sheffield Nelson of Little Rock (1990). Also in the 1980s, the Clintons' personal and business affairs included transactions that became
3213-399: Is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi honorary band fraternity. Upon graduating from Georgetown in 1968, Clinton won a Rhodes Scholarship to University College, Oxford , where he initially read for a B.Phil. in philosophy, politics, and economics but transferred to a B.Litt. in politics and, ultimately, a B.Phil. in politics. Clinton did not expect to return for the second year because of
3332-448: The 1992 presidential election , where—running as an independent—he became the first non-major party candidate since 1912 to have been considered viable enough to win the presidency. Perot received attention for focusing on fiscal issues such as the federal deficit and national debt ; government reform issues such as term limits , campaign finance reform , and lobbying reform; and issues on trade. A large part of his following
3451-460: The 2000 election was due federal matching funds of $ 12.5 million (~$ 22.4 million in 2023), based on Perot's 8 percent showing in 1996. Early on, there was a failed effort to draft Ron Paul . Donald Trump entered the race briefly, giving television interviews outlining his platform. Trump was progressive on social issues, and supported allowing openly gay soldiers in the military, saying: "it would not disturb me". Trump considered himself
3570-484: The AIDS United Action five point plan. Clinton won the 1992 presidential election (370 electoral votes) against Republican incumbent George H. W. Bush (168 electoral votes) and billionaire 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. Clinton's victory in
3689-915: The George McGovern campaign for the 1972 United States presidential election in order to move in with her in California. The couple continued living together in New Haven when they returned to law school. Clinton eventually moved to Texas with Rodham in 1972 to take a job leading McGovern's effort there. He spent considerable time in Dallas , at the campaign's local headquarters on Lemmon Avenue, where he had an office. Clinton worked with future two-term mayor of Dallas Ron Kirk , future governor of Texas Ann Richards , and then unknown television director and filmmaker Steven Spielberg . After graduating from Yale Law School , Clinton returned to Arkansas and became
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3808-613: The League of Women Voters , the Reform Party USA obtained more votes nationwide in 1998 than did any other third party in America (without those garnered by Ventura). Counting Ventura's performance, Reformers took in more votes than all other third parties in the United States combined, establishing the Reform Party as America's third-largest party. The Reform Party's presidential nominee for
3927-769: The North American Free Trade Agreement and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act but failed to pass his plan for national health care reform . Starting in the mid-1990s, he began an ideological evolution as he became much more conservative in his domestic policy, advocating for and signing the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act , the State Children's Health Insurance Program and financial deregulation measures. He appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer to
4046-704: The Oslo I Accord and Camp David Summit to advance the Israeli–Palestinian peace process , and assisted the Northern Ireland peace process . Clinton won re-election in the 1996 election , defeating Republican nominee Bob Dole and Reform Party nominee Perot. His second term was dominated by the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal , which began in 1995, when he had a sexual relationship with the then 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky . In January 1998, news of
4165-580: The Senate , where he was acquitted on both charges. During the last three years of Clinton's presidency, the Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus—the first such surplus since 1969. Clinton left office in 2001 with the joint-highest approval rating of any U.S. president. His presidency ranks among the middle to upper tier in historical rankings of U.S. presidents . However, his personal conduct and misconduct allegations have made him
4284-739: The U.S. Supreme Court . In foreign policy, Clinton ordered U.S. military intervention in the Bosnian and Kosovo wars , eventually signing the Dayton Peace agreement . He also called for the expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe and many former Warsaw Pact members joined NATO during his presidency. Clinton's foreign policy in the Middle East saw him sign the Iraq Liberation Act which gave aid to groups against Saddam Hussein . He also participated in
4403-593: The Vietnam War . Aller's 1971 suicide had an influential impact on Clinton. British writer and feminist Sara Maitland said of Clinton, "I remember Bill and Frank Aller taking me to a pub in Walton Street in the summer term of 1969 and talking to me about the Vietnam War. I knew nothing about it, and when Frank began to describe the napalming of civilians I began to cry. Bill said that feeling bad wasn't good enough. That
4522-603: The "Boy Governor". 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 in Cleveland County , polled 31 percent of
