Publication:Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Date:06/13/2004 ; Section:Front Section; Page:1
Clinton presidency rated mostly good
Scholars say legacy is still being formed
BY PAUL BARTON, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
WASHINGTON — A "B" to "B-plus" presidency that could have been an "A." Three and one-half years after leaving office, that’s still the legacy of former President Clinton, many scholars say.
With his highly awaited 957-page memoir My Life hitting bookstores June 22, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette contacted more than a dozen prominent presidential historians and political scientists nationwide to see how they now view Clinton’s presidency....
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IMPEACHMENT. There was near unanimity that the Monica Lewinsky affair and Clinton’s subsequent impeachment remained an undeniable part of his legacy. But there was debate over how it would be viewed with the passage of time....
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THE PARTY. Another point on which there was near unanimity was that an important part of the Clinton legacy will be the centrist influence he exerted on the Democratic Party in the 1990s. Buchanan, the University of Texas scholar, said a John Kerry victory in November would further confirm that legacy....
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OPERATING STYLE. Clinton, the first baby boomer president, is widely viewed as a great communicator, although in a different style than former President Reagan, who was buried Friday. But some thought Clinton’s way of running the White House reflected faults in his character....
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ECONOMY. Clinton fans feel there is no denying the booming economy of the 1990s. And many presidential scholars say the same. It was an era of 22 million new jobs, decreased poverty and significant increases in home ownership....
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DOMESTIC POLICY. Universal health care may have bombed but Clinton was more successful when he aimed for more discrete goals, many scholars said.
Welfare reform, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, community-oriented police, the North American Free Trade Act, the Brady Bill and the Family and Medical Leave Act were among many Clinton victories in Congress.
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THE REPUBLICANS. Clinton generally gets high marks for adjusting to the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994. Some see one of his most significant accomplishments as staring down congressional Republicans over budget issues relating to the government shutdown of late 1995....
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FOREIGN POLICY. Several said that while Clinton was in office, there were no cataclysmic international events like 9/11, but Clinton did stay busy overseeing such things an Israel-Jordan peace agreement, nuclear-arms agreements with the Russians, the Dayton accords for Bosnia and Herzegovina, efforts to broker peace in Northern Ireland, NATO expansion and "humanitarian interventions" into places like Haiti and Kosovo, the latter turning into a minor but successful war.
But he also saw disastrous military operations in Somalia, successful al-Qaida terrorist attacks against U.S. targets abroad and failed efforts to kill Osama bin Laden....
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