The American Presidential Election of 1996

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The 53rd episode in a very long series about the American presidential elections from 1788 to the present. In 1996, Bill Clinton tries to be the first Democrat since FDR to win re-election. #mrbeat #presidentialelectionsinamericanhistory #elections

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The 53rd Presidential election in American history took place on November 5, 1996. It featured a dude from Kansas, a dude from Arkansas, and another dude from Texas.

At first, it wasn’t looking so good for Bill Clinton. He faced the Republican Revolution of 1994, in which the Republican Party took control of both houses of Congress and state governments in a long time. In fact, this was the first time Republicans held the majority in the House of Representatives in 40 years. Clinton also hadn’t held up to promises to cut taxes and reduce the deficit. Plus, he wanted to take away the 2nd amendment. Oh I joke! But seriously, he signed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which didn’t get him many friends with the National Rifle Association.

However, the economy was getting better, and the United States was the only superpower left on the world stage, so we were like, “What’s up, now, world?” Clinton maybe had a chance. He and Al Gore were easily renominated.

Many Republicans fought for the nomination, but the top three contenders were Steve Forbes, a publishing executive from New Jersey, Pat Buchanan, who still had strong support despite his losing effort in 1992, and Bob Dole, the Kansas Senator who ran back in 1988. Steve Forbes stood out as a dude who really pushed for a flat income tax. Pat Buchanan was the paleoconservative type, kind of like Alex Jones but not as crazy. Dole, who was more moderate and more of an establishment type, of course won the nomination, with Buchanan coming in second and Steve Forbes coming in third. Dole picked Jack Kemp, a former Representative from New York, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and former professional football player, as his running mate.

And Texas billionaire Ross Perot was back. He and his supporters created a new political party called the Reform Party. Perot originally did not want to run again, but after the Federal Election Commission said that the Reform Party would only get federal matching funds if Perot ran, Perot changed his mind and entered the race. However, the Commission on Presidential Debates, made up of only Democrats and Republicans by the way, arbitrarily changed its rules for the 1996 debates to not include Perot. Many argue that because he wasn’t invited to the debates his poll numbers were also hurt. Perot’s running mate was Pat Choate, an economist from Texas

But Bill Clinton and Bob Dole were allowed to debate. Age seemed to be an issue with the campaigns. Dole, who was 73 years old, had to fight off the perception that he was an old fogy, out of touch with the issues. He mistakenly referred to the Los Angeles Dodgers as the “Brooklyn Dodgers,” even though the the Dodgers left Brooklyn 38 years earlier. At a stop in California, he fell off a stage. However, to show everyone he was healthy, Dole released his medical records, and he even joked that the reason why he fell was that he was just trying to do the Macarena. Dole tried to use his age to his advantage, arguing that he came from the great generation that won World War 2, while his opponent, Clinton, was just a spoiled Baby Boomer.

While Clinton didn’t directly attack Dole about his age, Clinton did question the age of Dole’s ideas. Oh snap!