Bill Clinton

Public image

As the first Baby Boomer president, Clinton was seen during his presidency and during his candidacy as a change from the presidents of the World War II Generation. With his sound-bite-ready dialogue and pioneering use of pop culture in his campaigning (he appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show playing the saxophone during the 1992 campaign), Clinton was described, often negatively, as the "MTV president". Despite criticisms that his appeal to young voters lacked substance, Clinton won among Generation X voters in the 1992 election, with the highest Gen-X turnout ever. Clinton clearly came across as popular to young people. Until his inauguration as president, he had earned substantially less money than his wife, and had the smallest net worth of any president in modern history, according to My Life, Clinton's autobiography. Clinton was also very popular overall among African-Americans and made improving race relations a major theme of his presidency.http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=122950

Related Topics:
Baby Boomer - World War II Generation - Sound-bite - The Arsenio Hall Show - Saxophone - 1992 - MTV - Generation X - My Life - African-American

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Hillary Clinton's very strong role in the administration led to a degree of criticism toward a First Lady not seen since the days of Eleanor Roosevelt. Many people saw the couple as an unprecedented political partnership. Some even suspected that Hillary, and not Bill, was the dominant force behind the team, and many jokes implied that Hillary, not Bill, was the real President of the United States.

Related Topics:
Eleanor Roosevelt - President of the United States

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Social conservatives were put off by the impression of Clinton having been a "hippie" during the late 1960s, his coming-of-age era. In the 1960s, however, Clinton might not have been viewed as such by many of those in the hippie subculture. Clinton avoided the draft with a student deferment while studying abroad during the Vietnam War. Clinton's marijuana experimentation, clumsily excused by Clinton's statement that he "didn't inhale" further tarnished his image with some voters. Although he was actually to the right of previous Democratic candidates for the presidency on many issues; he supported the death penalty, curfews, uniforms in public schools, and other measures opposed by youth rights supporters, and he expanded the War on Drugs greatly while in office.

Related Topics:
Hippie - 1960s - Vietnam War - Death penalty - Curfew - Youth rights - War on Drugs

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Starting from 1992 Presidential election campaign, rumors about Clinton's adultery were floating about, and these surfaced and increased with Paula Jones' accusations of sexual harassment. After allegations had linked him to Jones, Gennifer Flowers, and Kathleen Willey, Clinton's sex life would become the focus of his public image when, in January 1998, recorded conversations by Linda Tripp contained statements by White House intern Monica Lewinsky about having oral sex.

Related Topics:
1992 Presidential election campaign - Adultery - Paula Jones - Sexual harassment - Gennifer Flowers - Kathleen Willey - 1998 - Linda Tripp - Monica Lewinsky - Oral sex

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Clinton's character and policies were viewed with intense, personal dislike by some conservative critics. Several unsubstantiated accusations were leveled on conservative talk radio programs. Among these were rumors of involvement with drug traffickers and personal cocaine use. Some talk show personalities fomented conspiracy theories about Clinton's involvement in the death of long-time friend and aide Vince Foster, which was later ruled a suicide in an extensive investigation by Kenneth Starr. The deadly Branch Davidian standoff near Waco, Texas in 1993, which many considered to be a bungled operation, engendered further hostility in some conservative circles towards the Clinton administration.

Related Topics:
Cocaine - Conspiracy theories - Friend - Aide - Vince Foster - Suicide - Kenneth Starr - Branch Davidian - Waco, Texas - 1993

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Clinton is often referred to by nickname among both detractors and fans. One of the earliest was "Bubba", which alludes to his Southern

Related Topics:
"good ol' boy" - Ronald Reagan - Teflon - 1992 - New Hampshire primary - Paul Tsongas - Incumbent

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