ment programs that were supported by traditional
Democrats, including Social Security, Medicare, and
Medicaid, environmental protections, an increased
minimum wage, and educational spending. Clinton
used his presidential power to bring about a Middle
East peace agreement.
In the end, many Americans perceived the Clin-
ton administration as double-talking on the issues.
Nevertheless, Clinton supported programs that res-
onated with a broad Democratic base and liberal Re-
publicans, leading to his reelection. However, sup-
port for Clinton-Gore was influenced in large part by
the policies proposed by Dole and Perot and their
personalities.
Dole and Perot In 1994, the Republicans gained con-
trol of both houses of Congress. Dole served as Sen-
ate majority leader and could have used this position
to help him defeat Clinton. However, congressional
Republicans appeared arrogant over budgetary de-
mands, leading to a governmental shutdown in late
- Their actions bolstered support for Clinton. He
appeared more concerned over the impact this action
would have on average Americans than with the Re-
publicans who supported the shutdown. Republicans
never politically recovered from the governmental
shutdown before election day in 1996.
Prior to Dole’s nomination, Republicans were
perceived as better budgetary managers and stron-
ger on foreign policy issues. Dole was a weak sup-
porter of supply-side economics, a program en-
dorsed by many Republicans. He chose a former
political and philosophical rival from his party,
former congressman and secretary of Housing and
Urban Development Jack Kemp, to run for vice
president. Kemp had run unsuccessfully for the Re-
publican nomination in early 1996 against Dole.
Their campaign focused on their party’s accom-
plishments over the past forty years. Later focusing
on the rumored misconduct within the Clinton
White House, the Dole-Kemp campaign portrayed
its candidates as protectors of traditional American
values like trustworthiness and moral behavior. Nei-
ther of these approaches worked effectively among
many voters.
Other factors worked against the Dole-Kemp
ticket. Dole was the last World War II veteran to seek
the presidency, and many Americans thought him
too old to serve effectively as president. Many Ameri-
cans perceived the Dole-Kemp ticket as conducting
a negative campaign that preferred attacking Clin-
ton and Perot to explaining Dole’s own policy pro-
posals. To counteract these popular opinions, Dole
spent the last ninety hours of the campaign criss-
crossing the country in a last effort to display pas-
sion, youthfulness, and commitment to the cam-
paign. Even with the weakened presence of Perot on
the ballot, Dole was unable to retain the Republican
base that existed in the 1992 election.
In 1992, Ross Perot drew disenfranchised Demo-
crats and Republicans to his ticket, earning about 19
percent of the popular vote. Perot and his Reform
Party were successful in electing several candidates
to state and local offices following the 1992 election.
However, the party’s popularity quickly declined be-
cause of its founder’s egotistical and near-paranoid
behaviors during televised debates. Like Dole, Perot
seemed out of touch with the American people.
When compared to both of his opponents, Perot did
not demonstrate a clear knowledge of the public304 Elections in the United States, 1996 The Nineties in America
1996 U.S. Presidential Election ResultsPresidential Candidate Vice Presidential Candidate Political Party Popular Vote Electoral Vote
Bill Clinton Al Gore Democratic 47,400,125 49.23% 379 70.4%
Bob Dole Jack Kemp Republican 39,198,755 40.72% 159 29.6%
H. Ross Perot Pat Choate Reform 8,085,402 8.40% 0 0%
Ralph Nader Winona LaDuke Green 685,297 0.71% 0 0%
Harry Browne Jo Jorgensen Libertarian 485,798 0.50% 0 0%
Other 420,024 0.44% 0 0%
Source: Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.