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Economic Record: President Clinton

Name: Bill Clinton Number: 42 Party: Democratic Vice President: Al Gore Entered Office: January 20, 1993 Left Office: January 20, 2001
The economy performed phenomenally during President Clinton's two terms. He came in well above average according to every one of the measures below and he has the best record for job creation of all time. He is the only one of the five most recent presidents to have reduced the debt as a percentage of GDP. Major economic events: February 5, 1993: • Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 signed into law January 1, 1994: • North American Free Trade Agreement takes effect November 14, 1995: • First government shutdown December 16, 1995: • Second government shutdown August 21, 1996: • Minimum waise raised 20% August 22, 1996: • Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act signed into law August 5, 1997: • Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 signed into law November 12, 1999: • Key provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act repealed March 11, 2000: • The dot-com bubble begins to burst
GDP
Related: Best Presidents for GDP growth Source: BEA Data: Excel		The green line represents the GDP growth during the presidency of President Clinton. The orange line reflects the average rate of GDP growth since 1953. The period from 1991 to 2001 is the longest sustained period of economic growth since WW2 and the bulk of it occurred during Clinton's presidency.
Job Creation
Related: Ranking the presidents for job creation Source: BLS Data: Excel		The green line represents the rate of the growth in the number of jobs under President Bill Clinton. The orange line reflects the average rate of growth in the number of jobs since 1953. More jobs were created during the Clinton presidency than during any other presidency in American history. That is not an entirely fair comparison. Because the population continually increases, presidents significantly further back in history cannot compete with modern day numbers. Adjusted for population, FDR would hold the title. But, Clinton's job creation numbers are nonetheless incredible.
Median Income
Related: Ranking the presidents for income growth Source: Census Data: Excel		The orange line is the rate at which the median family income has increased on average since 1953 and the green line is how fast it increased under Clinton.
Debt as a Percentage of GDP
Related: Change in debt by president Source: BEA   Treasury Data: Excel		This graph examines the way the debt shifted relative to GDP. The orange line shows what the debt would have been if it had started at the same level as it was at when President Clinton took office and had grown at the average rate. The green line shows what actually happened. Clinton is the only one of the five most recent presidents to have reduce the debt as a percentage of GDP over his entire term and he is the only president since the 1960s to have run a budget surplus.
Stock Market
Related: Stock market performance by party of president Source: Yahoo Data: Excel		This graph compares the performance of the S&P500 under President Clinton with the average. The remarkable stock market growth during the Clinton presidency was principally driven by the dot-com boom, which peaked with the purchase of Time Warner by AOL in January of 2000. Shortly thereafter, the market began to fall, although the worst of the crash occurred during the presidency of George W. Bush.
Compared to Other Developed Countries
Related: Economic performance relative to NATO countries Source: USDA   University of Groningen Data: Excel		This shows how the GDP growth of the United States compared to the GDP growth in the other original NATO member countries. The other original NATO member countries are used as a benchmark because they have had relatively similar economic status to the United States during the entire period examined. The U.S. economy solidly outperformed the other original NATO members during Clinton's two terms. Bill Clinton ranks third since WW2 in this regard.
President Clinton's economic success was nearly unparalled. However, one of the major drivers was beyond his control- the dot-com boom. Nonetheless, President Clinton certainly made the most out of the opportunity and took the economy to new heights. Clinton struck a number of compromises with Republicans in the legislature that resulted in a relatively moderate set of policies. For example, he accepted the Republican demands for lower capital gains taxes and a drastic reduction in welfare spending, but he made those concessions in exchange for an increase in the minimum wage and a dramatic increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit.
January 4, 2018

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