The Nineties: A Book

by Chuck Klosterman

Clinton made mistakes. As years have passed and society has shifted, those mistakes seem worse and worse. There’s growing evidence that his overall legacy will be closer to the portrait painted by Gingrich, radio host Rush Limbaugh, and other conservative critics widely viewed as obsessive and unfair for most of the nineties. One can imagine a not-so-distant future when an indoctrinated young progressive will learn about Clinton and wonder how and why this man was twice elected president. Yet when Clinton was the president, the country seemed good, economically and otherwise. He was clever and competent. He loved the job and the responsibilities that came with it. Clinton instinctually reflected the ambivalence of the era in an optimistic way. Relative to the rest of the twentieth century, the nineties were a good time to be president, and he was a good president for good times.