Bill Clinton was the best president in my life time,

[speak easy]

Last edited Sat Jul 26, 2025, 09:24 PM - Edit history (2)

judged not by legislation, policy, or RW noise, but what it was like to live in the '90s. In the year 2000 we had a budget surplus, real wage improvements across the board, and good relations with the rest of the world including China and Russia.

Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama were the best of men; WJC gave us the best of times.

[LisaM]

1. Same here.

My life improved dramatically. I went from being poor to being middle class, with the two biggest wage bumps I ever had (or probably ever will have). Downtown Seattle was packed with thriving stores and there was still a music scene. Even the movies were better, more interesting and original, not all these cartoons.

[CTyankee]

2. Well thought out! I agree about Clinton except that his dalliance with the intern was staggeringly stupid.

I loved Carter but felt he wasn't really up to the job.

I now think that Barack Obama was the best president I ever had, perhaps even the best president of all.

I have come to accept the fact that I probably won't see a woman President in the time I have left in my life. I hope my daughters and granddaughters will!

[KentuckyWoman]

13. My very humble opinion

He was the right man for the moment, but very quickly we needed a son of a bitch in office. Carter didn't have much, if any , SOB in him. And really at that level you got to have someone with just a little mean in the mix.

Carter is one of the best people ever to grace the office.

[Melon]

3. Bill Clinton balanced the budget and we ran a surplus. It felt good earning back

then and not piling our debt onto future generations. His personal life and adultry took headlines, but I care about running the country.

[speak easy]

5. " His personal life and adultry took headlines"

In the 60's that would have been par for the course. It only made headlines in the '90s because the GOP was so bent on taking Bill down. Newt was having an affair; So were many in Congress. Utter hypocrisy.

[Renew Deal]

8. It wasn't just the affair

It was the power imbalance that made the situation worse.

[speak easy]

67. And what was the power balance between JFK

and Fiddle and Faddle (Priscilla Wear and Jill Cowen)? While House secretaries.

[ShazzieB]

42. Yes, back in the 60s, the media seemed to have an unwritten rule about ignoring any presidential sex monkey business.

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I'm not exactly sure when it changed, But JRK, for example, was quite the womanizer, and I don't remember it being talked about publicly until long after his time in office.

[Oeditpus Rex]

52. There was such a 'rule'

It was the old "Bros before h*s" bullshit. Renember, all White House reporters were men back then, and always had been. They weren't about to blow the whistle on The President of the United States, fer chrissakke, for something many of them were thenselves guilty.

[JanMichael]

71. Monkey Business sank Gary Hart in 1988.

Just one photo with someone who was not his wife sitting on lap on a boat.

And boom, his presidential campaign was blown up.

Monkey Business....

[ShazzieB]

78. Ha, that's right!

[markodochartaigh]

103. Gary Hart was set up by Lee Atwater.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/11/was-gary-hart-set-up/570802/


I don't have a free link, but the beginning of the provided article sketches it out.

[SharonAnn]

110. And, it turned out that it was a setup by the right wing politicos. Not surprised.

[ILikePie92]

4. Back in 2000....

I would've agreed with you.and you're entitled to your opinion. I'm not arguing either. Just wanted to add to your post.

My opinion now is that Biden was the best in my lifetime. 1974 to present.

Carter was the best person/man and I don't think that's close.

I wish Obama had been better.

[speak easy]

11. In the 50's, 60s, and especially the 80's

the Bomb was always in our nightmares. In the 90's we had a respite from the horror of neclear war.

[ILikePie92]

44. Yeah, right!

I remember the 80s as a kid. It was like nuclear war was gonna happen it was just a matter of when. I was all ready to enact Red Dawn as a 15 year old in 89, haha

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. It was under Clinton that China was granted Most Favored Nation status

Leading to their dominance in manufacturing today.

Clinton repealed Glass-Steagall setting the stage for the 2008 GFC.

But yeah, the economy was great in the 90’s.

