US Presidents: LBJ to GW Bush
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#36 Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
1908 Aug 27, Lyndon B. Johnson,
the 36th president of the United States (1963-1969), was born near
Stonewall, Texas.
(AP, 8/27/97)(HN, 8/27/98)
1911 May 27, Hubert Humphrey,
senator, was born. He served as VP (1965-69) to Lyndon Johnson (38th
VP), and was a presidential candidate in 1968. "The greatest gift of
life is friendship and I have received it."
(HN, 5/27/98)(AP, 2/28/01)(MC, 5/27/02)
1912 Dec 22, Claudia "Lady Bird"
Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, was born.
(HN, 12/22/98)
1934 Nov 17, Lyndon Baines Johnson
married Claudia Alta Taylor, better known as "Lady Bird," in San
Antonio, Texas.
(AP, 11/17/07)
1943 Lady Bird Johnson purchased
KTBC, a low-powered radio station in Texas. The Federal Communications
Commission, which reviewed all broadcast-license transfers, was close
to being abolished. Congressman Lyndon Johnson used his political
influence in both Congress and the White House to prevent that from
happening. In 1945 the FCC OK'd KTBC's request to quintuple its power,
which cast its signal over 63 counties.
(Econ, 7/21/07,
p.85)(www.slate.com/id/2170481/nav/navoa/)
1963 Nov 23, President Johnson
proclaimed Nov. 25 a day of national mourning as JFK's body lay in
repose in East Room of White House.
(AP, 11/23/01)(MC, 11/23/01)
1964 Jan 3, Barry Goldwater
announced that he was a candidate for the U.S. Presidency. He lost to
Lyndon B. Johnson: 43,126,506 to 27,176,799.
(440 Int'l. 1/3/99)
1964 Jan 8, President Johnson
declared a "War on Poverty" in his State of the Union address.
(AP, 1/8/08)
1964 Jan
10, Pres. Johnson held a meeting with Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara
after which he approved covert operations against North Vietnam [see
Jan 16].
(SFEC, 8/17/97, BR p.9)
1964 Jan
16, Pres. Johnson approved OPLAN 34A-64, calling for stepped up
infiltration and covert operations against North Vietnam to be
transferred from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the military."
(http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/lbjohnson)
1964 Mar 15, LBJ asked for a War
on Poverty and for Congress to ensure everybody's right to vote. [see
Mar 16]
(MC, 3/15/02)
1964 Mar 16, LBJ submitted a
$1billion war on poverty program to Congress. [see Mar 15]
(HN, 3/16/98)
1964 Apr 22, President Johnson
opened the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair in Queens. It featured the
futuristic Unisphere and a house made of formica. Ken Kesey and the
Merry Pranksters drove to the fair in a 1939 bus with Neal Cassidy
driving. The trip immortalized in "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" by
Tom Wolfe in 1968.
(TMC, 1994, p.1964)(AP, 4/22/97)(SFEM, 2/22/98,
p.34)(WSJ, 1/22/99, p.W10)
1964 May 22, Pres. Johnson (LBJ)
presented his “Great Society” speech at the Univ. of Mich.
(www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/speeches.hom/640522.asp)
1964 Jun 19, The Civil Rights Act
of 1964 survived an 83-day filibuster in the US Senate, and was
approved by a vote of 73-27. Pres. Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act
that guaranteed the vote for everyone and that prohibited segregation
in public places. Sex was added to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
and outlawed discrimination on the basis of sex in the labor market.
(TMC, 1994, p.1964)(LSA, Spg/97, p.19)(AP, 6/19/06)
1964 Jul 2, President Johnson
signed into law a sweeping civil rights bill passed by Congress. It
guaranteed voting rights and equal access to public accommodations and
education.
(AP, 7/2/97)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F5)
1964 Jul 15, The Republican
National Convention was held in SF. It elected Barry Goldwater as its
presidential candidate. John Chancellor was ejected from the convention
for blocking an aisle during a demonstration by the delegates. Here
Goldwater proclaimed "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice."
(SFC, 7/13/96, p.A5)(WSJ, 8/5/96, p.A10)(AP, 7/15/97)
1964 Jul 27, President Lyndon
Johnson sent an additional 5,000 advisers to South Vietnam.
(HN, 7/27/98)
1964 Aug 4, Pres. Johnson ordered
an immediate retaliation for the Aug 2 attack on the US destroyer
Maddux in the Gulf of Tonkin.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F5)
1964 Aug 7, Congress passed the
Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Johnson broad powers in
dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces. It
allowed the president to use unlimited military force to prevent
attacks on U.S. forces. U.S. Senators Wayne Morse of Oregon and Ernest
Gruening of Alaska share the distinction of casting the only votes
against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The resolution supported
President Lyndon Johnson's military actions against North Vietnam in
retaliation for its attack on a U.S. spy ship in the Tonkin Gulf. The
resolution passed in the House 414-0 and the Senate 88-2. The
resolution, which amounted to a declaration of war, was repealed by
Congress on January 13, 1971.
(AP, 8/7/97)(HNQ, 6/24/98)(HN, 8/7/98)
1964 Aug 20, President Johnson
signed the Economic Opportunity Act, a nearly $1 billion anti-poverty
measure.
(AP, 8/20/07)
1964 Aug 26, President Johnson was
nominated for a term of office in his own right at the Democratic
National Convention in Atlantic City, N.J.
(AP, 8/26/97)
1964 Sep 3, Pres. Johnson signed
the Wilderness Act and designated 9 million acres as an area "where the
Earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man
himself is a visitor who does not remain." It allowed for roadless
federal lands to qualify for wilderness protection. In 1999 the act
sheltered over 100 million acres. Conservationists stopped a dam in
Echo Park in Dinosaur National Monument and persuaded Congress to pass
the Wilderness Act to provide permanent protection to wilderness areas.
(NG, May 1985, p.669)(SFC, 8/6/93, p.C4)(SFEC,
8/29/99, Z1 p.6)
1964 Nov 3, President Johnson, the
36th president, soundly defeated Republican challenger Barry Goldwater
to win a White House term. Johnson won over 61% of the vote with 486
electoral votes to Goldwater’s 52.
(AP, 11/3/97)(SFC, 5/30/98, p.A3)(HN, 11/3/98)
1965 Jan 4, President Johnson
outlined the goals of his "Great Society" in his State of the Union
address. The "Great Society" was to be achieved through a vast program
that included an attack on diseases, a doubling of the war on poverty,
greater enforcement of Civil Rights Law, immigration law reform and
greater support of education.
(AP, 1/4/98)(HNQ, 9/11/99)
1965 Feb 7, U.S. jets hit Don Hoi
guerrilla base in reprisal for the Viet Cong raids. Pres. Johnson
ordered the bombing of North Vietnam following the deaths of 9 US
soldiers near Pleiku.
(HN, 2/7/99)(SFEC, 4/23/00, p.A19)
1965 Feb 8, Pres. Lyndon B.
Johnson called for the development and protection of a balanced system
of trails to help protect and enhance the quality of the outdoor
experience.
(PCTA, 4/08)
1965 Feb 11, Pres. Lyndon Johnson
ordered air strikes against targets in North Vietnam, in retaliation
for guerrilla attacks on the American military in South Vietnam. The
American "Rolling Thunder" bombing campaign intensified.
(HN, 2/11/02)
1965 Mar 15, Addressing a joint
session of Congress, President Johnson called for new legislation to
guarantee every American's right to vote. His speech was written by
Richard Goodwin. In 2007 Garth E. Pauley authored “LBJ’s American
Promise: the 1965 Voting Rights Address.”
(AP, 3/15/97)(WSJ, 4/12/08, p.W8)(AH, 10/07, p.65)
1965 Mar 20, Lyndon B. Johnson
ordered 4,000 troops to protect the Selma-Montgomery civil rights
marchers.
(HN, 3/20/98)
1965 Apr 6, President Lyndon B.
Johnson authorized the use of ground troops in combat operations.
(HN, 4/6/99)
1965 Jun 8, President Lyndon B.
Johnson authorized commanders in Vietnam to commit U.S. ground forces
to combat.
(HN, 6/8/98)
1965 Jun 28, Pres. Johnson
authorized the1st US ground combat forces in Vietnam. [see Jun 8]
(MC, 6/28/02)
1965 Jul 27, Pres. Johnson signed
a bill requiring cigarette makers to print health warnings on all
cigarette packages about the effects of smoking.
(MC, 7/27/02)
1965 Jul 28, President Johnson
announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South
Vietnam to 175,000 "almost immediately."
(HN, 7/28/98)(AP, 7/28/08)
1965 Jul 30, President Johnson
signed into law the Medicare bill, which went into effect the following
year. John W. Gardner (d.2002), a member of Johnson’s cabinet, was
responsible for starting Medicare. A statute required coverage of items
that were reasonable and necessary.
(AP, 7/30/97)(SFC, 2/18/02, p.A6)(WSJ, 7/16/03, p.A1)
1965 Aug 6, The Voting Rights Act
of 1965 was passed and signed by President Johnson. It outlawed the
literacy test for voting eligibility in the South. It was later used to
justify drawing some congressional districts that would make the
architects of South Africa's apartheid blush. In 1995 Roberts and
Stratton authored "The New Color Line: How Quotas and Privilege Destroy
Democracy."
(WSJ, 10/26/95, p.A-20)(HFA, '96, p.36)(AP,
8/6/97)(HN, 8/6/98)
1965 Sep 22, Pres. Johnson
designated Columbus Day a federal public holiday to be celebrated on
Oct. 12. In 1968 He moved it to the 2nd Monday of October. In 2004
Pres. Bush set it to Oct 11.
(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=27311)(http://tinyurl.com/ppcdwp)
1965 Nov 8, The US Higher
Education Act became law. It was intended to strengthen the educational
resources of US colleges and universities and to provide financial
assistance to students in postsecondary and higher education. The
student loan system was part of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society program.
(www.higher-ed.org/resources/HEA.htm)(Econ, 8/4/07,
p.28)
1965 Dec 29, A Christmas truce was
observed in Vietnam, while President Johnson tried to get the North
Vietnamese to the bargaining table.
(HN, 12/29/98)
1966 Feb 11, Vice President Hubert
Humphrey began a tour of Vietnam.
(HN, 2/11/97)
1966 Apr 23, President Lyndon
Johnson publicly appeals for "more flags" (foreign countries) to come
to the aid of South Vietnam.
(HN, 4/23/00)
1966 Nov 8, Pres. Johnson signed
anti-trust immunity to AFL-NFL merger.
(MC, 11/8/01)
1966 Pres. Johnson gave Waterloo,
NY, the distinction of holding the 1st Memorial Day on May 5, 1866. On
Apr 13, 1862, volunteers led by Sarah J. Evans paid homage to the
graves of Civil War soldiers in the Washington area.
(SFC, 5/26/03, p.A2)
1966 Pres. Johnson named Lim Poon
Lee as postmaster of San Francisco. To date this was the highest
federally appointed position ever held by a Chinese American.
(SFC, 11/5/09, p.C3)
1967 Feb 22, Barbara Garson's
"MacBird!," a notorious counterculture drama, premiered in NYC. It
satirically depicted President Lyndon Johnson as Macbeth and his wife,
Lady Bird Johnson, as Lady Macbeth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBird)
1967 Mar 6, US Pres. Lyndon B.
Johnson announced his plan to establish a draft lottery.
(www.historynet.com/tdih0306.htm)
1967 Mar 31, President Lyndon
Johnson signed the Consular Treaty, the first bi-lateral pact with the
Soviet Union since the Bolshevik Revolution.
(http://travel.state.gov/law/legal/treaty/treaty_1508.html)
1967 Jul 27, In the wake of urban
rioting, President Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess
the causes of the violence. The same day, black militant H. Rap Brown
said violence was "as American as cherry pie."
(AP, 7/27/97)
1967 Aug 3, President Lyndon B.
Johnson announced plans to send 45,000 more troops to Vietnam.
(HN, 8/3/98)
1967 Oct, Pres. Johnson named
Edward M. Korry (d.2003 at 81) to serve as the US ambassador to Chile.
Korry served until 1971 and was kept ignorant by the Nixon
administration of plans for a coup.
(SFC, 2/1/03, p.A19)
1967 Nov 21, President Lyndon B.
Johnson signed the Air Quality Act, allotting $428 million for the
fight against pollution.
(HN, 11/21/98)(AP, 11/21/07)
1967 Nov 27, Lyndon Johnson
appointed Robert McNamara to the presidency of the World Bank. McNamara
served 2 terms from 1968-1981.
(HN, 11/27/98)(SFC, 9/28/99, p.C16)
1967 Nov 30, Sen. Eugene McCarthy
began a run for US presidency.
(MC, 11/30/01)
1967 Dec 23, President Johnson, on
his way home from a visit to Southeast Asia, held an unprecedented
meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican.
(AP, 12/23/07)
1968 Mar 12, President Lyndon
Johnson won the New Hampshire Democratic primary, but a strong
second-place showing by anti-war Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota
played a role in Johnson's decision not to seek re-election. Johnson
won over Eugene McCarthy 49.6 to 41.9%. Republican Richard Nixon won
the New Hampshire primary over Nelson Rockefeller 77.6 to 10.8%.
(SSFC, 1/25/04, p.A19)(AP, 3/12/08)
1968 Mar 16, LBJ decided to send
35-50,000 more troops to Vietnam.
(HN, 3/16/98)
1968 Mar 18, Pres. Johnson signed
Public Law 90-269 removing gold backing from US paper money.
(www.peterdavidbeter.com/docs/txt/dbal33.txt)
1968 Mar 22, Gen'l. William
Westmoreland (1914-2005) was relieved of his duties in the wake of the
Tet disaster. Troop strength under Westmoreland had reached over
500,000 and he wanted more. He was succeeded by Gen'l. Creighton
Abrams. Abrams reversed Westmoreland's strategy. He ended major "search
and destroy" missions and focused on protecting population centers.
William Colby took charge of the pacification campaign. President
Lyndon B. Johnson named Gen. William C. Westmoreland to be the Army's
new Chief of Staff.
(HN, 3/22/97)(WSJ, 6/23/99, p.A24)(Econ, 7/30/05,
p.79)(AP, 3/22/08)
1968 Mar 20, Pres. Lyndon Johnson
held talks with Paraguay’s Pres.-Gen. Alfredo Stroessner in Washington
DC.
(Econ, 2/14/04,
p.34)(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=28747)
1968 Mar 31, Pres. Johnson
announced that he would not run for re-election and declared a partial
bombing halt in Vietnam. The stock market soared. Citing national
divisions over the war in Vietnam, Johnson declares that "I shall not
seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another
term as your president."
(WUD, 1994, p.1687)(TMC, 1994, p.1968)(SFC, 8/18/96,
Z1 p.4)(AP, 3/31/97)
1968 Apr 10, President Johnson
replaced General Westmoreland with General Creighton Abrams in Vietnam
[see Mar 22].
(HN, 4/10/98)
1968 Apr 11, President Johnson
signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, a week after the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. This included a Fair Housing
Act and the Indian Civil Rights Act, which limited sentences that
tribes could hand down on any charge to six months. In 1968 Congress
increased the maximum to one year.
(http://tinyurl.com/2o3p2q)(AP, 4/11/98)(SFC,
2/20/98, p.A23)(WSJ, 6/12/07, p.A14)
1968 May 29, Pres. Johnson signed
the Truth in Lending Act into law.
(http://altlaw.org/v1/cases/552046)
1968 Jun 13, US Supreme Court
Chief Justice Earl Warren (1891-1974) submitted his resignation to
Pres. Johnson.
(www.presidentialtimeline.org/html/record.php?id=1338)
1968 Jun 26, President Johnson
read and released Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren's two June 13
letters, his June 26 reply, and announced that he had named Associate
Justice Abe Fortas to succeed Warren.
(AP, 6/26/98)(www.mdeansutton.com/warren.htm)
1968 Jun 28, Pres. Johnson signed
the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. It moved official recognition of
Washington’s birthday and some other holidays to Mondays. Columbus Day,
previously celebrated on Oct. 12, was moved to the 2nd Monday of
October. In 2004 Pres. Bush set it to Oct 11.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Monday_Holiday_Act)(SFC, 2/21/05,
p.A7)
1968 Aug 8, Richard M. Nixon was
nominated for president at the Republican National Convention in Miami
Beach. Later that day, Nixon chose Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew to be
his running mate.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1968 Aug 28, In Chicago, Ill.,
Vice-President Hubert Horatio Humphrey was nominated by the Democrats
for US Presidency on the first ballot. Riots broke out outside the
Democratic National Convention as police and anti-war demonstrators
clashed in the streets.
(WUD, 1994, p.1687) (TMC, 1994, p.1968)(Hem, 8/96,
p.86-88)(AP, 8/28/97)
1968 Aug 29, Democrats in Chicago
nominated Hubert H. Humphrey for president. [see Aug 28]
(MC, 8/29/01)
1968 Oct 1, The US Senate refused
to shut down a filibuster against President Lyndon B. Johnson's
nomination of Abe Fortas to be US chief justice. Fortas withdrew the
next day.
(AP, 10/1/08)
1968 Oct 2, Pres. Johnson
established Redwood National Park in northern California under Public
Law 90-545. Congress created the Redwood National Park in California at
a cost of $306 million. Large portions of the Arcata Redwood Corp.
lands were detached to form sections of Redwood National Park. The land
was initially assembled by Michigan timber baron Arthur Hill. His son,
Harry Hill, built the French Renaissance townhouse that is now the
Italian consulate.
(www.eoearth.org/article/Redwood_National_Park,_United_States)(SFC,
9/9/97, p.A19)(SFEC, 12/5/99, p.T1)
1968 Oct 2, Pres. Johnson signed a
bill establishing Washington state’s North Cascades National Park.
(SSFC, 7/18/04,
p.D7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Cascades_National_Park)
1968 Oct 2, The 2,650-mile Pacific
Crest Trail, spanning Mexico to Canada, was designated a National
Scenic Trail as part of the US National Trails System Act.
(SFC, 7/16/08,
p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail)
1968 Oct 22, Pres. Johnson signed
the Gun Control Act of 1968. It regulated firearms above .50-caliber as
destructive devices and required registration and owner’s fingerprints.
Enforcement was up to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
(BATF). It barred the import of assault weapons even if they were
reconfigured if they were not found to have legitimate "sporting
purposes."
(WSJ, 3/24/97, p.A12)(SFC,10/17/97,
p.A4)(http://tinyurl.com/p9lslc)
1968 Pres. Johnson set Columbus
Day, previously celebrated on Oct. 12, to be held on the 2nd Monday of
October. In 2004 Pres. Bush set it to Oct 11.
(www.internetfamilyfun.com/holidays/columbusday/columbusdayfacts.htm)
1969 Eric F. Goldman (1915-1989),
American historian, authored "The Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson."
(SFC, 6/2/00,
p.D4)(http://wist.info/g/goldman_eric_f/)
2002 Robert A. Caro authored
"Lyndon Johnson: Master of the Senate," the 3rd volume of his 4-Vol.
biography of Johnson that included "The Path to Power" (1982) and
"Means of Ascent" (1990).
(WSJ, 5/1/02, p.D7)(SSFC, 5/5/02, p.M2)
#37 Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
1913 Jan 9, Richard Milhous Nixon,
37th president of the United States (1968-1974) and first President to
resign from office, was born in Yorba Linda, Calif.
(HN, 1/9/98)(AP, 1/9/08)
1918 Nov 9, Spiro Agnew (d.Sep 17,
1996) was born. He later became governor of Maryland and 39th
vice-president of the US under Nixon (1968-1973) until convicted of tax
evasion.
(SFC, 9/18/96, p.A7)(HN, 11/9/98)
1925 Mar 20, John Ehrlichman,
Watergate conspirator, was born in Tacoma, Wa. He served Pres. Nixon as
White House counsel and then domestic advisor and played a key role in
creating the Environmental Protection Agency, passing the Clean Water
Act, the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National
Environmental Policy Act.
(HN, 3/20/98)(SFC, 2/16/99, p.A18)
1934 Richard Nixon graduated from
Whittier College.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.B5)
1937 Richard Nixon graduated from
Duke Univ. School of Law.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.B5)
1939 May 12, Ronald Ziegler, press
secretary to Pres. Nixon, was born.
(MC, 5/12/02)
1940 Jun 21, Richard Nixon married
Thelma Catharine (Pat) Ryan.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.B5)
1942-46 Richard Nixon served in the US Navy.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.B5)
1946 Richard Nixon was elected to
the US House of Representatives.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.B5)
1948 Richard Nixon was re-elected
to the US House of Representatives.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.B5)
1950 Nov 7, Richard Nixon won a
seat in the US Senate.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F2)
1952 Sep 23, Republican
vice-presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon went on television to
deliver what came to be known as the "Checkers" speech as he refuted
allegations of improper campaign financing. Nixon denied that he
maintained a private slush fund and all financial allegations except
for the gift of a cocker spaniel dog named Checkers from a Texan who
heard that his daughters wanted a puppy. Some 30 million television
viewers watched as Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower‘s running mate in the
upcoming presidential elections, made a plea for sympathy and
vindication in light of charges he was living a lifestyle beyond the
means of his $12,500 Senate salary. In 1997 plans were underway to
exhume the dog and rebury it near the former president.
(TMC, 1994, p.1952)(SFC, 4/28/97, p.A5)(AP,
9/23/97)(HNQ, 10/12/99)
1953 Nov 19, US VP Richard Nixon
visited Hanoi.
(MC, 11/19/01)
1956 Richard Nixon was re-elected
as vice president.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.B5)
1958 Apr 28, Vice President
Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, began a goodwill tour of Latin America
that was marred by hostile mobs in Lima, Peru, and Caracas, Venezuela.
(AP, 4/28/99)
1958 May 15, Vice President
Richard Nixon received a hero's welcome on his return from a
violence-marred tour of Latin America.
(AP, 5/15/08)
1959 Jul 23, Vice President
Richard M. Nixon flew to Moscow to open the US Trade and Cultural Fair
in Sokolniki Park, organized as a goodwill gesture by the USSR.
(MC, 7/23/02)
1959 Jul 24, During a visit to the
Soviet Union, VP Richard M. Nixon got into a "kitchen debate" with
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev at a US exhibition. Nixon correctly
said that the $100-a-month mortgage for the model ranch house was well
within the reach of a typical American steelworker.
(AP, 7/24/97)(Econ, 5/26/07, p.33)
1960 Jul 27, Vice President Nixon
was nominated for president at the Republican national convention in
Chicago.
(AP, 7/27/00)
1960 Jul 28, Republican National
convention selected Richard Nixon.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1960 Richard Nixon lost the US
presidential election to John F. Kennedy.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.B5)
1962 Edmund G. "Pat" Brown was
re-elected as democratic governor over Richard Nixon by some 300,000
votes.
(SFC, 10/17/96, C2)(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.18)(SFEC,
12/6/98, p.A1)
1968 Feb 1, Richard M. Nixon
announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
(AP, 2/1/08)
1968 Republican Richard Nixon won
the New Hampshire primary over Nelson Rockefeller 77.6 to 10.8%.
Democrat Lyndon Johnson won over Eugene McCarthy 49.6 to 41.9%.
(SSFC, 1/25/04, p.A19)
1968 Aug 5, The Republican
national convention convened in Miami Beach. Ronald Reagan announced
that he would seek the GOP nomination for president. He soon threw his
support to Nixon.
(AP, 8/5/08)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)(SSFC, 6/6/04, A16)
1968 Aug 8, Richard M. Nixon was
nominated for president at the Republican National Convention in Miami
Beach. Later that day, Nixon chose Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew to be
his running mate.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1968 Sep 16, Republican
presidential nominee Richard Nixon exclaimed, "Sock it to ME?" in a
taped bit for the NBC-TV comedy program "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In."
(AP, 9/16/08)
1968 Nov 5, Richard M. Nixon was
elected the 37th US President with Spiro Agnew as vice-president. He
defeated Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and third-party candidate
George C. Wallace
(WUD, 1994, p.1687)(TMC, 1994, p.1968)(AP,
11/5/97)(HN, 11/5/98)
1968 Dec 2, Pres Nixon named Henry
Kissinger (b.1923) security advisor.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger)
1968 Richard Nixon (1913-1994) was
given the mood-altering prescription drug Dilantin by Jack Dreyfus,
founder of the Dreyfus Fund.
(SFEC, 8/27/00, p.A6)(http://tinyurl.com/p365a3)
1969 Jan 5, President Nixon
appointed Henry Cabot Lodge as negotiator at the Paris Peace Talks.
(HN, 1/5/99)
1969 Jan 7, US Congress doubled
the president’s salary.
(MC, 1/7/02)
1969 Jan 20, Richard Nixon in his
first inaugural address proclaimed that Americans "cannot learn from
one another until we stop shouting at one another." He also said: "the
greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker. This
honor now beckons America."
(HNQ, 6/30/98)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1969 Feb 23, Pres. Nixon approved
the bombing of Cambodia.
(www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a04242670parrotsbeak)(SFEC,
4/23/00, p.A19)
1969 Feb 27, President Nixon
arrived in Rome from West Berlin amid protests by thousands of students.
(www.historynet.com/today_in_history?tihMonth=2&tihDay=27)
1969 Mar 18, President Richard M.
Nixon authorized Operation Menu, the 'secret' bombing of Cambodia [see
Feb 23].
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Menu)
1969 Apr 24, President Nixon
ordered US and South Vietnamese troops to secretly invade the “Parrot’s
Beak” region of Cambodia, thought to be a Viet Cong stronghold.
(www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a04242670parrotsbeak)
1969 Jul 25, The Nixon Doctrine
was put forth in a press conference in Guam, in which he stated that
the US henceforth expected its Asian allies to take care of their own
military defense [see Nov 3, 1969].
(http://thenewnixon.org/2008/07/24/25-july-1969-the-nixon-doctrine/)
1969 Aug 2, Richard Nixon
visited Romania becoming the first president to visit a communist
nation since the start of the Cold War.
(HNQ, 11/20/01)(www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1464.html)
1969 Sep 16, President Nixon
ordered the withdrawal of 35,000 soldiers from Vietnam and a reduces
the number required to be drafted.
(www.vfwpost7591.org/vietnam_war.htm)
1969 Oct 13-25, Pres. Nixon
ordered a worldwide "secret" nuclear alert to scare the Soviets into
forcing concessions from North Vietnam. Nixon called that tactic a
"madman strategy," and it did not work.
(SFC, 12/25/02, p.A7)
1969 Nov 3, Pres. Nixon elaborated
his Nixon Doctrine in a televised speech. He stated that the US
henceforth expected its Asian allies to take care of their own military
defense. At the end of the speech, Nixon asked for the support of the
"great silent majority" of Americans. This was the start of the
"Vietnamization" of the Vietnam War. The Doctrine argued for the
pursuit of peace through a partnership with American allies [see Jul
25, 1969].
(www.watergate.info/nixon/silent-majority-speech-1969.shtml)
1969 Nov 12, The US Army admitted
to the 1968 Vietnam massacre of civilians at My Lai and announced an
investigation of Lt William Calley for massacre of civilians at the
Vietnamese village on March 16, 1968. The number of civilians who were
killed numbered at least 100. Lt. Calley was later found guilty of
murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor. Calley was
the only person ever charged in connection with the events at My Lai.
The nation was shocked and divided by the claims from Calley that he
was following orders and that he was a scapegoat. President Richard
Nixon in 1971 ordered him released from prison and placed under house
arrest, and finally a federal judge threw out all charges against
Calley and ordered him freed. Although the charges were later
re-instated on appeal, he served no more jail time for the massacre at
My Lai.
(SFEC, 4/23/00, p.A19)(MC, 11/12/01)
1969 Nov 13, Speaking in Des
Moines, Iowa, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew accused network television
news departments of bias and distortion, and urged viewers to lodge
complaints.
(AP, 11/13/97)
1969 Nov 20, The Nixon
administration announced a halt to residential use of the pesticide DDT
as part of a total phase-out.
(AP, 11/20/97)
1969 Nov 25, Pres. Nixon announced
an unconditional renunciation of biological weapons.
(SFC, 2/19/00, p.A14)(http://tinyurl.com/9yy6bc)
1969 Nov 26, Pres. Nixon signed
Executive Order 11497, the Lottery for Selective Service draftees.
(http://tinyurl.com/9bdvxg)
1969 Dec 15, President Nixon
announced the third round of Vietnam withdrawals.
(http://tinyurl.com/pxh9vu)
1969 Dec 30, Pres. Nixon signed
the Tax Reform Act of 1969. The US Congress had enacted legislation
that created a minimum tax (later known as the Alternative Minimum Tax,
AMT) after the IRS revealed that about 155 high-income households had
paid no tax in 1966. It was part of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 and
became operative in 1970. The AMT was designed to make sure everyone
pays some tax.
(www.worldcat.org/wcpa/top3mset/79655)(www.house.gov/jec/tax/amt.htm)(SFC,
12/14/05, p.A1)
1969-1974 Richard Nixon (1913-1994) served as the
37th President of the US. He was forced to resign in 1974 and his
Vice-President Gerald Ford assumed the office of president.
(SFEC, 5/11/97,
p.T8,9)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon)
1970 Jan 19, President Nixon
nominated G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court, but the nomination
was later defeated because of controversy over Carswell's past racial
views.
(AP, 1/19/98)
1970 Mar 8, The Nixon
administration disclosed the deaths of 27 Americans in Laos.
(HN, 3/8/98)
1970 Mar 18, The US Postal Service
was paralyzed by the first postal strike. A walkout of letter carriers
in Brooklyn and Manhattan set off a strike that involved 210,000 of the
nation’s 750,000 postal employees. Pres. Nixon declared a state of
national emergency and assigned military units to NYC post offices.
(HN, 3/18/98)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1970 Apr 1, President Nixon signed
a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to
take effect after Jan. 1, 1971.
(AP, 4/1/98)
1970 Apr 8, The Senate rejected
President Nixon's nomination of G. Harold Carswell to the Supreme Court.
(AP, 4/8/97)
1970 Apr 30, President Nixon
announced to a national TV audience that the United States was sending
troops into Cambodia "to win the just peace that we desire." The action
that sparked widespread protest. U.S. troops invaded Cambodia to
disrupt North Vietnamese Army base areas and to attack Communist border
sanctuaries. Calling the joint U.S.-South Vietnamese operation
"indispensable," some 32,000 American and 48,000 South Vietnamese
troops captured large caches of supplies, but most Communist forces had
already been withdrawn. A storm of protest against expansion of the war
swept the United States and four days later four student protesters at
Ohio's Kent State University were shot dead by National Guardsmen.
(AP, 4/30/97)(TMC, 1994, p.1970)(HN, 4/30/98)(HNQ,
5/3/98)
1970 May 1, Students at Kent State
University rioted in downtown Kent, Ohio, in protest of the American
invasion of Cambodia. Campus protests broke out across the nation.
(HN, 5/1/98)
1970 Jun 22, President Nixon
signed the 26th amendment, a measure lowering the voting age to 18.
(AP, 6/22/97) (HN, 6/22/98)
1970 Jul 24, Pres. Nixon signed
the Failing Newspaper Act (Newspaper Preservation Act) allowing papers
in the same market to cut costs by merging some of their operations.
(SFC, 10/21/09,
p.D5)(www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25372134_ITM)
1970 Sep 15, Pres. Nixon
authorized a US-backed coup in Chile.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F7)
1970 Sep 20, Pres. Nixon’s aide,
Charles W. Colson, stated in a memo to Chief of staff H.R. Haldeman:
"(the networks) are very much afraid of us and are trying hard to prove
they are ‘good guys.’"
(SFC, 12/1/97, p.A7)
1970 Sep 22, President Richard M.
Nixon signed a bill giving the District of Columbia representation in
the U.S. Congress. Pres Nixon requested 1,000 new FBI agents for
college campuses.
(HN, 9/22/98)(http://tinyurl.com/5qrct8)
1970 Sep 26, The President’s
Commission on Campus Unrest, also referred to as the Scranton
Commission, investigated the Kent killings and found "The
indiscriminate firing of rifles into a crowd of students and the deaths
that followed were unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable." The
commission, directed by former Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton,
was appointed by President Richard Nixon shortly after the Kent State
shootings and relied heavily on a massive FBI investigation. The
Scranton report also found student conduct prior to the shootings
partly responsible.
(HNQ, 5/4/98)
1970 Oct 7, Pres. Nixon proposed a
cease-fire-in-place in a televised speech.
(WSJ, 2/5/96, p.A-19)
1970 Oct 12, President Richard
Nixon announced the pullout of 40,000 more American troops in Vietnam
by Christmas.
(HN, 10/12/98)
1970 Oct 26, Pres. Nixon signed
Executive Order 11566 ordered the establishment of the Consumer
Information Center (CIC).
(WSJ, 1/8/97,
p.A18)(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=59087)
1970 Nov 3, President Nixon
delivered a speech to explain why American troops in Vietnam had
invaded the neutral country of Cambodia.
(www.amazon.com/Speeches-Richard-M-Nixon/dp/6301666453)
1970 Nov 13, VP Spiro Agnew called
TV executives "impudent snobs."
(MC, 11/13/01)
1970 Dec 2, The Environmental
Protection Agency began operating under director William Ruckelshaus.
Pres. Nixon appointed a 3-member Council on Environmental Quality that
included journalist Robert Cahn (d.1997 at 80). It was the first
centralized White House office to advise the president on environmental
matters. Cahn served to 1972. President Nixon created the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA took over certain functions previously
handled by the departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Health,
Education and Welfare in an effort to set and enforce national
pollution-control standards. The first task it was given was the
administration of the Clean Air Act, passed that same year. Currently,
the EPA enforces 12 federal statutes ranging from safe drinking water
to pesticide use.
(SFC,11/1/97, p.A17)(AP, 12/2/97)(HNQ, 4/16/01)
1970 Dec 21, A meeting took place
between Elvis Presley and President Nixon as Elvis sought to get the
credentials of a Federal Agent to help Nixon fight drugs. The meeting
remained secret until The Washington Post broke the story on Jan. 27,
1972.
(AP, 1/8/07)
1970 Dec 31, Pres. Nixon signed US
Public Law 91-604 amending the Clean Air Act to control smog but not
global warning. Catalytic converters designed to reduce smog were
produced by the automobile companies. In 1998 it was reported that the
nitrous oxide comprised 7.2% of the gases in global warming. Catalytic
converters produced nearly half of this nitrous oxide.
(SFC, 5/29/98,
p.A2)(http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=2874)
1970 Dr. Hale E. Dougherty
(d.2002) began marketing a Spiro Agnew wristwatch. It was a result of
the current joke: "Did you know that Mickey Mouse wears a Spiro Agnew
watch.
(SFC, 1/3/03, p.A28)
1971 Jan 5, Pres. Nixon named
Robert Dole as chairman of the Republican National Party.
(HN, 1/5/01)
1971 Feb 16, Richard Nixon began
secret recordings using a newly installed taping system in White House.
(SFC, 12/1/97, p.A7)(
http://tapes.millercenter.virginia.edu/tapes/nixon/overview)
1971 Feb-1973
Jul, Pres. Nixon kept over 3000 hours of tapes that
were ordered to be released by Congress in 1975. Univ. of Wisconsin
historian Stanley Kutler won release of the tapes and had 201 hours
transcribed for his 1997 book "Abuse of Power."
(SFC, 4/13/96, p.A-2)(LVRJ, 11/1/97, p.4A)
1971 Mar 8, Pres. Nixon expressed
his bigotry against women, blacks and Mexicans and Italians on tape
recordings that were only made public in 1998.
(SFEC, 12/27/98, p.a15)
1971 Apr 1, President Richard M.
Nixon ordered Lt. William Calley transferred from prison to house
arrest at Fort Benning, Georgia, pending appeal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Calley)
1971 Apr 7, President Nixon
pledged a withdrawal of 100,000 more men from Vietnam by December.
(HN, 4/7/97)
1971 Apr 14, President Nixon ended
a blockade against People's Republic of China.
(MC, 4/14/02)
1971 May 18, President Nixon
rejected the 60 demands of the Congressional Black Caucus.
(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3013)
1971 May 28, Pres. Nixon ordered
John Haldeman to do more wiretapping and political espionage against
the Democrats. The orders were recorded on tape.
(SFEM, 4/11/99, p.41)
1971 Jul 1, President Nixon
ordered chief of staff H. R. Haldeman to have the Brookings Institute
burglarized. Nixon met with Haldeman and Kissinger and told them:
"We’re up against an enemy, a conspiracy, that (sic) are using any
means."
(www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a063071nixonburglaries)(SFC,
11/23/96, p.A6)
1971 Jul 15, President Nixon
announced he would visit the People's Republic of China to seek a
"normalization of relations."
(AP, 7/15/97)
1971 Aug 15, Pres. Nixon suspended
conversion of dollars to gold and imposed a 90-day price, wage and
rents freeze and 10% import charge. He also cut various taxes and
expenditures. This marked the end of the gold standard and fixed
exchange rates. The Bretton Woods agreement, that defined the post
World War II economic environment, collapsed under the weight of US
deficit spending. In the wake of this exchange rates were allowed to
float under the watchful eye of central bankers.
(WUD, 1994, p. 1688)(WSJ, 5/28/96, p. R-44)(WSJ,
8/15/96, p.A12)(AP, 8/15/97)(WSJ, 10/1/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)
1971 Sep 8, Pres. Nixon told John
Ehrlichman to investigate the tax returns of rich Jews contributing to
the democratic campaigns of Humphrey and Muskie.
(SFEC, 12/8/96, p.A14)
1971 Nov 5, Nixon and Kissinger
met in the Oval Office, to discuss Nixon's conversation with Gandhi the
day before. "We really slobbered over the old witch," Nixon told
Kissinger, according to a transcript of their conversation released in
2005 as part of a State Department compilation of significant documents
involving American foreign policy.
(AP, 6/28/05)
1971 Dec 15, Pres. Nixon signed
the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burro Act. An $18 million Wild
Horse and Burro Program, headed by the Bureau of Land Management, was
designed to find homes for wild horses. "Excess" animals were annually
culled. The 10-17,000 wild horses grew to some 43,000 in 1998.
(www.fs.fed.us/rangelands/ecology/wildhorseburro/whb_faqs.shtml)(WSJ,
8/25/98, p.A1)(Econ, 6/28/08, p.90)
1971 Dec 18, Pres. Nixon devalued
the dollar, and even though the devaluation was effective immediately,
only Congress could officially change the gold value of the dollar. The
US dollar went off the gold standard and was devalued by 7.9%. The 10%
import surcharge was lifted.
(WUD, 1994, p.
1688)(www.richmondfed.org/faqs/index.cfm?faq=Gold%20and%20Silver)
1971 Dec 23, Pres. Nixon signed
the National Cancer Act, an initiative that came to be known as the
“war on cancer.” Dr. David A. Wood (1905-1996) helped draft the
National Cancer Act. The act added $100 million to the National Cancer
Institute directed by Dr. Carl Baker (1920-2009).
(http://dtp.nci.nih.gov/timeline/noflash/milestones/M4_Nixon.htm)(WSJ,
5/6/98, p.A1)(Econ, 10/16/04, p.13)(SFC, 11/13/96, p.C3)(SFC, 3/13/09,
p.B7)
1971 Dec 24, Jimmy Hoffa
(1913-1975), Teamster union leader, was released from prison after
President Nixon commuted his jail term.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa)
1971 The US government set strict
federal safety standards for the auto industry that included passive
restraints, i.e. air bags. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) delayed a passive-restraint mandate until 1976
after Henry Ford II and Ford President Lee Iacocca lobbied President
Nixon.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv.
Supl)(www.motorvista.com/airhist.htm)
1972 Jan 5, President Nixon
ordered development of the space shuttle.
(AP, 1/5/98)
1972 Jan 25, Pres. Nixon made
public the secret talks from May 31, 1971, that included a
cease-fire-in-place, US withdrawal, and the return of prisoners from
North Vietnam. He made a revised offer with the concurrence of South
Vietnam's Pres. Thieu. Nixon aired the eight-point peace plan for
Vietnam, asking for POW release in return for withdrawal.
(WSJ, 2/5/96, p.A-19)(HN, 1/25/99)
1972 Feb 17, President Nixon
departed on his historic 10-day trip to China.
(AP, 2/17/98)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F7)
1972 Feb 21, Pres. Nixon began his
visit to China as he and his wife arrived in Shanghai. He was the 1st
US president to visit a country not diplomatically recognized by the
US. He brought along a bottle of Schramsberg sparkling wine from
California.
(HN, 2/21/01)(AP, 2/21/04)(WSJ, 7/1/05, p.W6)
1972 Feb 22, President Nixon met
with Mao Tse-tung in Peking and Chinese Premier Chou En-Lai in Beijing.
In 2006 Margaret McMillan authored “Seize the Hour: When Nixon Met Mao.”
(HN, 2/22/98)(Econ, 10/28/06, p.93)
1972 Feb 28, President Nixon and
Chinese Premier Chou En-lai signed the Shanghai Communique at the Jin
Jiang Hotel Assembly Hall on the last night of Nixon’s visit.
(WSJ, 3/5/97, p.A16)(AP, 2/28/07)
1972 Mar 7, Republican Richard
Nixon won the New Hampshire primary over Paul McCloskey 67.6 to 19.8%.
Democrat Edmund Muskie won over George McGovern 46.4 to 37.1%.
(SSFC, 1/25/04, p.A19)(http://tinyurl.com/5dndxk)
1972 Mar 8, Pres. Nixon signed
Executive Order 11652 lifting a 50-year secrecy ban on the exploits of
the more than 6,000 Nisei, second-generation Japanese-Americans, who
helped decode Japanese messages and who provided crucial information on
Japanese military operations during WW II.
(SFC, 5/26/96, Par p.14)(http://tinyurl.com/64kjn2)
1972 Mar 14, Pres. Nixon remarked
"It’s better to chase girls than boys…" after columnist Jack Anderson
reported that Ambassador Arthur Watson had groped flight attendants on
a trip home from Paris. A Congressional investigation prompted Watson’s
resignation.
(SFC, 3/1/02, p.A3)
1972 Mar 17, Nixon asked Congress
to halt busing in order to achieve desegregation.
(HN, 3/17/98)
1972 Mar 23, Pres. Nixon discussed
his orders to undermine Chilean democracy after the leak of corporate
papers revealing collaboration between ITT and the CIA to rollback the
election of socialist leader Salvador Allende.
(www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB110/index.htm)
1972 Mar 24, The US announces a
boycott of the Paris peace talks as President Nixon accuses Hanoi of
refusing to "negotiate seriously."
(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html)
1972 Apr 2, In response to the
North Vietnamese Easter Offensive, President Nixon authorized the US
7th Fleet to target NVA troops massed around the Demilitarized Zone
with air strikes and naval gunfire.
(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html)
1972 Apr 4, In further response to
the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive, US President Nixon authorized a
massive bombing campaign targeting all NVA troops invading South
Vietnam along with B-52 air strikes against North Vietnam. "The
bastards have never been bombed like they're going to be bombed this
time," Nixon privately declares.
(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html)
1972 May 22, President Nixon began
a visit to the Soviet Union, the 1st for a US president, during which
he and Kremlin leaders signed the SALT I arms limitation treaty.
(AP, 5/22/02)(MC, 5/22/02)
1972 May 26, President Richard M.
Nixon and Soviet Communist Party chief Leonid Brezhnev signed in Moscow
an arms reduction agreement that became known as SALT (Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks).
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.B5)
1972 May 28, Operatives working
for the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) burglarized the
Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Washington, DC,
Watergate office complex.
(http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/museum)
1972 Jun 2, Pres. Nixon in
discussion with aide Charles Colson said: We want to decimate the
god-damned place… North Vietnam is going to get reordered… it’s about
time. It’s what should have been done years ago."
(SFC, 3/1/02, p.A3)
1972 Jun 16, Five men wearing
surgical gloves were caught breaking into the headquarters of the
Democratic National Committee.
(USAT, 2/13/97, p.5D)
1972 Jun 17, President Nixon's
eventual downfall began when five men were arrested for breaking into
the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate hotel at
1:52 a.m. Carl Schloffler (1945-1996), undercover police officer, made
the arrest. Within hours of the bust G. Gordon Liddy attempted to shred
all related documents. The five burglars were soon linked to Nixon's
Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP) and, as
suspicion grew, Nixon conspired to obstruct an FBI investigation of the
incident. Nixon's conversations about the obstruction and subsequent
cover-up had been tape-recorded as part of a secret tape-recording
system revealed to investigators by Nixon's schedule keeper. Jeb
Magruder later wrote "An American Life." The book has been described as
the most accurate description of what happened. Stanley I. Kutler later
authored "The Wars of Watergate." Liddy later asserted that John Dean
was really after a brochure of call-girl pictures kept by DNC secretary
Ida Wells that included a picture of Dean’s girlfriend, Maureen Biner.
(SFC, 4/13/96, p.A-2)(TMC, 1994, p.1972)(SFC,
7/16/96, p.A14)(SFC, 2/1/99, p.A3) (HNPD, 6/17/99)(SFC, 2/4/00,
p.D9)(SFC, 1/31/01, p.A2)
1972 Jun 19, Two days after the
botched Watergate break-in, FBI official W. Mark Felt secretly assured
Bob Woodward that The Washington Post could safely make a connection
between the burglars and a former CIA agent linked to the White House,
E. Howard Hunt. Woodward’s secret source for information became known
as Deep Throat, and Felt’s name was not made public until 2005.
(http://tinyurl.com/cva26)
1972 Jun 20, Pres. Nixon recorded
on tape information relating to the Jun 16 Watergate break-in. Sections
of the tape were later erased, allegedly accidentally by sec. Rose Mary
Woods. A panel of experts examined the tape to see if the 18-minute gap
was intentional. Richard H. Bolt (d.2002 at 90), acoustic expert at
Bolt, Beranek and Newman, later said that if it was an accident than it
was committed at least 5 times in the 18 minutes.
(SFC, 2/4/02, p.B5)
1972 Jun 23, President Nixon and
White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed a plan to use the
CIA to obstruct the FBI's Watergate investigation. Revelation of the
tape recording of this conversation sparked Nixon's resignation in
1974. In the “smoking gun” tape Pres. Nixon told his chief of Staff,
H.R. Haldeman, to tell top CIA officials that “the president believes
this (in reference to Watergate) is going to open the whole Bay of Pigs
thing up again.” Nixon counseled Haldeman on how to use deception to
thwart an FBI investigation on how Watergate was financed.
(SFC, 6/23/96, p.B11)(SFC, 11/19/96, p.A10)(AP,
6/23/97)
1972 Jun 23, Pres. Nixon signed
the federal Title IX of the Education Amendment for nondiscrimination
and affirmative action. It was most often associated with bolstering
women’s sports programs. It was an amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights
Act.
(GEG, 6/96, p.4)(SFC, 6/23/98, p.A3)(WSJ, 4/25/02,
p.D9)(SSFC, 6/24/07, p.E1)
1972 Aug 1, The 1st article
exposing Watergate scandal was published by Bernstein and Woodward.
(MC, 8/1/02)
1972 Aug 8, A special meeting of
the Democratic National Committee chose R. Sargent Shriver, the former
director of the Peace Corps, as McGovern‘s running mate. The Democrat
ticket was swamped in the general election by incumbent President
Richard Nixon in the November 7 election.
(HNQ, 4/25/00)
1972 Aug 23, The Republican
National Convention, meeting in Miami Beach, Fla., nominated Vice
President Spiro T. Agnew for a second term.
(AP, 8/23/97)
1972 Oct 24, Henry Kissinger in
secret unauthorized talks in Paris proposed to end the war in Vietnam
by this date, but was urged by Pres. Nixon to stretch the timing a few
months so as to insure re-election in Nov. A drama was made in 1995
depicting these events based on the book by Walter Isaacson:
“Kissinger: A Biography.” The peace agreement allowed North Vietnam to
keep its army in the South.
(WSJ, 11/30/95, p.A-20)(WSJ, 1/23/96, p.A-15)
1972 Oct 26, The Washington Post
first disclosed that Attorney General of the United States, John
Mitchell, personally controlled a secret fund to finance intelligence
operations against Democrats during the Nixon administration. The money
financed spying and sabotaging Democratic primary campaigns in 1972 and
included activity such as forgery of correspondence, release of false
leaks to the press and seizure of confidential campaign files.
(www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a102672macgregorfund)
1972 Nov 7, President Richard
Nixon was re-elected in a landslide over Democrat George McGovern.
(TMC, 1994, p.1972)(AP, 11/7/97)
1972 Dec 18, The heaviest bombing
of North Vietnam, under orders from US Pres. Nixon, began over Hanoi.
“Operation Linebacker II” lasted 11 days and killed over 1600 civilians
with 70 US airmen killed or captured. The bombardment ended 12 days
later. President Nixon declared that the bombing of North Vietnam would
continue until an accord was reached. In 2002 Marshall L. Michel III
authored “The 11 Days of Christmas,” an account of the B-52 bombings.
(SFC,12/16/97, p.B1)(AP, 12/18/97)(HN,
12/18/98)(WSJ, 1/22/02, p.A18)
1973 Jan 8, The trial of Watergate
burglars began in Washington, DC. In 2006 Andreas Killen authored “1973
Nervous Breakdown: Watergate, Warhol and the Birth of Post-Sixties
America.”
(www.watergate.info/chronology/1973.shtml)(SSFC,
4/16/06, p.M3)
1973 Jan 8, Secret peace talks
between the United States and North Vietnam resumed near Paris.
(AP, 1/8/98)
1973 Jan 15, President Nixon
announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam,
citing progress in peace negotiations.
(AP, 1/15/98)
1973 Jan 15, Four of six remaining
Watergate defendants pleaded guilty.
(HN, 1/15/99)
1973 Jan 23, President Nixon
claimed that Vietnam peace had been reached in Paris and that the POWs
would be home in 60 days.
