William Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001)

History will be kinder to him as we continue to experience these tough economic times. Forget the sex scandals and Whitewater stuff. The bottom line was that he was the man for the job, and what he did made sense. ... During his presidency, he vetoed lots of tax cuts by the Republicans, and limited the scope of government. With that, an economic boom and a budget surplus happened during his tenure. ... Republicans can no longer say that the Democrats "tax and spend" since they're guilty of doing it themselves. Will the economy rebound under President Obama? I think so, if we cut defense spending drastically, allow the Bush tax cuts (2001 and 2003) to expire, and stop giving tax breaks to these big businesses.

The economy was alot better, and things were not quite as bad as there are now.

He could have done alot better, in quite alot of areas. As for the Monicagate scandal, what politican hasn't had extra material affrairs on the side?

I never liked Clinton until Bush Jr. was elected. By comparison of the 2 Bushes this guy was President Extrordinair of the world.
Yes there was Monicagate, but the Ken Starr embarrased the country every bit as much as B.J. in this mess.
Meanwhile, we did have a very prosperous economy, our dollar was strong and tho we did have some terrorist attacks, Clinton managed to fight back WITHOUT starting an illegal war. As 9/11 proved our retalitory strikes were not successful, but he tried anyway. He sent troops into Kosovo and searched for bin Ladin IN THE RIGHT COUNTRY. It was a start anyway. If the 2000 elections were not stolen, who knows where things would be right now?

Gun grabber who never learned to respect our Constitution

Didn't bankrupt the country during his run, I'll give him that.

He was an above average president. Bill Clinton had very little to do with the economic boom of the 90's. Technology was the main reason for the good economy. But he did a nice job of not screwing things up.

I am a Republican but this guy was an above average President. Yes the moral issues bother me, but he was able to get things done. I prefer him over both Bush's by a long shot.

Nothing that happened during the last eight years was Bill Clinton's fault....including the recession that began in March of 2008 and 9/11. Therefore, come January 20th, 2009....nothing will be Bush's fault or responsibility.

William Jefferson Clinton?  Is that the guy we called Bill?  Sounds much more presidential.  Blaming all of the ills of the 8 years of the Bush Administration on Clinton  is like pinning World War II on Herbert Hoover.  Was there nothing that Bush could have done to overcome the prosperity and relative peace he inherited from falling into the morass he left for Obama?   Did Bill Clinton do it all to screw over Barrack for his future defeat of Hillary.  It's a conspiracy I tell ya.

Terrorism festered out of control while he played in the White House. It is not so much what he did but what he failed to even try to do which makes Clinton a bad president.

Set the cornerstones for the current poor economic situation, then blamed the opposition for his own lack of leadership.

hillbilly

Former President of the United States Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998, and acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999. The charges, perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power arose from the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the Paula Jones law suit. The trial proceedings were largely party-line, with no Democratic Senators voting for conviction and only five Democratic Representatives voting to impeach. In all, 50 senators voted "not guilty," and 50 voted "guilty" on the obstruction charge. The Senate also acquitted on the charge of perjury with 55 votes cast as "not guilty," and 45 votes as "guilty." It was only the second impeachment of a President in American history, following the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in 1868.

Closed our military bases all around the world, cut back on military spending, weaked the military, tried to sell China part of the California coast, cheated on his wife, impeached; I can only imagine what we don't know about. The one thing I do like is that he signed the Family Emergency Leave Act into law.

I remember hearing about Clinton and seeing his wife up here in New Hampshire.  Is he still in office?

Average. Not that great of a President, but not a George Bush, either.

i like every he did as pres except for Monica, why Bill why. My thoughts werent only with Hilary but your daughter Chelsea come what a role model she had. though I don't feel he needed to be impeached. He did lie about WMDs or kill 4,000 americans for a war that should have never happened.

OUr econonmy was good, but he didnt really go after bin laden

I don't agree with the moral issues but I must admit I lived better under Clinton than any other President.

I just deleted the postive review I gave Clinton years ago. Yes, in many ways he was a good president, and yes, the 90s were great, but his asinine behavior on the campaign trail this year disgusted me. It made me wonder if I had been bamboozled, and if he was as great as I once thought he was.

Anyone following the economy during the presidency of Bill Clinton cannot help but notice the crash of the stock market in early 2000, when the air bubble on which the economy was riding on, lost gas. Anyone following the foreign policy of Clinton cannot help byt notice that international terrorism has matured during his presidency. And anyone following the recent history cannot help but notice that the following presidency after Clinton has inherited a corrupt and weak economy, a newly risen international threat and a very damaged image of the presidency itself. Anyone who cares for America would notice that the disastrous trend of democrat presidencies have always been followed by a time of adjustment that people usually hate. But then, it's easier to brainwash people when their stomach is full, even if only of hot air.

Deserves to be blamed for enabling up the victory of his successor, who may be the biggest catastrophe we've yet seen as a nation. It's sad that reviewers still want to make this a character issue, playing right into the GOP's hands. It's historically too early for me to have a sense of the merits of his policies. However, he did manage a budget surplus, a feat that seems almost unthinkable only a few years later.

good except for the whole monica deal.

An asshole.

I think Clinton did a lot of good in this country, but just can't make myself give him a rating of "great" cuz of his infidelity

Got us out of a deficeit... and left the office with a surplus of money...

Ah, Bubba...what COULD have been.

He signed into law nearly 100% of the Republican wish list [and he militarized America's police departments] but still the authoritarian wingnuts hate his guts. Go figure. 

UPDATE:

I'm adding a point for his being an unrepentant hound dog.

