American Idol

Only Nashville Star still remains as a returning series and is the most popular. In his post-presidential years, Clinton also made it known that he would like to serve as Secretary-General of the United Nations. This series has been imitated by many other shows, among them Cupid, Superstar USA and Nashville Star (hosted by LeAnn Rimes). Bush as the first American heads of state to attend a papal funeral. One or two more cities may also be added later as there are usually late additions to the list. Bush and former president George H.W. As of now, the current list of cities (tentative) are Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Memphis and San Diego. [20] (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050406/D89A4IV80.html) Clinton sat with both President George W.

The fifth season of American Idol will be held starting in January 2006 with auditions expected to be in the summer and early autumn of 2005. But on balance, he was a man of God, he was a consistent person, he did what he thought was right." He also claimed to have met "two great popes" in his life, when the other he was referring to was John XXIII, who died when Clinton was in high school without ever visiting America. The winner of the competition was Carrie Underwood. Following the death of Pope John Paul II on April 2, 2005 Clinton stirred up two mini-controversies saying the late pontiff, "may have had a mixed legacy...there will be debates about him. It featured appearances by former auditioners of questionable talent, and celebrity cameos by Kenny G, Rascal Flatts, David Hasselhoff, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, George Benson, Billy Preston, Babyface and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Five days later, he and Bush both appeared on the Super Bowl XXXIX pregame show on Fox in support of their bipartisan effort to raise money for relief of the disaster through the USA Freedom Corps, an action which Bush described as "transcending politics." Thirteen days later, they both traveled to the affected areas to see how the relief efforts are going. The fourth season finale featuring Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood aired May 24-May 25. On February 1, 2005, he was picked by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to head the United Nations earthquake and tsunami relief and reconstruction effort.

Vonzell Solomon was the 10th contestant voted off the Top 12 on Wednesday May 18th. Bush to lead a nationwide campaign to help the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. For the third and final song of the night, one of the standard judges (Jackson, Abdul or Cowell) chose each contestant's selection. W. In an unprecented move, Bo Bice performed his choice completely a cappella. Bush named Clinton and George H. The second song the performers chose any song from any era. On January 3, 2005, President George W.

He chose the first song each performer would sing, many of which he produced in his career. However at the portait unveiling three years later Bush reeled in unusual praise for Clinton as one who "brought energy and joy into this [White] house" and displayed a liking for Clinton's "confidence." [19] (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6803476/site/newsweek).
For the May 18 final three show, a guest judge, legendary record producer Clive Davis was added. During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush deemed Clinton "the shadow" and vowed to "uphold dignity" into the White House once he departed in January of 2001. The winner was Carrie Underwood, the first winner since Kelly Clarkson to not only win but avoid being in the bottom two or three for the entire competition. Since the official unveiling of his White House portrait in June 2004, and especially since the 2004 election, Clinton and Bush have met on occasion, although the nature of the friendship does not appear to be a reconciliation of political opinions. Mario Vazquez, who was originally one of the top 12, dropped out of the competition on March 11, just days before the top 12's first performance, citing "personal issues," opening a spot in the final 12 for Nikko Smith, who had been voted off in the semi-finals the previous week. Bush.

Instead of competing in semifinal heats in which the top vote-getters are promoted to the final round, 24 semifinalists were named -- 12 men and 12 women, who competed separately, with 2 of each gender being voted off each week until 12 finalists were left. There has been reported signs of a friendship growing between former president Clinton and George W. This season also implemented new rules for the final portion of the contest. On December 8, 2004, Clinton announced that he was the new spokesperson for Accoona, an internet search engine company. He acquired mild fame by repeatedly yelling, "Can you dig it?" to the judges and for the inability of the judges to fully understand him. Bush) as honorary members of the board rebuilding the World Trade Center. Also noted was Leroy Wells from Grand Bay, Alabama who auditioned in New Orleans singing Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Got Your Money". W.

The most notable contestant in the early episodes was Mary Roach, who auditioned in Washington D.C. Her rendition of Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move", as well as her comments to the judges that followed her audition, brought considerable negative attention (including false rumors of mental illness) and comparisons to William Hung. On November 22, 2004, New York Republican Governor George Pataki named Clinton and the other living former presidents (Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. Among the music featured in the program: on January 19, 2005, "Look At Me" written by Sara Hickman and performed by her 8-year-old daughter Lily (from the album Big Kid). Bush. He was also treated to a musical rendition from Bono and The Edge from U2, who expressed their gratitude at Clinton's efforts to resolve the Northern Ireland conflict during his presidency. The music celebrities featured were:. Bush, as well as from the current president, George W. While in the past seasons celebrity guest judges have been invited to participate during the competition, this was the first season where guest judges were invited to participate in the auditions. W.

Auditions were held from August to October 2004. Under rainy skies, Clinton received words of praise from former presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. Louis, Missouri, New Orleans, Louisiana, Las Vegas, Nevada, Cleveland, Ohio, Orlando, Florida and San Francisco, California. Clinton Presidential Center, in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 18, 2004. Auditions were held in Washington, DC, St. He dedicated his presidential library, which is the largest in the nation, the William J. The fourth season of American Idol premiered on January 18, 2005. On March 10, 2005, he underwent a follow-up surgery to remove scar tissue and fluid from his left chest cavity, a result of his open-heart surgery.