I must be older than you, the economy was great in the 50’s and most of the 60’s…but we had Jim Crow, Viet Nam…

As far as governance, LBJ and Biden were the most progressive presidents of my lifetime (so far)

[still-prayin4rain]

14. Yep, also signed the Telecommunications Act, which was bought and paid for by the corporate media lobbies

The act dramatically reduced important Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations on cross ownership, and allowed giant corporations to buy up thousands of media outlets across the country, increasing their monopoly on the flow of information in the United States and around the world.

[LearnedHand]

104. This and the lack of response to the Rwanda genocide

I’ll never forgive him for either of those. He also bought into that “welfare queen” bullshit and “ended welfare as we know it.”

[W_HAMILTON]

15. Not true -- China was first granted Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) status back in the 1980s.

...

China’s eligibility for MFN status is subject to freedom-of-emigration
conditions imposed by the Jackson-Vanik amendment (Sec. 402) to the Trade Act of
1974. This permits U.S. authorities to grant MFN status to a “nonmarket
economy"country providing that that country does not restrict emigration.1 Under
U.S. law, the President may either determine that China is in full compliance with the
Jackson-Vanik amendment, or else he may waive the requirement of full compliance.
U.S. Presidents have done the latter for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) every
year since 1980, when MFN status was first granted.

Taken from: https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/98-603.html

[still-prayin4rain]

20. The 2000 act made the MFN status permanent and no longer subject to annual audit/review

[W_HAMILTON]

23. That wasn't the claim. Fact of the matter is that China had MFN status since 1980.

Yes, it went from temporary -- which was inevitably approved each year anyway -- to permanent, but it doesn't change the fact that China had the MFN status for close to two decades before the legislation passed under the Clinton administration.

[still-prayin4rain]

26. No, annual approval was not inevitable nor merely procedural

But, yes, you are correct the original poster technically should have put the word "permanent" in their assertion to ensure maximum accuracy.

[W_HAMILTON]

29. It was approved every year after it was first granted in 1980 until it was finally made permanent two decades later.

[speak easy]

27. Overwrite is Oversite.

W's Admin did nothing to bring China's subsidies to the WTO.

[Fiendish Thingy]

40. Did that detail change my point significantly?

I wasn’t just posting a list of things that occured during the Clinton administration, I noting that the “great times” the OP exclaimed about came at a price…

Forgot to mention “ending welfare as we know it” as well…

[W_HAMILTON]

115. Of course it did.

You tried to blame Clinton for giving China MFN status and thus causing the explosion in Chinese manufacturing when, in fact, China had already been granted MFN status for close to two decades at that point.

[still-prayin4rain]

17. And the 1994 Crime Bill ... terrible effects on society

[speak easy]

24. Agreed.

[W_HAMILTON]

31. Hindsight is 20/20.

And those most affected by the rampant crime of that era were the ones most likely to support the bill.

In a functioning democracy, such a bill would have still been passed, but its problem areas would have been simply remedied by future bills; of course, the 90s was also around the same time when our country was falling under the total influence of rightwing propaganda and that sort of responsible governance grew rarer and rarer as Republicans became more and more obstructionist.

[emulatorloo]

107. True. A mistake. At the time though the CBC wanted it and folks like Sen Sanders voted for it, and campaigned on it.

[Zackzzzz]

19. He repealed Glass-Steagall.

I can't repeat it enough times.

[speak easy]

25. And W did nothing as the crisis exploded.

Oversight is oversight.

And the Obama Administration did not do enough to bring the perps to justice.

[CTyankee]

73. Why would they not?

[speak easy]

74. Beats me.

The Sub-Prime crisis was marked by pervasive fraud. Too Big to Fail means Too Big to Jail?

[Renew Deal]

7. Clinton made some big mistakes

And the biggest one hurts his standing.

[speak easy]

10. But life was good when he was my President.

That is all I am saying.

[Renew Deal]

12. That is how Trump got elected

He's flawed but "good for the economy"

[speak easy]

16. Nah. It was the shit that he was a good business man

who could take on The Swamp.

[Cosmocat]

55. Fine point

That was 100% bs, and he and his supporters knew it.

