Why Is Bill Clinton Successful

Cole Hill
Miss Van
ENC 1101
22 Nov. 2012
Bill Clinton: Most Successful President Since the establishment of our Nation in 1776, we have had 44 Presidents of the United States of America. Of these 44 leaders, the most successful in my opinion was Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States. Bill Clinton served our country for two terms from January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001. During his administration the United States enjoyed more peace and economic well being than at any other time in its history. Bill Clinton’s accomplishments as President include the creation of millions of new jobs, the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years, the lowest crime rate in 26 years, the passing of the Brady Bill, going from a record budget
deficit to a record budget surplus, Welfare reform, and increased the opportunity for all Americans to attend college. In Bill Clinton’s two terms as President of the United States of America more than 22 million new jobs were created. This was the most ever under a single administration and more than were created in the previous twelve years combined. The rate of unemployment fell for 8 years in a row as a result. Unemployment rates were at 7.5 percent when Clinton went into office and by the end of his second term they had dropped to 4.0 percent. This was the lowest the United States unemployment rate had been in 30 years. African American and Hispanic unemployment rates also fell to the lowest in United States history and the unemployment rate for women was at its lowest in 40 years. President Clinton expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit which lifted 4.3 million people out of poverty. The poverty rate dropped from 15.1 percent to 11.8 percent by the end of Clinton’s second term, which was the lowest it had been since 1979. During Clinton’s presidency the United States saw its lowest crime rate in 26 years.
There was a steady decrease in crime for eight consecutive years that Clinton served as President of the United States. This was the longest continuous crime decrease in United States history. The violent crime rate decreased 27 percent and the murder rate decreased 25 percent. One reason for this decrease was the 1994 Crime Bill in which President Clinton enacted a new initiative to gain funding for 100,000 new police officers across the nation and 2,600 police officers to work in schools to help improve school safety. The 1994 Crime Bill also included a ban on the manufacturing and importation of 19 deadly assault weapons. Clinton signed the Brady Bill in 1993 which required a waiting period and a background check for anyone who wanted to purchase guns. Thanks to these Bills, more than half a million felons, fugitives, domestic abusers and other prohibited persons have been denied the purchase of guns and there was a 40 percent decline in gun crime by the end of Clinton’s second term. In 1994, the Clinton administration passed the Violence Against Women Act which improved the criminal justice system’s response to domestic violence and went on to establish the National Domestic Violence hotline. President Clinton signed Megan’s Law and the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, requiring states to set up sex offender registration
systems and require community notification when sex offenders are released from prison. The most outstanding accomplishment on Clinton’s long list was the greatest fiscal improvement in United States history. When Clinton was elected in 1992 the United States had a budget deficit of 290 billion which was the largest in American history. By the time he left office in 2001 America had its largest budget surplus ever at 127 billion. Clinton did this by signing the Deficit Reduction Act of 1993 which raised taxes from 28 percent to 39 percent for people in the top 1.2 percent of the nation’s wealthiest citizens, created a 35 percent income tax rate for corporations, raised transportation fuels taxes by 4.3 cents a gallon and raised the taxable portion of Social Security benefits. Clinton also signed the Balance Budget Act of 1997 which saved 100 billion by slowing the growth of Medicare. In his presidential campaign Clinton made a promise to reform welfare and in 1996 he fulfilled that promise. With his signing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, Clinton dramatically changed the nation’s welfare system into one that requires work in exchange for time-limited assistance. Rules were created that required welfare recipients to work within two years of getting welfare benefits and limited the time most people could spend on welfare to five years. Throughout Clintons two terms the Welfare rolls decreased nearly 60 percent from 14.1 million to 5.8 million. The Clinton administration greatly expanded educational opportunity for all Americans.
Clinton used taxes to build thousands of public schools and to help turn around the worst performing schools. Thousands of teachers were hired to reduce the size of classes so that children could receive more individual attention from the teachers. He challenged Americans to unite to be sure that every child could read well and independently by the third grade. Clinton opened the doors of college to all Americans by proposing and passing HOPE Scholarships and Lifetime Learning tax credits. He expanded the Work Study Program and increased the maximum Pell Grant award by 43 percent. Student loans were made more affordable by lowering fees and interest rates and making repayment terms more flexible. Clinton enacted the largest investment in education in 30 years and doubled student aid to nearly 60
billion. Unarguably, President Bill Clinton had multiple accomplishments during his presidency. The United States experienced its longest economic expansion in recorded history. Millions of new jobs were created resulting in the lowest unemployment and poverty rates in decades. He signed and passed many Bills and Acts that brought crime rates down every year he was in office. He made and outstanding fiscal improvement by bringing America from its record lowest budget deficit to its record highest budget surplus. He kept his campaign promise to reform the welfare system which then got millions of Americans off welfare and into employment. He raised educational standards and gave all Americans the opportunity to get a college education by creating scholarships, increasing Pell Grants and doubling student aid. Because of these accomplishments and a handful of other accomplishments that I found in my research, I believe that Bill Clinton was our most successful president to date.

Works Cited
. "William J. Clinton." The White House. N.p.. Web. 14 Nov 2012. .
James, Michael. "Timeline: President Bill Clinton Through the Years." abc News. N.p., 11 2010. Web. 15 Nov 2012.