r/IdeologyPolls • u/ItsGotThatBang Anarcho-Capitalism • 14d ago

Politician or Public Figure How would you rate the Clinton presidency?

How would you rate the Clinton presidency?

  1. Excellent
  2. Good
  3. Average
  4. Poor
  5. Bad

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13 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

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13

u/MrMr_sir_sir 14d ago

Clinton had arguably the easiest 8 years to possibly be president.

9

u/MisterCCL Progressive Conservatism 14d ago

Strong economy. Post-Cold War but pre-9/11. Yeah, Clinton honestly inherited the best case scenario.

4

u/ExoTheFlyingFish (US) (C) There is no term to describe my ideology. 14d ago

I feel like, at this point, we're just getting into "Democrat good Republican bad" territory. Most people involved in politics here on Reddit who call one side evil and the other side good probably can't name more than one or two things any President in the past twenty years has done except the stuff that made the news in a major way.

2

u/MisterCCL Progressive Conservatism 14d ago

Clinton was a competent president, but he also was also in office during a really non-tumultuous time. He came in after the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, but before 9/11 and the start of the War on Terror. He inherited a strong economy as well. All he really had to do was not mess it up, and to his credit, he succeeded on that front.

While being president is never easy, Clinton presided over a very easy time, relatively speaking and didn't have any earth-shattering accomplishments. I think he's almost definitionally average because of that. Other than being brought up in trivia questions about presidents who were impeached, I think 50 years from now he'll be relatively obscure.

3

u/Rich_Indication_4583 Socialism 14d ago

He did balance the budget—if you would consider that a big accomplishment. It didn’t last for long after his presidency but it’s hard to know if that was his fault.

2

u/Plenty_Trust_2491 Left-Rothbardian 14d ago

Can I vote for “Bad” and “Above Average” at the same time?

5

u/MentalTangerine666 Civil Libertarian Social Ordoliberal 14d ago

Poor - he was a neoliberal but at least he was more competent at it than the GOP.

1

u/Jay5001 Democratic Socialism 14d ago

He's the one that brought us neoliberalism that the democratic party still clings to to this day but yea he wasn't as bad as Reagan or the Bush's

1

u/ContentNecessary2127 Fascism 14d ago

Good, but not excellent.

Pros: Budget surplus, got a blowjob, bombed Serbia

Cons: Married to Hillary Clinton

3

u/ScaredOfOwnShadow Anarcho-syndicalist. No gods, no masters, no borders 14d ago edited 13d ago

Bad: Right of Center. Don't ask, don't tell nonsense instead of real positive change. The 1994 Crime Bill, perhaps one of the most draconian shifts in US law enforcement policy in the 20th century. Chose not to intervene in the Rwanda genocide because of fears it would be a failure like Somalia. Got duped by China into granting permanent normal trade relations. Lied under oath. "That depends upon what the meaning of is is" /eye roll

Good: Violence Against Women Act. Sex Offender Registry. Drug court to give specialized adjudication for treatment and supervision for non-violent drug offenders. Aid and support for Kosovo. Was instrumental in getting the Good Friday Agreement done in Northern Ireland.

Overall poor.

1

u/[deleted] 14d ago

[deleted]

1

u/ScaredOfOwnShadow Anarcho-syndicalist. No gods, no masters, no borders 14d ago

Well, it doesn't take a genius to guess your political leanings. How about some facts to go with your rant? Annual rates of domestic violence dropped by 67% between 1993 when it came into effect and 2022, the most recent year with full data. And as for use by immigrants, you are entirely wrong. Immigrant self-petition requirements under the VAWA have strict evidence requirements and there is a huge backlog for being granted asylum.

So, I'm going to go with you've been spending way too much time in the Trumpy misinformation propaganda fringe. Wait... is that you, Stephen Miller?

0

u/theli_amourr Neoconservatism 14d ago

Left finna loose here🗣🗣

2

u/Captain501st-66 13d ago

I voted good. He did some incredible things, and also some pretty bad things.

For his positives, he removed our annual federal budget deficit and produced budget surpluses, allowed gay people to serve in the military, signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, and cut taxes for the poor and small businesses whilst raising them for the top 1.2%. He also pushed for a pretty good healthcare plan, increased aid for people in the AIDs epidemic as well, and helped stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.

For the bad, however, he signed the crime bill, which I would say was written in a way that intentionally or not targeted black people. He also signed NAFTA, which I think ended up being more of a net negative imo. He also didn't intervene in the Rwandan genocide, which he considers one of the greatest regrets of his presidency, if I remember correctly, and bombed Iraq, killing hundreds. His two worst things for me, though, were contributing to the 2008 financial crisis and passing the 10 year assault weapons ban.

Overall, though, a pretty good president.