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Clinton Wins Election
Bill Clinton is elected as 42nd president of the United States. -
Signs the Family and Medical Leave Act
Signs his first law, the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows workers at large companies to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to attend to family concerns. -
WTC Attack
A car bomb detonates at the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring more than 1,000 people. Radical Kuwaiti religious leader Ramzi Yousef takes responsibility for the plot. Yousef will later develop ties to Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. -
Waco
After a standoff that began on February 28, FBI agents attack the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, using tear gas to try and expel the occupants. The compound burns to the ground, killing 86 men, women and children in the fire. Attorney General Janet Reno takes responsibility, but Clinton makes only a written statement. Many Americans blame the Clinton Administration for the use of military tactics on civilians. -
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Clinton announces the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a speech at the National Defense University at Fort McNair. A compromise reached after Congress had threatened to override Clinton's attempt to lift the ban against homosexuals in the military altogether, the policy forbids the military to ask a recruit about his or her sexual orientation or the recruit to talk about it. -
Olso Accords
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat sign the Oslo Accords, a framework for future peace negotiations between the two countries. In a ceremony on the White House lawn, Rabin and Arafat shake hands. Although Clinton presides over the ceremony, his administration had little to do with brokering the agreement. -
Somalia
U.S. Special Forces stage a raid on a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia in an effort to capture local warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid and his top lieutenants. The raid was part of "Operation Restore Hope," a U.N.-sanctioned humanitarian effort in Somalia. During the course of the mission two Blackhawk helicopters are shot down and a firefight ensues, killing 18 Americans and wounding at least 74. It is the largest firefight involving Americans since the Vietnam War. Afterward, Somali citizens drag the bod -
NAFTA
Clinton signs the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law; it is designed to remove tariff barriers between Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. Despite a huge congressional lobbying campaign by the administration, many politicians fear that NAFTA will lower wages and encourage foreign job replacement. The issue divides the Democratic party, and ultimately only 102 of the 258 Democrats in the House vote for the bill. -
State of the Union
Clinton delivers his first State of the Union address. In the speech he brandishes a pen and tells Congress, "If you send me legislation that does not guarantee every American private health insurance that can never be taken away, you will force me to take this pen, veto the legislation, and we'll come right back here and start all over again." -
Rwanda
Tutsi rebels shoot down the plane of Rwandan president, Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, killing him. The Hutus go on a systematic rampage, killing some 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates — 1/10 of Rwanda's population — and forcing over 1.2 million to take refuge in the nearby Democratic Republic of the Congo. The massive scale of the violence overwhelms U.N. peacekeeping forces who flee the country after two weeks, abandoning thousands of Rwandan citizens. The White House, hesitant to repeat the di -
Whitewater Hearings
Congress holds hearings into the allegation that Bill and Hillary Clinton had illegally profited from investments with a failed Arkansas savings and loan company in a real estate deal called Whitewater. Kenneth Starr replaces Robert Fiske as the independent council investigating charges against the Clintons after the Whitewater hearings. -
Haiti
Clinton appears on national television to argue for using force to overthrow a military junta in Haiti. He describes the brutality of the regime and, speaking directly to the junta's leaders, says, "Leave now, or we will force you from power." With Clinton threatening imminent military force, former president Carter, along with former Joint Chiefs chairman Colin Powell and Senator Sam Nunn get the Hatian regime to voluntarily step down. On September 19, the U.S. military arrives in Haiti to pe -
The Republican Revolution
In mid-term elections Republicans pick up eight seats in the Senate and 54 seats in the House, putting them in the majority for the first time in 40 years. New Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich announces a "Contract with America," which aims to bring an end to big government. -
World Trade Organization
Clinton signs the global trade agreement that creates the World Trade Organization. Despite unease over the NAFTA agreement only a year before, Clinton opens the United States much more widely to free international trade. American opponents of the agreement fear an even greater loss of American jobs and control over safety, health, environmental regulations, and the economy. -
Oklahoma City Bombing
Right-wing Army veteran Timothy McVeigh detonates a truck filled with racing fuel and 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, OK. One hundred sixty eight people are killed, including 19 children in a day care center, making it the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. On the two-year anniversary of the assault on Waco, TX, McVeigh claims he intends to call attention to the attack on the Branch Davidians as well -
