Clinton and Ike:
This will raise hackles, but there's more that connects Bill Clinton and Dwight Eisenhower than one might imagine. Don't be too quick to
dismiss this in the belief that "Ike" was moral and dour, whilst Clinton
was hornier than a bunny rabbit in April. Eisenhower biographers don't like to
hear it, but Ike probably had a long-term affair with his military chauffeur Kay Summersby. Harry Truman claimed
Eisenhower considered divorcing Mamie and Ms. Summersby made a disputed deathbed
confession. Still, if collecting conquests were the sole criterion, Clinton
would be matched with the greatest Lothario in White House history: John F.
Kennedy. But wait… there's more.
How they are similar:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL1O8A4dQkzZe3PSmRlAMD-G6fQT9QcIUI3wvWbROK2UiQjUUkKMA86j3Th-gpmkO8hdGftit5VcB3uVzMGn2il2ar-cxBRFEDrvg82hd7mfW_ReorLtN_niEpRAPUHnN-eBbjMWn01Xi6/s200/MTE5NTU2MzE2MjExMjE3OTMx.jpg)
Clinton took over after the Reagan/Bush I interregnum to a
hail of misplaced enthusiasm. Liberals hoped he'd be another FDR and African
Americans proclaimed him "America's first black president." Oh dear!
Clinton's MO was "triangulation," a purposeful attempt to steer a
middle path between liberals and conservatives; hence we got a bit of both.
Liberal: repeal of Bush I family planning restrictions, cutting taxes for
low-income earners, the Family and Medical Leave Act, a diverse Cabinet,
several child healthcare bills, Megan's Law, AmeriCorps, a clean water bill…. On the other hand, one could call Clinton
the most effective Republican
president since Ike: NAFTA, DOMA, a bill protecting religious education, curbs
on illegal immigration, welfare reform, shrinking the federal bureaucracy, the
Telecommunications Reform Act, draconian crime bills, and repeal of the Glass-Steagall
Act, the last of which paved the way for the Bush II recession. On balance,
Clinton averages out as a moderate—just like his Supreme Court appointees, Ruth
Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
Both men were parsimonious. Eisenhower warned of a
"military-industrial complex" and sought to starve it; Clinton
produced the first balanced budget since Lyndon Johnson. Both ruled over
periods of outward economic prosperity. Eisenhower was in office for the
longest period of economic expansion in U.S. history, while Clinton saw the end
of the Bush I recession and enjoyed years of Stock Market growth, low
unemployment, and minimal inflation.
Neither Eisenhower nor Clinton had unqualified success in
foreign affairs. As a Cold War president, Eisenhower maintained needed calm
during the Suez Crisis, attempted rapprochement with the Soviet Union, and isolated
extremists during a period of global tension and Red Scare. His time in office
was marred by periods in which his administration elevated that tension—the
issuance of NSC-162, the articulation of the (now discredited) Domino Theory,
the cancellation of free elections in Vietnam, the uncertain culmination of the
Korean War, nuclear testing, the U-2 incident, and the Bay of Pigs plan.
Turning loose the CIA in places such as Guatemala, Iran, and the Congo proved
unwise in the long run.
Clinton wasn't much interested in foreign policy, but he
charmed foreign leaders. He left what is, at best, a mixed record. Bungled:
Bosnia. Success: Kosovo. Bungled: the immediate response to the 1993 World
Trade Center bombing. Wise: His warnings on Osama bin-Laden (and Saddam
Hussein). Bungled: the response to US
Cole bombing. Success: Bombings of Afghanistan and Sudan. Bungled: Rwanda.
Success: the Israel-Jordan Treaty. And so it goes….
It's tempting to say that Ike was saddled by the Cold War,
and Clinton was the first post-USSR president, but if one considers Clinton the
first Age of Terrorism POTUS, that difference dissolves.
How they are different:
Mainly in style. Eisenhower was grandfatherly and dull;
Clinton was Elvis crossed with Kennedy. You'd definitely rather have beers with
Bill.
It is fair game to say that whether or not Ike had an
affair, he was a choirboy compared to Clinton. Whitewater, Travelgate, lying
under oath, and his sexual peccadilloes turned out to be more smoke than fire,
and the attempt to impeach Clinton ranks among history's smelliest foiled
vendettas. That said, seldom has America seen such a skilled politician with
such a broken moral compass.
Rankings:
Eisenhower is enjoying reassessment and currently ranks 9th
(of 42). This rating is assuredly over-zealous revisionism that confuses the
postwar economic boom with Ike's actual accomplishments. Clinton is currently #
20 and would be higher, were it not for his personal flaws. Twenty sounds about
right for each.
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