4641-434: The "Reform Party" ("Independent Party" was preferred, but already taken, as were several variants on the name). A drive to get the party on the ballot in all fifty states succeeded, although it ended with lawsuits in some regions over state ballot access requirements. In a few areas, minor parties became incorporated as state party organizations. At first, when the 1996 election season arrived, Perot held off from entering
4760-447: 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. Clinton's " third way " of moderate liberalism built up
4879-583: The 2000 election. In 2005, a dispute arose for the number of National Committee members required under the party's by-laws to call meetings of the National Committee. These members came from several states including Texas , Michigan , and Florida . At both meetings, it was determined that a national convention would be called and held in Tampa, Florida . The chairman at the time and National Committee members from Arizona , California , and Oklahoma boycotted
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4998-583: The ARP was founded, Jackie Salit noted in the Christian Science Monitor : "At its founding meeting in Kansas City in 1997, the 40 black delegates in the room, led by the country's foremost African-American independent – Lenora Fulani – represented the first time in US history that African-Americans were present at the founding of a major national political party." The ARP has yet to organize in more than
5117-469: The Cold War, I just felt that once the Cold War was over the United States should return to a more traditional non-intervention foreign policy." After a bitter fight, Buchanan secured the Reform Party's presidential nomination over John Hagelin of the Natural Law Party . Hagelin and an anti-Buchanan faction walked out and held a separate convention across the street, where they nominated Hagelin as
5236-581: The Eastern District of New York has ruled in our favor, and has further reinforced the 2008 ruling of Judge Carl Ginsberg of the 193rd District Court in Texas." In January 2010, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operations officer Charles S. Faddis announced his support of the party in The Baltimore Sun : "I have decided to throw in my lot with the Reform Party of the United States." Faddis later left
5355-550: The National and executive committee meetings, claiming the meetings were illegitimate. As a result, those states held a second convention in Yuma, Arizona. In response to a suit filed by the group that met in Tampa, leaders of the Reform Party filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) complaint claiming the Tampa group were extremists and guilty of conspiracy. In 2006,
5474-511: The New Hampshire polls. Following Super Bowl XXVI , Clinton and his wife Hillary went on 60 Minutes to rebuff the charges. Their television appearance was a calculated risk, but Clinton regained several delegates. He finished second to Tsongas in the 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
5593-415: The Perot and Ventura campaigns, but received only 1.9 percent of the vote. By March 2007, the Reform Party had ballot access for the 2008 presidential election in four states (Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi) and had already started petitioning in an additional four. The Reform Party held its 2008 National Convention in Dallas , July 18–20. At the national convention, Ted Weill of Mississippi
5712-604: The Reform Party lost its ballot access in Florida , leaving the party with no state ballot lines. At their party convention on May 23, 2024, the Reform Party nominated the Kennedy Jr./Shanahan ticket for president and vice president respectively. The Reform Party filed paperwork for re-qualification in May 2024, which would place Kennedy and Shanahan on the ballot in Florida. Kennedy withdrew from
5831-586: The Reform Party name. Davis was not a member of the Reform Party. Davis changed her Independent Ballot Line name and filed as an independent candidate by obtaining the required signatures needed in New York State to run for governor on the "Anti-Prohibition" line. The Reform Party held its 2012 National Convention in Philadelphia , August 11–12, 2012. At the national convention, the Reform Party nominated Andre Barnett from New York for president and Ken Cross from Arkansas for vice president. Among those who sought
5950-444: The Reform Party nominated candidates in Arizona, and petitioned to regain ballot access in several other states where state Reform Party organizations were active. The Reform Party of Kansas nominated a slate of candidates, led by Iraq War veteran Richard Ranzau. In Colorado's 4th congressional district , "fiscal conservative" Eric Eidsness (a former assistant U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator and Navy veteran) ran on
6069-432: The Reform Party of California, and the Reform Party officers. On December 4, 2009, a New York Federal judge heard MacKay v Crews on the question of who are the legal Reform Party officers. On December 16, 2009, the judge ruled in favor of David Collison's faction. Collison said: "After over two years of litigation in Texas and New York, it is my profound pleasure to announce that US District Court Judge Joseph Bianco of
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#17330860367146188-512: The Reform Party on CBS , saying: "Many remember the Reform Party of the 1990s, which formed around the candidacy of Ross Perot. I sure do, because it eliminated any chance that President George H.W. Bush and I would prevail over Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992. Speaking on behalf of the Bush-Quayle campaign, to this day we firmly believe that Perot cost the Republican Party the White House." Pat Choate in an April 28, 2010 interview with Monmouth University 's student newspaper remained suspicious of
