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| October 2, 1991 |
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Arkansas Governor William Jefferson Clinton announces that he
will run for president.
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| January 23, 1992 |
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Scandal erupts in the campaign when the Star tabloid
releases a cover story claiming that Gennifer Flowers, a long-time acquaintance
of Clinton who had previously denied having a relationship with him, has
changed her story. On January 26, Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary appear on television's "60 Minutes" program to present their side of the
story. Bill Clinton tells interviewer Steve Kroft that he has "caused pain" in
his marriage.
The following day Flowers holds a press conference to reiterate that she was
Clinton's lover for twelve years. During the press conference, excerpts from
recently taped phone conversations between Flowers and Clinton are played for
the public.
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| February 6, 1992 |
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Clinton faces a new challenge when the Wall Street
Journal claims that during the Vietnam War, Clinton manipulated the system
to avoid the draft. Clinton says that he did not dodge the draft and did
nothing wrong. The next week on "Nightline" Ted Koppel reads to the
nation a letter written by Bill Clinton to Colonel Eugene Holmes,
director of the University of Arkansas ROTC program in 1969. In the letter
Clinton thanks the colonel for saving him from the draft and outlines his
beliefs about the war.
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| February 18, 1992 |
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Clinton finishes second in New Hampshire's primary.
Following the Gennifer Flowers and the draft controversies, Clinton's poll
numbers had dropped and he had to campaign harder than ever. In his speech
that night, Clinton says New Hampshire has made him "the Comeback Kid."
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| March 16, 1992 |
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On the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton makes a controversial
comment. Responding to press questions about whether she profited from state
business that came to the Rose Law Firm where she was employed, Mrs. Clinton
says, "You know, I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had
teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession, which I entered
before my husband was in public life."
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| July 16, 1992 |
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Clinton accepts the Democratic Party's presidential nomination
at the Democratic National Convention.
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| July 17, 1992 |
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Clinton and vice-presidential candidate Al Gore depart on a bus
tour of America. Along with their wives and staff, more than 130 journalists
accompany the candidates.
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| November 3, 1992 |
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Election Day. Clinton wins the election with 43 percent of
the vote.
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| January 20, 1993 |
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Bill Clinton is sworn in as the 42nd president of
the United States. The next day Zoe Baird, his nominee for Attorney General,
is under attack. Clinton accepts the request to withdraw Baird's nomination
after she admits she had employed undocumented foreigners in her home. Clinton
later also withdraws support for Kimba Wood, his second Attorney General
nominee, and for Lani Guinier, a candidate for a key Justice Department
post.
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| January 25, 1993 |
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The president appoints his wife Hillary as the head of the
Task Force on National Health Care reform. Mrs. Clinton also was given an
office in the West Wing of the White House. Never before had a first lady had
such status in her husband's administration.
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| January 29, 1993 |
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Clinton's decision to fulfill a campaign promise to lift the
ban on gays in the military puts him at odds with conservative members of both
parties and with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On January 29, he announces a
six-month policy that prohibits the military from asking recruits about their
sexual orientation. This sparks opposition from liberals and homosexuals who
feel that Clinton was stopping short of fulfilling his promise. In July
Clinton cements the policy under the nickname "don't ask, don't tell."
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| February 17, 1993 |
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In a nationally televised address to a joint session of
Congress, Clinton unveils his economic plan. The plan focuses on deficit
reduction rather than a middle class tax cut, which had been high on his
campaign agenda. Clinton also discusses the plan in his first State of the
Union address later that day. Even though Democrats control both houses of
Congress, the economic plan is in jeopardy because of the president's earlier
missteps, which have weakened confidence in the new administration.
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| May 29, 1993 |
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Clinton announces that David Gergen will serve as Counselor to
the President. Gergen previously had counseled three Republican presidents
--- Nixon, Ford and Reagan -- and his appointment comes as a surprise to
Clinton's young staff.
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| June 26, 1993 |
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Clinton launches a missile attack aimed at Iraq's intelligence
headquarters in Baghdad in retaliation against an Iraqi plot to assassinate
President Bush.
