Bill Clinton

Paper Summary:

This paper explores Bill Clinton's life, presenting both a biographical sketch and further examining his personal leadership qualities. The author describes Clinton's early life, his family and education. Then the paper discusses Clinton's entry into politics. This includes his first gubernatorial election and defeat, and his re-election four years later.The author acknowledges Clinton's perseverance and persistence, and his capacity to learn from his mistakes. The paper also discusses Clinton's negative character traits citing his involvement in a number of sex scandals. The author concludes that despite Clinton's indiscretions, he was among the most popular US president's of the 20th century.

Outline:
Early Life
Education
Entering Politics: Baptism of Fire
Perseverance in Defeat
Political Leadership at the State Level
Risk Taking
"It's the Economy, Stupid"
Positioning Himself as the New Democrat
Brilliant Intellect
Great Communicator/ Listener
The Negatives
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"During his first term as governor, Clinton made efforts to improve Arkansas's economy, which was among the poorest in the country. He focused on improving the state highways as they were in a bad shape but had to raise taxes for meeting the cost, which proved unpopular. Some of his other initiatives such restriction on tree-cutting in national forests were opposed by the lumber and paper-making companies, while bankers were annoyed with his proposal to withhold state funds from banks that did not lend enough money for small businesses. Most of all, his opponents exploited the government's settling of Cuban refugees in Arkansas, by evoking the fear that they would take away jobs from the local workers. All of these factors contributed to Clinton's defeat in his bid for re-election for the governorship in 1980 against the Republican Party candidate (Ibid.)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Bill Clinton's Draft Letter" Frontline. 2000. May 9, 2007. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/clinton/etc/draftletter.html>
• Campbell, Colin, and Bert A. Rockman, eds. The Clinton Legacy. New York: Chatham House, 2000.
• Denton, Robert E., and Rachel L. Holloway, eds. The Clinton Presidency: Images, Issues, and Communication Strategies. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996.
• Dumas, Ernest C. "Bill Clinton." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, 2007. May 9, 2007. <http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564341/Bill_Clinton.html>
• James Fallows, And Others. "Bill Clinton and His Consequences." The Atlantic Monthly Feb. 2001: v45-850.

More papers on Bill Clinton:

• Book Review # 145006 : "My Life" by Bill Clinton"
• Analytical Essay # 117809 : "Bill Clinton's Presidential Campaigns"
• Essay # 72625 : "Bill Clinton and Elites in American Society"

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