6307-440: The Reform Party ticket. He received 11.28 percent of the vote, five times the winning candidate's margin of victory; he later switched his affiliation to the Democratic Party. The Florida Reform Party granted use of its ballot line for governor to Max Linn of Florida Citizens for Term Limits (a Republican-leaning organization) in the 2006 Florida gubernatorial election . Linn retained professional campaign staff with connections to
6426-406: The Tea Party movement, saying: "At these [Tea Party] events, a professional Republican always speaks. What to me is questionable is that the Tea Parties endorse candidates, but never endorse Democrats—they seem to be a front for the Republican Party. We were seen as very serious. Perot gave millions, we fielded candidates, and we were a real threat to the status quo. The media treats the Tea Parties as
6545-406: The Vietnam War, would understand and appreciate his position. After Oxford, Clinton attended Yale Law School and earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1973. In 1971, he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham, in the Yale Law Library ; she was a class year ahead of him. They began dating and were soon inseparable. After only about a month, Clinton postponed his summer plans to be a coordinator for
6664-452: The affair made tabloid headlines. This scandal escalated throughout the year, culminating in December when Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives , becoming the first U.S. president to be impeached since Andrew Johnson . The two impeachment articles that the House passed were centered around perjury and Clinton using the powers of the presidency to commit obstruction of justice. In 1999, Clinton's impeachment trial began in
6783-425: The basis of the Whitewater controversy investigation, which later dogged his presidential administration. After extensive investigation over several years, no indictments were made against the Clintons related to the years in Arkansas. According to some sources, Clinton was a death penalty opponent in his early years, but he eventually switched positions. However he might have felt previously, by 1992, Clinton
6902-444: The cause of world peace", having "a powerful collaborator in his wife", and for winning "general applause for his achievement of resolving the gridlock that prevented an agreed budget". During the Vietnam War, Clinton received educational draft deferments while he was in England in 1968 and 1969. While at Oxford, he participated in Vietnam War protests and organized a Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam event in October 1969. He
7021-428: The challenge to argue the defense of the ancient Roman senator Catiline in a mock trial in his Latin class. After a vigorous defense that made use of his "budding rhetorical and political skills", he told the Latin teacher Elizabeth Buck it "made him realize that someday he would study law". Clinton has identified two influential moments in his life, both occurring in 1963, that contributed to his decision to become
7140-494: The contest for the Reform Party's presidential nomination, calling for others to try for the ticket. The only person who announced such an intention was Dick Lamm , former Governor of Colorado . After the Federal Election Commission indicated only Perot and not Lamm would be able to secure federal matching funds—because his 1992 campaign was as an independent—Perot entered the race. Some were upset that Perot changed his mind because, in their view, Perot overshadowed Lamm's run for
7259-563: The controversial execution of Ricky Ray Rector , would go forward as scheduled. During his time as governor in the 1980s, Arkansas was the center of a drug smuggling operation through 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 . Clinton was accused of knowing about this operation, although nothing could be proven against him. Journalist Sam Smith tied him to various questionable business dealings. Clinton
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#17330860367147378-452: The draft and avoid serving in uniform. He issued a notarized statement during the 1992 presidential campaign: During the 1992 campaign, it was revealed that Clinton's uncle had attempted to secure him a position in the Navy Reserve , which would have prevented him from being deployed to Vietnam. This effort was unsuccessful and Clinton said in 1992 that he had been unaware of it until then. Although legal, Clinton's actions with respect to
7497-450: The draft and deciding whether to serve in the military were criticized during his first presidential campaign by conservatives and some Vietnam veterans, some of whom charged that he had used Fulbright's influence to avoid military service. Clinton's 1992 campaign manager, James Carville , successfully argued that Clinton's letter in which he declined to join the ROTC should be made public, insisting that voters, many of whom had also opposed
7616-410: The draft and received a high number (311), meaning that those whose birthdays had been drawn as numbers 1 to 310 would be drafted before him, making it unlikely he would be called up. (In fact, the highest number drafted was 195.) Colonel Eugene Holmes, the Army officer who had been involved with Clinton's ROTC application, suspected that Clinton attempted to manipulate the situation to avoid
