Happy with the feedback so far and hope you guys enjoy the next part!
Slight content warning: Bill Clinton’s historic scandals are an unpleasant topic but need to be mentioned, so I mention them without going into any detail.
1993
The twilight days of the Bush Administration were fairly eventful for a lameduck session. President Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin would sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow. Ten days later, the Chemical Weapons Convention, which outlawed the weapons, took place and was signed and later ratified into law. Under threat of a national no-fly zone, Iraq agreed to allow UNSCOM inspectors unlimited access to specific facilities the United States has deemed “highly likely” to be in use to develop nuclear weapons. These foreign policy achievements seemed to be trying to strengthen the legacy of President Bush. He would be remembered as the foreign policy steward who ended the Cold War but did not do enough for the economy and was punished for it.
Bill Clinton was sworn in as President on January 20th, becoming the 42nd President in United States History. At the inauguration, he shook hands with the outgoing 41st President, who he had defeated only months before. Also present, in the audience, was the man who faced both of them and did better than anybody expected, Ross Perot. There was no sense of the political fight that existed between Perot and the politicians he was surrounding himself with. The Reform Party was hardly viewed as a threat, with most political commentators wondering if it will even last to the next presidential election. What they did not know was that Perot had another race in mind, and one much sooner.
Senior Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen was the Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate in 1988. An elder and loyal party man, Clinton wanted to reward him with the position of Treasury Secretary. Bentsen would be approved as Treasurer later that day, and resign. His resignation from the Senate opened up a special election, to take place that June. Patrick Caddell, who had stayed on as a party employee, advised Perot were to jump into the special election due to its unique rules. The special election has a blanket primary where the top two of all candidates move on to the general election, so Perot did not have to worry about another three-way race.
Perot was thinking about this as he watched the inauguration proceed, and gave Caddell a call after Bentsen was confirmed. Caddell recalled the first words out of his mouth: “Let's do this. Lets run for Senate.” and his response was: “Ok, I am in Houston--” to which Perot responded “Good. Stay there.” And hung up. Texas Governor Ann Richards, another Democrat, appointed Texas Railroad Commissioner Bob Krueger to the Senate seat, with the blanket primary scheduled for the beginning of May.
The Clinton Administration’s all important first one-hundred days in office are remembered as the embarrassing in modern history. Bill Clinton would focus his attention on the economic stimulus package promised on the campaign would turn into a budget battle as it began to make its way through Congress. The ideas raised by the Perot Campaign were not unique to them, and Republicans fought hard in the House and Senate to try to eliminate the deficit. Bill Clinton lobbied hard for them to accept a reduction instead, which many were open to, but Clinton’s proposed tax increases remained unacceptable. Clinton would attempt to compromise with deeper cuts but Speaker Tom Foley and Senate Leader George Mitchel fought back when they thought the president went too far. The stimulus-budget fight would continue beyond Clinton's one-hundred days completely unresolved, but before then, the Administration would open up a new front in a fight for a win.
After announcing in January, Byron White would retire from the Supreme Court on March 29th. He was the last member of the Warren Court, appointed by President Kennedy in 1962. Bill Clinton had no real plan on who should replace him, with the popular story making it sound as if Clinton had given it no prior thought. He would spend weeks combing through dozens of candidates, holding off on actually making a nomination until summer. This did not stop the rumor mill, and Clinton’s staff was more than happy to leak juicy gossip on who he was considering to the press. Laurence Tribe, a Harvard Law professor and constitutional scholar, and Stephen Carter, a professor at Yale, were the names that circulated early on, but then it got weirder. Clinton would ask Senate Majority Leader George Mitchel, Secretary of Education Richard Riley, and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, all of whom declined. He would then spend several days considering nominating his wife, First Lady Hillary Clinton, to the Supreme Court, but was thankfully talked out of that. Eventually, he would arrive at total political unknown Janie Shores, the first woman to ever serve on the Alabama Supreme Court. He would be turned away from that option by his aides, but had considered it for an entire week before arriving at his first nominee.