(AP, 1/23/98)(HN, 1/23/99)
1973 Feb 8, Pres. Nixon appointed
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003) ambassador to India.
(SFC, 11/7/98,
p.A2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ambassador_to_India)
1973 Feb 17, President Richard
Nixon named Patrick Gray director of the FBI.
(HN, 2/17/98)
1973 Mar 6, President Richard
Nixon imposed price controls on oil and gas.
(HN, 3/6/98)
1973 Mar 7, Pres. Nixon invited
Thomas Pappas, a Greek-American businessman, to the oval office to
thank him for money that was used to buy the silence of the Watergate
burglars.
(SFC,11/1/97, p.A3)(http://tinyurl.com/3nxt8d)
1973 Mar 21, Dean told Nixon:
"There is a cancer growing on the Presidency."
(http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/amia-l/2000/01/msg00043.html)
1973 Mar 27, Ruth Lewis Farkas
(1907-1996), was appointed ambassador to Luxembourg by Pres. Nixon
after she and her husband, founder of Alexander’s department stores,
contributed $300,000 to Nixon’s re-election campaign.
(SFC, 10/22/96,
p.A18)(www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/10910.htm)
1973 Apr 30, President Nixon
announced the resignations of his aides H.R. Haldeman and John
Ehrlichman, along with Attorney General Richard Kleindienst and White
House counsel John Dean. Nixon announced that he would nominate Elliot
Richardson as US attorney general to oversee the Watergate
investigation.
(AP, 4/30/97)(HN, 4/30/98)(SFC, 1/1/00, p.A25)
1973 May 17, The US Senate began
its televised hearings into the Watergate scandal and the role of Pres.
Nixon.
(HN, 5/17/98)(AH, 10/04, p.16)(AP, 5/17/08)
1973 May 22, President Nixon made
a 4,000-word defense of his own actions in the Watergate scandal.
(www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/060373-1.htm)
1973 May, Pres. Nixon told Gen'l.
Alexander Haig that "I'd authorize any means to achieve a goal abroad"
- including "the break-in of embassies and so forth."
(SFC, 2/26/99, p.A4)(http://tinyurl.com/56scod)
1973 Jun 7, Pres. Nixon nominated
Clarence M. Kelley (1911-1997), chief of police in Kansas City, to
succeed J. Edgar Hoover as director of the FBI. Kelley retired in 1978
when Pres. Carter selected William Webster to serve as the director.
(SFC, 8/6/97,
p.A14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_M._Kelley)
1973 Jun 25, White House Counsel
John Dean began testimony before Senate Watergate Committee and
admitted that President Nixon took part in the Watergate cover-up.
(http://www.watergate.info/chronology/1973.shtml)(HN, 6/25/98)
1973 Jun 26, Former White House
counsel John W. Dean told the Senate Watergate Committee about an
"enemies list" kept by the Nixon White House.
(AP, 6/26/07)
1973 Jul 16, In testimony before
the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (the
Ervin Committee), former presidential assistant Alexander Butterfield
disclosed to lawyer Donald Sanders (d.1999 at 69) that President
Richard Nixon had tape recorded all of his conversations in the White
House and Executive Office Building. Butterfield's revelations led to
Nixon's assertion of executive privilege and his refusal to release the
tapes to the Ervin Committee on July 17 or to special prosecutor
Archibald Cox on July 23. Judge John Sirica ordered Nixon to turn over
the tapes on August 29, an order subsequently upheld by U.S. Court of
Appeals on October 12. When a Nixon "compromise" of release of written
summaries of the tapes was turned down by Cox, Nixon ordered Attorney
General Elliot L. Richardson and deputy attorney general William
Ruckelshaus to fire Cox. Both refused and resigned. Solicitor General
Robert Bork complied with Nixon's order on Saturday, October 20,
resulting in the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre."
(AP, 7/16/97)(HNQ, 10/15/98)(SFC, 9/28/99, p.A26)
1973 Jul 24, John Ehrlichman, aide
to President Richard Nixon, appeared before the Senate Watergate
Committee. Testifying before the Select Committee on Presidential
Campaign Activities (the Ervin Committee), Ehrlichman asserted that the
burglary of anti-war activist Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office
was within the constitutional powers of the president. The televised
committee hearings exposed a wide range of activities, including a
secret White House program of harassment and IRS audits of political
enemies, burglaries, wiretaps, forging of State Department documents, a
secret fund to finance spying and sabotage of Democratic Party primary
campaigns and more that culminated in the House vote for impeachment
and the Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974.
{NixonR, USA, Govm’t. Scandal}
(HNQ,
10/9/98)(www.watergate.info/chronology/1973.shtml)
1973 Jul 25, Pres Nixon refused to
release Watergate tapes of conversations in the White House relevant to
the Watergate investigation.
(www.cbc.ca/news/background/us-politics/watergate-timeline.html)
1973 Aug 8, Vice President Spiro
T. Agnew branded as "damned lies" reports he had taken kickbacks from
government contracts in Maryland and vowed not to resign. He eventually
did resign.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1973 Aug 13, Pres. Nixon
instituted general wage and price controls. Phase IV controls went into
effect for the general economy and lasted until Economic Stabilization
Program (ESP) expired on April 30, 1974.
(WSJ, 11/4/96,
p.C1)(www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/432.html)
1973 Aug 22, Henry Kissinger
(b.1923), German-born American bureaucrat, succeeded William Rogers as
Secretary of State under Pres. Nixon. He continued in office until 1977.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger)
1973 Aug 29, Judge John Sirica
ordered President Nixon to turn over secret Watergate tapes. Nixon
refused and appealed the order.
(www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-history-nixon.htm)
1973 Sep 14, Pres Nixon signed
into law a measure lifting pro football's blackout.
(www.profootballhof.com)
1973 Sep 21, The US Senate
confirmed Henry Kissinger to be Secretary of State under Pres. Nixon.
(AP, 9/21/98)
1973 Sep 22, Henry Kissinger
(b.1923), German-born American bureaucrat, was sworn in as America's
1st Jewish Secretary of State, the 1st time a naturalized citizen held
this office.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger)
1973 Oct 10, US Vice President
Spiro T. Agnew (1918-1996), accused of accepting bribes, pleaded no
contest (nolo contendere) to one count of federal income tax evasion,
and resigned his office. Agnew was the first US Vice President to
resign in disgrace and was later convicted and sentenced to three years
probation and fined $10,000. President Richard Nixon named Gerald Ford
as the new VP.
(TMC, 1994, p.1973)(SFC, 9/18/96, p.A7)(AP,
10/10/97)(HN, 10/10/98)
1973 Oct 12, President Nixon
nominated House minority leader Gerald R. Ford of Michigan to succeed
Spiro T. Agnew as vice president.
(AP, 10/12/97)
1973 Oct 20, In the so-called
Saturday Night Massacre, Pres. Nixon ordered the dismissal of special
Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox. Attorney General Elliot L.
Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus refused
to fire Cox and resigned. Cox was later dismissed by Solicitor General
Robert Bork.
(AP, 10/20/97)(SFEC, 3/7/99, Z1 p.6)(SFC, 1/1/00,
p.A25)
1973 Oct 25, Pres. Nixon put U.S.
troops on high alert for just under a week to show the Soviet Union
that America would not allow it to send forces to aid Arab states
fighting Israel.
(AP, 1/1/04)
1973 Oct 26, President Nixon
released the 1st White House tapes on Watergate scandal.
(http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/exlibris/2000/10/msg00210.html)
1973 Nov 16, President Nixon
signed the Trans Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law. Oil
companies formed a consortium that gave British Petroleum 50.1% control
of the pipeline.
(www.alyeska-pipe.com/Pipelinefacts/Chronology.html)(AH, 10/04, p.43)
1973 Nov 17, President Nixon told
an Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, Fla., that
"people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook.
Well, I'm not a crook."
(AP, 11/17/97)
1973 Nov 21, President Nixon's
attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1/2- minute
gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.
(AP, 11/21/97)
1973 Nov 25, Pres. Nixon called
for a ban on Sunday gasoline sales.
(http://dotlibrary.dot.gov/Historian/chronology.htm)
1973 Nov 26, President Nixon's
personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court that she'd
accidentally caused part of the 18 1/2-minute gap in a key Watergate
tape.
(AP, 11/26/97)
1973 Dec 6, House minority leader
Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T.
Agnew. Agnew, vice president to President Richard M. Nixon, resigned
from his office and pleaded no contest to one charge of income tax
evasion in return for the dropping of all other charges. Agnew, the
only US Vice President to resign in disgrace, was fined $10,000 and
given three year's probation.
(AP, 12/6/97)(MC, 12/6/01)
1973 Dec 28, Pres. Nixon signed
into law the Endangered Species Act. The first list of endangered
species contained Gray whales. The Gray whale was removed from the list
in 1994 when the population climbed back to about 22,000.
(PacDis, Fall/’96, p.24)(SFC, 10/2/98, p.A6)(SFC,
12/28/98, p.A1)
1973 Timothy Crouse authored “The
Boys on the Bus,” an account of the press pack covering the 1972
presidential campaigns of Richard Nixon and George McGovern.
(WSJ, 12/1/07, p.W10)
1973 Abba Eban, Israeli foreign
minister helped persuade the U.S. administration of Pres. Richard Nixon
to carry out an emergency airlift of weapons and supplies.
(AP, 11/17/02)
1974 Jan 2, President Nixon signed
legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 mph. Federal
speed limits were abolished in 1995. The legislation was conceived by
Claude Brinegar (1926-2009), Nixon’s secretary of transportation.
(AP, 1/2/98)(http://tinyurl.com/45ywak)(SFC,
3/18/09, p.B6)
1974 Jan 4, President Nixon
refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the
Senate Watergate Committee.
(AP, 1/4/98)
1974 Jan 10, An Advisory Panel on
White House Tapes determined that an 18-m gap in Watergate tape was due
to erasure and of no consequence.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_tapes)
1974 Feb 6, The Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives was authorized to begin
determining grounds for the impeachment of Pres. Nixon. Public hearings
began on May 9.
(http://www.watergate.info/judiciary/)
1974 Mar 1, A grand jury in
Washington, DC, concluded that President Nixon was indeed involved in
the Watergate cover-up. 7 people, including former Nixon White
House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman, former Attorney
General John Mitchell and former assistant Attorney General Robert
Mardian, were indicted on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice in
connection with the Watergate break-in. They were convicted the
following January, although Mardian's conviction was later reversed. In
2005 Vanity Fair Magazine revealed that W. Mark Felt (91), former FBI
official, was the Watergate whistleblower Deep Throat, who helped bring
down Pres. Nixon.
(HN, 3/1/98)(AP, 3/1/99)(AP, 6/1/05)
1974 Apr 3, The Joint Committee on
Internal Revenue Taxation of the Congress reported that $476,531 in
back taxes and interest was owed by President Richard Nixon. Responding
to charges of fraud, Nixon requested the committee investigation of his
taxes and, upon its report, agreed to pay. The report made no
conclusion regarding fraud.
(HNQ,
6/1/98)(www.house.gov/jct/aboutjct_mandate.html)
1974 Apr 11, The US House
Judiciary Committee votes 33-3 to issue a subpoena ordering Nixon to
turn over all tape recordings and related materials on 42 conversations.
(http://calvert.wustl.edu/PolSci3103.fall02/watergate/chronlgy.htm)
1974 Apr 28, A federal jury in New
York acquitted former Attorney General John Mitchell and former
Commerce Secretary Maurice H. Stans of charges in connection with a
secret $200,000 contribution to President Nixon's re-election campaign
from financier Robert Vesco. Vesco had gained control of IOS, a mutual
fund firm, and looted hundreds of millions. In 1971 he fled to the
Bahamas, then Costa Rica and finally to Cuba where he was convicted in
1996 for economic crimes against the state and sentenced to 13 years in
prison.
(AP, 4/28/99)(WSJ, 7/10/02, p.A8)
1974 Apr 29, President Nixon
announced he was releasing edited transcripts of some secretly made
White House tape recordings related to Watergate.
(AP, 4/29/98)
1974 Apr 30, President Nixon
handed over partial transcripts of Watergate tape recordings.
(www.watergate.info/chronology/1974.shtml)
1974 May 2, Former Vice President
Spiro T. Agnew was disbarred by the Maryland Court of Appeals,
effectively preventing him from practicing law anywhere in the United
States.
(AP, 5/2/97)
1974 May 9, The House Judiciary
Committee opened hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of
President Nixon.
(AP, 5/9/97)(HN, 5/9/98)
1974 May 20, Judge John Sirica
ordered President Nixon to turn over tapes and records of 64 White
House conversations regarding Watergate.
(http://law.jrank.org/pages/13513/United-States-v-Nixon.html)
1974 May 29, President Nixon
agreed to turn over 1,200 pages of edited Watergate transcripts.
(HN, 5/29/98)
1974 Jun 19, Pres. Nixon returned
from a 9-day visit to the Middle-East, where he met with leaders of
Egypt, Syria, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=4267)
1974 Jun 27, Pres. Nixon arrived
in Moscow for his 3rd summit. During the summit the US and Russia
approved a partial atomic test ban treaty.
(http://tinyurl.com/5yvrog)
1974 Jul 11, John W. Dean
testified before the US House Judiciary Committee in the impeachment
inquiry of Pres. Nixon.
(www.watergate.info/judiciary/BKIITOW.PDF)
1974 Jul 12, President Richard
Nixon's aides G. Gordon Liddy, John Ehrlichman and two others were
convicted of conspiracy and perjury in connection with the Watergate
scandal. They were convicted of conspiring to violate the civil rights
of Daniel Ellsberg's former psychiatrist.
(AP, 7/12/97)(HN, 7/12/98)
1974 July 13, The US Senate
Watergate Committee proposed sweeping reforms to prevent another
Watergate scandal.
(AP, 7/13/99)
1974 Jul 19, The House Judiciary
Committee recommended that President Richard Nixon should stand trial
in the Senate for any of the five impeachment charges against him.
(HN, 7/19/98)
1974 Jul 24, The U.S. Supreme
Court unanimously ruled that President Nixon had to turn over
subpoenaed White House tape recordings to the Watergate special
prosecutor.
(AP, 7/24/97)(HN, 7/24/98)
1974 Jul 27, The House Judiciary
Committee voted 27-11 to recommend President Nixon's impeachment on a
charge that he had personally engaged in a "course of conduct" designed
to obstruct justice in the Watergate case.
(AP, 7/27/97)(HN, 7/27/98)
1974 Jul 29, The 2nd impeachment
vote against Nixon was by the House Judiciary Committee.
(MC, 7/29/02)
1974 Jul 30, The House Judiciary
Committee voted down an article of impeachment against President
Richard Nixon relating to demeaning his office by misconduct of
personal financial affairs. In April, 1974, a congressional inquiry
into possible tax fraud revealed that Nixon owed $476,531 in back taxes
for the period 1969-72. He agreed to pay and no conclusion was drawn by
the congress regarding fraud. The Judiciary Committee vote against the
article of impeachment was 26-12. Article 3 of the impeachment was
passed. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. Peter Rodino presided over
the impeachment hearings.
(http://tinyurl.com/5doffx)(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/impeachments/nixon.htm)(SFC,
12/15/98, p.A3)
1974 Aug 5, President Richard
Nixon admitted that he ordered a cover-up of the Watergate break-in for
political as well as national security reasons. One of the secret
recordings, known as the "smoking gun" tape, was released. It revealed
that Nixon authorized hush money to Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt,
and also revealed that Nixon ordered the CIA to tell the FBI to stop
investigating certain topics because of "the Bay of Pigs thing."
(HN, 8/5/98)(SFC, 12/6/99,
p.B8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon)
1974 Aug 8, President Nixon
announced he would resign his office 12PM Aug 9, following damaging
revelations in the Watergate scandal.
(AP,
8/8/97)(www.watergate.info/nixon/resignation-speech.shtml)
1974 Aug 9, President Nixon's
resignation took effect. Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th US
President (1974-1976). Ford said "Our long national nightmare is over"
after he assumed the presidency following Richard Nixon‘s resignation.
After being sworn in, Ford spoke in the White House‘s East Room and
said, "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over." It
was a line that Ford initially objected to saying, feeling it was a
little hard on Nixon. In 2007 Robert Dallek authored “Nixon and
Kissinger: Partners in Power.”
(SFEC, 5/11/97, p.T8,9)(HN, 8/9/98)(HNQ,
6/23/00)(Econ, 5/19/07, p.87)
1974 Apr 11, The Judiciary
committee presented a subpoena to President Richard Nixon to produce
tapes for impeachment inquiry.
(HN, 4/11/98)
1974 Aug 20, Pres. Gerald Ford
selected Nelson Rockefeller as VP.
(http://archive.rockefeller.edu/collections/family/nar/narvp.php)
1974 Sep 8, President Gerald Ford
pardoned former President Richard M. Nixon for any crimes arising from
the Watergate scandal he may have committed while in office.
(AP, 9/8/97)(HN, 9/8/98)
1974 Dec 19, Former Pres. Nixon’s
presidential papers were seized by an act of Congress. A court later
ruled that much of the material belonged to Nixon and that he deserved
compensation. In 1998 there was still no settlement on value.
(WSJ, 11/27/98, p.W10)
1975 Jan 1, The Watergate verdict
was guilty when a jury convicted Richard Nixon's three top advisers on
all counts in the Watergate coverup: former attorney general John
Mitchell and White House aides Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman.
"Watergate" became shorthand for the burglary of Democratic Party
offices in Washington's Watergate office complex. The burglars were
caught and found to have White House connections. Robert Mardian
(1923-2006), attorney for the Committee to Re-elect the President
(CREEP), was also convicted, but an appeals court in October, 1996,
reversed his conviction.
(SFC, 7/21/06, p.B9)
1975 Jan 8, Judge Sirica ordered
the release of Watergate's John W Dean III, Herbert W. Kalmbach &
Jeb Stuart Magruder from prison.
(MC, 1/8/02)
1975 Feb 21, Former Attorney
General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and
John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1/2 to 8 years in prison for
their roles in the Watergate cover-up. Mitchell was found guilty of
conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury. He served 19 months
behind bars.
(AP, 2/21/00)(SFC, 11/6/98, p.D5)
1975 Mar 12, Maurice Stans, former
Nixon Cabinet member, pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the
reporting sections of the Federal Election Campaign Act and two counts
of accepting illegal campaign contributions. He was fined $5,000.
(SFC, 11/6/98, p.D5)(http://tinyurl.com/45uwm3)
1975 Aug 10, Television
personality David Frost announced he had purchased the exclusive rights
to interview former President Nixon.
(AP, 8/10/00)
1975 Oct 2, Armand Hammer
(1898-1992) pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges of making
illegal contributions in the names of other persons to the 1972 Nixon
re-election campaign.
(WSJ, 6/29/00, p.A26)(http://tinyurl.com/4nv5yw)
1976 Feb 27, The final meeting
between Mao tse Tung and Richard Nixon took place.
(www.nybooks.com/articles/2173)
1977 Jun 28, Supreme Court allowed
Federal control of Nixon tapes and papers.
(MC, 6/28/02)
1980 Spiro Agnew, former US
vice-president, authored ”Go Quietly… Or Else.” Jules Witcover had
already written two biographies of Agnew: “White Knight: The Rise of
Spiro Agnew” (1972) and “A Heartbeat Away” (1974). In 2007 Witcover
authored a 3rd titled “Very Strange Bedfellows: The Short and Unhappy
Marriage of Richard Nixon & Spiro Agnew.”
(WSJ, 6/14/07, p.D6)
1981 Aug 10, Richard Nixon Museum
in San Clemente closed (http://tinyurl.com/2n6pvf). On July 11, 2007,
the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Ca., officially opened as a federal
facility.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon_Presidential_Library_and_Museum)
1988 Nov 9, John N. Mitchell
(b.1913), former Attorney General under Pres. Nixon, died in
Washington. He was a major figure in the Watergate scandal and served
19 months at a federal prison in Alabama (1977-1979) for his role in
the scandal. In 2008 James Rosen authored “The Strong Man: John
Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate.”
(AP, 1/19/98)(AP, 11/9/02)(WSJ, 5/24/08, p.W8)
1990 Jul 19, President Bush joined
former presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald R. Ford and Richard M. Nixon at
ceremonies dedicating the Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda,
California.
(AP, 7/19/00)
1993 Nov 12, Former Nixon White
House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman died in Santa Barbara, Calif., at
age 67.
(AP, 11/12/98)
1994 Apr 18, Former President
Richard Nixon suffered a stroke at his home in Park Ridge, N.J., and
was taken to New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center; he died four
days later.
(AP, 4/18/99)
1994 Apr 22, Richard M. Nixon
(81), the 37th president of the United States (1969-1975), died at New
York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, four days after suffering a
stroke. In 1990 Roger Morris wrote the biography: "Richard Milhous
Nixon." In 2000 Anthony Summers authored "The Arrogance of Power: The
Secret World of Richard Nixon." In 2008 Rick Perlstein authored
“Nixonland: The rise of a President and the Fracturing of America,” and
Conrad Black authored “Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full.”
(SFC, 11/19/96, p.A10)(SFEC, 2/23/97, BR p.3)(AP,
4/22/97)(SFEC, 8/27/00, p.A6)(SSFC, 5/18/08, Books p.4)(WSJ, 8/29/08,
p.A15)
1994 Apr 27, Former President
Richard M. Nixon was remembered at an outdoor funeral service attended
by all five of his successors at the Nixon presidential library in
Yorba Linda, Calif.
(AP, 4/27/99)
1999 Feb 14, John D. Ehrlichman,
President Nixon's domestic affairs adviser imprisoned for his role in
the Watergate cover-up that ultimately led to Nixon's resignation, died
in Atlanta at age 73. He wrote at least 4 novels and the memoir
"Witness to Power: The Nixon Years."
(SFC, 2/15/99, p.A18)(AP, 2/14/00)
2000 Jan 1, Some 254 hours of
Nixon White House tapes were to be made available for public
duplication and sale under a 1996 agreement. Another 2,338 hours,
mostly unrelated to Watergate, were to be released over the next few
years.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.A3)
2002 Sep 3, W. Clement Stone
(100), insurance tycoon who bankrolled former Pres. Nixon’s races,
died. Stone’s self-help books included "The Success System That Never
Fails."
(WSJ, 9/5/02, p.A1)(SFC, 9/13/02, p.A27)
2003 David Greenberg authored
"Nixon's Shadow."
(WSJ, 10/30/03, p.D10)
#38 Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
1908 Jul 8, Nelson Rockefeller,
41st U.S. vice president, was born. He served under Pres. Gerald Ford
from 1974-77.
(HN, 7/8/98)
1913 Jul 14, Gerald Ford (d.2006),
41st vice-president and 38th president of the United States, was born
as Leslie King, Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska, and achieved his highest
prominence as the 38th president of the Untied States. He became
president upon Richard Nixon's resignation from office. Gerald Rudolph
Ford was age two when his mother divorced his father and moved to Grand
Rapids, Michigan. She remarried Gerald Ford, Sr., who adopted the young
boy and gave him his name. Ford assumed the presidency on August 9,
1974, upon the resignation of Richard M. Nixon.
(HN, 7/14/99)(HNQ, 11/24/99)(AP, 12/27/06)
1935 Gerald Ford (1908-2006), 41st
vice-president and 38th president of the United States, graduated from
the Univ. of Michigan, where he had been a star football player.
(SFC, 12/27/06, p.A11)
1941 Gerald Ford (1908-2006), 41st
vice-president and 38th president of the United States, graduated from
Yale University law school.
(SFC, 12/27/06, p.A11)
1973 Nov 27, The Senate voted 92-3
to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew,
who'd resigned.
(AP, 11/27/97)
1973 Dec 6, House minority leader
Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T.
Agnew. Agnew, vice president to President Richard M. Nixon, resigned
from his office and pleaded no contest to one charge of income tax
evasion in return for the dropping of all other charges. Agnew, the
only US Vice President to resign in disgrace, was fined $10,000 and
given three year's probation.
(AP, 12/6/97)(SFC, 12/27/06, p.A11)
1974 Aug 9, President Nixon's
resignation took effect. Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th US
President (1974-1976). Ford said "Our long national nightmare is over"
after he assumed the presidency following Richard Nixon‘s resignation.
After being sworn in, Ford spoke in the White House‘s East Room and
said, "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over." It
was a line that Ford initially objected to saying, feeling it was a
little hard on Nixon. In 2007 Robert Dallek authored “Nixon and
Kissinger: Partners in Power.”
(SFEC, 5/11/97, p.T8,9)(HN, 8/9/98)(HNQ,
6/23/00)(Econ, 5/19/07, p.87)
1974 Aug 20, Pres. Gerald Ford
selected Nelson Rockefeller as VP.
(http://archive.rockefeller.edu/collections/family/nar/narvp.php)
1974 Sep 2, Pres. Ford signed the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), to protect pension
accounts. It was passed partly in response to Studebaker employee
pension losses in 1963. The US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
(PBGC) was set up to insure the bulk of corporate America’s pension
plans. It was expanded to include 401(k) accounts in 1978.
(WSJ, 6/5/96,
p.A1,8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_Retirement_Income_Security_Act)
1974 Sep 8, President Gerald Ford
pardoned former President Richard M. Nixon for any crimes arising from
the Watergate scandal he may have committed while in office.
(AP, 9/8/97)(HN, 9/8/98)
1974 Sep 16, President Ford
announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War deserters and
draft-evaders. Limited amnesty was offered to Vietnam-era draft
resisters who would now swear allegiance to the United States and
perform two years of public service.
(AP, 9/16/97)(HN, 9/16/98)
1974 Oct 8, President Gerald
Ford's WIN (Whip Inflation Now) program was announced in response to a
high inflation rate. Consumer prices rose 12.2 percent in 1974. The WIN
program, introduced by Ford to a national television audience, included
tax and spending assistance to hard-pressed industries, a five percent
tax surcharge, reduced federal spending and tight monetary policies.
During 1974 unemployment jumped from 5 percent to more than 7 percent,
interest rates climbed to 12 percent, the stock market fell 28 percent,
automobile sales collapsed. In 1974 real economic growth was negative 5
percent.
(HNQ, 11/1/99)
1974 Oct 15, Pres. Ford signed
legislation limiting campaign spending by political parties. Congress
amended the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971 to set limits
on contributions by individuals, political parties and PACs.
(SFC, 6/27/96, p.A3)(http://tinyurl.com/6zvcpc)
1974 Nov 5, The Republicans lost
40 seats in the House and 4 in the Senate, widening the Democratic
majority in Congress during the mid-term elections.
(www.ford.utexas.edu/grf/timeline.asp)
1974 Nov 21, The Freedom of
Information Act was passed by Congress over Pres. Ford's veto.
(www.usdoj.gov/oip/1974attachb.htm)
1974 Nov 23-1974 Nov 24, US Pres.
Gerald Ford attended a summit in Vladivostok, USSR, with Soviet Pres.
Brezhnev. They reached a tentative agreement to limit the number of
nuclear weapons.
(SFC, 12/27/06, p.A11)
1974 Dec 19, Nelson A. Rockefeller
was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States after a
House vote.
(AP, 12/19/97)(HN, 12/19/98)
1975 Jan 4, Pres. Ford’s signed
Executive Order No. 11828 on CIA Activities within the US.
(www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/1975.html)
1975 Feb 6, President Gerald Ford
asked Congress for $497 million in aid to Cambodia.
(HN, 2/6/99)
1975 Feb 7, Pres. Edward H. Levi
(1911-2000), former president of the Univ. of Chicago, began serving as
the attorney general under Pres. Ford.
(WSJ, 3/13/00,
p.A46)(http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/00/000308.levi-nyt.html)
1975 May 7, President Ford
formally declared an end to the "Vietnam era."
(AP, 5/7/97)(HN, 5/7/98)
1975 May 12, The White House
announced the new Cambodian government had seized an American merchant
ship, the Mayaguez, with 39 crew members in international waters. Pres.
Gerald Ford sent a company of Marines to rescue the ship. The ship was
freed but there were 41 Americans killed or missing and more than 50
wounded.
(SFEC, 5/11/97, p.T10)(AP, 5/12/97)
1975 Jun 2, Vice President Nelson
Rockefeller said his commission had found no widespread pattern of
illegal activities at the Central Intelligence Agency.
(AP, 6/2/97)
1975 Jul 8, President Ford
announced he would seek the Republican nomination for the presidency in
1976.
(AP, 7/8/97)
1975 Jul 29, President Ford became
the first U.S. president to visit the site of the Nazi concentration
camp Auschwitz in Poland as he paid tribute to the camp's victims.
(AP, 7/29/97)
1975 Sep 5, President Ford escaped
an attempt on his life by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a disciple of
Charles Manson, in Sacramento, Calif. In 1997 Jess Bravin wrote her
biography: “Squeaky: The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme.”
(SFC, 6/18/97, p.E5)(AP, 9/5/97)
1975 Sep 22, President Gerald R.
Ford dodged a second assassination in less than three weeks. Sara Jane
Moore, an FBI informer and self-proclaimed revolutionary, attempted to
shoot President Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. A
bullet she fired slightly wounded a man in the crowd. Moore was
sentenced to life in prison, but was paroled at the end of 2007 after
serving over 30 years without getting into trouble.
(AP, 9/22/97)(SFC, 1/1/08, p.A1)
1975 Nov 26, A federal jury in
Sacramento, Calif., found Lynette Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson,
guilty of trying to assassinate President Ford. [see Sep 5]
(HN, 11/26/98)(AP, 11/26/99)
1975 Nov 29, President Ford
required states to provide free education for handicapped.
(http://tinyurl.com/wugvn)
1975 Dec 6, US President Ford and
Secretary of State Kissinger met with Indonesian President Suharto and
explicitly approved Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor. This
information was only made public in 2005.
(AFP,
12/02/05)(www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/)
1975 Dec 12, Sara Jane Moore
pleaded guilty to a charge of trying to kill President Ford in San
Francisco the previous September.
(AP, 12/12/97)
1975 President Ford signed
legislation opening the service academies to women applicants.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Academy)
1975 The US interagency Committee
on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) was established by Pres. Gerald Ford to
review the national security implications of foreign investments of US
companies or operations.
(http://www.wileyrein.com/publication.cfm?publication_id=13209)(Econ,
7/12/08, p.36)
1976 Jan 3, Pres. Gerald Ford
signed the American Folklife Preservation Act. San Francisco Folklorist
Aaron Green (1917-2009) had lobbied Congress for the passage of the
bill.
(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6021)
1976 Feb 18, Pres. Gerald Ford
signed an executive order prohibiting US officials from plotting or
engaging in political assassination. The order was later broadened by
Presidents Carter and Reagan. Ford issued Executive Order 11905
to clarify U.S. foreign-intelligence activities. In a section of the
order labeled "Restrictions on Intelligence Activities," Ford concisely
but explicitly outlawed political assassination. It became effective on
March 1.
(www.ford.utexas.edu/LIBRARY/speeches/760110e.htm#assassination)
1976 Mar 1, The US Intelligence
Oversight Board was created as part of Pres. Ford’s Feb 18 Executive
Order 11905. It was made up of private citizens and designed to ferret
out illegal spying activities. In 2008 Pres George W. Bush issued an
executive order that stripped the board of much of its authority.
(SSFC, 3/16/08, p.A4)
1975 Nov 20, Ronald Reagan
announced his intention to battle Gerald Ford for the Republican
presidential nomination.
(SSFC, 6/6/04,
A16)(www.ford.utexas.edu/grf/timeline.asp)
1976 May 28, Pres. Ford signed the
Medical Device Amendments which established a product approval process
overseen by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the authority
to regulate medical devices. Sales of silicone breast implants, already
on the market, were allowed to continue without proof of safety.
(WSJ, 4/9/96, p.B-1)(SFC, 4/13/98, p.A8)(WSJ,
4/13/05, p.A3)
1976 Aug 19, President Ford
narrowly won the Republican presidential nomination over Ronald Reagan
at the party's convention in Kansas City. The convention was called to
order by Mary Louis Smith, chair of the Republican National Committee
and the first woman to organize and call to order the convention of a
major US political party. In 2005 Craig Shirley authored “Reagan’s
Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It all.”
(AP, 8/19/97)(SFEC, 8/24/97, p.D8)(WSJ, 2/2/05,
p.D10)
1976 Oct 19, Pres. Ford signed the
US Copyright Act of 1976, effective as of January 1, 1978. It declared
unpublished materials to be in the public domain when the records are
100 years old or when the creator of the records has been dead for
fifty years, whichever date comes first. The act also declared that
records created before January 1, 1978 enter the public domain in 2002,
provided that they are over 100 years old or the creator of the records
has been dead 50 years.
(SAA,
4/19/99)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Act_of_1976)
1976 Oct 22, Pres. Ford signed S.
3091, the National Forest Management Act of 1976.
(WSJ, 2/25/97,
p.A22)(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6516)
1976 Nov 2, Former Georgia Gov.
(James Earl) Jimmy Carter defeated Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford,
becoming the 39th president and the first from the Deep South since the
Civil War.
(AP, 11/2/97)(HN, 11/2/98)
1976 Pres. Ford suspended nuclear
reprocessing under the fear that terrorist groups might steal plutonium
from American plants to manufacture bombs. Pres. Carter made the
decision permanent in 2007.
(WSJ, 3/13/09, p.A9)
1977 Jan 19, In one of his last
acts of office, President Ford pardoned Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a
Japanese-American who had been suspected of being wartime radio
propagandist "Tokyo Rose" [see Sep 25, 1948].
(AP, 1/19/00)(AH, 10/02, p.28)
1979 Former US Pres. Gerald Ford
(1908-2006) authored his autobiography “A Time to Heal.”
(WSJ, 1/2/07, p.A1)
2000 Aug 2, Former President Ford
was hospitalized after suffering one, possibly two, small strokes.
(AP, 8/2/01)
2004 Nov 12, Former President
Gerald R. Ford attended groundbreaking ceremonies at the Univ. of
Michigan for the new home of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
(SFC, 12/27/06, p.A11)
2006 Dec 26, Gerald R. Ford
(b.1913), former Michigan Congressman and US President (1973-1976),
died. He had declared "Our long national nightmare is over" as he
replaced Richard Nixon, but may have doomed his own chances of election
by pardoning his disgraced predecessor.
(AP, 12/27/06)
2007 Jan 2, US markets and federal
agencies closed in respect for funeral rites for former Pres. Gerald
Ford. Ford’s body was flown to Michigan for burial following services
in the National Cathedral.
(WSJ, 1/2/06, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/3/06, p.A1)
2006 Nov 12, Gerald R. Ford
surpassed Ronald Reagan as the longest-lived US president at 93 years
and 121 days.
(AP, 11/12/07)
#39 Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
1924 Oct 1, Jimmy Carter (James
Earl), 39th president of the U.S. (1977-1981), was born in Plains,
Georgia.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, Z3 p.3)(HN, 10/1/98)(MC,
10/1/01)
1928 Jan 5, Walter Mondale, 42nd
Vice President (1977-1981) of the U.S., was born. He was the Democratic
presidential nominee who lost to Ronald Reagan in 1984, and Ambassador
to Japan.
(HN, 1/5/99)
1929 Aug 7, Ruth Carter-Stapleton,
Pres. Carter’s sister, evangelist, was born in Plains, Ga.
(MC, 8/7/02)
1937 Mar 29, Billy Carter, brother
of Pres Carter, was born in Plains, Georgia.
(MC, 3/29/02)
1971 Jan 12, Jimmy Carter (b.1924)
was sworn in as the 76th governor of Georgia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter)
1976 Jan 19, In the Iowa caucus
Jimmy Carter won with 28% of the vote. The rest went to Birch Bayh
(13%), Fred R. Harris (10%), Morris Udall (6%) and “Uncommitted” (37%).
(http://correntewire.com/post_iowa_perspective)
1976 Republican Gerald Ford won
the New Hampshire primary over Ronald Reagan 50.1 to 48.6%. Democrat
Jimmie Carter won over Mo Udall and Birch Bayh 28.7 to 23 to 15.3%.
(SSFC, 1/25/04, p.A19)
1976 Jul 14, Jimmy Carter won the
Democratic presidential nomination by an overwhelming margin at the
party's convention in New York City.
(AP, 7/14/97)
1976 Sep 20, Playboy magazine
released an interview in which Democratic presidential nominee Jimmy
Carter admitted he'd "looked on a lot of women with lust." Carter was
interviewed for the November issue of Playboy and he admitted that he
had committed "lust in my heart."
(AP, 9/20/01)(SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A11)
1976 Dec 16, President Jimmy
Carter appointed Andrew Young as Ambassador to the United Nations.
(HN, 12/16/98)
1977 Jan 20, President Jimmy
Carter was sworn in and then surprised everyone as he walked from the
U.S. Capitol to the White House.
(HN, 1/20/99)
1977 Jan 21, US President Carter
pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft evaders as long as they had not
been involved in violent acts. Carter also urged 65 degrees as the
maximum heat in homes to ease the energy crisis.
(AP, 1/21/98)(HN, 1/21/99)(HNQ, 11/13/99)
1977 Feb 24, Pres. Carter
announced the US was cutting off all military aid to Ethiopia because
of its human rights violations. The unstated reason was the US desire
to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to lure Somalia from the Soviet camp, an
effort which was ultimately successful.
(www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/africa.html)
1977 Mar 5, President Carter took
questions from 42 telephone callers in 26 states on a network radio
call-in program moderated by Walter Cronkite.
(AP,
3/5/98)(www.presidentialtimeline.org/html/timeline.php?id=39)
1977 Mar 7, Israeli PM Yitzhak
Rabin met with Pres. Carter in Washington.
(www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/campdavid25/campdavid25_photos.phtml)
1977 Mar 9, Pres. Carter proposed
an end to travel restrictions to Cuba, Vietnam, N. Korea and Cambodia
effective as of March 18.
(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=7139)
1977 Mar 16, US president Carter
pleaded for a Palestinian homeland.
(http://tinyurl.com/39b9fc)
1977 Mar 22, President Carter
proposed the abolition of the Electoral College.
(HN, 3/22/97)
1977 Apr 4, Egyptian Pres Anwar
Sadat held his 1st meeting with President Jimmy Carter.
(www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/diary/1977/d040477t.pdf)
1977 Apr 7, Pres. Carter stopped
the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel rods in order to discourage the
proliferation of nuclear weapons.
(SSFC, 4/8/07, p.A18)
1977 May 23, Pres. Jimmy Carter
presented an environmental message to Congress: "I am directing to make
a one-year study of the probable changes in the world’s population,
natural resources and environment through the end of the century. This
study will serve as the foundation of our longer-term planning. The
Global 2000 Report sold 1.5 million copies and pronounced a world that
would be more crowded, more polluted, less stable ecologically and more
vulnerable to disruption than the world of 1980.
(SFC, 12/31/00, WB p.1)
1977 Jun 24, The IRS revealed that
Pres. Jimmy Carter paid no taxes in 1976.
(www.kipnotes.com/James%20E.%20Carter.htm)
1977 Jul 12, President Carter
defended Supreme Court decisions limiting government payments for poor
women's abortions, saying, "There are many things in life that are not
fair."
(AP, 7/12/97)
1977 Aug 4, President Carter
signed a measure establishing the Department of Energy.
(AP, 8/4/97)
1977 Sep 7, Pres. Carter and Gen.
Herrera signed the Panama Canal treaties in Washington. They called for
the U.S. to eventually turn over control of the waterway to Panama. The
US Southern Command was scheduled to withdraw to new Miami headquarters
by the end of 1999. The US agreed to clean up its bases before turning
them over to Panama. Gen'l. Torrijos signed the treaty with Pres. Jimmy
Carter. The deal was negotiated by Sol Linowitz (d.2005).
(AP, 9/7/97)(SFC, 6/2/97, p.A6)(SFC, 8/22/97,
p.A14)(SFC, 4/29/99, p.D5)(WSJ, 3/21/05, p.A1)
1977 Nov 15, Pres. Jimmy Carter
welcomed the Shah of Iran to Washington, DC.
(http://tinyurl.com/2rhmfk)(www.kipnotes.com/James%20E.%20Carter.htm)
1978 Apr 7, President Carter
announced he was deferring development of the neutron bomb, a
high-radiation weapon.
(AP, 4/7/08)
1978 May 17, Women were included
in the White House honor guard for the first time as President Carter
welcomed Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda.
(AP, 5/17/08)
1978 Jul 15, President Carter, in
West Germany for an economic summit, presided over a "town meeting"
during which he fielded questions from about 1,000 Berliners.
(AP, 7/15/04)
1979 Aug 6, Paul Volcker (b.1927),
appointed by Pres. Carter, took over as the new chair of the US Federal
Reserve Board.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Volcker)
1978 Sep 5-17, US Pres. Carter,
Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt met at Camp David, Md.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)(TL, 1988, p.119)(SFC, 6/2/97,
p.D5)
1978 Oct 24, Pres. Carter signed
the Airline Deregulation Act. The main purpose of the act was to remove
government control from commercial aviation and expose the passenger
airline industry to market forces.
(WSJ, 10/5/04,
p.A1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_Deregulation_Act)
1978 Oct 26, Pres. Carter signed
the Ethics in Government Act. It provided for the appointment of
independent counsels. The Supreme Court upheld the law in 1987.
(AP, 8/31/97)(SFEC, 3/7/99, Z1
p.6)(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=30049)
1978 Dec 1, Pres. Jimmy Carter
proclaimed 15 new national monuments, eleven under NPS jurisdiction and
two each for the Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service.
(www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/rothman/chap11a.htm)
1979 Jan 29, President Jimmy
Carter commuted the sentence of Patty Hearst (24) from 7 to 2 years.
She had served 23 months in prison.
(HN, 1/29/99)(SFC, 1/23/04, p.E2)
1979 Jan 29, President Carter
formally welcomed Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to the White
House, following the establishment of diplomatic relations.
(AP, 1/29/98)
1979 Feb 1, US Pres. Jimmy Carter
legalized home brewing.
(Hem., 8/96,
p.113)(www.foamrangers.com/glossary_H.html)
1979 Mar 26, The Camp David peace
treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat at the White House. [see Sep 5-17, 1978]
(AP,
3/26/97)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_David_Accords)
1979 Jul 15, President Carter
delivered his "malaise" speech in which he lamented what he called a
"crisis of confidence" in America.
(AP, 7/15/97)
1979 Sep 6, Pres. Carter
designated the first Sunday of September following Labor Day of each
year as National Grandparents Day.
(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32826)
1979 Sep 10, Four Puerto Rican
nationalists imprisoned for a 1954 attack on the House of
Representatives and a 1950 attempt on the life of President Truman were
granted clemency by President Carter.
(AP, 9/10/99)
1979 Oct 17, Pres. Carter signed
legislation creating Dept. of Education.
(www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/jec/chron.phtml)
1979 Nov 4, The US Embassy was
taken over by Iranian students and a hostage crisis began. 90 people,
including 63 Americans, were taken hostage at the American embassy in
Teheran, Iran, by militant student followers of Ayatollah Khomeini who
demanded the return of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to Iran for trial. He
was undergoing medical treatment in New York City. The students held 52
American hostages for 444 days, and were released on the day of the
inauguration President Ronald Reagan, January 20, 1981. In 2005 David
Harris authored “The Crisis: The President, the Prophet and the Shah –
1979 and the coming of Militant Islam.”
(WSJ, 11/19/96, p.A1)(AP, 11/4/97)(HNQ, 5/19/98)(HN,
11/4/98)(SSFC, 4/3/05, p.F4)
1979 Nov 12, President Carter
announced an immediate halt to all imports of Iranian oil and freezes
Iranian assets in US. Executive Order 12170 halted oil imports from
Iran.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis)
1979 Dec 12, In response to the
Iran hostage crisis, the Carter administration ordered the removal of
most Iranian diplomats in the United States.
(AP, 12/12/99)
1980 Jan 2, President Carter asked
the Senate to delay the arms treaty ratification in response to Soviet
action in Afghanistan.
(HN, 1/2/99)
1980 Jan 13, The United States
offered Pakistan a two-year aid plan to counter the Soviet threat in
Afghanistan.
(HN, 1/13/99)
1980 Jan 20, President Jimmy
Carter announced the US boycott of Olympics in Moscow.
(www.kipnotes.com/James%20E.%20Carter.htm)
1980 Jan 23, Pres. Jimmy Carter
made his State of the Union address. His new American policy came to be
known as the “Carter Doctrine.” It was a pledge to defend US interests
in the Persian Gulf, using military force if necessary.
(www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1983/jan-feb/grinter.html)
1980 Jan 24, In a rebuff to the
Soviets, the U.S. announced intentions to sell arms to China.
(HN, 1/24/99)
1980 Feb 8, President Jimmy Carter
unveiled a plan to re-introduce draft registration.
(AP, 2/8/00)
1980 Feb 26, Republican Ronald
Reagan won the New Hampshire primary over George H.W. Bush and Howard
Baker 49.8 to 22.8 to 12.9%. Democrat Jimmie Carter won over Ted
Kennedy, Jerry Brown and Birch Bayh 47.2 to 37.4 to 9.6%.
(SSFC, 1/25/04,
p.A19)(www.politicallibrary.org/TallState/1980rep.html)
1980 Mar 14, Pres. Carter signed
Executive order 12201 imposing credit controls to reduce inflation.
Credit usage plunged and GDP fell by an annualized 8%, the steepest
quarterly drop in 50 years.
(Econ, 10/18/08,
p.85)(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=33144)
1980 Mar 21, President Carter
announced to the U.S. Olympic Team that they would not participate in
the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow as a boycott against Soviet
intervention in Afghanistan.
(www.cnn.com/resources/video.almanac/1980/index.html)
1980 Mar 31, President Carter
deregulated the banking industry.
(HN, 3/31/98)
1980 Apr 7, The US broke
relations with Iran during the hostage crises. Pres. Carter ordered all
Iranian diplomats expelled from the US and prohibited any further
exports to the nation. Pres. Carter signed Executive Order 12205 for
economic sanctions against Iran.
(HN,
4/7/97)(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=33235)
1980 Apr 20, The first Cubans
sailing to the United States as part of the massive Mariel boatlift
reached Florida.
(SFC,12/13/97, p.A14)(AP, 9/26/97)(AP, 4/20/00)
1980 Apr 24, An American assault
team held 44 Iranians hostage for about 3 hours when their bus stumbled
upon the remote desert site. The failed operation was commanded by
Colonel Charles Beckwith, the founder of US Delta Force. The mission
resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. servicemen. A U.S. hostage rescue
failed when a plane collided with a helicopter in Iran. The Iranian
film: "Sandstorm," which depicted the event, was made in 1996 for
release in Feb, 1997.
(WSJ, 11/19/96, p.A1)(AP, 4/24/97)(HN, 4/24/98)
1980 Apr 25, President Jimmy
Carter announced the hostage rescue disaster in Iran.
(HN, 4/25/98)
1980 Apr 28, President Carter
accepted the resignation of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance (1917-2002),
who had opposed the failed rescue mission aimed at freeing American
hostages in Iran. The decision to proceed had been spearheaded by
Zbigniev Brzeninski.
(AP, 4/28/97)(SSFC, 1/13/02, p.A27)(SFC, 3/16/03,
p.AD3)
1980 May 5, Pres. Carter said that
the Mariel Cubans would be welcomed "with open hearts and open arms."
In 1999 1750 Mariels were in detention as "excludable aliens," under
INS custody for crimes committed after being released at least once.
(SFEC, 7/11/99, Par p.14)
1980 May 14, President Carter
inaugurated the Department of Health and Human Services.
(AP, 5/14/97)
1980 May 22, In response to a
request from the Governor of NY, President Carter declared a second
federal emergency at Love Canal, paving the way for federal aid to
relocate the more than 700 families who still lived near the former
toxic waste dump.
(www.health.state.ny.us/environmental/investigations/love_canal/lcreport.htm)
1980 Jul 2, President Jimmy Carter
reinstated draft registration for males 18 years of age.
(HN, 7/2/98)
1980 Jul 23, The US Senator
Judiciary Committee was reported to be officially joining those
investigating allegations of misconduct in Billy Carter's relationship
with Libya.
(http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1980-7/1980-07-23-ABC-2.html)
1980 Aug 14, President Carter and
Vice President Walter Mondale were nominated for a second term at the
Democratic national convention in New York.
(AP, 8/14/00)
1980 Dec 11, President Carter
signed into a law legislation creating a $1.6 billion environmental
"superfund" to pay for cleaning up chemical spills and toxic waste
dumps.
(AP, 12/11/00)
1994 Dec 14, Bosnian Serb leader
Radovan Karadzic asked former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to mediate a
lasting peace in Bosnia.
(AP, 12/14/02)
1994 Dec 18, Former U.S. president
Jimmy Carter arrived in Bosnia-Herzegovina on a private mission to seek
an end to 32 months of war.
(AP, 12/18/99)
1994 Dec 19, Former President
Jimmy Carter, on a peace mission to Bosnia-Herzegovina, met with
Bosnian Serb leaders, who offered a four-month cease-fire.
(AP, 12/18/99)
1994 Dec 20, Former President
Jimmy Carter succeeded in getting Bosnia's warring factions to agree to
a temporary cease-fire.
(AP, 12/20/99)
1995 Feb 23, Former U.S. President
Jimmy Carter arrived in Haiti to help prepare for peaceful elections.
(AP, 2/23/00)
1995 Feb 25, Former President
Jimmy Carter wound up a 54-hour visit to Haiti, denying he'd been given
a chilly reception by Haitians whom he'd helped save from a potentially
bloody U.S.-led intervention.
(AP, 2/25/00)
1995 Mar 27, Former President
Jimmy Carter announced he had brokered a two-month cease-fire between
Sudan's Islamic government and rebels.
(AP, 3/27/00)
2002 May 12, Former US Pres. Jimmy
Carter arrived in Cuba and Castro offered him an unfettered access. He
was the 1st US president, in or out of office, to visit since the 1959
revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.
