Bill Clinton

42nd President of the United States (1993-2001) · Governor of Arkansas (1979-1981, 1983-1992) · Attorney General of Arkansas · Founder of the Clinton Foundation

Arkansas governor and centrist Democrat who, as president, turned the deficit into a surplus, passed NAFTA, signed welfare reform and led NATO interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Position
Solid, past the ring: second pole
Short, inside the ring: first pole
Balanced

★ Bill Clinton on 12 axes

Share of each pole

Economy

Equality / Markets

OwnershipMild: Private
35%65%
PublicPrivate
MarketsMild: Free
38%62%
PlannedFree
WelfareBalanced
53%47%
SharedSelf-reliant

State and liberty

Liberty / Authority

AuthorityModerate: Democratic
75%25%
DemocraticStrong leader
SecurityModerate: Order
33%67%
LibertyOrder
StructureBalanced
50%50%
LocalCentral

Society

Progress / Tradition

MoralityBalanced
53%47%
ProgressiveTraditional
ReligionBalanced
50%50%
SecularReligious
TechnologyNo clear record
EmbraceCaution
CultureBalanced
50%50%
MulticulturalNational identity

World

Global / Nation

TradeStrong: Global
83%17%
GlobalProtected
Foreign policyMild: Cooperation
60%40%
CooperationStrength

How we placed it

Judgment calls

Positions summarize typical stances from primary sources and reference works. Where an axis is genuinely contested, the reasoning is below.

Ownership: Accepted private enterprise as the basis of the economy and proposed no public ownership; scored toward private.
Markets: Signed deregulation measures passed by a Republican Congress while also raising the minimum wage; scored moderately toward markets.
Welfare: Raised taxes mainly on higher earners in 1993, but signed the 1996 welfare reform that replaced AFDC with state block grants; scored near the middle.
Security: Signed the 1994 crime bill and, as governor, oversaw executions; scored toward order.
Structure: Moved welfare to state block grants while expanding some national programs; scored at the middle.
Morality: Accepted the Don't Ask, Don't Tell compromise and signed the Defense of Marriage Act, while his party backed abortion rights; scored near the middle.
Religion: Spoke often of his Baptist faith but proposed no change to the separation of church and state; scored at the middle.
Technology: No documented view on technology policy in the sources used here; left null.
Culture: Barred most legal immigrants from welfare in their first five years but did not seek lower immigration; scored at the middle.
Trade: Passed NAFTA in 1993 and the GATT revision in 1994; a firm free trader.
Foreign policy: Used NATO force in Bosnia and Kosovo and pursued an 'enlargement' of market democracies through alliances and trade; scored toward cooperation.

One axis is marked as no clear record: there is no reasonable basis to place Bill Clinton there, so matching leaves it out.

Who is Bill Clinton?

William Jefferson Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III in Hope, Arkansas, in 1946. After studying at Georgetown, Oxford and Yale Law School, he became attorney general of Arkansas and then its governor, serving from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992. He won the presidency in 1992 as a 'New Democrat' who promised to move his party toward the centre, and was re-elected in 1996. Since leaving office he has led the Clinton Foundation, served as UN special envoy to Haiti and campaigned for Democratic candidates.

Political views

Passed a 1993 budget that raised taxes mainly on higher incomes and cut spending; by 1999 the budget showed a $124 billion surplus.
Source: millercenter.org
Signed the 1996 welfare reform, fulfilling his pledge to 'end welfare as we know it' by replacing AFDC with block grants to the states.
Source: millercenter.org
Proposed universal health coverage through a plan drafted by a task force led by Hillary Clinton; Congress dropped it in 1994.
Source: millercenter.org
Signed the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and said Democrats should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Won passage of NAFTA in 1993 and of a revision of GATT in 1994.
Source: millercenter.org
Pushed NATO to bomb Bosnian Serb positions, leading to the Dayton Accords, and backed NATO's 1999 air war to end Serbian ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
Source: millercenter.org
Supported admitting Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to NATO.
Source: millercenter.org

Legacy

Admirers credit Clinton with the longest economic expansion of its time, balanced budgets, a more centrist Democratic Party and peace efforts in the Balkans and Northern Ireland. Critics on the left argue that welfare reform, the 1994 crime bill and financial deregulation hurt poor Americans and contributed to mass incarceration and the 2008 crisis, while gay rights advocates opposed Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act. His administration was criticised for failing to act during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, for which he later apologised. In December 1998 the House impeached him on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice arising from the Monica Lewinsky affair, and the Senate acquitted him in February 1999.

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FAQ

Bill Clinton: questions

What political party is Bill Clinton?

Clinton is a Democrat. He led the 'New Democrat' movement that moved the party toward the centre in the 1990s.

Was Bill Clinton left or right?

Clinton governed as a centrist. He raised taxes on high earners and tried to pass universal health care, but also signed welfare reform, a tough crime bill and NAFTA.

Sources

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