Bill Clinton had relied on his Chief of Staff and lifelong friend Mack McLarty to handle a lot of the transition duties and together they had come up with a list of largely inoffensive cabinet picks. In March, Clinton would go with a different approach for what he called his “signature healthcare legislation.” His wife led the charge and serve as the face and champion of the healthcare bill. Hillary Clinton would head the White House healthcare reform task force and receive basically all the blame when it all went up in smoke, but the problem lay in the Senate. George Mitchell was a respected figure and a master at wheeling and dealing; he had to be leading the divided Democratic Caucus, with progressive, liberal, moderate, and conservative-leaning senators all under one banner. None of the policymakers in Congress liked how they were dealing with the First Lady on this issue instead of the President or perhaps a Cabinet Secretary, and were not quiet about it but they tolerated it. Despite his best efforts, he could not get the healthcare bill on the docket before summer and when it came to a vote, it was defeated in committee.
In the midst of this, questions of Bill Clinton’s character came back up when Paula Jones came out to accuse Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct during an incident that took place two years before and sued him for it. The president being sued for sexual misconduct was deeply troubling for many and calls began for Clinton to resign. Instead, he denied the allegations and would end up fighting the lawsuit in court. The media circus that would grow around this would slowly drown out everything else going on until it dominated headlines by the fall, with tabloid-like digs into everybody and everything even loosely connected to this story.
The American people were deeply unhappy with all of this, with as many as 84% of Americans saying the country was going in the wrong direction. President Clinton started the year with a 53% approval rating, and it fell as low as 34% in the summer. Despite these lows, Congress’s approval ratings were worse.
The same week, Ross Perot announced his candidacy for the Texas Senate Class-1 Special Election. The billionaire political outsider who had just won thirty million votes running for the presidency was looking to join “the worst club in America,” as he put it. The blanket primary on May 1st and the runoff would be on June 5th, assuming nobody won a majority. In this crowded field, nobody expected they would. Perot was the only independent of any note, but his other major opponents would be Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R), Bob Krueger (D) (inc.), Richard Fisher (D), Joe Barton (R), Jack Fields (R), and Jose Angel Gutierrez (D). Hutchinson and Krueger were his main opponents and Perot would contrast them to himself every chance he got. He would lambast Hutchinson’s social conservatism and Krueger’s lack of any major accomplishments in his long career in public service. It was important to remember Perot came in a very close third in Texas in 1992: Bush (35.56%) had 2,188,369, Clinton (32.08%) had 1,974,209, and Perot (32.01%) had 1,969,901. Despite the fact he had lost the state, Perot was confident that he could turn those nearly two million votes into a majority in an off year election.
Hutchinson was the Republican State Treasurer and was hoping to become the first woman to represent the state of Texas. She would attack Krueger as a “tax and spend liberal” and Perot as a “wacky conspiracy theorist.” Despite describing herself as pro-choice, both other candidates would attack her as too far-right on abortion. Perot would go after her on this in the one and only televised debate between the three of them: “Mrs. Hutchinson says she is pro-choice, but she isn’t really. She is for states having the choice as to whether or not you can get an abortion. That’s not really pro-choice, Mrs. Hutchinson.” She would deny these charges, but the damage was done. Just days later, on May 1st, the blanket primary would be held.
Perot emerged in first place with 695,558 votes (34%). The second place finisher was Kay Bailey Hutchinson with 593,338 votes (29%). They both defeated incumbent Senator Bob Krueger, who fell short with 429,609 votes (21%). Some Republican candidates consolidated behind Hutchinson ahead of the vote, with the other candidates fearing a Perot-Krueger run off more than anything. Perot’s campaign was energized by their first place finish in the primary, saying “We just have to carry this energy into June.”
Not long after that was when Bill Clinton had finally announced his Supreme Court nominee. He had been among the first people Clinton offered the seat too and, while he initially declined, he later came around to the idea and asked Clinton to be reconsidered. On April 22nd, President Clinton nominated New York Governor Mario Cuomo to the Supreme Court and proceedings would begin immediately.
Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork and Bush’s nomination of Clarence Thomas resulted in huge political fights in the Senate and Cuomo’s did the exact same thing. Cuomo’s nomination was championed by Judiciary Chair Joe Biden (D-DE) and emphatically opposed by ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-UT). It took a lot of political capital to get his nomination out of committee and onto the floor. A lot of ranking Democrats were public in their opposition to the liberal governor joining the court, including President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Majority Whip Wendell Ford (D-KY). Cuomo had practiced law professionally before entering public service as the Secretary of State of New York in 1975, but some believed that was not enough experience to become one of nine judges deciding all Constitutional matters. Cuomo was also questioned about the Mafia, which he said did not exist in any greater capacity than any other ethnic gang, which caused more controversy. There was also, of course, his politics. Cuomo was strongly pro-choice and against the death penalty, two positions that made opposition to his nomination a crusade for the Religious Right. The Archbishop of New York, John Joseph O’Connor had previously considered excommunicating Mario Cuomo for his position on abortion and there was renewed pressure for him to do so from the right wing across the country, but he would continue to decline. Right up to the vote, polls showed that over 50% of Americans opposed Cuomo’s nomination, with his support concentrated in coastal and liberal parts of the country. This heavily influenced the way many senators voted, fearing political reprisal if they did not oppose him themselves.
Defeated 48 to 49 to 3
Senators from Alabama
Howell Heflin (D) NO
Richard Shelby (D) NO
Senators from Alaska
Ted Stevens (R) NO
Frank Murkowski (R) NO
Senators from Arizona
Dennis DeConcini (D) YES
John McCain (R) NO
Senators from Arkansas
David Pryor (D) YES
Dale Bumpers (D) YES
Senators from California
Diane Feinstein (D) YES
Jerry Brown (D) YES
Senators from Colorado
Hank Brown (R) NO
Dick Lamm (D) YES
Senators from Connecticut
Joe Lieberman (D) YES
Chris Dodd (D) YES
Senators from Delaware
William Roth (R) NO
Joe Biden (D) YES
Senators from Florida
Connie Mack III (R) NO
Buddy MacKay (D) YES
Senators from Georgia
Sam Nunn (D) NO
Wyche Fowler (D) YES
Senators from Hawaii
Daniel Akaka (D) YES
Daniel Inouye (D) YES
Senators from Idaho
Larry Craig (R) NO
Dirk Kempthorne (R) NO
Senators from Illinois
Paul Simon (D) YES
Carol Moseley Braun (D) YES
Senators from Indiana
Richard Lugar (R) NO
Dan Coats (R) NO
Senators from Iowa
Tom Harkin (D) YES
Chuck Grassley (R) NO
Senators from Kansas
Nancy Kassebaum (R) NO
Bob Dole (R) NO
Senators from Kentucky
Mitch McConnell (R) NO
Wendell Ford (D) YES
Senators from Louisiana
J. Bennett Johnston (D) NO
John Breaux (D) NO
Senators from Maine
George J. Mitchell (D) YES
William Cohen (R) NO
Senators from Maryland
Paul Sarbanes (D) YES
Barbara Mikulski (D) YES
Senators from Massachusetts
Ted Kennedy (D) YES
John Kerry (D) YES
Senators from Michigan
Donald Riegle (D) ABSENT
Carl Levin (D) YES
Senators from Minnesota
David Durenberger (R) NO
Paul Wellstone (DFL) YES
Senators from Mississippi
Trent Lott (R) NO
Thad Cochran (R) NO
Senators from Missouri
John Danforth (R) NO
Kit Bond (R) NO
Senators from Montana
Conrad Burns (R) NO
Max Baucus (D) YES
Senators from Nebraska
Bob Kerrey (D) YES
J. James Exon (D) YES
Senators from Nevada
Richard Bryan (D) ABSENT
Harry Reid (D) YES
Senators from New Hampshire
Bob Smith (R) NO
Judd Gregg (R) NO
Senators from New Jersey
Frank Lautenberg (D) YES
Bill Bradley (D) YES
Senators from New Mexico
Jeff Bingaman (D) YES
Pete Domenici (R) NO
Senators from New York