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| July 20, 1993 |
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Vince Foster is found dead in Fort Marcy Park in Virginia. It's
ruled a suicide. Foster had been a longtime friend of Clinton and had worked
with Hillary at the Rose Law Firm. Foster was named Deputy Counsel to the
President in 1992 and was charged with handling Hillary's legal matters,
including the Whitewater affair. Following his death, Foster's office is
sealed to investigators, causing suspicion that documents related to Whitewater
had been removed.
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| August 10, 1993 |
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Bill Clinton signs the deficit reduction bill that will reduce
the federal budget deficit by $496 billion over five years. The bill passes the
House by a 218 - 216 margin on August 5th and Vice President Gore
places the tie-breaking vote in the Senate on August 6th.
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| September 13, 1993 |
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Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin meet on the White House lawn
to sign the Oslo Peace Accords. Clinton and his team carefully plan every
detail of this historic occasion, right down to insuring that the two Middle
East leaders shake hands.
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| September 22, 1993 |
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Clinton unveils the health care reform proposal to
Congress.
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| October 3, 1993 |
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A landmine kills three U.S. soldiers in Somalia. In a
subsequent UN force attack against Somali leader Mohammed Farah Aidid, 18
Americans, 2 Pakistanis and 1 Malaysian are killed and 75 Americans are
wounded. Video shows two Americans being dragged through the streets of
Somalia. What began as a humanitarian mission had evolved into open warfare
between UN soldiers and the Somali warlord Aidid. The president has to decide
whether to withdraw troops or to continue the mission. [On October 7,
Clinton orders 15,000 U.S. reinforcements to Somalia.]
In Russia the same day, Borin Yeltsin faces a revolt led by his vice
president, Alexander Rutskoi, after Yeltsin had dissolved the parliament
thirteen days earlier. Clinton tells reporters, "I still am convinced that the
United States must support President Yeltsin and the process of bringing about
free and fair elections."
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| November 3, 1993 |
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Clinton signs the Brady Bill into law, mandating a five-day
waiting period for handgun purchases during which local police are required to
perform criminal background checks on prospective buyers.
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| December 8, 1993 |
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Clinton signs the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement.
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| January 12, 1994 |
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Following President Clinton's request, Attorney General
Janet Reno announces she is appointing an Independent Counsel to investigate
Whitewater. Reno names Robert Fiske, who deposes the First Couple at the White
House six months later, on June 12, 1994. The deposition is a first for a
sitting president and first lady. [Later, after a U.S. Court of Appeals panel
refuses to re-appoint Fiske as Independent Counsel, Kenneth Starr takes over on
August 5, 1994.]
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| May 6, 1994 |
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Paula Jones files a sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton.
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| July 26, 1994 |
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The U.S. Congress begins hearings into Whitewater.
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| September 19, 1994 |
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After the failure of negotiations and sanctions, Clinton
sends U.S. troops to Haiti to restore ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
to power and to head off a potential wave of Haitian refugees.
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| September 26, 1994 |
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Congress abandons Clinton's health care reform plan.
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| November 8, 1994 |
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Republicans take over the House in a landslide victory,
creating the first GOP majority in forty years. The 104th Congress
selects Newt Gingrich as Speaker. As the architect of the "Contract with
America," Gingrich vows to bring an end to "government that is too big, to
intrusive, and too easy with the public's money." Gingrich becomes Clinton's
principal political adversary.
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| April 19, 1995 |
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A bomb inside a rental truck explodes outside the Alfred P.
Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, tearing apart the building
and killing one hundred sixty-eight people.
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| September, 1995 |
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Following the deadly bombing of a Sarajevo marketplace, NATO
forces launch the largest mlitary action in the alliance's history. After two
weeks, the Bosnian Serbs are pushed to the negotiating table. The negotiations
eventually lead to a peace settlement reached in Dayton, Ohio in November
1995.
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| November 13, 1995 |
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Clinton vetoes the balanced budget proposal given to him by
House leaders. With no approved budget, the federal government shuts down. A
week later, the president signs a continuing resolution allowing the government
to remain open while negotiations continue. A second shutdown in December
lasts until January 5, 1996-- the longest government shutdown in history.