(WSJ, 5/13/02, p.A1)(AP, 5/12/03)
2002 May 13, In Cuba former US
Pres. Carter challenged US government conservatives to prove charges
that Cuba has developed biological weapons and shared such technology
with renegade states.
(SFC, 5/14/02, p.A9)
2002 May 14, Former Pres. Carter
addressed the Cuban people and said the US should end its embargo and
that Cuba should become more democratic.
(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A1)
2002 May 16, In Cuba former US
Pres. Jimmy Carter met with over 20 dissidents and urged them to
continue fighting for democratic change and human rights.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A14)
2002 May 17, Former President
Jimmy Carter ended a historic visit to Cuba sharply at odds with the
Bush administration over how to deal with Fidel Castro, saying limits
on tourism and trade often hurt Americans more than Cubans.
(AP, 5/17/03)
2003 Mar 8, Former US
president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter condemned
preparations for a unilateral US attack on Iraq.
(AP, 3/9/03)
2007 Jan 11, Fourteen members of
an advisory board to Jimmy Carter's human rights organization resigned
to protest his new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," which has
been attacked as unfairly critical of Israel and riddled with
inaccuracies.
(AP, 1/11/07)
2007 Oct 4, Prominent world
figures led by former President Carter and Desmond Tutu of South Africa
said they were shocked by the suffering in Darfur and criticized
Sudan's government in exceptionally harsh terms.
(AP, 10/4/07)
2008 Apr 14, Former President
Jimmy Carter deplored Palestinian militant attacks on Israel as a
"despicable crime" as he toured Sderot, a rocket-battered town.
(AP, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 15, Former US Pres. Jimmy
Carter visited the West Bank and laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser
Arafat. Carter was criticized by Israel and Washington for his plans to
meet with Hamas leaders in Syria.
(SFC, 4/16/08, p.A8)
2008 Apr 17, In Egypt former
President Carter met with a Hamas delegation from Gaza, part of a
series of talks with the Islamic militant group that has drawn sharp
criticism from US and Israeli officials. Carter said he urged Hamas
leaders from the Gaza Strip to stop militants from firing rockets into
southern Israel.
(AP, 4/17/08)(AP, 4/18/08)
2008 Apr 18,
Former US Pres. Jimmy Carter arrived in Syria where he met Pres.
Bashar Assad, the political leader of the militant Palestinian Hamas
group and Syrian businessmen.
(AP, 4/18/08)
2008 Apr 19, In Syria defying US
and Israeli warnings, former President Jimmy Carter met again on with
Khaled Mashaal, the exiled leader of the militant Hamas group, and his
deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk.
(AP, 4/19/08)
2008 Apr 21, Israeli military
forces killed three Palestinian militants who were trying to infiltrate
into Israel from Gaza. Former President Carter said that Hamas, the
Islamic militant group that has called for the destruction of Israel,
is prepared to accept the right of the Jewish state to "live as a
neighbor next door in peace."
(AP, 4/21/08)
2008 Dec 14, In Syria former US
President Jimmy Carter met with Khaled Mashaal, the exiled leader of
the Palestinian militant group Hamas, for the second time this year.
(AP, 12/14/08)
# 40 Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
(www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1988/88mar.htm)
1911 Feb 6, Ronald Reagan was born
in Tampico, Illinois. Reagan went on to become a film actor, governor
of California (1967-1975) and the 40th president of the United States
(1981-1989) and was credited with ending the Cold War.
(HN, 2/6/99)(AP, 2/6/08)
1914 Jan 4, Jane Wyman, U.S. film
actress who was the first wife of President Ronald Reagan, was born.
(HN, 1/4/99)
1920-1928 The Reagan family settled in Dixon, Ill.,
and Ronald Reagan attended Dixon Northside High School.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A12)
1932 Ronald Reagan graduated from
Eureka College in Eureka, Ill. He majored in economics and sociology
and served as student body president.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A12)
1932-1937 Ronald Reagan worked as a radio sports
broadcaster in Iowa.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A12)
1937 The film “Love Is on the Air”
featured Ronald Reagan in his 1st film.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A14)
1938 The film "Boy Meets Girl"
featured Joy Hodges, as a mentor to Ronald Reagan.
(SFC, 2/1/03, p.A19)
1939 The film "Code of the Secret
Service" starred Ronald Reagan.
(SFC, 9/3/02, p.A20)
1939 The film "Dark Victory"
starred Ronald Reagan and Bette Davis as a spoiled socialite with an
incurable brain tumor.
(SFEC, 6/13/99, DB p.37)(SSFC, 3/11/01, DB p.53)
1940 Ronald Reagan married actress
Jane Wyman (26).
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A14)
1940 Ronald Reagan and Pat O’Brian
starred in the film "Knute Rockne, All American." Here is where we hear
Reagan exclaim: "Win one for the Gipper" a reference to George Gipp.
(SFC, 7/14/96, DB p.32)(SFEC, 11/3/96, DB
p.54)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F3)
1940 The film "Santa Fe Trail"
starred Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A26)
1941 Ronald Reagan starred in the
film "Juke Girl" as a leader of a band of truckers.
(SFEC, 6/29/97, DB p.33)
1941 The film "Sea Wolf" premiered
in Sonoma, Ca. It starred Jane Wyman, Ronald Reagan, Alice Talton,
Edward G. Robinson, and John Garfield.
(SFEC,12/14/97, BR p.7)
1942 The film "King’s Row" starred
Ronald Reagan and Rhonda Fleming.
(SFEC, 11/3/96, DB p.54)
1942 The film "Juke Girl" starred
Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A26)
1943 The film "This Is the Army"
with Ross Elliott, Ronald Reagan, Irving Berlin, George Murphy and
Henry Jones (d.1999 at 86) was produced. It was based on a show by
Irving Berlin and Zinn Arthur (d.2003).
(SFEC, 11/3/96, DB p.54)(SFC, 5/21/99, p.D6)(SFC,
8/18/99, p.C4)(SFC, 3/15/03, p.A17)
1946 Ronald Reagan was a sponsor
and director of the Committee for a Democratic Far East Policy. The
organization had been designated as subversive by the Attorney General
under Executive Order 10450. He was also a member of the American
Veterans Committee, whose California chapter was cited as "communist
dominated."
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F7)
1946 Ronald Reagan signed a new
7-year contract with Warner Brothers for $3,500 a week.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A14)
1947 Apr 10, Ronald Reagan and his
wife Jane Wyman provided names to the FBI of Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
members believed to be communist sympathizers.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F2)
1947 Ronald Reagan became
president of the Screen Actors Guild and held the post for 5 years.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A14)
1947 The comedy film "The Voice of
the Turtle" starred Ronald Reagan and Eleanor Parker. It was directed
by Irving Rapper.
(SFEC, 6/29/97, DB p.33)(SFC, 12/30/99, p.C6)
1949 Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman
divorced.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A14)
1950 The film "The Hasty Heart"
starred Ronald Reagan
(SFEC, 11/3/96, DB p.54)(SFEC, 6/29/97, DB p.33)
1951 The film "Bedtime for Bonzo"
starred Ronald Reagan.
(SFEC, 11/3/96, DB p.54)
1952 Mar 4, Ronald Reagan and
Nancy Davis were married in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los
Angeles.
(AP, 3/4/98)
1952 The film "The Winning Team"
with Ronald Reagan was produced.
(SFEC, 11/3/96, DB p.54)
1954 Sep 26, Ronald Reagan made
his 1st appearance as host of the "General Electric Theater," and
continued on for 8 years.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A14)
1957 The film "Hellcats of the
Navy" starred Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Davis.
(SFEC, 11/3/96, DB p.54)
1958 Jun 20, FBI headquarters
learned of Ronald Reagan’s desire to star in the film "The FBI Story."
The bureau rejected the idea because of Reagan’s association with
Communist front organizations in the 1940s.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F3)
1958 The film "Crash Landing" was
the last movie for Nancy Reagan.
(SFEC, 1/11/98, Z1 p.8)
1959 Ronald Reagan delivered over
200 speeches as a "Democrat for Nixon."
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F3)
1962 General Electric dropped
Ronald Reagan from his $150,000 per year job as company representative
due to his political views. Reagan switched to the Republican Party.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1962 Jeane Dixon (1918-1997),
astrologer, told Ronald Reagan that he would someday be president.
(SFEC, 1/26/97, p.B6)
1964 The film "The Killers"
starred Lee Marvin, Clu Gulager, John Cassavetes, Angie Dickinson and
Ronal Reagan in his last film role.
(SFC, 2/20/98, p.C13)
1964 Ronald Reagan hosted Death
Valley Days and appeared in some episodes through 1965.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F5)
1965 Oct 10, Ronald Reagan spoke
at Coalinga Junior College and called for an official declaration of
war in Vietnam.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F5)
1966 Jan 4, Ronald Reagan
announced his candidacy for California Governor.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1966 Jan 9, Ronald Reagan appeared
on Meet the Press and was asked why he had not disavowed the John Birch
Society. Reagan said a committee had looked into the group and found
"nothing of a subversive nature." In 1960 an informer reported to the
FBI that Reagan was a Beverly Hills chapter member.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1966 May 12, Ronald Reagan told a
crowd at the Cow Palace that a 153-page report by the Burns committee
accused UC Pres. Kerr of fostering an atmosphere that turned the
university into a haven for protesters and sex deviants.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1966 Jun 7, Ronald Reagan defeated
SF Mayor George Christopher in the GOP primary.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1966 Aug 20, Ronald Reagan
announced a plan for a new anti-crime academy to be located in Berkeley.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1966 Aug, John McCone, former CIA
director, joined Ronald Reagan’s campaign as head of an executive
policy advice committee.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1966 Nov 8, Ronald Reagan defeated
Pat Brown by over a million votes to become governor of California.
Reagan had defeated former SF Mayor George Christopher in the primary.
(AP, 11/8/97)(SFEC, 11/28/99, p.A28)(SFC, 9/15/00,
p.A19)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1966 Dec 18, Gov. Reagan filled
out a personal Security Questionnaire for a comprehensive FBI
background check. Reagan falsely answered 2 questions, but the FBI
cleared his application.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F7)
1967 Jan 5, Ronald Reagan was
sworn in as Gov. of California.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F7)
1967 Jan 16, Gov. Reagan met with
FBI agents at his governor’s mansion in Sacramento for information on
UC campus radicals.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F1)
1967 Jan 20, Clark Kerr, president
of the UC system, was fired by Gov. Reagan and the UC Regents for being
too soft on student protesters at Berkeley. In 2003 Kerr authored vol.
2 of his memoir: "The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the Univ.
of California.
(SSFC, 2/17/02, p.M6)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)
1967 Jun 15, Gov. Reagan signed
the Therapeutic Abortion Act, which permitted abortions in the first 20
weeks of pregnancy if a woman's life or health was threatened or the
pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.
(SFC, 12/27/99, p.A10)(AP, 6/15/07)
1968 Aug 5, The Republican
national convention convened in Miami Beach. Ronald Reagan announced
that he would seek the GOP nomination for president. He soon threw his
support to Nixon.
(AP, 8/5/08)(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F6)(SSFC, 6/6/04, A16)
1969 May 15, UC officials fenced
People’s Park and planned to build dormitories. This prompted some
3,000 protesters to try to seize it back. Gov. Reagan placed Berkeley
under martial law and dispatched tear gas-spraying helicopters and riot
police who shot and killed one man.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F7)
1969 The Young America’s
Foundation was founded at Vanderbilt University to teach patriotism,
limited, government and other values espoused by later Pres. Ronald
Reagan. In 1998 the foundation purchased the 680-acre Reagan ranch
north of Santa Barbara.
(SFC, 4/21/98,
p.A3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_America%27s_Foundation)
1970 Nov 3, California Gov. Reagan
won a 2nd term. He defeated Jesse Unruh.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.F7)
1971 Gov. Reagan approved a major
increase in aid to welfare recipients.
(SFC, 12/27/99, p.A10)
1974 Gov. Ronald Reagan appointed
Judge Frank K. Richardson (d.1999 at age 85) to the California Supreme
Court. Richardson retired in 1983. Regan served as governor from
1966-1974. In 2003 Lou Cannon authored "Governor Reagan."
(SFC, 10/7/99, p.C4)(WSJ, 10/7/03, p.D10)
1974 California state spending
under Gov. Reagan increased from $4.6 to $10.2 billion when he left
office.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A27)
1975 Nov 20, Ronald Reagan
announced his intention to battle Gerald Ford for the Republican
presidential nomination.
(SSFC, 6/6/04,
A16)(www.ford.utexas.edu/grf/timeline.asp)
1976 Aug 19, President Ford
narrowly won the Republican presidential nomination over Ronald Reagan
at the party's convention in Kansas City. The convention was called to
order by Mary Louis Smith, chair of the Republican National Committee
and the first woman to organize and call to order the convention of a
major US political party. In 2005 Craig Shirley authored “Reagan’s
Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It all.”
(AP, 8/19/97)(SFEC, 8/24/97, p.D8)(WSJ, 2/2/05,
p.D10)
1976 Republican Gerald Ford won
the New Hampshire primary over Ronald Reagan 50.1 to 48.6%. Democrat
Jimmie Carter won over Mo Udall and Birch Bayh 28.7 to 23 to 15.3%.
(SSFC, 1/25/04, p.A19)
1979 Nov 13, Former California
Gov. Ronald Reagan announced in New York his candidacy for the
Republican presidential nomination.
(AP, 11/13/99)
1980 Jan 21, In the Iowa
Republican caucus George H. W. Bush beat Ronald Reagan 32% to 30%.
Reagan went onto win the nomination and the presidency.
(http://correntewire.com/post_iowa_perspective)
1980 Feb 26, Republican Ronald
Reagan won the New Hampshire primary over George H.W. Bush and Howard
Baker 49.8 to 22.8 to 12.9%. Democrat Jimmie Carter won over Ted
Kennedy, Jerry Brown and Birch Bayh 47.2 to 37.4 to 9.6%.
(SSFC, 1/25/04,
p.A19)(www.politicallibrary.org/TallState/1980rep.html)
1980 Jul 16, Ronald Reagan won the
Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention in Detroit.
(AP, 7/16/97)(SFEM,11/2/97, p.12)
1980 Jul 17, Ronald Reagan
formally accepted the Republican nomination for president.
(http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/digitalarchive/speechDetail/32)
1980 cAug, The Republican National
Convention, held in Detroit, nominated Ronald Reagan and George Bush to
lead the [party.
(WSJ, 8/13/96, p.A9)
1980 Oct 14, Republican
presidential nominee Ronald Reagan promised that, if elected, he would
name a woman to the US Supreme Court. He later nominated Judge Sandra
Day O’Connor of Arizona.
(AP, 10/14/00)
1980 Oct 28, President Carter and
Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan faced off in a nationally
broadcast, 90-minute debate in Cleveland.
(AP, 10/28/98)
1980 Nov 4, Ronald Reagan (69) was
elected the 40th president of the United States. He beat President
Carter (56) by a wide margin. In 1998 Jimmy Carter published "The
Virtues of Aging." Inflation and the crises in Iran caused Jimmy Carter
to lose to Ronald Reagan, America’s oldest Pres.-elect.
(TMC, 1994, p.1980)(HN, 11/4/98)(AP, 11/4/97)
1980 Pres. candidate Ronald Reagan
named the Jelly Belly jelly bean as his favorite confection.
(SFC, 8/11/99, Z1 p.3)
1981 Jan 20, Ronald Reagan was
sworn in as president of the US. He inherited 10% inflation and 20%
interest rates.
(AP, 1/20/98)(WSJ, 8/15/96, p.A12)
1981 Jan 20, Iran released 52
Americans held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had
passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan.
(AP, 1/20/98)
1981 Jan 27, President Reagan
greeted the 52 former American hostages released by Iran, telling them
during a visit to the White House: "Welcome home."
(AP, 1/27/98)
1981 Mar 5, President Reagan asked
Congress to end federal legal aid to the poor.
(HN, 3/5/98)
1981 Mar 6, President Reagan
announced plans to cut 37,000 federal jobs.
(HN, 3/6/98)
1981 Mar 30, John W. Hinckley Jr.
shot and wounded Pres. Ronald Reagan outside a Washington, D.C., hotel.
Press Sec. James Brady took a bullet as did Secret Service agent Tim
McCarthy and District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty.
(SFC, 7/14/96, Par p.2)(HN, 3/30/02)(AP, 3/30/08)
1981 Apr 11, President Reagan
returned to the White House from the hospital, 12 days after John W.
Hinckley Jr. shot him in an assassination attempt.
(AP, 4/11/97)(HN, 4/11/98)
1981 Aug 3, US air traffic
controllers (PATCO) went on strike, despite a warning from President
Reagan they would be fired. Most of the 13,000 controllers defied
Reagan’s order to return to work within 48 hours and were fired.
(AP, 8/3/02)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1981 Aug 5, Pres. Reagan began
firing 11,500 air traffic controllers who had gone out on strike 2 days
earlier.
(AP, 8/5/97)(WSJ, 9/3/96, p.A1)
1981 Aug 12, President Reagan,
citing alleged Libyan involvement in terrorism, ordered U.S. jets to
attack targets in Libya.
(AP, 12/19/03)
1981 Aug 13, In a ceremony at his
California ranch, President Reagan signed a historic package of tax and
budget reductions, also known as the Kemp-Roth tax cuts.
Abstinence-only sex education programs were introduced under Pres.
Reagan. Sponsors Rep. Jack Kemp and Sen. William Roth, had hoped for
more significant tax cuts, but settled on this bill after a great
debate in Congress. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of
1981 included a rider known as the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA),
sponsored by Republican Senators Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Jeremiah Denton
(Alabama). AFLA set aside a small but significant amount of federal
money to be used for the promotion of abstinence, as well as religious
instruction in sexual matters within the public schools.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Recovery_Tax_Act_of_1981)(AP,
8/13/01)
1981 Aug 28, John W. Hinckley Jr.
pleaded innocent to charges of attempting to kill President Reagan.
Hinckley was later acquitted by reason of insanity.
(AP, 8/28/97)
1981 Sep 16, Pres. Reagan
announced his intention to appoint Edgar Callahan (d.2009 at 80) as
chairman of the National Credit Union Administration, making him the
highest-ranking credit union regulator in the country. Callahan, former
director the Department of Financial Institutions in Illinois, stepped
down in 1987 after guiding the industry into deregulation.
(SFC, 4/3/09,
p.B5)(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=44264)
1981 Sep 28, US Pres. Ronald
Reagan designated, October 24, 1981, as United Nations Day. In 2002,
September 21 was declared the annual date for "commemorating and
strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and
peoples."
(AFP,
9/20/09)(www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1981/92881d.htm)
1981 Oct 5, President Ronald
Reagan signed a resolution granting honorary American citizenship to
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving about 100,000
Hungarians, most of them Jews, from the Nazis during WW II. He became
the second honorary American. Winston Churchill was the first.
(AP, 10/5/01)
1981 Dec 4, President Reagan
broadened the power of the CIA by allowing spying in the U.S. This was
Executive Order on Intelligence No 12333.
(HN, 12/4/98)(www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo12333.htm)
1981 Dec 7, The Reagan
Administration predicted a record deficit in 1982 of $109 billion.
(HN, 12/7/98)
1981 Dec 11, Concerned about the
safety of Americans in Libya, the Reagan administration asked them to
leave. It also invalidated the use of US passports for travel to Libya.
(AP, 12/19/03)
1981 Dec 29, President Reagan
curtailed Soviet trade in reprisal for its harsh Polish policy.
(HN, 12/29/00)
1981 Ronald Reagan’s
autobiographical memoir: "Where’s the Rest of Me," was published
{Biography, ReaganR, USA}
(www.amazon.com/Wheres-Rest-Autobiography-Ronald-Reagan/dp/0918294169)
1981-1983 Richard Pipes, Harvard Prof. of Russian
History, served Pres. Reagan as chief adviser on Soviet and East
European affairs. In 2004 Pipes authored "Vixi: Memoirs of a
Non-Belonger."
(SSFC, 1/11/04, p.M6)
1981-1988 Ronald Reagan (b.1911) served as the 40th
president of the US. In 2001 Steven V. Hayward authored "The Age of
Reagan."
(WUD, 1994, p.1196)(WSJ, 9/20/01, p.A14)
1981-1989 A. Alan Hill (1938-1996), appointed by
Ronald Reagan as an environmental aide, served for this period as
chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality and helped craft an
acid rain pact between the US and Canada.
{ReaganR, USA, Environment}
(SFC, 11/1/96, p.A28)
1982 Feb 4, President Reagan
announced a plan to eliminate all medium-range nuclear missiles in
Europe.
(AP, 2/4/02)
1982 Mar 10, Pres Reagan
proclaimed economic sanctions against Libya and banned Libyan oil
imports, because of the continued support of terrorism.
(HN,
3/10/98)(www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=38082)
1982 Jun 7, Pres. Reagan met with
Pope John Paul II at the Vatican and later with Queen Elizabeth in
England.
(www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/trvl/pres/12800.htm)
1982 Jun 17, Pres. Reagan
addressed the UN General Assembly in NYC.
(www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/61782a.htm)
1982 Jun 24, Supreme Court ruled
that the president cannot be sued for actions while in office.
(http://supreme.justia.com/us/457/731/)
1982 Nov 22, President Reagan
called for defense-pact deployment of the MX missile.
(HN, 11/22/98)
1982 Guatemalan Pres. Rios Montt
met with US Pres. Ronald Reagan in Honduras. Reagan dismissed reports
of human rights abuses in the region and lifted an arms embargo to
resume sales to military rulers.
(SSFC, 3/14/04, p.M3)
1983 Jan 5, President Reagan
announced he was nominating Elizabeth Dole to succeed Drew Lewis as
secretary of transportation. Dole became the first woman to head a
Cabinet department in Reagan's administration, and the first to head
the DOT.
(AP, 1/5/03)
1983 Mar 8, Pres Reagan called the
USSR an "Evil Empire."
(http://www.ronaldreagan.com/sp_6.html)
1983 Apr 20, Pres. Reagan signed a
$165B bail out for Social Security.
(www.ssa.gov/history/reports/crsleghist3.html)
1983 Jun 24, The US Supreme Court
ruled that Congress cannot veto presidential decisions.
(http://tinyurl.com/3db2gl)
1983 Oct 21, US Pres. Ronald
Reagan sent a ten-ship task force to Grenada.
(HN, 10/21/98)
1983 Nov 11, President Reagan
became the first U.S. chief executive to address the Diet, Japan's
national legislature.
(AP, 11/11/03)
1983 Dec 27, President Reagan took
all responsibility for the lack of security in Beirut that allowed a
terrorist on a suicide mission to kill 241 Marines on Oct 23.
(www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/02/b37879.html)
1984 Jan 25, President Reagan
endorsed the development of the first U.S. permanently manned space
station.
(HN, 1/25/99)
1984 Jan 29, President Ronald
Reagan announced that he would run for a second term.
(HN, 1/29/99)
1984 Feb 9, Soviet leader Yuri V.
Andropov (69) died, less than 15 months after succeeding Leonid
Brezhnev. He was succeeded by Konstantin U. Chernenko. US Pres. Ronald
Reagan said he wouldn’t go to any memorial for Andropov: “I don’t want
to honor that prick.”
(AP, 2/9/99)(Econ, 2/4/06, p.75)
1984 Apr 26, Pres. Reagan arrived
in China for the start of a 6-day visit.
(http://tinyurl.com/yvlwql)
1984 Aug 27, President Reagan
announced the Teacher in Space project.
(www.challenger.org/teachers/history/index.cfm)
1984 May 28, President Reagan led
a state funeral at Arlington National Cemetery at the Tomb of the
Unknowns for an unidentified American soldier killed in the Vietnam
War. The remains were unearthed in 1998 for DNA testing and possible
identification. They were later identified as those of Air Force First
Lieutenant Michael J. Blassie, and were sent to St. Louis for hometown
burial.
(AP, 5/28/97)(WSJ, 5/15/98, p.A1)(AP, 5/28/01)
1984 Jun 1, President Ronald
Reagan visited Ireland.
(www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/84jun.htm)
1984 Aug 11, President Reagan
sparked controversy when he joked during a voice test for a paid
political radio address: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to
tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia
forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."
(AP, 8/11/97)(www.yaf.com/Reagan.shtml)
1984 Aug 27, President Reagan
announced the Teacher in Space project.
(www.challenger.org/teachers/history/index.cfm)
1984 Nov 6, President Ronald
Reagan was re-elected. Reagan beat Mondale in the landslide of 1984
with 97.6% of the Electoral College and over 58% of the popular vote.
It almost matched the 1936 landslide of Roosevelt over Landon.
(HN, 11/6/98)(HNQ, 11/7/00)
1984 Nov 26, US and Iraq resumed
diplomatic relations after Pres. Reagan met with Deputy PM Tariq Aziz.
(SFC, 9/24/02, p.A11)
1985 Jan 3, President Reagan
condemned a rash of arsons on abortion clinics.
(HN, 1/3/99)
1985 Feb 23, US Senate confirmed
Edwin Meese III as attorney general.
(www.ashbrook.org/events/memdin/meese/home.html)
1985 Mar 17, President Reagan
agreed to a joint study with Canada on acid rain.
(HN, 3/17/98)
1985 Mar 19, In a legislative
victory for President Reagan, the Senate voted, 55-45, to authorize
production of the MX missile.
(AP, 3/19/97)
1985 May 1, US president Reagan
ordered an embargo against Nicaragua.
(http://tinyurl.com/2qxpo3)
1985 Jul 12, Doctors discovered
what turned out to be a cancerous growth in President Reagan’s large
intestine, prompting surgery the following day.
(AP, 7/12/00)
1985 Sep 9, President Ronald W.
Reagan issued Executive Order No. 12532 establishing sanctions against
South Africa. Reagan banned the sale of computers to South African
security agencies, barred most loans to the Pretoria government, halted
the importation of the Krugerrand, South Africa's gold coin (effective
Oct 11), and stopped exports of nuclear technology until South Africa
signs an accord to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
(www-tech.mit.edu/V105/N38/apart.38n.html)(http://tinyurl.com/2ruefg)
1985 Nov 19, President Reagan and
Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began
their summit in Geneva.
(AP, 11/19/97)
1985 Pres. Reagan signed into law
the Gold Bullion Coin Act that authorized the government to mint gold
coins.
(SFC, 7/14/04, p.C1)
1986 Jan 7, US president Reagan
proclaimed economic sanctions against Libya.
(www.iie.com/research/topics/sanctions/libya.cfm)
1986 Mar 25, President Ronald
Reagan ordered emergency aid for the Honduran army. U.S. helicopters
took Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan border.
(HN, 3/24/98)
1986 Jun 23, Tip O'Neill refused
to let Reagan address the House.
(http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_106/TECH_V106_S0437_P003.txt)
1986 Jul 3, President Reagan
presided over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor that saw the
relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.
(AP, 7/3/97)
1986 Jul 11, President Ronald
Reagan placed the Contras, who were fighting the government of
Nicaragua, under CIA jurisdiction.
(HN, 7/11/98)
1986 Oct 22, President Reagan
signed into law sweeping tax-overhaul legislation.
(AP, 10/22/06)
1986 Nov 6, Pres. Reagan signed a
landmark immigration reform bill. The Simpson-Rodino Immigration Reform
and Control Act led to legal residency for 2.7 million illegal
immigrants. Harold Ezell served as the western chief of the immigration
service under Ronald Reagan and implemented the act.
(www.cis.org/articles/1987/paper4.html)(SFC,
8/27/98, p.C4)(WSJ, 9/18/06, p.A1)
1986 Nov 13, President Reagan
publicly acknowledged that the US had sent "defensive weapons and spare
parts" to Iran in an attempt to improve relations, but denied the
shipments were part of a deal aimed at freeing hostages in Lebanon.
(AP, 11/13/06)
1986 Nov 15, A government tribunal
in Nicaragua convicted American Eugene Hasenfus of charges related to
his role in delivering arms to Contra rebels, and sentenced him to 30
years in prison. He was pardoned a month later.
(AP, 11/15/97)
1986 Nov 17, Pres. Reagan signed
the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act. It designated over
292,000 acres in Oregon and Washington states as federally regulated
land. Much of the work in getting the act passed was done by Nancy
Russell (d.2008).
(www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/111786a.htm)(http://tinyurl.com/nphxt8)
1986 Nov 22, Justice Department
found a memo in Lt. Col. Oliver North’s office on the transfer of $12
million to contras from Iran arms sale.
(HN, 11/22/98)
1986 Nov 26, President Reagan
appointed a commission headed by former Sen. John Tower to investigate
his National Security Council staff in the wake of the Iran-Contra
affair.
(AP, 11/26/97)
1986 Pres. Reagan signed a law
creating a medical malpractice data base. It began operations in 1990.
(WSJ, 8/27/04, p.A6)
1987 Jan 17, A Reagan
Administration official who initiated the arms shipments to Iran,
acknowledged that the US had virtually no independent intelligence to
support its policy.
(http://tinyurl.com/py89w)
1987 Feb 4, Congress overrode Pres
Reagan's veto of Clean Water Act. Changes in the 1972 Act phased out
the construction grants program, replacing it with the State Water
Pollution Control Revolving Fund, more commonly known as the Clean
Water State Revolving Fund.
{ReaganR, USA, Environment}
(www.epa.gov/r5water/cwa.htm)(www.agiweb.org/legis105/cwupdate.html)
1987 Feb 19, US Pres. Reagan
lifted remaining economic sanctions against Poland.
(www.eco.utexas.edu/~hmcleave/rieprop.html)
1987 Mar 4, President Reagan
addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra affair. He took full
responsibility for the affair acknowledging his overtures to Iran had
"deteriorated" into an arms-for-hostages deal. Michale Ledeen, Pentagon
employee, later authored "Perilous Statecraft: An Insider's Account of
the Iran-Contra Affair."
(AP, 3/4/98)(HN, 3/4/98)(SFC, 5/14/03, p.A19)
1987 Mar 14, President Reagan, in
his Saturday radio address, said he should have listened to Secretary
of State George P. Shultz and Defense Sec. Caspar Weinberger when they
advised him not to sell arms to Iran.
(AP, 3/14/97)
1987 May 15, President Reagan told
a gathering of out-of-town reporters at the White House he did not
consider himself "mortally wounded" by the Iran-Contra affair.
(AP, 5/15/97)
1987 Mar 19, President
Reagan, in a news conference, repudiated his policy of selling arms to
Iran, saying, "I would not go down that road again."
(AP, 3/19/97)
1987 Apr 1, In his first major
speech on the AIDS epidemic, President Reagan told doctors in
Philadelphia, "We've declared AIDS public health enemy number one."
(AP, 4/1/98)
1987 Apr 10, President Reagan and
Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev delivered speeches on nuclear arms,
with the president challenging the Soviets to join the United States in
working harder for arms reductions, and Gorbachev proposing talks on
short-range weapons.
(AP, 4/9/97)
1987 Apr 17, President Reagan
slapped $300 million in punitive duties on imported Japanese computers,
television sets and power tools, in retaliation for Japan's alleged
violation of a computer chip trade agreement.
(AP, 4/17/97)
1987 Apr 18, President Reagan used
his weekly radio address to express hope the superpowers could reach an
agreement to sharply reduce the threat of intermediate-range nuclear
weapons.
(AP, 4/18/97)
1987 Apr 21, The Senate panel
investigating the Iran-Contra affair voted to grant limited immunity to
President Reagan's former national security adviser, Rear Adm. John M.
Poindexter.
(AP, 4/21/97)
1987 Apr 30, President Reagan
welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone to the White House.
(AP, 4/30/97)
1987 May 10, President Reagan
visited Tuskegee University, one of the nation's oldest black
educational institutions, where he told graduating seniors his
administration "won't be satisfied until every American who wants a job
has a job and is earning a decent living."
(AP, 5/10/97)
1987 May 13, President Reagan said
his personal diary confirmed that he'd talked with Saudi Arabia's King
Fahd about Saudi help for the Nicaraguan Contras at a time when
Congress banned military aid, but Reagan said he did not solicit secret
contributions.
(AP, 5/13/97)
1987 May 15, President Reagan told
a gathering of out-of-town reporters at the White House he did not
consider himself "mortally wounded" by the Iran-Contra affair. The
president got to relive his radio-announcer days when he complied with
a reporter's request to read a promo for Nashville station WSM.
(AP, 5/15/97)
1987 May 19, President Reagan
defended America's presence in the Persian Gulf, two days after 37
American sailors were killed when an Iraqi warplane attacked the U.S.
frigate Stark.
(AP, 5/19/97)
1987 May 31, Addressing AIDS
research supporters in Washington, D.C., President Reagan called "for
urgency, not panic," but drew scattered boos when he announced he would
seek expanded testing for the disease.
(AP, 5/31/97)
1987 Jul 1, President Reagan
nominated federal appeals court judge Robert H. Bork to the Supreme
Court, setting off a tempestuous confirmation process that ended with
Bork's rejection in October by the Senate.
(AP, 7/1/97)
1987 Jul 18, President Reagan used
his weekly radio address to call on Congress to give more aid to the
Nicaraguan Contras.
(AP, 7/18/97)
1987 Aug 3, The Iran-Contra
congressional hearings ended, with none of the 29 witnesses tying
President Reagan directly to the diversion of arms-sales profits to
Nicaraguan rebels.
(AP, 8/3/97)
1987 Aug 5, President Reagan
announced his administration had reached a "general agreement" with
leaders of Congress on a new Central America peace plan. Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega offered to discuss the U.S. proposal.
(AP, 8/5/97)
1987 Aug 10, President Reagan said
he would nominate C. William Verity Jr., a retired steel company
executive, to replace the late Malcolm Baldrige as commerce secretary.
(AP, 8/10/97)
1987 Aug 12, President
Reagan addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra affair, saying his
former national security adviser, John Poindexter, was wrong not to
have told him about the diversion of Iran arms-sale money.
(AP, 8/12/97)
1987 Sep 5, In his weekly radio
address, President Reagan urged American workers to shun protectionist
legislation and "meet the competition head-on."
(AP, 9/5/97)
1987 Sep 10, Pope John Paul
II arrived in Miami, where he was welcomed by President and Mrs.
Reagan, to begin a 10-day tour of the United States.
(AP, 9/10/97)
1987 Sep 18, President Reagan
announced that he and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev would meet
later in the year to sign a treaty banning medium- and shorter-range
nuclear missiles.
(AP, 9/18/97)
1987 Oct 30, President Reagan
announced that Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev would visit
Washington the following December for a summit, during which the two
leaders would sign a treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear
missiles.
(AP, 10/30/97)
1987 Nov 11, Following the failure
of two Supreme Court nominations, President Reagan announced his choice
of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who went on to win confirmation.
(AP, 11/11/97)
1987 Nov 18, The congressional
Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President
Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides.
(AP,
11/18/97)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_Affair)
1987 Nov 20, President Reagan and
congressional leaders announced agreement on a two-year, $76 billion
deficit-reduction plan designed to reassure jittery financial markets.
(AP, 11/20/97)
1987 Dec 3, Four days before his
summit with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to sign a treaty banning
intermediate-range nuclear missiles, President Reagan said in an
interview with television network anchormen that there was a reasonably
good chance of progress toward a treaty on long-range weapons.
(AP 12/3/97)
1987 Dec 8, President Reagan and
Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty,
Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, under which the superpowers
agreed to destroy their arsenals of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
(TMC, 1994, p.1987)(AP 12/8/97)(SFEC, 12/19/99,
p.C12)
1987 Dec 10, President Reagan and
Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev concluded three days of summit talks
in Washington.
(AP, 12/10/97)
1988 Jan 1, President Reagan and
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev exchanged optimistic New Year's
greetings, expressing mutual hope they would reach an arms control
treaty on strategic weapons within six months.
(AP, 1/1/98)
1988 Jan 2, President Reagan and
Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney signed an agreement to lift
trade restrictions between their countries.
(AP, 1/2/98)
1988 Jan 25, In his final State of
the Union address, President Reagan declared America was "strong,
prosperous, at peace." Vice President George Bush and Dan Rather
clashed on "The CBS Evening News" as the anchorman attempted to
question the Republican presidential candidate about his role in the
Iran-Contra affair.
(AP, 1/25/98)
1988 Feb 2, In a speech that three
major television networks declined to broadcast live, President Reagan
pressed his case for aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.
(AP, 2/2/97)
1988 Feb 3, The U.S. House of
Representatives handed President Reagan a major defeat, rejecting his
request for at least $36.25 million in aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.
(AP, 2/3/97)
1988 Feb 4, Senate Republican
Leader Bob Dole twice confronted Vice President George Bush on the
floor of the Senate, accusing his GOP presidential rival of condoning a
campaign attack that amounted to "groveling in the mud."
(AP, 2/4/97)
1988 Feb 23, President Reagan
named William L. Ball III to succeed James H. Webb Jr. as Navy
Secretary.
(AP, 2/23/98)
1988 Mar 16, The US sent 3000
soldiers to Honduras.
(http://tinyurl.com/emoaj)
1988 Mar 17, Planeloads of U.S.
soldiers arrived at Palme Rola Air Base in Honduras in a show of
strength ordered by President Reagan.
(AP, 3/17/98)
1988 Mar 22, Both houses of
Congress overrode President Reagan's veto of a sweeping civil rights
bill.
(AP, 3/22/97)
1988 Mar 24, Former national
security aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter and businessmen
Richard V. Secord and Albert Hakim pleaded innocent to Iran-Contra
charges. North and Poindexter were convicted, but had their convictions
thrown out; Secord and Hakim received probation after each pleaded
guilty to a single count under a plea bargain.
(AP, 3/24/98)
1988 May 1, Newsweek magazine
reported that, according to a memoir by former White House chief of
staff Donald Regan (1918-2003), astrology had influenced the planning
of President Reagan's schedule. Regan's memoir was titled "For the
Record: From Wall Street to Washington."
(AP, 5/1/98)(WSJ, 6/11/03, p.A1)(SFC, 6/12/03, p.A25)
1988 May 3, The White House
acknowledged that first lady Nancy Reagan had used astrological advice
to help schedule her husband's activities. The unflattering revelations
surfaced in a yet-to-be published memoir by former chief of staff
Donald Regan.
(AP, 5/3/98)
1988 May 6, In his first comment
on the matter, President Reagan said he didn't "look kindly" on reports
that a memoir by former chief of staff Donald Regan painted an
unflattering portrait of first lady Nancy Reagan.
(AP, 5/6/98)
1988 May 24, President Reagan
vetoed legislation that would have strengthened the nation's ability to
defend itself and its industries against trading practices of other
nations that were deemed unfair.
(AP, 5/24/98)
1988 May 24, Vice President George
Bush and Michael Dukakis won the Idaho presidential primaries.
(AP, 5/24/98)
1988 May 25, President Reagan left
for a trip to the Soviet Union and a superpower summit with Mikhail S.
Gorbachev.
(AP, 5/25/98)
1988 May 28, On the eve of the
Moscow summit, Soviet television aired a 34-minute interview with
President Reagan in which he pledged to make human rights "agenda item
number one."
(AP, 5/28/98)
1988 May 29, President Reagan
began his first visit to the Soviet Union as he arrived in Moscow for a
superpower summit with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
(AP, 5/29/98)
1988 May 30, On the second day of
the Moscow summit, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, giving a toast
at a state dinner, called for closer contacts with Americans, adding,
"This should be done without interfering in domestic affairs, without
sermonizing or imposing one's views and ways."
(AP, 5/30/98)
1988 May 31, On the third day of
the Moscow superpower summit, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev said
maybe it was "time to bang our fists on the table" to complete work on
a strategic arms treaty. President Reagan responded: "I'll do anything
that works." Reagan received a standing ovation from students at Moscow
Univ. following a short speech with questions and answers.
(AP, 5/31/98)(HN, 5/31/99)(WSJ, 6/18/04, p.A11)
1988 Jul 23, In his weekly radio
address, President Reagan responded to the just-completed Democratic
national convention by accusing Democrats of "singing the same sad song
they sang four years ago."
(AP, 7/23/98)
1988 Jul 24, On the campaign
trail, Republican George Bush heard chants of "ERA," a reference to the
proposed Equal Rights Amendment, from members of a professional women's
group in Albuquerque, N.M. Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis was
heckled by anti-abortion protesters in St. Louis.
(AP, 7/24/98)
1988 Aug 5, Treasury Secretary
James A. Baker III announced he was resigning to take over the
presidential election campaign of Vice President George Bush. Nicholas
F. Brady was nominated to take Baker's place at Treasury.
(AP, 8/5/98)
1988 Aug 9, President Reagan
nominated Lauro Cavazos to be secretary of education; Cavazos became
the first Hispanic to serve in the Cabinet.
(AP, 8/9/98)
1988 Aug 10, President Reagan
signed the Civil Liberties Act, a measure providing $20,000 payments to
Japanese-Americans interned by the U.S. government during World War II.
(AP, 8/10/97)(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A1)
1988 Aug 22, Speaking to the
Veterans of Foreign Wars in Chicago, Vice President George Bush
defended the Vietnam-era National Guard service of running mate Dan
Quayle, saying, "He did not go to Canada, he did not burn his draft
card and he damn sure didn't burn the American flag."
(AP, 8/22/98)
1988 Aug 24, Democratic
presidential nominee Michael Dukakis picked up the endorsement of the
AFL-CIO while Republican nominee George Bush campaigned in California
with President Reagan.
(AP, 8/24/98)
1988 Aug 25, In his sharpest
attack yet on the Reagan administration's drug policies, Democratic
presidential nominee Michael Dukakis criticized U.S. dealings with
Panama's military leader, Gen. Manuel Noriega, as "criminal."
(AP, 8/25/98)
1988 Aug 26, Republican
presidential nominee George Bush denounced Democrat Michael Dukakis'
criticism of Reagan administration drug policies as "an insult," one
day after the Massachusetts governor called U.S. dealings with
Panamanian General Manuel Noriega "criminal."
(AP, 8/26/98)
1988 Sep 5, On the campaign trail,
Republican George Bush continued to link his opponent with "the liberal
left," while Democrat Michael Dukakis charged that under a GOP
administration, "the rich have become richer, the poor have gotten
poorer."
(AP, 9/5/98)
1988 Nov 8, The US held elections
and Republican VP George Bush defeated Massachusetts Gov. Michael
Dukakis. Bush was elected the 41st president with 54% of the popular
vote. He and Dan Quail were elected over Dukakis and Bentson. There
have been 14 American vice presidents who have gone on to serve as
president. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler,
Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, Theodore
Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, Richard M. Nixon, Lyndon
Johnson, Gerald Ford, George Bush.
(WSJ, 8/5/96, p.A10)(AP, 11/8/98)(HN, 11/6/98)(HNQ,
2/19/00)
1988 Nov 23, President Reagan
announced he was pocket-vetoing a bill designed to further restrict
lobbying by former federal employees, saying it was "excessive and
discriminatory."
(AP, 11/23/98)
1988 Dec 14, In a dramatic policy
shift, President Reagan authorized the United States to enter into a
"substantive dialogue" with the Palestine Liberation Organization,
after chairman Yasser Arafat said he was renouncing "all forms of
terrorism."
(AP, 12/14/98)
1988 Dec 30, President Reagan and
President-elect Bush were subpoenaed to testify as defense witnesses in
the pending Iran-Contra trial of Oliver North. The subpoenas were
subsequently quashed.
(AP, 12/30/98)
1988 Dec 31, President Reagan and
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev exchanged New Year's messages in
which both leaders expressed optimism about future superpower
relations.
(AP, 12/31/98)
1989 Jan 5, Lawrence E. Walsh, the
special prosecutor in the Iran-Contra case, asked for a dismissal of
two charges against Oliver North, citing the Reagan administration's
refusal to release material sought by North.
(AP, 1/5/99)
1989 Jan 9, The Supreme Court
agreed to consider the Webster abortion case the same day that Surgeon
General C. Everett Koop advised President Reagan he would not issue a
report on the health risks of abortion.
(AP, 1/9/99)
1989 Jan 11, President Reagan bade
the nation farewell in an address from the Oval Office.
(AP, 1/11/99)
1989 Jan 14, President Reagan
delivered his 331st and last weekly radio address, telling listeners,
"Believe me, Saturdays will never seem the same. I'll miss you." In
2001 Peggy Noonan authored the Reagan biography "When character Was
King."
(AP, 1/14/99)(WSJ, 11/15/01, p.A24)
1989 Jan 19, Pres Reagan pardoned
George Steinbrenner for illegal funds for Nixon.
(www.reference.com/browse/wiki/George_Steinbrenner)
1989 Jan 20, George Bush was sworn
in as the 41st president of the United States; Dan Quayle was sworn in
as vice president. Reagan became the 1st pres elected in a "0" year,
since 1840, to leave office alive.
(AP, 1/20/99)
1989 Mar 3, Robert McFarlane got a
$20,000 fine and 2 years probation for Iran-Contra.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1989 Sep 8, Former President
Reagan underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to relieve
fluid build-up on his brain after a horse-riding accident.
(AP, 9/8/99)
1990 Jan 30, A federal judge
ordered former President Reagan to provide excerpts of his personal
diaries to John M. Poindexter for the former national security
adviser's Iran-Contra trial. The judge later reversed himself, deciding
the material was not essential.
(AP, 1/30/00)
1990 Feb 16, Former President
Reagan began two days of giving a videotaped deposition in Los Angeles
for the Iran-Contra trial of former national security adviser John
Poindexter.
(AP, 2/16/00)
1990 Feb 17, Former President
Reagan spent a second day in a Los Angeles courtroom, giving videotaped
testimony about the Iran-Contra affair for the trial of his former
national security adviser, John Poindexter.
(AP, 2/17/00)
1990 Feb 22, Former President
Reagan's videotaped testimony for the trial of former national security
adviser John Poindexter was released in Washington; in his deposition,
Reagan said he never had "any inkling" his aides were secretly arming
the Nicaraguan Contras.
(AP, 2/22/00)
1990 Ronald Reagan published his
memoir “An American Life.”
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A18)
1991 Mar 28, Former President
Reagan declared his support for the so-called "Brady Bill" requiring a
seven-day waiting period for handgun purchases.
(AP, 3/28/01)
1991 May 15, Simon and Schuster
published “Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography” by Kitty Kelly.
Review copies came out in April.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Kitty_Kelley)
1991 Aug 5, Democratic
congressional leaders formally launched an investigation into whether
the 1980 Reagan-Bush campaign had secretly conspired with Iran to delay
release of American hostages until after the presidential election. A
task force later concluded there was "no credible evidence" of such a
deal.
(AP, 8/5/01)
1991 Nov 4, Ronald Reagan opened
his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., with a dedication
ceremony attended by President Bush and former presidents Jimmy Carter,
Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon - the first-ever gathering of five U.S.
chief executives.
(AP, 11/4/01)
1994 Jan 18, Iran-Contra
prosecutor Lawrence Walsh released his final report in which he said
former President Reagan had acquiesced in a cover-up of the scandal.
Reagan called the accusation "baseless."
(AP, 1/18/99)
1994 Nov 5, Former President
Reagan disclosed he had Alzheimer's disease.
(AP, 11/5/97)
2001 Mar 4, President George W.
Bush dedicated a $4 billion aircraft carrier in honor of former
President Reagan. Nancy Reagan christened the ship. It was commissioned
in 2003.
(AP, 3/4/02)(SSFC, 7/13/03, p.A2)
2001 Aug 8, Maureen Reagan,
daughter of former Pres. Ronald Reagan, died at age 60 of malignant
melanoma. She authored the 1989 autobiography "First Father, First
Daughter."
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A20)
2002 Peter Schweizer authored
"Reagan’s War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final
Triumph Over Communism." Peter J. Wallison authored the biography
"Ronald Reagan."
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.M6)(WSJ, 12/24/02, p.D4)
2002 May, Pres. Bush presented the
Reagans with a Congressional Gold medal.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, A18)
2003 Peter Robinson, Reagan
speechwriter, authored "How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life."
(WSJ, 8/20/03, p.D12)
2004 Jun 5, Ronald Reagan
(b.1911), 40th US president (1981-1989), died in California after a
long twilight struggle with Alzheimer's disease. In 2005 Paul Lettow
authored “Ronald Reagan and His Quest to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.” It
focused on what Reagan said and did. John Ehrman authored “The
Eighties: America in the Age of Reagan,” in which he sees Reagan as the
embodiment of the conservative movement. In 2006 Richard Reeves
authored “President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination.”
(AP, 6/6/04)(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.E3)(Econ, 2/4/06,
p.75)
#41 George Bush (1989-1993)
1944 Sep 2, Navy pilot George
Herbert Walker Bush was shot down by Japanese forces as he completed a
bombing run over the Bonin Islands. Bush was rescued by the crew of the
U.S. submarine Finback; his two crew members, however, died.
(AP, 9/2/04)
1947 Feb 4, Dan Quayle was born in
Indianapolis. He later became vice-president under George H.W.
Bush (1988-1992).
(DFP, 7/28/96, p.J5)(HN, 2/4/01)
1971-1973 George H.W. Bush served as the US
ambassador to the United Nations.
(SSFC, 8/15/04, p.D11)
1976 Jan 30, George Bush became
the 11th director of the CIA replacing William E. Colby. Bush revived
the reputation of the organization and left it Jan 20, 1977.
(SFEC, 1/16/00, Par p.2)(http://tinyurl.com/2mm8r9)
1987 Feb 27, Donald Regan resigned
as White House chief of staff.
(www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/87feb.htm)
1987 Nov 9, Senate Minority Leader
Bob Dole formally announced a bid for the Republican presidential
nomination during a visit to his hometown of Russell, Kan.
(AP, 11/9/97)
1988 Jan 11, Vice President George
Bush met with representatives of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh
to answer questions about the Iran-Contra affair.