7735-430: The draft and so he switched programs; this type of activity was common among other Rhodes Scholars from his cohort. He had received an offer to study at Yale Law School , and so he left early to return to the United States and did not receive a degree from Oxford. During his time at Oxford, Clinton befriended fellow American Rhodes Scholar Frank Aller. In 1969, Aller received a draft letter that mandated deployment to
7854-418: The eight years of the Clinton administration, the abortion rate declined by 18 percent. On February 15, 1993, Clinton made his first address to the nation, announcing his plan to raise taxes to close a budget deficit . Two days later, in a nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress , Clinton unveiled his economic plan. The plan focused on reducing the deficit rather than on cutting taxes for
7973-408: 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 , 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 . According to Seymour Martin Lipset ,
8092-460: The election, turning his campaign organization ( United We Stand America ) into a lobbying group. One of his primary goals was the defeat of the North American Free Trade Agreement during this period. In 1995, Republicans took control of the House of Representatives , largely on the strength of the " Contract with America ", which recognized and promised to deal with many of the issues Perot's voters had mobilized to support in 1992. However, two of
8211-429: The end of his presidency, the Clintons moved to 15 Old House Lane in Chappaqua, New York , in order to quell political worries about his wife's residency for election as a U.S. Senator from New York. "Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." After his presidential transition , Clinton
8330-402: The endorsement, not the Reform Party USA. Reform Party USA Reference David Collison, the Reform Party's chairman, said during a 2009 interview, "Do you believe that any legitimate national party would endorse the Republican candidate for President rather than have a candidate of their own?" The candidates for the nomination included: A long-standing feud in the party involved John Blare, of
8449-421: The entire party.) Because of organizational and financial problems in the party, it opted to support the independent campaign of Ralph Nader as the best option for an independent of any stripe that year. While the endorsement generated publicity for Nader and the Reform Party, the party was only able to provide Nader with seven ballot lines down from the 49 of 51 guaranteed ballot lines the party had going into
8568-497: The execution was framed in an article for The New York Times as a possible political move to counter "soft on crime" accusations. Bush's approval ratings were around 80 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 promise not to raise taxes , which hurt his approval rating. Clinton repeatedly condemned Bush for making
8687-412: The latter's death. In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. John's Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and the segregated Hot Springs High School , where he was an active student leader, avid reader, and musician. Clinton was in the chorus and played the tenor saxophone , winning first chair in the state band's saxophone section. While in high school, Clinton performed for two years in
8806-479: The major provisions (Constitutional amendments for term limits and the balanced budgets) failed to secure the two-thirds congressional majorities required to be submitted to the states. Dissatisfied, the grassroots organizations that had made Perot's 1992 candidacy possible began to band together to found a third party intended to rival the Republicans and Democrats. For legal reasons, the party ended up being called
8925-513: The middle class, which had been high on his campaign agenda. Clinton's advisers pressured him to raise taxes, based on the theory that a smaller federal budget deficit would reduce bond interest rates. President Clinton's attorney general Janet Reno authorized the FBI's use of armored vehicles to deploy tear gas into the buildings of the Branch Davidian community near Waco, Texas, in hopes of ending
9044-487: The more liberal side of the party remained suspicious. Many Democrats who had supported Ronald Reagan and Bush in previous elections switched their support to Clinton. 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". On March 26, 1992, during a Democratic fund raiser of the presidential campaign, Robert Rafsky confronted then Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas and asked what he
9163-436: The nation's fiscal health and put the nation on a firm footing abroad amid globalization and the development of anti-American terrorist organizations. During his presidency, Clinton advocated for a wide variety of legislation and programs , most of which were enacted into law or implemented by the executive branch. His policies, particularly the North American Free Trade Agreement and welfare reform , have been attributed to
9282-586: The national level. Clinton delivered the 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. In the early 1980s, Clinton made reform of the Arkansas education system a top priority of his gubernatorial administration. The Arkansas Education Standards Committee
9401-480: The officer in charge of the program that he opposed the war, but did not think it was honorable to use ROTC, National Guard, or Reserve service to avoid serving in Vietnam. He further stated that because he opposed the war, he would not volunteer to serve in uniform, but would subject himself to the draft, and would serve if selected only as a way "to maintain my political viability within the system". Clinton registered for
