The Nineties in America - Salem Press (2009)

cate for women and children at the U.N. Conference
on Women in Beijing on September 5, 1995. Clinton
proudly proclaimed that “human rights are wom-
en’s rights and women’s rights are human rights.”
She exhibited great bravery by making such a procla-
mation in a country well known for its human rights
violations. Also in 1995, she was the main supporter
of legislation passed to assist those suffering from
Gulf War syndrome. Clinton campaigned across the
country in 1996, helping her husband win a second
term in office.
On August 17, 1998, President Clinton confessed
to an “inappropriate relationship” with former
White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In the
months leading up to the president’s confession,
Hillary Clinton publicly supported her husband and
said she believed him when he stated in early 1998
that the Lewinsky allegations were false. Clinton was
terribly upset with her husband and held on to
her religious faith to get her through that difficult
time, as well as to help her forgive her husband. The
couple’s daughter, Chelsea, served as a source of
strength to both of her parents and helped to bridge
the marital rift that the scandal had caused.

Impact Hillary Rodham Clinton ended the 1990’s
as one of the most influential women in the world.
Thanks to her advocacy for universal health care, as
well as women’s and children’s issues, these issues
are now part of the public policy debate. At the start
of the decade, it was uncertain whether those impor-
tant issues would be addressed. After much thought,
Clinton decided to remain in the policy arena: She
announced her candidacy for the Senate from New
York on July 7, 1999. Clinton spent the rest of the
year campaigning throughout the state.

Further Reading
Clinton, Bill.My Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,

2004. Clinton’s memoir covers his childhood and
      provides a behind-the-scenes account of his polit-
      ical career.
      Clinton, Hillary Rodham.It Takes a Village. New
      York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. Tenth anniversary
      edition of Clinton’s 1996 best-seller describing
      how to make the world better for children.
      ___. Living Histor y. New York: Simon &
      Schuster, 2003. Memoir describes the First Lady’s
      White House years and her political life.
      David Murphy

See also Clinton, Bill; Clinton’s impeachment;

Clinton’s scandals; Elections in the United States,

midterm; Elections in the United States, 1992; Elec-

tions in the United States, 1996; Health care; Health

care reform; Lewinsky scandal; Right-wing conspir-

acy; Whitewater investigation; Women’s rights; Year

of the Woman.

 Clinton’s impeachment

The Event U.S. House of Representatives adopts

two articles of impeachment against President

Bill Clinton; U.S. Senate acquits the president

Date Impeached on December 19, 1998;

acquitted on February 12, 1999

Bill Clinton became only the second president, and the first

elected one, to be impeached, and the first to be impeached

for reasons unrelated to his official duties as president.

In the presidential election of 1992, Arkansas gover-

nor and Democratic candidate Bill Clinton defeated

Republican George H. W. Bush, the incumbent pres-

ident. Despite receiving only 43 percent of the popu-

lar vote, Clinton won 370 electoral votes to Bush’s

168. On January 20, 1993, Clinton was inaugurated
     as the forty-second president of the United States
     and the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter was inau-
     gurated in January, 1977.

Whitewater Investigation The Whitewater Devel-

opment Corporation, commonly called Whitewater,

was a failed real estate deal in which Clinton had

been an investor during his tenure as governor of Ar-

kansas. Allegations of impropriety in the Whitewater

matter had surfaced during the presidential cam-

paign. Following the election, the media continued

to press the issue, and Clinton’s political opponents

called for an investigation. In January, 1994, at

Clinton’s request, Attorney General Janet Reno ap-

pointed Robert Fiske as a special prosecutor to inves-

tigate Clinton’s involvement in the failure of the

Whitewater Development Corporation. Conserva-

tive commentators, whom First Lady Hillary Rodham

Clinton would later call a “vast right-wing conspir-

acy,” further alleged that Vince Foster—the former

deputy White House counsel and longtime friend

of the Clintons who had been found dead in his

car, the apparent victim of a suicide—had been

murdered by the Clintons because he knew about

The Nineties in America Clinton’s impeachment
193