Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Clinton Presidency Rated Mostly Good

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....


http://epaper.ardemgaz.com/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=ArDemocrat/2004/06/13&ID=Ar00103

That was an interesting read.

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
news source.

Thank you.

DU Moderator

I thought the collection of brief intros to the scholars' statements amounted to about four usual paragraphs.

I think a grade of B or B plus is quite good at this point. I agree with Buchanan that a Kerry win will confirm his legacy.

The Democrat (real Arkies REFUSE to tack the Gazette portion of the name on, out of respect) HATES Bill Clinton and will never pass up the chance to attack him on WHATEVER grounds, generally the pettier the better.

The glaringly misnamed Democrat is not for anything. It is a paper of, by and for aginners.

For Clinton to get this much praise of the State Fishwrap is a notable achievement!

:bounce:
dbt

which earned a Pulitzer Prize for its courageous reporting during the Little Rock school integration crisis. The current paper's editorial policy is stomach-turning. They can do good political reporting, an example being their excellent coverage of Wesley Clark's campaign.

I don't know what exactly it was, but it underwent quite a change between 1981, when my subscription lapsed, and 1986, when I renewed it. In the later years, Gazette editorial staff would waste precious space to joust with windmills. For example, on more than one occasion they used the editorial section to express contempt for Japan's use of wooden chopsticks! (One reason, perhaps, why Clinton as governor had trouble wooing Japanese investment to the state).

Eventually, they sold out to Gannett, and things really went downhill from there. I was a subscriber, but my paper was only delivered once every three or four days during the Gannett years-- and no matter how much I complained, service was never rectified. As much as I wanted to support the paper, I could not continue my subscription under such conditions. Then, when they hooked up with their rival and political opposite Arkansas Democrat, I knew they had hit rock bottom.

The Democrat could hardly hide its contempt for anything Clinton. So I am surprised that it is now being this kind to him. Perhaps even the Democrat realizes now what kind of bumbling buffoon has replaced him.

I believe it was in October of '91 when Gannett sold the Gazette to the company that owns the Democrat. And that company (WEHCO) denied the Arkansas Gazette the dignity of publishing a final edition. It was a very early example of Kompassionate Konservatism.

:grr:
dbt

although I didn't know exactly when. I do remember hearing about the "Democrat-Gazette" from some out-of-state media outlet and thinking that they got the name wrong. I was shocked to hear that it was true. Why couldn't Gannett sell the Gazette to a competitor? Or maybe they had intended to sell to the Democrat all along?

At any rate, it was a sad day when the "first newspaper west of the Mississippi" (est. 1819) threw in the towel, and now you say that they weren't even given the dignity of a final edition! No wonder I dislike the Ark-Dem so much.

he could easily have allowed the Gazette a final edition. This business about "Gannett closed the Gazette, I didn't," is so much (more) hogwash from Hussman. He could have fired that press up for a final edition, but he chose not to do it.

He was so eager to do a little grave-dancing that he didn't mind crushing a real piece of Arkansas under his jackbooted heel while he watched himself gavotte. And, yes, he had one eye on the mirror.

:freak:
dbt

Didn't mean to imply any lack of knowledge on your part!!

:hi:
dbt

without Arkansas ties. I was adding a little more info for them --

compared to now... *sigh*
:eyes:

Why are people obsessed with this minor fact of his time in the Whitehouse? What is the big deal about
getting some much deserved oral sex in the Oval Office? The big dog worked very hard for us and a minor
detail such as this should be written off as just another perk for the relief of the stress of running the country.
It has become quite apparent that Hillary is over it so why doesn't the rest of the country just let it drop?

I give Bill a "B" when I'm feeling generous, a "B-" when I'm in a not so generous mood.