On the Pulse of Morning

The inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1993 represented a new era in American politics, culture, and life. While incredible change had happened over the past 20 years, Clinton’s election signaled the beginning of 1990s American culture. It also marked a distinct break from the 1970s and 1980s, as Republicans and conservativism had—the brief Presidency of Jimmy Carter aside–dominated American politics since the election of Richard Nixon in 1968.

Ronald Reagan’s two-term presidency defined American political life in the 1980s, and with him came a very conservative, Cold War era. His successor, George H. W. Bush, continued many of Reagan’s policies and maintained the same national temperament. Even though the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the USSR dissolved in 1991, the real shift out of Cold War mentality took a few years to take hold in America, and with remnants of the Reagan administration still in power, this shift did not occur politically for some time.

But Clinton represented a new era. He was relatively young when he was elected and the first Baby Boomer president. He was also a popular candidate across racial lines, winning nearly 75% of the Black vote during the Democratic primary leading up to the general election.