Chapter 31

Question 1

What were the tenants of Bill Clinton’s 1992 Presidential campaign?

Answer 1

• He emphasized everyday problems, which George H. W. Bush had neglected.
• Reduction of government bureaucracy and the deficit, emphasis on value of stable families and reform for healthcare and welfare.

Question 2

What did Bill Clinton’s election, first term, and reelection in 1996 show about the US public at this time?

Answer 2

• Their attraction to pragmatic policies and the political center in a two-party system.

Question 3

What was the role of “Generation X” in the elections of the 90s?

Answer 3

• They came of voting age.
• The generational concern was about foreclosure of opportunities, growing economic divisions, and the deterioration of US competitiveness.

Question 4

How did Clinton appeal to the generational change?

Answer 4

• He was a baby boomer and successful governor of Arkansas; fielded a full baby boomer ticket by choosing Tennessean Albert Gore, Jr. as his running mate.
• Overcame accusations of womanizing and avoidance of military service in Vietnam.

Question 5

Explain the RNC conflict during the ‘92 election.

Answer 5

• H. W. Bush was the last WW2 generation politician; campaigned on foreign policy and hoped voters would reward him for the end of the Cold War.
• Patrick Buchanan was an arch-conservative; appealed to the Christian right, calling for a crusade against unbelievers in America.
• Bush ultimately received the RNC nomination.

Question 6

Explain the phenomenon of Ross Perot.

Answer 6

• Texas billionaire who ran as an independent in the ‘92 election.
• Tried to occupy the political center.
• Outscored both Bush and Clinton in opinion polls initially, but soon became erratic and touted that he was the target of dark conspiracies, before withdrawing.
• When people voted for him, it was from the perspective of disrupting “politics as usual,” as opposed to any hopes that he would actually win.

Question 7

How did the Persian Gulf War and the recession influence the ‘92 election?

Answer 7

• Persian Gulf War led to a surge in the popularity of Bush, but the recession then crushed it as Clinton’s economic emphasis paid off.
• in Nov. ‘92, polls indicated that Americans ranked the economy, the deficit, and healthcare all way above foreign policy in terms of concern.

Question 8

For what demographics was Clinton most successful?

Answer 8

• Voters over 65 who remembered FDR and Truman, and voters under 30.
• Clinton’s appeal was towards blue-collar Reagan Democrats; he presented as leader of the new, pragmatic and livelier Democrats.
• He held the northern and midwestern states.

Question 9

Explain Clinton’s first few years of foreign policy.

Answer 9

• Inherited the expectation that the US could use its economic / military power to counter ethnic hatred without incurring risks to itself.
• First few years of his admin, diplomats brokered an Israel-PLO accord that gave Palestinians self-government in Gaza and the West Bank; also implemented reduction in nuclear arsenals + ‘96 treaty that banned testing of nuclear weapons.

Question 10

Explain the NATO Bosnian intervention.

Answer 10

• Early 90s, Communist Yugoslavia -> Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Yugoslavia.
• Christian Serbs, supported by Belgrade, massacred and deported Muslim Bosnians to create “ethnically clean” Serbian districts.
• ‘95, NATO troops enforced a peace accord and divided territory into Bosnian and Serb sectors under a federated government.

Question 11

Explain the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo.

Answer 11

• Kosovo was a Yugoslav province where a majority of ethnic Albanians were under the control of Serb Yugoslav government.
• Kosovar independence movement -> Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic did brutal repression, threatened to drive a million ethnic Albanians out of the province.
• In March 1999, NATO bombed Yugoslav military bases to protect Kosovars; June, Yugoslav withdrew and a multinational NATO peacekeeping force was established.

Question 12

Explain the reinvented NATO of the 90s.

Answer 12

• NATO expanded into the former Soviet sphere in Eastern Europe.
• ‘99, NATO admitted Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic over objections from Russia.
• 3 years later, Russia was given a formal role in policy discussion.
• 04 and 09 saw 9 nations added to NATO.