USA: Clinton and the end of the century
Bill Clinton's first term as president was marked by his failure to deliver on specific campaign promises - most obviously, his pledge to reform the nation's health-care system. His resultant unpopularity helped the Republican opposition to win sweeping victories in the 1994 congressional elections and made it nearly impossible for him to pass any of his favored legislation. The remaining years of his first term were characterized by protracted struggles with the Republican-dominated Congress, just the sort of "gridlock" that both parties had pledged to avoid. Through a better grasp of the popular mood, Clinton managed to assign most of the blame for the government's ineffectiveness to the Republicans and was elected to a second term with surprising ease.But the "Comeback Kid" was to find holding on to his office somewhat more challenging than the re-election. Persistent allegations of adulterous liaisons finally came to a head in early 1998 with the revelation that Clinton had carried on an affair with a young White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. To make matters worse, he engaged in a series of dubious actions and made misleading statements that Republicans, behind appointed Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr, interpreted as a far-reaching cover-up of the scandal. Starr's exhaustive investigation led to the technical impeachment of the President, on grounds of perjury and abuse of power. Despite being convicted by the lower house of Congress, Clinton was eventually saved by a close vote in the upper house of the Senate - largely because the American people were tired of the scandal, and did not feel Clinton's indiscretions were serious enough to merit removal. In fact, it was the Republicans who suffered losses in the 1998 congressional elections, while the President's popularity remained surprisingly high.
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