(AP, 1/11/98)
1988 Feb 13, President Reagan and
Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid met in the Mexican resort of
Mazatlan.
(AP, 2/13/98)
1988 Feb 23, Presidential hopeful
Bob Dole defeated Vice President George Bush in the South Dakota and
Minnesota Republican primaries; among Democrats, Michael S. Dukakis won
in Minnesota, Dick Gephardt in South Dakota.
(AP, 2/23/98)
1988 Feb, Republican George H.W.
Bush won the New Hampshire primary over Bob Dole, Jack Kemp, Pete du
Pont and Pat Robertson 37.7 to 28.5 to 12.8 to 10.1 to 9.4%. Democrat
Michael Dukakis won over Dick Gephardt and Paul Simon 35.9 to 19.9 to
17.2%.
(SSFC, 1/25/04, p.A19)
1988 Mar 5, Vice President George
Bush won the South Carolina Republican primary, with Kansas Senator Bob
Dole running a distant second, followed by Pat Robertson and New York
Congressman Jack Kemp.
(AP, 3/5/98)
1988 Mar 8, Vice President George
Bush was the big winner in the Super Tuesday Republican presidential
primaries. Among Democrats, Michael S. Dukakis, Jesse Jackson and Al
Gore split the lion's share of delegates.
(AP, 3/8/98)
1988 Mar 9, The day after the
Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses, Republican George Bush spent the
day in Houston, savoring his 16-state sweep, while Democrats Michael
Dukakis, Jesse Jackson and Al Gore enjoyed more modest successes.
(AP, 3/9/98)
1988 Mar 16, The US sent 3000
soldiers to Honduras.
(http://tinyurl.com/emoaj)
1988 Apr 19, Republican George
Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis handily won the New York presidential
primaries.
(AP, 4/19/97)
1988 Apr 26, Vice President George
Bush locked up the Republican presidential nomination with an easy win
in the Pennsylvania primary. Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis won the
Democratic contest.
(AP, 4/26/98)
1988 May 24, Vice President George
Bush and Michael Dukakis won the Idaho presidential primaries.
(AP, 5/24/98)
1988 Jul 14, Speaking before the
U.N. Security Council, Iran's foreign minister, Ali-Akbar Velayati,
denounced the U.S. downing of an Iranian jetliner as "a barbaric
massacre." Vice President Bush replied that the U.S.S. Vincennes had
fired in self-defense.
(AP, 7/14/98)
1988 Jul 18, Texas Treasurer Ann
Richards delivered the keynote address at the Democratic national
convention in Atlanta, needling Republican nominee-apparent George Bush
as having been "born with a silver foot in his mouth."
(HN, 7/18/98)
1988 Aug 13, Vice President George
Bush contemplated a list of potential running mates as Republicans
gathered in New Orleans for their party's national convention.
(HN 8/13/98)
1988 Aug 14, Pres. Reagan arrived
in New Orleans on the eve of the Republican national convention that
would nominate VP George Bush, to be its choice to succeed him.
(AP, 8/14/98)
1988 Aug 15, President Reagan
bade a sentimental farewell on the first night of the Republican
national convention in New Orleans, and praised the man destined to
succeed him, Vice President George Bush.
(AP, 8/15/98)
1988 Aug 16, VP George Bush tapped
Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle to be his running mate.
(AP, 8/16/98)
1988 Aug 17, Vice President George
Bush was nominated for president at the Republican National Convention
in New Orleans.
(AP, 8/17/98)
1988 Aug 22, Speaking to the
Veterans of Foreign Wars in Chicago, Vice President George Bush
defended the Vietnam-era National Guard service of running mate Dan
Quayle, saying, "He did not go to Canada, he did not burn his draft
card and he damn sure didn't burn the American flag."
(AP, 8/22/98)
1988 Aug 24, Democratic
presidential nominee Michael Dukakis picked up the endorsement of the
AFL-CIO while Republican nominee George Bush campaigned in California
with President Reagan.
(AP, 8/24/98)
1988 Aug 26, Republican
presidential nominee George Bush denounced Democrat Michael Dukakis'
criticism of Reagan administration drug policies as "an insult," one
day after the Massachusetts governor called U.S. dealings with
Panamanian General Manuel Noriega "criminal."
(AP, 8/26/98)
1988 Aug 29, On the presidential
campaign trail, Democrat Michael Dukakis sought to counter Republican
George Bush's salvos against the Massachusetts prison furlough program,
while Bush continued to charge that Dukakis was soft on defense.
(AP, 8/29/98)
1988 Sep 5, On the campaign trail,
Republican George Bush continued to link his opponent with "the liberal
left," while Democrat Michael Dukakis charged that under a GOP
administration, "the rich have become richer, the poor have gotten
poorer."
(AP, 9/5/98)
1988 Sep 7, Vice President George
Bush startled an American Legion audience in Louisville, Ky., by
referring to Sept. 7 as "Pearl Harbor Day," which is actually Dec. 7.
Realizing his mistake, Bush said, "Did I say Sept. 7? Sorry about
that."
(AP, 9/7/98)
1988 Nov 8, The US held elections
and Republican VP George Bush defeated Massachusetts Gov. Michael
Dukakis. Bush was elected the 41st president with 54% of the popular
vote. He and Dan Quail were elected over Dukakis and Bentson. There
have been 14 American vice presidents who have gone on to serve as
president. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler,
Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, Theodore
Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, Richard M. Nixon, Lyndon
Johnson, Gerald Ford, George Bush.
(WSJ, 8/5/96, p.A10)(AP, 11/8/98)(HN, 11/6/98)(HNQ,
2/19/00)
1988 Nov 23, President-elect Bush
announced his choice of Brent Scowcroft to be his national security
adviser.
(AP, 11/23/98)
1988 Dec 16, President-elect Bush
chose former Texas Sen. John Tower to be his secretary of defense, a
nomination that went down to defeat in the U.S. Senate.
(AP, 12/16/98)
1988 Dec 19, President-elect Bush
nominated New York Congressman Jack Kemp to be his secretary of Housing
and Urban Development.
(AP, 12/19/98)
1988 Dec 22, President-elect Bush
appointed Dr. Louis W. Sullivan secretary of health and human services,
Samuel K. Skinner transportation secretary and Manuel Lujan Jr.
interior secretary.
(AP, 12/22/98)
1989 Jan 12, President-elect Bush
completed the selection of his Cabinet, naming retired Adm. James D.
Watkins secretary of energy and former education secretary William J.
Bennett drug czar.
(AP, 1/12/99)
1989 Jan 20, George Bush was sworn
in as the 41st president of the United States; Dan Quayle was sworn in
as vice president. Reagan became the 1st pres elected in a "0" year,
since 1840, to leave office alive.
(AP, 1/20/99)
1989 Jan 27, President Bush held
an informal White House news conference in which he defended a widely
criticized pay raise for Congress scheduled to go into effect the
following month.
(AP, 1/27/99)
1989 Feb 1, In his first
diplomatic mission of the Bush administration, Vice President Dan
Quayle began a trip to Venezuela and El Salvador.
(AP, 2/1/99)
1989 Feb 2, President Bush met at
the White House with Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, after
which both leaders sounded upbeat about U.S-Japanese relations.
(AP, 2/2/99)
1989 Feb 9, President Bush, in his
first major speech to Congress, proposed a $1.16 trillion "common
sense" budget for fiscal 1990.
(AP, 2/9/99)
1989 Feb 21, President Bush called
Ayatollah Khomeini's death warrant against "Satanic Verses" author
Salman Rushdie "deeply offensive to the norms of civilized behavior."
(AP, 2/21/99)
1989 Feb 23, The Senate Armed
Services Committee voted against recommending the nomination of John
Tower to become secretary of defense.
(AP, 2/23/99)
1989 Feb 25, President Bush left
Japan, where he had attended the funeral of Emperor Hirohito, and
arrived in China for a three-day visit.
(AP, 2/25/99)
1989 Feb 27, President Bush warned
of what he called the "fool's gold" of trade protectionism as he
addressed South Korea's National Assembly before returning home.
(AP, 2/27/99)
1989 Mar 9, The Senate rejected
President Bush's nomination of John Tower to be defense secretary by a
vote of 53-47.
(AP, 3/9/99)
1989 Mar 14, In a policy shift,
the Bush administration announced an indefinite ban on imports of
semiautomatic assault rifles.
(AP, 3/14/99)
1989 Apr 7, A week after the Exxon
Valdez oil spill disaster, President Bush pledged federal assistance to
help in the clean-up.
(AP, 4/7/99)
1989 Apr 24, President Bush led a
memorial service at the Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia for the 47
sailors killed in a gun-turret explosion aboard the USS Iowa.
(AP, 4/24/99)
1989 Apr 28, President Bush
announced the U.S. and Japan had concluded a deal on joint development
of a new Japanese jet fighter, the FSX, despite concerns that U.S.
technology secrets would be given away.
(AP, 4/28/99)
1989 Apr 30, President Bush
attended a parade in New York City celebrating the bicentennial of the
American presidency.
(AP, 4/30/99)
1989 May 8, Former President
Carter, a leader of an international team observing Panama's elections,
declared that the armed forces were defrauding the opposition of
victory.
(AP, 5/8/99)
1989 May 9, President Bush
complained that Panama's elections were marred by "massive
irregularities," and he called for worldwide pressure on General Manuel
Antonio Noriega to step down as military leader.
(AP, 5/9/99)
1989 May 9, VP Quayle said in
United Negro College Fund speech: "What a waste it is to lose one's
mind" instead of "a mind is terrible thing to waste."
(www.realchange.org/quayle.htm)
1989 May 11, President Bush
recalled the US ambassador and planned to dispatch about 1,700 soldiers
and 165 marines in phases to reinforce troops already in Panama.
(www.hrw.org/reports/1989/WR89/Panama.htm)
1989 May 13, In unusually strong
language, President Bush called on the people of Panama and the
country's defense forces to overthrow their military leader, Gen.
Manuel Antonio Noriega.
(AP, 5/13/99)
1989 Jul 9, President Bush began a
visit to Poland.
(AP, 7/9/99)
1989 Jul 12, President Bush
continued his visit to Hungary, where he held talks with officials and
made a speech at Karl Marx University in Budapest.
(AP, 7/12/99)
1989 Jul 20, President Bush called
for a long-range space program to build an orbiting space station,
establish a base on the moon and send a manned mission to the planet
Mars.
(AP, 7/20/99)
1989 Jul 24, President Bush said
he was "aggrieved" about allegations that veteran U.S. diplomat Felix
S. Bloch might have spied for the Soviet Union.
(AP, 7/24/99)
1989 Aug 4, Iranian President
Hashemi Rafsanjani offered to help end the hostage crisis in Lebanon,
prompting President Bush to say he was "encouraged."
(AP, 8/4/99)
1989 Sep 5, In his first
nationally broadcast address from the White House, President Bush
outlined a plan to fight illicit drugs, which he called the "quicksand
of our entire society."
(AP, 9/5/99)
1989 Nov 21, A law banning smoking
on most domestic flights signed by President Bush.
(http://tinyurl.com/gf6zq)
1989 Dec 3, Presidents George Bush
and Mikhail Gorbachev, in Malta, announce the official end to the Cold
War.
(HN, 12/3/99)
1989 Dec 11, President Bush,
facing criticism at home for sending two U.S. officials to China,
defended the diplomatic overture despite the Beijing government's
crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators the previous June.
(AP, 12/11/99)
1989 Dec 19, The US invaded Panama
and captured Manuel Noriega. A 1997 book: "The Memoirs of Manuel
Noriega" by Noriega and Peter Eisner told his version.
(HFA, '96, p.20)(SFEC, 4/13/97, BR p.3)
1990 Jan 5, President Bush told a
news conference the United States had a strong case against deposed
Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega and said he was convinced Noriega
would receive a fair trial on drug-trafficking charges.
(AP, 1/5/00)
1990 Jan 24, The House voted
390-25 to override President Bush's veto of legislation protecting
Chinese students from deportation. Bush prevailed in a Senate vote the
next day.
(AP, 1/24/00)
1990 Feb 12, President Bush
rejected Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev's new initiative for
troop reductions in Europe, but predicted a "major success" on arms
control at the superpower summit in June.
(AP, 2/12/00)
1990 Feb 15, President Bush and
the leaders of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru met in Cartagena, Colombia
for a drug-fighting summit.
(AP, 2/15/00)
1990 Feb 19, Defense Secretary
Dick Cheney, snubbed by Philippine President Corazon Aquino, met in
Manila with Defense Minister Fidel Ramos to discuss the future of U.S.
bases in the country.
(AP, 2/19/00)
1990 Mar 3, President Bush sparked
controversy by expressing opposition to the settlement of Soviet Jewish
refugees in East Jerusalem.
(AP, 3/3/00)
1990 Mar 12, Vice President Quayle
met in Santiago, Chile, with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who
promised to peacefully relinquish power to Violeta Chamorro, the
U.S.-backed candidate who had won Nicaragua's presidential election.
(AP, 3/12/00)
1990 Mar 29, President Bush,
addressing the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS, declared his
administration "on a wartime footing" against the disease, and called
for compassion, not discrimination, toward those infected with the
virus.
(AP, 3/29/00)
1990 Apr 5, It was announced that
President Bush and Soviet President Gorbachev would hold their first
full-scale summit in the United States.
(AP, 4/5/00)
1990 Apr 6, US Secretary of State
James Baker and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze concluded
three days of talks in Washington, after which Shevardnadze handed
President Bush a letter from Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
(AP, 4/6/00)
1990 Apr 17, President Bush warned
the Soviet Union against carrying out an economic blockade of
Lithuania, hinting at "appropriate responses."
(AP, 4/17/00)
1990 May 7, The White House put
aside President Bush's pledge of no new taxes, saying talks to strike a
budget deal with Congress would have "no preconditions."
(AP, 5/7/00)
1990 May 9, President Bush and
congressional leaders announced plans for emergency budget talks, with
tax increases and spending cuts on the negotiating table.
(AP, 5/9/00)
1990 May 11, President Bush, on a
two-day trip of college commencement speeches, told reporters aboard
Air Force One that there were "no conditions" going into a budget
summit with Congress.
(AP, 5/11/00)
1990 May 23, Neil Bush, son of the
president, denied any wrongdoing as a director of a failed Denver
savings-and-loan in testimony before Congress.
(AP, 5/23/00)
1990 May 31, President Bush and
his wife, Barbara, welcomed Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev in a
ceremony on South Lawn of the White House. The two leaders and their
aides then held talks on German reunification.
(AP, 5/31/00)
1990 Jul 21, A day after Supreme
Court Justice William J. Brennan announced his retirement, President
Bush convened a meeting with key administration officials to begin
finding a replacement.
(AP, 7/21/00)
1990 Jul 23, President George H.W.
Bush announced his choice of Judge David Souter of New Hampshire to
succeed retiring Justice William J. Brennan on the US Supreme
Court.
(AP, 7/23/00)
1990 Jul 26, US Congress passed
and Pres. George Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
(WSJ, 7/26/95, p.A-12)(SFEC, 5/25/97, p.C10)
1990 Aug 5, An angry President
Bush again denounced the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, telling reporters,
"This will not stand. This will not stand, this aggression against
Kuwait."
(AP, 8/5/00)
1990 Aug 7, President Bush ordered
US troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert
kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq. The US Persian Gulf War
began. Operation Desert Shield ended Feb 28, 1991. It cost $8.1 billion
and left 383 US casualties with 458 wounded.
(AP, 8/7/99)(WSJ, 9/22/99, p.A8)
1990 Aug 8, As the Persian Gulf
crisis deepened, American forces began taking up positions in Saudi
Arabia; Iraq announced it had annexed Kuwait as its 19th province;
President Bush warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that "a line has
been drawn in the sand."
(AP, 8/8/00)
1990 Aug 13, President Bush
ordered Defense Secretary Dick Cheney to the Persian Gulf for the
second time since Iraq invaded Kuwait. American combat troops in Saudi
Arabia, meanwhile, were told to prepare for a long stay.
(AP, 8/13/00)
1990 Aug 14, Interrupting his
vacation in Kennebunkport, Maine, President Bush returned to
Washington, where he told reporters he saw no hope for a diplomatic
solution to the Persian Gulf crisis, at least until economic sanctions
forced Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
(AP, 8/14/00)
1990 Aug 16, President Bush met
with Jordan’s King Hussein in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he urged the
monarch to close Iraq’s access to the sea through the port of Aqaba.
(AP, 8/16/00)
1990 Aug 20, For the first time
since Iraq began detaining foreigners, President Bush publicly referred
to the detainees as hostages, and demanded their release. Iraq moved
Western hostages to military installations (human shields).
(AP, 8/20/00)
1990 Aug 22, President Bush signed
an order calling up reservists to bolster the US military buildup in
the Persian Gulf.
(AP, 8/22/00)
1990 Aug 30, President Bush told a
news conference that a "new world order" could emerge from the Gulf
crisis.
(AP, 8/30/00)
1990 Sep 1, President Bush
announced that he and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev would meet
in Helsinki, Finland, for a "free-flowing" one-day summit on the
Persian Gulf crisis and other issues.
(AP, 9/1/00)
1990 Sep 3, President Bush
returned to Washington from his Maine vacation home to prepare for his
summit in Finland with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
(AP, 9/3/00)
1990 Sep 7, President Bush left
for his one-day Finland summit with Soviet President Mikhail S.
Gorbachev.
(AP, 9/7/00)
1990 Sep 8, President Bush and
Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev arrived in Helsinki, Finland, for
a one-day summit sparked by the Persian Gulf crisis.
(AP, 9/8/00)
1990 Sep 9, President Bush and
Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev held a one-day summit in
Helsinki, Finland, after which they joined in condemning Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait.
(AP, 9/9/00)
1990 Sep 11, President Bush
addressed Congress on the Persian Gulf crisis, vowing that “Saddam
Hussein will fail” in his takeover of Kuwait.
(AP, 9/11/00)
1990 Nov 8, President Bush ordered
a new round of troop deployments in the Persian Gulf, adding up to
150-thousand soldiers to the multinational force facing off against
Iraq.
(AP, 11/8/00)
1990 Nov 13, Secretary of State
James A. Baker III told reporters in Hamilton, Bermuda, the Persian
Gulf crisis threatened world recession and the loss of American jobs.
Members of Congress demanded a larger role in US Gulf policy following
President Bush’s decision to send more US troops to the region.
(AP, 11/13/00)
1990 Nov 14, President Bush told
congressional leaders he had no immediate plans to go to war in the
Persian Gulf.
(AP, 11/14/00)
1990 Nov 15, Pres. Bush signed the
Clear Air Act of 1990.
(www.epa.gov/history/topics/caa90/02.htm)
1990 Nov 17, President Bush, on
the first visit to Czechoslovakia by a US president, told a cheering
crowd of 100,000 in Prague that "America will stand with you" through
hard times ahead.
(AP, 11/17/00)
1990 Nov 21, President Bush
arrived in Saudi Arabia, where he conferred with Saudi King Fahd and
Kuwait’s exiled emir.
(AP, 11/21/00)
1990 Nov 23, President Bush
conferred separately with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo and
Syrian President Hafez Assad in Geneva, seeking Arab support for his
drive to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
(AP, 11/23/00)
1990 Nov 30, Pres. Bush announced
that Secretary of State James Baker the Third would go to Iraq in a
last-ditch diplomatic peace effort.
(AP, 11/30/00)
1990 Nov 30, Pres. Bush named
outgoing Florida Governor Bob Martinez to head the nation’s war on
drugs.
(AP, 11/30/00)
1990 Dec 3, President Bush began a
five-nation South American tour as he arrived in Brazil.
(AP, 12/3/00)
1990 Dec 5, President Bush, on a
visit to Argentina, said he was "not optimistic" that Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein would withdraw from Kuwait without a fight.
(AP, 12/5/00)
1990 Dec 7, As President Bush
arrived in Venezuela on the last stop of his South American tour, his
chief spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, warned Iraq that there was "no
lessening in the threat of war," despite Iraq’s promise to release its
hostages.
(AP, 12/7/00)
1990 Dec 12, President Bush
announced that he and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev would hold
a summit the following February in Moscow.
(AP, 12/11/00)
1990 Dec 14, President Bush
said he would nominate Lynn Martin to succeed Elizabeth H. Dole as
labor secretary.
(AP, 12/14/00)
1990 Dec 14, President Bush
prodded Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to agree to talks on the Persian
Gulf crisis by January third.
(AP, 12/14/00)
1990 Dec 17, President Bush
pledged "no negotiation for one inch" of Kuwaiti territory would take
place as he repeated his demand for Iraq’s complete withdrawal.
(AP, 12/17/00)
1990 Dec 17, President Bush
nominated former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander to be secretary of
education, succeeding Lauro Cavazos.
(AP, 12/17/00)
1990 Dec 18, Less than a month
before a UN deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, President Bush
told reporters he believed Americans would support a military strike,
if one proved necessary. In Baghdad, the ruling Revolutionary Command
Council said Iraq was "ready for the decisive showdown."
(AP, 12/18/00)
1991 Jan 1, President Bush called
top advisers to the White House for a fresh assessment of the Persian
Gulf crisis.
(AP, 1/1/01)
1991 Jan 5, President Bush met at
Camp David, Maryland, with UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar
to discuss the Persian Gulf crisis. The same day, a pretaped radio
address by Bush was broadcast in which the president warned Iraq: "Time
is running out."
(AP, 1/5/01)
1991 Jan 9, Secretary of State
James A. Baker the Third and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz met for
six hours in Geneva, but failed to resolve the Persian Gulf crisis.
President Bush, in Washington, accused Iraq of "a total stiff-arm, a
total rebuff." Mr. Baker told Mr. Aziz that America would throw Iraq
out by force if it did not leave Kuwait.
(AP, 1/9/01)(Econ, 5/24/08, p.19)
1991 Jan 11, The United States and
Iraq intensified their rhetoric, with Secretary of State James A. Baker
III telling Air Force pilots in Saudi Arabia, "We pass the brink at
midnight January 15," and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein boasting of
his army’s readiness. Congress empowered Bush to order attack on Iraq.
(AP, 1/11/01)(MC, 1/11/02)
1991 Jan 12, A deeply divided
Congress gave President Bush the authority to wage war in the Persian
Gulf. The Senate voted 52-to-47 to empower Bush to use armed forces to
expel Iraq from Kuwait; the House followed suit on a vote of 250-to-183.
(HN, 1/12/99)(AP, 1/12/01)
1991 Jan 16, The White House
announced the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces out
of Kuwait. President Bush said in a nationally broadcast address "the
battle has been joined" as fighter bombers pounded Iraqi targets.
Because of the time difference, it was early January 17th in the
Persian Gulf when the attack began. At 4:30 P.M. EST, the first fighter
aircraft are launched from Saudi Arabia and off of U.S. and British
aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf on bombing missions over Iraq.
(AP, 1/16/01)(MC, 1/16/02)
1991 Jan 29, In his State of the
Union address, President Bush assured Americans that the war against
Iraq would be won and that the recession at home would end in short
order. Extraordinary security measures were in effect for the first
wartime State of the Union address since the Vietnam era.
(AP, 1/29/01)
1991 Feb 4, President Bush sent
Congress a $1.45 trillion budget for fiscal 1992 containing a deficit
of $280.9 billion.
(AP, 2/4/01)
1991 Feb 5, President Bush
announced he was sending Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and General
Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the Gulf war
zone to assess how the US-led offensive was progressing.
(AP, 2/5/01)
1991 Feb 11, President Bush met
with Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin L.
Powell, who had just returned from the Gulf region. Afterward, Bush
said he would hold off on a ground war against Iraq for the time being,
saying allied air strikes had been "very, very effective."
(AP, 2/11/01)
1991 Feb 15, Iraq proposed a
conditional withdrawal from Kuwait, an offer dismissed by President
Bush as a "cruel hoax."
(AP, 2/15/01)
1991 Feb 19, President Bush told
reporters a Soviet proposal to end the Persian Gulf War fell "well
short of what would be required." Russian Federation President Boris
Yeltsin delivered an unprecedented public appeal for Soviet President
Mikhail S. Gorbachev to resign.
(AP, 2/19/01)
1991 Feb 22, President Bush and
America’s Gulf War allies gave Iraq 24 hours to begin withdrawing from
Kuwait, or face a final all-out attack. Iraq denounced the "shameful"
US ultimatum, aligning itself with a Soviet peace plan the US had
rejected.
(AP, 2/22/01)
1991 Feb 23, President Bush
announced that the allied ground offensive against Iraqi forces had
begun (because of the time difference, it was already the early morning
of February 24th in the Persian Gulf).
(AP, 2/23/01)
1991 Feb 27, President Bush
declared that "Kuwait is liberated, Iraq’s army is defeated," and
announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight.
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the US commander in the Gulf, briefed
reporters in detail on the successful allied offensive. Coalition
forces liberated Kuwait after seven months of occupation by the Iraqi
army.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)(HN, 2/27/99)(AP, 2/27/01)
1991 Mar 1, President Bush said
"we’ve kicked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all" following the
allied victory in the Gulf War.
(AP, 3/1/01)
1991 Mar 6, Following Iraq’s
capitulation in the Persian Gulf conflict, President Bush told a
cheering joint session of Congress that "aggression is defeated. The
war is over."
(AP, 3/6/01)
1991 Mar 13, President Bush,
during a visit to Ottawa, Canada, warned Iran against seizing Iraqi
territory in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War.
(AP, 3/13/01)
1991 Mar 21, Test results released
in Los Angeles showed that Rodney King, the motorist whose beating by
police was videotaped by a bystander, had marijuana and alcohol in his
system following his arrest. President Bush denounced King’s beating as
"sickening" and "outrageous."
(AP, 3/21/01)
1991 Mar 23, Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein shuffled his Cabinet, but kept in place his hard-line
ministers of interior and defense to direct a crackdown on rebellion
against his rule. A popular uprising had been prompted by Pres. Bush
and 15 of 18 provinces were liberated, but no American help followed
and Hussein’s forces crushed the intifada.
(AP, 3/23/01)(WSJ, 9/10/02, p.A12)
1991 Mar 26, The Bush
administration indicated it would not aid rebels seeking to overthrow
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
(AP, 3/26/01)
1991 Mar 27, In a surprising flap,
President Bush publicly disagreed with General H. Norman Schwarzkopf,
who claimed he had urged further fighting in the Persian Gulf War at
the time Bush ordered a cease-fire. Schwarzkopf later apologized to
Bush.
(AP, 3/27/01)
1991 Mar 29, General H. Norman
Schwarzkopf publicly apologized to President Bush for questioning his
judgment about calling a cease-fire in the Gulf War.
(AP, 3/29/01)
1991 Apr 16, President Bush
announced that US forces would be sent into northern Iraq to assist
Kurdish refugees.
(AP, 4/16/01)
1991 Apr 17, Congress voted to put
a quick end to a day-old nationwide strike by 235,000 rail workers.
President Bush signed the legislation early the next day.
(AP, 4/17/01)
1991 Apr 18, President Bush
unveiled his "America 2000" education strategy, which included a
voluntary nationwide exam system and aid pegged to academic results.
(AP, 4/18/01)
1991 Apr 23, President Bush
welcomed General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the just-returned Gulf War
commander, at the White House.
(AP, 4/23/01)
1991 May 4, President Bush
suffered shortness of breath while jogging at Camp David; he was rushed
to Bethesda Naval Hospital, where doctors found he was experiencing an
irregular heartbeat.
(AP, 5/4/01)
1991 May 5, President Bush
continued to experience an irregular heartbeat, one day after he was
taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital because of fatigue and shortness of
breath.
(AP, 5/5/01)
1991 May 6, President Bush
returned to work after spending two nights at Bethesda Naval Hospital
because of an irregular heartbeat; he met at the White House with
Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.
(AP, 5/6/01)
1991 May 7, Doctors said that
President Bush’s recent bout with an irregular heartbeat was caused by
a mildly overactive thyroid gland, a condition they said was easily
treatable.
(AP, 5/7/01)
1991 May 9, President Bush met at
the White House with UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, who
relayed Iraq’s rejection of a US-backed proposal for a UN civilian
force in northern Iraq.
(AP, 5/9/01)
1991 May 11, President Bush
dispatched an amphibious task force with thousands of Marines and
dozens of helicopters to help cyclone-ravaged Bangladesh with disaster
relief efforts.
(AP, 5/11/01)
1991 May 14, President Bush
announced his selection of Robert M. Gates to head the Central
Intelligence Agency.
(AP, 5/14/01)
1991 May 15, President Bush took
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth the Second to a baseball game between the
Baltimore Orioles and the Oakland Athletics. The queen left after two
innings; the A’s won, 6-to-3.
(AP, 5/15/01)
1991 May 27, In a commencement
speech at Yale University, President Bush announced he would ask
Congress to extend most-favored-nation trade benefits to China for
another year.
(AP, 5/27/01)
1991 May 29, President Bush,
addressing the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado,
unveiled a plan to curb "unnecessary and destabilizing weapons" in the
Middle East.
(AP, 5/29/01)
1991 Jul 1, President Bush
nominated federal appeals court judge Clarence Thomas to the US Supreme
Court, beginning a confirmation process marked by allegations of sexual
harassment.
(AP, 7/1/01)
1991 Jul 10, President Bush lifted
economic sanctions against South Africa, citing its "profound
transformation" toward racial equality.
(AP, 7/10/97)
1991 Jul 10, President Bush
announced he was appointing Alan Greenspan to a second term as Federal
Reserve chairman.
(AP, 7/10/01)
1991 Jul 19, President Bush toured
the Souda Bay US naval base during a visit to Greece.
(AP, 7/19/01)
1991 Jul 20,
President Bush, visiting Turkey, was cheered by thousands of people in
Ankara.
(AP, 7/20/01)
1991 Jul 22, President Bush
returned from a nine-day trip that included the Group of Seven summit
in London.
(AP, 7/22/01)
1991 Jul 28, President Bush warned
Iraq it would be making "an enormous mistake" if it failed to disclose
its nuclear weapons program to United Nations inspectors.
(AP, 7/28/01)
1991 Jul 29, President Bush
arrived in Moscow for a superpower summit with Soviet President Mikhail
S. Gorbachev that included the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction
Treaty.
(AP, 7/29/01)
1991 Aug 1, President Bush,
visiting the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, urged Soviet republics to show
restraint in their demands for more autonomy.
(AP, 8/1/01)
1991 Aug 5, Democratic
congressional leaders formally launched an investigation into whether
the 1980 Reagan-Bush campaign had secretly conspired with Iran to delay
release of American hostages until after the presidential election. A
task force later concluded there was "no credible evidence" of such a
deal.
(AP, 8/5/01)
1991 Aug 14, President Bush
expressed "100 percent" support for United Nations efforts to mediate a
settlement to the Middle East hostage crisis.
(AP, 8/14/01)
1991 Aug 20, More than 100,000
people rallied outside the Russian Parliament building as protests
against the Soviet coup increased. President Bush said he would never
deal with the coup leaders.
(AP, 8/20/01)
1991 Sep 2, President Bush
formally recognized the independence of the Baltic states of Lithuania,
Latvia and Estonia.
(AP, 9/2/01)
1991 Sep 12, Saying Middle East
peace negotiations might be in jeopardy, President Bush told reporters
he would use his veto authority, if necessary, to delay action on
Israel's call for $10 billion in housing loan guarantees.
(AP, 9/12/01)
1991 Sep 13, President Bush, who
had suffered an irregular heartbeat because of a thyroid condition, was
pronounced in "incredible physical condition" after a checkup by his
doctors.
(AP, 9/13/01)
1991 Nov 9, President Bush
returned from a four-day European trip that included a NATO summit.
(AP, 11/9/01)
1991 Nov 19, The U.S. House of
Representatives sustained President Bush's veto of a bill that would
have lifted his ban on federally financed abortion counseling.
(AP, 11/19/01)
1991 Nov 21, President Bush signed
a civil rights bill, then sought to calm a storm of controversy by
withdrawing a tentative order to end government hiring preferences for
blacks and women.
(AP, 11/21/01)
1991 Nov 25, President George H.W.
Bush threatened to veto anti-crime legislation heading for a final vote
in Congress, accusing Democrats of producing a bill that would actually
weaken law enforcement.
(AP, 11/25/01)
1991 Dec 3, Embattled White House
chief of staff John H. Sununu resigned; he was succeeded by Samuel K.
Skinner.
(AP, 12/3/01)
1991 Dec 5, Samuel K. Skinner was
named White House chief of staff by President Bush, succeeding John H.
Sununu.
(AP, 12/5/01)
1991 Dec 14, President Bush and
Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, meeting at Camp David,
Md., renewed their commitment to conclude quickly the North American
Free Trade Agreement.
(AP, 12/14/01)
1991 Dec 17, In an about-face, the
White House used the word "recession" to characterize the state of the
economy, although spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the administration
did not believe there was a recession in a technical sense.
(AP, 12/17/01)
1991 Dec 31, President Bush
arrived in Australia as part of a 12-day Pacific trip.
(AP, 12/31/01)
1992 Jan 1, President Bush became
the first American leader to address the Australian Parliament, telling
lawmakers the United States would continue to subsidize its
agricultural exports, despite protests by Australia's farmers.
(AP, 1/1/02)
1992 Jan 4, President Bush,
visiting Singapore as part of a Pacific trade tour, announced plans to
shift to Singapore the Navy logistics command that was being evicted
from the Philippines.
(AP, 1/4/02)
1992 Jan 5, President Bush arrived
in Seoul, South Korea, on the third stop of a 12-day tour focusing on
international trade issues.
(AP, 1/5/02)
1992 Jan 7, President Bush arrived
in Japan on a tough-talk trade mission.
(AP, 1/7/02)
1992 Jan 8, President Bush
collapsed during a state dinner in Tokyo; White House officials said
Bush was suffering from stomach flu. Bush vomited on the Japanese prime
minister's lap
(AP, 1/8/02)(MC, 1/8/02)
1992 Jan 9, President Bush
declared his trade visit to Japan a success, saying Japanese officials
had agreed to increase imports of American cars, auto parts, computers
and other goods. However, U.S. auto executives traveling with Bush
sounded less enthusiastic.
(AP, 1/9/02)
1992 Jan 10, President Bush
returned home from his grueling 12-day journey to Australia, Singapore,
South Korea and Japan, boasting of "dramatic progress" on trade issues.
(AP, 1/10/02)
1992 Jan 16, Four days of Middle
East peace talks recessed in Washington, D.C.
(AP, 1/16/02)
1992 Jan 28, President George H.W.
Bush, in his State of the Union address, proposed tax breaks and
business incentives to revive the economy, and announced dramatic cuts
in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
(AP, 1/28/02)
1992 Jan 29, President Bush
presented a $1.2 trillion budget plan.
(AP, 1/29/02)
1992 Jan 30, President George H.W.
Bush and other world leaders gathered for an unprecedented U.N.
Security Council summit to coordinate policy on peacekeeping,
disarmament and quelling aggression.
(AP, 1/30/02)
1992 Feb 1, President George H.W.
Bush and Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin met at Camp David.
(AP, 2/1/02)
1992 Feb 3, President George H.W.
Bush got into a testy exchange with Democratic governors over his
economic-revival plan.
(AP, 2/3/02)
1992 Feb 4, President George H.W.
Bush defended his economic recovery plan before a National Grocers
Association meeting in Orlando, Fla. During his visit, Bush appeared
intrigued by an electronic checkout machine, leaving reporters
wondering if he'd ever seen such a device before.
(AP, 2/4/02)
1992 Feb 6, President George H.W.
Bush unveiled a health care plan for most Americans.
(AP, 2/6/02)
1992 Feb 12, President Bush
formally announced his bid for re-election.
(AP, 2/12/02)
1992 Feb 18, Republican Pres.
George H.W. Bush won the New Hampshire primary over Pat Buchanon, 58.6
to 41.4%. Democrat Paul Tsongas won over Bill Clinton, Bob Kerrey, Tom
Harkin and Jerry Brown 38 to 28.3 to 12.7 to 11.6 to 9.3%.
(SFEM,11/2/97, p.12)(AP, 2/18/02)(SSFC, 1/25/04,
p.A19)
1992 Feb 22, President Bush
renewed his attack on a Democratic tax plan, saying in a radio address
that congressional Democrats were choosing "politics over duty."
(AP, 2/22/02)
1992 Feb 25, President Bush won
the South Dakota Republican primary, Bob Kerrey the Democratic primary.
(AP, 2/25/02)
1992 Mar 3, President Bush
apologized for raising taxes after pledging not to.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1992 Mar 8, President George H.W.
Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton headed toward "Super Tuesday" claiming
big boosts from weekend victories.
(AP, 3/8/02)
1992 Mar 10, Democrat Bill Clinton
claimed front-runner status as he won a series of Southern landslides
on "Super Tuesday." President George H.W. Bush swept all the Republican
contests.
(AP, 3/10/02)
1992 Mar 15, Democratic
presidential candidates debated in Chicago, criticizing President
George H.W. Bush's handling of the Persian Gulf War and its aftermath,
and clashing over economic issues.
(AP, 3/15/97)
1992 Mar 20, Congress passed, and
President Bush immediately vetoed, a Democratic tax cut for the middle
class that would have been funded by a tax hike on the rich.
(AP, 3/20/97)
1992 Mar 21, Pres. Bush and German
Chancellor Helmut Kohl met at Camp David, Md.
(AP, 3/21/97)
1992 Mar 22, President Bush and
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl wrapped up a weekend of informal talks by
reiterating their resolve to break a deadlock on global trade talks.
(AP, 3/22/02)
1992 Apr 1,
President Bush pledged the United States would help finance a $24
billion international aid fund for the former Soviet Union.
(AP, 4/1/97)
1992 Apr 3, President Bush,
speaking in Philadelphia, said members of Congress should shorten their
annual sessions and retire after 12 years, calling for changes in "a
failed status quo"; Democratic leaders accused Bush of "scapegoating."
(AP, 4/3/97)
1992 Apr 4, His
campaign acknowledged that Bill Clinton had received an induction
notice in April 1969 while attending college in Oxford, England;
Clinton said the notice arrived after he was due to report, and that
his local draft board had told him he could complete the school term.
(AP, 4/4/97)
1992 Apr 24, President Bush and
Democratic challenger Bill Clinton made long-distance back-to-back
appearances via satellite hookups before the National Association of
Hispanic Journalists meeting in Albuquerque, N.M.
(AP, 4/24/97)
1992 Apr 30, As rioting in Los
Angeles entered its second day, President Bush condemned the violence
and said the Justice Department would intensify its investigation of
police conduct in the beating of Rodney King.
(AP, 4/30/97)
1992 May 1, On
the third day of the Los Angeles riots, beaten motorist Rodney King
appeared in public to appeal for calm, asking, "Can we all get along?"
President Bush delivered a nationally broadcast address in which he
vowed to "use whatever force is necessary" to restore order.
(AP, 5/1/97)
1992 May 7, President Bush visited
riot-scarred Los Angeles.
(AP, 5/7/97)
1992 May 8, President Bush wound
up two emotional days in riot-ravaged Los Angeles, promising to work
harder in Washington to enact a "common-sense agenda" of conservative
proposals to help urban America.
(AP, 5/8/97)
1992 May 9, President Bush, back
in Washington after a visit to riot-torn Los Angeles, promised in a
radio speech that he would work with the Democrat-controlled Congress
on proposals to help American cities.
(AP, 5/9/97)
1992 May 12, President Bush
announced he would travel to the Earth Summit in Brazil.
(AP, 5/12/97)
1992 May 13, President Bush
announced a $600 million loan package to help rebuild riot-scarred Los
Angeles.
(AP, 5/13/02)
1992 May 19, In San Francisco,
Vice President Dan Quayle denounced what he called the "poverty of
values" in America's inner cities, and criticized the TV show "Murphy
Brown" for having its title character decide to bear a child out of
wedlock.
(AP, 5/19/97)(DTnet, 5/19/97)
1992 May 23, Pres. Bush ordered
the Coast Guard to intercept boats with Haitian refugees.
(MC, 5/23/02)
1992 May 24, President Bush
authorized the Coast Guard to return directly home all Haitian refugees
picked up at sea.
(AP, 5/24/97)
1992 Jul 2, President Bush vetoed
the so-called "motor-voter" registration bill; President Clinton later
signed a revised version into law.
(AP, 7/2/97)
1992 Jul 24, Members of POW-MIA
families disrupted a speech by President Bush, prompting Bush to snap,
"Would you please shut up and sit down?"
(AP, 7/24/97)
1992 Jul 27, President Bush's
aides attacked Democratic nominee Bill Clinton's foreign policy
credentials and judgment.
(AP, 7/27/97)
1992 Aug 1, The Supreme Court
permitted the Bush administration to continue returning Haitians
intercepted at sea to their Caribbean homeland.
(AP, 8/1/97)
1992 Aug 6, President Bush granted
full diplomatic recognition to the former Yugoslav republics of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and Croatia, the same day Britain's
Independent Television News showed videotape of emaciated detainees at
a pair of Serb prison camps.
(AP, 8/6/97)
1992 Aug 10, President Bush met at
his Kennebunkport, Maine, vacation home with Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin. Afterward, Bush announced that Mideast peace talks would
resume in two weeks in Washington, D.C.
(AP, 8/10/97)
1992 Aug 13, President Bush
announced that Secretary of State James A. Baker III was leaving his
diplomatic post to be White House chief of staff in a shake-up designed
to energize Bush's re-election campaign.
(HN 8/13/97)
1992 Aug 15, While Republicans
gathered in Houston for their national convention, President Bush spent
the weekend at Camp David, his renomination secure.
(AP, 8/15/97)
1992 Aug 16, On the eve of the
Republican National Convention in Houston, President Bush and party
officials heatedly denied a report in The New York Times that a
confrontation with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was motivated by
political concerns.
(AP, 8/16/97)
1992 Aug 17, President Bush
arrived in Houston for the opening of the Republican National
Convention, which featured an address by former President Reagan.
(AP, 8/17/97)
1992 Aug 20, In the early hours of
Aug. 20, the Republican National Convention in Houston renominated
President Bush and Vice President Quayle. On the evening of the 20th,
Bush delivered a hard-hitting speech in which he attacked the Democrats
and promised to seek across-the-board tax cuts if re-elected.
(HN 8/20/97)
1992 Aug 21, The day after the
close of the Republican National Convention in Houston, the two major
party candidates traded hard blows, with President Bush deriding Bill
Clinton as a "wishy-washy" leader, and Clinton lashing back at Bush as
a "great fearmonger."
(AP, 8/21/97)
1992 Aug 22, President Bush told
an evangelical gathering in Dallas that the Democrats had left "three
simple letters" out of their platform: "G-o-d." Democrat Bill Clinton
said Bush was trying to divert attention from the economy.
(AP, 8/22/02)
1992 Aug 23, James A. Baker III
bowed out as secretary of state after three-and-a-half years to become
White House chief of staff.
(AP, 8/23/97)
1992 Aug 25, President Bush and
Democrat Bill Clinton appeared separately before the American Legion in
Chicago; Bush cited his World War II military service while Clinton
sought to bury the controversy over his Vietnam-era draft status.
(AP, 8/25/97)
1992 Aug 26, A federal judge
declared a mistrial in the Iran-Contra cover-up trial of former CIA spy
chief Clair George. George was convicted of perjury in a retrial, but
was then pardoned by President H.W. Bush.
(AP, 8/26/97)
1992 Aug 27, President Bush
ordered federal troops to Florida for emergency relief in the wake of
Hurricane Andrew.
(AP, 8/27/97)
1992 Sep 2, On the campaign trail,
President Bush announced nearly $2 billion in new aid for US farmers
and a $6 billion jet fighter sale that would largely benefit Texas.
Democrat Bill Clinton, meanwhile, charged that Bush would short change
middle-class students to finance tax cuts for the rich. Bush announced
the agreement to sell Taiwan 150 F-16 jet fighters at the General
Dynamics factory in Fort Worth, Texas.
(AP,
9/2/97)(www.fas.org/news/taiwan/1992/920903-taiwan-usia2.htm)
1992 Sep 8, President Bush asked
Congress to provide more than $7.6 billion to help Hurricane Andrew
recovery efforts.
(AP, 9/8/97)
1992 Sep 10, Less than two months
before Election Day, President Bush unveiled a repackaged economic
manifesto which included a possible 1 percentage-point across-the-board
tax-rate cut.
(AP, 9/10/97)
1992 Sep 11, President Bush
announced he was approving the sale of 72 F-15 jet fighters to Saudi
Arabia.
(AP, 9/11/97)
1992 Oct 26, Pres. Bush signed an
act requiring the release of nearly all government files concerning the
assassination of President Kennedy.
(http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/nov22.html)
1992 Dec 17, President Bush,
Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos
Salinas de Gortari signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in
separate ceremonies.
(AP, 12/17/97)
1992 Dec 24, President Bush
pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others in
the Iran-Contra scandal.
(AP, 12/24/97)
1992 Feb 18, In the New Hampshire
primary, President George H.W. Bush won the Republican contest while
challenger Patrick Buchanan placed a strong second; among Democrats,
Paul Tsongas came in first.
(SFEM,11/2/97, p.12)(AP, 2/18/02)
1992 Mar 3, President Bush
apologized for raising taxes after pledging not to.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1992 Mar 3, In so-called "Junior
Tuesday" political contests, Democrat Paul Tsongas won primaries in
Maryland and Utah; Bill Clinton won in Georgia, Jerry Brown in
Colorado. Among Republicans, President George H.W. Bush swept Georgia,
Maryland and Colorado.
(AP, 3/3/02)
1992 Aug 27, President Bush
ordered federal troops to Florida for emergency relief in the wake of
Hurricane Andrew.
(AP, 8/27/97)
1992 Sep 2, On the campaign trail,
President Bush announced nearly $2 billion in new aid for U.S. farmers
and a $6 billion jet fighter sale that would largely benefit Texas.
Democrat Bill Clinton, meanwhile, charged that Bush would shortchange
middle-class students to finance tax cuts for the rich.
(AP, 9/2/97)
1992 Nov 3, Bill Clinton, governor
of Arkansas, was elected as the 42nd president of the United States,
defeating President Bush, who won 38% of the popular vote.
(AP, 11/3/97)(HN, 11/3/98)(SSFC, 4/29/01, p.D1)
1992 Nov 3, Bill Clinton won Ohio
by 2 percentage points.
(Econ, 8/2/08, p.31)
1992 Dec 30, President Bush
embarked on the final foreign trip of his term in office, heading to a
Black Sea summit with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, with a stopover
in Somalia to visit U.S. troops helping famine victims.
(AP, 12/30/97)
1992 Dec 31, President Bush
visited Somalia, where he saw firsthand the famine racking the east
African nation. He praised U.S. troops that provided relief to the
starving population.
(AP, 12/31/97)
1993 Jan 1, President Bush
continued to tour Somalia, greeting hundreds of cheering youngsters and
foreign relief workers at an orphanage in Baidoa.
(AP, 1/1/98)
1993 Jan 2, President Bush arrived
in Moscow to sign a strategic arms treaty with Russian President Boris
Yeltsin, who hailed the agreement as "our joint gift to the people of
the Earth."
(AP, 1/2/98)
1995 May 10, Former President
Bush’s office released his letter of resignation from the National
Rifle Association in which Bush expressed outrage over its reference to
federal agents as "jack-booted government thugs."
(AP, 5/10/00)
1997 Mar 25, Former President
George Bush, 73, parachuted from a plane over the Arizona desert.
(AP, 3/24/98)
1999 Nov 8, Former President Bush
was honored in Germany for his role in the fall of the Berlin Wall ten
years earlier.
(AP, 11/8/00)
#43 Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
1946 Aug 19, Bill Clinton, US
President from 1992-2000, was born as William J. Blythe III in Hope,
Arkansas. He was the son of Virginia Cassidy Blythe and William
Jefferson Blythe II. Clinton’s father was killed in a traffic accident
prior to his birth. His mother married Roger Clinton when Bill was 4
years old.
(SFC, 7/14/96, Par p.23)(SFEC, 3/9/96, Z1 p.5)(WUD,
1994 p.1698)(HNQ, 1/1/02)
1947 Oct 26, Hillary Rodham
Clinton, First lady (1993-2001), was born.
(HN, 10/26/98)(MC, 10/26/01)
1978 Apr 25, William Clinton (31),
attorney general of Arkansas and candidate for governor, sexually
assaulted Juanita Broaddrick at the Camelot Inn in Little Rock.
Broaddrick made the story public on national TV in 1999.
(SFC, 2/19/99, p.A1,10)(SFC, 2/25/99, p.A2)
1978 Jun 18, The Whitewater
business venture was incorporated. Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and his
wife Hillary set up their 50-50 Whitewater venture with Mr. & Mrs.
McDougal. The Clintons lost money in the real estate deal that later
turned into the Whitewater scandal.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater_(controversy))(WSJ, 8/19/96,
p.A12)(SFC, 6/4/96, p.A19)
1980 Feb 27, Chelsea Clinton,
daughter of President Clinton (1993-2001), was born.
(MC, 2/27/02)
1991 May 8, At the Third Annual
Governor’s Quality Management Conference at the Excelsior Hotel in
Little Rock, Ark., Gov. Bill Clinton invited Paula Jones, a state
employee working at the registration desk, to a private meeting and
exposed his desire for her. Days later Paula Jones filed a complaint of
sexual harassment in US District Court in Little Rock. She has been
seeking $700,000 in damages.
(WSJ, 6/26/96, p.A18)(SFC, 5/29/96, A4)(SFEC,
11/24/96, zone 1 p.9)(WSJ, 4/20/98, p.A20)
1992 Jan 27, Democratic
presidential candidate Bill Clinton and Gennifer Flowers accused each
other of lying in a renewed dispute over her assertion that they'd had
a 12-year affair.