A smart guy and born leader of dumb guys who's nevertheless not to be trusted. Loses a point for being such an unrepentant hound dog (see JFK).

Smart and charismatic, but a little bit od a corporate dude. We have him to thank for NAFTA and all our jobs being shipped overseas

Clinton lacked for convictions. Already, his legacy is being described as the poll watching President - even among many Democrats. Going for him is welfare reform and a balanced budget. Those accomplishments do not look very spectacular when weighed against the things that go against him, especially his foreign policy blunders. I think he gets a pass for bogging down US forces in Kosovo because that was NATO endorsed. Many of his foreign interventions seem to have been diversions to shift attention away from his personal battles.

People need to get over the stupid affair thing. He was a very good president and the affair should have nothing to do with him running the country! The economy was good and look at it now people!

Basically the same as George W. Bush except that he is a demonazi.

He is a puppet. Albeit one that makes a racket out of puppeteering.

9/11 happened on W's watch, however... Waco, Oklahoma City bombings (inside job goverment setups just like 9/11) happened on this arse hole's watch.

Liar, cheater, ecomony was better when he started than when he left. Made military weak. depnds on what is...is. Give me a break

He lied to the American people. He was impeached and he didn't resign.

He made a mockery of the Presidency - and we let him get away with it. He also had Osama Bin Laden in his hands and let him get away.  And now we get to put up with his Marxist wife while she shoots for the White House.....just great.

the best example for how america is the land of hypocritical puritan evil idiots where you get impeached for a blow job, but if you attack/kill 3000 citizens in order to start 2 oil wars you don't.

I did not agree with his moral standards, but I will tell you this.  He knew how to run this country.

He was not fabulous but also not terrible. He should have taken up Nawaz sharif's offer to hand over Osama Ben Laden...20/20 hindsight.

Illegal campaign contributions and loose interns aside, the actual Clinton presidency wasn't horrible. He didn't really screw anything up, but that is largely because he didn't do anything other than Monica. It would have been nice if he hadn't ignored the terrorists threats and attacks that were rampant during his administration. The Khobar Towers alone was enough to present us as spineless. No, NAFTA wasn't a good idea, but it was really a bi-partisan bad idea. Still, he was at the wheel when it went through and gave it a glowing endorsement, After it tanked his supporters do their best to relieve him of anything to do with it.

Was really just a used car salesman that should thank Ross Perot for making him President of the United States.  

I always blamed Clinton more for NAFTA than I did for any b'job.

  Nobody died when clinton lied.

The guy was horny.

Could be worse. He could be killing hundreds of soldiers, and thousands of people in general....all for what. Oh yeah. Nothing.

I wish there was a negative rating. Honestly.

About average, despite what both his detractors and his adorers believe.

He is neither the worst man to occupy the presidency or the best, or even close to either end of the spectrum. While he enjoyed some successes, he also had a fair balance of failures.

His scandals, while relatively petty compared to events like Watergate or Teapot Dome, undoubtedly will remain a part of his legacy, and deservedly so. If for no other reason than that he couldn't manage to control them.

Balanced out in spite of himself, but his legacy will always be his domestic scandal. He'll go into the history books as the second president to be impeached. That shall not be impressive.

This sleazy law-breaking and formerly pot-smoking president was a terrible policymaker and just as bad--if not worse--in his personal life as well. He had multiple opportunities to take in the villain, Osama Bin Laden, when he was offered by various governements and refused! Under Clinton, unemployment was higher than it is now. His policies on international relations were a mix of pandering (giving nuclear tech to communist North Korea) or just plain weak (bombing medicine factories in Iraq to distract from 'Monicagate.') Ah, yes, Monicagate, where sex was just sex and the word 'it' was...ambigious in its meaning. I need not get into the details of this, unlike much of TV did at the time. I sincerely hope we do not see Hilary win. Do we want Slick Willie back in the White House? Do we really want First Husband Bill Clinton!?!?

One of the worst of all time! A lying, deceitful, conniving, reprobate, scoundrel. Should have been completely impeached for lying under oath, not just being stripped of his ability to practice law. I don't care what he lied about, it was still under oath before a Grand Jury!!! Took all this credit for having such a great economy and for paying down the debt. The problem is he borrowed from our Social Security surplus to help pay down debts, part of the reason Social Security is in such bad shape as it is. Crippled our military, sat back and watched as terrorists ran rampant and did as they wished to our embassies, barracks, etc. Had Bin Laden in the palm of his hand and let him go free!!! Pardoned hardened criminals, one which was a child molester!!! Hundreds of people associated with the Clinton's have came up dead or missing!!! Who know's what we would know about the Clinton's if it had not been for Vince Foster's death (murder) or for Sandy Burger!!! Bill clinton is a man unworthy of the praise he receives!!!

I feel he gets overly chastised for his adulterous ways,but history has shown other presidents involved in various scandals also.he accomplished alot in his presidency but dropped the ball concerning the u.s.s. cole attack.Outside of his scandals I think people felt good about him doing his job in the whitehouse effectively.

I liked Clinton...Even if he did cheat on his wife and even if he was involved in various scandals, I think he was charismatic and generally a pretty cool guy. So he was no Abe Lincoln...But by comparison he wasn't one of the "bad" presidents either.

vastly overrated by the media and almost everyone else. did almost nothing at all in his first term, second term marred by scandals and bad foreign policy. gets entirely too much credit for some good economic times which were as a result of a broad recovery.

more interested in getting sex (a different kind of "job" in particular) than doing his elected job

He doesn't look that bad now after what seems a 100 years of dip shit bush