The Legacy of Bill Clinton

As America observes the current and future proceedings in Washington D.C. concerning President Clinton, one cannot but help to think "what will Clinton's place in history be?" I have my ideas about his legacy, and I don't think that it is a good one.

The major problem for Clinton is that for the next two-plus years, he is nothing more than a lame-duck president. Most presidents eventually fall into the lame duck mode, but for the most part it doesn't happen until near the end of their term (which may be the case for Clinton here...but we'll just have to wait and see on that one). There is virtually no way that Clinton will be anything but a lame-duck for the rest of his term.

Clinton has already lost most of his power. Republicans refuse to help him, and many Democrats have jumped ship instead of taking the lemming path and falling over the cliff with Clinton. If Clinton is censured, what power will he have then? The basic answer to that is none. A censured President would be nothing more than a walking media-fest (although Clinton is almost there now).

So maybe to be more fair to the overall legacy of Clinton, we should example the first five-plus years of his administration. If you look at that, then Clinton would be considered a decent president at best.

Granted, he passed many of his bills in the begining, but for his first two years in office, he had a Democratic Congress. After the Republican Revolution of 1994, Clinton didn't have the benefit of a Democratic Congress, and then many of his progams and bills failed (see Midnight Basketball and National Health Care).

So, what is the legacy of Clinton? Mostly, his legacy is that of caretaker. Eventually, all he will be seen as is someone who kept the chair warm in the Oval Office, and the coffee brewing for the guests of the Lincoln Bedroom. So perhaps, Clinton should settle for the role of "decent president" and get out before that role is revised. And that's the real deal.