When you think back to the president of the USA in 1998, your brain probably jumps straight to a blue dress, a grand jury, and the word "impeachment." It makes sense. That year was a chaotic, televised soap opera that felt like it would never end. But honestly? If you only remember the scandal, you’re missing about 80% of what was actually happening in the country. 1998 was a year of massive contradictions. The economy was absolutely screaming. The internet was moving from a nerd hobby to a household necessity. We were at peace, mostly.
Bill Clinton was sitting in the Oval Office, juggling a budget surplus—the first one in a generation—while simultaneously fighting for his political life. It was weird. One day the news would talk about record-low unemployment, and the next, they’d be analyzing the legal definition of the word "is."
The Economic High of the President of the USA in 1998
Let's talk money. In 1998, the United States was in the middle of the longest economic expansion in its history. Clinton was the president of the USA in 1998 who finally saw the books balance. For the first time since 1969, the federal government had a budget surplus of $69 billion. People were feeling rich. Or at least, they felt like they were going to be rich soon.
The dot-com bubble hadn't popped yet. It was inflating at a terrifying speed, but back then, it just felt like magic. Companies with no profits were seeing their stock prices triple in a week. Clinton leaned into this. He pushed for "New Democrat" policies that were kinda fiscally conservative but socially liberal. It worked for the time. Unemployment dropped to 4.5%. It was a vibe of pure optimism, which made the political drama feel even more jarring.
The Monica Lewinsky Scandal and the Starr Report
You can't write about 1998 without mentioning Kenneth Starr. He was the Independent Counsel who had been digging into Clinton for years, originally starting with a real estate deal called Whitewater. By January 1998, the focus shifted. News broke about an affair between Clinton and a young White House intern named Monica Lewinsky.
Clinton denied it. Famously. He looked into a camera and told the American people he "did not have sexual relations with that woman."
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He was lying.
By August, he had to admit it. The Starr Report was released in September, and it was... graphic. It wasn't just a legal document; it was a cultural explosion. It contained details that people weren't used to seeing in government papers. The House of Representatives eventually impeached him in December for perjury and obstruction of justice. He was only the second president in history to face that.
Why his approval ratings actually went up
Here is the kicker: despite the scandal, Clinton’s approval rating hit 73% in late 1998. That's insane. Most politicians would be ruined, but the public seemed to separate his personal failings from his job performance. People liked their 401(k)s. They liked that the Cold War was over. They basically told Congress, "We don't care about his private life; just keep the economy running."
Foreign Policy: The Shadows of 9/11
While the media was obsessed with the scandal, the president of the USA in 1998 was dealing with a rising threat that most Americans weren't paying attention to yet. This was the year of the Embassy bombings. In August, Al-Qaeda attacked U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing hundreds.
Clinton responded with Operation Infinite Reach. He ordered cruise missile strikes on Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan. Some critics at the time accused him of "Wag the Dog"—a reference to a movie where a president fakes a war to distract from a sex scandal.
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Looking back, we know it wasn't a distraction. It was the beginning of a conflict that would define the next two decades. But in 1998, it was just a blip on the evening news between updates on the impeachment hearings.
The Good Friday Agreement
One of Clinton's genuine "expert-level" wins happened in April 1998. The Good Friday Agreement. For decades, Northern Ireland had been torn apart by "The Troubles"—a bloody, sectarian conflict. Clinton, along with George Mitchell, worked tirelessly to broker peace. It’s arguably his greatest foreign policy achievement. It showed a version of the president of the USA in 1998 that was disciplined, diplomatic, and focused. It’s a stark contrast to the guy we saw in the deposition tapes.
Life in 1998: The Context of a Presidency
To understand the presidency then, you have to understand the world. Google was founded in 1998. Titanic won 11 Oscars. The iMac G3 (the translucent blue one) was released. Everything felt shiny and new.
Clinton fit that aesthetic. He was the first Boomer president. He played the saxophone on TV. He ate McDonald's. He felt "modern" in a way that previous presidents didn't. Even during the impeachment, he managed to seem like he was moving forward.
Legislative Grinding
Even with the chaos, some stuff actually got done:
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- The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed. It basically created the rules for the internet we use today.
- Tobacco companies agreed to a $206 billion settlement with states.
- The International Space Station began its assembly in orbit.
It wasn't a stagnant year. It was a year of hyper-productivity masked by a circus.
What we can learn from the 1998 Presidency
The biggest takeaway from Bill Clinton's 1998 is that a presidency is never just one thing. It's a messy overlap of personal choices, economic cycles, and global shifts. Clinton survived 1998 because he was a political survivor, but also because the country was fundamentally stable enough to weather the storm.
If you want to understand this era better, don't just read the scandal headlines. Look at the budget numbers. Look at the peace treaties in the Balkans and Ireland. Look at the rise of the internet. That's where the real history is hidden.
Actionable Next Steps for Further Research:
- Visit the Clinton Presidential Library Online: Their digital archives have the actual daily schedules from 1998. It is wild to see him meeting with world leaders and then immediately meeting with his legal team.
- Read the Good Friday Agreement: Specifically, look at the role of the U.S. as a neutral mediator. It’s a masterclass in diplomacy that is still studied today.
- Analyze the 1998 Midterm Results: Usually, the president's party loses seats in a midterm. In 1998, the Democrats actually gained seats in the House. Researching why that happened will give you a deep dive into the public's psyche at the time.
- Watch the 1998 State of the Union: This was delivered just days after the Lewinsky scandal broke. Watch how Clinton ignores the elephant in the room and focuses entirely on policy. It's a fascinating study in "compartmentalization."