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| November 27, 1995 |
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Clinton presents case for sending 20,000 U.S. troops to
Bosnia to enforce the peace agreement.
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| January 9, 1996 |
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A three-judge panel rules that Paula Jones's lawsuit can go
forward.
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| January 16, 1996 |
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Hillary Clinton embarks on a book tour to promote It
Takes a Village and is besieged by questions about the travel office and
Whitewater. She tells reporters, "I will do anything to cooperate and to bring
this matter to a close, and I've said that continually." Ten days later, under
subpoena from the Independent Counsel, she appears before a grand jury.
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| March 1, 1996 |
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Clinton grants Irish Nationalist leader Gerry Adams a visa to
visit the U.S.
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| April 29, 1996 |
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Al Gore attends a fundraising event at a Buddhist
temple in Los Angeles. The event raises $60,000 in illegal donations for the
Democratic National Committee and comes to symbolize the Clinton-Gore
administration's flaunting of campaign fundraising laws.
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| May 28, 1996 |
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Clinton's former Arkansas business partners in the Whitewater
affair, Jim and Susan McDougal and Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted
of fraud in the first trial to emerge from the Whitewater investigation.
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| August 22, 1996 |
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President Clinton signs the welfare reform bill, which places
a limit of five years on recipients. Clinton had vetoed two previous
Republican welfare bills and is unhappy with this, the third one. However, he
signs it, vowing to fix what is broken in it.
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| September 3, 1996 |
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Clinton orders a missile strike against Iraq for Saddam
Hussein's siege of the Kurdish-controlled city of Irbil.
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| November 5, 1996 |
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William Jefferson Clinton is re-elected with 49% of the
popular vote, becoming only the second Democratic president in the 20th century
to win a second term. The first was Franklin Roosevelt.
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| January 20, 1997 |
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Inauguration Day. Clinton begins his second term as president.
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| August 5, 1997 |
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Clinton signs legislation that promises to balance the federal
budget by 2002. The agreement ends years of battles between Clinton and
Republican leaders. The president also signs a bill providing $152 billion in
tax cuts, mainly for families with children, college students and investors.
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| January 20, 1998 |
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News breaks that President Clinton may have had a sexual
relationship with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. On PBS's
"NewsHour" program, Clinton tells Jim Lehrer, "There is not a sexual
relationship." The media wonders whether the president was using verb tense to
be evasive. In a press conference on January 26th, Clinton makes a comment
that will be repeated for the rest of his presidency. "I did not have sexual
relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
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| January 27, 1998 |
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Clinton delivers his State of the Union address at the height
of the sexual controversy. For the first time since 1969 the budget has a
surplus. The president proposes that Congress should use the surplus to
"Save Social Security first."
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| April 2, 1998 |
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The judge in the Paula Jones case dismisses her sexual
harassment lawsuit.
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| April 10, 1998 |
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Catholic and Protestant leaders in Northern Ireland sign an
agreement which becomes known as the "Good Friday Peace Accords." Involved in
the Northern Ireland peace process from the start, Clinton personally
intervenes in the negotiations, phoning leaders on both sides and pledging
continued U.S. support.
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| August 7, 1998 |
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Bombs strike U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Osama bin
Laden, a Saudi exile and alleged terrorist leader operating out of Afghanistan,
is believed to have ordered the attacks.
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| January 20, 1998 |
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Bill Clinton testifies to the grand jury in the White House.
Later this same day, he makes a televised address to the nation in which he
admits having had an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Three days later, August
20th , the president orders a strike on "terrorist related
facilities" in Afghanistan and Sudan in response to the U.S. embassy bombings.
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| September 11, 1998 |
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At the White House prayer breakfast, an apologetic Clinton
tells the audience, "I don't think there is a fancy way to say that I have
sinned." That afternoon, the report of the Independent Counsel, commonly
referred to as the Starr Report, is released to the public. On September 21,
videotape of Clinton's grand jury testimony is released.
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| October 23, 1998 |
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Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasir Arafat sign the Wye River
Memorandum after nine days of negotiations on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The
agreement, mediated by Clinton, calls for: Israeli troop pullback from the
West Bank with extensive Palestinian security arrangements supervised by the
CIA; establishment of Israeli-Palestinian joint committee to discuss further
troop withdrawal; release of 3,000 jailed Palestinians; opening of a
Palestinian airport in Gaza; and safe passage for Palestinians moving between
Gaza and other Palestinian territories.