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D) YES
Geraldine Ferraro (D) YES
Senators from North Carolina
Jesse Helms (R) NO
Lauch Faircloth (R) NO
Senators from North Dakota
Kent Conrad (D) NO
Byron Dorgan (D) YES
Senators from Ohio
Howard Metzenbaum (D) YES
John Glenn (D) YES
Senators from Oklahoma
David Boren (D) NO
Don Nickles (R) NO
Senators from Oregon
Mark Hatfield (R) NO
Bob Packwood (R) NO
Senators from Pennsylvania
Harris Wofford (D) YES
Arlen Specter (R) YES
Senators from Rhode Island
John Chafee (R) YES
Claiborne Pell (D) YES
Senators from South Carolina
Strom Thurmond (R) NO
Fritz Hollings (D) NO
Senators from South Dakota
Larry Pressler (R) ABSENT
Tom Daschle (D) YES
Senators from Tennessee
Jim Sasser (D) YES
Al Gore (D) YES
Senators from Texas
Bob Krueger (D) NO
Phil Gramm (R) NO
Senators from Utah
Orrin Hatch (R) NO
Bob Bennett (R) NO
Senators from Vermont
Jim Jeffords (R) YES
Patrick Leahy (D) YES
Senators from Virginia
Chuck Robb (D) YES
John Warner (R) NO
Senators from Washington
Slade Gorton (R) NO
Leo Thorness (R) NO
Senators from West Virginia
Robert Byrd (D) NO
Jay Rockefeller (D) YES
Senators from Wisconsin
Herb Kohl (D) YES
Bob Kasten (R) NO
Senators from Wyoming
Malcolm Wallop (R) NO
Alan Simpson (R) NO
45 out of 57 Democrats voted for Cuomo
3 out of 43 Republicans voted for Cuomo
10 Democrats and 39 Republicans voted against Cuomo
2 Democrats and 1 Republican did not vote
The failed nomination of Mario Cuomo as a Justice on the Supreme Court was the first Democratic Supreme Court nomination since Lyndon Johnson nominated Abe Fortas to be Chief Justice in 1968. That also failed despite a Democratic majority, surrounded in controversy. Ten Democrats and three Republicans broke with their party to vote for or against Cuomo. The Republicans who voted for Cuomo were David Durenberger (R-MN), Arlen Spectre (R-PA), and Jim Jeffords (R-VT). The Democrats who voted against Cuomo were numerous, some even holding major positions in their party. They were Howell Heflin (D-AL), Richard Shelby (D-AL), Sam Nunn (D-GA), Wendell Ford (D-KY), Max Baucus (D-MT), Kent Conrad (D-ND), David Boren (D-OK), Fritz Hollings (D-SC), Bob Krueger (D-TX), and Robert Byrd (D-WV). Some personally apologized to Clinton, but cited the polls in their opposition. Don Riegle (D-MI), Richard Bryan (D-NV), and Larry Pressler (R-SD) were absent. The first six months of the Clinton Administration saw some of its biggest failures, and this may have been the biggest of them all.
Ross Perot would commend Senator Bob Krueger for voting against Mario Cuomo’s nomination to the court, stating “while I agree with some of Cuomo’s social views, I do not believe he should sit on the court for those reasons alone.” When asked if he believed Cuomo was unfit to be on the court, Perot answered yes. Perot and Krueger would shake hands at a rally, where Senator Krueger and Governor Ann Richards both endorsed Perot over his rival, Hutchinson. Richards would say of Perot: “He is not a Democrat, but he believes this country should educate its children and serve more than just wealthy donors, so he’s got my vote.”
Hutchinson would continue to attack Perot as a crazy man trying to buy the election, drawing attention to his belief that Republican Party operatives started a fire at his daughter’s wedding. They would have two debates between the May primary and the June runoff, with neither one emerging as a decisive winner or loser in either.
On June 1st, the runoff for the Texas Senate Special Election finally took place and would leave the country in an uproar. Ross Perot of the Reform Party held barely any lead over Kay Bailey Hutchison for most of the race, averaging out ahead 49% to 47% with a margin of error of +/-2.5%. The race would conclude as a war for turnout.