(AP, 1/27/02)
1992 Feb 6, Democratic
presidential candidate Bill Clinton denied he'd tried to avoid the
Vietnam draft, saying he gave up a draft deferment in the fall of 1969
because he "didn't think it was right" to keep it.
(AP, 2/6/02)
1992 Feb 10, In the Iowa caucus
favorite son Tom Harkin won with 76% of the vote. The rest went to
“Uncommitted” (12%), Paul Tsongas (4%), Bill Clinton (3%), Bob Kerrey
(2%), and Jerry Brown (2%). Clinton ended up winning the Democratic
nomination and the presidency.
(http://correntewire.com/post_iowa_perspective)
1992 Feb 12, Democratic
presidential candidate Bill Clinton released a letter he'd written as a
student in 1969 in which he said he had decided to give up a draft
deferment in order to "maintain my political viability."
(AP, 2/12/02)
1992 Mar 7, Democrat Bill Clinton
picked up additional victories in the South Carolina primary and the
Wyoming caucuses, while fellow Democrat Paul Tsongas won the Arizona
caucuses. President George H.W. Bush won the Republican primary in
South Carolina.
(AP, 3/7/02)
1992 Mar 10, Democrat Bill Clinton
claimed front-runner status as he won a series of Southern landslides
on "Super Tuesday." President George H.W. Bush swept all the Republican
contests.
(AP, 3/10/02)
1992 Mar 17, Democrat Bill Clinton
scored big primary victories in Illinois and Michigan. In Illinois,
Sen. Alan Dixon was defeated in his primary re-election bid by Carol
Moseley-Braun, who went on to become the first black woman in the U.S.
Senate.
(AP, 3/17/97)
1992 Mar 28, Democrats Bill
Clinton and Jerry Brown clashed over Brown's flat-tax proposal, with
Clinton charging the plan would hurt the poor, and Brown accusing
Clinton of inventing "another big lie."
(AP, 3/28/97)
1992 Mar 29, Democratic
presidential front-runner Bill Clinton acknowledged experimenting with
marijuana "a time or two" while attending Oxford University, adding, "I
didn't inhale and I didn't try it again."
(AP, 3/29/97)
1992 Apr 7,
Democrat Bill Clinton swept the New York, Kansas and Wisconsin
primaries.
(AP, 4/7/97)
1992 May 4,
Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton toured riot-ravaged Los
Angeles streets, blaming the destruction on what he called 12 years of
Republican neglect.
(AP, 5/4/97)
1992 May 16, Polls showed Perot,
Bush and Clinton could be in a deadlock.
(MC, 5/16/02)
1992 Jul 9, Democrat Bill Clinton
tapped Tennessee Sen. Al Gore to be his running mate.
(AP, 7/9/97)
1992 Jul 15, Arkansas Gov. Bill
Clinton claimed the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's
convention in New York City.
(AP, 7/15/97)
1992 Jul 16, Bill Clinton
delivered his acceptance speech a day after winning the Democratic
presidential nomination at the party's convention in New York City. To
the dismay and anger of supporters, Ross Perot announced he would not
run for president. He later changed his mind.
(AP, 7/16/97)
1992 Aug 25, President Bush and
Democrat Bill Clinton appeared separately before the American Legion in
Chicago; Bush cited his World War II military service while Clinton
sought to bury the controversy over his Vietnam-era draft status.
(AP, 8/25/97)
1992 Nov 3, Bill Clinton, governor
of Arkansas, was elected as the 42nd president of the United States,
defeating President Bush, who won 38% of the popular vote.
(AP, 11/3/97)(HN, 11/3/98)(SSFC, 4/29/01, p.D1)
1992 Nov 3, Bill Clinton won Ohio
by 2 percentage points.
(Econ, 8/2/08, p.31)
1992 Nov 12, In his first formal
post-election news conference, President-elect Clinton presented a
detailed blueprint for action once he took office, and promised his
administration would have the strictest ethical guidelines in history.
(AP, 11/12/97)
1992 Nov 15, President-elect
Clinton and his wife, Hillary, hosted a dinner in Little Rock, Ark.,
for Democratic congressional leaders in the first such meeting since
the presidential election.
(AP, 11/15/97)
1992 Nov 19, President-elect
Clinton paid a call on Congress.
(AP, 11/19/97)
1992 Nov 22, President-elect Bill
Clinton met in Little Rock, Ark., with sometime-critic Jesse Jackson,
who praised the future chief executive as a leader who could "make the
nation whole."
(AP, 11/22/97)
1992 Dec 10, President-elect
Clinton announced his first Cabinet selections, including Lloyd Bentsen
to be treasury secretary and Leon Panetta to be budget director.
(AP, 12/10/97)
1992 Dec 11, President-elect
Clinton tapped Robert Reich to be labor secretary and Donna Shalala to
be secretary of Health and Human Services.
(AP, 12/11/97)
1992 Dec 12, President-elect
Clinton tapped Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty to be his chief of staff and
Democratic national chairman Ron Brown to be commerce secretary.
(AP, 12/12/97)
1992 Dec 14, President-elect
Clinton opened a two-day conference in Little Rock, Ark., on the
nation's economic problems.
(AP, 12/14/97)
1992 Dec 17, President-elect
Clinton tapped former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros to be Secretary
of Housing.
(AP, 12/17/97)
1992 Dec 22, President-elect
Clinton chose Warren Christopher to be his secretary of state and
tapped Les Aspin to be defense secretary.
(AP, 12/22/97)
1992 Dec 26, Time magazine
announced it had chosen President-elect Bill Clinton its 1992 "Man of
the Year."
(AP, 12/26/97)
1993 Jan 4, President-elect
Clinton spoke by telephone with Russian President Boris Yeltsin about
the newly signed START II treaty; Clinton pledged to do all he could to
get early ratification.
(AP, 1/4/98)
1993 Jan 14, Retreating from a
campaign promise, President-elect Clinton said he would continue
President Bush's policy of forcibly returning Haitian boat people to
Haiti.
(AP, 1/14/98)
1993 Jan 17, The United States,
accusing Iraq of a series of military provocations, unleashed Tomahawk
missiles against a military complex eight miles from downtown Baghdad.
President-elect Clinton, arriving in Washington for his inauguration,
backed the action.
(AP, 1/17/98)
1993 Jan 20, Bill Clinton
was sworn in as the 42nd president of the United States; Al Gore was
sworn in as vice president. The Senate confirmed Lloyd Bentsen as
treasury secretary, Les Aspin as defense secretary and Warren
Christopher as secretary of state. That night, Clinton picked up a
saxophone and jammed at five of the 12 inaugural balls he and his wife,
Hillary, attended.
(SFC, 11/8/96, p.C6)(AP, 1/20/98)(MC, 1/20/02)
1993 Jan 25, President Clinton
appointed his wife, Hillary, to head a committee on health-care reform.
(AP, 1/25/98)
1993 Jan 29, President Clinton
announced that he was ordering the draft of a formal directive by July
15 to end the longstanding ban on homosexuals in the U.S. military.
(AP, 1/29/98)
1993 Feb 2, In a speech to the
National Governors' Association, President Clinton pledged to transform
welfare into a "hand up, not a handout" by giving recipients training
and then requiring them to work.
(AP, 2/2/97)
1993 Feb 5, Federal judge Kimba
Wood, President Clinton's expected choice for attorney general,
withdrew from consideration, saying her baby sitter had been an illegal
alien for seven years.
(AP, 2/5/97)
1993 Feb 10, The Clinton
administration said U.S. troops could be sent to enforce peace in
former Yugoslavia provided warring factions there negotiated a
settlement.
(AP, 2/10/97)
1993 Feb 11, President Clinton
announced his choice of Miami prosecutor Janet Reno to be the nation's
first female attorney general, after two earlier candidates stumbled
because they'd hired illegal aliens.
(AP, 2/11/97)
1993 Feb 15, President Clinton
issued an economic "call to arms," asking Americans to accept a painful
package of tax increases and spending cuts.
(AP, 2/15/98)
1993 Feb 16, Prices fell as Wall
Street reacted unfavorably to President Clinton's economic austerity
plan outlined in a White House address the night before.
(AP, 2/16/98)
1993 Feb 17, President Clinton
addressed a joint session of Congress, asking Americans to accept one
of the biggest tax increases in history as part of a plan to stimulate
the economy and curb massive budget deficits.
(AP, 2/17/98)
1993 Feb 18, President Clinton
hosted a campaign-style rally at St. Louis' Union Station to enlist
citizen support for his economic plan.
(AP, 2/18/98)
1993 Feb 19, President Clinton's
economic plan won praise from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
The president, visiting Hyde Park, N.Y., suggested the United States
might have to consider a national sales tax "not too long in the
future," then said he'd meant in 10 years or so.
(AP, 2/19/98)
1993 Feb 23, President Clinton won
United Nations support for a plan to airdrop relief supplies to
starving Bosnians during an Oval Office meeting with Secretary-General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
(AP, 2/23/98)
1993 Feb 25, President Clinton
ordered the Pentagon to mount an airdrop of relief supplies into
Bosnia-Herzegovina.
(AP, 2/25/98)
1993 Feb 27, President Clinton, in
his weekly radio address, promised to find out who was behind the huge
explosion at New York City's World Trade Center, a bombing later blamed
on Islamic militants.
(AP, 2/27/98)
1993 Mar 16, President Clinton met
with ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide; afterward,
Clinton announced he was sending a special envoy to Haiti to seek a
return to democracy.
(AP, 3/16/98)
1993 Mar 18, On Capitol Hill, the
House approved President Clinton's deficit-reduction blueprint on a
virtual party-line 243-183 vote.
(AP, 3/18/98)
1993 Mar 23, In his first formal
news conference since taking office, President Clinton suggested
restricting the duty assignment of homosexuals in the military as a way
of allowing openly gay personnel; however, the idea was quickly
abandoned.
(AP, 3/23/98)
1993 Mar 25, The Senate approved
an outline of President Clinton's plan to spark the economy and trim
the budget deficit by a vote of 54-45.
(AP, 3/24/98)
1993 Mar 26, President Clinton
promised a "full-court press" against Bosnian Serbs to secure their
agreement to a United Nations peace plan endorsed by Bosnian Muslims
and Croats.
(AP, 3/25/98)
1993 Apr 1, In an impassioned plea
for Russian aid, President Clinton told newspaper editors in Annapolis,
Md., that America should help "not out of charity" but as a crucial
investment in peace and prosperity.
(AP, 4/1/98)
1993 Apr 2, President Clinton
presided at a daylong conference in Portland, Ore., on how much logging
should be allowed on federal land.
(AP, 4/2/98)
1993 Apr 3, President Clinton and
Russian President Boris Yeltsin opened a weekend summit in Vancouver,
B.C., beginning talks after a luncheon with Canadian Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney.
(AP, 4/3/98)
1993 Apr 4, President Clinton and
Russian President Boris Yeltsin wrapped up their two-day summit in
Vancouver, B.C. Clinton extended $1.6 billion in aid; Yeltsin
proclaimed the two countries "partners and future allies."
(AP, 4/4/98)
1993 Apr 8, President Clinton
unveiled his $1.52 trillion budget for fiscal 1994.
(AP, 4/8/98)
1993 Apr 16, At the White House,
President Clinton pressed Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa to
help ease Japan's persistent trade surplus with the United States.
President Clinton received gay and lesbian activists in the Oval Office
for a one-hour meeting.
(AP, 4/16/98)
1993 Apr 20, President Clinton
said he accepted responsibility for the decision to try to end the
51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Texas, yet laid
"ultimate responsibility" on David Koresh for the deaths that resulted.
(AP, 4/20/98)
1993 Apr 23, President Clinton
said he was giving "serious consideration" to limited U.S. air strikes
against Bosnian Serb positions.
(AP, 4/23/98)
1993 Apr 26, President Clinton
signed an executive order imposing new economic sanctions against
Yugoslavia after the Serbian leadership in Bosnia voted against
accepting a U.N.-sponsored plan to end the war.
(AP, 4/26/98)
1993 May 1, President Clinton held
a strategy session with top military and foreign policy advisers on
Bosnia.
(AP, 5/1/98)
1993 May 7, President Clinton
proposed dramatic changes in political campaign financing.
(AP, 5/7/98)
1993 May 9, The White House said
President Clinton had directed Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher
to contact U.S. allies to discuss how they could ensure Serbia's
promise to cut supplies to the Bosnian Serbs.
(AP, 5/9/98)
1993 May 12, President Clinton
proposed putting all money raised from new taxes and spending cuts into
a trust fund dedicated solely to reducing the nation's huge budget
deficit.
(AP, 5/12/98)
1993 May 13, The House Ways and
Means Committee gave final approval to President Clinton's
deficit-cutting package, containing a tax increase of $246 billion over
five years.
(AP, 5/13/98)
1993 May 14, President Clinton
told a news conference his threat of military force to halt the war in
the former Yugoslavia was "still on the table" despite opposition from
European allies.
(AP, 5/14/98)
1993 May 17, President Clinton
visited the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the
birthplace of the atomic bomb to promote a five-year, $20 billion
defense-conversion plan.
(AP, 5/17/98)
1993 May 21, President Clinton met
at the White House with Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev;
afterward, Clinton expressed pessimism over resolving the ethnic
conflict in the Balkans and pledged not to send American soldiers into
a "shooting gallery."
(AP, 5/21/98)
1993 May 29, President Clinton
tapped Republican David Gergen to assume responsibility for White House
communications and press operations.
(AP, 5/29/98)
1993 May 31, President Clinton
paid a Memorial Day visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where some
in the crowd jeered him for avoiding military service. "Disagreement is
freedom's privilege," Clinton exhorted critics.
(AP, 5/31/98)
1993 Jul 5, President Clinton left
Washington for a Group of Seven summit in Japan.
(AP, 7/5/98)
1993 Jul 10, President Clinton
ended his visit to Japan, then traveled to South Korea, where in a
speech to the National Assembly he denounced communist North Korea for
raising the specter of "nuclear annihilation."
(AP, 7/10/98)
1993 Jul 11, President Clinton
wrapped up his visit to South Korea with a visit to the Demilitarized
Zone separating South and North Korea; he then flew to Hawaii, where he
placed a wreath at the site of the sunken battleship USS Arizona at
Pearl Harbor.
(AP, 7/11/98)
1993 Jul 14, President Clinton
visited flood-stricken Iowa for the second time in 10 days, telling
flood victims to "hang in there."
(AP, 7/14/98)
1993 Jul 17, President Clinton,
with several Cabinet members in tow, traveled to Arnold, Mo., where he
heard the governors of eight flood-stricken states appeal for more
financial assistance; however, he held out little hope the government
could offer a total bailout.
(AP, 7/17/98)
1993 Jul 19, President Clinton
fired FBI Director William Sessions, citing "serious questions" about
Sessions' conduct and leadership.
(HN, 7/19/98)
1993 Jul 19, President Clinton
announced a compromise allowing homosexuals to serve in the military,
but only if they refrained from all homosexual activity, under a
compromise dubbed "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue."
(HN, 7/19/98)(AP, 7/19/08)
1993 Jul 20, Vincent Foster Jr.,
deputy White House council, was found dead in a Virginia Park near
Washington. His death was claimed to be a suicide. An eye-witness later
claimed to see "suspicious-looking man" and a car with Arkansas
license plates not far from the scene. His death was later concluded to
be a suicide. Information relating to these events were later leaked by
a source identified as "Deep Water."
(SFC, 11/12/96, p.A7)(SFC, 7/16/97, p.A3)(WSJ,
2/18/98, p.A24)(AP, 7/20/98)
1993 Jul 20, A day after firing
William Sessions as FBI director, President Clinton named federal judge
Louis Freeh (b.1950) to replace him. Freeh served until June, 2001.
(AP, 7/20/98)(WSJ, 6/14/02, p.A4)
1993 Jul 26, President Clinton
launched a harder sell for his budget at a conference in Chicago,
accusing Republicans of gridlock.
(AP, 7/26/98)
1993 Jul 28, President Clinton
declared himself ready to provide air power to protect peacekeepers in
Bosnia if he received a request from the United Nations.
(AP, 7/28/98)
1993 Aug 5, The U.S. House of
Representatives passed President Clinton's budget plan by a close vote
of 218-216.
(AP, 8/5/98)
1993 Aug 6, The U.S. Senate joined
the House in passing President Clinton's budget plan, 51-50, with a
tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Al Gore.
(AP, 8/6/98)
1993 Aug 10, President Clinton
signed a massive deficit-reduction bill into law.
(AP, 8/10/98)
1993 Aug 11, President Clinton
named Army Gen. John Shalikashvili to be the new chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, succeeding the retiring Gen. Colin Powell.
(AP, 8/11/98)
1993 Aug 12, President Clinton
signed a relief package for the flooded Midwest. President Clinton
lifted a ban on rehiring air traffic controllers fired for going on
strike in 1981.
(AP, 8/12/98)
1993 Aug 16, President Clinton
opened his campaign for health care reform with a speech to the
nation's governors in Tulsa, Okla.
(AP, 8/16/98)
1993 Sep 6, President Clinton
visited South Florida, where he met with residents recovering from
Hurricane Andrew.
(AP, 9/6/98)
1993 Sep 7, President Clinton put
forth an ambitious plan to "reinvent government" by reducing the
federal bureaucracy.
(AP, 9/7/98)
1993 Sep 13, In a historic scene
at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO
chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands after signing an accord granting
limited Palestinian autonomy. In 2002 Neal Kozodoy edited ""The Mideast
Peace Process: An Autopsy."
(AP, 9/13/97)(WSJ, 2/11/02, p.A1)
1993 Nov 9, Vice President Al Gore
and Ross Perot debated the North American Free Trade Agreement on CNN's
Larry King Live.
(AP, 11/9/98)
1993 Nov 13, President Clinton
used his weekly radio address to make yet another pitch for the North
American Free Trade Agreement, then flew to Memphis, Tenn., where he
delivered an anti-crime speech to black ministers at the Temple Church
of God in Christ.
(AP, 11/13/98)
1993 Nov 19, President Clinton met
in Seattle with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
(AP, 11/19/98)
1993 Nov 23, President Clinton
signed legislation lifting remaining U.S. sanctions against South
Africa, and announced an initiative to spur investment in South
Africa's black private sector.
(AP, 11/23/98)
1993 Nov 27, In his weekly radio
address, President Clinton said enacting comprehensive anti-crime
legislation was the first priority for 1994, saying, "We have to be
concerned that in both our cities and our rural areas, the value of
life has been cheapened."
(AP, 11/27/98)
1993 Nov 30, President Clinton
signed into law the Brady bill, which required a five-day waiting
period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective
buyers.
(AP, 11/30/98)
1993 Dec 8, President Clinton
signed into U.S. law the North American Free Trade Agreement, which
went into effect at the start of 1994.
(AP, 12/8/98)
1993 Dec 11, President Clinton, in
his weekly radio address, said the nation must fight "violence with
values" and praised radio stations that refused to play songs
advocating violent crime or showing contempt for women.
(AP, 12/11/98)
1993 Dec 16, President Clinton
announced the nomination of Bobby Ray Inman to succeed Les Aspin as
defense secretary. Inman, however, later withdrew.
(AP, 12/16/98)
1993 Dec 23, President Clinton,
under intense political pressure, instructed his attorney to give the
Justice Department all records of his investment in an Arkansas real
estate partnership linked to a failed savings and loan company.
(AP, 12/23/98)
1993 Pres. Clinton signed
the Family and Medical Leave Act. It granted workers 24 hours a year of
unpaid leave to handle family matters. In 2003 the US Supreme Court
allowed state employees to sue for denial of unpaid family leave.
(SFC, 6/25/96, p.A1)(SFC, 5/28/03, p.B1)
1994 Jan 5, The Clinton
administration said North Korea had agreed to allow renewed
international inspections of seven nuclear sites.
(AP, 1/5/99)
1994 Jan 9, President Clinton
began the first European trip of his administration in Belgium, where
-- on the eve of a NATO summit -- he warned of a rising mood of
nationalism in Russia that he said threatened Eastern Europe's march of
democracy.
(AP, 1/9/99)
1994 Jan 12, Pres. Clinton bowed
to political pressure and asked that a special prosecutor be named to
investigate his 1980's Whitewater land dealings with Arkansas
businessman James B. McDougal.
(SFEC, 11/15/98, p.A3)(AP, 1/12/99)
1994 Jan 12, President Clinton, en
route to Russia, nailed down an agreement with Ukraine to eliminate the
country's nuclear arsenal, the third-largest in the world.
(AP, 1/12/99)
1994 Jan 14, In post-Cold War
breakthroughs, President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin
signed Kremlin accords to stop aiming missiles at any nation and to
dismantle the nuclear arsenal of Ukraine.
(AP, 1/14/99)
1994 Jan 15, President Clinton
paid solemn tribute to victims of Stalinist purges and German
occupation during a six-hour stop in the former Soviet republic of
Belarus before continuing on to Geneva.
(AP, 1/15/99)
1994 Jan 16, President Clinton
held marathon talks in Geneva with Syrian President Hafez Assad, who
offered Israel "normal, peaceful relations" in exchange for land.
(AP, 1/16/99)
1994 Jan 19, President Clinton
visited quake-stricken Los Angeles, where he pledged fast and
aggressive federal help.
(AP, 1/19/99)
1994 Jan 23, Treasury Secretary
Lloyd Bentsen, visiting Japan, met with Prime Minister Morihiro
Hosokawa, who promised to go through with a scheduled summit with
President Clinton.
(AP, 1/23/99)
1994 Jan 24, President Clinton
promoted William J. Perry, the Pentagon's second in command, to the
post of defense secretary.
(AP, 1/24/99)
1994 Jan 25, President Clinton
delivered his State of the Union address in which he challenged
Congress to pass comprehensive health care reforms.
(AP, 1/25/99)
1994 Feb 3, President Clinton
lifted the 19-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Vietnam.
(SFC, 12/26/98, p.A9)(AP, 2/3/99)
1994 Feb 6, A day after a mortar
shell killed 68 people in a Sarajevo marketplace, President Clinton
called for a United Nations probe. NATO threatened air strikes if Serbs
failed to pull weapons back from around the city. They moved their
weapons and brought a temporary respite.
(AP, 2/6/99)
1994 Feb 7, President Clinton sent
Congress his $1.5 trillion budget plan, declaring cuts in hundreds of
programs would achieve a deficit-reduction record unequaled since
President Truman's administration.
(AP, 2/7/99)
1994 Feb 8, President Clinton's
health-care proposal suffered a blow as the Congressional Budget Office
released an analysis saying that the plan would not shrink federal
deficits, but instead drive them higher.
(AP, 2/8/99)
1994 Feb 11, President Clinton and
Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, meeting at the White House,
failed to resolve key differences on trade.
(AP, 2/11/99)
1994 Feb 12, President Clinton
signed an $8.6 billion relief package for victims of the Northridge
earthquake in Southern California.
(AP, 2/12/99)
1994 Feb 14, President Clinton
used his first annual economic report to proclaim his policies had put
the country on track for rising prosperity for years to come.
(AP, 2/14/99)
1994 Feb 18, President Clinton
notified Congress he was prepared to order bombing by U.S. warplanes in
Bosnia.
(AP, 2/18/99)
1994 Mar 8, President Clinton
announced the appointment of Washington attorney Lloyd Cutler as senior
counsel, replacing Bernard Nussbaum.
(AP, 3/8/99)
1994 Mar 18, Published reports
said first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton had made nearly $100,000 from
the commodities market in the late 1970's on an initial investment of
only $1,000.
(AP, 3/18/99)
1994 Mar 19, In his weekly radio
address, President Clinton promised to tell people "all across America
about our health reform plan and what it really means."
(AP, 3/19/99)
1994 Mar 24, President Clinton
held a news conference in which he acknowledged he had significantly
overstated the loss in his Whitewater land investment and promised to
release late 1970's tax returns to answer questions on the land deal.
(AP, 3/24/99)
1994 Mar 26, The Senate passed
President Clinton's education reform measure, the "Goals 2000" bill,
63-22.
(AP, 3/26/99)
1994 Mar 30, The Clinton
administration announced it was lifting virtually all export controls
on non-military products to China and the former Soviet bloc.
(AP, 3/30/99)
1994 Apr 2, President Clinton
warned Americans against "demagogues of division" in his weekly radio
address, while calling for greater personal responsibility and
cooperation to overcome the nation's problems.
(AP, 4/2/99)
1994 Apr 5, President Clinton
presided over a 90-minute town hall meeting in Charlotte, N.C., in
which he called himself the victim of "false charges" in connection
with the Whitewater controversy.
(AP, 4/5/99)
1994 Apr 11, The White House
disclosed that President and Mrs. Clinton had failed to report $6,498
in income that the first lady made in commodities trading in 1980; the
couple wrote checks totaling $14,615 in back taxes and interest.
(AP, 4/11/99)
1994 May 3, President Clinton
presided over a televised forum from Atlanta, during which he denied
suggestions he'd vacillated on foreign policy, but said global problems
were more difficult than he'd imagined.
(AP, 5/3/99)
1994 May 6, Paula Jones filed a
complaint of sexual harassment in US District Court in Little Rock,
Ark. against Pres. Bill Clinton. According to Jones, on May 8, 1991 at
the Third Annual Governor’s Quality Management Conference in Little
Rock, Ark., Gov. Bill Clinton invited Ms. Jones, a state employee
working at the registration desk, to a private meeting and
exposed his desire for her. Jones reached a settlement with Clinton in
November 1998.
(WSJ, 6/26/96, p.A18)(AP, 5/6/04)
1994 May 8, President Clinton
announced a shift in U.S. policy toward Haitian refugees, saying there
would be offshore screening of boat people seeking political asylum.
(AP, 5/8/99)
1994 May 13, President Clinton
nominated federal appeals Judge Stephen G. Breyer to the U.S. Supreme
Court to replace retiring Justice Harry A. Blackmun.
(AP, 5/13/99)
1994 May 19, President Clinton
held a news conference in which he defended his foreign policy against
suggestions he improvises it from crisis to crisis, saying, "I continue
to look for new solutions."
(AP,, 5/19/99)(DTnet, 5/19/97)
1994 May 26, President Clinton
renewed trade privileges for China, and announced his administration
would no longer link China's trade status with its human rights record.
(AP, 5/26/99)
1994 May 28, US District Judge
Susan Weber Wright ruled that the Paula Jones case could not be tried
until Pres. Clinton left office.
(WSJ, 4/20/98, p.A20)
1994 Jun 2, President Clinton met
at the Vatican with Pope John Paul II.
(AP, 6/2/99)
1994 Jul 5, In an attempt to halt
a surge of Haitian refugees, the Clinton administration announced it
was refusing entry to new Haitian boat people.
(AP, 7/5/99)
1994 Jun 6, President Clinton
joined leaders from America's World War II allies to mark the 50th
anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy.
(AP, 6/6/04)
1994 Jul 5, President Clinton set
out on a four-nation European trip that included a Group of Seven
summit in Naples, Italy.
(AP, 7/5/99)
1994 Jul 11, President Clinton, on
his first official visit to Germany, urged his hosts to take on a
stronger leadership role in global affairs.
(AP, 7/11/99)
1994 Jul 12, President Clinton,
visiting Germany, went to the eastern sector of Berlin, the first
president to do so since Harry Truman.
(AP, 7/12/99)
1994 Jul 26, The House Banking
Committee opened limited hearings on the Whitewater controversy.
(AP, 7/26/99)
1994 Aug 2, US Congressional
hearings began on White Water.
(MC, 8/2/02)
1994 Aug 3, President Clinton told
a prime-time news conference he would sign either of two Democratic
health care plans before Congress.
(AP, 8/2/99)
1994 Aug 5, A three-judge panel of
the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington chose Kenneth W. Starr to take
over the Whitewater investigation from Robert Fiske.
(AP, 8/5/99)
1994 Aug 10, President Clinton
claimed presidential immunity in asking a federal judge to dismiss, at
least for the time being, a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula
Corbin Jones, a former Arkansas state employee.
(AP, 8/10/99)
1994 Aug 13, In his weekly radio
address, President Clinton put Congress on notice that he wouldn't give
up an assault weapons ban as the price to revive a crime bill stalled
on Capitol Hill.
(AP, 8/13/99)
1994 Aug 16, President Clinton and
other top Democrats were scouring the House of Representatives for
converts in hopes of reviving a stalled anti-crime bill.
(AP, 8/16/99)
1994 Aug 17, Deputy Treasury
Secretary Roger Altman resigned under pressure, the latest Clinton
administration official felled by the Whitewater controversy.
(AP, 8/17/99)
1994 Aug 23, Republican senators
threatened to thwart a $30 billion anti-crime bill unless Democrats
accepted changes in the House-passed measure; President Clinton
appealed for bipartisan cooperation.
(AP, 8/23/99)
1994 Aug 25, The Senate passed a
$30 billion crime bill, a major victory for President Clinton.
(AP, 8/25/99)
1994 Sep 10, President Clinton,
Vice President Al Gore and top national security advisers met to
discuss intervention in Haiti, but made no final decisions.
(AP, 9/10/99)
1994 Sep 13 President Clinton
signed into law a $30 billion anticrime bill.
(AP, 9/13/99)
1994 Oct 21, President Clinton
conceded in a news conference that Democrats would lose seats in the
upcoming election.
(AP, 10/21/04)
1994 Nov 8, In midterm elections,
Republicans won a majority in the Senate, gained control of the House
for the first time in 40 years. California voters approved Proposition
187, designed to bar illegal aliens from education, social services and
non-emergency health care.
(WSJ,11/9/94)(AP, 11/8/99)
1994 Nov 12, President Clinton
arrived in the Philippines to open a campaign for free trade in Asia
and to commemorate World War II Allied victories in the Pacific.
(AP, 11/12/99)
1994 Nov 13, President Clinton,
visiting the Philippines, sought to assure world leaders that his
party's severe losses in midterm elections wouldn't undercut his
foreign policy.
(AP, 11/13/99)
1994 Nov 21, Sen. Jesse Helms,
R-N.C., remarked in a newspaper interview that President Clinton
"better have a bodyguard" if he were to visit North Carolina; Helms
later called his comment a mistake.
(AP, 11/21/99)
1994 Dec 5, President Clinton, on
a whirlwind visit to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Budapest, Hungary, urged European leaders to "prevent future Bosnias."
(AP, 12/5/99)
1994 Dec 9, President Clinton
fired Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders after learning she'd told a
conference that masturbation should be discussed in school as a part of
human sexuality.
(AP, 12/9/99)
1994 Dec 16, White House and
Republicans traded barbs over whose tax plan was fairer to the middle
class, a day after President Clinton presented a package of proposed
tax cuts.
(AP, 12/16/99)
1994 Dec 17, Six shots were fired
at the White House by an unidentified gunman.
(AP, 12/17/99)
1994 Dec 28, President Clinton
nominated Dan Glickman as agriculture secretary, succeeding Mike Espy.
(AP, 12/28/99)
1994 Pres. Clinton presided over
the first Summit of the Americas held in Miami. Topics included lower
trade barriers and plans for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
(SFEC, 4/20/98, p.A1)(SFC, 11/21/03, p.A12)
1994 US Pres. Clinton assigned
Richard Holbrooke, ambassador in Germany, to be in charge of European
Affairs at the State Dept. This meant that he was to handle affairs
concerning Bosnia.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, BR p.9)
1994 Pres. Clinton signed the
General Aviation Revitalization Act, which gave aircraft manufacturers
broad immunity from liability suits. Cessna resumed production of
single-engine planes, which had stopped in 1983.
(WSJ, 4/30/01, p.A1)
1995 Jan 4, The 104th Congress
convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the
Eisenhower era; Newt Gingrich was elected speaker of the House.
(SFC, 11/7/98, p.A4)(AP, 1/4/00)
1995 Jan 5, President Clinton
received Republican congressional leaders at the White House, declaring
that "we can do a lot of business together" on reforming the way
government works.
(AP, 1/5/00)
1995 Jan 10, President Clinton
declared flood-stricken areas of California major disaster areas.
(AP, 1/10/00)
1995 Jan 11, President Clinton and
Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama held a low-key summit in
Washington, playing down differences over trade.
(AP, 1/11/00)
1995 Jan 24, President Clinton
appealed for common ground as he delivered his second State of the
Union address, this time before a Republican-led Congress.
(AP, 1/24/00)
1995 Jan 28, President Clinton was
host to a 5 1/2-hour "work session" of governors, legislators and local
officials, both Democrats and Republicans, to discuss welfare reform.
(AP, 1/28/00)
1995 Jan 31, President Clinton
scrapped a $40 billion rescue plan for Mexico, announcing instead that
he would act unilaterally to provide Mexico with $20 billion from a
fund normally used to defend the U.S. dollar.
(AP, 1/31/00)
1995 Feb 2, President Clinton
nominated Henry Foster Jr. to succeed fired Surgeon General Joycelyn
Elders; however, Foster's nomination was later defeated in the Senate.
(AP, 2/2/00)
1995 Feb 5, The White House and
congressional Republicans drew battle lines over President Clinton's
$1.61 trillion budget, with Republicans accusing Clinton of "taking a
walk" and the administration saying Clinton was cutting the deficit
more than any president in history.
(AP, 2/5/00)
1995 Feb 6, President Clinton
unveiled his $1.61 trillion budget for 1996, mixing mild tax relief and
spending reductions.
(AP, 2/6/00)
1995 Feb 11, President Clinton, in
his weekly radio address, threatened to veto any attempt by Republicans
to scrap plans to put 100,000 additional police officers on the streets.
(AP, 2/11/00)
1995 Feb 23, Administration
officials said President Clinton would review dozens of affirmative
action programs.
(AP, 2/23/00)
1995 Mar 3, President Clinton held
a news conference in which he asserted his administration had built a
safer world and stronger economy while Republicans were trying to cut
money for the needy to give tax breaks to the rich.
(AP, 3/3/00)
1995 Mar 4, President Clinton, in
his weekly radio address, said spending cuts proposed by congressional
Republicans would gut safe-school and anti-drug programs needed to
protect children.
(AP, 3/4/00)
1995 Mar 9, President Clinton
eased travel restrictions on Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and invited
him to the White House for St. Patrick's Day.
(AP, 3/9/00)
1995 Mar 10, The Clinton
administration released $3 billion to support Mexico's faltering
economy. Former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari fled to the
United States.
(AP, 3/10/00)
1995 Mar 11, President Clinton
nominated Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutch to be CIA director.
(AP, 3/11/00)
1995 Mar 12, President Clinton
declared 39 California counties disaster areas after storms and floods
battered two-thirds of the state.
(AP, 3/12/00)
1995 Mar 15, President Clinton
issued an executive order formally blocking a $1 billion contract
between Conoco and Iran to develop a huge offshore oil tract in the
Persian Gulf.
(AP, 3/15/00)
1995 Mar 31, President Clinton
briefly visited Haiti, where he declared the U.S. mission to restore
democracy there a "remarkable success."
(AP, 3/31/00)
1995 Apr 7, President Clinton
threatened to veto a lengthy list of bills passed by the
Republican-controlled House if they were not modified in the Senate.
(AP, 4/7/00)
1995 Apr 11, President Clinton
expressed sympathy for Pakistan's anger over the blocked sale of
American fighter jets, telling visiting Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
that it was "not right" for the United States to keep the planes and
refuse to give the money back.
(AP, 4/11/00)
1995 Apr 15, In his weekly radio
address, President Clinton asked Congress to protect a short list of
key legislation, saying he was giving the highest priority to welfare
reform, targeted tax cuts and a crime bill preserving the assault
weapons ban.
(AP, 4/15/00)
1995 Apr 17, President Clinton
signed an executive order stripping the classified label from most
national security documents that were at least 25 years old.
(AP, 4/17/00)
1995 Apr 18, President Clinton
held a prime-time news conference in which he said he was satisfied
that he remained relevant in a Republican-dominated capital, and
challenged Congress to send him an acceptable welfare bill by July 4.
(AP, 4/18/00)
1995 Apr 23, Pres. Clinton
declared a national day of mourning for the victims of the Oklahoma
City blast.
(AP, 4/23/00)(MC, 4/23/02)
1995 Apr 30, President Clinton
announced he would end U.S. trade and investment with Iran, denouncing
the Tehran government as "inspiration and paymaster to terrorists."
(AP, 4/30/00)
1995 May 1, President Clinton
defended his choice for surgeon general, Henry Foster, as a "pro-life,
pro-choice doctor."
(AP, 5/1/00)
1995 May 2, President Clinton
agreed to allow some 20,000 Cubans into the United States after months
of detention at Guantanamo Bay, but said any more Cubans who fled their
country would be forcibly repatriated.
(AP, 5/2/00)
1995 May 5, As rescue workers
ended their search for bodies in the Oklahoma City bombing, President
Clinton denounced self-styled anti-government militias, saying, "How
dare you call yourselves patriots and heroes."
(AP, 5/5/00)
1995 May 9, President Clinton
arrived in Moscow for a summit with Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
(AP, 5/9/00)
1995 May 12, President Clinton,
during a stopover in Ukraine, visited Babi Yar, where the Nazis
massacred more than 30,000 Kiev Jews in 1941.
(AP, 5/12/00)
1995 May 16, The Clinton
administration threatened punitive tariffs that would double the prices
for Japan's most popular luxury cars.
(AP, 5/16/00)
1995 May 19, The Senate voted 99-0
to reject President Clinton's spending blueprint.
(AP, 5/19/00)
1995 May 20, President Clinton
announced that the two-block stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of
the White House would be permanently closed to motor vehicles as a
security measure.
(AP, 5/20/00)
1995 May 31, President Clinton
declared he was ready to permit the temporary use of American ground
forces in Bosnia to help UN peacekeepers move to safer positions if
necessary.
(AP, 5/31/00)
1995 Jun 15, The Summit of 7
leading industrialist nations, G-7, met in Halifax, Canada, for talks
on a unified front against terrorism. President Clinton met with
Japanese PM Tomiichi Murayama on the opening day of a Group of Seven
summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
(AP, 6/15/00)(SFC, 6/20/97, p.A16)
1995 Jun 26, President Clinton
observed the 50th anniversary of the United Nations at the site of its
birth in San Francisco.
(AP, 6/26/00)
1995 Jul 10, President
Clinton embraced mandatory ratings for TV programs and legislation to
put parental-control chips in new sets.
(AP, 7/10/00)
1995 Jul 11, Full diplomatic
relations were established between the United States and Vietnam
following an order by Pres. Clinton.
(SFEM, 6/9/96, p.9)(HN, 7/11/98)(SSFC, 8/24/03, p.I6)
1995 Jul 12, President Clinton
spelled out school-prayer guidelines, asserting the First Amendment
already guaranteed adequate freedom of religion.
(AP, 7/12/00)
1995 Jul 29, President Clinton and
Republicans marked the 30th anniversary of Medicare by accusing one
another of putting the program’s future at risk.
(AP, 7/29/00)
1995 Aug 8, President Clinton,
during a visit to Baltimore, ordered all companies doing business with
the federal government to report the pollution they cause.
(AP, 8/8/00)
1995 Aug 11, President Clinton
banned all US nuclear tests, calling his decision "the right step as we
continue pulling back from the nuclear precipice."
(AP, 8/11/00)
1995 Aug 11, Pres. Clinton vetoed
a congressional move to end the arms embargo on Bosnia and sent Envoy
Richard Holdbrooke on a new peace mission.
(WSJ, 6/11/96, p.A14)(SFC,10/16/97, p.A12)
1995 Aug 17, James B. McDougal,
McDougal’s ex-wife, Susan H. McDougal, and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy
Tucker were indicted by the Whitewater grand jury. James McDougal was
convicted on 18 of 19 counts of fraud and conspiracy; Tucker was found
guilty on one count of fraud and one count of conspiracy; Susan
McDougal was convicted on four fraud-related charges. James B.
McDougal’s sentencing was delayed when the court suggested he testify
against the Clintons. He died of a heart attack in federal prison in
Fort Worth, Texas, on March 8, 1998. Susan H. McDougal was sentenced to
two years in prison, probation, community service and $305,000 in fines
and restitution. She received a full Presidential pardon from outgoing
President Bill Clinton in the final hours of his presidency on January
20, 2001. Jim Guy Tucker was convicted of three counts of felony; due
to his poor health, he was sentenced to four years probation and 18
months of house detention and $325,000 in fines and restitution.
(AP,
8/17/01)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_McDougal)
1995 Aug 23, During a memorial
service at Fort Myer, Virginia, President Clinton eulogized three US
diplomats killed in a road accident near Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
and vowed to carry on the struggle for peace in the Balkans.
(AP, 8/23/00)
1995 Aug 26, In his weekly radio
address, President Clinton explained his decision to impose a two-year
moratorium on mining claims on 4500 acres of federal land near the
northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park, saying the land was
"more priceless than gold."
(AP, 8/26/00)
1995 Sep 2, At a military cemetery
on a hill high above Honolulu, President Clinton marked the 50th
anniversary of the end of World War Two, saying it taught Americans
that "the blessings of freedom are never easy or free."
(AP, 9/2/00)
1995 Nov 13, The US government
braced for imminent partial shutdown as President Clinton vetoed one
budget bill and prepared to reject another in a fiscal standoff with
Republicans.
(AP, 11/13/00)
1995 Nov 15, On the 2nd day of a
government shutdown Monica Lewinsky and Pres. Clinton began a sexual
relationship at the White House.
(SFC, 9/12/98, p.A12)
1995 Nov 17, Pres. Clinton and
Monica Lewinsky engaged in their 2nd sexual encounter. This occurred
during a phone call to Rep. H. L. "Sonny" Callahan (R., Ala.) to secure
his vote against an attempt to deny funds to commit troops in Bosnia.
(SFC, 9/12/98, p.A12)(WSJ, 9/28/98, p.A28)
1995 Nov 19, The Clinton
administration and Republican congressional leaders reached a deal to
end a six-day budget standoff and resulting partial government shutdown.
(AP, 11/19/00)
1995 Nov 25, In his weekly radio
address, President Clinton appealed to America’s values and interests
as he pleaded for support for the Bosnia peace agreement.
(AP, 11/25/00)
1995 Nov 28, President Clinton
continued to press his case for sending 20,000 US ground troops to
Bosnia. President Clinton signed a $6 billion road bill that ended the
federal 55 mile-an-hour speed limit.
(WSJ, 11/29/95, p.A-1)(AP, 11/28/00)
1995 Nov 30, President Clinton
became the first US chief executive to visit Northern Ireland, where he
implored Roman Catholics and Protestants alike not to surrender to the
impulses of "old habits and hard grudges."
(AP, 11/30/00)
1995 Dec 3, President Clinton,
wrapping up a five-day European trip, authorized a vanguard of 700
American troops to open a risky mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
(AP, 12/3/00)
1995 Dec 6, President Clinton
vetoed a seven-year Republican budget-balancing plan.
(AP, 12/6/00)
1995 Dec 7, Under Republican
pressure, President Clinton reluctantly presented a seven-year
balanced-budget plan that was quickly criticized by GOP lawmakers.
(AP, 12/7/00)
1995 Dec 16, President Clinton and
congressional Republicans traded accusations as their budget impasse
led to a second shutdown of the federal government.
(AP, 12/16/00)
1995 Dec 22, The Senate approved a
wide-ranging Republican plan to overhaul the nation’s welfare system,
52-to-47, but without enough votes to override President Clinton’s
promised veto.
(AP, 12/22/00)
1996 Jan 3, As a partial US
government shutdown spilled into its record 19th day, stubborn House
Republicans rebuffed a Senate bill that would have immediately returned
idled federal workers to their jobs.
(AP, 1/3/01)
1996 Jan 5, An end to a
three-week-old partial government shutdown was in sight as the House
acted to restore the jobs and wages of hundreds of thousands of federal
workers.
(AP, 1/5/01)
1996 Jan 5, Lawyers for Hillary
Rodham Clinton released sought-after billing records that were
discovered the day before in a White House office.
(AP, 1/5/01)
1996 Jan 11, Addressing pointed
questions about the first lady, President Clinton offered a rousing
defense of his wife, Hillary, during a news conference.
(AP, 1/11/01)
1996 Jan 23, Delivering his State
of the Union address to a skeptical Republican Congress, President
Clinton traced the themes of his re-election campaign and confronted
GOP lawmakers on the budget, demanding they "never—ever" shut down the
government again.
(AP, 1/23/01)
1996 Feb 4, Pres. Clinton and
Monica had their 6th sexual encounter at the White House.
(SFC, 9/12/98, p.A13)
1996 Feb 8, In a ceremony at the
Library of Congress, President Clinton signed legislation revamping the
telecommunications industry, saying it would "bring the future to our
doorstep."
(AP, 2/8/01)
1996 Feb 9, Pres. Clinton signed
the new telecommunications bill into law. It included a subsidy
program, "E-Rate," to provide schools with a connection to the
Internet. Phone companies in 1998 began charging their long-distance
customers a surcharge to cover the subsidies. It also included a ban on
Internet smut that was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1999.
(WSJ, 1/2/97, p.R2)(WSJ, 4/20/99, A1)
1996 Feb 10, President Clinton
signed a $265 billion defense bill, but said he would battle for repeal
of a section forcing the discharge of service members with the AIDS
virus.
(AP, 2/10/01)
1996 Feb 19, Pres. Clinton told
Monica Lewinsky that their relationship must end. It was later resumed.
(SFC, 9/12/98, p.A13)
1996 Mar 1, President Clinton
slapped economic sanctions on Colombia, concluding that Colombian
authorities had not fully cooperated with the US war on drugs.
(AP, 3/1/01)
1996 Mar 12, Pres. Clinton signed
the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, better known as the
Helms-Burton Act. It shut off visas to executives and shareholders of
firms doing business in Cuba on property confiscated from Americans.
(SFC, 8/22/96, p.E4)(http://tinyurl.com/lgpgt)
1996 Mar 13, World leaders,
including President Clinton, held a summit in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt,
where they vowed unequivocal support for the Mideast peace process.
(AP, 3/13/97)
1996 Mar 14, During a visit to
Israel, President Clinton pledged $100 million to the fight against
terrorism.
(AP, 3/14/97)
1996 Mar 14, The US approved arms
and equipment for Bosnia. It was the same day that the UN embargo on
small arms for the region was lifted. In the following weeks M-16
rifles, machine guns, field phone systems, and military radio equipment
arrived in Bosnia.
(SFC, 5/24/96, p.A12)
1996 Mar 16, In his weekly radio
address, President Clinton accused the Republican-controlled House of
bowing to "the back-alley whispers of the gun lobby" by gutting
anti-terrorism legislation he'd submitted in response to the Oklahoma
City bombing.
(AP, 3/16/97)
1996 Mar 19, President Clinton
rolled out a $1.64 trillion election-year budget, promising it would
invigorate the economy, erase federal deficits and cut taxes.
(AP, 3/19/97)
1996 Mar 29 Congress passed, and
President Clinton quickly signed, a 12th stopgap spending bill to avert
a partial federal shutdown.
(AP, 3/28/97)
1996 Mar 31, Pres. Clinton and
Monica Lewinsky resumed their sexual relationship.
(SFC, 9/12/98, p.A13)
1996 Apr 4, President Clinton
signed legislation severing the link between crop prices and government
subsidies.
(AP, 4/4/97)
1996 Apr 5, Accompanied by six
children who survived the Oklahoma City bombing, President Clinton
bowed his head in silent prayer at the site where 168 people were
killed almost a year earlier.
(AP, 4/5/01)
1996 Apr 6, A sorrowful President
Clinton was on hand at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to greet the
arrival of 33 flag-draped caskets carrying the remains of Commerce
Secretary Ron Brown and other victims of a plane crash in Croatia.
(AP, 4/6/97)
1996 Apr 7, Monica Lewinsky
informed pres. Clinton that she was to be transferred from the White
House. He promised to bring her back following the elections and they
had another sexual encounter.
(SFC, 9/12/98, p.A13)
1996 Apr 9, In a
dramatic shift of purse-string power, President Clinton signed a
line-item veto bill into law. However, the U.S. Supreme Court struck
down the veto as unconstitutional in 1998.
(WSJ, 4/10/96, p.A-1)(AP, 4/9/02)
1996 Apr 10, President Clinton
vetoed a bill that would have outlawed a technique used to end
pregnancies in their late stages.
(AP, 4/10/97)
1996 Apr 12, President Clinton
named U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor to succeed the late Ron
Brown as commerce secretary.
(AP, 4/12/97)
1996 Apr 13, President Clinton
used his weekly radio address to call on Congress to pass an
anti-terrorist bill that had languished for a year despite a promise of
quick action after the Oklahoma City bombing.
(AP, 4/13/97)
1996 Apr 15, President Clinton
began a weeklong, round-the-world trip, heading for a three-day visit
to Japan after a brief stopover in Cheju, South Korea.
(AP, 4/15/97)
1996 Apr 16, President Clinton and
his wife, Hillary, arrived in Japan for a three-day visit after a brief
stopover in South Korea.
(AP, 4/16/97)
1996 Apr 17, Seeking to calm
Pacific security jitters, President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister
Ryutaro Hashimoto signed a joint declaration establishing new
U.S.-Japan ties for a "stable and prosperous" Asia.
(AP, 4/17/97)
1996 Apr 18, President
Clinton addressed the Japanese Parliament, hailing security ties
between the two countries as the cornerstone of stability in Asia.
Congress passed and sent to President Clinton long-awaited legislation
giving federal law officers new powers to use against terrorism.
(AP, 4/18/97)
1996 Apr 19, President Clinton,
visiting Russia, paid tribute to the hundreds of thousands of Russians
who died in the Nazi siege of Leningrad -- and to the victims of the
Oklahoma bombing as well.
(AP, 4/19/97)
1996 Apr 21, President Clinton and
Boris Yeltsin traded warm compliments and played down nagging
differences, insisting their election-year summit in Moscow was not
being influenced by presidential politics.
