The Clinton Presidency: Highlights

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, left, share a light moment with vice presidential candidate Al Gore and his wife Tipper, during a brief rest on their bus in Durham, N.C., prior to the 1992 presidential elections.

A precursor of what was to come, Gennifer Flowers, of Little Rock, Ark., speaks to the press about her claim of a 12-year affair with presidential hopeful Bill Clinton on Jan. 27, 1992. The paper that first published Flowers's account acknowledged it paid her for the story.

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton, with his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea at his side, takes the oath of office as 42nd president of the United States from Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on Capitol Hill on Jan. 20, 1993. Mr. Clinton defeated Mr. Bush in a landslide election.

President Clinton points to a chart to illustrate his deficit-reduction plan during a news conference at the White House on June 17, 1993. Saying the nation was "finally putting our economic house in order," Clinton urged Congress to enact his plan to cut the deficit by $500 billion.

President Clinton at the signing of the historic 1993 peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians at the White House on Sept. 13, 1993. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is to the left, and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat is to the right.

The next day, President Clinton signs a side deal of the three-nation North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at the White House. Also seen in this Sept. 14, 1993, picture are former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, and Vice President Al Gore.

With an emotional James Brady in the foreground, President Clinton speaks prior to signing the Brady bill on Nov. 30, 1993. Brady was the a former White House press secretary who was seriously wounded after John Hinckley's attempt to assassinate President Reagan. The bill requires a five-day waiting period and background check on handgun buyers.

Yale students, wearing gags, march in this October 2002 photograph, in protest against the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy towards homosexuals. The policy, settled on between Mr. Clinton and the Pentagon, garnered much criticism from gay groups. It was seen as a betrayal by the president who had promised them greater acceptance.

With a cup of coffee and a cold drink in his hands, President-elect Bill Clinton leaves a local McDonald's restaurant in downtown Little Rock, Ark., in this 1993 photograph. Clinton's most appealing image was that of an informal president in a "common man" kind of way.

President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton attend the funeral service of former President Richard Nixon in California, on April 27, 1994. From left are: the Clintons, George and Barbara Bush, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, and Gerald and Betty Ford.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, left, makes room for the Clintons arriving for a group picture at the G7 summit in Italy. Earlier this year, Mr. Clinton and Mr. Yelstin signed the Kremlin accords which stop the preprogrammed aiming of nuclear missiles to targets.

President Clinton is accompanied by Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, on Oct. 14, 1994, during a farewell ceremony for the Haitian president. Mr. Clinton said a "new era of hope" is opening for Haiti with the restoration of democracy.

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton with former Philippine President Corazon Aquino in Manila on Nov. 13, 1994. Ramzi Yousef, an Al Qaeda member, was considering assassinating Mr. Clinton during this visit, but decided against it. Operation Bojinka was later exposed after a Manila fire led investigators to Yousef.

President Clinton strides off the stage after a campaign event in Denver in October 1996. Mr. Clinton won re-election in a coast-to-coast landslide as voters rejected Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole's challenge to his economic leadership.

From left, Hillary Rodham Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his wife Cherie, and President Clinton pose together on the Blair's visit to Washington in 1998. Mr. Clinton developed a close working relationship with Blair.

President Clinton draws a giant zero on a chart, showing the 1999 federal budget deficit on Feb. 2, 1998. His administration sent Congress a $1.73 trillion budget proposal that promised the first surplus in three decades. Vice President Al Gore looks on.

President Clinton with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea at China's Great Wall in June 1998. Mr. Clinton hoped better trade relations with what he called "a new China" would be more beneficial to the U.S. economy.

A Dec. 16, 1996, White House photo shows President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky at a Christmas party. The House voted to impeach Mr. Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in the Monica Lewinsky investigation. But the Senate acquitted Mr. Clinton of impeachment charges on Feb. 12, 1999.

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea try on traditional hats in the Vietnamese village of Bac Phu in November 2000. President Clinton made a historic visit to communist Vietnam - the first president to visit the country in more than 30 years. The renewed relations became the economic and cultural catalyst for global integration of this nation of 76 million people.

On one of his last overseas visits as president, Mr. Clinton speaks to more than 50,000 people in Dundalk, Ireland, on Dec. 12, 2000. Crowds waited for hours to get a glimpse of Clinton, who made three visits to the country to encourage peace. He set in motion the process that led to the Provisional Irish Republican Army commencing disarmament in October 2001.