Government Shutdown
Non-essential" government services shut down after Clinton vetoes two emergency spending bills which would have raised Medicare premiums and cut federal programs. A week later, the president signs a continuing resolution allowing the government to remain open while the budget negotiations continue. But the partisan groups cannot reach an agreement; Clinton describes "extreme Republican efforts to balance the budget through wrongheaded cuts," which could eliminate previous tax increases on the w -
State of Union
In his annual State of the Union address Clinton famously declares, "The era of big government is over." -
Khobar Towers
A truck bomb explodes outside the Khobar Towers, a U.S. military housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 U.S. airmen and wounding hundreds more. The 14 men ultimately indicted for the attack are alleged to be members of the Islamic militant group Hezbollah. There is initial speculation that the militants were supported by Iran (Iranian officials were implicated in the indictment) although, in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, it will be increasingly believed that the attacks wer -
Iraq
Clinton directs cruise missile strikes on Iraq in retaliation for Saddam Hussein's assault on the Kurdish city of Irbil, and amid growing concerns that Hussein is developing weapons of mass destruction. The 34-hour "Operation Desert Strike" successfully punishes Hussein's actions but fails to act as a deterrent for future acts of aggression. -
Reelection
Clinton is reelected president with 49 percent of the popular vote and 379 electoral votes. Bob Dole finishes second with 41 percent, and Independent Ross Perot finishes third with eight percent. Clinton and FDR become the only Democratic presidents in the 20th century to win reelection. -
Inaugural Address
In his second inaugural address Clinton speaks of unity and transcending party differences. He says, "Nothing big ever came from being small." -
Balanced Budget
Clinton announces a plan to propose a balanced budget for 1999, three years ahead of schedule. The New York Times calls the elimination of the deficit "The fiscal equivalent of the fall of the Berlin Wall." -
Paula Jones Deposition
During his disposition for the Paula Jones lawsuit, Clinton is questioned about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. In carefully constructed replies, Clinton denies having sexual relations with Lewinsky. To bolster Jones' case, lawyers had already subpoenaed women they suspected Clinton had affairs with, including Monica Lewinsky, who had denied the affair in an affidavit. -
State of the Union
Amidst the revelations about Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, Clinton delivers his State of the Union address. After internal debate, Clinton elects not to mention the controversy. The catchphrase of the speech was Clinton's admonishment to use forthcoming budget surpluses to "Save Social Security First," rather than enact tax cuts. -
U.S. Embassy Bombings
Simultaneous truck bombs explode outside U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, killing over 200 people (including a dozen Americans) and wounding more than 4,000. The attack is subsequently determined to be the work of Osama bin Laden. On August 20, Clinton orders missile strikes on an Al-Qaeda affiliated pharmaceutical company in Sudan and training camps in Afghanistan where a leadership meeting was taking place. Many members of the public are skeptical of the attack's -
Clinton Testifies
Clinton is the first president to testify before a grand jury in his own defense. During the four-hour testimony he admits for the first time that he had "inappropriate intimate contact" with Lewinsky. Clinton's testimony is most famous for his saying "it depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is." That night on national television, Clinton admits to the American public that he had an affair with Monica Lewinsky. The media panned the president's unremorseful tone; during the four-minute s -
Kosovo
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's forces break a ceasefire agreement and massacre 45 Albanians, including women and children, in a small Kosovo village. The U.N. attempts to forge a new peace agreement between the Serbs and the Albanians but it fails. On March 20, Milosevic's forces attack ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, prompting NATO to launch a 78-day bombing campaign against Serbia. On June 10, Milosevic signs NATO's agreement to withdraw his forces from Kosovo, but still refuses to give -
Columbine
Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, go on a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 13 people and then themselves. The tragedy opens a new debate on gun control. -
Elain Gonzalez
Federal agents seize Elian Gonzalez, a six-year-old Cuban refugee, in a raid on the Miami home of his relatives. Public anxiety over immigration and historically tense Cuban-American relations help turn the family dispute over Elian into a custody battle between nations. Using the boy as a symbol for his communist party, Cuban leader Fidel Castro leads the battle to get Elian back into Cuba, while Vice President Gore asks for the matter to be settled in Florida courts. Ultimately, U.S. officials -
USS Cole Bombing
Suicide bombers attack the USS Cole while it is refueling at the port of Aden in Yemen. Seventeen sailors are killed. Al-Qaeda is believed to be responsible for the attack. -
Leaving Office
Clinton leaves office after issuing 176 last-minute pardons and sentence commutations. Most notably, Clinton pardons millionaire tax fugitive Marc Rich and Susan McDougal, who had been convicted of fraud in the Whitewater investigation.