9520-561: The party claimed they used the names and addresses of petition signers as the basis of who received ballots. Primary ballots were sent by mail to designated voters. Eventually, Perot was nominated for president and he chose economist Pat Choate as his vice presidential running mate. The results of the party's presidential primary were: Perot 32,145, Lamm 17,121. Between 1992 and 1996, the Commission on Presidential Debates changed its rules regarding how candidates could qualify to participate in
9639-414: The party nomination. This built up to the beginning of a splinter within the movement, when it was alleged certain problems in the primary process—such as many Lamm supporters not receiving ballots, and some primary voters receiving multiple ballots—were Perot's doing. The Reform Party claimed these problems stemmed from the petition process for getting the Reform Party on the ballot in all of the states since
9758-535: The party's presidential candidate. The dispute went to the courts and the FEC decided that Buchanan was the legitimate nominee and awarded him $ 12.6 million in campaign funds. Buchanan's vice presidential running mate was Ezola B. Foster . Buchanan got 449,225 votes, just 0.4 percent of the popular vote, and the party lost its matching funds for 2004. In 2002, Buchanan returned to the Republican Party. Following this,
9877-519: The party, and ran in 2016 for Maryland's 5th congressional district as a Republican. In February 2010, former Reform Party Chairman Pat Choate emerged to discuss the appeal of the Tea Party movement , contrasting it with Ross Perot's party, saying: "The difference with the Tea Party is it's been heavily pushed by a bunch of talk-show conservatives. You have the Republican Party attempting to use this as
9996-500: The potential candidacy of Hillary for governor, initially favored—but ultimately vetoed—by the First Lady). For the nomination, Clinton endorsed 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. Clinton presented himself both as
10115-405: The presidential debates. As Perot had previously done very well in debates, it was a decisive blow to the campaign when the Commission ruled that he could not participate on the basis of somewhat vague criteria — such as that a candidate was required to have already been endorsed by "a substantial number of major news organizations," with "substantial" being a number to be decided by the commission on
10234-549: The presidential nomination before dropping out several months prior to the convention were former Savannah State University football coach Robby Wells , economist Laurence Kotlikoff , historian Darcy Richardson, and former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer . The Reform Party co-nominated the American Delta Party 's presidential and vice-presidential candidates Rocky de la Fuente and Michael Steinberg as their 2016 presidential ticket. However, in 2016, De La Fuente ran as
10353-584: The race in August and endorsed Donald Trump and withdrew his name from the Florida ballot on August 23. The Reform Party platform includes the following: A noticeable absence from the Reform Party platform has been social issues, including abortion and gay rights. Reform Party representatives had long stated beliefs that their party could bring together people from both sides of these issues, which they consider divisive, to address what they considered to be more vital concerns as expressed in their platform. The idea
10472-477: The same reason. Clinton had repeatedly promised to encourage gays in the military service, despite what he knew to be the strong opposition of the military leadership. He tried anyway, and was publicly opposed by the top generals, and forced by Congress to a compromise position of " Don't ask, don't tell " whereby gays could serve if and only if they kept it secret. He devised a $ 16-billion stimulus package primarily to aid inner-city programs desired by liberals, but it
10591-591: The split came about when it was "...discovered [that the Reform Party] was a top-down party instead of a bottom-up organization." Although members of the group attempted to persuade former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm – Perot's chief rival for the nomination – to run for president as an Independent, he declined, pointing out that he had promised before running that he would not challenge the party's decision. During this time, Perot himself chose to concentrate on lobbying efforts through United We Stand America . When
10710-442: The state of politics as being corrupt and unable to deal with vital issues. After he received 18.9 percent of the popular vote as an independent candidate in the 1992 presidential election , he founded the Reform Party and presented it as a viable alternative to Republicans and Democrats . As the Reform Party presidential nominee, Perot won 8.4 percent of the popular vote in the 1996 presidential election . While he did not receive
10829-509: The state's education system and served as chairman of the National Governors Association . Clinton was elected president in the 1992 election , defeating the incumbent Republican Party president George H. W. Bush and the independent businessman Ross Perot . He became the first president to be born in the Baby Boomer generation. Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history. He signed into law
