Bill Clinton's Popularity Despite the Scandals

1845 Words4 Pages

The name William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton either creates a negative image or a positive image in the minds of most Americans. Bill Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States of America and served two consecutive terms. He is one of the most popular presidents in history – right up there with Kennedy and even Abraham Lincoln. Nevertheless, there are a group of Americans that remember President Clinton in a negative light. These Americans could be described as the “moral majority” or the “Christian right.” These Americans remember the disgrace and shame that the office of the presidency suffered throughout the sex scandal and impeachment of President Clinton. Did the sex scandal and eventual impeachment of President Clinton have a negative impact on his political strength? Did any of these negative events affect the way his presidency is viewed historically? The answers to these questions are a bit surprising; yet, President Clinton’s political strength remained strong and even strengthened in some respects. He is looked upon favorably in the context of history and remains very popular even to this day. There are many explanations for Bill Clinton’s general and long-term popularity, which include his ability to reach out to the common man, his contagious personality, and his non-partisan ability to meet in the middle concerning politics. Another contributing factor to Clinton’s popularity and strength, in spite of the negative scandal, should also be considered; that being – the moral decay of our country. If the events that took place with President Clinton had happened twenty or thirty years earlier, that particular president would most likely have been impeached/thrown out of office, been very unpopular, and left a black...

... middle of paper ...

...andom House, Inc., 2004. Print.

Works Cited

Abcnews.go.com. “Politics, Poll: Good Job by the Bad-Boy President.” Analysis by Gary

Langer. Accessed December 8, 2011. Web.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/poll_clintonlegacy010117.html

Adler, Ben. “U.S. Politics, Why is Bill Clinton So Much More Popular Than Barack Obama?”

TheDailyBeast.com. Accessed December 10, 2011. Web.

< http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/09/29/why-is-bill-clinton-so-much-more-popular-than-barack-obama.html>

Brands, H. W. The United States Since 1945, American Dreams. New York: Penguin Group

USA, Inc. 2010. Print.

“Bill Clinton.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Accessed

December 10, 2011. Web.

< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton>

Clinton, Bill. My Life. New York: Random House, Inc., 2004. Print.

Open Document