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US President - Popular Vote

RACE DETAILS

Parents

> United States > U.S. Executive > Popular Vote

Office

President

Type

General Election

Filing Deadline

June 01, 1996 - 12:00pm

Polls Open

November 05, 1996 - 06:00am

Polls Close

November 05, 1996 - 08:00pm

Term Start

January 20, 1997 - 12:00pm

Term End

January 20, 2001 - 12:00pm

Contributor

Barack O-blame-a

Last Modified

Charlotte Rose July 29, 2017 11:40pm

Data Sources

[Link]

Description

During Bill Clinton’s first year in office as President, his budget passed through Congress narrowly. The 1993 act included provisions for expanding the number of tax brackets and creating the alternate minimum tax for wealthy Americans. Clinton also pushed the North American Free Trade Agreement through Congress over the opposition of Ross Perot. Clinton’s most important setback was the failure to pass legislation for universal health care; dissident members of his own party blocked a plan proposed by First Lady Hillary Clinton.
In the midterm election of 1994, the Republican members of the U.S. House drafted a “Contract With America” stating the goals they would pursue if they were granted control of the House. The voters handed control of both houses of Congress to the Republicans for the first time since 1955; they had a 53–47 margin in the Senate and a 235–197 margin in the House.
President Clinton doubled his efforts to work with Congress after the Democratic debacle of 1994. In 1995 several new laws were enacted, including a new crime bill, an increase in the minimum wage, and a bill to restructure the welfare system. The Interstate Commerce Commission was abolished, speed limits were raised, and the regulations of lobbyists were strengthened. Congress also passed the line-item veto, which President Reagan advocated a decade earlier. In a dramatic showdown between the White House and Congress, the federal government shut down for several days pending agreement on the budget. House Speaker Newt Gingrich miscalculated the public response, however, as Pres. Clinton’s ratings rose afterwards.
The Republican Party had high hopes for 1996. Several Republican leaders considered a run for the Presidency but chose not to run after Sen. Bob Dole announced his candidacy. Among the Republicans who bowed out was Colin Powell. Steve Forbes, the publishing millionaire, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination and pressed for a flat income tax. Pat Buchanan offered himself again as the representative of the conservative wing of the party. There was no clear front-runner in the early voting. Buchanan won the caucus in Louisiana and the primary in New Hampshire; Dole won the caucus in Iowa and the primaries in North and South Dakota; Forbes won primaries in Arizona and Delaware. By 3/1/1996, Forbes led the delegate count with 57 compared to Buchanan’s 31 and Dole’s 27. These numbers changed quickly, however. On Super Tuesday, Dole won every state and gained 349 of the 362 delegates at stake. Forbes concentrated his efforts on New York, but Dole defeated him decisively and won all of the delegates from the state. Dole quickly wrapped up the nomination, but he still trailed Clinton badly in the polls. In an attempt to raise his standing, Dole resigned from the Senate effective 6/11/1996 to spend all of his time on the campaign. Dole’s most visible campaign issue was his proposal to reduce income taxes by 15%.
President Clinton faced little opposition for his bid for renomination, winning 89% of the Democratic primary vote. Only 12 delegates did not support him at the Democratic convention.

LAST GENERAL ELECTION
	Party	Democratic	Won	11/03/1992
	Name	Bill Clinton	Votes	44,909,889 (43.01%)
	Term	01/20/1993 - 01/20/1997	Margin	5,805,344 (+5.56%)

PRIMARY/OTHER SCHEDULE
Mar 26, 1996	US President - REF Primaries	Ralph Nader
Mar 26, 1996	US President - LBT Primaries	Harry Browne
Jun 04, 1996	US President - G Primaries	Ralph Nader
Jul 01, 1996	US President - D Primaries	Bill Clinton
Jul 07, 1996	US President - R Primaries	Robert J. "Bob" Dole
Aug 18, 1996	US President - REF Mail Ballot Primary	H. Ross Perot