As much as you want to smash your device when these people scream THIS IS WHAT I VOTED FOR! on SM, that is in fact true - he was elected to do what he is doing now, blow up the country and our democracy and turn us into a hate filled kleptocracy.

[speak easy]

57. "THIS IS WHAT I VOTED FOR! "

Yes! To hurt the people I blame for kids leaving our town for a better life.

[emulatorloo]

109. Indeed. Bankruptcies. The failure of Trump Airlines, Trump Vodka, Trump Airlines. criminal Trump University

And Trump Mortgage.

But he had a hit show on NBC starring as an alleged “good businessman.”

Every Trump Business That Went Bankrupt

https://www.aol.com/every-trump-business-went-bankrupt-133407666.html

[choie]

113. For whom?

All the people that were caught up in mass incarceration? Those who could no longer declare bankruptcy or those no longer able to access public assistance?

[oasis]

9. Me too. BC was actually "THE Big Beautiful Bill"

[speak easy]

18. Well Bill was photogenic,

and I say that as a straight man. You could not miss it. He was our Big Beautiful Bill.

[oasis]

21. Yes, that too. I was actually glowing about my

personal feelings of well being. Friends and family were all doing quite well, especially financially.

[David__77]

22. He had a great policy on China: "strategic partnership".

[elleng]

28. Clinton failed, for along time,

to deal with Kosovo war; M Albright helped, along with General Wesley Clark.

[TexasBushwhacker]

72. And he never did anything about what was happening in Rwanda

Between 500K and 1 Million people were murdered in the span of 100 days.

[Polybius]

98. It wasn't our war to get involved in

Clinton knew that it would not have strong support. Look how much the public opposed our involvement in Haiti with "Operation Uphold Democracy." We had no business getting involved in that either.

[TexasBushwhacker]

100. He wanted to

But he was dealing with the Lewinsky mess.

[Seeking Serenity]

96. I still get enraged when I think of then-SoS Albright saying in 1996

That half a million dead Iraqi children was worth it to have a worldwide sanctions regime on Iraq in order to punish Saddam Hussein.

[Seeking Serenity]

30. The DLC. Triangulation.

The secret to the Party's woes was to become more Republican.

NAFTA.

As others have mentioned, the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

Started the Party on the path of cozying up to Wall Street and the big banks.

Subprime mortgages, which directly led to the 2008 financial crisis.

Yeah, the economy was good (peace dividend, dot-com boom), but sowed too many seeds that led to the destruction of the working class. Now we have a choice of Banker Party #1 or Banker Party #2.

[Oopsie Daisy]

62. Cut it out! Enough of the anti-Democratic party lies like "Banker Party #1 or Banker Party #2"

It serves no good purpose to perpetuate the BS myth that "both parties are the same". This only serves to divide and weaken. It creates resentment and distrust. And this, in turn, empowers and benefits the GOP and Trump.

Why would anyone here want to do or say things that that benefit the GOP and Trump?

[markpkessinger]

91. Sorry, but Clinton's triangulation was, in fact, a thing

And while it may have yielded some short-term Democratic gains, it was devastating to the party over the long term. And while I agree with you that the parties are not the same, the reason that perception arose in the first place had a great deal to do with Clinton's infamous "triangulation."

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_(politics)#:~:text=In%20Morris'%20words%2C%20triangulation%20meant,to%20as%20%22Clintonian%20triangulation%22.

[Seeking Serenity]

94. Try this link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_%28politics%29

[Seeking Serenity]

95. Where's the lie when the Party's 2024 candidate received more Wall Street backing than the opposition candidate?

Admitting that our Party has become beholden to big banks, big pharma, big [insert corporate interest here] ever since the Clinton era is the first step we need to take towards recovery.

[emulatorloo]

106. It means Wall Street knew Trump would tank the US economy. And Trump's doing a great job fucking the economy

Which affects a lot of everyday people.

P.S. love your avatar…amazing artist.

[Seeking Serenity]

108. Thank you. Indeed she was.

[H2O Man]

32. JFK

There was a conflict with Cuba and the Soviet Union over some missiles that came mighty close to a war that could easily have ended the chances of any of the later presidents from ever serving. But JFK handled it well.

