United States

Economic growth continued during Clinton’s second term, eventually setting a record for the nation’s longest peacetime economic expansion. After enormous budget deficits throughout the 1980s and early 1990s—including a $290 billion deficit in 1992—by 1998 the Clinton administration oversaw the first balanced budget and budget surpluses since 1969. The vibrant economy produced a tripling in the value of the stock market, historically high levels of home ownership, and the lowest unemployment rate in nearly 30 years.

During Clinton’s first term Attorney General Reno approved an investigation into Clinton’s business dealings in Arkansas. The resulting inquiry, known as Whitewater—the name of the housing development corporation at the centre of the controversy—was led from 1994 by independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Although the investigation lasted several years and cost more than $50 million, Starr was unable to find conclusive evidence of wrongdoing by the Clintons. When a three-judge panel allowed him to expand the scope of his investigation, however, he uncovered evidence of an affair between Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Clinton repeatedly and publicly denied that the affair had taken place. After conclusive evidence of the affair surfaced, Clinton admitted the affair and apologized to his family and to the American public. On the basis of Starr’s 445-page report and supporting evidence, hearings conducted before the 1998 midterm elections resulted in Clinton’s impeachment for perjury and obstruction of justice by a lame-duck session of the House of Representatives after the election. Clinton was acquitted of the charges by the Senate in 1999. During the impeachment proceedings, foreign policy also dominated the headlines. In December 1998 Clinton, citing Iraqi noncompliance with UN resolutions and weapons inspectors, ordered a four-day bombing campaign against Iraq; the military action prompted Iraq to halt further weapons inspections.

When the dust had settled, the Clinton administration was damaged but not broken. Bill Clinton’s job approval rating remained high during the final years of his presidency, and in 1999 Hillary Clinton launched a successful campaign for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan in New York, thereby becoming the first first lady to win elective office. During the final year of his presidency, Clinton invited Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to the United States in an attempt to broker a final settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The eventual breakdown of the talks, along with subsequent events in Jerusalem and elsewhere, resulted in some of the deadliest conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians in more than a decade. Clinton also became the first American president to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War.

Despite continued economic growth, the 2000 presidential election between Vice Pres. Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the former president’s eldest son, was one of the closest and most controversial in the republic’s history. Although Gore won the nationwide popular vote by more than 500,000 votes, the presidency hinged on the outcome in Florida, whose 25 electoral votes would give the winner of that state a narrow majority in the electoral college. With Bush leading in Florida by fewer than 1,000 votes after a mandatory statewide recount, the presidency remained undecided for five weeks as Florida state courts and federal courts heard numerous legal challenges. After a divided Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide manual recount of the approximately 45,000 “undervotes” (i.e., ballots that machines recorded as not clearly expressing a presidential vote) and the inclusion of hand-counted ballots in two counties that had not been previously certified by Florida’s secretary of state—which reduced Bush’s margin to under 200 votes before the manual recounting began—the Bush campaign quickly filed an appeal to halt the manual recount, which the U.S. Supreme Court granted by a 5–4 vote pending oral arguments. Concluding (7–2) that a quick statewide recount could not be performed fairly unless elaborate ground rules were established, the court issued a controversial 5-to-4 decision to reverse the Florida Supreme Court’s recount order, effectively awarding the presidency to Bush (see Bush v. Gore). With his 271-to-266 victory in the electoral college, Bush became the first president since 1888 to win the election despite losing the nationwide popular vote.

United States: 2000 presidential electionEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The 21st century

The George W. Bush administration