(AP, 4/21/97)
1996 Apr 22, Pres. Clinton
endorsed a plan to expand the Point Reyes National Seashore by 38,000
acres. The Dept. of the Interior was to buy easements from local
farmers and to begin purchasing the 564-acre Giacomini dairy ranch.
(SFC, 5/31/96, E1)
1996 Apr 28, President Clinton
gave 4 1/2 hours of videotaped testimony as a defense witness in the
criminal trial of his former Whitewater business partners.
(AP, 4/28/97)
1996 Apr 30, President Clinton and
Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres signed an accord in Washington
extending U.S. help to Israel in countering terrorism.
(AP, 4/30/97)
1996 May 9, In dramatic video
testimony to a hushed courtroom in Little Rock, Ark., President Clinton
insisted he had nothing to do with a $300,000 loan at the heart of the
criminal case against his former Whitewater partners.
(AP, 5/9/97)
1996 May 17, President Clinton
signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders
move in. Megan's Law, as it's known, is named for Megan Kanka, a
7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and slain in 1994.
(AP, 5/17/97)
1996 May 18, President Clinton,
seeking to deflect Republican criticism that he was weak on welfare
reform, endorsed Wisconsin's welfare-to-work plan in his Saturday radio
address.
(AP, 5/18/97)
1996 May 22, President Clinton
counterattacked against Republican criticism of his foreign policy
during a commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New
London, Conn.; the president then traveled to New York where he was
cheered by sailors from four nations aboard the USS Intrepid.
(AP, 5/22/97)
1996 May 24, President Clinton
underwent his annual physical at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, where
he had a precancerous lesion removed from his nose. On the plus side,
his weight was the same as the year before -- 216 -- and his
cholesterol count had improved from 203 to 191.
(AP, 5/24/97)
1996 May 25 President Clinton,
honoring the men and women who died in military service, used his
weekly radio address to defend America's global military role, saying
it "is making our people safer and the world more secure."
(AP, 5/25/97)
1996 Jul 1, President Clinton
declared an emergency in drought-stricken parts of the Southwest.
(AP, 7/1/97)
1996 Jun 13, Bill Clinton, in a
speech endorsing a national effort against teen pregnancy, said: "The
other thing we have to do is to take seriously the role in this problem
of...older men who prey on underage women...There are consequences to
decisions and...one way or the other, people always wind up being held
accountable." [see Nov 15, 1995]
(www.zpub.com/un/billc-4.html)
1996 Jul 3, The Clinton
administration awarded a $1 mil grant to the Univ. of Alabama for an
experiment that would test for illicit drug use of everyone arrested in
Birmingham.
(SFC, 7/4/96, p.A3)
1996 Jul 16, President Clinton
told the National Governors Association he was granting states new
powers to deny benefits to recipients who refuse to move from welfare
to work.
(AP, 7/16/97)
1996 Jul 16, Pres. Clinton waived
for 6 months sanctions on Cuba that would have allowed US courts to sue
foreign companies for the use of property confiscated by the Castro
regime.
(WSJ, 7/16/96, p.A1)
1996 Jul 20, In his weekly radio
address, President Clinton paid tribute to America's Olympic athletes
at the just-opened Atlanta games, as well as 16 high school students
from Montoursville, Pa., who died in the crash of TWA Flight 800.
(AP, 7/20/97)
1996 Jul 26, President Clinton
rejected a clemency plea from Jonathan Pollard, who'd spent more than
10 years in prison for spying for Israel.
(AP, 7/26/97)
1996 Jul 31, After President
Clinton's announcement that he would sign it, 98 Democrats joined the
House's Republican majority to pass a historic welfare overhaul bill.
(AP, 7/31/97)
1996 Jul 31, The White House won
agreement with key Republican lawmakers on a package of anti-terrorism
measures.
(AP, 7/31/97)
1996 Aug 5, US Pres. Clinton
signed the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act. It held that foreign companies
with investments of more than $40 million in the oil and gas sectors of
these nations to be subject to US imposed sanctions.
(WSJ, 8/6/96, p.A14)
1996 Aug 8, President Clinton
belittled Bob Dole's tax plan, vowing to oppose tax cuts that he said
the country couldn't afford. Republican sources, meanwhile, said Dole
was seriously considering Jack Kemp to be his running mate.
(AP, 8/8/97)
1996 Aug 13, At their convention
in San Diego, Republicans delivered a blistering critique of President
Clinton's record, portraying the Democratic incumbent as an
unprincipled liberal conning voters with election-year conservatism.
(HN 8/13/97)
1996 Aug 18, On the eve of his
50th birthday, President Clinton was guest of honor at a trio of events
in New York that combined celebrating with fund-raising. Ross Perot,
the presidential nominee of the Reform Party, launched his campaign
with a speech in which he criticized the Republican and Democratic
parties as captives of special interests.
(AP, 8/18/97)
1996 Aug 20, Pres. Clinton signed
the federal minimum wage bill for an increase of .90 cents per hour in
two steps to $5.15 per hour over 13 months. It was the first
minimum-wage increase in five years. The bill included a $5,000 tax
credit for the cost of adopting a child. He also signed a new
retirement savings program for small-business workers.
(WSJ, 8/21/96, p.A1)(SFC, 8/21/96, p.A3)
1996 Aug 20, President Clinton
approved raising the hourly minimum by 90 cents to $5.15 per hour
(HN 8/20/97)
1996 Aug 20, Susan McDougal was
sentenced in Little Rock, Ark., to two years in prison in a Whitewater
fraud case.
(HN 8/20/97)
1996 Aug 21, President Clinton
signed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996,
aimed at making health insurance easier to obtain and keep.
(SFC, 8/22/96, p.A3)(AP, 8/21/97)
1996 Aug 22, Pres. Clinton signed
a welfare reform bill, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act, to curtail fraud and abuse that also set new
standards for disabled children and ended up eliminating many from
supplemental security income. It ended guaranteed cash payments to the
poor and demanded work from recipients. It originated in the 1994
Republican "Contract with America." It included a ban on free federal
medical care for new green-card holders during their 1st 5 years.
(SFC, 8/15/97, p.A1,17)(AP, 8/22/97)(WSJ, 11/20/00,
p.A24)(WSJ, 8/29/01, p.A1)
1996 Aug 23, President Clinton
imposed limits on peddling cigarettes to children as he unveiled Food
and Drug Administration regulations declaring nicotine an addictive
drug. The same day, a jury in Indianapolis found cigarette companies
were not responsible for the lung cancer death of a 52-year-old lawyer
who began smoking at age 5.
(AP, 8/23/97)
1996 Aug 25, President Clinton
began a whistle-stop train trip in Huntington, W.Va., that would take
him to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
(AP, 8/25/97)
1996 Aug 27, First lady Hillary
Rodham Clinton addressed the Democratic convention in Chicago,
forcefully making her husband's case for re-election while rebutting
her Republican critics.
(AP, 8/27/97)
1996 Aug 28, Democrats nominated
President Clinton for a second term at their national convention in
Chicago.
(AP, 8/28/97)
1996 Aug 29, In a rousing climax
to the Democratic convention in Chicago, President Clinton appealed for
a second term, declaring, "Hope is back in America." The convention
also nominated Al Gore for a second term as vice president. Earlier in
the day, President Clinton's chief political strategist, Dick Morris,
resigned amid a scandal over his relationship with a prostitute.
(AP, 8/29/97)
1996 Aug 30, President Clinton and
Vice President Gore, fresh from their renominations at the
just-concluded Democratic National Convention in Chicago, set out with
their wives on a bus caravan through America's heartland.
(AP, 8/30/97)
1996 Aug 30, Dick Morris, the
campaign strategist for pres. Bill Clinton, resigned due to exposure in
a sex scandal.
(SFC, 8/30/96, p.A1)
1996 Sep 9, Promising safer skies,
President Clinton issued orders to tighten airport security and
challenged Congress to support a $1.1 billion anti-terrorism crackdown.
(AP, 9/9/97)
1996 Sep 12, Last-minute
intervention by Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole led to
Senate postponement of action on a treaty designed to eliminate
chemical weapons. President Clinton said the agreement was threatened
by "a bitter partisan debate."
(AP, 9/12/97)
1996 Nov 6, A day after being
re-elected, President Clinton threw a party on the White House lawn;
that same day, he received resignations from secretaries of state,
defense, energy and commerce.
(AP, 11/6/97)
1996 Jan 7, Pres. Clinton and
Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern, engaged in a 5th sexual
encounter at the White House.
(SFC, 9/12/98, p.A13)
1996 Jan 7, Republicans rejected
President Clinton’s budget plan and warned they would close government
programs they didn’t like if there were no agreement on a budget plan
in the next few weeks.
(AP, 1/7/01)
1996 Jan 7, A major blizzard, one
of the worst in the century, paralyzed the Eastern United States. More
than 100 deaths were later blamed on the severe weather.
(WSJ, 1/8/96, p.A-1)(WSJ, 1/2/97, p.R2)(AP, 1/7/01)
1996 Jan 9, President Clinton and
Republican congressional leaders broke off budget talks. President
Clinton vetoed a Republican welfare overhaul bill.
(AP, 1/9/01)
1996 Feb 22, President Clinton
announced he would nominate Alan Greenspan to a third term as chairman
of the Federal Reserve.
(AP, 2/22/01)
1996 Aug 22, Pres. Clinton signed
a welfare reform bill, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act (welfare to work), to curtail fraud and abuse that
also set new standards for disabled children and ended up eliminating
many from supplemental security income. It ended guaranteed cash
payments to the poor and demanded work from recipients. It originated
in the 1994 Republican "Contract with America." It included a ban on
free federal medical care for new green-card holders during their 1st 5
years.
(SFC, 8/15/97, p.A1,17)(AP, 8/22/97)(WSJ, 11/20/00,
p.A24)(WSJ, 8/29/01, p.A1)
1996 Nov 8, Three days after his
re-election, President Clinton said at a news conference that there
always are "a lot of hard feelings" after elections, but he urged
Republicans to put aside politically charged investigations and work
with him to balance the budget and enact campaign finance reform.
(AP, 11/8/97)
1996 Nov 9, President Clinton used
his weekly radio address to condemn the decision of the nation's
distillers to end their voluntary ban on airing hard-liquor ads,
calling it "simply irresponsible."
(AP, 11/9/97)
1996 Nov 23, Following a four-day
visit to Australia, President Clinton arrived in the Philippines for a
summit of Asian-Pacific leaders.
(AP, 11/23/97)
1996 Nov 25, President Clinton won
a victory on the trade front by getting Pacific Rim leaders meeting in
the Philippines to accept the year 2000 as a deadline for cutting
tariffs on information technology.
(AP, 11/25/97)
1996 Nov 26, President Clinton
ended his 12-day Pacific trip with a stopover in Thailand.
(AP, 11/26/97)
1996 Dec 5, President Clinton
announced the foreign policy team for his second term, including
Madeleine Albright as the first female secretary of state, Sen. William
Cohen of Maine, a Republican, as defense secretary and Anthony Lake as
CIA director.
(WSJ, 12/6/96, p.A1)(AP, 12/5/97)
1996 Dec 18, Aides to President
Clinton disclosed that Asian-American businessman Charles Yah Lin Trie,
who delivered $460,000 in questionable donations to the Clintons' legal
defense fund, had been to the White House at least 23 times since 1993.
(AP, 12/18/97)
1996 Dec 20, President Clinton
selected Federico Pena as energy secretary, Rodney Slater as
transportation secretary, Andrew Cuomo as housing secretary and Alexis
Herman as labor secretary.
(AP, 12/20/97)
1996 Dec 30, The Clinton
administration said that doctors who prescribe marijuana could be
excluded from Medicare and Medicaid programs and lose the right to
prescribe drugs. Voters in California and Arizona had approved measures
for medical use of marijuana.
(SFC, 12/31/96, p.A1)
1997 Jan 1, The line-item veto
became officially available to Pres. Clinton.
(SFC, 1/2/97, p.A20)
1997 Jan 3, Pres. Clinton waived
indefinitely the part of the Helms-Burton law that would punish foreign
companies that used American property confiscated in Cuba 40 years ago.
(SFC, 1/4/97, p.A3)
1997 Jan 3, President Clinton
declared northern Nevada a major disaster area following days of rain
that sent rivers over their banks in the Reno and Carson City area.
(AP, 1/3/98)
1997 Jan 4, President Clinton, in
his weekly radio address, took credit for policies reducing teen-age
pregnancy and said he would work for even greater reductions over the
next four years.
(AP, 1/4/98)
1997 Jan 7, Newt Gingrich overcame
dissension in GOP ranks to become the first Republican re-elected House
speaker in 68 years with 216 of 227 Republicans in support.
(SFC, 1/8/97, p.A5)(AP, 1/7/98)
1997 Jan 11, President Clinton
summoned top administration officials to a daylong planning session for
his second term.
(AP, 1/11/98)
1997 Jan 20, President Clinton and
Vice President Gore were sworn in for second terms of office. In his
inaugural address, Clinton called for an end to "the politics of petty
bickering and extreme partisanship." Poet Miller Williams delivered the
inaugural poem.
(WSJ, 1/22/97, p.A12)(AP, 1/20/98)
1997 Jan 25, Responding to recent
cases of deadly food poisoning, President Clinton promised to seek $43
million dollars to implement an early warning system for food
contamination.
(AP, 1/25/98)
1997 Feb 4, Pres. Clinton in his
State of the Union speech that education was his No. 1 priority for his
2nd term.
(SFC, 2/5/97, p.A1) (AP, 2/4/97)
1997 Feb 6, President Clinton sent
Congress a $1.69 trillion budget for fiscal 1998, saying it would erase
deficits by 2002 and for 20 years beyond. Though citing costly new
programs and phantom savings, Republicans said they were ready to
bargain.
(AP, 2/6/97)
1997 Feb 7, Mindful of Boris
Yeltsin's ailments, President Clinton agreed to shift their March
summit meeting from the United States to Helsinki, Finland.
(AP, 2/7/97)
1997 Feb 8, President Clinton
announced in his weekly radio address that he was releasing the first
of a $200 million program of grants to provide schools with computers
and Internet training.
(AP, 2/8/02)
1997 Feb 11, In a display of
bipartisan unity, President Clinton and congressional leaders agreed to
focus the new Congress on balancing the budget and other issues ranging
from cutting taxes to solving the capital city's myriad problems.
(AP, 2/11/97)
1997 Feb 12, The Clinton
administration gave permission to 10 U.S. news organizations to open
bureaus in Cuba.
(AP, 2/12/98)
1997 Mar 2, It was revealed that
Vice President Gore had raised millions of dollars for the 1996
campaign through direct telephone solicitations, and that some of the
calls were made on special phones installed in government buildings for
that purpose.
(AP, 3/2/98)
1997 Mar 3, Vice President Al
Gore, under fire for his aggressive role in campaign fund raising,
acknowledged he'd solicited donations from his White House office but
insisted he did not do "anything wrong, much less illegal." But he said
he would never do it again.
(AP, 3/3/98)
1997 Mar 4, Calling creation of
life "a miracle that reaches beyond laboratory science," President
Clinton barred spending federal money on human cloning.
(AP, 3/4/98)
1997 Mar 4, President Clinton
surveyed tornado destruction in his home state of Arkansas and also
declared Ohio and Kentucky disaster areas because of floods.
(AP, 3/4/98)
1997 Mar 7, After a week of
embarrassing disclosures about White House fund raising, President
Clinton told a news conference, "I'm not sure, frankly" if he also had
made calls for campaign cash. But he insisted that nothing had undercut
his pledge to have the highest ethical standards ever.
(AP, 3/7/98)
1997 Mar 8, President Clinton, in
keeping with his push for private businesses and churches to hire off
welfare rolls, ordered federal agencies to do the same.
(AP, 3/8/07)
1997 Mar 10, The White House and
the FBI clashed in a rare public quarrel after President Clinton said
he should have been alerted when the bureau told national security
officials that the Chinese government might be trying to influence U.S.
elections.
(AP, 3/10/98)
1997 Mar 14, Surgeons at Bethesda
Naval Medical Center repaired a painful torn knee tendon in President
Clinton’s right leg. The injury had been caused by a freak
middle-of-the-night stumble at golfer Greg Norman’s Florida home.
(AP, 3/14/98)
1997 Mar 15, President Clinton
spent a second day at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, recuperating from
surgery for a partially torn knee tendon.
(AP, 3/15/98)
1997 Mar 19, Following the
withdrawal of Anthony Lake, President Clinton nominated acting CIA
Director George Tenet to head the nation's spy agency. President
Clinton departed Washington for a summit in Helsinki, Finland, with
Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
(AP, 3/19/98)
1997 Mar 20, Bill Clinton and
Boris Yeltsin met in Helsinki for talks on arms control and NATO
expansion. They agreed to negotiate a new arms accord to reduce
strategic warheads, and to give Russia a more formal role in the Group
of Seven leading industrialized nations.
(WSJ, 3/21/97, p.A1)(SFC, 3/22/97, p.A1)(AP, 3/20/98)
1997 Mar 21, President Clinton and
Russian President Boris Yeltsin wrapped up their summit in Helsinki,
Finland, still deadlocked over NATO expansion, but able to agree on
slashing nuclear weapons arsenals.
(AP, 3/21/02)
1997 Apr 2, The White House
released documents showing how eager it had been to exploit the
money-drawing powers of President Clinton and Vice President Gore
during the 1996 campaign while coordinating with the Democratic Party's
fund-raising machine.
(AP, 4/2/98)
1997 Apr 18, President Clinton
held a news conference in which he warned Republicans that a
balanced-budget deal may not come quickly, while reassuring nervous
Democrats that he would not abandon the party's prized social programs.
(AP, 4/18/98)
1997 Apr 21, Pres. Clinton
approved a ban on new American investment in Burma due to human rights
abuses.
(SFC, 4/22/97, p.A6)
1997 Apr 22, President Clinton
flew over the flooded town of Grand Forks, N.D.
(AP, 4/22/98)
1997 Apr 26, In his Saturday radio
address, President Clinton prepared for the opening of a community
service summit by asking Congress to pay for a literacy drive for
third-graders.
(AP, 4/26/98)
1997 Apr 27, President Clinton,
along with former presidents George Bush and Jimmy Carter, helped
polish gritty city streets in Philadelphia as they launched the Summit
for America's Future, a three-day gathering on community service.
(AP, 4/27/98)
1997 Apr 28, In Philadelphia,
President Clinton and three predecessors -- George Bush, Jimmy Carter
and Gerald Ford -- began drafting a national army of community service
volunteers during the Presidents' Summit for America's Future.
(AP, 4/28/98)
1997 Apr 30, President Clinton
reopened the newly renovated Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library
of Congress in Washington, D.C.
(AP, 4/30/98)
1997 May 2, President Clinton and
congressional Republicans came to terms on a plan to balance the budget
over five years.
(SFC, 5/3/97, p.A1)(AP, 5/2/98)
1997 May 5, President Clinton
arrived in Mexico for his first Latin American trip while in office.
(AP, 5/5/98)
1997 May 6, Pres. Clinton made a
state visit to Mexico and spent some time meeting with the leaders of
Mexico’s main opposition parties. Clinton and Mexican President Ernesto
Zedillo pledged closer cooperation on immigration and drug smuggling.
(SFC, 5/7/97, p.c3)(AP, 5/6/98)
1997 May 8, President Clinton
assured Central American leaders during a summit in Costa Rica that
they need not fear mass deportations of immigrants who had sought
refuge in the United States during U.S.-backed conflicts.
(AP, 5/8/98)
1997 May 9, During a visit to a
rain forest in Costa Rica, President Clinton urged nations not to
sacrifice their environment in pursuit of economic gain.
(AP, 5/9/98)
1997 May 10, President Clinton
signed modest drug-fighting and trade agreements with Caribbean leaders
in Barbados.
(AP, 5/10/98)
1997 May 16, Pres. Clinton spoke
an apology for the government’s Tuskegee syphilis study from 1932-1972,
in which 399 black men were kept untreated by government scientists in
order to study the progression of the disease.
(WSJ, 5/16/97, p.A1)(AP, 5/16/98)
1997 May 18, President Clinton
announced creation of a research center at the National Institutes of
Health devoted to the goal of developing an AIDS vaccine within the
next decade, but offered no new federal spending.
(WSJ, 5/19/97, p.A1)(AP, 5/18/98)
1997 May 26, President Clinton
left for Paris to sign a new agreement between NATO and Russia.
(AP, 5/26/98)
1997 May 27, In Paris, Russian
President Boris Yeltsin joined 16 NATO leaders, including President
Clinton, to sign a historic agreement giving Moscow a voice in NATO
affairs.
(AP, 5/27/98)
1997 May 27, The Supreme Court
ruled that Paula Jones may pursue her sexual harassment lawsuit against
Pres. Clinton while he is in office. The suit was based on an incident
in 1991 when Clinton was governor of Arkansas.
(SFC, 5/28/97, p.A1)(AP, 5/27/98)
1997 May 28, President Clinton
paid tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan with a speech
in the Netherlands in which he urged today's leaders to revive
economies in the former Soviet bloc.
(AP, 5/28/98)
1997 Jul 10, President Clinton,
visiting Poland, told a Warsaw square filled with cheering Poles that
"never again will your fate be decided by others." He announced a
successful drive to bring Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic into
NATO by 1999.
(AP, 7/10/98)
1997 Jul 11, President Clinton was
cheered by tens of thousands of people in Bucharest, Romania, where he
raised hopes for NATO membership.
(AP, 7/11/98)
1997 Jul 17, President Clinton
nominated Army Gen. Henry Shelton to be the next chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff.
(AP, 7/17/98)
1997 Jul 24, Pres. Clinton held a
White House symposium on global warming.
(WSJ, 7/25/97, p.A1)
1997 Jul 26, Pres. Clinton visited
Lake Tahoe and announced that the Forest Service would allot 350 acres
to the Washoe Indian tribe for a cultural center and give tribal
members access to the edge of lake Tahoe. He also made an executive
order for $50 million over 2 years and 25 initiatives to improve the
water quality of Lake Tahoe. He brought with him $26 million worth of
postal trucks and sewage pipes to help preserve the lake.
(SFEC, 7/27/97, p.A1,14)(AP, 7/26/98)
1997 Aug 1, Pres. Clinton
announced that the 1978 ban on sales of high-performance aircraft and
other advanced weapons to Latin America would be lifted.
(SFC, 8/2/97, p.A8)(AP, 8/1/98)
1997 Aug 5, President Clinton
signed the budget-balancing and tax-cutting bills into law, calling the
legislation "a true milestone for our nation."
(AP, 8/5/98)
1997 Aug 11, Pres. Clinton made
the first use of the historic line-item veto approved by Congress. He
removed 3 narrow provisions in the new budget legislation in spending
and tax bills.
(SFC, 8/12/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/11/98)
1997 Aug 17, President Clinton
urged both sides in the United Parcel Service strike to "redouble their
efforts" to reach a deal, but hours later, negotiators recessed their
intensive talks.
(AP, 8/17/98)
1997 Aug 22, A federal judge
rejected Pres. Clinton’s request to dismiss the sexual harassment suit
of Paula Jones. The trial was scheduled to start May 27, 1998.
(SFC, 8/23/97, p.A1)
1997 Aug 23, In his weekly radio
address, President Clinton said he would ask Congress to renew his
authority for speedy negotiation of trade agreements, saying the "fast
track" approach would make U.S. companies more competitive
worldwide.
(AP, 8/23/98)
1997 Sep 8, Lawyers in the Paula
Jones case against Pres. Clinton decided to quit the suit after Jones
refused to accept a financial settlement.
(SFC, 9/9/97, p.A3)
1997 Sep 12, Pres. Clinton named
Dr. David Satcher, 56, as the new surgeon general.
(SFC, 9/13/97, p.A20)
1997 Nov 8, Pres. Clinton promised
a crusade for equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans.
(SFEC,11/9/97, p.A1)
1997 Nov 14, Pres. Clinton signed
a bill containing $250 million to buy 7,500 acres in the headwaters
forest of northern California. The agreement with Charles Hurwitz was
revised in 1998 and protection was tentatively established for 12 of 13
stands of redwoods and Pacific Lumber was to be allowed to log one
grove.
(SFC,11/15/97, p.A3)(SFC, 2/28/98, p.A1)
1997 Nov 15, A day after moving to
halt the import of modified assault weapons, President Clinton defended
the action in his weekly radio address, saying such weapons did nothing
but "inspire fear and wreck deadly havoc on our streets."
(AP, 11/15/98)
1997 Nov 21, "The Food and Drug
Administration Act of 1997" was signed into law by President Clinton.
The new law was designed to enhance the product development and review
process; streamline the way the Agency regulates medical devices;
simplify enforcement procedures; and move the Agency toward greater use
of national and international standards. The law gave the FDA new
powers to speed the approval of drugs to combat a host of killer
diseases, including cancer and AIDS.
(PR, NPTH, 6/4/98)(AP, 11/21/98)
1997 Nov 25, President Clinton and
Pacific Rim leaders meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, approved a
rescue strategy for Asian economies shaken by plunging currencies, bank
failures and bankruptcies. The 2-day APEC summit in Vancouver closed
and leaders agreed to an IMF bailout plan. Forum leaders also agreed to
admit Russia, Vietnam and Peru into the organization as of 1998.
(SFC,11/26/97, p.C2) (HN, 11/25/98)
1997 Dec 1, Pres. Clinton signed
the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act into law.
(SFC, 12/20/99, p.E1)
1997 Dec 2, Attorney General Janet
Reno declined to seek an independent counsel investigation of telephone
fund-raising by President Clinton and Vice President Gore, concluding
they did not violate election laws, a decision that drew jeers from
Republicans.
(AP, 12/2/98)
1997 Dec 3, President Clinton
hosted his first town hall meeting on America's race relations in
Akron, Ohio.
(AP, 12/3/98)
1997 Dec 5, Pres. Clinton said US
troops in Haiti will continue their presence. Some 300-500 troops were
posted on a rotating basis for civil affairs work with an additional
150 US military police for security.
(SFC,12/6/97, p.A10)
1997 Dec 7, A new Presidential
Decision Directive was reported to replace one put into place by Pres.
Reagan in 1981. It reset the guidelines for the use of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons would still be maintained as a deterrent.
(SFC,12/897, p.A14)
1997 Dec 11, Henry Cisneros,
President Clinton's first housing secretary, was indicted for
conspiracy, obstructing justice and making false statements about
payments to former mistress.
(AP, 12/11/98)
1997 Dec 17, President Clinton's
panel on race relations met at Annandale High School in Virginia.
(AP, 12/17/98)
1997 Dec 17, The United States and
33 other countries signed a convention in Paris aimed at eradicating
bribery in international business.
(AP, 12/17/98)
1997 Dec 18, President Clinton
extended indefinitely the deadline for withdrawal of U.S. troops
helping with the U.N. peacekeeping effort in Bosnia.
(AP, 12/18/98)
1997 Dec 22, During his visit to
Bosnia, President Clinton thanked American troops and lectured the
nation's three presidents to set aside their differences.
(AP, 12/22/98)
1998 Jan 10, In his weekly radio
address, President Clinton denounced Chicago physicist Richard Seed's
expressed desire to clone humans, calling it "morally unacceptable."
(AP, 1/10/99)
1998 Jan 14, Whitewater
prosecutors questioned Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House for 10
minutes about the gathering of FBI background files on past Republican
political appointees. Sources quoted Mrs. Clinton as saying she knew
nothing about any such collection of files.
(AP, 1/14/99)
1998 Jan 15, Pres. Clinton
presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 15 honorees.
(SFC, 1/16/98, p.A1,13)
1998 Jan 19, This was the Martin
Luther King Jr. federal holiday. During a ceremony in Atlanta
commemorating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Vice President Gore
announced that the Clinton administration would propose increasing
spending on civil rights by $86 million.
(AP, 1/19/98)(AP, 1/19/99)
1998 Jan 23, Fighting scandal
allegations involving Monica Lewinsky, President Clinton assured his
Cabinet that he was innocent.
(AP, 1/23/99)
1998 Jan 24, President Clinton, in
his weekly radio address, unveiled a proposal to root out Medicare
fraud.
(AP, 1/24/99)
1998 Jan 26, Pres. Clinton firmly
denied having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky: "I did not have
sexual relations with that woman…I never told anybody to lie."
(SFC, 1/27/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 11/15/98, p.A3)
1998 Jan 27, Shaken by scandal,
Pres. Clinton made his State of the Union address and proposed
bolstering Social Security with the current surplus, improving schools
by reducing class size and building more, raising the minimum wage, and
making child care more available for low-income families before cutting
taxes or increasing spending. He also issued a warning to Sadam Hussein
of Iraq and asked Congress to support NATO expansion. Earlier in the
day, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, appearing on NBC's "Today"
show, charged the allegations against her husband were the work of a
"vast right-wing conspiracy."
(SFC, 1/28/98, p.A1)(AP, 1/27/99)
1998 Jan 28, The day after his
State of the Union address, President Clinton barnstormed in the
nation's heartland, where he was warmly received; accompanying him was
Vice President Al Gore, who urged Americans to "join me in supporting
him and standing by his side."
(AP, 1/28/99)
1998 Feb 1, In a round of Sunday
talk show appearances, Monica Lewinsky's attorney, William Ginsburg,
predicted that the controversy over whether the former White House
intern had had an affair with President Clinton would "go away" and
that the president would survive unscathed.
(AP, 2/1/03)
1998 Feb 2, Pres. Clinton proposed
a $1.73 trillion fiscal 1999 budget and projected a $10 billion
surplus, the first year without a deficit since 1969. He planned to
pump billions to schools, health and child care.
(WSJ, 2/2/98, p.A1)(AP, 2/2/99)
1998 Feb 5, Pres. Clinton ordered
2,000 Marines to the Persian Gulf and met with PM Tony Blair of Britain
to discuss the possible use of force against Iraq.
(SFC, 2/6/98, p.E2)
1998 Feb 6, President Clinton and
British Prime Minister Tony Blair redoubled their pledge to use
military force against Iraq if necessary; during a joint news
conference in which the subject of Monica Lewinsky came up, Clinton
said he would never resign.
(AP, 2/6/99)
1998 Feb 6, President Clinton
signed a bill changing the name of Washington National Airport to
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
(AP, 2/6/00)
1998 Feb 9, Pres. Clinton declared
27 counties in California a federal disaster area. Estimated storm
damage reached over $275 million.
(SFC, 2/10/98, p.A1)
1998 Feb 17, President Clinton,
preparing Americans for possible air strikes against Iraq, said
military force is never the first answer "but sometimes it's the only
answer."
(AP, 2/17/99)
1998 Feb 18, President Clinton's
foreign policy team encountered jeers during a town meeting at Ohio
State University while trying to defend the administration's threat to
bomb Iraq into compliance with UN weapons edicts.
(AP, 2/18/99)
1998 Feb 23, President Clinton
gave cautious approval to a U.N. agreement reached by Secretary-General
Kofi Annan with Saddam Hussein for monitoring suspected weapons sites
in Iraq.
(AP, 2/23/99)
1998 Feb 25, The US Congress for
the first time reversed Pres. Clinton’s line item veto and restored 38
military projects.
(SFC, 2/26/98, p.A3)
1998 Mar 5, Details of President
Clinton's deposition testimony in the Paula Jones sexual harassment
case against him were published in The Washington Post, prompting an
angry denunciation from the president for the news leak.
(AP, 3/5/99)
1998 Mar 15, CBS' "60 Minutes"
aired an interview with former White House employee Kathleen Willey,
who said President Clinton had made unwelcome sexual advances toward
her in the Oval Office in 1993, a charge denied by the president.
(AP, 3/15/99)
1998 Mar 18, Julie Hiatt Steele, a
former friend of Kathleen Willey's, released a sworn affidavit
undercutting Willey's claim that President Clinton had made an unwanted
sexual advance toward her in 1993. According to Steele, Willey
instructed her to tell Newsweek that Willey had confided the alleged
episode to her immediately after it supposedly happened; Steele said
she first heard about the accusation in 1997.
(AP, 3/18/08)
1998 Mar 19, Pres. Clinton eased
US restrictions on humanitarian aid and travel to Cuba. Cuban-American
households would be allowed to send back $1,200 a year.
(WSJ, 3/20/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 20, President Clinton's
lawyer, appearing before a federal court, declared that Paula Jones'
evidence of sexual harassment was "garbage" unworthy of a trial.
(AP, 3/20/99)
1998 Mar 22, President Clinton
departed Washington for an historic 12-day tour of Africa.
(AP, 3/22/99)
1998 Mar 23, Pres. Clinton visited
Ghana, the first nation where Peace Corps volunteers were sent. He
hailed "the new face of Africa" as he opened a historic six-nation.
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A13)(AP, 3/23/99)
1998 Mar 24, The Clinton
administration announced a $56 million food and medical supply donation
to Indonesia.
(SFC, 3/25/98, p.C14)
1998 Mar 25, Pres. Clinton visited
Rwanda. Shaken by horror stories from the worst genocide since World
War II, President Clinton grimly acknowledged during his Africa tour
that "we did not act quickly enough" to stop the slaughter of up to 1
million Rwandans four years earlier.
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A13)(AP, 3/25/99)
1998 Mar 26, President Clinton
stood with President Nelson Mandela in a racially integrated South
African parliament to salute a country that was "truly free and
democratic at last."
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A13)(AP, 3/26/99)
1998 Mar 28, President Clinton,
during his visit to South Africa, went to Soweto, a landmark in the
bloody uprising against apartheid, to honor South Africans "who
answered the call of conscience" and defeated their country's system of
white supremacy.
(AP, 3/28/99)
1998 Mar 31, For the first time in
history, the Clinton administration released a detailed financial
statement for the federal government showing its assets and liabilities.
(AP, 3/31/99)
1998 Apr 1, Judge Susan Webber
threw out the sexual harassment suit filed by Paula Jones against Pres.
Clinton saying her claims of sexual harassment fell "far short" of
being worthy of trial. Clinton later settled with Jones without apology
or admission of guilt.
(SFC, 4/2/98, p.A1)(AP, 4/1/08)
1998 Apr 3, Pres. Clinton warned
that Japanese officials "have to make a break" with their past
policies. Moody’s Investor’s Services changed its outlook on Japan’s
government debt to "negative" from "stable."
(SFC, 4/4/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 6, Pres. Clinton
announced a ban on imports of 58 types of military-style assault
weapons.
(SFC, 4/6/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 7, President Clinton held
a town meeting in Kansas City, Mo., on the future of Social Security.
(AP, 4/7/99)
1998 Apr 14, President Clinton
moderated a town meeting on race with an all-star panel of sports
figures.
(AP, 4/14/99)
1998 Apr 15, Pres. Clinton
traveled to Chile for a Latin American trade summit.
(WSJ, 4/14/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 16, Paula Jones announced
she would ask an appeals court to reinstate her sexual harassment
lawsuit against President Clinton after it was thrown out by a federal
judge.
(AP, 4/16/99)
1998 Apr 30, President Clinton
questioned the conduct of Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr and
dismissed Republican challenges to his own character as "high-level
static" during a news conference.
(AP, 4/30/99)
1998 May 2, In separate radio
addresses, President Clinton and congressional Republicans lambasted
the Internal Revenue Service and promised more reforms to prevent
future abuses.
(AP, 5/2/99)
1998 May 13, Pres. Clinton
traveled to Germany to meet with Chancellor Kohl and commemorate the
50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift.
(WSJ, 5/12/98, p.A1)
1998 May 13, President Clinton
ordered harsh sanctions against an unapologetic India, which undertook
a second round of nuclear tests despite global criticism. It was later
reported that the number and size of the weapons were exaggerated.
(SFC, 5/13/98, p.A1)(SFC, 9/16/98, p.A1)(AP, 5/13/99)
1998 May 20, Pres. Clinton vetoed
a school voucher plan that would have provided tax funds for poor
children in Washington D.C. to attend private or religious schools.
(WSJ, 5/21/98, p.A1)
1998 May 27, The sexual harassment
suit of Paula Jones against pres. Clinton was scheduled to start.
(SFC, 8/23/97, p.A1)
1998 May 31, Pres. Clinton
endorsed additional conditional financial support for Russia from the
IMF and World Bank.
(SFC, 6/1/98, p.A9)
1998 Jun 20, On the eve of
Father's Day, President Clinton used his weekly radio address to
announce the release of the first wave of almost $60 million in
prostate cancer research grants.
(AP, 6/20/08)
1998 Jun 29, Students at Peking
University peppered President Clinton with polite but critical
questions about America's human rights record, Taiwan policy and views
on China in an exchange televised live across the vast nation. In
Beijing US corporations announced major sales agreements with China
worth nearly $2 billion.
(SFC, 6/30/98, p.A8)(AP, 6/29/08)
1998 Jul 1, Pres. Clinton in
Guilin and Shanghai, China, said to the Chinese that the environment
must not be sacrificed for economic growth. China was reported to have
the top ten of the world’s most polluted cities. Clinton urged his
Chinese hosts to also open markets and battle corruption.
(SFC, 7/2/98, p.A1,14)(AP, 7/1/99)
1998 Jul 3, Pres. Clinton ended
his trip to China and praised Pres. Zemin as a man with "good
imagination." Clinton concluded his Far East tour in Hong Kong, where
he challenged leaders to set the pace for rescuing Asia from the
region's financial crisis.
(SFC, 7/4/98, p.A1)(AP, 7/3/9)
1998 Jul 9, Congress sent
President Clinton an election-year bill overhauling the Internal
Revenue Service; Clinton said he would sign it.
(AP, 7/9/99)
1998 Jul 17, Prosecutors in the
Monica Lewinsky case questioned President Clinton's Secret Service
protectors before a grand jury.
(AP, 7/17/99)
1998 Jul 17, The Clinton
administration sought approval to use funds for covert operations
against Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein.
(SFC, 7/18/98, p.A3)
1998 Jul 21, President Clinton
announced a crackdown on nursing homes that were lax about quality and
on states that do a poor job of regulating them.
(AP, 7/21/99)
1998 Jul 22, President Clinton,
with Republican lawmakers at his side, signed a bill designed to mold
the Internal Revenue Service into a friendlier, fairer tax collector.
(AP, 7/22/99)
1998 Jul 25, Two government
officials revealed that Pres. Clinton was subpoenaed by Independent
Council Kenneth Starr to testify before a federal grand jury
investigating Monica Lewinsky.
(SFEC, 7/26/98, p.A1)(AP, 7/25/99)
1998 Jul 26, The White House said
President Clinton's lawyers were working with prosecutor Kenneth Starr
to avert Clinton's direct testimony to a grand jury about the Monica
Lewinsky case. The president ended up testifying via closed-circuit
television.
(AP, 7/26/99)
1998 Jul 27, President Clinton
held a town meeting in Albuquerque, N.M., on the future of Social
Security, during which he expressed skepticism about proposals to
privatize part of the Social Security trust fund.
(AP, 7/27/99)
1998 Jul 28, During a day of
official mourning, President Clinton praised two slain police officers
at the U.S. Capitol as heroes whose sacrifice "consecrated this house
of freedom."
(AP, 7/28/99)
1998 Jul 28, Monica Lewinsky
struck a deal with independent council Kenneth Starr granting her
blanket protection from prosecution in exchange for her "full and
truthful testimony" to a grand jury on her relationship with Pres.
Clinton.
(SFC, 7/29/98, p.A1)(AP, 7/28/99)
1998 Jul 29, Pres. Clinton reached
an agreement with Kenneth Starr to provide closed-circuit videotaped
testimony at the White House on Aug. 17 about whether he tried to cover
up a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
(SFC, 7/30/98, p.A1)(AP, 7/29/99)
1998 Jul 31, President Clinton
said he would "completely and truthfully" answer prosecutors' questions
about Monica Lewinsky in testimony to be beamed by closed-circuit
television to a grand jury.
(AP, 7/31/99)
1998 Aug 1, Dismissing as "an
empty promise" GOP-backed legislation to create a patients' bill of
rights, President Clinton in his Saturday radio address pressed
Congress to pass a measure that would allow patients to sue their
health insurers.
(AP, 8/1/99)
1998 Aug 3, The White House played
down the possibility that President Clinton would reverse previous
statements and admit to a sexual relationship with former White House
intern Monica Lewinsky when he testified before a grand jury.
(AP, 8/2/99)
1998 Aug 6, Monica Lewinsky
testified for 8 1/2 hours that she had a sexual affair with Pres.
Clinton before a federal grand jury.
(SFC, 8/7/98, p.A1)(AP, 8/6/99)
1998 Aug 7, Pres. Clinton signed
the US federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA). It reformed federal
employment, training, adult education, and vocational rehabilitation
programs by creating an integrated "one-stop" system of workforce
investment and education services for adults, dislocated workers, and
youth. It superseded the Job Training Partnership Act.
(www.twc.state.tx.us/boards/wia/txwia.html)
1998 Aug 8, President Clinton, in
his Saturday radio address, vowed the bombers of two U.S. embassies in
Africa would be brought to justice, "no matter how long it takes or
where it takes us.''
(AP, 8/8/99)
1998 Aug 13, President Clinton led
the nation in mourning 12 Americans killed in a pair of U.S. embassy
bombings in Africa. Standing before black hearses carrying 10 of the
bodies, the president pledged to seek justice "for these evil acts."
(AP, 8/13/99)
1998 Aug 16, A day before
President Clinton was to face a criminal grand jury about his
relationship with Monica Lewinsky, his lawyer said, "The truth is the
truth, and that's how the president will testify."
(AP, 8/16/99)
1998 Aug 17, Pres. Clinton
testified via video via closed-circuit TV from the White House before a
grand jury concerning his relations with Monica Lewinsky. He then
delivered a TV address in which he denied previously committing
perjury, admitted his relationship with Lewinsky was "wrong," and
criticized Kenneth Starr's investigation. "I did have a relationship
with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate... It was wrong."
(WSJ, 8/17/98, p.A1)(SFC, 8/18/98, p.A1)(AP, 8/17/99)
1998 Aug 18, A day after his grand
jury testimony, President Clinton left Washington on a vacation with
his family. Meanwhile, some lawmakers called for Clinton to resign in
the wake of his admissions concerning Monica Lewinsky while a
spokeswoman for Hillary Rodham Clinton said the first lady "believes in
this marriage."
(AP, 8/18/99)
1998 Aug 20, Monica Lewinsky went
before a grand jury for a second round of explicit testimony about her
White House trysts with President Clinton.
(AP, 8/20/99)
1998 Aug 20, Pres. Clinton ordered
cruise missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan13 days after the deadly
embassy bombings in East Africa. About 50 missiles were fired at the
camp of Osama Bin Laden and some 25 missiles against a suspected
chemical plant in Khartoum. The plant in Sudan was suspected of
producing the chemical EMPTA, one of the ingredients in VX nerve gas,
but also an ingredient in fungicides and anti-microbial agents.
(WSJ, 8/21/98, p.A1)(SFC, 8/27/98, p.A10)(AP,
8/20/99)
1998 Aug 22, President Clinton, in
his Saturday radio address, announced he had signed an executive order
putting Osama bin Laden's Islamic Army on a list of terrorist groups.
(AP, 8/22/99)
1998 Aug 28, President Clinton,
speaking in Oak Bluffs, Mass., said he'd become such an expert in
asking forgiveness in recent days that it was now "burned in my bones."
But he still stopped short of offering a direct apology for the Monica
Lewinsky affair.
(AP, 8/28/99)
1998 Sep 2, President Clinton
concluded his Moscow summit with Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
(WSJ, 9/3/98, p.A1)(AP, 9/2/99)
1998 Sep 4, During a visit to
Ireland, President Clinton said the words "I'm sorry" for the first
time about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, describing his behavior as
indefensible.
(AP, 9/4/99)
1998 Sep 9, Pres. Clinton released
$20 million in aid for the refugees in Kosovo.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.D3)
1998 Sep 9, Kenneth Starr,
independent council, delivered 36 boxes to Capital Hill that contained
2 copies of his report on the case for the impeachment of Pres.
Clinton. His probe began with the failed Arkansas land deal and ended
with the Monica Lewinsky affair.
(SFC, 9/10/98, p.A3)(WSJ, 9/10/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 10, President Clinton met
with members of his Cabinet to apologize, ask forgiveness and promise
to improve as a person in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
(AP, 9/10/99)
1998 Sep 10, The 445-page Starr
report on Pres. Clinton was to be made partly public in the Internet.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 11, Congress released
Kenneth Starr's report that offered graphic details of President
Clinton's alleged sexual misconduct and leveled accusations of perjury
and obstruction of justice; the president's attorneys quickly issued a
rebuttal.
(AP, 9/11/99)
1998 Sep 12, The White House
responded to Kenneth Starr's graphic report on President Clinton by
calling it a "hit-and-run smear campaign."
(AP, 9/12/03)
1998 Sep 14, President Clinton,
struggling to regain his footing from the Monica Lewinsky scandal,
pledged during a speech in New York to work with America's allies to
deal with the "biggest financial challenge facing the world in a
half-century."
(AP, 9/14/03)
1998 Nov 11, President Clinton
ordered warships, planes and troops to the Persian Gulf as he laid out
his case for a possible attack on Iraq. Iraq, meanwhile, showed no sign
of backing down on its refusal to deal with U.N. weapons inspectors.
(AP, 11/11/99)
1998 Nov 12, Pres. Clinton signed
a UN accord on global warming. It still needed to be ratified by
Congress.
(SFC, 11/13/98, p.A3)
1998 Nov 13, Pres. Clinton,
without admitting guilt, agreed to pay Paula Jones $850,000 to settle
her sexual harassment suit. In 1999 Jones accepted to receive $200,000
with the rest going for lawyer fees. This ended the four-year legal
battle over her sexual harassment lawsuit that spurred impeachment
proceedings against him.
(SFC, 11/14/98, p.A1)(SFC, 3/5/99, p.A6)(AP,
11/13/99)
1998 Nov 13, Pres. Clinton and the
IMF announced a $41.5 billion loan package for Brazil.
(SFC, 11/14/98, p.A10)
1998 Nov 17, The House Judiciary
Committee released 22 hours of telephone tape recordings secretly made
of Monica Lewinsky by Linda Tripp.
(SFC, 11/18/98, p.A1)(AP, 11/17/99)
1998 Nov 19, Pres. Clinton began a
5-day trip to Asia and in Japan suggested that current efforts to end
an 8-year economic downturn may not be enough.
(SFC, 11/20/98, p.A16)
1998 Nov 19, Independent Counsel
Kenneth Starr laid out his evidence for the impeachment hearings
against Pres. Clinton. He defended his investigation under withering
questions from Democrats, during a daylong appearance before the House
Judiciary Committee.
(SFC, 11/20/98, p.A1,3)(AP, 11/19/99)
1998 Nov 21, President Clinton,
visiting South Korea, warned North Korea to forsake nuclear weapons and
urged the North to seize a "historic opportunity" for peace with the
South.
(AP, 11/21/99)
1998 Nov 27, Answering 81
questions put to him three weeks earlier, President Clinton wrote the
House Judiciary Committee that his testimony in the Monica Lewinsky
affair was "not false and misleading."
(AP, 11/27/99)
1998 Nov 28, Some Republicans
expressed disappointment and outrage over President Clinton's written
responses to 81 questions from the House Judiciary Committee concerning
the Monica Lewinsky affair, with one accusing the president of "word
games."
(AP, 11/28/99)
1998 Nov 30, Pres. Clinton pledged
an extra $400 million to aid the Palestinians over the next 5 years.
This was in addition to the current $100 million per year for the next
5 years. A total of $3 billion in aid was pledged.
(SFC, 12/1/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 1, Pres. Clinton marked
World Aids Day by announcing an increase in NIH funding for an AIDS
vaccine to $200 million.
(WSJ, 12/2/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 3, Republicans jettisoned
campaign fund-raising from their inquiry of President Clinton, clearing
the way for a historic House Judiciary Committee vote on articles of
impeachment over President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky
and his effort to cover it up.
(AP, 12/3/03)
1998 Dec 7, Pres. Clinton
announced the removal of Iran from the list of drug problem countries
due to an energetic campaign to eliminate opium poppies.
(SFC, 12/8/98, p.A12)
1998 Dec 7, On the eve of historic
hearings, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde said there was
a "compelling case" for impeaching President Clinton. Attorney General
Janet Reno declined to seek an independent counsel investigation of
President Clinton over 1996 campaign financing.
(AP, 12/7/99)
1998 Dec 8, The White House opened
its defense against the impeachment of Pres. Clinton. A 184-page
defense, written by White House lawyers, held that Clinton’s actions
were "immoral" and "misleading" but did not amount to impeachable
offenses.
(WSJ, 12/8/98, p.A1)(SFC, 12/9/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 9, The Republicans on the
House Judiciary Committee drafted 4 articles of impeachment for Pres.
Clinton, all stemming from his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky
and long campaign to cover it up. The Democrats countered with a
censure plan.
(SFC, 12/10/98, p.A1)(AP, 12/9/99)
1998 Dec 10, The House Judiciary
Committee opened debate on 4 articles of impeachment against Pres.
Clinton. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee lined up one by
one in favor of impeaching President Clinton; Democrats vowed
opposition after lawyers clashed in closing arguments over alleged
"high crimes and misdemeanors."
(SFC, 12/11/98, p.A1)(AP, 12/10/99)
1998 Dec 11, Pres. Clinton
appealed for forgiveness but majority Republicans on the House
Judiciary Committee voted 21 to 16 to approve 3 articles of impeachment.
(SFC, 12/12/98, p.A1)(AP, 12/11/99)
1998 Dec 12, The House Judiciary
Committee approved a 4th and final article of impeachment against Pres.
Clinton as he flew for a three-day visit to the Middle East aimed at
rescuing the Wye River peace accords.
(SFEC, 12/13/98, p.A1)(AP, 12/12/99)
1998 Dec 14, In Gaza City Pres.
Clinton watched as hundreds of Palestinian leaders raised their hands
to renounce a call for the destruction of Israel.