Recommended.

[gab13by13]

33. Lyndon Johnson, by far, Civil Rights Act

Clinton gutted Glass-Steagell, cut back on welfare.

[speak easy]

82. There was a veto proof majority for the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

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in both the House and the Senate. Performative vetos are just that, performative.

[doubleplusgood]

83. and Medicare

If it weren't for the Vietnam war, LBJ would be considered one of our greatest presidents.

[orangecrush]

34. Yup.

During the 90s people like myself were able to rise above poverty.

Then they took it all back with Bush, and Krasnov is going to finish the job.

[doc03]

35. His backing NAFTA was responsible for Democrats losing the

blue collar and union support. GHWB could not get enough Democratic support to pass NAFTA. Clinton and Gore
picked it up and were able to get it passed. It was Reagan that killed manufacturing but the Republican's successfully
put it on Democrats and NAFTA. Trump actually gave us a gift with his USMCA, he tried using the stupid trade deal he
made himself for his tariffs. They own it now. I think Obama would have been the best president in my lifetime but
McConnel prevented him from doing much.

[OLDMDDEM]

36. I agree.

[rickyhall]

37. Mine was LBJ, but I'm 70.

[BigmanPigman]

38. Clinton and Biden are tied in my book.

Clinton is great to listen to and his opinions are very respected by me. A few weeks ago he spoke about what the US and Dems need to do to fight tRump and he said tomtake them to court non-stop until the midterms. Good plan!!!

[C Moon]

39. Oh boy, the extreme right HATED President Clinton.

In the late 90s I was walking out of a store. There was a guy (who would now be typical maga look...middleaged, chubby, white, snarky...yeah, that could be anyone, but...) walking ahead of me. He had a bill nearly falling out of his rear pocket.

I said, "Excuse me sir, you're going to lose some money from your back pocket."
He turned and smiled (an evil smiile), and said, "Here, want it? It's Bill Bucks."
I didn't even want to touch it. Gross.

Fake money with Clinton's face on it. I guess he was hoping someone would steal it out of his back pocket.

[still-prayin4rain]

41. Obama, hands down for me. But of course, everyone loves precious JC ❤️

[Jack Valentino]

43. And President Joe Biden was/IS a very good man, and achieved a legislative record

that may have eclipsed both of them, except for 'Obamacare'...


Bill Clinton was probably the greatest 'politican' of the bunch---

'Greatest president', I'd have to think about that---
since he gave Reagan-Bush a "pass" for their crimes....

[Abolishinist]

45. What are your thoughts on the Oral Office thingy.

Just a one-off?

[comradebillyboy]

46. I was a republican until Bill Clinton led me away

from the Dark Side.

[LS0999]

47. I thought it couldn't get any worse than W

But here we are. The 1990s is a long gone era.. and I wonder if America will survive as a free country after the voters decided to cede our freedom to the Turd. The longer this current madness continues and he is not stopped the more likely that we are going to lose our freedom for good.

[WarGamer]

49. 1000% 1992-2000 was peak USA.

[oasis]

111. Absolutely no doubt about it!

[RandySF]

51. And both the right and extreme left hated him for it.

[Starbeach]

53. Disagree

Clinton squandered all that with his Lewinsky sandal, which left Gore to take the anger for it when he ran in 2000. Should have been a blowout for him. Then we got Bush, Iraq, etc.

[raccoon]

54. He signed that so-called welfare reform bill.

[Emile]

56. Johnson rates high in my history book.

[raccoon]

59. Because of the Vietnam War and the draft, he was unpopular during his later years. However, he did sign some

progressive legislation.

[Tommy Carcetti]

58. I've had 8 Presidents during my lifetime, 4 of them Democrats.

Each of the 4 Democrats has a specific attribute I admired about them.

I was too young to remember Carter but my dad absolutely loved him. I found him to be the most decent and honest President of my lifetime (and possibly even in our history.)

Clinton had some flaws both politically and personally but I am absolutely fascinated by him. He is brilliant, has a magical way of connecting with people and has this ability to explain complex topics in a simple, straightforward way like no other. He was the best pure politician of my lifetime and probably my favorite president of my lifetime.

