0:00:02 > 0:00:04"We interrupt the regular programme for an extraordinary moment
0:00:04 > 0:00:06"in the history of the United States.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10"A short while ago, President Clinton's staff
0:00:10 > 0:00:13"came to tell us that he was going to come to the Rose Garden now
0:00:13 > 0:00:16"and make some remarks.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18"Peter, the President will make another attempt
0:00:18 > 0:00:20"to say he's sorry about what he's caused."
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Bill Clinton had come into office
0:00:27 > 0:00:31with notions of an heroic Presidency...
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Good afternoon.
0:00:32 > 0:00:37..but on the afternoon of December 11th, 1998,
0:00:37 > 0:00:39he came to the Rose Garden of the White House
0:00:39 > 0:00:41to apologise to the American people.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45I am profoundly sorry
0:00:45 > 0:00:47for all I have done wrong
0:00:47 > 0:00:48in words and deeds.
0:00:51 > 0:00:52I never should have misled
0:00:52 > 0:00:54the country, the Congress,
0:00:54 > 0:00:56my friends or my family.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Quite simply, I gave in to my shame.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07"It's almost as if all of this was just too easy for him."
0:01:08 > 0:01:12It's almost as if he had to set up
0:01:12 > 0:01:16these barriers that he could then
0:01:16 > 0:01:20leap across, or stagger across,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23but get across in any event, always.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26I'm going to give you this election back and if you'll give it to me,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29I won't be like George Bush, I'll never forget who gave me a second chance
0:01:29 > 0:01:33and I'll be there for you till the last dog dies.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35And I want you to remember that!
0:01:35 > 0:01:37'How many second chances, right?
0:01:37 > 0:01:41'How many second chances does any one person deserve?'
0:01:41 > 0:01:44Clinton's view is - as many second chances as
0:01:44 > 0:01:46a person is willing to try to take.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49You know? I mean, as many times as you fail,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52don't you deserve the chance to redeem yourself?
0:01:52 > 0:01:54Isn't history loaded with people who have fallen and gotten up,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and fallen and gotten up and done great things?
0:01:57 > 0:02:01We will together build a bridge to the 21st century wide enough
0:02:01 > 0:02:05and strong enough to take us to America's best days.
0:02:05 > 0:02:06Will you do that?
0:02:08 > 0:02:13There's a stick-to-it-iveness about him that's just phenomenal.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16An abiding belief that if he can just have enough time,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18he can win over just about anybody.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23The central repetitive theme
0:02:23 > 0:02:25of Bill Clinton's life
0:02:25 > 0:02:27is loss and recovery.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32Never count him out because, always,
0:02:32 > 0:02:33he will find his way back.
0:02:33 > 0:02:39I end tonight where it all began for me.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44I still believe in a place called Hope.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Where does it come from?
0:02:49 > 0:02:52The unwillingness to quit on himself,
0:02:52 > 0:02:55on the things he believed in, on the people he cared about.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57He disappoints them every time on some level,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00but he always gets up and tries to make it better.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02You know, what else can you ask from a sinner?
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Success, misjudgment,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08in some cases catastrophe,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11followed by comeback,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13that resilience is central to
0:03:13 > 0:03:15who he is as a politician.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18I think it's central to who he is as a man.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33He would emerge from the political backwaters of Arkansas,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35"like a country tornado," one newspaper wrote.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37- What's your name?- Francis.
0:03:37 > 0:03:38A political natural
0:03:38 > 0:03:40unlike anyone had seen in a generation.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42But in the winter of 1992,
0:03:42 > 0:03:48as Bill Clinton began campaigning for President in New Hampshire,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50he was still a relative unknown,
0:03:50 > 0:03:55eager to win over voters and his young campaign staff.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57'It was just so clear'
0:03:57 > 0:04:01that he was an exceptionally talented politician
0:04:01 > 0:04:03from the kind of get-go.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06How do you get the ideas we develop in America
0:04:06 > 0:04:09into manufacturing jobs here? There are literally...
0:04:09 > 0:04:12'His ability to adapt, his ability to walk into a room,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14'to size up an issue, to understand...'
0:04:14 > 0:04:16I've never seen a candidate,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19I've never seen a human being who,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22with the most limited briefing, can understand the dimensions,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25the parameters, the nuances of everything,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28of any kind of a policy or political problem.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31All right, Bill!
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Throughout New Hampshire - in union halls, truck stops and diners -
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Clinton heard stories of depressed wages and vanishing jobs,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42as the state and the nation
0:04:42 > 0:04:44struggled to emerge from a recession.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Ten years ago, we had the highest wages in the world,
0:04:48 > 0:04:49now we're tenth, and dropping.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52What else do you think we ought to do?
0:04:52 > 0:04:57The mostly white working-class voters
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Clinton met in New Hampshire, like those in his own state of Arkansas,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04had been fleeing the Democratic Party for years.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08'Bill Clinton knew that the Democrats were not going to regain
0:05:08 > 0:05:11'the presidency until they re-established a connection with'
0:05:11 > 0:05:13these middle class and lower-middle class voters
0:05:13 > 0:05:18who had been attracted to Republican politicians
0:05:18 > 0:05:20and to conservative ideas.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26For nearly a decade, as he rose through the ranks of Democratic politics,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29Clinton had been honing a message
0:05:29 > 0:05:32to win back these so-called "Reagan Democrats".
