The Nineties in America - Salem Press (2009)

announced that he did not think he could win and
was withdrawing from the competition. Despite this
retreat, the volunteers working for Perot persisted
and saw to it that their candidate’s name was even-
tually on the ballots of all fifty states. These volun-
teers considered Perot an outsider in a field domi-
nated by one insider, Bush, and by a novice on the
national scene, Clinton, who, they feared, would
sell out to special interest groups to finance his
campaign. His campaign seemingly stalled, Perot
changed his mind and, in October, 1992, an-
nounced that he would run for the presidency in the
upcoming election. He chose retired vice admiral
James Stockdale as his running mate.
Given the on-and-off nature of Perot’s campaign,
it is surprising that he managed to receive approxi-
mately 19 percent of the popular vote in an election
that brought Clinton into office but failed to give
Perot any electoral votes. Perot and Clinton both
benefited from public discontent with the Bush ad-
ministration.

The Election of 1996 After his defeat in 1992, Ross
Perot founded the Reform Party. He became its stan-
dard bearer in his 1996 bid for the presidency, run-
ning with Pat Choate, an economist, as the vice presi-
dential candidate.
Perot wrote several books during the 1990’s that
expounded his political and social philosophies. In
1993, almost immediately after the 1992 election, he
publishedNot for Sale at Any Price: How We Can Save
America for Our Children, which presented a clear im-
pression of what Perot stood for. This book was writ-
ten for an electorate that he hoped would join his
Reform Party movement and sweep him into office
in 1996.
Bill Clinton’s first term was a popular success.
Government spending was brought under reason-
able control, and the budget deficit decreased.
Much that Perot hoped to achieve was already being
achieved by the incumbent. In November, 1996,
Clinton scored an easy victory, and Perot won just
8 percent of the popular vote.

Impact Ross Perot was the quintessential self-made
man. He succeeded impressively in the corporate
world. He had a strongly held vision for an America
that would limit government intrusion into the lives
of citizens and that would strictly control govern-
ment spending with a resultant decrease in the na-
tional budget deficit.

Perot stood for principles that many Americans

espoused, but his views were shared by people from

both major political parties. In regard to the econ-

omy, Perot’s principles were not substantially dif-

ferent from those of Clinton, who had the advan-

tage of having served as governor of a state that

provided him with experience that served him well

as president.

Further Reading

Perot, H. Ross.Not for Sale at Any Price: How We Can

Save America for Our Children. New York: Hyperion,

1993. Includes his plan for resolving the budget
      deficit.
      .Ross Perot: My Life and the Principles for Suc-
      cess. Arlington, Tex.: Summit, 1996. A clear state-
      ment of Perot’s political posture and his convic-
      tion that drastic political change is urgently
      needed.
      .United We Stand: How We Can Take Back Our
      Countr y. New York: Hyperion, 1992. A lucid
      preelection statement of what Perot stands for.
      Posner, Gerald.Citizen Perot: His Life and Times. New
      York: Random House, 1996. The most complete
      and authoritative assessment of Perot and of his
      contributions to the American political scene.
      R. Baird Shuman

See also Bush, George H. W.; Clinton, Bill; Con-

servatism in U.S. politics; Dole, Bob; Elections in the

United States, 1992; Elections in the United States,

1996; Recession of 1990-1991; Republican Revolu-

tion; Stockdale, James.

 Pharmaceutical industry

Identification Industry involved in the

manufacture and sale of medicinal drugs

The pharmaceutical industr y in the 1990’s introduced a

wide variety of new medications for use by the general

public, as well as adding to the advertisements of the

decade.

During the 1990’s, the use of medication to treat a

variety of illnesses, both serious and nonserious, in-

creased dramatically. The pharmaceutical industry

nearly doubled posted profits between 1990 and

1996, and what was already a multibillion-dollar in-

dustry continued to expand. At the same time, phar-

The Nineties in America Pharmaceutical industry
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