Obama was probably objectively the “best” president of my lifetime. He had a level of gravitas and calm leadership that rose above all others, and history will certainly remember him the most.

Biden was probably the most personal and human president of my lifetime. He had a natural empathy to him above all others which was exactly what we needed coming out of the twin horrors of Covid and Trump. He’ll also be considered one of the best one-term presidents in history when all is said and done.

As for the rest…

Bush Sr. was probably the “least worst.” Mainly because there was only 4 years of him. And he signed the ADA into law, which was cool.

Reagan and Bush Jr. were both terrible shit shows as President. The best I could say about them is at least they had some basic elemental understanding as how to act as President and not be so completely blind as to their elected role.

Then there’s Trump. I won’t say more because words cannot accurately describe the horror of the man as President.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

60. I liked Bill Clinton, but Joe Biden is my choice for best POTUS of my lifetime

[speak easy]

69. See my #63.

[GoCubsGo]

61. Joe Biden beats Bill Clinton

In every way, shape, and form. And, I like Bill Clinton.

[speak easy]

63. The Biden Administration failed to bring Krasnov to justice for J6.

Above all, that is their legacy. The buck stops at the Resolute Desk. Joe nominated Garland and could have sacked him at any time.

LBJ was the Best President in my lifetime EXCEPT for the Vietnam war.

Joe Biden was the Best President in my lifetime EXCEPT

[BannonsLiver]

75. lol

Chortle inducing.

[krawhitham]

64. It the dot com bubble that made life in the 90's so great, before bursting in 2000. It had very little to do with WJC

[speak easy]

65. The the dot com bubble had little to do

with the biggest increase in real wages and quality of life for people of color in a generation. People of color have gone backwards in dot com bubble 2.0.

[Torchlight]

66. That's a thoughtful way to put it.

The '90s did feel unusually stable and optimistic, and a lot of people, myself included, look back on that era with a real sense of ease and possibility. We balance policy with lived experience, which is often what sticks with us most.

[speak easy]

68. lived experience is often what sticks with us most

That is all I was trying to say.

[hamsterjill]

70. He is Big Dawg for a reason.

Clinton was an amazing President and I would agree with your assessment. He was smart and quick witted, and he could be strong when he needed to be.

He knew how to play the game and he knew how to interact with "the people". That's something that we need more of today. Democratic politicians need to be better at messaging and having likability. There's a component to that need that is (indeed) very shallow, but it is very real.

Clinton came off very well in the media despite the Monica bullshit. I never cared what he did with Monica. She was not an underage child and I always felt that the matter was private between him and Hillary.

I would have LOVED to have had the opportunity to see what Al Gore could have done had he been given the opportunity to continue the Clinton economic strategy.

[BannonsLiver]

76. Golly the bad hot takes are think up in this piece.

Hoo boy.

[mjvpi]

77. For me, Carter and then Biden.

I look for presidents who made my home into the shining city on the hill. Carter was/is a masterful politician. What he accomplished in the face of the Gingrich cabal was notable.

[Ping Tung]

79. FDR was president when I showd up. I think Jimmy Carter was the best prez of my life.

[WarGamer]

80. I largely agree...

Although I won't give Reagan any credit... I'd say... 1978-2000 was pretty awesome.

[Bluestocking]

81. LBJ

But all the democratic presidents since FDR have been great and all the Republican presidents since Nixon have been awful.

[mike_c]

84. LBJ. n/t

[speak easy]

87. My cousin was a conscripted Vietnam vet who died early

of 'Atypical' Alzheimers after repeated exposures to Agent Blue. He did not have a high opinion of LBJ. Neither would I suspect would all that many of the families of the 58K American casualties, not to mention the countless more who suffered life-long PTSD or subsequently committed suicide.

[DiverDave]

85. NAFTA.

I was driving flatbed. We went into factories in the rust belt and took out everything.
Shipped to Larado.
No, they didn't open factories there.
I must have done 20-30 loads.
Yeah, he sure helped those guys.