10948-753: The subject of substantial scrutiny. Since leaving office, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the Clinton Foundation to address international causes such as the prevention of HIV/AIDS and global warming. In 2009, he was named the United Nations special envoy to Haiti . After the 2010 Haiti earthquake , Clinton founded the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund with George W. Bush and Barack Obama . He has remained active in Democratic Party politics, campaigning for his wife's 2008 and 2016 presidential campaigns . Clinton
11067-512: 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. After leaving office in January 1981, Clinton joined friend Bruce Lindsey 's Little Rock law firm of Wright, Lindsey and Jennings. In 1982, he
11186-602: The wealthiest 1.2 percent of taxpayers. Additionally, it mandated that the budget be balanced over many years through the implementation of spending restraints. Reform Party of the United States of America The Reform Party of the United States of America ( RPUSA ), generally known as the Reform Party USA or the Reform Party , is a centrist political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot . Perot believed Americans were disillusioned with
11305-563: The women, the Hispanics, the African-Americans, and the gay people? We must reject their tired old thinking...." On June 29, 2010, Reform Party National Committee chairman David Collison delivered Davis a cease-and-desist notice demanding that she immediately change the name under which she was seeking to run for governor. Davis made no attempt to obtain permission to run as an official Reform Party candidate, and therefore withdrew her use of
11424-607: The years of the recorded surplus, the gross national debt rose each year. At the end of the fiscal year (September 30) for each of the years a surplus was recorded, the U.S. Treasury reported a gross debt of $ 5.413 trillion in 1997, $ 5.526 trillion in 1998, $ 5.656 trillion in 1999, and $ 5.674 trillion in 2000. Over the same period, the Office of Management and Budget reported an end of year (December 31) gross debt of $ 5.369 trillion in 1997, $ 5.478 trillion in 1998, $ 5.606 in 1999, and $ 5.629 trillion in 2000. At
11543-415: The youngest gubernatorial candidates in the state's history. Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas in 1978 , having defeated the Republican candidate Lynn Lowe , a farmer from 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. Due to his youthful appearance, Clinton was often called
11662-401: Was inaugurated as the 42nd president of the United States on January 20, 1993. Clinton was physically exhausted at the time, and had an inexperienced staff. His high levels of public support dropped in the first few weeks, as he made a series of mistakes. His first choice for attorney general had not paid her taxes on babysitters and was forced to withdraw. The second appointee also withdrew for
11781-400: Was a member of the Reform Party during his brief 2000 presidential campaign . In around the year 2000, party infighting and scandals led to a major decline in the party's strength. Beginning with Buchanan's poor showing in the 2000 election , no Reform Party presidential nominee since 1996 has been able to gather 1 percent of the popular vote. The party grew out of Ross Perot 's efforts in
11900-473: 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. Further concern arose when Bill Clinton announced that, with Hillary, voters would be getting two presidents "for the price of one". 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
12019-534: Was a reference to David Duke , a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan . Buchanan decided to leave the Republican Party because: "The Republican Party at the national level has ceased to be my party. This divorce began around the end of the Cold War when President (George) Bush declared it to be a New World-order party and began intervening all over the world. While he and I were allies and friends during
12138-598: Was accused of serious sexual misconduct in Arkansas, including allegations of using the Arkansas State Police to gain access to women ( Troopergate affair ). The killing of Don Henry and Kevin Ives in 1987 started various conspiracy theories that accused Clinton and the Arkansas state authorities of covering up the crime. In 1987, the media speculated that Clinton would enter the presidential race. Clinton decided to remain as Arkansas governor (following consideration for
12257-454: Was also accused by Gennifer Flowers to have used cocaine as governor and his half-brother Roger was sentenced to prison in 1985 for possession and smuggling of cocaine, but was later pardoned by his brother after serving his sentence. During his time in Arkansas, there were also other scandals such as the Whitewater controversy involving the Clintons' real estate dealings, and Bill Clinton
12376-607: Was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, at Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Arkansas . He is the son of William Jefferson Blythe Jr. , a traveling salesman who died in an automobile accident three months before his birth, and Virginia Dell Cassidy (later Virginia Kelley). Blythe had initially survived the crash, but drowned in a drainage ditch. His parents had married on September 4, 1943, but this union later proved to be bigamous, as Blythe
12495-596: 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
12614-518: Was defeated by a Republican filibuster in the Senate. His popularity at the 100 day mark of his term was the lowest of any president at that point. Public opinion did support one liberal program, and Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 , which required large employers to allow employees to take unpaid leave for pregnancy or a serious medical condition. This action had bipartisan support, and