Paul Anka made an appearance in the Season Finale. The medical team responsible for Clinton claimed that, had he not had surgery, he would likely have suffered a massive heart attack within a few months. The third season was also shown in Australia on Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the US. He was transferred to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, where he successfully underwent quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery on September 6, 2004. During the season, controversy over the legitimacy of the contest increased as geeky rocker Jon Peter Lewis and young crooner John Stevens stayed afloat while others were unexpectedly eliminated. It was determined that he had not suffered a coronary infarction, and he was sent home, returning the following day for angiography, which disclosed multiple vessel coronary artery disease. After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes in total, Fantasia Barrino won the "American Idol" title and Diana DeGarmo was runner up. On September 2, 2004, Clinton had an episode of angina and was evaluated at Northern Westchester Hospital.

The third season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2004. Bush, saying that "Strength and wisdom are not opposing values.". Paul Anka made an appearance during the Season finale. In it, Clinton criticized George W. Clark also alleged that Abdul gave him preferential treatment on the show because of their alleged romance. Many critics have argued that Clinton's speech is one of the best in Convention history. The rumor mills were buzzing once again in 2005 when Season Two contestant Corey Clark, who was himself kicked off the show because of a police record he had not disclosed to the show, alleged that he had had an affair with judge Paul Abdul. He used his speech to praise candidate John Kerry.

Controversy arose when semi-finalist Frenchie Davis was booted from the show, after topless pictures she had taken four years before the show aired surfaced. On July 26, 2004, Clinton spoke for the fifth time in a row to the Democratic National Convention. Despite Studdard's win, Aiken has enjoyed more widespread popularity. He also talked about repealing the 22nd Amendment in the event of a terrorist attack. Out of 24 million votes cast, Studdard finished just 130,000 votes ahead of Aiken, although there remains controversy over the validity of the reported results. Clinton mostly talked about his book and how he went about writing it, his thoughts on the issues that confronted the Bush administration, and the 2004 presidential election. In season two with Seacrest as the lone host, Ruben Studdard was the winner with Clay Aiken as runner up. Nor was there any mention of Hillary Clinton.

Guarini's self titled album was a flop, selling just 130,000 copies to date. On September 11, 2004, CBC Newsworld, which is the CBC's cable news network, began its sixth season of "Mansbridge One on One (http://www.cbc.ca/programs/sites/mansbridge.html)" with an interview Clinton gave with the program's host, the network's chief correspondent, Peter Mansbridge [17] (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/clinton/interview.html) [18] (http://media.cbc.ca:8080/ramgen/newsworld/clips/rm-newsworld/mansbridge_clinton0408051.rm). Unlike Dimbleby, Mansbridge didn't mention the Lewinsky affair. Since then it has sold nearly 2 million copies, and includes such hits as "Since U Been Gone" (#2 on Billboard) and "Breakaway" (#6 on Billboard). One of those was in Canada. Her first album Thankful debuted at #1, went double-platinum, and spawned the grammy-nominated hit "Miss Independent." Her sophomore album Breakaway debuted in November 2004 at #3 on the Billboard Charts. Clinton has gone to other countries for his book tours and has given media interviews on them. Since winning, Clarkson has gone on to a successful musical career. He also spoke about the prospects of a future Clinton presidency, should his wife Hillary Clinton decide to run for office in 2008.

Numerous television specials starring the ten finalists followed, as well as the box office bomb entitled From Justin to Kelly. In an interview with David Dimbleby [16] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/programmes/panorama/transcripts/clintoninterview.txt) which aired on the BBC on June 23, 2004, Clinton was questioned at length about the effects to his presidency of his affair with Monica Lewinsky, conceding that he had made many mistakes while in office. Kelly Clarkson won, with Justin Guarini coming in second. Commenting on memoirs in general, he said "some are dull and self-serving, hopefully mine will be interesting and self-serving." The book made an unprecedented three appearances on the Amazon.com best-seller list, before it was even released. In the first season the show was co-hosted by Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman. Clinton collected his memoirs into a book entitled My Life, which was released on June 22, 2004. The number next to a contestant's name denotes the number of times he or she was in the "Bottom Three". Clinton won a second Grammy in February 2005, Best Spoken Word Album for My Life.

Kelly Clarkson came in second after Norway's Kurt Nilsen. In February 2004, Clinton (along with Mikhail Gorbachev and Sophia Loren) won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for narrating the Russian National Orchestra's album Peter and the Wolf/Wolf Tracks. In December 2003, winners of eleven different national Idol competitions were collected for a World Idol competition in London. He assisted his wife Hillary Clinton in her campaign for office as a senator representing New York. A spin-off series called American Juniors premiered on June 3, 2003. Clinton's close relationship with the African American community has been highlighted in his post-Presidential career with his opening of his personal office in the Harlem section of New York City. This process is repeated each week until the one remaining contestant is declared the winner. One notable theme is his advocacy of multilateral solutions to problems facing the world.