(SFC, 12/15/98, p.A1)(AP, 12/14/99)
1998 Dec 16, Pres. Clinton ordered
a sustained series of missile strikes against Iraq forces in response
to Saddam Hussein's continued defiance of UN weapons inspectors. Iraqi
envoy Nizar Hamdoon accused UN weapons inspector Richard Butler of
producing a biased report on weapons inspections. The strike came one
before scheduled vote on Clinton’s impeachment by the House of
Representatives and days before the beginning of Ramadan. Some 200
missiles fell on Iraq in the first 24 hours of the attack and initial
reports indicated two people killed and 30 injured. The House
Republicans postponed impeachment by at least 24 hours.
(SFC, 12/17/98, p.A1,8)(AP, 12/16/99)
1998 Dec 16, The House delayed a
debate set to begin the next day on four articles of impeachment
against President Clinton.
(AP, 12/16/99)
1998 Dec 17, Republicans advanced
the impeachment case against President Clinton to the House floor for a
debate the following day. House Speaker-designate Bob Livingston
shocked fellow Republicans by admitting he'd had extramarital affairs.
(AP, 12/17/99)
1998 Dec 18, US House Republicans
rebuffed calls for a vote on censure and pushed forward the vote on
impeachment.
(SFC, 12/19/98, p.A1)(AP, 12/18/99)
1998 Dec 19, President Clinton was
impeached on 2 counts, Articles 1 and 3, by the Republican-controlled
House for perjury and obstruction of justice. The 42nd chief executive
became only the second in history to be ordered to stand trial in the
Senate, where, like Andrew Johnson before him, he was acquitted.
(SFEC, 12/20/98, p.A1)(AP, 12/19/99)
1998 Dec 19, The US and Britain
ended their attack on Iraq after 4 days of air and missile strikes in
Operation Desert Fox. An early estimate of US defense expenses was put
at $500 million. Some 62 members of the Republican Guard were killed.
(SFEC, 12/20/98, p.A1,24)(SFC, 12/22/98, p.A14)(WSJ,
8/27/99, p.A10)
1998 Dec 26, President Clinton, in
his weekly radio address, urged Congress to lower the blood-alcohol
limit for drunken driving nationwide to 0.08 percent to conform with 17
states and the District of Columbia. The other 33 states have 0.10.
(AP, 12/26/99)
1998 Pres. Clinton signed the
Internet Tax Freedom Act. It mandated a moratorium on any state or
local taxes on Internet access.
(WSJ, 12/8/03, p.B1)
1998 Pres. Clinton signed the
Int’l. Religious Freedom Act.
(WSJ, 5/26/04, p.A8)
1999 Jan 7, The Senate impeachment
trial against pres. Clinton began. Chief Justice William Rehnquist was
sworn in to preside over the trial. Bill Clinton was ultimately
acquitted of charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
(SFC, 1/8/99, p.A1)(AP, 1/7/00)
1999 Jan 8, By a unanimous vote,
the U.S. Senate formally ratified the rules for President Clinton's
impeachment trial.
(AP, 1/8/00)
1999 Jan 9, Presidential advisers
prepared a public and legal defense in President Clinton's impeachment
trial on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice; Senate Majority
Leader Trent Lott, meanwhile, pledged "above all, fairness" to the
president.
(AP, 1/9/00)
1999 Jan 10, Republicans and
Democrats disagreed over whether to call witnesses in President
Clinton's impeachment trial, with Republicans pressing to hear
testimony from Monica Lewinsky and others, and Democrats saying such
testimony could unnecessarily prolong the proceedings.
(AP, 1/10/00)
1999 Jan 11, President Clinton and
House Republicans clashed in impeachment trial papers, with the White
House claiming the perjury and obstruction allegations fell short of
high crimes and misdemeanors and GOP lawmakers rebutting: "If this is
not enough, what is?"
(AP, 1/11/00)
1999 Jan 14, The Clinton
administration planned to propose that the UN lift all limits on Iraq's
ability to export oil to pay for food and medicine.
(SFC, 1/14/99, p.A10)
1999 Jan 14, The Senate began
opening arguments its trial of Pres. Clinton. Before a jury of 100
silent senators, House prosecutors demanded President Clinton's removal
from office, charging he had "piled perjury upon perjury" and
obstructed justice.
(SFC, 1/14/99, p.A1)(SFC, 1/15/99, p.A1)(AP, 1/14/00)
1999 Jan 15, House prosecutors
prodded senators at President Clinton's impeachment trial to summon
Monica Lewinsky, Vernon Jordan and others for testimony and "invite the
president" to appear as well.
(AP, 1/15/00)
1999 Jan 16, Closing three days of
opening arguments, House prosecutors demanded President Clinton's
removal from office, telling a hushed Senate that otherwise the
presidency itself may be "deeply and perhaps permanently damaged."
(AP, 1/16/00)
1999 Jan 19, Pres. Clinton gave
his State of the Union address and proposed a number of new policies
that included infusions of cash to bolster Social Security and
Medicare. He also said that the Justice Dept. will sue cigarette makers
for smoking-related health care costs and wanted to tie federal
education funds to improvements in local schools. Hours earlier, at the
president's impeachment trial in the Senate, White House Counsel
Charles Ruff opened the defense with ringing statements of Clinton's
innocence.
(SFC, 1/20/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/20/99, p.A1)(SFC,
1/21/99, p.A1)(AP, 1/19/00)
1999 Jan 20, For a second day,
President Clinton's legal team argued its case before the Senate,
saying that House-passed articles of impeachment were "flawed and
unfair."
(AP, 1/20/00)
1999 Jan 20, The Clinton
administration pledged $6.6 billion over 5 years for a national missile
defense system.
(SFC, 1/21/99, p.A3)
1999 Jan 27, The Clinton
administration announced a plan to end fighting in Kosovo. It called
for NATO air strikes if autonomy to the region is not accepted by Pres.
Milosevic.
(SFC, 1/28/99, p.A12)
1999 Jan 27, In 2 votes the Senate
voted along party lines, 56-44, to reject a Democratic proposal to
dismiss the impeachment case against Pres. Clinton and to subpoena 3
witnesses including Monica Lewinsky. Wisconsin Democrat Feingold made
the only crossover vote.
(SFC, 1/28/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 1, Pres. Clinton
presented a $1.77 trillion budget that he said will help rescue Social
Security and Medicare. He proposed to use federal surpluses for the
next 15 years to pay down the national debt.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 2/2/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 1, Former White House
intern Monica Lewinsky gave a deposition that was videotaped for
senators weighing impeachment charges against President Clinton.
(AP, 2/1/00)
1999 Feb 3, Pres. Clinton signed
an executive order to establish a council of scientists and bureaucrats
to combat zebra mussels, leafy spurge, long-horned beetles and other
invasive pests.
(SFC, 2/4/99, p.A6)
1999 Feb 3, The Clinton
administration told Congress a NATO-led peacekeeping force could be
needed in Kosovo for three to five years and might include up to 4,000
American troops.
(AP, 2/3/00)
1999 Feb 4, Senators at President
Clinton's impeachment trial voted to permit the showing of portions of
Monica Lewinsky's videotaped deposition.
(AP, 2/4/00)
1999 Feb 6, The public finally got
to see and hear Monica Lewinsky as excerpts of the former White House
intern's videotaped testimony were shown at President Clinton's
impeachment trial.
(AP, 2/6/00)
1999 Feb 6, President Clinton
requested legislation to require background checks on buyers at gun
shows.
(AP, 2/6/00)
1999 Feb 8, The Senate heard
closing arguments at President Clinton's impeachment trial, with House
prosecutors challenging senators to "cleanse the office" and the
president's attorney dismissing the case as one of partisan retribution.
(AP, 2/8/00)
1999 Feb 9, The Senate began
closed-door deliberations in President Clinton's impeachment trial,
even though members from both parties acknowledged that the two-thirds
margin for conviction could not be attained.
(AP, 2/9/00)
1999 Feb 12, Pres. Clinton was
acquitted by the Senate 55-45 on a perjury charge and 50-50 on an
obstruction of justice charge. He once again apologized for burdening
the nation with his conduct. Clinton told Americans he was "profoundly
sorry" for what he had said and done in the Monica Lewinsky affair that
triggered the impeachment drama.
(SFC, 2/13/99, p.A1)(AP, 2/12/00)
1999 Feb 13, Pres. Clinton
announced that he would send some 4,000 troops to Kosovo as part of a
NATO peacekeeping force if warring Serbs and ethnic Albanians reached a
political settlement.
(SFEC, 2/14/99, p.A1)(AP, 2/13/00)
1999 Feb 14, Pres. Clinton,
accompanied by his wife, Hillary, traveled to Merida, Mexico, for
talks with Pres. Ernesto Zedillo to encourage the struggle against
narcotics and government corruption, and to grow markets for U.S.
products.
(SFC, 2/15/99, p.A8)(AP, 2/14/00)
1999 Feb 15, In Mexico Pres.
Clinton and Pres. Zedillo signed several accords on economic measures
and the drug war.
(WSJ, 2/16/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 17, In a satellite-linked
address to college campuses across the country, President Clinton made
his case for shoring up Social Security and Medicare.
(AP, 2/17/00)
1999 Feb 18, The Clinton
administration warned Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to choose
peace with ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, or face a devastating military
strike.
(AP, 2/18/00)
1999 Feb 19, President Clinton
posthumously pardoned Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of
West Point, whose military career was tarnished by a racially motivated
discharge.
(AP, 2/19/00)
1999 Mar 5, Italian Prime Minister
Massimo D'Alema met at the White House with President Clinton, a day
after a military jury in North Carolina acquitted a Marine pilot in the
Italian cable car accident that killed 20 people; D'Alema demanded
justice, while Clinton expressed profound regret.
(AP, 3/5/00)
1999 Mar 8, Pres. Clinton began a
4-day tour of Central America and the region's efforts to recover from
Hurricane Mitch. Clinton toured Posoltega, Nicaragua, by the Casita
Volcano where a wall of mud took 2,000 lives.
(SFC, 3/8/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/9/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 9, Pres. Clinton visited
Honduras and paid tribute to US military efforts in rebuilding roads,
bridges, schools and clinics following Hurricane Mitch.
(SFC, 3/10/99, p.A12)
1999 Mar 10, Pres. Clinton visited
Guatemala and acknowledged the U.S. role in Central America's "dark and
painful period" of civil wars and repression. He apologized for US
support of rightist regimes that ruled the country for 3 decades.
(SFC, 3/11/99, p.A1)(AP, 3/10/00)
1999 Mar 11, The House voted
219-191 to conditionally support President Clinton's plan to send U.S.
troops to Kosovo if a peace agreement was reached.
(AP, 3/11/00)
1999 Mar 14, The Clinton
administration conceded the Chinese had gained from technology
allegedly stolen from a federal nuclear weapons lab but insisted the
government responded decisively; Republicans demanded a comprehensive
review of U.S. policy toward China.
(AP, 3/14/00)
1999 Mar 19, At a White House news
conference, President Clinton prepared the nation for airstrikes
against Serbian targets following the collapse of Kosovo peace talks in
Paris.
(AP, 3/19/00)
1999 Mar 22, The Clinton
administration announced new food deals for North Korea to total $60
million.
(WSJ, 3/23/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 30, Olusegun Obasanjo,
pres. elect of Nigeria, met with Pres. Clinton and vowed to build
democracy.
(WSJ, 3/31/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 3, Pres. Clinton
authorized $50 million in emergency funds for Kosovo refugees and urged
Americans to make donations.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A11)
1999 Apr 8, At a White House news
conference, President Clinton said NATO could still win in Kosovo by
air power alone, and he expressed hope for an early release of three
American POW's.
(AP, 4/8/00)
1999 Apr 8, Pres. Clinton and
Premier Zhu Rongji of China made some trade agreements but did not
agree on China's entry into the WTO. Premier Zhu Rongji promised to
cooperate in investigations of alleged nuclear-weapons spying and
illegal campaign contributions by Beijing.
(SFC, 4/9/99, p.A1)(AP, 4/8/00)
1999 Apr 12, In Arkansas U.S.
District Judge Susan Webber Wright cited President Clinton for contempt
of court, concluding that the president had lied about his relationship
with Monica Lewinsky in a deposition in the Paula Jones case.
(SFC, 4/13/99, p.A1)(AP, 4/12/00)
1999 Apr 16, President Clinton
defended NATO airstrikes against Serbian targets during visits to
Michigan and Massachusetts, saying U.S. involvement in Kosovo was a
moral imperative.
(AP, 4/16/00)
1999 May 1, Pres. Clinton imposed
a trade embargo on Serbia that excepted only food and medicine.
(SFEC, 5/2/99, p.A3)
1999 May 3, Pres. Clinton said
that he would support a bombing pause if he was convinced that the
Yugoslav crackdown on Kosovo guerrillas and civilians was ending and
that Serbian forces were being withdrawn.
(SFC, 5/4/99, p.A1)
1999 May 4, Pres. Clinton
authorized a Congressional Gold Medal for Rosa Parks.
(SFC, 5/5/99, p.A3)
1999 May 5, Pres. Clinton visited
US troops in Germany and conferred with senior NATO commanders.
Clinton’s morale-boosting trip to Europe included a visit to Ramstein
Air Base in Germany, where he met the three American soldiers just
released by Yugoslavia.
(SFC, 5/6/99, p.A10)(AP, 5/5/00)
1999 May 6, President Clinton met
with Kosovo refugees in Germany, listening to accounts of murder, rape
and terror and promising them, "You will go home again in safety and in
freedom."
(AP, 5/6/00)
1999 May 12, Robert Rubin, US
Treasury Secretary, announced his resignation. Pres. Clinton chose
Lawrence Summers, the deputy secretary to succeed Rubin.
(SFC, 5/13/99, p.A1,19)
1999 May 14, His previous calls
rebuffed, President Clinton finally got through to Chinese President
Jiang Zemin; Clinton expressed hope the two countries could repair the
damage to their relations since the U.S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy
in Belgrade.
(AP, 5/14/00)
1999 May 18, Pres. Clinton
declared for the first time that he would consider ground troops in
Kosovo if he becomes convinced that the NATO bombing strategy would not
bring victory.
(SFC, 5/19/99, p.A10)
1999 May 31, During a Memorial Day
visit to Arlington National Cemetery, President Clinton asked Americans
to reconsider their ambivalence about Kosovo, calling it "a very small
province in a small country. But it is a big test of what we believe
in."
(AP, 5/31/00)
1999 Jun 1, President Clinton
ordered a government investigation into whether—and how—the
entertainment business markets violence to children. In a report
released in September 2000, federal regulators said the movie, video
game and music industries aggressively marketed to underage youths
violent products that carried adult ratings.
(AP, 6/1/04)
1999 Jul 3, President Clinton,
acting to head off potential problems with the safety of imported food,
said in his weekly radio address he was ordering inspectors at American
ports to brand all unsafe and rejected food products, "Refused US."
(AP, 7/3/00)
1999 Jul 5, President Clinton
began a four-day, cross-country tour to promote a plan for drawing jobs
and investment to areas that had not shared in the prosperity of the
1990’s.
(AP, 7/5/00)
1999 Jul 12, President Clinton and
Republican congressional leaders held their first face-to-face budget
meeting of the year; the talk was described afterward as positive.
(AP, 7/12/00)
1999 Jul 15, The Clinton
administration conceded that workers exposed to beryllium deserved
compensation for induced beryllium disease. Some 26,000 workers had
been exposed over the last 50 years and there were an estimated 500 to
1000 cases of the disease.
(SFC, 7/16/99, p.A5)
1999 Jul 15, Pres. Clinton met
with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak for the beginning of 5 days of
talks.
(SFC, 7/16/99, p.A10)
1999 Jul 24, President Clinton
attacked the Republicans’ $792 billion tax-cut plan in fund-raising
speeches and his weekly radio address, saying it would "imperil the
future stability of the country." House Majority Leader Dick Armey
replied that the GOP plan would help fix an unfair tax system.
(AP, 7/24/00)
1999 Jul 27, The House approved
President Clinton’s one-year extension of normal trade with China.
(AP, 7/27/00)
1999 Jul 29, A federal judge
ordered Pres. Clinton to pay $90,000 to the lawyers of Paula Jones in
compensation for extra work due his false testimony.
(SFC, 7/30/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 5, Republicans overcame
solid Democratic opposition to narrowly win passage of a ten-year, $792
billion tax cut, first in the House, then in the Senate; President
Clinton denounced the bill and promised a veto.
(AP, 8/5/00)
1999 Aug 7, President Clinton,
during a visit to his home state of Arkansas, promised to devote the
rest of his presidency to erasing poverty.
(AP, 8/7/00)
1999 Aug 8, Opening a new attack
on the Republican tax-cut measure, President Clinton warned the
nation’s governors at their meeting in St. Louis that the $792 billion
package would trigger "huge cuts" in Medicare, farm programs and other
spending critical to their voters.
(AP, 8/8/00)
1999 Aug 9, Pres. Clinton
presented former Pres. Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter the Medal of
Freedom, the highest US civilian award.
(SFC, 8/10/99, p.A3)
1999 Aug 11, Pres. Clinton offered
conditional amnesty to imprisoned Puerto Rican militants (FALN). The
separatists were responsible for at least 150 bombings over a 9-year
period that killed 6 people and injured over 70.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A3)(WSJ, 9/14/99, p.A22)
1999 Aug 15, President Clinton and
his family went house-hunting in Westchester County, New York. They
later settled on a house in Chappaqua.
(AP, 8/15/00)
1999 Aug 21, President Clinton
urged Americans to contribute to the relief effort for Turkey, where
the death toll from a massive earthquake four days earlier topped
12,000. It eventually reached 17,000.
(AP, 8/21/00)
1999 Aug 28, Pres. Clinton
announced a $100 million distribution by the US Dept. of Education for
charter schools.
(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.A8)
1999 Sep 2, It was announced that
President and Mrs. Clinton had signed a contract to purchase a $1.7
million house in Chappaqua, New York, ending a months-long guessing
game over where the couple would live after leaving the White House.
(AP, 9/2/00)
1999 Sep 9, Pres. Clinton moved to
cut military ties with Indonesia and the IMF suspended its lending
program due to the violence in East Timor.
(SFC, 9/10/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 11, President Clinton,
attending a conference of Asia-Pacific leaders in New Zealand and
backed by the UN General Assembly, demanded that Indonesia allow an
international force to restore peace in East Timor.
(SFEC, 9/12/99, p.A1)(AP, 9/11/00)
1999 Sep 11, Pres. Clinton in his
weekly radio address announced grants of $106 million for 54 US school
districts to help reduce youth violence.
(SFEC, 9/12/99, p.A9)
1999 Oct 8, Pres. Clinton asked
the US Senate to postpone a vote on the global nuclear test ban treaty
(CTBT) due to insufficient votes for passage [see Oct 13].
(SFC, 10/9/99, p.A1)(Econ, 3/14/09, p.64)
1999 Oct 13, Pres. Clinton
proposed to place 40 million acres of federal forest beyond the reach
of loggers, miners and road-builders. He urged the forest service to
engage the public in how best to manage and conserve over 50 million
acres of the last roadless tracts.
(SFC, 10/14/99, p.A1)(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A21)
1999 Oct 13, The US Senate
rejected the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban treaty 51-48.
(SFC, 10/14/99, p.A1)(AP, 10/13/00)
1999 Nov 8, President Clinton
participated in a "virtual town hall meeting" on the Internet,
answering questions from pre-screened online users.
(AP, 11/8/00)
1999 Nov 12, President Clinton
signed a sweeping measure knocking down Depression-era barriers and
allowing banks, investment firms and insurance companies to sell each
other’s products.
(SFC, 11/13/99, p.D1)(AP, 11/12/00)
1999 Nov 15, The Clinton
administration claimed victory in a seven-year struggle to persuade
Congress to pay nearly $1 billion in back dues to the United Nations,
saying restrictions in the deal on backing for international family
planning would have no practical effect.
(AP, 11/15/00)
1999 Nov 17, In Greece over 10,000
people protested against the arrival of Pres. Clinton.
(SFC, 11/18/99, p.A17)
1999 Nov 19, In Greece some 10,000
people demonstrated as Pres. Clinton rode through Athens under tight
security and proclaimed a "profound and enduring friendship." The Greek
government ran into a storm of opposition and media criticism for
failing to prevent a rampage through Athens by leftists hostile to
visiting President Clinton.
(SFC, 11/20/99, p.A1)(Excite, 11/20/99)(AP, 11/19/00)
1999 Nov 21, President Clinton,
speaking at a conference in Florence, Italy, called on prosperous
nations to spread global wealth by helping poor countries with Internet
hookups, cell phones, debt relief and small loans.
(AP, 11/21/00)
1999 Nov 22, During a visit to the
former communist country of Bulgaria, President Clinton promised tens
of thousands of cheering Bulgarians in Sofia that "you too shall
overcome" in their difficult struggle for democracy and prosperity.
(SFC, 11/23/99, p.A14)(AP,
11/22/00)
1999 Nov 23, In a plea met with
scant applause and silent stares, President Clinton told ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo that "you must try" to forgive Serb neighbors and
stop punishing them for the terror campaign of Slobodan Milosevic.
(SFC, 11/24/99, p.A16)(WSJ, 11/24/99, p.A1)(AP,
11/23/00)
1999 Dec 3, Pres. Clinton offered
to reduce bombing practice on Vieques in the spring and use only dummy
bombs plus $40 million in economic incentives with phase out in 5
years. Puerto Rico rejected the offer.
(SFC, 12/4/99, p.A3)
1999 Dec 11, Agreeing with his
wife, President Clinton told CBS Radio his 1993 "don’t ask, don’t tell"
policy on gays in the military wasn’t working, and he pledged to work
with the Pentagon to find a way to fix it.
(AP, 12/11/00)
1999 Dec 17, President Clinton
signed a law letting millions of disabled Americans retain their
government-funded health coverage when they take a job.
(AP, 12/17/00)
1999 Dec 22, President Clinton
urged Americans not to panic despite enhanced security measures
prompted by fears of terrorism.
(AP, 12/22/00)
1999 The Plan Colombia program
began as the US under Pres. Clinton deployed a small air force to
Colombia to spray coca plants and help Colombia fight insurgents and
shut down processing plants for cocaine. At this time traffickers had
some 463,322 acres of coca plant cultivation and produced 90% of the
world’s cocaine. By 2009, despite 10 years of eradication efforts,
Colombia had some 575,750 acres under coca plant cultivation and still
produced 90% of the world’s cocaine.
(SSFC, 3/15/09, Insight
p.H8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_Colombia)
2000 Jan 3, Pres. Clinton opened
peace talks between Syria and Israel in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Jan 7, Pres. Clinton
announced a $91 million program to protect computer security as part of
the 2001 fiscal budget.
(SFC, 1/8/00, p.A1)
2000 Jan 9, Pres. Clinton had
dinner with Israeli PM Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk
al-Sharaa. It was the 1st time in half a century that the Israeli and
Syrian leaders had shared a meal but no agreement on peace talks was
expected.
(SFC, 1/10/00, p.A10)
2000 Jan 11, Pres. Clinton signed
a proclamation for the Grand Parashant National Monument with 1.014
million acres along the northern boundary of the Grand Canyon; the
71,100 acre Agua Fria National Monument near Phoenix; and the
California Coastal National Monument, which includes thousands of
islands, rocks and reefs along the 840 mile California coast.
(SFC, 1/12/00, p.A3)(WSJ, 1/12/00, p.A4)
2000 Jan 20, The Clinton
administration issued visas to the grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez,
enabling them to visit the United States to make their case for the
six-year-old’s return to Cuba.
(AP, 1/20/01)
2000 Jan 27, Pres. Clinton gave
his last State of the Union address. His proposals included a $250
billion tax cut; tough gun control measures; expanded tax breaks for
vaccine development; new education spending; and approval of the China
WTO accord. Clinton proposed a $350 billion tax cut, big spending
increases for schools and health care and photo ID licenses for handgun
purchases in his final State of the Union address.
(WSJ, 1/28/00, p.A1,3)(AP, 1/27/01)
2000 Jan 29, In Switzerland Pres.
Clinton addressed the World Economic Forum at Davos and urged corporate
leaders to help lift the burden of debt from developing countries and
to examine environmental concerns. Some 1000 protestors demonstrated
outside.
(SFEC, 1/30/00, p.A16)
2000 Feb 2, Pres. Clinton proposed
a $2 billion "ClickStart" program to bring Internet access to
low-income households.
(SFC, 2/3/00, p.A1)
2000 Feb 7, Pres. Clinton proposed
a $1.84 trillion budget and called for using a projected surplus to
strengthen Medicare and health insurance.
(SFC, 2/7/00, p.A3)
2000 Mar 8, President Clinton
submitted to Congress legislation to establish permanent normal trade
relations with China.
(AP, 3/8/01)
2000 Mar 14, Pres. Clinton and PM
Tony Blair said that the raw data of human genes "should be made freely
available to scientists everywhere."
(SFC, 3/15/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 19, President Clinton
arrived near New Delhi on the first presidential visit to India in 22
years as he opened a six-day trip through troubled South Asia.
(WSJ, 3/20/00, p.A1)(AP, 3/19/01)
2000 Mar 20, The Clinton
administration moved to phase out the fuel additive MTBE to avoid
further contamination of groundwater.
(SFC, 3/21/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 20, Pres. Clinton stopped
in Bangladesh, but only stood for a reception at the US Embassy due to
security reasons. This was the first such visit by an American
president.
(SFC, 3/21/00, p.A14)(AP, 3/20/01)
2000 Mar 21, Pres. Clinton began a
5 day stay in India. India rejected his call for further curbs in the
nuclear program.
(SFC, 3/21/00, p.A14)(SFC, 3/22/00, p.A11)
2000 Mar 23, President Clinton
visited the western Indian village of Nayla.
(AP, 3/23/01)
2000 Mar 25, Pres. Clinton arrived
in Pakistan under heavy security, where he met with the new military
ruler, General Pervez Musharraf. Clinton urged the government to
restore democracy, reduce its nuclear arsenal, fight terrorism and find
a peaceful solution to the Kashmir crises with India.
(SFEC, 3/26/00, p.A1)(AP, 3/25/01)
2000 Mar 26, Pres Clinton met with
Pres. Assad of Syria in Geneva but failed to get an agreement to revive
peace talks with Israel.
(WSJ, 3/27/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 29, President Clinton
told a news conference he was appalled when he first learned his
campaign had taken illegal foreign donations in 1996 -- contributions
he called both wrong and unneeded.
(AP, 3/29/01)
2000 Mar 29, A federal judge ruled
that President Clinton "committed a criminal violation of the Privacy
Act" by releasing personal letters to undermine the credibility of
Kathleen Willey, one of his accusers.
(AP, 3/29/01)
2000 Apr 1, President Clinton,
speaking at a fund-raiser for his wife’s Senate campaign, accused New
York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of enlisting a "right-wing venom machine"
against Hillary Rodham Clinton.
(AP, 4/1/01)
2000 Apr 7, Pres. Clinton signed a
bill to allow people aged 65-70 to earn as much as they can without
losing Social Security benefits.
(SFC, 4/8/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 13, President Clinton,
during a question-and-answer session with newspaper editors, heatedly
said "I’m not ashamed" about being impeached and "I’m not interested"
in being pardoned for any alleged crimes in the Monica Lewinsky scandal
and Whitewater investigation.
(AP, 4/13/01)
2000 Apr 15, In California Pres.
Clinton created Giant Sequoia National Monument in Sequoia National
Park. It protected 328,000 acres and 34 groves of Sequoias from timber
harvest within 2 ½ years.
(SFEC, 4/16/00, p.C7)
2000 Apr 19, President Clinton
knelt among 168 empty chairs memorializing each victim of the Oklahoma
City bombing and declared the site "sacred ground" in the soul of
America during a fifth-anniversary dedication ceremony.
(AP, 4/19/01)
2000 May 5, President Clinton met
at the White House with Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshiro Mori.
(AP, 5/5/01)
2000 May 10, Pres. Clinton issued
an executive order to make drugs for AIDS less expensive in Africa.
(SFC, 5/11/00, p.A1)
2000 May 12, During visits to Ohio
and Minnesota, President Clinton called for open trade with China,
saying it would help the communist nation move closer to democracy.
(AP, 5/12/01)
2000 May 22, A committee of the
Arkansas Supreme Court recommended that President Clinton be disbarred
for giving false testimony about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky
in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case. Clinton later agreed to give
up his Arkansas law license for five years.
(AP, 5/22/01)
2000 May 29, President Clinton
left Washington for a weeklong European tour.
(AP, 5/29/01)
2000 May 30, Pres. Clinton
traveled to Portugal for talks with the EU and met with Pres. Jorge
Sampaio at the Belem Palace outside of Lisbon. Clinton opened a
week-long visit to Europe.
(SFC, 5/31/00, p.A10)(AP, 5/30/01)
2000 May 31, Pres. Clinton
proposed to EU allies in Portugal to share key technology on a US
missile defense program to calm fears of a nuclear arms race that would
leave Europe vulnerable.
(SFC, 6/1/00, p.A16)(AP, 5/31/01)
2000 Jun 2, President Clinton,
visiting Germany, was honored with the prestigious International
Charlemagne Prize at Aachen Cathedral.
(AP, 6/2/01)
2000 Jul 3, President Clinton made
a congratulatory telephone call to Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox,
a day after Fox’s election.
(AP, 7/3/01)
2000 Jul 5, At the United Nations,
President Clinton signed an international agreement to ban the forcible
recruitment of youths as soldiers in armed conflict, and a companion
accord to protect children from being forced into slavery, prostitution
and pornography.
(AP, 7/5/01)
2000 Jul 10, Pres. Clinton moved
to establish an 84 million gallon stockpile of heating oil for the
Northeast.
(SFC, 7/11/00, p.A7)
2000 Jul 11, A Middle East summit
hosted by President Clinton opened at Camp David between Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
(AP, 7/11/01)(SFC, 7/12/00, p.A1)
2000 Jul 19, President Clinton
shuttled between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat and his own experts during peace talks at Camp David
after delaying his departure for an economic summit in Japan.
(SFC, 7/19/00, p.A1)(AP, 7/19/01)
2000 Jul 23, President Clinton
rejoined the troubled Middle East talks at Camp David after hurrying
back from a four-day trip to Asia.
(AP, 7/23/01)
2000 Jul 24, President Clinton
continued to mediate the Camp David Mideast summit, meeting with
Israeli, Palestinian and US negotiators.
(AP, 7/24/01)
2000 Jul 28, Pres. Clinton warned
Yasser Arafat that relations with the US would be harmed if statehood
was declared without a peace deal with Israel.
(SFC, 7/29/00, p.A10)
2000 Aug 2, Pres. Clinton delayed
the federal execution of Juan Raul Garza, convicted in 1993 for killing
3 men in Texas in 1990-1991. Garza, a Texas drug kingpin, was executed
June 19th, 2001.
(SFC, 8/3/00, p.A3)(AP, 8/2/01)
2000 Aug 5, President Clinton
vetoed a Republican-sponsored tax cut for married couples, describing
it as "the first installment of a fiscally reckless tax strategy."
(AP, 8/5/01)
2000 Aug 7, Vice President and
Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut Senator
Joseph Lieberman as his running mate; Lieberman was the first Jew on a
major party’s presidential ticket.
(SFC, 8/8/00, p.A1)(AP, 8/7/01)
2000 Aug 8, Vice President Al Gore
formally introduced and celebrated his Jewish running mate, Senator
Joseph Lieberman, during an appearance in Gore’s home state of
Tennessee.
(AP, 8/8/01)
2000 Aug 23, The Clinton
administration released guidelines for federally funded scientists to
conduct research on human embryonic stem cells.
(SFC, 8/23/00, p.A1)
2000 Aug 23, Pres. Clinton ordered
millions in relief funds for electricity users in southern California
and an investigation into the state’s power market.
(SFC, 8/24/00, p.A1)
2000 Aug 24, Pres. Clinton and
Vice President Al Gore met with Pres.-elect Vincente Fox of Mexico. Fox
promoted his ideas on an open border a day before he met with Texas
Gov. George W. Bush in Dallas.
(SFC, 8/25/00, p.A14)(AP, 8/24/01)
2000 Aug 26, Pres. Clinton visited
Nigeria. Pres. Obasanjo, head of 110 million people, pressed Clinton to
help reduce the country’s $32 billion debt. Clinton appealed to the
leaders of the oil-rich nation to set aside political acrimony so that
their citizens could lift themselves from poverty and isolation.
(SFEC, 8/27/00, p.A14)(AP, 8/24/01)
2000 Aug 27, Pres. Clinton visited
the village of Ushafa in Nigeria and urged Nigerians to confront the
"tyranny" of AIDS.
(SFC, 8/28/00, p.A1)
2000 Aug 28, Pres. Clinton stopped
in Burundi where Tutsi minority parties refused to sign a deal with the
Hutu majority. Clinton urged the parties to work for peace.
(SFC, 8/29/00, p.A6)
2000 Aug 29, President Clinton
ended a four-day trip to Africa with a brief visit to Cairo, where he
sought the help of President Hosni Mubarak on the Middle East peace
process, i.e. a deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
(SFC, 8/30/00, p.A12)(AP, 8/29/01)
2000 Aug 29, In Colombia a
videotape by Pres. Clinton sought to calm fears over a $1.3 billion aid
package expected to escalate the guerrilla war. Pres. Clinton was
scheduled to arrive the next day.
(SFC, 8/30/00, p.A14)
2000 Aug 30, Pres. Clinton stopped
in Colombia and pledged that US aid would not lead to military
escalation in the drug war. The recent $1.5 billion military aid
package was part of a broader $7.5 billion Colombian plan to fight
drugs, help refugees and strengthen government institutions.
(SFC, 8/31/00, p.A1)
2000 Sep 1, Pres. Clinton put the
anti-missile national defense system on hold and passed the decision
for moving the project forward to his successor.
(SFC, 9/2/00, p.A1)
2000 Sep 9, President Clinton
proposed spending about $1.6 billion to help communities recover from
recent Western wildfires.
(AP, 9/9/01)
2000 Oct 2, Pres. Clinton signed
into law the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as Title 1 of
the Trade and Development Act of 2000. It offered tangible incentives
for African countries to continue their efforts to open their economies
and build free markets.
(www.agoa.gov/)(http://tinyurl.com/3yj69b)
2000 Oct 12, Pres. Clinton lifted
key economic sanctions against Serbia.
(SFC, 10/13/00, p.A16)
2000 Oct 12, North Korea’s
Vice-Marshal Jo Myong Rok presented Pres. Clinton with a personal
invitation from Pres. Kim to visit Pyongyang. The Clinton
administration and North Korea issued a joint communique asserting a
decision to "fundamentally improve" their relations.
(SFC, 10/13/00, p.A17)(WSJ, 1/2/03, p.A1)
2000 Nov 9, Pres. Clinton met with
Yasser Arafat in Washington in an effort to end the bloodshed between
Israel and Palestine.
(SFC, 11/10/00, p.A16)
2000 Nov 9, Pres. Clinton
established the 293,000-acre Vermillion Cliffs in northern Arizona as a
national monument. He also ordered 661,000 acres of federal land added
to the 54,400-acre craters of the Moon National Monument in central
Idaho.
(SFC, 11/10/00, p.A6)
2000 Nov 12, Pres. Clinton met
with Ehud Barak in an effort to end Arab-Israeli fighting. Meanwhile
one Palestinian youth was killed in Gaza.
(SFC, 11/13/00, p.A1)
2000 Nov 19, Pres. Clinton
ended his historic 3-day visit to Vietnam.
(SFC, 11/20/00, p.A1)(AP, 11/19/01)
2000 Nov 21, Pres. Clinton agreed
not to punish China for exporting missile components to Iran and
Pakistan after China promised to end future technological cooperation
with countries seeking to develop missile weaponry.
(SFC, 11/22/00, p.A20)
2000 Dec 1, Pres. Clinton on World
AIDS Day urged Congress to provide more money for the prevention and
treatment of AIDS. In the US 40,000 people were being infected each
year and 420,000 had died since 1981. Worldwide almost 60 million
people were infected and 16,000 more were being infected every day.
(SFC, 12/2/00, p.A6)
2000 Dec 4, Pres. Clinton set
aside 84 million underwater acres along the northwestern stretch of the
Hawaiian Islands as a nature reservation.
(SFC, 12/5/00, p.A3)
2000 Dec 6, Pres. Clinton gave the
US Presidential Medal of Freedom to Alexander Aris, the son of Aung San
Suu Kyi of Burma, on behalf of his mother who was held under house
arrest.
(SFC, 12/7/00, p.C10)
2000 Dec 14, Pres. Clinton spoke
in England and urged the US and other rich countries to end farm
subsidies, spend money on fighting disease in the 3rd World and to cut
emissions to thwart global warming.
(SFC, 12/15/00, p.D8)
2000 Dec 22, Pres. Clinton granted
Christmastime clemency 59 (62) people including Dan Rostenkowski,
former Illinois congressman and chairman of the House Ways and Means
Committee.
(SFC, 12/23/00, p.A1)(AP, 12/22/01)
2000 Dec 26, Pres. Clinton signed
a ban on cutting shark fins and discarding the fish back to the sea.
(SFC, 12/27/00, p.A6)
2001 Jan 2, Pres. Clinton met with
Yasser Arafat and coaxed Arafat to curb the Middle East violence.
(SFC, 1/3/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 3, The 107th Congress
opened with the Senate split evenly down the middle. Because of the
50-50 divide, the Democrats were initially in control, since Vice
President Al Gore could break ties, but the Republicans took over on
Inauguration Day when Dick Cheney became vice president. However, the
Senate reverted to Democratic control when Vermont Sen. James Jeffords
switched his affiliation from Republican to Independent in May.
(SFC, 1/4/01, p.A3)(AP, 1/3/02)
2001 Jan 5, In a blizzard of
last-minute executive orders, President Clinton banned roads and most
logging in 58.5 million acres of federal forests in 38 states.
(WSJ, 1/05/01, p.A1)(AP, 1/5/02)
2001 Jan 5, US Republicans agreed
to share power in the Senate with Democrats on committees.
(SFC, 1/6/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 7, Pres. Clinton told the
people of Israel that "there is no choice for you but to divide this
land into two states for two people."
(SFC, 1/8/01, p.A9)
2001 Jan 11, James Riady,
Indonesian businessman, agreed to pay an $8.6 million US fine and
pleaded guilty for arranging $500,000 in illegal donations to Pres.
Clinton and others.
(WSJ, 1/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 18, One year ago:
President Clinton, in a farewell from the Oval Office, told the nation
that "America has done well" during his presidency, with
record-breaking prosperity and a cleaner environment.
(AP, 1/18/02)
2001 Jan 19, Pres. Clinton
admitted that he misled prosecutors about his relationship with Monica
Lewinsky and struck a deal with independent counsel Robert Ray to
accept a 5-year suspension of his Arkansas law license and pay a
$25,000 fine.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A1)(AP, 1/19/02)
2001 Jan 19, Pres. Clinton lifted
economic sanctions against Yugoslavia.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A11)
2001 Jan 20, Pres. Clinton in his
final hours issued 36 commutations and 140 pardons that included Susan
McDougal, Patricia Hearst, Henry Cisneros, John Deutch and Roger
Clinton. It was later revealed that Hugh Rodham, the brother of Hillary
Rodham Clinton, received $400,000 to help 2 felons win clemency.
(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.A1)(SFC, 2/23/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 2, Former President
Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said they would pay for $86,000
worth of White House gifts they'd chosen to keep.
(AP, 2/2/02)
2001 Feb 6, Former Vice Pres. Al
Gore taught his 1st class "The Media and Public Policy in the
Information Age" at Columbia Univ.
(SFC, 2/7/01, p.A3)
2001 Aug 6, Former Pres. Clinton
signed an agreement with Knopf to publish his memoirs for an advance of
over $10 million.
(SFC, 8/7/01, p.A1)
2003 Mar 9, Bill Clinton
and Bob Dole made their debut as 2-minute TV commentators on 60
Minutes. Their 1st topic was "tax cuts in times of war."
(WSJ, 3/7/03, p.A1)(NW, 3/17/03, p.45)
2003 Jun 9, Hillary Clinton's
memoir "Living History" was released.
(SFC, 6/9/03, p.A2)
2004 Jun 3, Former Pres. Clinton
opened a book tour for his 900-page memoir “My Life” to be published on
June 22.
(SFC, 6/4/04, A2)
2004 Nov 18, In Little Rock, Ark.,
an estimated 30,000 guests attended the opening of the Clinton
Presidential Center, the $165 million glass-and-steel home of artifacts
and documents gathered during Clinton's eight years in the White House.
(AP, 11/18/04)
2009 Aug 4, In North Korea former
US Pres. Bill Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on the
first day of a surprise visit to Pyongyang, with the "exhaustive" talks
covering a wide range of topics. Clinton was in communist North Korea
on a mission to secure the release of Americans , who were arrested
along the Chinese-North Korean border in March and sentenced in June to
12 years of hard labor for illegal entry and engaging in "hostile
acts." After 140 days in custody, the reporters were granted a pardon
by North Korea.
(AP, 8/4/09)(AP, 8/5/09)
#43 George W. Bush (43)
1941 Jan 30, Dick Cheney was born
in Lincoln, Neb. He served as chief of staff for Pres. Ford from
1975-1977. He was a US Rep. From 1979-1989 and served as the Sec. of
Defense for pres. George H.W. Bush from 1989-1993. From 1995 to 2000 he
served as the CEO of Halliburton Corp. and in 2000 was chosen by Gov.
George W. Bush as a running mate.
(WSJ, 7/26/00, p.A28)
1946 Jul 6, George Walker Bush
Jr., Gov-R-TX, US Pres., was born.
(MC, 7/6/02)
1986 Sep 19, Harken Energy agreed
to acquire Spectrum 7 Energy Corp., a Texas oil and gas company where
George W. Bush was chairman, for 200,000 shares and a consulting
salary. Bush became a Harken board member and a $100,000-a-year
($120,000-a-year) consultant. In 1989 Harken sold 80% of its Aloha
petroleum subsidiary to a group of insiders. An SEC investigation
pointed to disguised Harken losses of $8 million.
(SFC, 7/9/02, p.A12)(WSJ, 10/9/02, p.A4)
1986 Oct 15, Harvard Univ. agreed
to buy 1.35 million shares of Harken Energy for $2 million and to
invest $20 million in Harken projects. George W. Bush served as a
Harken board member and paid consultant.
(WSJ, 10/9/02, p.A4)
1990 Jun 22, George W. Bush, a
director of Harken Energy Corp., a Texas oil company, sold 212,140
shares at $4 per share just before huge losses were reported. Corporate
disclosure of the sale was filed months later.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A1)(SFC, 7/9/02, p.A12)(WSJ,
7/10/02, p.A8)
1990 Jun 30, Harken Energy
reported a $23 million 2nd quarter loss.
(SSFC, 7/28/02, p.A19)
1990 Nov 30, Harken Energy
transferred $20 million in debt to a Harvard partnership, and
eliminated another $16 million in debt by transferring assets to
Harvard. George W. Bush served as a Harken board member and paid
consultant.
(WSJ, 10/9/02, p.A4)
1991 Mar 4, George W. Bush
notified the SEC about his 1990 sale of Harken stock.
(SSFC, 7/28/02, p.A19)
1995-2000 Dick Cheney, former Sec. of Defense, served
as CEO of Halliburton Corp. He brought in some $1 billion in federal
contracts.
(SSFC, 7/28/02, p.A19)
1999 Mar 2, Texas Governor George
W. Bush announced he was forming a presidential exploratory committee.
(AP, 3/2/00)
1999 Aug 14, Gov. George
Bush, Republican presidential candidate, won the Iowa Straw Poll with
Steve Forbes 2nd and Elizabeth Dole 3rd.
(SFEC, 8/15/99, p.A1)(AP, 8/14/00)
2000 Jan 4, Former presidential
rival Elizabeth Dole endorsed fellow Republican George W. Bush.
(AP, 1/4/01)
2000 Feb 1, Republican John McCain
won the New Hampshire primary over George W. Bush, Steve Forbes and
Alan Keyes 49.5 to 31 to 12.9 to 6.5%. Democrat Al Gore won over Bill
Bradley 52.1 to 47.8%.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.A1,19)(SSFC, 1/25/04, p.A19)
2000 Feb 8, George W. Bush won the
Delaware Republican primary with 51% of the vote.
(SFC, 2/9/00, p.A3)
2000 Feb 15, Republican
presidential rivals George W. Bush and John McCain fought over campaign
financing and the tenor of their nomination contest in a testy debate
in Columbia, South Carolina, that included Alan Keyes.
(AP, 2/15/01)
2000 Mar 4, Ahead of Super
Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush charged John
McCain with "clouded" education views while the Arizona senator asked
"Where the outrage?" over a late surge of money to pay for negative TV
ads.
(AP, 3/4/01)
2000 May 23, Two weeks before a
US-Russia arms summit, presidential candidate George W. Bush said he
would slash America’s nuclear arsenal as part of a broad national
security review that would call for a missile-defense system.
(AP, 5/23/01)
2000 Jul 10, Texas Governor George
W. Bush, facing a skeptical audience, told the NAACP convention in
Baltimore that "the party of Lincoln has not always carried the mantle
of Lincoln," and promised to work to improve relations.
(AP, 7/10/01)
2000 Jul 25, Presidential
candidate George W. Bush announced Former Defense Sec. Dick Cheney as
his running mate.
(SFC, 7/25/00, p.A1)
2000 Jul 26, George W. Bush and
his just-chosen running mate, Dick Cheney, set out on their first
campaign excursion together as they visited Cheney’s former hometown of
Casper, Wyoming.
(AP, 7/26/01)
2000 Jul 31, The Republican
national convention opened in Philadelphia, with George W. Bush’s name
put into nomination for president.
(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.A1)(AP, 7/31/01)
2000 Aug 2, Republicans awarded
Texas Governor George W. Bush their 2000 presidential nomination at the
party’s convention in Philadelphia and ratified Dick Cheney as his
running mate.
(AP, 8/2/01)
2000 Aug 3, George W. Bush
accepted the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s
convention in Philadelphia with a 52 minute speech He presented himself
as an outsider who would return "civility and respect" to Washington
politics.
(SFC, 8/4/00, p.A1)(AP, 8/3/01)
2000 Aug 4, Fresh from the
Republican national convention in Philadelphia, GOP presidential
nominee George W. Bush and running mate Dick Cheney began an air and
rail tour of four swing states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and
Illinois. For his part, Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore
mocked the Republican gathering as a special-interests-sponsored sham.
(AP, 8/4/01)
2000 Sep 3, The presidential
candidates squabbled over debate schedules as Republican George W. Bush
announced he had accepted three prime-time sessions. Democrat Al Gore
rejected the plan, saying the formats proposed by Bush could limit the
audience and amount of face-to-face debate time.
(AP, 9/3/01)
2000 Nov 7, In US elections Al
Gore conceded to George Bush and then retracted his concession based on
an early prediction of the vote in Florida, which was reversed as too
close to call. Hillary Clinton won the NY Senate seat. In 2001 Bill
Sammon authored "At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election"
and Alan M Dershowitz authored ""Supreme Injustice: How the High Court
Hijacked Election 2000."
(SFC, 11/8/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 11/8/00, p.A1)(WSJ,
6/18/01, p.A17)
2000 Nov 7, George Bush won
Colorado by 8% points. Ralph Nader took over 5% of the vote.
(Econ, 8/28/04, p.30)
2000 Nov 7, George Bush won New
Hampshire by 1.27%.
(Econ, 7/3/04, p.27)
2000 Nov 8, A statewide recount
began in Florida, which emerged as critical in deciding the winner of
the 2000 presidential election. 19,000 votes were reported disqualified
in West Palm Beach. Early that day, Vice President Al Gore telephoned
Texas Gov. George W. Bush to concede, but called back about an hour
later to retract his concession.
(SFC, 11/9/00, p.A1)(AP, 11/8/01)
2000 Nov 9, George W. Bush's lead
over Al Gore in all-or-nothing Florida slipped beneath 300 votes in a
suspense-filled recount, as Democrats threw the presidential election
to the courts, claiming "an injustice unparalleled in our history."
(AP, 11/9/01)
2000 Nov 13, The vote count in
Florida was set to conclude though absentee ballots remained. Lawyers
for George W. Bush failed to win a court order barring manual recounts
of ballots in Florida. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris
announced she would end the recounting at 5 p.m. the next day -
prompting an immediate appeal by lawyers for Al Gore.
(WSJ, 11/13/00, p.A1)(AP, 11/13/01)
2000 Nov 15, Al Gore made a
surprise proposal for a statewide hand recount of Florida's 6 million
ballots - an idea immediately rejected by George W. Bush. Earlier,
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris had rejected requests from
4 counties to update presidential vote totals with the results of hand
recounts under way at Gore's urging.
(SFC, 11/16/00, p.A1)(AP, 11/15/01)
2000 Nov 21, In a setback for
George W. Bush, the Florida Supreme Court granted Al Gore's request to
keep the presidential recounts going; Democrats were jubilant,
Republicans bitter and angry. The Florida Supreme Court issued a
42-page unanimous decision that called for the recount in 3 counties to
continue and that results be posted no later than 9 a.m. Nov 27.
(SFC, 11/22/00, p.A1)(AP, 11/21/01)
2000 Nov 26, Sec. of State
Katherine Harris certified Gov. George W. Bush as winner in the state’s
presidential election, 2,912,790 to 2,912,253, a 537-vote margin. Ralph
Nader received 97,488 votes.
(SFC, 11/27/00, p.A1)(AP, 11/26/01)(Econ, 7/24/04,
p.32)
2000 Nov 30, Gov. Bush proceeded
with transition plans as Al Gore asked a Florida judge to begin an
immediate review of 13,000 ballots from Palm Beach and Dade counties.