12733-457: Was dogged by the "quitter" moniker and other allegations concerning his character. On Election Day, many voters were confused as to whether Perot was actually still a candidate. He ended up receiving about 18.9 percent of the popular vote, a record level of popularity not seen in an independent candidate since former President Theodore Roosevelt ran on the "Bull Moose" Progressive Party ticket in 1912. He continued being politically involved after
12852-408: 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. For senior citizens , he removed the sales tax from medications and increased the home property-tax exemption. He became
12971-477: Was going to do about AIDS , to which Clinton replied, "I feel your pain". 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 Convention , and to sign onto
13090-423: Was grounded in the belief he was addressing vital problems largely ignored by the two major parties. A Gallup poll showed Perot with a slim lead; however, on July 19, he suspended his campaign, accusing Republican operatives of threatening to sabotage his daughter's wedding. He was accused by Newsweek of being a "quitter" in a well-publicized cover-page article. After resuming his campaign on October 1, Perot
13209-577: Was insisting that Democrats "should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent". During Clinton's final term as governor, Arkansas performed its first executions since 1964 (the death penalty had been reinstated in 1976). As Governor, he oversaw the 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 . 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
13328-487: Was nominated to be the party's 2008 presidential candidate. Frank McEnulty of California, the 2008 presidential candidate of the New American Independent Party , was nominated to be the party's 2008 vice-presidential candidate. David Collison of Texas was elected national chairman of the party. However, the party could not announce the results of the national convention on its web site until October because of
13447-467: Was not until Clinton turned 15 that he formally adopted the surname Clinton as a gesture toward him. Clinton has described his stepfather as a gambler and an alcoholic who regularly abused his mother and half-brother, Roger Clinton Jr. The physical abuse only ceased after a then-14-year-old Bill challenged his stepfather to "stand and face" him, though the verbal/emotional abuse continued. Bill would eventually forgive Roger Sr. for his abusive actions near
13566-611: Was planning to attend law school in the U.S. and knew he might lose his deferment. Clinton tried unsuccessfully to obtain positions in the National Guard and the Air Force officer candidate school , and he then made arrangements to join the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program at the University of Arkansas . He subsequently decided not to join the ROTC, saying in a letter to
13685-588: Was popular with the public. Two days after taking office, on January 22, 1993—the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade —Clinton reversed restrictions on domestic and international family planning programs that had been imposed by Reagan and Bush. Clinton said abortion should be kept "safe, legal, and rare"—a slogan that had been suggested by political scientist Samuel L. Popkin and first used by Clinton in December 1991, while campaigning. During
13804-519: Was presented from 1998 to the end of the Clinton administration in 2001. Bill Clinton [REDACTED] William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe ; born August 19, 1946) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party , he previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992. Clinton, whose policies reflected
13923-460: Was reduced to making his points heard via a series of half-hour "commercials". In the end, Perot and Choate won 8 percent of the vote. By October 1997, factional disputes began to emerge with the departure of a group that believed Perot had rigged the 1996 party primary to defeat Lamm. These individuals eventually established the "American Reform Party" (ARP). The ARP is actually a minor political action committee . Then chairman, Roy Downing, said
14042-770: Was still married to his fourth wife. Virginia traveled to New Orleans to study nursing soon after Bill was born, leaving him in Hope with her parents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and ran a small grocery store. At a time when the southern United States was racially segregated , Clinton's grandparents sold goods on credit to people of all races. In 1950, Bill's mother returned from nursing school and married Roger Clinton Sr. , who co-owned an automobile dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas , with his brother and Earl T. Ricks . The family moved to Hot Springs in 1950. Although he immediately assumed use of his stepfather's surname, it
14161-533: Was the first time I encountered the idea that liberal sensitivities weren't enough and you had to do something about such things". Clinton was a member of the Oxford University Basketball Club and also played for Oxford University's rugby union team. While Clinton was president in 1994, he received an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree and a fellowship from the University of Oxford , specifically for being "a doughty and tireless champion of
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