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| December 16, 1998 |
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Clinton orders a three-day bombing attack against Iraq for
Sadaam Hussein's refusal to allow entry to United Nations weapons inspectors.
The action delays the House impeachment vote by one day.
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| December 19, 1998 |
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The U.S. House of Representatives passes two of four
articles of impeachment. On counts of perjury and obstruction of justice, the
president is impeached. Democratic Congressional leaders assemble on the White
House lawn as a show of support for the president.
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| January 1999 |
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The Senate trial of President Clinton begins on January 14. When
Clinton gives the State of the Union address on January 20, polls show his
popularity is higher than ever. Even before the Senate trial ends on February 12, it
is clear that the Senate will not vote to impeach the president. The day the
trial ends, Hillary Clinton meets with advisor Harold Ickes to plan a campaign
strategy for the Senate race in New York. Hillary officially launches her
candidacy in the Fall.
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| January 20, 1999 |
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NATO and the U.S bombing campaign against Serbia begins. It's
saimed at preventing ethnic cleansing of Albanians. After 79 days of bombing
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic signs NATO's agreement to withdraw his
forces from Kosovo. But he does not give up power.
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| April 20, 1999 |
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Teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold open fire at Columbine
High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 students and one teacher and
wounding 23. Public outrage leads to a renewed debate on gun control, and
Clinton campaigns against excessive violence portrayed in the entertainment
industry.
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| February 6, 2000 |
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Hillary Clinton formally announces her candidacy for New York
Senate. Mrs. Clinton is the first first lady to run for a Senate seat.
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| July 11, 2000 |
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Clinton hosts a Middle East summit at the presidential retreat
in Camp David, Maryland. Clinton encourages Ehud Barak and Yasir Arafat to
reach a peace agreement, but after two weeks the talks collapse.
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| August 10, 2000 |
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At the Ministers' Leadership Conference in South Barrington,
Illinois (Willow Creek Community Church) President Clinton talks about his
affair, the presidency and his quest for forgiveness.
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| August 14, 2000 |
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President Clinton speaks on the opening day of the Democratic
National Convention. He leaves Los Angeles that night so that the spotlight
can turn to Al Gore, who accepts his party's nomination for president on August
17.
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| September 20, 2000 |
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Independent Counsel Robert Ray announces that the Whitewater
investigation is closed. He concludes that there is insufficient evidence to
mount criminal charges against the president and first lady. The six-year
investigation cost more than $50 million dollars.
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| September 29, 2000 |
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A riot erupts when leader of the right-wing Likud party and
former Israeli defense minister Ariel Sharon tours a Muslim holy site that was
captured by Israel in 1967. The violence spreads and its intensity dashes any
hope for a lasting peace before the end of the Clinton administration.
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| October 6, 2000 |
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Protesters seize the Parliament in Belgrade following Slobodan
Milosevic's refusal to concede the election. Clinton encourages the revolt to
continue, but does not call on U.S. military intervention. Milosevic retreats
from Belgrade and makes a televised announcement the next day acknowledging
Vojislav Kostunica as president.
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| October 12, 2000 |
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The USS Cole, a naval destroyer, is bombed in the
waters off the coast of Yemen.
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| November 7, 2000 |
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Election Day. While the outcome of the presidential
election will remain uncertain for five more weeks, because of disputed
Florida votes, Hillary Clinton easily wins the New York's U.S. Senate race.
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| November 16, 2000 |
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Twenty-fives years after the war that killed 58,000 Americans
and about three million Vietnamese, Clinton arrives in Vietnam for a three-day
trip. His visit is the first for a U.S. president since the Vietnam war, which
Clinton opposed.
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| December 13, 2000 |
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In the most tightly contested presidential election in over a century,
Vice President Al Gore concedes the race to
Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Gore's announcement follows the U.S. Supreme
Court's 5-4 ruling that, in effect, makes it impossible to recount contested
Florida votes in time to meet the electoral vote deadline.
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