Perot won the runoff with 932,054 (52.8%) to Hutchison’s 833,200 (47.2%). When asked how he’s feeling after the win, he said “Winning feelings good. If I can feel this feeling again next year, then I’m excited to run for re-election in 1994.”
This would be the same day as the Florida Senate Special Election primary, to be held in November like a regular election. In a crowded Republican field, Congressman Cliff Stearns emerged victorious. On the Democratic side of the aisle, it was a two-horse race between State Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner, and Fire Marshall Bill Nelson and former Lieutenant Governor, now appointed Senator, Buddy MacKay. MacKay, who had lost the 1988 Senate election to fellow Senator Connie Mack, was hoping to hold onto this seat. Nelson had tried and failed to defeat former Senator Lawton Chiles in the 1990 governor’s race. MacKay was a close ally of Governor Chiles and he picked him over Nelson, still bitter over primary attacks from three years earlier. It would all be for nothing when Treasurer Bill Nelson narrowly defeated Senator Buddy MacKay in the primary (52.1% to 47.9%).
He would be sworn in almost two weeks later on June 14, becoming the first Texas Senator not from the Democratic or Republican Parties in Texas’s entire history*. On June 19th, barely five days into his term, Perot would place his first vote for a Supreme Court Justice.
*If you count the Liberal Republican Party as part of the Republican Party, which I would.
After having carefully combed through overlooked candidates from his failed nomination of Cuomo, President Bill Clinton would settle upon an uncontroversial pick. Chief Justice of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, Jose Cabranes would be President Clinton’s second pick to succeed Byron White on the Supreme Court. Before his time as a judge, he served as Special Counsel to the Governor of Puerto Rico and Yale’s first general counsel. Appointed to be a judge for the District of Connecticut by Jimmy Carter in 1979, Cabranes ascended to Chief Justice September of last year. Cabranes had served with distinction on the court, with Connecticut Senators Joe Lieberman (D) and Chris Dodd (D) and New York Senators Patrick Moynihan (D) and Geraldine Ferraro (D) giving their immediate endorsements for Chief Justice Cabranes.
Jose Cabranes had a solid judicial record and no skeletons emerged from his closet as the Senate Judiciary Committee gradually went through the process of his nomination. After they tried to push through Cuomo and failed, they were almost overly cautious. Jose Cabranes would become a member of the Supreme Court without any significant opposition.
Passed 95 to 2 to 4
Senators from Alabama
Howell Heflin (D) YES
Richard Shelby (D) YES
Senators from Alaska
Ted Stevens (R) YES
Frank Murkowski (R) YES
Senators from Arizona
Dennis DeConcini (D) YES
John McCain (R) YES
Senators from Arkansas
David Pryor (D) YES
Dale Bumpers (D) YES
Senators from California
Diane Feinstein (D) YES
Jerry Brown (D) YES
Senators from Colorado
Hank Brown (R) YES
Dick Lamm (D) YES
Senators from Connecticut
Joe Lieberman (D) YES
Chris Dodd (D) YES
Senators from Delaware
William Roth (R) YES
Joe Biden (D) YES
Senators from Florida
Connie Mack III (R) YES
Buddy MacKay (D) YES
Senators from Georgia
Sam Nunn (D) YES
Wyche Fowler (D) YES
Senators from Hawaii
Daniel Akaka (D) YES
Daniel Inouye (D) YES
Senators from Idaho
Larry Craig (R) YES
Dirk Kempthorne (R) YES
Senators from Illinois
Paul Simon (D) YES
Carol Moseley Braun (D) YES
Senators from Indiana
Richard Lugar (R) YES
Dan Coats (R) YES
Senators from Iowa
Tom Harkin (D) YES
Chuck Grassley (R) YES
Senators from Kansas
Nancy Kassebaum (R) YES
Bob Dole (R) YES
Senators from Kentucky
Mitch McConnell (R) YES
Wendell Ford (D) YES
Senators from Louisiana
J. Bennett Johnston (D) YES
