fact, he had considered running for the White
House in 1988 and felt that in 1992 he was ready to
be president. He officially announced his run for
president at the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock,
Arkansas, on October 3, 1991.
A New Democrat From the beginning of his cam-
paign for the presidency, Clinton promised to be a
“new” kind of Democrat. Throughout the 1980’s,
the Democratic Party was characterized as a tax-and-
spend party that was looking out for special interests.
The goal of the DLC was to change the image of the
Democratic Party as a liberal, out-of-touch party into
one that was responsive to the needs of the main-
stream middle-class Americans, in step with their val-
ues and priorities.
The campaign hit a major bump in January, 1992,
when Gennifer Flowers accused Clinton of having
an affair with her. With the New Hampshire primary
fast approaching, Clinton sought to quickly quell
the controversy caused by Flowers’s allegations. He
appeared on the television newsmagazine60 Min-
uteswith his wife, Hillary, by his side. Clinton admit-
ted to causing “pain” in his marriage, and Mrs.
Clinton said that she loved and respected her hus-
band. The effort paid off when Clinton placed sec-
ond in the crucial New Hampshire primary, which
gave him momentum campaigning for the Demo-
cratic nomination as the “Comeback Kid.” His break
came on March 3 when he won the Georgia primary
with 57 percent of the vote. He handily won the
South Carolina primary a few days later. Clinton offi-
cially won the Democratic nomination on June 2,
and he formally accepted the nomination at the
Democratic convention on July 16. Also, at the con-
vention, Clinton selected Senator Al Gore of Ten-
nessee to be his vice presidential candidate. Both
were of the baby-boom generation and campaignedThe Nineties in America Clinton, Bill 189
Bill Clinton takes the oath of office on January 20, 1993.(Library of Congress)