¶ … Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations and their support from Congress. With Barack Obama the first Democratic president since Bill Clinton, there are bound to be comparisons between the two administrations. They have some commonalities, such as a desire for health care reform, that are difficult to ignore. What the Obama administration manages to accomplish remains to be seen, but comparisons to their first year in office can now be analyzed for similarities and differences.
The Clinton administration ran on a platform of being "outsiders" in Washington D.C., and they believed they could clean up Washington and give the government back to the people. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The Clinton administration was extremely controversial, especially because of the sex scandals and the Whitewater Scandal that turned up during the first year of Clinton's presidency. He may be most remembered for the Monica Lewinsky affair, but he did accomplish many things during his administration, including sweeping tax reform that revived the economy. One writer notes, "In 1993, Bill Clinton pushed through the most progressive legislation the U.S. has had since the Johnson Administration. It was called, prosaically, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act" (Editors, 2009). This bill raised taxes on corporations and the wealthiest taxpayers, reduced taxes for the working poor, and generally helped fuel economic growth.
Clinton faced other problems in his administration from the start. He had a very loyal and eager staff, but they were inexperienced. One author notes, "He filled key White House staff and cabinet posts with FOB's (Friends of Bill's) from Arkansas" (Dickinson, 1998, p. 768). This made it very difficult to accomplish many of the things he wanted to accomplish, and he ended up replacing many staff members with more experienced personnel as his administration continued.
Overall, the Clinton administration had lofty goals in many areas, such as health care reform and economic policy. However, they faced many hurdles throughout their administration....
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