Over the course of the episode, two are revealed as being "safe" for the week, and the loser is sent home after performing one final song to end the episode. In these, he continues to comment on aspects of contemporary politics. The bottom three vote-getters are separated from the remaining contestants. Like many former American presidents, Clinton has engaged in a career as a public speaker on a variety of issues. In any case, each week on the following night's live "results" episode, the contestant with the fewest votes is sent home. Roosevelt (elected four times). However in Season Two, in the final three, one song was chosen randomly from a bowl, with one chosen by the performer and one by the judges. (The other two, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, were Republicans.) Clinton is also one of only five Democratic party candidates ever to be elected to two full terms as president — the others being Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland (non-consecutively), Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin D.

Instead, each contestant sings three songs: one of their own choice, one chosen by the judges, and one chosen by record executive Clive Davis. As of 2005, of the ten presidents to take office since the 22nd Amendment was ratified in 1951, Clinton is one of only three presidents to serve two full terms, and the only Democrat to do so. When there are three finalists remaining, themes are no longer used. Bush, whose father he had defeated in 1992. Artists around whom themes have been based include Barry Manilow, Gloria Estefan, and Elton John. On January 18, 2001, he addressed the nation one last time on television from the Oval Office of the White House, two days before handing over the presidency to George W. Some themes are based on music recorded by a particular artist, and the finalists have a chance to work with that artist in preparing their performances. Additionally, there is controversy over his foreign policy actions; while some Americans feel that his foreign policies had resulted in an environment that permitted terrorists like Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network to strike on September 11th, others feel that his efforts at fighting terrorism were hampered by excessive partisan bickering and were not continued effectively by the succeeding administration.

Themes have included Motown, disco, big band music, and Billboard #1 hits. Some of the personal failures and moral lapses of Clinton have tainted his legacy in the eyes of many Americans in spite of the good economic growth of the late 1990's. In the finals, which last eleven weeks, each finalist performs a song live in primetime from a weekly theme (two songs in later rounds). In a 21 January 2000 speech at the California Institute of Technology, Clinton said, "Some of our research goals may take twenty or more years to achieve, but that is precisely why there is an important role for the federal government.". They can however watch movies, since they have no known distracting effect on the contestants. The Initiative was a federal nanoscale science, engineering, and technology research and development program. The only time when a contestant can be free from this rule as if he or she gets voted out. Howard Lovy, a nanotechnology writer, said the National Nanotechnology Initiative may "turn out to be one of Clinton's most-important legacies".

This is to keep the contestants safe from terrorists, epidemics, paparazzi, and to distance contestants from distractions that might be detrimental to their singing ability. Clinton advocated nanotechnology development. This stops contestants from using cell phones (unless between family members or during an emergency), the Internet (especially chatting and message boards), leaving the Hollywood jurisdiction, leaving their apartments without consent, watching TV (especially News and Sports), listening to radio stations, and reading newspapers during their duration in the competition. Clinton was able to surmount this problem through sheer personal charisma, but his successors have been less successful. Also contestants are contracted to be "conclaved" from the outside world. The current quandary of the Democratic party is felt by many to be primarily due to its inability to define itself vis-à-vis the Republican Party and offer a clear alternative. Contestants who failed the test have not been allowed to proceed in the competion. During the 1990s, the Party was accused of abandoning its traditional base of support (unions, the working class, minorities) in pursuit of a center-right position, responding to — and funded by — corporate contributors, with the soccer mom representing his new base.

Semifinalists are also subjected to drug tests, in order to avoid scandals involving drug usage. Clinton is seen as having led — in conjunction with the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) — the Democratic Party away from the left, towards a more moderate centrist position. Several finalists have been disqualified for revelations that surfaced late in the competition. Clinton presided over the period of longest steady growth of the economy in modern American history. Semifinalists (and in some cases, other contestants as well) must submit to background checks and may be summarily disqualified for past behavior deemed undesirable, such as an arrest record. He sometimes criticized other political leaders for being "out of touch" with the acceleration of technology. This was changed to the procedure (see above) in the 4th season due to the abundace of females (and no males left in the final 4) in the third season. unlimited applications" [15] (http://www.rand.org/scitech/stpi/ourfuture/Rosetta/millennium.html).

In season 1, 5 contestants were chosen, and judges chose one to advance to the finals. Clinton was characterized by good grasp of the scientific issues and strong support of "unlimited scientific discovery, and.. Each judge chose one semifinalist to advance to the final round, and a studio audience vote determined the final wildcard spot, rounding out the field of twelve finalists. Clinton was seen as an educated and intelligent person. When all the semifinal shows had been completed, there was a wildcard phase. Other common nicknames include "Slick Willy" and "Clintoon" (by detractors), and the "Big Dog" (by fans). Each week for four (three for season one) weeks, one group would perform with the top two (three for season one) vote-getters from each group advancing to the finals. One of the earliest was "Bubba", which alludes to his Southern "good ol' boy" background.

