ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the central acts and events of the Clinton presidency. It deals with an overview of presidential power itself, conducted through the work of two leading scholars of the presidency, Richard Neustadt and Charles O. Jones. The chapter focuses on President Clinton and his conduct of the three most critical aspects of public policy: budgetary policy, domestic policy and foreign policy. The critical phrase surely is 'at the mercy of his personal approach', for it summarizes the Neustadt concept of the presidency so aptly. The Clinton presidency has, in many ways, been a story of three budgets. A complex package was agreed in August 1997 that included a set of tax credits, some specific and targeted spending cuts and the protection of expenditure in Clinton's priority programmes. The Clinton scheme was withdrawn from congressional consideration in August 1994 without a vote on the floor of either chamber.