GOP lawmakers in Tallahassee moved to award the presidency to George W.
Bush in case the courts did not by appointing their own slate of
electors.
(SFC, 12/1/00, p.A1)(AP, 11/30/01)
2000 Dec 2, Al Gore sought a
recount in south Florida, while George W. Bush flatly asserted, "I'm
soon to be the president" and met with GOP congressional leaders.
(AP, 12/2/01)
2000 Dec 7, Al Gore's lawyer,
David Boies, pleaded with the Florida Supreme Court to order vote
recounts and revive his presidential campaign. Republican attorneys
called George W. Bush the certified, rightful victor.
(WSJ, 12/6/00, p.A1)(AP, 12/7/01)
2000 Dec 12, The US Supreme Court
decided 5-4 to block all ballot recounts and effectively secured the
presidency for Gov. George W. Bush. A later review of the ballots
suggested that George W. bush would have won anyway. The high court
agreed, 7-to-2, to reverse the Florida court's order of a state recount
and voted 5-to-4 that there was no acceptable procedure by which a
timely new recount could take place.
(SFC, 12/13/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 11/12/01, p.A1)(AP,
12/12/01)
2000 Dec 14, President-elect
George W. Bush conferred by phone with congressional leaders of both
parties and planned a goodwill tour of Washington, D.C.; he also
received a flood of congratulatory calls from world leaders on his
first full day as president-elect.
(AP, 12/14/01)
2000 Dec 16, Pres.-elect Bush
chose retired Gen. Colin Powell (63) to become the 65th Sec. of State,
the 1st African American to hold that post.
(SFC, 12/16/00, p.A1)(SSFC, 12/17/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 17, Pres.-elect Bush
named Condoleeza Rice (46) of Stanford to be his national security
advisor and Texas Supreme Court Justice Alberto Gonzales as White House
counsel.
(SFC, 12/18/00, p.A1)(AP, 12/17/01)
2000 Dec 20, Pres.-elect Bush
appointed Paul O’Neill (65) as head of the Treasury Dept., Ann Veneman
(51) as Sec. of Agriculture, Mel Martinez (54) as Sec. of Housing and
Urban Development, and Don Evans (54) as Sec of Commerce. Andrew Card
(53) was appointed his Chief of Staff and Karen Hughes (43) as
Communications Director.
(SFC, 12/21/00, p.A23)
2000 Dec 22, Pres.-elect Bush
named Sen. John Ashcroft of Missouri to become US Attorney General, and
Gov. Christie Todd Whitman of New Jersey as head of the EPA.
(SFC, 12/23/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 28, Pres.-elect Bush
picked Donald Rumsfeld (68) as Sec. of Defense. Rumsfeld had served in
the same position under Pres. Ford.
(SFC, 12/29/00, p.A3)
2000 Dec 29, Pres.-elect Bush
filled four more Cabinet slots, tapping Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson
as head of the Dept. of Health and Human Services. Thompson was
soon criticized for his ties to tobacco interests. Colorado Attorney
General Gale A. Norton was nominated as interior secretary, Houston
schools chief Rod Paige as secretary of education and Anthony J.
Principi to return as secretary to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(SFC, 12/30/00, p.A1)(SFC, 1/11/01, p.A15)(AP,
12/29/01)
2001 Jan 2, Pres.-elect Bush chose
Spencer Abraham of Michigan as Sec. of Energy; Linda Chavez as Sec. of
labor; and Norm Mineta, Pres. Clinton’s Commerce Sec., as Sec. of
Transportation. Chavez ended up withdrawing after it was disclosed she
had given money and shelter to an illegal immigrant who once did chores
around Chavez's house.
(SFC, 1/3/01, p.A1)(AP, 1/2/02)
2001 Jan 7, President-elect George
W. Bush's transition team acknowledged that Labor Secretary-designate
Linda Chavez had provided housing and financial aid to an illegal
immigrant. Chavez ended up withdrawing her nomination.
(AP, 1/7/02)
2001 Jan 10, President-elect Bush
moved quickly in search of a new candidate for labor secretary after
the abrupt withdrawal of his first choice, Linda Chavez. Bush and his
national security team received a top-secret Pentagon briefing on
military challenges around the world.
(AP, 1/10/02)
2001 Jan 11, Pres.-elect Bush
chose Elaine Chao , a former head of the peace Corps and United Way, to
serve as secretary of labor after Linda Chavez withdrew. Bush chose
Robert Zoellick to be the US trade representative.
(SFC, 1/12/01, p.A1,12)(AP, 1/11/02)
2001 Jan 15, President-elect Bush
marked the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday at an elementary school in
Houston, where he promised wary black Americans: "My job will be to
listen not only to the successful, but also to the suffering."
(AP, 1/15/02)
2001 Jan 20, George Bush, the 1st
president with an MBA, was inaugurated as the nation’s 43rd president
in Washington DC. The "compassionate conservative" vowed to lead
"through civility, courage, compassion and character."
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A1)(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 20, Pres. Bush suspended
all late-term executive orders issued by Pres. Clinton.
(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.A5)
2001 Jan 20, Some 25,000
protesters gathered in Washington DC for the inauguration of Pres. Bush
along with some 7,000 police.
(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.A4)
2001 Jan 26, Pres. Bush renewed
his pledge to build a missile defense system and to reduce the nuclear
arsenal.
(SFC, 1/27/01, p.A3)
2001 Jan 28, Marc Rich, fugitive
financier pardoned by outgoing Pres. Clinton, said he would return to
the US to face tax evasion charges.
(SSFC, 12/30/01, p.D2)
2001 Jan 29, President Bush
promised to "act boldly and swiftly" to address the nation's energy
problems, and directed Vice President Dick Cheney to head a task force
to develop an energy strategy.
(AP, 1/29/02)
2001 Jan 29, Pres. Bush signed an
executive order creating a new white House Office of Faith-based and
Community Initiatives.
(SFC, 1/30/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 1, John Ashcroft won
confirmation as attorney general on a 58-42 Senate vote, completing
President George W. Bush's Cabinet over strong Democratic opposition.
(AP, 2/1/02)
2001 Feb 5, Flanked by a jumbo
refund-check stage prop, President George W. Bush asked Americans to
get behind his proposed tax cuts.
(AP, 2/5/02)
2001 Feb 5, Pres. Bush met with
Canadian PM Jean Chretien at the White House for a get-acquainted
session.
(SFC, 2/6/01, p.A8)
2001 Feb 8, President Bush sent
his proposed $1.6 trillion, 10-year tax cut plan to Congress.
(SFC, 2/9/01, p.A1)(AP, 2/8/02)
2001 Feb 13, Pres. Bush nominated
Gov. Paul Cellucci as ambassador to Canada and cleared the way for Jane
Swift to become 1st female governor of Massachusetts.
(SFC, 2/14/01, p.A7)
2001 Feb 15, President Bush said
the Pentagon should review its policy on civilian participation in
military exercises like the emergency ascent drill a Navy submarine was
performing when it sank a Japanese fishing vessel off Hawaii.
(AP, 2/15/02)
2001 Feb 16, Pres. Bush on his
first foreign trip met with Pres. Fox in Mexico. They announced a joint
agenda to expand trade, protect immigrant rights and reduce drug
trafficking.
(SFC, 2/17/01, p.A1)(AP, 2/16/02)
2001 Feb 17, Pres. Bush named John
Negroponte (62) as the next US ambassador to the UN.
(SSFC, 2/18/01, p.D5)
2001 Feb 19, President George W.
Bush opened a museum commemorating the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
(AP, 2/19/02)
2001 Feb 22, President Bush held
his first full-fledged presidential news conference, in which he
defended his tax-cutting and budget-tightening plans and gave FBI
director Louis Freeh a vote of confidence following the arrest of
veteran agent Robert Hanssen on spying charges.
(AP, 2/22/02)
2001 Feb 23, Pres. Bush opened a
two-day summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Camp David.
They endorsed a European rapid-action force as long as it is secondary
to NATO.
(SFC, 2/24/01, p.A3)(AP, 2/23/02)
2001 Feb 23, Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld ordered an indefinite moratorium on civilian visitors
operating military equipment, a possible factor in the collision of a
U.S. submarine collision with a Japanese fishing boat.
(AP, 2/23/02)
2001 Feb 27, President Bush went
before Congress with a $1.9 trillion spending plan that would sharply
reduce growth in many government programs while leaving room to give
Americans the biggest tax cut in two decades.
(SFC, 2/28/01, p.A1)(AP, 2/27/02)
2001 Mar 4, President George W.
Bush dedicated a $4 billion aircraft carrier in honor of former
President Reagan.
(AP, 3/4/02)
2001 Mar 7, Pres. Bush met with
South Korea’s Pres. Kim Dae Jung and said he did not plan to resume
talks with North Korea.
(WSJ, 3/8/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 10, President George W.
Bush told Americans in his Saturday radio address that he thought
support for tax relief was building, while opening the door to
considering a different sort of cut than he had proposed and Democrats
deplored.
(AP, 3/10/02)
2001 Mar 13, Pres. Bush backed off
from seeking reductions in carbon dioxide emissions due to projected
higher energy costs from a shift from coal to natural gas.
(SFC, 3/14/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 19, Pres. Bush met with
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. They did not come up with any
specific measures to revive economic growth.
(SFC, 3/20/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 20, Pres. Bush met with
Israel’s Ariel Sharon and urged him avoid provocative acts.
(SFC, 3/21/01, p.A12)
2001 Mar 22, Pres. Bush met with
Chinese Deputy Premier Qian Qichen and said the US would support
Taiwan’s military needs.
(WSJ, 3/23/01, p.A1)
2002 Mar 23, Pres. Bush met with
Pres. Toledo in Lima, Peru, and called for a "war without quarter"
against terrorism and drug trafficking in the region. 18 demonstrators
were arrested.
(SSFC, 3/24/02, p.A17)
2001 Mar 29, Pres. Bush met with
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who disagreed with Bush’s
opposition to the 1997 Kyoto global-warming accord. It was later
revealed that the 2 men agreed to withhold aid from Russia until
corruption ceased.
(SFC, 3/30/01, p.A9)(WSJ, 5/22/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 29, Pres. Bush urged
Israel to use restraint in military actions and instructed Sec. of
State Colin Powell to call Yasser Arafat with the message to stop
Palestinian violence.
(SFC, 3/30/01, p.A16)
2001 Mar 30, The Bush
administration suspended a late Clinton rule that directed federal
agencies to assess whether prospective contractors had violated federal
laws.
(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A3)
2001 Apr 2, Pres. Bush demanded
that the Chinese release the US Navy crew and spy plane that had made
an emergency landing on China’s Hainan Island after colliding with a
Chinese fighter.
(SFC, 4/3/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/3/01, p.A1)(AP, 4/2/02)
2001 Apr 2, Pres. Bush met with
Egypt’s Pres. Mubarek and both pledged to continue searching for an end
to Middle East violence.
(WSJ, 4/3/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 3, President Bush warned
China it risked damaging relations with the United States unless it
quickly released the American crew of a damaged Navy spy plane. The
plane had made an emergency landing in China after colliding with a
Chinese fighter.
(AP, 4/3/02)
2001 Apr 5, The United States and
China intensified negotiations for the release of an American spy
plane's crew; President Bush, in a conciliatory gesture, expressed
regret over the plane's Apr 1 in-flight collision with a Chinese
fighter that triggered the tense standoff.
(SFC, 4/6/01, p.A1)(AP, 4/5/02)
2001 Apr 9, President George W.
Bush sent Congress details of his $1.96 trillion budget for fiscal
2002, in which he targeted scores of federal programs to make room for
his 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut.
(AP, 4/9/02)
2001 Apr 10, Pres. Bush met with
Jordan’s King Abdullah and both agreed that ending violence in the
Middle East was the main goal for the region.
(WSJ, 4/11/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 12, Pres. Bush blamed the
Chinese for the midair collision of the US spy plane and a Chinese jet
and rebuffed demands to end reconnaissance flights off the coast of
China.
(SFC, 4/13/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 20, President Bush
attended his first international summit as leaders of the Western
Hemisphere's 34 democracies met in Quebec to advance plans to create
the world's largest free-trade zone; police in riot gear clashed with
protesters. Protestors pushed to interrupt the Summit of the Americas
and held that the free trade efforts put corporate interests ahead of
workers, human rights and the environment.
(SFC, 4/21/01, p.A1)(AP, 4/20/02)
2001 Apr 23, Pres. Bush decided to
sell Taiwan older ships and planes, but not the advanced Aegis radar
system.
(SFC, 4/24/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 24, Pres. Bush said that
the annual process of selling arms to Taiwan, a US policy since 1982,
would end. China condemned the recent $5 billion arms sale.
(SFC, 4/25/01, p.A9)
2001 Apr 25, In unusually blunt
terms, President Bush warned China that an attack on Taiwan could
provoke a U.S. military response.
(AP, 4/25/02)
2001 May 1, Pres. Bush committed
the US to a missile defense shield. He also presented his case for
withdrawing from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia.
(SFC, 5/2/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 5/2/01, p.A1)(AP, 5/1/02)
2001 May 2, President Bush and
Republican congressional leaders clinched a budget deal embracing most
of the president's tax and spending goals.
(AP, 5/2/02)
2001 May 3, Pres. Bush met with
Pres. Fox of Mexico and discussed temporary visas for Mexican workers
and plans for long-range energy development.
(SFC, 5/4/01, p.D3)
2001 May 9, Pres. Bush told Pres.
Kostunica of Yugoslavia that aid would depend on cooperation with the
Balkan war crimes tribunal.
(SFC, 5/10/01, p.A16)
2001 May 17, President Bush
unveiled his energy plan, bracing Americans for a summer of blackouts,
layoffs, business closings and skyrocketing fuel costs and warning of
"a darker future" without his aggressive plans to drill for more oil
and gas and rejuvenate nuclear power.
(AP, 5/17/02)
2001 May 23, Pres. Bush banned the
import of rough diamonds from Liberia in an effort to deprive rebels in
Sierra Leone of a source of funds.
(SFC, 5/24/01, p.C3)
2001 May 23, Pres. Bush met with
the Dalai Lama as China condemned the Taiwan president’s visit to NYC.
(WSJ, 5/24/01, p.A1)
2001 May 26, Republicans and
moderate Democrats drove a sweeping $1.35 trillion, 10-year tax cut
through Congress, handing President Bush a political triumph. Some 100
million refund checks were due to be mailed out by Oct 1.
(SSFC, 5/27/01, p.A1)(AP, 5/26/02)
2001 May 28, President Bush
honored America's veterans with the Memorial Day signing of legislation
to construct a World War II monument on the National Mall.
(SFC, 5/29/01, p.A3)(AP, 5/28/02)
2001 May 29, Pres. Bush met with
Gov. Davis in Los Angeles. Bush ruled out federal price controls and
Davis said he would sue to impose controls.
(SFC, 5/30/01, p.A1)(AP, 5/29/02)
2001 Aug 27, The Bush
administration confirmed that Sec. of State Colin Powell would not
attend the UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa.
(SFC, 8/28/01, p.A6)
2001 May 30, Pres. Bush spoke from
Sequoia National Park and renewed his campaign promise to spend $4.9
billion to restore the nation’s national parks and to protect "these
works of God" and other natural treasures from mankind.
(SFC, 5/31/01, p.A1)(AP, 5/30/02)
2001 Jul 5, Pres. Bush appointed
Robert S. Mueller III, a US attorney in SF, as the new head of the FBI.
If confirmed he would become the 9th director.
(SFC, 7/6/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 7/6/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 18, Pres. Bush landed in
England to meet with PM Tony Blair prior to the G-8 summit in Genoa.
(SFC, 7/19/01, p.A10)
2001 Jul 22, Pres. Bush and Pres.
Putin agreed to link discussions of US plans for a missile defense
system with the prospect of large cuts in their nuclear arsenals.
(SFC, 7/23/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 22, President Bush and
other world leaders closed out a summit in Genoa, Italy, with a vow to
wage a united attack on global poverty and disease. They failed,
however, to resolve a sharp dispute over global warming.
(AP, 7/22/02)
2001 Jul 23, Pres. Bush met with
Pope John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and was urged to reject
the use of human embryos for stem cell research.
(SFC, 7/24/01, p.A1)(AP, 7/23/02)
2001 Aug 6, US intelligence told
Pres. Bush that al Qaeda might try to hijack American planes. The
document "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US" was presented to Bush
while he was on vacation in Crawford, Texas.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/9/04, p.A3)(SSFC,
4/11/04, p.A1)
2001 Aug 9, Pres. Bush announced
that he would allow taxpayer dollars to be used for stem cell research
limited to some 5 dozen existing stem cell lines.
(SFC, 8/10/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 8/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 11, In his weekly radio
address, President Bush said his decision to restrict but not forbid
federal financing of embryonic stem cell research placed him at the
crossroads between protecting and enhancing human life.
(AP, 8/11/02)
2001 Aug 24, President Bush blamed
the slumping economy for the shrinking budget surplus, rather than his
tax cut, and said it was up to Congress to restrain spending.
(AP, 8/24/02)
2001 Aug 26, President Bush
admitted he was worried about the economy's "paltry" growth and,
without making promises, assured steel company executives and workers
that protecting domestic steel was a national security priority.
(AP, 8/26/02)
2001 Aug 27, The Bush
administration confirmed that Sec. of State Colin Powell would not
attend the UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa.
(SFC, 8/28/01, p.A6)
2001 Sep 4, President Bush opened
the door to a future cut in the capital gains tax, but said he first
wanted to see the effects of the previous spring's income tax cut.
(AP, 9/4/02)
2001 Sep 6, Pres. Bush named John
Danforth as a special envoy to broker a peace agreement in Sudan’s
civil war.
(SFC, 9/7/01, p.A14)
2001 Sep 6, In a dramatic shift,
the Bush administration abandoned the Clinton-era effort to break up
Microsoft.
(AP, 9/6/02)
2001 Sep 10, The Bush
administration designated the Colombian paramilitary group, the United
Self-Defense Forces (AUC), as a terrorist group.
(SFC, 9/11/01, p.B1)
2001 Sep 12, Pres. Bush called
Tuesday’s terrorist attacks "acts of war." Stunned rescue workers
continued to search for bodies in the World Trade Center's smoking
rubble a day after a terrorist attack that shut down the financial
capital, badly damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead. The US
began building a broad int’l. coalition for a possible military
retaliation against those responsible for the terrorist attacks on Sep
11. Federal authorities said followers of Osama bin Laden were
responsible for airline hijackings directed at NYC and the Pentagon.
The US air system remained grounded and financial markets closed.
(SFC, 9/13/01, p.A1,16)(AP, 9/12/02)
2001 Sep 13, Pres. Bush
asked Congress for powers to wage war against an unidentified enemy.
Bush called the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington "the first
war of the 21st century" as his administration labeled fugitive Osama
bin Laden a prime suspect. The United States promised to wage all-out
retaliation against those responsible and any regime that protected
them. Jetliners returned to the nation's skies for the first time in
two days, carrying nervous passengers who faced strict new security
measures.
(SFC, 9/14/01, p.A1)(AP, 9/13/02)
2001 Sep 15, Pres. Bush stated:
“We are planning a broad and sustained campaign to secure our country
and eradicate the evil or terrorism.” Bush ordered US troops to get
ready for war and braced Americans for a long, difficult assault
against terrorists to avenge the Sept. 11 attacks. US Congress approved
a resolution authorizing Bush to use “all necessary and appropriated
force” against anyone associated with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
(SSFC, 9/16/01, p.A1)(AP, 9/15/06)(SSFC, 3/16/08,
p.A8)
2001 Oct 12, US Attorney General
John Ashcroft urged federal agencies to resist most Freedom of
Information Act requests made by American citizens. The act was passed
in 1974 during the Watergate scandal
(SSFC, 1/6/02, p.D4)
2001 Oct 26, Pres. Bush signed a
sweeping anti-terrorism bill into law. It gave police and intelligence
agencies vast new powers to fight terrorism. The USA Patriot Act
included Section 215 that gave the FBI authority to obtain library and
bookstore records without evidence of wrongdoing. It allowed the
government to detain aliens without public acknowledgement.
(SFC, 10/27/01, p.A3,6)(SSFC, 6/23/02, p.A5)(SSFC,
12/22/02, p.A5)
2001 Nov 1, President Bush issued
Executive Order 13233 allowing past presidents, beginning with Ronald
Reagan in 1980, to have as much say as incumbent presidents in keeping
some of their White House papers private.
(SSFC, 1/6/02, p.D4)(AP, 11/1/02)(SFC, 1/21/08, p.C5)
2001 Nov 9, The US Federal
Election Committee voted 6-0 to recognize the Green Party as a national
committee.
(SSFC, 11/11/01, p.A15)
2001 Nov 19, Pres. Bush signed
airport security legislation that required programs for the inspection
of air travel checked baggage within 60 days.
(SFC, 11/20/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 11/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 4, Pres. Bush announced
the seizure of assets and records of the Holy Land foundation for
Relief and Development based in Richardson, Texas, due to suspected
ties with Hamas.
(SFC, 12/5/01, p.A16)
2001 Dec 4, The Bush
administration ordered tons of PCBs removed from the upper Hudson
River. Dredging was expected to cost GE $500 million.
(SFC, 12/5/01, p.A6)
2001 Dec 17, The Bush
administration announced that the anthrax attacks most likely
originated from a domestic source.
(SFC, 12/18/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 20, Pres. Bush marked the
100-day anniversary of Sep 11 by freezing the assets of 2
Pakistan-based groups suspected of terrorist support.
(WSJ, 12/21/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec, Pres. Bush began meeting
with Gen. Tommy Franks and his war cabinet to plan a US attack on Iraq.
(SFC, 4/17/04, p.A1)
2001 Pres. Bush promoted his No
Child Left Behind education reform program.
(Econ, 6/11/05, p.28)
2002 Jan 1, Pres. Bush announced
that envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni would return to the Middle East to push
for steps to renew peace talks.
(SFC, 1/2/02, p.A9)
2002 Jan 8, Pres. Bush signed an
education bill that tied federal aid to test performance.
(WSJ, 1/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 8, The Bush
administration sent a secret report to Congress, the "Nuclear Posture
Review," that said the Pentagon needs to be prepared to use nuclear
weapons against 7 nations: China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Syria,
Iran, and Libya. A furor erupted when it was leaked to the press in
March.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A1)(SFC, 3/11/02, p.A3)
2002 Jan 23, Pres. Bush said he
would ask for $48 billion in additional spending for the armed services
next year. Federal deficits were expected for the next 2 years.
(SFC, 1/24/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 29, Pres. Bush made his
1st State of the Union address and declared that the "war against
terror is only beginning." Bush singled out Iran, Iraq and North Korea
as an "axis of evil." He also appealed to Americans to volunteer for
community services.
(SFC, 1/30/02, p.A1)(SFC, 1/31/02, p.A1)(SFC,
2/1/02, p.A3)
2002 Jan 31, The Bush
administration said it would classify fetuses as "unborn children"
making them eligible for government health care.
(SFC, 2/1/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 1, Pres. Bush named Jim
Tower (45), former Florida Sec. of Health, to lead his initiative to
give federal money to religious charities.
(SFC, 2/2/02, p.A5)
2002 Feb 2, The Bush
administration approved a $700 million grant to help rebuild lower
Manhattan devastated by the Sep 11 terrorist attacks.
(SSFC, 2/3/02, p.A13)
2002 Feb 4, Pres. Bush released
his $2.13 trillion budget plan for the coming federal year. It included
a 12% increase in military spending and cuts in highway and job
training.
(SSFC, 2/3/02, p.A1)(SFC, 2/5/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 5, Pres. Bush promoted
his call for $5.9 billion to be dedicated to bioterrorism preparedness
as part of a $38 billion homeland defense.
(SFC, 2/6/02, p.A13)
2002 Feb 7, Pres. Bush met with
Israel’s PM Sharon and said he would continue to press the Palestinian
Authority to crack down on terrorism. Bush rebuffed a plea to sever
ties with Arafat.
(SFC, 2/8/02, p.A8)(WSJ, 2/8/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 8, Pres. Bush opened the
19th Winter Olympic Games as part of a 3-hour ceremony at Rice-Eccles
Stadium at the Univ. of Utah campus.
(SFC, 2/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 12, Sec. of State Colin
Powell said the Bush administration was considering a variety of
options to topple Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.
(SFC, 2/12/02, p.A17)
2002 Feb 13, Pres. Bush welcomed
Pres. Musharraf to the White House. Musharraf sought a revival of arms
deals and relaxed tariffs on textiles. The Bush administration agreed
to $142 million in trade benefits.
(SFC, 2/14/02, p.A10)(SFC, 2/15/02, p.A14)
2002 Feb 14, Pres. Bush proposed
an environmental plan that would encourage businesses to cut pollution
and develop more energy-efficient technology.
(SFC, 2/15/02, p.A5)
2002 Feb 15, Pres. Bush approved
the Nevada Yucca Mountain site for nuclear waste. Nevada filed suit to
block the decision.
(SFC, 2/16/02, p.A7)
2002 Feb 16, Pres. Bush departed
on a 6-day Asia trip.
(SFC, 2/16/02, p.A3)
2002 Feb 17, Pres. Bush visited
Japan and urged PM Koizum to act quickly on the restructure of the
Japanese economy.
(SFC, 2/18/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 19, Pres. Bush urged the
"despotic regime" in North Korea to reunite with the free South.
(SFC, 2/20/02, p.A14)
2002 Feb 21, Pres. Bush met with
Pres. Zemin in Beijing and both agreed to work on the reunification of
North and South Korea. They disagreed over controls on exports of
missile technology. Pres. Bush answered questions in a live broadcast
and reaffirmed the US right to protect Taiwan.
(SFC, 2/21/02, p.A12)(SFC, 2/22/02, p.A12)(WSJ,
2/22/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 1, Pres. Bush approved
plans to send some 100 US troops to Yemen to help train the nation’s
military to fight terrorists.
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A14)
2002 Mar 5, Pres. Bush approved
tariffs of 8-30% on several types of imported steel.
(SFC, 3/6/02, p.A4)
2002 Mar 5, Pres. Bush planned to
nominate Elias Zerhouni, vice dean of John Hopkins School of Medicine,
as director of the NIH.
(SFC, 3/6/02, p.A3)
2002 Mar 5, Pres. Bush met with
Egypt’s Pres. Mubarek, who called for greater US involvement in seeking
Middle East peace.
(SFC, 3/5/02, p.A11)(SFC, 3/6/02, p.A13)
2002 Mar 11, Pres. Bush outlines a
"second stage of the war on terror" in an address that marked the
6-months since the Sep 11 terrorist attacks.
(SFC, 3/12/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 12, The Bush
administration announced a 5-color code system to alert Americans on
the danger level posed by terrorists.
(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 14, The Bush
administration demanded that PM Ariel Sharon order a withdrawal from
Palestinian controlled areas.
(SFC, 3/15/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 22, Pres. Bush addressed
the UN meeting in Monterey, Mexico, and called on wealthy nations to
link foreign aid to economic reform. Bush had already proposed an extra
$10 billion over 3 years starting in 2004. US aid was about .01% of GDP
as compared to 1% of GDP for Denmark.
(SFC, 3/23/02, p.A1)(SSFC, 3/24/02, p.D3)
2002 Mar 25, The Bush
administration released thousands of documents on its energy task force
just before a midnight deadline. They showed that Spencer Abraham, Sec.
of Energy, had relied almost exclusively on industry representatives
with no input from conservation or environmental groups.
(SFC, 3/26/02, p.A3)(SFC, 3/27/02, p.A3)
2002 Mar 26, Pres. Bush nominated
Richard Carmona (52), a trauma surgeon from Arizona, as
surgeon-general. Elias Zerhouni, a Johns Hopkins Univ. administrator,
was nominated to the NIH.
(SFC, 3/27/02, p.A3)
2002 Apr 1, Pres. Bush said he
would sell Governor’s Island in NY Harbor to NY state and NYC for a
nominal charge.
(SFC, 4/2/02, p.A3)
2002 Apr 4, Pres. Bush demanded
that Israel withdraw from West Bank cities and end settlement activity
in occupied territories. He blasted Arafat and other Arab leaders for
abetting terrorism and dispatched Sec. of State Colin Powell to push
for a political settlement.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A1,14)
2002 Apr 4, Pres. Bush responded
to British TV journalist Trevor McDonald’s question "Have you made up
your mind that Iraq must be attacked?" by saying: "I made up my mind
that Hussein needs to go."
(SFC, 6/15/02, p.A13)
2002 Apr 6, Pres. Bush said Israel
must withdraw its forces from Palestinian territory without delay.
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A3)
2002 Apr 7, Pres. Bush ended
weekend talks with Britain’s PM Tony Blair in Texas. Blair said he
would back a US military action against Iraq.
(SFC, 4/8/02, p.A9)
2002 Apr 25, Pres. Bush met with
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who told him bluntly that the US must
temper its support of Israel. Abdullah gave Bush an 8-point proposal
for Middle East peace.
(SFC, 4/26/02, p.A1)
2002 May 7, Pres. Bush met with PM
Ariel Sharon. They called for sweeping changes to Palestinian governing
institutions and a new Palestinian security service but they failed to
agree on many other issues.
(SFC, 5/8/02, p.A18)
2002 May 13, Pres. Bush signed the
farm subsidy bill, which increased federal payments by some $83 billion
over the next 10 years. It was passed to help farmers cope with low
commodity prices.
(WSJ, 5/9/02, p.A1)(SFC, 5/14/02, p.A5)
2002 May 20, Pres. Bush marked
Cuban Independence Day with a speech that offered Cuba greater economic
and political ties in exchange for free and transparent elections and
an open economy.
(WSJ, 5/20/02, p.A3)(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A3)
2002 May 22, Pres. Bush arrived in
Berlin on a 7-day trip to 4 countries.
(SFC, 5/23/02, p.A10)
2002 May 23, Pres. Bush at a
Berlin press conference said that he expects Pres. Putin to "get on
board" with America’s hard-line policy toward Iran and Iraq. Bush also
addressed the German Parliament and said terrorist groups constitute a
"new totalitarian threat," and then flew on to Moscow.
(SFC, 5/24/02, p.A1)
2002 May 24, Presidents Bush and
Putin signed the Treaty of Moscow, an agreement to reduce nuclear
stockpiles by two-thirds over the next 10 years.
(SFC, 5/25/02, p.A1)
2002 May 25, Pres. Bush and Putin
pressured Pakistan’s Pres. Musharraf to stop incursions into
Indian-controlled Kashmir.
(SSFC, 5/26/02, p.A12)
2002 May 26, President Bush
visited Paris, where he met with French President Jacques Chirac.
(AP, 5/26/03)
2002 May 28, Pres. Bush met with
Pope John Paul II in Vatican City and expressed his worries on the sex
scandals in the US involving Catholic clergy.
(SFC, 5/29/02, p.A8)
2002 May 29, Pres. Bush moved to
prevent oil drilling off the Florida coast and in the Everglades.
Payments of $115 and $120 million would be made to buy back
drilling rights. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said it was good public policy.
(SFC, 5/30/02, p.A3)
2002 Jun 18, Pres. Bush sent to
Congress his detailed proposal for creation of a new Homeland Security
Department.
(AP, 6/18/03)
2002 Jun 24, Pres. Bush outlined
his blueprint for peace in the Middle East. His statement included a
call on Palestinians to replace Yasser Arafat with leaders "not
compromised by terror" and adopt democratic reforms that could produce
an independent state within three years.
(SFC, 6/25/02, p.A1)(AP, 6/24/03)
2002 Jul 5, Pres. Bush telephoned
Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai to express condolences for the deaths of
Afghan civilians killed in a US bombing 4 days earlier that killed 48
civilians.
(AP, 7/5/03)
2002 Jul 9, Speaking in New York,
President Bush called for doubled prison terms and aggressive policing
to combat fraud and corruption in corporate America.
(SFC, 7/10/02, p.A1)(AP, 7/9/03)
2002 Jul 12, The Bush
administration expected a $165 billion deficit mainly due to a falloff
in tax revenues from stock market capital gains.
(SFC, 7/13/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 23, Pres. Bush signed
legislation designating Nevada's Yucca Mountain as the nation's nuclear
waste repository.
(WSJ, 7/24/02, p.A1)
2002 Aug 6, President Bush signed
legislation restoring broad trade negotiating authority to US
presidents. Bush signed the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act
(TAA) offering wage insurance to any trade displaced worker over 50.
(AP,
8/6/03)(www.doleta.gov/tradeact/2002act_index.cfm)(Econ, 1/20/07, p.34)
2002 Aug 13, President Bush hosted
a half-day economic forum at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he
assured Americans that his administration had a steady hand on the
economy.
(AP, 8/13/03)
2002 Aug 15, President Bush, using
Mount Rushmore as a dramatic backdrop, pressed Congress to give him a
flexible, fast-moving homeland security department.
(AP, 8/15/03)
2002 Aug 21, President Bush told
reporters at his Texas ranch that ousting Iraq's Saddam Hussein was "in
the interests of the world" but indicated the United States was in no
hurry.
(AP, 8/21/03)
2002 Aug 22, In Oregon President
Bush proposed to end the government's "hands-off" policy in national
forests and ease logging restrictions in fire-prone areas.
(WSJ, 8/23/02, p.A1)(AP, 8/22/03)
2002 Aug 27, Pres. Bush met with
Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, who said war with Iraq was
not acceptable and that Saudi Arabia would not cooperate. Bush told the
Saudi diplomat he had not yet decided whether to attack Iraq.
(SFC, 8/28/02, p.A1)(AP, 8/27/03)
2002 Sep 3, Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld said the Bush administration had secret information
supporting its claims that Saddam Hussein was close to developing
nuclear weapons.
(AP, 9/3/03)
2002 Sep 4, President Bush
promised to seek Congress' approval for "whatever is necessary" to oust
Saddam Hussein including using military force.
(AP, 9/4/03)
2002 Sep 7, Pres. Bush met with
British PM Tony Blair at Camp David, Md., to work out a strategy for
taking action against Iraq's Saddam Hussein. They said the world had to
act against Saddam Hussein, arguing that the Iraqi leader had defied
the United Nations and reneged on promises to destroy weapons of mass
destruction.
(SSFC, 9/8/02, p.A3)(AP, 9/6/03)
2002 Sep 10, The Bush
administration raised the nationwide terror alert to yellow, its
second-highest level, closed nine U.S. embassies overseas and
heightened security at federal buildings and landmarks in America on
the eve of the Sept. 11 anniversary.
(AP, 9/10/03)
2002 Sep 11, With words of comfort
and resolve, President Bush joined the nation in remembering "how it
began and who fell first" in the terrorist attacks one year earlier.
Memorial ceremonies were tinged with fear the anniversary could spark
repeat attacks.
(Reuters, 9/11/02)(AP, 9/11/03)
2002 Sep 12, Pres. Bush addressed
the UN and laid out his case against Iraq's Pres. Saddam Hussein. Bush
told skeptical world leaders at the United Nations to confront the
"grave and gathering danger" of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, or to stand
aside as the United States acted. Bush was expected to announce US
plans to rejoin Unesco, headquartered in Paris. France favored a demand
for weapons inspectors in Iraq along with force if Iraq resisted.
(WSJ, 9/12/02, p.A1,4)(SFC, 9/13/02, p.A1)(AP,
9/12/03)
2002 Sep 13, President Bush said
it was "highly doubtful" that Saddam Hussein would comply with demands
that he disarm and avoid a confrontation with the world community. And
he mocked Democrats and other lawmakers who wanted UN action before a
congressional vote on confronting Saddam.
(AP, 9/13/03)
2002 Nov 20, Francoise Ducros,
aide to PM Chretien of Canada, called Pres. Bush a moron during a
private conversation in Prague.
(SFC, 11/23/02, p.A1)
2002 Nov, North Korean leader Kim
Jong Il in a private message to Pres. Bush said the US and North Korea
"should be able to resolve the nuclear issue in compliance with the
demands of the new century." The message was not disclosed until 2005.
(AP, 6/22/05)
2002 Dec 12, Pres. Bush announced
a series of regulatory changes to allow religious social-service
organizations to receive more government grants and contracts.
(SFC, 12/13/02, p.A3)
2002 Pres. Bush unveiled a new
fund called the Millennium Challenge Account to fund honest governments
pursuing sound economic policies. Its 1st grant, made to Madagascar on
Apr 18, 2005, was for $110 million.
(Econ, 4/23/05, p.75)
2003 Jan 7, Pres. Bush put forward
a $674 billion "growth and jobs" economic stimulus plan that would
provide tax relief to an estimated 92 million Americans by accelerating
income tax rate cuts, wiping out all federal taxes on stock dividends
paid to investors and boosting the child tax credit by $400 per child.
(AP, 1/7/03)(SFC, 1/8/03, p.A1)
2003 Jan 8, Pres. Bush signed an
emergency extension of federal unemployment benefits. It extended 26
weeks of state aid with 13 weeks of federal aid.
(SFC, 1/9/03, p.A1)
2003 Jan 28, Pres. Bush in his
State of the Union vowed to use the "full force and might of the U.S.
military" if needed to disarm Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Bush pledged of
$15 billion for AIDS assistance in Africa, a domestic agenda of tax
cuts, medical malpractice caps and a ban on certain late abortions.
(AP, 1/29/03)(WSJ, 1/29/03, p.A1)
2003 Feb 3, Pres. Bush set forth a
$2.2 trillion budget and acknowledged that it would contribute to years
of deficits.
(SFC, 2/4/03, p.A1)
2003 Feb 7, The US moved its
terror alert status to orange, the 2nd highest level. Attorney General
John Ashcroft said the government had received intelligence
information, corroborated by multiple sources, that Osama bin Laden’s
terror organization sought to attack Americans at home or abroad during
the annual hajj pilgrimage to the holy Saudi city of Mecca.
(AP, 2/8/03)
2003 Feb 11, Federal Chairman Alan
Greenspan said that Pres. Bush’s tax cut would increase the federal
budget deficits and voiced opposition.
(SFC, 2/12/03, p.A1)
2003 Feb 15, Rattled by an
outpouring of anti-war sentiment, the US and Britain began reworking a
draft resolution to authorize force against Saddam Hussein.
(AP, 2/15/03)
2003 Feb 24, The US,
Britain and Spain introduced a new draft Security Council resolution
laying the groundwork for a US-led invasion of Iraq.
(SFC, 2/25/03, A1)
2003 Feb 27, The Bush
administration lowered the terror alert threat to code yellow.
(SFC, 2/28/03, A3)
2003 Feb, John Brady Kiesling, US
career diplomat in Athens, resigned over the Bush policy towards Iraq.
(SFC, 3/16/03, p.D4)
2003 Mar 6, President Bush
held a new conference and warned that he was prepared to go to war soon
in Iraq with or without U.N. backing.
(AP, 3/7/03)(SFC, 3/7/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 7, The US and its
allies moved to set March 17 as the final deadline for Saddam Hussein
to prove he has given up his weapons of mass destruction.
(AP, 3/8/03)(SFC, 3/8/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 7, Pres. Bush
invoked economic sanctions against Pres. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and
dozens of officials of his government on grounds they undermined the
country’s democratic institutions.
(AP, 3/7/03)
2003 Mar 14, Pres. Bush promised
to reveal a US "road map" to Middle East peace. It was contingent on
the confirmation of a Palestinian prime minister with real authority.
(SFC, 3/15/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 16, Pres. Bush met with
PM Tony Blair and Spain’s PM Jose Maria Aznar in the Azores and made it
clear they were ready to go to war with or without UN endorsement. Bush
said "Tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world."
(SFC, 3/17/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 17, Pres. Bush gave
Saddam Hussein 48 hours to go into exile or face military onslaught.
(SFC, 3/19/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 20, Operation Iraqi
Freedom began with a few targeted strikes in Baghdad against Saddam
Hussein, targeting him personally with a barrage of cruise missiles and
bombs as a prelude to invasion. Iraq responded hours later, firing
missiles toward American troops positioned just across its border with
Kuwait. US Sec. of State Rumsfeld warned that the attack in Iraq would
be "of a force and scope and scale that is beyond what has been seen
before." A "shock and awe" strategy was planned based on a 1996 "rapid
dominance" strategy. The US seized $1.74 billion in frozen Iraqi assets
and declared it would be used for humanitarian purposes. Iraq set fire
to at least 10 oil wells.
(AP, 3/20/03) (SFC, 3/20/03, p.W1)(SFC, 3/21/03,
p.W11)(WSJ, 3/21/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 23, Michael Moore
criticized Pres. Bush and the US-led war in Iraq during his acceptance
speech at the Academy Awards, drawing a partial standing ovation and
some jeers from Hollywood's elite.
(AP, 3/24/03)
2003 Mar 23, In the 4th day of
Operation Iraqi Freedom US-led warplanes and helicopters attacked
Republican Guard units defending Baghdad while ground troops advanced
to within 50 miles of the Iraqi capital. Pres. Bush put a $75 billion
price tag on a down payment for the war.
(AP, 3/24/03)
2003 Mar 24, In the 5th day of
Operation Iraqi Freedom US forces began strikes against the Medina
Division of the Republican Guard guarding Baghdad.
(WSJ, 3/25/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 25, In the 6th day of
Operation Iraqi Freedom US aircraft dropped more than 2,000
precision-guided bombs on Iraq since the war's start, a feat possible
in part because the "smart" bombs were produced for a relatively cheap
$20,000 each.
(AP, 3/25/03)
2003 Mar 26, In the 7th day of
Operation Iraqi Freedom Baghdad officials said two cruise missiles hit
a residential area, killing 14 people.
(AP, 3/26/03)
2003 Mar 25, Pres. Bush issued an
order to delay the release of millions of historical documents for more
than 3 years and to ease reclassification of data deemed of possible
harm to national security.
(WSJ, 3/26/03, p.A1)
2003 May 28, Pres. Bush signed a
tax cut into law. It was the 3rd cut in 3 years and included a cut in
the rates on capital gains and dividends, breaks for small businesses
and funds for state governments. It was valued at $350 billion over 10
years.
(SFC, 5/29/03, p.A4)
2003 Jul 8, Pres. Bush met with
Pres. Abdoulaye Wade in Senegal. Bush visited Senegal's notorious Goree
Island, for several centuries a processing station for African slaves
bound in chains for the Western Hemisphere.
(SFC, 7/7/03, p.A8)(AP, 7/8/03)
2003 Jul 9, Pres. Bush met with
South African President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria for discussions on
AIDS, the war on terror, trade issues and to seek common ground in
their attempts to deal with the political and economic crisis in
neighboring Zimbabwe.
(AP, 7/9/03)(SFC, 7/10/03, p.A3)
2003 Jul 10, Pres. Bush met with
Pres. Festus Mogae in Botswana. Bush said that AIDS is "the deadliest
enemy Africa has ever faced" and promised that the US will help meet
the challenge.
(SFC, 7/10/03, p.A8)
2003 Jul 11, Pres. Bush met with
Pres. Yoweri Museveni in Uganda. Bush and his wife Laura praised
Uganda's aggressive prevention and treatment programs to combat HIV.
(SFC, 7/11/03, p.A8)(AP, 7/11/03)
2003 Jul 12, Pres. Bush met with
Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo in Nigeria. They discussed the circumstances
under which Liberian President Charles Taylor will live in exile in
Nigeria,
(SFC, 7/7/03, p.A8)(AP, 7/12/03)
2003 Jul 25, Pres. Bush ordered a
naval amphibious force from the Mediterranean to position itself off
the coast of Liberia.
(SFC, 7/26/03, p.A1)
2003 Jul 25, Palestinian PM
Mahmoud Abbas met with Pres. George Bush in Washington DC. Abbas
thanked Bush for his efforts in pursuit of a peaceful Middle East and
for a recent grant of $20 million in direct aid to the Palestinian
Authority.
(AP, 7/26/03)
2003 Jul, Joseph Wilson, former
American ambassador, alleged that Pres. Bush had falsely accused Iraq
of trying to buy uranium from Niger. Two White House officials soon
called at least 6 Washington journalists and told them that Wilson’s
wife, Valerie Plame, was a undercover CIA agent who had worked in Niger.
(Econ, 8/21/04, p.28)
2003 Aug 11, Pres. Bush named Mike
Leavitt, Republican governor of Utah, to head the EPA.
(SFC, 8/11/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 7, President Bush spoke
on national TV and said he would ask Congress for $87 billion to fight
terrorism. He cautioned that the struggle "will take time and require
sacrifice."
(AP, 9/8/03)
2003 Oct 22, President Bush
praised Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, for
battling terrorism. Bush defended US policy from the Mideast to Iraq
during a frank exchange with moderate Muslim leaders during a stopover
in Bali, Indonesia.
(AP, 10/22/03)(AP, 10/22/08)
2004 Sep 30, President Bush and
Sen. John Kerry held their 1st debate. Neither candidate made the kind
of gaffe that will cost him the election, but Kerry fared slightly
better.
(AP, 10/1/04)
2004 Oct 8, In St. Louis,
Missouri, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry debated for a 2nd time.
(AP, 10/9/04)(SFC, 10/9/04, p.A1)
2004 Oct 13, In Tempe, Ariz.,
Pres. Bush and Sen John Kerry held their 3rd and final debate.
(SFC, 10/14/04, p.A1)
2004 Oct 14, The US Treasury
reported that the federal deficit surged to $413 billion in 2004.
(SFC, 10/15/04, p.A3)
2004 Oct 22, Pres. Bush signed a
$136 billion corporate tax cut bill.
(SFC, 10/23/04, p.A1)
2004 Oct 29, Pres. Bush signed a
Defense Department authorization bill that included a provision for up
to $25 million to support foreign forces aiding US efforts against
terrorists.
(SSFC, 10/31/04, p.A4)
2004 Nov 2, In US presidential
elections a federal appeals court cleared the way for political parties
to send in people to challenge voters' eligibility at Ohio polling
places. US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens allowed Republicans
to challenge voter qualifications at the polls in Ohio. Pres. Bush won
the elections spending an estimated $5.20 for each of his votes.
(AP, 11/2/04)(Econ, 9/27/08, p.50)
2004 Nov 3, President Bush's
campaign declared victory over Democratic Sen. John Kerry and claimed a
second term in the White House, but Kerry refused to concede until all
ballots were counted in the undecided state of Ohio. John Kerry
conceded defeat to President Bush in make-or-break Ohio rather than
launch a legal fight reminiscent of the contentious Florida recount of
four years earlier. Bush won more votes than any other president in
American history.
(Reuters, 11/3/04)(AP, 11/3/05)(Econ, 8/18/07, p.26)
2004 Nov 5, Pres. Bush laid out
plans to revamp taxes and social security. The DJ jumped 177 to close
at 10314.76.
(WSJ, 11/5/04, p.A1)
2004 Nov 15, President Bush
selected Condoleezza Rice, his most trusted foreign policy
adviser, as Sec. of State, replacing Colin Powell. Energy Sec.
Spencer Abraham announced his departure as did Agricultural Sec. Ann
Veneman and Education Sec. Rod Paige.
(AP, 11/16/04)(SFC, 11/16/04, p.A1)
2004 Dec 6, Ohio certified
President Bush's victory over John Kerry, even as the Kerry campaign
and third-party candidates prepared to demand a statewide recount. Bush
won Ohio by 118,600 votes.
(AP, 12/06/05)(Econ, 8/2/08, p.31)
2004 Dec 19, President George Bush
for the second time was chosen as Time magazine's Person of the Year.
(AP, 12/19/04)
2004 Natan Sharansky authored “The
Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and
Terror.” The book had a strong influence on Pres. Bush.
(Econ, 2/5/05,
p.32)(www.americandaily.com/article/5980)
2005 Jan 20, The inauguration
ceremony for Pres. Bush was held in Washington DC. The event was
expected to cost $40 million the administration asked DC to use 11.9
million of its federal homeland security funds to help pay costs. Pres.
bush pledged to spread democracy and support democratic movements
worldwide. Thousands of people in dozens of cities across the US walked
out of work and school, held mock coronations, intoned the names of the
Iraq war dead and held candlelight vigils to show their disapproval of
President Bush.
(SFC, 1/20/05, p.A12)(AP, 1/21/05)(SFC, 1/21/05,
p.A1)
2005 Feb 7, Pres. Bush proposed a
$2.57 trillion budget that would slash domestic programs including
entitlements such as Medicaid, farm subsidies and veterans benefits.
(SFC, 6/8/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 17, President Bush named
John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, as the government's first
national intelligence director. Central American politicians and human
rights activists issued stinging criticism of Negroponte, citing the
career diplomat's active backing for the Contra rebels and support for
a government involved in human rights abuses.
(AP, 2/17/05)
2005 Feb 20, President Bush land
in Belgium to begin a five-day European trip aimed at fostering a
friendly atmosphere early in his second term.
(AP, 2/20/05)
2005 Feb 21, President Bush
appealed to Europe to move beyond animosities over Iraq and join forces
in encouraging democratic reforms across the Middle East. He also
prodded Russia to reverse a crackdown on political dissent, demanded
that Iran end its nuclear ambitions and told Syria to get out of
Lebanon.
(AP, 2/21/05)
2005 Mar 7, President Bush named
John R. Bolton (56), undersecretary of state for arms control and
international security, as US ambassador to the UN.
(AP, 3/8/05)(SFC, 3/8/05, p.A10)
2005 Aug 10, Pres. Bush visited a
Caterpillar plant in Illinois where he signed a $286.4 billion highway
bill. It was the most expensive US public works program to date.
(WSJ, 8/11/05, p.A1)(Econ, 5/31/08, p.38)
2006 Oct 17, President Bush signed
legislation authorizing tough interrogation of terror suspects and
smoothing the way for trials before military commissions. The Military
Commissions Act virtually abolished the right of any non-American
deemed an enemy combatant to challenge his indefinite detention before
American cou