When William Jefferson Clinton was inaugurated President of the United States Jan. 20 it marked a generational change, the first baby boomer to occupy the White House.
But Clinton's approach to the presidency also marked a dramatic shift from the administrations that had occupied the White House for the previous 12 years. Ronald Reagan and George Bush believed government could do only a few things right, and argued that the least government was the best government.
Bill Clinton said he was a firm believer in the idea that government can play, and ought to play, a positive role in the people's lives.
He promised to focus on the economy like a "laser beam," but crises in Somalia, Bosnia, Iraq and Haiti as well as a controversy over gays in the military occupied his time.
His economic stimulus package foundered when he refused to deal with Democratic conservatives in the Senate. But he was successful, by the narrowest of margins, in getting his $500 billion tax and deficit-reduction package through the Congress.
Hiring illegal aliens managed to derail the top two people he wanted for attorney general. The year also saw Clinton's long-time friend and adviser, Vincent Foster Jr., commit suicide.
As the year continued, the president won a come-from-behind victory when Congress passed the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Clinton outlined his proposal for health care reform, a plan drafted under the guidance of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mrs. Clinton also proved to be a dramatic change, an activist first lady openly acknowledged to be one of the president's closest advisers.
Clinton was also instrumental in getting the Brady Gun Control Bill passed into law, helped orchestrate a ceremony in which Israel and the P.L.O. agreed on a peace plan, and by working the telephones, helped end a Thanksgiving Holiday strike at American Airlines.
At the close of the year, the President was again dogged by accusations that he had sexual liaisons and abused his power as governor of Arkansas. Similar accusations had been made during the presidential campaign. As Christmas passed, no women came forward to back up the accusations made by two former Arkansas state troopers. Mrs. Clinton defended her husband and suggested that the former troopers were making the charges for financial gain.
A CNN poll at year end showed that the President and his wife were the people most admired by Americans.
See separate stories on the Clinton deficit-reduction plan, Hillary Clinton, NAFTA, Vincent Foster, Zoe Baird, Middle East Peace, Airlines, Health Care, Bosnia, Somalia, and the economy.
