ABSTRACT
It was an ambitious agenda that Bill Clinton and his team brought to the White House on January 20, 1993. But they would face formidable obstacles. Early in the administration, there would be a signal success in passing the critically important budget bill—if by a hair-thin margin and only after significant revisions. It was a major step in reviving the economy and building that bridge to the new millennium. And there would be another legislative victory in the trade bills Clinton championed—like the budget bill, controversial but essential action in stimulating the coming economic boom. But both would play a central role in the political defeats of 1994.
