Opinion Almost 23 years later, how do you assess Bill Clinton?

[panem-et-circenses]

The final years of Clinton received high marks from the American people, especially from '98 to '01, but with his name in the headlines this week, and a general feeling of 'idk what will happen' in the upcoming election, with democrats unable to engender massive support, I wondered: what do people think of Bill Clinton today?

For me, I think 'third way', or whatever you want to term it, contributed to short term gains (it didn't help that an all-time bad, shit-tier president, George Bush 2, was voted into office twice), and ultimately lead us to the alienation we see today; although a specific line has been drawn in the sand that should have quelled the building apathy of the American people. All in all, some good, some bad, so I'll give him a C- overall.

As a person, I can't imagine he has much support, right? He was able to get through many scandals, some of which predate his time in the White House, only this week feels different. He's now linked to one of the most notable creeps of all-time. Rightly or wrongly? Idk, really. According to Maxwell's own deposition, Clinton didn't have dinner on the island. But I wouldn't go out on a limb to defend Bill, either; there is a lot of smoke surrounding his adult life. Recent public perception, however, probably doesn't bode well for his political legacy.

So, all in all, what do you think of our former president?

A.) One of the greats who helped transform the Democratic Party;

B.) one of the great presidents who later ruined his legacy;

C.) meh;

D.) bad president who transformed his legacy through his work after office;

E.) horrible president who is even worse than I thought 23 years later.

 

[GhostZ06]

he was a good president. And i strictly say good.

 

[William Munny]

The last fiscally conservative president we've had.

Republicans should take note. But all in all, 8/10.

 

[Richmma80]

One of the GOATs. His era was peak America

Then Bush fucked everything up

Then Obama fixed things

Then Trump fucked everything up

Now Biden is fixing things

 

[Rob Battisti]

Some good some bad

Mostly good

Taking the sexual stuff out of it, good economics and overall foreign policy.

Too soft on China but hard to assess in retrospect.

 

[gatchaman]

Untried war criminal

Good evening. Earlier today, I ordered America’s armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors. Their purpose is to protect the national interest of the United States, and indeed the interests of people throughout the Middle East and around the world. Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison gas or biological weapons.


Are the killings of Iraqi civilians war crimes?

 

[Morning Star]

The best president who I was old enough to evaluate. Worked across the isle better than anyone I recall, decent talker, life was good under his leadership overall. He got a bit lucky too with PCs and the Internet exploding at his time in office.

 

[MMAisGod]

Probably the second best president in modern history, other than getting it in with chicks in the White House or whatever, but a lot of us might have done the same lol. So second best I'll say.

 

[William Munny]

Some good some bad

Mostly good

Taking the sexual stuff out of it, good economics and overall foreign policy.

Too soft on China but hard to assess in retrospect.

too hard on Iraqi civilians, and I thought pulling out of Somalia was bad too

 

[USA!USA!]

B.

Decent president - weird, gross guy with an equally as strange wife

 

[GhostZ06]

Probably the second best president in modern history, other than getting it in with chicks in the White House or whatever, but a lot of us might have done the same lol. So second best I'll say.

i wouldn't go that far...


Top 4 maybe

 

[Natural Order]

Slick Willy was slick! Good fiscal leader though.
Last decent president America has had.

 

[Chesten_Hesten]

He was very lucky to have presided during a tech boom which greatly help make the economy look good on paper

 

[MMAisGod]

i wouldn't go that far...


Top 4 maybe

I'm thinking modern as in Presidents Nixon to current President Biden. Think Big Willy definitely was #2 overall if not outright #1.

 

[chardog]

Untried war criminal

Good evening. Earlier today, I ordered America’s armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors. Their purpose is to protect the national interest of the United States, and indeed the interests of people throughout the Middle East and around the world. Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison gas or biological weapons.


Are the killings of Iraqi civilians war crimes?

many americans didnt understand the iraq war..... we've had a hard on for that war way before 911.....

 

[Fox by the Sea]

competent politician whose main downsides were his toxic harpy wife and the pathological drive to fuck everything that had a skirt.

 

[chardog]

on a side note, did yall forget that clinton is responsible to the 2008 housing crash? Bush wasnt the only guy pushing for lowering mortgage standards through the floor, Clinton also did as well, and engineered balloon payments with his national homeownership strategy.

 

[avenue94]

Pretty good, but his the expansion of NATO and failure to manage Rwanda before and during the genocide were very stark foreign policy failures that don't get enough attention.

 

[IndyCovaHart]

Pretty good, but his the expansion of NATO and failure to manage Rwanda before and during the genocide were very stark foreign policy failures that don't get enough attention.

He also could have killed Bin Laden before 9/11 so there’s that. Lol

 

[Jack V Savage]

Meh. It's crazy how many people buy the myth that he was fiscally conservative, which I think goes to a broader misunderstanding of how budgeting works. Didn't face many real challenges in office (relative to most presidents), but didn't mess anything up either. Bad on foreign policy, as you'd expect given his experience, mixed on the economy, shameful behavior. I think he rivals JFK as the worst Democratic president since Wilson.