In the first season, they were 30 contestants, divided into three groups of ten. Clinton is often referred to by nickname among both detractors and fans. During the middle seasons, the semifinal round consisted of 32 semifinalists who were divided into four groups of eight. The deadly Branch Davidian standoff near Waco, Texas in 1993 fomented further far right hostility to the Clinton administration. At the end of the semifinal rounds, the six men and six women who remain advance to the finals. Among these were rumors of involvement with drug traffickers, personal cocaine use, and involvement in the death of long-time friend and aide Vince Foster (ruled a suicide). On the following night's episode the results of the nationwide vote are announced, and the bottom two vote-getters are eliminated each week. Several lurid accusations were leveled by conservative talk radio.

Callers are allowed to vote as many times as they like for any number of contestants. Clinton was viewed with intense personal animosity by some on the far right. Viewers have two hours following the broadcast of the show in their time zone to phone in votes for their favorite contestant by calling a toll-free number (viewers may also send text messages to vote). After allegations had linked him to Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers and Katherine Willey, Clinton's sex life would become the focus of his public image when in January 1998 recorded conversations by Linda Tripp contained statements by White House intern Monica Lewinsky about having oral sex. Each contestant performs live (in the eastern and central time zones), in primetime, a song of his or her choice, and receives critiques from the judges, who, from this point on, serve almost entirely in an advisory capacity, with little direct influence on the results. Starting from 1992 Presidential election campaign, rumors about Clinton's adultery were floating about, and these surfaced and increased with Paula Jones' accusations of sexual harassment. On three consecutive weeks, the male semifinalists perform only against the other men, and the women only against the other women. Clinton supporters point out that several prominent conservatives, including Newt Gingrich, had very similar charges of draft evasion, womanizing, and corruption in their past as well, and that these allegations are tied less to Clinton's actual "character" as they are to his refusal to conform to the conservatism expected from white Southern politicians.

Once in Hollywood, the three judges narrow the initial field of several hundred down to a group of 24 semifinalists, divided equally between men and women, who are invited to perform in the live portions of the show. Many white southern conservatives viewed Clinton as a "traitor" to his class, with his Ivy League and Rhodes Scholarship education and liberal world view. His case was not taken up by the EEOC. Clinton's working-class white Southern background was a complicating factor. In early 2003, a 50-year-old college professor named Drew Cummings filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charging the show with age discrimination because producers denied him an audition due to his age. Intense opposition to the Clintons was perhaps the main factor in the phenomenal growth of conservative talk radio in the 1990s. For the fourth season, the upper age limit was raised to 28 to attract more mature and diverse contestants. Although he was actually to the right of previous Democratic candidates for the presidency on many issues — he supported the death penalty, curfews, uniforms in public schools, and other measures opposed by youth rights supporters, and he expanded the War on Drugs greatly while in office — Clinton's actions during the 1960s were never forgotten by his opponents.

citizens and, for the first three seasons, had to be 16 to 24 years of age. Clinton's marijuana experimentation — clumsily excused by Clinton's statement that he "didn't inhale" — further damaged his image with some voters. Contestants must be U.S. Clinton avoided the draft with a student deferment while studying abroad during the Vietnam War. Some poor performances have attained notoriety on their own; these have included season two's performance of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" by Keith Beukelaer and season three's rendition of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" by William Hung. In the 1960s, however, Clinton might not have been viewed as such by many of those in the hippie subculture. Typically the judges express disgust or dismay or suppressed laughter. Social conservatives were put off by the impression of Bill Clinton having been a "hippie" during the late 1960s, his coming-of-age era.

Poor singers often face intense and humbling criticism from the judges, and especially from Cowell, who can be harsh and blunt in his rejections. Some even suspected that Hillary, and not Bill, was the dominant force behind the team. These "contestants" have been selected by the preliminary panels in a negative sense, a typical combination is lack of singing ability combined with vanity regarding their "talent." Others are selected for human interest potential, the 2005 auditions featured a "cannibal" who had sampled human flesh in an anthropology class and an aspiring female prize fighter. Many people saw the couple as an unprecedented political partnership. These early episodes focus mainly on the poorest performances from contestants who often appear oblivious to their lack of star talent. Hillary Clinton's very strong role in the administration led to a degree of criticism toward a First Lady not seen since the days of Eleanor Roosevelt. One of the most popular portions of each season are initial episodes showcasing American Idol hopefuls auditioning before the panel of judges. Toni Morrison dubbed Clinton "the first Black president", saying "Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas.".

The contestants selected despite lack of singing talent for appearance before the panel provide a major attraction to the viewing audience as they simultaneously proclaim their talent while turning out gut-wrenching performances which are ridiculed by the judges. [14] (http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=122950). Those who impress a majority of the judges move on to the second round auditions which take place in Hollywood (typically only several dozen out of the thousands in each city move on). Clinton was very popular overall among African-Americans and made improving race relations a major theme of his presidency. Contestants are required to sing a cappella. Until his inauguration as president, he had earned substantially less money than his wife, and had the smallest net worth of any president in modern history, according to My Life, Clinton's autobiography. In order to be eligible, the contestants are not permitted to have any current recording or talent management agreements (but may have had one at some point in the past). Based on turnout and availability, producers select a certain number from the crowd to audition before the three judges (this may take several rounds). Clinton clearly came across as a man of the people.