[Buzz cook]

86. Media consolidation

The Telecommunications Act of 1996. That in my opinion was Clinton's greatest mistake.
https://truthout.org/articles/democracy-in-peril-twenty-years-of-media-consolidation-under-the-telecommunications-act/

[Ritabert]

88. The only reason things were better during the Clinton years

....is that the effects of the Reagan years had not totally wrecked the economy yet. The cut in the corporate tax rate and the Dubya Bush years of unfunded wars hadn't exploded the debt yet. The Reagan-era S&L scam that caused the price of houses to jump 100% (200% in California) hadn't fully impacted the market yet.

[markpkessinger]

89. Lest we forget . . .

Bill Clinton's presidency followed 8 years of Reagan and 4 years of George the elder. During that time, Republicans from Reagan on down endlessly hyped their demonization of government, as they began their slow dismantling of the FDR/Johnson New Deal/Great Society legacy. Many of us hoped Bill Clinton would reverse that. But no, Clinton, when he arrived in the White House, declared, "The era of big government is over!" With that, he made himself the best ally Republicans could ever have hoped for, and his administration not only continued, but actually accelerated, the long-standing Republican project of dismantling the social safety net!

And by embracing Republican rhetoric about "big government," he actually legitimized that toxic framing of it for at least a decade to come!

[mvd]

90. Good President and it was a good time for me also

I don’t like how his administration brought the party more away from traditional Democratic principles (Third Way) and it pains me that a Democrat used the phrase “the era of big government is over.” The economy was good though so he has that. And better him than a Repuke.

Biden IMO is the best of my lifetime but to each his own.

[Jarqui]

92. I have mixed feelings

Easily better than any GOP President.
I didn't care for the intern scandal and all the WH noise in the media during his years but RW media had a big hand in that.
Bill was smart and capable.
The shorter term economic numbers were great but there was a delayed hidden price we're still paying for today: free trade. Countries commonly create wealth by digging it out of the ground or adding value. A bunch of the value adding entities got shipped overseas. Growing financial disparities made some adjustment inevitable. It was how they managed it where I think they fell down.
It cost his wife the Rust Belt in 2016 so it was never without consequences.

[writerJT]

93. 100%.

[Thinker Cats]

97. Jimmy Carter was the best former president

Jimmy Carter stands out by leaps and bounds in terms of what he did after office compared to any other president. My wife and I really wanted to go to his church to see him preach, but we kept putting it off until it was too late.

[Polybius]

99. Mine too

IMO, he only made four mistakes. Operation Uphold Democracy, intervention in Bosnia, support of NAFTA, and being such a hawk regarding Saddam Hussein. Other than those things, he was amazing.

[Raine]

101. Definitely! 💕👍 ... nt

[DBoon]

102. I ended the 1990s buying a home in Los Angeles

Couldn't do it under Reagan, couldn't do it under Bush II

Wages went up under Clinton (not Reagan), stock value went up (my savings) and home values were steady.

[OAITW r.2.0]

105. In spite of Republican Bullshit.....

He created 25MM jobs and commercialized the internet.

[choie]

112. I've read these posts praising Clinton

for being the “best president in my lifetime.” However his welfare, bankruptcy and crime “reform” bills decimated many Americans. I do not in any way agree that his was a good presidency, much less the best. Economics alone do not a successful presidency make.

[Bayard]

114. I started my own business when Big Bill was in office,

Made more money than I ever made in my life. I loved the man! Especially when he was re-elected I was still working for a firm in Cincinnati where I was the token woman. The rest were all die-hard rethuglicans. I was dancing down the hallway the day after the election, and I thought those guys were going to cry. Good times.

Everything went to hell when Bush Jr. and 9/11 happened right after I moved to Calif.

I was so happy and proud when Obama was elected. Signing the ACA into law was a BFD, (as VP Biden put it.) He's intelligent, unflappable, and a terrific orator. I felt safe when he was in office.

I think President Joe Biden did more for this country than any other in my lifetime, especially since he inherited a big damn mess. He is a genuinely good, moral man, who loves this country and its people. I was devastated that he was shoved out over one stupid debate when he was ill.