In 1993, when Bill Clinton was inaugurated, I was living just
outside Washington, DC in Takoma Park, MD., working as a writer and
editor for an advocacy organization. As the first Democratic president
in 12 years, Clinton's election was greatly celebrated by the party
faithful. Expectations were high. We hosted about a dozen friends and
family members for the event. My mother wrote a letter to friends and
family describing her experience, which I think still captures the
spiritual experience of attending an inaugural. Click to read it.
Within a few months of Clinton's inaugural, Time placed on its cover, "The Incredibly Shrinking President,"
depicting Clinton as squandering good will by making too many dumb
mistakes and strategic errors. His sloppy and disorganized staff did
not properly vet numerous cabinet nominees and focused on extremely
controversial and marginal issues like "gays in the military,"
instituting the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which pleased few, not
even gays in the military. After a disastrous midterm election in 1994,
in which his party lost control of the Congress, he rebuilt his
presidency, but in my view, despite his enormous political talents, he
never lived up to the grand hopes of those early days.