These are generally held at large convention centers where thousands of people wait in line for auditions. Despite criticisms that his appeal to young voters lacked substance, Clinton won among Generation X voters in the 1992 election, with the highest Gen-X turnout ever. In the show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, hopeful contestants, after being screened by preliminary panels which select for singing talent or humorous potential and human interest, audition before three judges (Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson) in cities across the United States (sometimes a celebrity fourth judge is added). With his sound-bite rhetoric and pioneering use of pop culture in his campaigning, Clinton was declared, often negatively, as the "MTV president". Each contestant gets a contract by one Bertelsmann's many music labels because Bertelsmann owns a 50/50 stake in Sony BMG. Upon his entering the national political horizon, he was commented upon as an remarkably informal person with a "common man" touch – with his frequent patronage of McDonald's becoming a popular symbol of this image. American Idol is produced by Fremantle North America which is owned by German Bertelsmann AG. As the first Baby Boomer president, Bill Clinton was seen during his presidency and during his candidacy as a change from the presidents of the World War II Generation.

The show is a competition in which viewers can call in and vote on contestants to determine the best "undiscovered" young singer in the United States, with the winner receiving a major record deal, although some runners-up have achieved enough fame to ink record deals of their own. However, he was disbarred from practicing law for five years by the State of Arkansas and the United States Supreme Court--resulting from an admitted purjury. American Idol is a television show featured on the Fox Network in the United States, based on the popular British show Pop Idol. He was acquitted in his Senate impeachment trial. American Idol Season 4: The Showstoppers (2005). Bush. American Idol Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics (2004). No evidence was produced or charges brought; similarly unproven allegations of rape have also been lodged against Republican presidents Reagan and George W.

"What the World Needs Now" (single) (2003). Also in 1998, Juanita Broaddrick alleged that Clinton had raped her in 1978. "God Bless The U.S.A." (single) (2003). In March, 1998 Kathleen Willey, a White House aide, alleged that Clinton had sexually assualted her. American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics (2003). Pardongate refers to a grant of clemency to FALN members in 1999 and pardons to Marc Rich and others in 2001. American Idol Season 2: All Time Classic American Love Songs (2003). Chinagate involved Democrats accepting improper campaign contributions; allegedly the ultimate source of this money was the Chinese government.

American Idol Greatest Moments (2002). Filegate refers to White House handling of hundreds of personnel files from individuals without asking for their permission. February 2, Brandy. Travelgate refers to the firing of White House travel office staffers. February 1, LL Cool J. In addition to impeachment, the Clinton White House was the subject of many lesser scandals. January 26, Kenny Loggins. Again, the impeachment effort lacked bipartisan support, with no Democratic votes for conviction.

January 25, Gene Simmons of KISS. The obstruction of justice charge was defeated with 50 for conviction and 50 against. January 18, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray. The perjury charge was defeated with 45 votes for conviction and 55 against. A two-thirds majority, 67 votes, is necessary to convict the President on impeachment charges. No witnesses were called during the trial.

The Senate impeachment trial lasted from January 7, 1999 until February 12. Based on taped phone conversations between Lewinsky and her confidante, Linda Tripp, Starr reached the conclusion that Clinton's statement constituted perjury. In a sworn deposition taken for this case, Clinton denied having sexual relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Originally dealing with the failed land deal years earlier known as Whitewater, Starr, with the approval of Attorney General Janet Reno, expanded his investigation into Clinton's conduct during the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Arkansas government employee, Paula Jones.

The charges arose from an investigation by independent counsel Kenneth Starr. The Senate acquitted Clinton on both counts in a trial concluding on February 12, 1999. The charges were perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton was impeached as President of the United States on December 19, 1998 by the House of Representatives.

He made the following statement to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on February 17, 1998:. Critics also contend that Bill Clinton misled the public on matters of foreign policy another time when he made the claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. ([10] (http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/International_War_Crimes/ClintonWarCriminal_Herman.html), [11] (http://agitprop.org.au/stopnato/19990607clintoncriminal.php), [12] (http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=14713)). Other critics argue America's contemporary attacks on Somalia, Bosnia, Sudan, and Afghanistan violated international law.

More of this can be found in Legacy by Rich Lowry. Many people, including many Israelis, believe that Clinton's main goal behind his attempts at brokering a peace agreement was to leave behind a good legacy and, potentially, receive a Nobel Peace Prize. Many felt that he elevated the stature of Yasser Arafat (many believed he was a terrorist) to that of a world leader and asked Israel for too many concessions--and not enough from Arafat. Many conservatives also felt that the treated the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement in the wrong manner.

Reason magazine studied the sanctions and concluded, "It seems awfully hard not to conclude that the embargo on Iraq has been ineffective (especially since 1998) and that it has, at the least, contributed to more than 100,000 deaths since 1990." ([9] (http://www.reason.com/0203/fe.mw.the.shtml)). Some people believe that Clinton's continuation of economic sanctions against Iraq caused civilian deaths. Critics note that there were more civilian deaths caused by NATO than the amount of deaths Milosevic was charged with. NATO stepped up its claims about Serb 'killing fields.'" The actual number of civilian deaths is debated, with the numbers as high as 5,700 claimed by Yugoslavia, and with NATO acknowledging it killed, at most, 1,500 civilians.

