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5. How successful was Clinton as a presidential policymaker?

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About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the success of Clinton's domestic and foreign policy, focusing in particular on: (i) Clinton's status as the first post-Cold War President; (ii) Clinton's key priorities during the 1992 election campaign: the economy and healthcare; (iii) the poor state of US healthcare system in 1992, and its importance as a campaign issue; (iv) the poor state of the US economy when Clinton came to power, and the extent to which Clinton managed to turn it around by the end of his presidency; (v) the longer-term impact of Clinton's economic policies – to what extent was he responsible for the 2008 global financial crisis?; (vi) the contextual factors that contributed to economic growth in this period, e.g. the dot-com boom; (vii) the reasons that Clinton's healthcare bill failed; (viii) the political difficulties faced by Clinton in early 1995, especially following his loss of control of both houses of Congress to the Republicans; (ix) the importance of the Oklahoma City bombing in restoring Clinton's political momentum ahead of his re-election in 1996; and (x) Clinton's approach to foreign policy.

Course

In this course, Professor Mark White (Queen Mary, University of London) explores the life, political career and presidency of Bill Clinton through five key questions: (1) How did Clinton rise to power?; (2) Why did Clinton win the 1992 presidential election?; (3) What was the significance of Clinton's image?; (4) How did the issue of Clinton's character affect his political career?; and (5) How successful was Clinton as a presidential policymaker?

Lecturer

Mark White is Professor of History at Queen Mary, University of London, specialising in US foreign policy in the Cold War and the US presidency since 1945. His recent publications include Against the President: Dissent and Decision-Making in the White House (2007) and The Presidency of Bill Clinton: The Legacy of a New Domestic and Foreign Policy (2012)