by Kenneth T. Walsh

Youth has always been a double-edged sword for America'spresidents. It tends to inject the White House with freshideas and energy, but it can also lead to impetuousness and a disregardfor the tried and true.

Bill Clinton, at 46, was the third-youngest president. He had been governor of Arkansas for 12 years, so he did have executive experience, but he lacked savvy in Washington, and it showed.

Shortly after Clinton took office in January 1993, he ran into the capital's head winds. His White House often operated in a very disorganized way, and in an effort to foster an atmosphere of open debate, Clinton kept policy discussions going in seemingly endless meetings and bull sessions throughout the West Wing. He allowed staffers, even midlevel aides, to walk into the Oval Office almost at will for a chat, taking up his time and distracting him from what was truly important. One of his first decisions was to impose a "don't ask, don't tell" policy allowing gays to serve in the military. That divided the country and Congress and diverted attention from his larger agenda. Clinton could not prevent Senate Republicans from filibustering his economic stimulus package to death. He was forced to back away from important nominations, including two for attorney general, and his senior advisers fired members of the White House travel office, raising questions of cronyism. He was even criticized for the casual style of his young aides, who sometimes didn't wear suits and ties to work in favor of khakis and sports jackets or even jeans.

But his biggest problem was in attempting to overhaul the healthcare system. He named his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton (now the secretary of state), to take charge of the initiative, an unusual policymaking job for a first lady. Many members of Congress, including fellow Democrats, complained that Mrs. Clinton was formulating the plan with too much secrecy and that it was too big a change for Americans to handle. The plan failed miserably on Capitol Hill.

Reflecting on his early setbacks, Clinton said his lack of Washington experience kept him from fully understanding "the interplay of the power centers around town and how to get started a little smoother. And I think not having had that, I should have started a little more slowly and spent more time just in kind of interpersonal relationships with people than I did. But I was in a hurry to get started." He added: "Nothing, no job in the world, can prepare a president for the fact that all of a sudden you're presiding over some vast government where every day there are all these stories attributed anonymously to some White House official, which may or may not reflect your position, which may alter what you have to do that day."

As his presidency wore on, many voters considered Clinton too immature, too liberal, too much in league with establishment Democrats who controlled Congress, and too weak as an administrator. His party paid a big price by losing control of Congress in the 1994 election.

Clinton eventually righted his presidency, toning down his liberalism and serving as a centrist counterbalance to the conservative Republican majorities in the House and Senate on budget and social issues. He won a second term in 1996, but his habits of self-indulgence led him to have an affair with a former intern, Monica Lewinsky. He lied about it under oath and was impeached by the House after a bitter and divisive debate. The Senate voted not to remove him from office, but his record was tarnished forever. He finished out his term with high voter approval of his policies but strong doubts about his character.

 

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