In the aforementioned article, The Wall Street Journal wrote, "As the war dragged on [...] NATO saw a fatigued press corps drifting toward the contrarian story: civilians killed by NATO's bombs. Others have called Clinton a war criminal for the NATO bombing campaign during the Kosovo war. Instead, the pattern is of scattered killings.". The Wall Street Journal wrote, "the [U.N.'s International War Criminal] tribunal has checked the largest reported sites first, and found most to contain no more than five bodies, suggesting intimate acts of barbarity rather than mass murder [...] Kosovo would be easier to investigate if it had the huge killing fields some investigators were led to expect.

The headline of The Wall Street Journal on December 31, 1999 was "War in Kosovo Was Cruel, Bitter, Savage; Genocide It Wasn’t". The official NATO body count of the events in Kosovo was 2,788, with Slobodan Milosevic charged with the "murders of about 600 individually identified ethnic Albanians" ([7] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1402790.stm#kosovo), [8] (http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mil-ai010629e.htm)). They may have been murdered." ([4] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/balkans/stories/cohen051699.htm)) Clinton also claimed that genocide was occurring, and spoke of "at least 100,000 (Kosovar Albanians) missing" ([5] (http://www.clintonfoundation.org/legacy/051399-speech-by-president-to-veterans-organizations-on-kosovo.htm)). Later, talking about Serbian elections, Clinton said, "They're going to have to decide whether they support his leadership or not; whether they think it's OK that all those tens of thousands of people were killed..." ([6] (http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/06/25/clinton.newser/)). Some critics have accused Clinton of leading the United States to war with Kosovo under the false pretense of genocide. Defense Secretary William Cohen, claiming that genocide had occurred in Kosovo, said, "We've now seen about 100,000 military-aged men missing..

Navy destroyer Cole in Yemen in 2000. by foreign terrorists included the 1993 bombing of New York's World Trade Center, the 1996 bombing of the military quarters at the Khobar Towers, the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the bombing of the U.S. During Clinton's tenure attacks on the U.S. Along with the United Nations, the Clinton administration initially did not publicly acknowledge that genocide was occurring.

Clinton identified his major foreign policy failure as lack of response to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Mr. Subsequent events, including the collapse of the 2000 Camp David Summit and the commencement of the al-Aqsa Intifada, resulted in the Oslo Accords being widely discredited within Israel and in various Palestinian factions by 2004. After his presidency, Clinton identified his proudest foreign policy accomplishments as mediating peace talks between Israel and Palestine, resulting in the Oslo Accords.

In December, 2002, North Korea expelled IAEA inspectors from its Yongbyon nuclear facility, and announced (privately in 2003 and publicly in 2005), that they possessed nuclear weapons. However, by the mid 1990s defectors from North Korea, along with reports from the IAEA, indicated that North Korea was violating both the Nuclear Accords and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In exchange for assistance with energy needs, North Korea agreed to abandon all ambitions for acquiring nuclear weapons. The underlying concern was that North Korea was developing nuclear weapons technology under the guise of a nuclear power plant.

In 1994, Clinton negotiated and signed the Nuclear Accords with North Korea. However, because he was scarred by the US defeat and humiliation in Somalia, he refused to get the US involved in the Rwandan genocide. Bush assassinated. W.

In addition, Clinton launched military strikes on Iraq several times to punish violations of UN sanctions and an attempt to have former President George H. Clinton also committed troops twice in the former-Yugoslavia to stop ethnic violence, most notably in Kosovo. Aristide, who had been elected, had been ousted in a coup just seven months into his term in 1991. troops into Haiti to restore Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president, ending a period of intense violence.

In 1994, Clinton sent U.S. troops fought the Battle of Mogadishu attempting to capture local warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in Somalia. In 1993, U.S. military several times under hostile circumstances.

Clinton deployed the U.S. Although it is debated to what extent his policies were responsible, upon leaving office, Clinton proudly pointed to a number of economic accomplishments, including:. enjoyed continuous economic expansion, reductions in unemployment, and growing wealth through a massive rise in the stock market. During Clinton's tenure, the U.S.

The combination of Clinton's 1993 tax increase, the Republican Congress' 1995 spending cuts, and Fed chairman Alan Greenspan's masterful interest-rate tinkering finally brought the federal budget into balance and ignited a boom in the American economy. Clinton appointed the following justices to the Supreme Court:.
. In 2002, a UPI story stated that documents discovered in Afghanistan showed that al-Qaeda may have plotted to kill Clinton toward the end of his term.[2] (http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=04022002-082828-8434r).

By the beginning of 2005, however, the PIRA declared that it was withdrawing from the disarmament process. His involvement set in motion the process that led to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) commencing disarmament on October 23, 2001. He took a personal interest in The Troubles in Northern Ireland and paid three visits there while he was president in order to encourage peace. In 1999, in conjunction with a U.S. Congress controlled by the Republican Party the United States had a balanced federal budget for the first time since Richard Nixon's presidency in 1969.

