Bill Clinton

8 Pages 2040 Words

l priorities during his first two years in office. Early in his administration several of his appointees encountered congressional disapproval. His proposal to end the ban on homosexuals in the military met with widespread opposition from Congress, the military, and the public and had to be altered substantially. Clinton had promised to reverse the Bush policy of returning Haitian refugees to their homeland, but he eventually decided to continue implementing his predecessor's plan.
The failure to enact comprehensive health-care reform proved to be a major setback for Clinton. Widespread public concerns over the proposal's complexity, its reliance on government administration, employer mandates, and levels of services, combined with an effective lobbying campaign by opponents, drained congressional support for this major policy initiative, which had been one of the cornerstones of Clinton's campaign.
Clinton's biggest setback came in 1994, when the Democrats lost control of both houses of Congress to the Republicans. Within the Republican party, meanwhile, the conservative wing became predominant, especially in the House of Representatives. In 1995-1996 some Clinton White House activities were subjected to criticism, and several alleged scandals became the target of congressional investigations, most notably the "Whitewater affair," an investigation into alleged improprieties by the president and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a 1980s Arkansas land deal. Administration actions that became the focus of investigations included White House requests for FBI security files, the White House travel office firings, and fund-raising methods used for the 1996 presidential campaign. Yet Clinton's popularity increased as the strength of the economy continued and as the public tired of actions led by the GOP (Grand Old Party; Republican), such as congressional investigations, cut!
backs in services for the poor, anti-immigrant legisla...