John Breaux (D) YES
Senators from Maine
George J. Mitchell (D) YES
William Cohen (R) YES
Senators from Maryland
Paul Sarbanes (D) YES
Barbara Mikulski (D) ABSENT
Senators from Massachusetts
Ted Kennedy (D) YES
John Kerry (D) YES
Senators from Michigan
Donald Riegle (D) YES
Carl Levin (D) YES
Senators from Minnesota
David Durenberger (R) YES
Paul Wellstone (DFL) YES
Senators from Mississippi
Trent Lott (R) YES
Thad Cochran (R) YES
Senators from Missouri
John Danforth (R) YES
Kit Bond (R) YES
Senators from Montana
Conrad Burns (R) YES
Max Baucus (D) YES
Senators from Nebraska
Bob Kerrey (D) YES
J. James Exon (D) YES
Senators from Nevada
Richard Bryan (D) YES
Harry Reid (D) YES
Senators from New Hampshire
Bob Smith (R) YES
Judd Gregg (R) YES
Senators from New Jersey
Frank Lautenberg (D) YES
Bill Bradley (D) YES
Senators from New Mexico
Jeff Bingaman (D) YES
Pete Domenici (R) ABSENT
Senators from New York
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D) YES
Geraldine Ferraro (D) YES
Senators from North Carolina
Jesse Helms (R) NO
Lauch Faircloth (R) YES
Senators from North Dakota
Kent Conrad (D) YES
Byron Dorgan (D) YES
Senators from Ohio
Howard Metzenbaum (D) YES
John Glenn (D) YES
Senators from Oklahoma
David Boren (D) YES
Don Nickles (R) NO
Senators from Oregon
Mark Hatfield (R) YES
Bob Packwood (R) YES
Senators from Pennsylvania
Harris Wofford (D) YES
Arlen Specter (R) YES
Senators from Rhode Island
John Chafee (R) YES
Claiborne Pell (D) YES
Senators from South Carolina
Strom Thurmond (R) ABSENT
Fritz Hollings (D) YES
Senators from South Dakota
Larry Pressler (R) YES
Tom Daschle (D) YES
Senators from Tennessee
Jim Sasser (D) YES
Al Gore (D) YES
Senators from Texas
Ross Perot (REF) YES
Phil Gramm (R) YES
Senators from Utah
Orrin Hatch (R) YES
Bob Bennett (R) ABSENT
Senators from Vermont
Jim Jeffords (R) YES
Patrick Leahy (D) YES
Senators from Virginia
Chuck Robb (D) YES
John Warner (R) YES
Senators from Washington
Slade Gorton (R) YES
Leo Thorness (R) YES
Senators from West Virginia
Robert Byrd (D) YES
Jay Rockefeller (D) YES
Senators from Wisconsin
Herb Kohl (D) ABSENT
Bob Kasten (R) YES
Senators from Wyoming
Malcolm Wallop (R) YES
Alan Simpson (R) YES
Jose Cabranes would be sworn in by Justice Harry Blackmun at the beginning of August. Initially seen as one of the liberal members of the court like Blackmun, Stevens, and Souter, Cabranes would drift to the center and become viewed as a liberal-leaning Anthony Kennedy.
It's no wonder why, looking at his opinions nowadays.
The last event of significant note this year would be the Florida Special Senate election. It was a true mess to behold. Democratic State Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner, and Fire Marshall, Bill Nelson and Republican Congressman Cliff Stearns would face off for the seat left by Vice President Bob Graham. The race would be complicated when the Reform Party put up a candidate. Out of retirement stepped 79 year old former drug company CEO and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Eckerd. Eckerd said he had been inspired by the Independent Convention held last year and decided to join the Reform Party, not to win, but to inspire others to get involved. The race would get closer than anybody ever expected it to, with Bill Nelson soundly elected Senator from Florida.
Other interesting races would include:
Republican Christine Todd Whitman would narrowly defeat incumbent Jim Folio to become the next Governor of New Jersey.
Republican Peter Ueberroth became Mayor of Los Angeles, defeating Democrat Michael Woo in a runoff.
Republican Rudy Giuliani became Mayor of New York City, narrowly defeating incumbent Mayor David Dinkins.
Reform Party member David Wittig wins his race for the Kansas State Senate (36% to 34% to 28%), becoming the first Reform Party politician elected after Ross Perot.