Clinton developed a close working relationship with Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, when he was elected in 1997. In the 1996 presidential election, Clinton was re-elected receiving 49.2% of the popular vote over Republican Bob Dole (40.7% of the popular vote) and Reform candidate Ross Perot (8.4% of the popular vote), while the Republicans retained control of the Congress losing but a few seats. The Republican-controlled Congress and Clinton sparred over the budget, Clinton's vetos resulting in a series of government shutdowns at a political penalty to the Republicans. After the 1994 election, the spotlight shifted to the Contract with America spearheaded by Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

They lost control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years, in large part due to stalled legislation, including a failed attempt to create a comprehensive health care system under a plan developed by the First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. After two years of Democratic party control under Clinton's leadership, the mid-term elections in 1994 proved disastrous for the Democrats. The First Lady played an active role in helping the President form policy, and Clinton's two best friends and most loyal supporters, Democratic spin doctors Paul Begala and James Carville, could often be seen defending the President's policies in Washington and the media. This is not to say that Clinton was without political confidants in the White House.

He went through four White House Chiefs of Staff — a record number of men in a position that had once been the epicenter of the Imperial Presidency. As president, Clinton was characterized as being a much more "hands on" president than some of his Republican predecessors. While Bush and Reagan had operated under what some critics dubbed an Imperial Presidency of bureaucratic "courtiers," Clinton had much more fickle relationships with his aides, and did not delegate them significant powers. It was the first major legislative defeat of Clinton's administration. Though initially well-received, it was ultimately doomed by well-organized opposition from conservatives and the health insurance industry, who urged Americans to read the actual details of the plan.

The most important item on Clinton's legislative agenda, however, was a complex health care reform plan, the result of a taskforce headed by Hillary Clinton, aimed at achieving universal coverage. After much debate, Clinton and the Pentagon agreed to a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, which officially remains in effect. Shortly after taking office, Clinton fulfilled a campaign promise by signing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which required large employers to allow their employees to take unpaid leave because of a family or medical emergency. While this action was popular, Clinton's initial reluctance to fulfill another campaign promise relating to the acceptance of openly gay members of the military garnered criticism from both the left (for being too tentative in promoting gay rights) and the right (for being too insensitive to military life). Clinton's first act as president was to sign executive order 12834 (entitled "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees"), which placed substantial restrictions upon the ability of his senior political appointees to lobby their colleagues after they leave office. Clinton rescinded the order shortly before he left office in executive order 13184 of December 28, 2000.

Congress as well as the Presidency, for the first time since the administration of Jimmy Carter. That election also brought the Democrats full control of the political branches of the federal government, including both houses of U.S. His election ended an era in which the Republican party had controlled the Presidency for 12 consecutive years, and for 20 of the previous 24 years. Roosevelt, though he is the first President since John Kennedy to have never achieved a majority of the popular vote.

Clinton was the first Democrat to serve two full terms as President since Franklin D. Ross Perot (19.0% of the vote), largely on a platform focusing on domestic issues, notably the economic recession of the pre-election period — using the line "It's the economy, stupid!" For more information about Clinton's campaign, see Bill Clinton presidential campaign, 1992. W. Bush (37.7% of the vote) and independent candidate H. Clinton won the 1992 presidential election (43.3% of the vote) against Republican George H.

While none of these alleged flaws led to Clinton's defeat, they did fuel unusually vehement opposition to Clinton among many conservatives from the very beginning of his presidency. Allegations of womanizing and shady business deals also were raised. Clinton's opponents raised various "character" issues during the campaign, including his avoidance of military service during the Vietnam War, and his glib response to a question about past marijuana use. In retrospect, many now view Gore as a helpful factor in the successful 1992 campaign.

Initially this decision sparked criticism from strategists due to the fact that Gore was from Clinton's neighboring state of Tennessee. (D-Tenn.) to be his running mate on July 9, 1992. Gore Jr. Albert A.

Sen. Clinton chose U.S. Positioning himself as a straight-talking everyman, Clinton handily won the Democratic Party's nomination. In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, President Bush seemed undefeatable, and several potential Democratic candidates — notably New York Governor Mario Cuomo — passed on what seemed to be a lost cause.

Bush. W. Despite this setback, Clinton prepared for a run in 1992 against incumbent president George H. Clinton's subsequent appearance on The Tonight Show was seen as a good way to defuse the criticism.

Clinton's address, scheduled to last 15 minutes, became a debacle as Clinton gave a notoriously dull speech that lasted over half an hour (he joked about the length of this speech at the 1992 convention). Clinton's first major foray into national politics occurred when he was enlisted to speak at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, introducing candidate Michael Dukakis. However, several deals the Clintons made during this period led to the Whitewater investigation, which dogged his later presidential administration. Clinton's business-friendly approach mollified conservative criticism during his terms as governor.

Clinton was elected governor again in 1982, re-elected in 1984, succeeded in getting the state constitution amended to allow governors four-year terms, then was re-elected in 1986 and 1990, serving until 1992. Hillary took her husband's surname and adopted a more traditional public role as a political wife, while quietly establishing herself as a political force in her own right through her skills as an attorney. He established new relationships with business interests, and made amends with the political establishment of the state. Out of office, Clinton addressed the concerns that led to his political failure.