0:05:32 > 0:05:35The entire thrust of the traditional Democratic Party
0:05:35 > 0:05:39was based on entitlements and endowments.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42They would bestow money on people.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Bill Clinton's incredibly bold idea
0:05:45 > 0:05:49was to change the grant to a transaction -
0:05:49 > 0:05:52we'll give you something, but we demand something back.
0:05:52 > 0:05:53The way he would phrase it is,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56"We'll give you opportunity, but you have to take responsibility."
0:05:56 > 0:05:59If you want the right to receive welfare benefits,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02you have to assume the responsibility to get educated,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05to have job training and to go to work if you can do it.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10Preaching his "New Democrat" message in New Hampshire,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Clinton began to catch fire.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15People say I'm not a real Democrat
0:06:15 > 0:06:18and I say I'm against brain-dead politics in both parties.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22By mid-January, he'd pulled ahead of his strongest competitors
0:06:22 > 0:06:24and into the lead.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Then, with just weeks to go, it all seemed to fall apart.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton
0:06:34 > 0:06:37is again denying a report of an extra-marital affair.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40The report is in the Star, the supermarket tabloid...
0:06:40 > 0:06:46'The first time I heard of Gennifer Flowers was a rumour.'
0:06:46 > 0:06:49I mean, the rumours of him messing around were out there,
0:06:49 > 0:06:53and the stories were out there.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56And it was something that his handlers talked about.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59You know, "How are we going to deal with this if it actually happens?"
0:06:59 > 0:07:03I would like to introduce my client to you - Gennifer Flowers.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07'At first, nobody was really that worried about it.
0:07:07 > 0:07:08'But then the woman appeared.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13'And not only did the woman appear, but she was a lounge singer.'
0:07:13 > 0:07:16And everybody thought, "Oh, yeah, absolutely." And she had tapes.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19- RECORDING:- I didn't think it would start this quickly,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22but I think, Bill, you're being naive
0:07:22 > 0:07:26- if you think that these other shows...- I expect them
0:07:26 > 0:07:29to come looking into it and interview you and everything,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33but I think that if everybody is on record denying it,
0:07:33 > 0:07:34you got no problem.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38At first, Clinton's response to the scandal was evasive.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40She did call me,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42I never initiated any calls to her,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44and whenever she called me,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46she basically wanted reassurance...
0:07:46 > 0:07:49'There was this growing sense of scepticism in the press'
0:07:49 > 0:07:51that this guy was just a big phoney.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54I mean, he was too slick.
0:07:54 > 0:08:01He was too smooth. And he would lawyer answers to questions.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04I said, "That's not true. Even if your name gets used,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06"in the absence of proof,
0:08:06 > 0:08:08"nobody can prove you're guilty, don't worry about it..."
0:08:08 > 0:08:12The press called him Slick Willie, and it stuck.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15'The general thinking was that he was dead.'
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Politicians didn't survive this thing.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22As many began to abandon Clinton,
0:08:22 > 0:08:26one person rose strongly to his defence.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Bill Clinton is a smart guy, a very smart guy.
0:08:32 > 0:08:33But he will tell you
0:08:33 > 0:08:37that Hillary is much smarter than he is.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40She's much tougher than he is.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43She is more of a pragmatist.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46If Clinton is a dreamer,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Hillary is Miss Reality.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52She raised him up and said, "Look.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54"Get that pity out of your body,
0:08:54 > 0:08:56"and all that defeatism
0:08:56 > 0:08:58"out of your back,
0:08:58 > 0:09:00"let's deal with this issue,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02"and let's move on to the next issue."
0:09:02 > 0:09:04At the height of the scandal,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08millions tuned in to see Bill Clinton answer questions
0:09:08 > 0:09:10on the CBS show 60 Minutes.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13But it was Hillary who stole the show.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16You know, I'm not sitting here, some little woman,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18standing by my man like Tammy Wynette.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20I'm sitting here because I love him
0:09:20 > 0:09:24and I respect him, and I honour what he's been through,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26and what we've been through together,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and if that's not enough for people, then heck, don't vote for him!
0:09:29 > 0:09:33'By praising him, defending him,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35'attacking the press,'
0:09:35 > 0:09:38she brought Clinton back from the dead.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41How do you think it went, Governor? You think you answered the questions?
0:09:41 > 0:09:43We did our best. We feel good about it.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45The American people are the judges now, we'll let them judge.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49'So you can see why he was so attached to her,'
0:09:49 > 0:09:52because she had the power to save him.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02The partnership of Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham
0:10:02 > 0:10:05began at Yale Law School in 1971.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07Clinton was fresh from a Rhodes scholarship
0:10:07 > 0:10:09at Oxford University in England
0:10:09 > 0:10:13and already planning a career in politics.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Bill loved to discuss issues.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17He loved to be at the centre of discussions.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19He, in a way, loved to perform.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21He wasn't a great student.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24He was there to make connections.
