Lived

August 19, 1946

Home State

Arkansas

Party

Democratic

Vice President

Al Gore

Bill Clinton was a two-term Democrat whose 'Third Way' politics produced four consecutive federal budget surpluses, welfare reform, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. He signed NAFTA, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and brokered the Dayton Accords ending the Bosnian War. His second term was consumed by impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky affair; he was acquitted by the Senate. The 1994 Crime Bill, the Defense of Marriage Act, and the repeal of parts of Glass–Steagall are now widely criticized. Arkansas Attorney General, five-term Governor of Arkansas.

Georgetown University, 1968; Rhodes Scholar at Oxford; Yale Law School, 1973.

Signed NAFTA. Signed the Family and Medical Leave Act. Presided over four consecutive federal budget surpluses (1998–2001), the first since 1969. Signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act reforming welfare. Signed the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Brokered the Dayton Accords ending the Bosnian War. Signed the Family and Medical Leave Act (1993), the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (1993), the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994), the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (1996), and the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (1999).

Impeached by the House in 1998 over perjury and obstruction of justice arising from the Monica Lewinsky affair; acquitted by the Senate in 1999. Signed the 1994 Crime Bill, which is now criticized on both left and right for its mass-incarceration effects. Signed the Defense of Marriage Act and 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' both later repealed. Signed the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act repealing parts of Glass–Steagall.