As he once joked, he was the youngest ex-governor in the nation's history. White in 1980. After only one term, Clinton was defeated by Republican challenger Frank D. Furthermore, Hillary Rodham's decision to keep her maiden name while Arkansas' First Lady raised many eyebrows in the traditionally conservative state.

His first term was fraught with difficulties, including an unpopular motor vehicle tax and popular anger over the escape of Cuban prisoners (from the Mariel Boat Lift) detained in Fort Chafee in 1980. Bill Clinton was first elected governor of the state of Arkansas in 1978, when at the time he was the youngest state governor in the United States, and the youngest to be elected to a state governorship since 1938. After his teaching stint, Clinton was elected Attorney General of Arkansas in 1976. Clinton lost the election by over 6,000 votes.

During this time, he ran for the House of Representatives in 1974 against Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt. Clinton taught law at the University of Arkansas for a few years. After Oxford, Clinton attended Yale Law School, where he met his future wife, classmate Hillary Rodham. William Fulbright and won a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford in England.

Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington DC, where he became a brother of Alpha Phi Omega, worked for Senator J. Clinton attended the Edmund A. (born 1956). His stepfather was a gambler and alcoholic who regularly abused his wife, and sometimes Clinton's half brother Roger, Jr.

Clinton grew up in a turbulent family. Billy, as he was called, was raised by his mother and stepfather, using the last name "Clinton" throughout elementary school, but not formally changing it until he was 15. His mother, born Virginia Dell Cassidy, remarried in 1950 to Roger Clinton. He was named after his father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr., a travelling salesman who had been killed in a car accident in Scott County, Missouri between the towns of Sikeston and Morley just three months before his son was born.

Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III in Hope, Arkansas and raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Bush and turning it into the largest surplus by the end of his office. W. He was elected twice with the highest percentage of the popular vote among his opponents (but never with a general majority). Characteristics of the period he presided as President included the lengthiest economic boom in American history, (though his opponents claim that this was due to the Republican majority in Congress) the most successful war in terms of American causalities during the Kosovo Conflict, inheriting at-the-time the largest American budget deficit from his predecessor President George H.

history. As such, his assumption of office marked a "generational shift" from the former Presidents who were mostly World War II veterans and had experienced the start of the Cold War in the 1950s. At times his approval rating was very low, setting a record low in his first year, but upon leaving office, it was the highest for a retiring President in modern U.S. He was the third youngest president and the first of the baby boomer generation. He became the second president to be impeached, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice before a grand jury for his handling of the Monica Lewinsky affair [1] (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c105:3:./temp/~c105UynaA3::), but he was acquitted by the Senate.

He was also the subject of a series of independent counsel investigations by Congress, resulting in the indictment or conviction of many staff members, associates and friends, though never himself. Congress. His tenure was marked by an adversarial relationship with the Republican-controlled U.S. Internationally, his priorities included reducing trade barriers and mediating the Northern Ireland and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.

During his tenure as President, his domestic priorities included legislation to upgrade education, to restrict handgun sales, to strengthen environmental rules, and to protect the jobs of parents who must care for sick children. A strong supporter of the Democratic Leadership Council, Clinton was generally considered a political moderate. Before his Presidency, Clinton served five terms as the Governor of Arkansas. William Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001.

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Partners in Power: The Clintons & Their America. Roger Morris (1996). ISBN 0684818906. First In His Class : A Biography Of Bill Clinton, Simon & Schuster.

David Maraniss (1996). ISBN 1-59-129804-0. How To Destroy A Village : What The Clintons Taught A Seventeen Year Old, PublishAmerica. Fodeman (2003).

Jason D. ISBN 0-67-187147-1. Simon & Schuster. On the Edge: The Clinton Presidency.

Elizabeth Drew (1994). ISBN 0-31-227319-3. Martin's Griffin. St.

The Hunting of the President : The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton. Joe Conason and Gene Lyons (2003). ISBN 0375414576. Knopf.

My Life. Bill Clinton (2004). ISBN 0-37-412502-3. Farrar Straus Giroux.

The Clinton Wars. Sidney Blumenthal (2003). ISBN 0-75-153035-2. William Morrow & Co., Inc.

Bill & Hillary: The Marriage. Christopher Anderson (1999). Bob Barr (2004) The Meaning of Is: The Squandered Impeachment and Wasted Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton Stroud & Hall Publishing ISBN 0-97-453762-4. Rozell (2000) The Clinton Scandal and the Future of American Government Georgetown University Press ISBN 0-87-840777-4.

Mark J. David Maraniss (1998) The Clinton Enigma : A Four and a Half Minute Speech Reveals This President's Entire Life Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-68-486296-4. James Bovard (2000) Feeling Your Pain: The Explosion and Abuse of Government Power in the Clinton-Gore Years St. Martin's Press ISBN 0-31-223082-6. Peter Baker (2000) The Breach : Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton Scribner ISBN 0-68-486813-X.

Michael Isikoff (1999) Uncovering Clinton: A Reporter's Story Crown Publishing Group ISBN 0-60-960393-0. Starr on President Clinton and the Lewinsky Affair PublicAffairs ISBN 1-89-162024-X. Starr (1998) The Starr Report: The Findings of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Kenneth W.