0:10:24 > 0:10:30Hillary was so much more obviously intellectual.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Her power was so much more disciplined than his.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37She was a leader. She was a doer.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40Bill eyed Hillary for weeks,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42before the two finally met
0:10:42 > 0:10:45during one of his rare visits to the library.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48He was totally blown away by
0:10:48 > 0:10:51how confident and challenging she was.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57Here he is - this tall, gorgeously handsome hick,
0:10:57 > 0:10:59with Elvis sideburns
0:10:59 > 0:11:01and high-water pants.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03She's the one who crosses the room,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05holds out her hand and says,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07"If you're going to keep staring at me
0:11:07 > 0:11:09"and I'm going to keep looking back at you,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11"we'd better get to know each other."
0:11:11 > 0:11:16Bill Clinton, who always had lots of girlfriends,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19looked at Hillary and said, "I've never had a girlfriend like that.
0:11:19 > 0:11:25"I can't believe that somebody as smart and as virtuous as Hillary,
0:11:25 > 0:11:27"that she wants to be with me."
0:11:27 > 0:11:32Hillary looked at Bill Clinton - outgoing, popular,
0:11:32 > 0:11:34successful - and thinks,
0:11:34 > 0:11:38"I can't believe that somebody like that wants to be with me."
0:11:38 > 0:11:39And I think they're both
0:11:39 > 0:11:43kind of mystified that the other person is attracted to them.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Hillary graduated from Yale in 1973,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51and soon landed a coveted job in Washington
0:11:51 > 0:11:54with the House Committee investigating the Watergate scandal.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00One night, she said she wanted to introduce me to somebody
0:12:00 > 0:12:03who's going to come up to visit her the next day, I think.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06She says, "His name is Bill Clinton."
0:12:06 > 0:12:08I said, "Oh, what does he do?"
0:12:08 > 0:12:10She said, "Well, he graduated Yale Law School
0:12:10 > 0:12:12"and he's from Arkansas,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14"and he's going back to Arkansas."
0:12:14 > 0:12:17I said, "Oh, well, that's fine.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20"What law firm is he going to?" She said, "Oh, no, no.
0:12:20 > 0:12:21"He's not going to go to a law firm.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23"He's thinking of running for office."
0:12:23 > 0:12:26I said, "He just graduated Yale Law School.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28"What's he thinking of running for?"
0:12:28 > 0:12:29"He's running for Congress."
0:12:29 > 0:12:33I said, "Well, it's kind of premature. How old is he, 26, 27?"
0:12:33 > 0:12:35She said, "Oh, no, he's going to run for Congress
0:12:35 > 0:12:39"and he thinks he's going to win, and I think he's going to win.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42"In fact, Bernie, he's going to go past Congress.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46"He's going to be a senator or a governor.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48"He's going to be President of the United States."
0:12:50 > 0:12:53William Jefferson Clinton was born in Hope, Arkansas
0:12:53 > 0:12:56on August 19th, 1946.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59His mother, Virginia Cassidy, was a nurse,
0:12:59 > 0:13:04outgoing and vivacious. His father, Bill Blythe,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07a charming travelling salesman whom he would never know.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10When Virginia was six months pregnant,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14her husband's car flipped over on a rain-slicked highway.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16The accident killed him.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22"My father left me with the feeling that I had to live for two people,"
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Clinton would write.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28"If I did well enough, somehow, I could make up for the life he should have had."
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Four years after her husband's death,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37Virginia married a raffish Buick salesman named Roger Clinton.
0:13:37 > 0:13:43The couple moved with six-year-old Billy to Roger's hometown -
0:13:43 > 0:13:45Hot Springs, Arkansas.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52If Hope was a sleepy Baptist town,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Hot Springs was the opposite.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59A rollicking resort, attracting people from across the country
0:13:59 > 0:14:02to its mineral pools and gambling parlours.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09Outwardly, Clinton enjoyed a happy small-town American childhood.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13But inside his gabled house on Park Avenue,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16he was leading a far more turbulent life.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21His parents' relationship had deteriorated into serial affairs
0:14:21 > 0:14:25and screaming matches that reverberated through the thin walls.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29As Roger Clinton descended into alcoholism,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32he grew more and more violent,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34beating Virginia in front of Bill
0:14:34 > 0:14:36and young Roger Jr.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41"My life was full of uncertainty and anger," Clinton would recall,
0:14:41 > 0:14:45"and a dread of ever-looming violence."
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Most of his buddies had no clue.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53They saw Bill Clinton as a happy-go-lucky guy.
0:14:53 > 0:14:59They didn't see the turmoil that was raging within that family.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03He decided to pretend it didn't exist.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05To pretend that everything was all right.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09To go to church, you know, with his Bible under his arm,
0:15:09 > 0:15:13and be sunny and energetic,
0:15:13 > 0:15:14and positive,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18and simply not accept it.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28With fierce enthusiasm,
0:15:28 > 0:15:32Clinton threw himself into his life outside his home.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Hot Springs High
0:15:34 > 0:15:36had never seen anything like him.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39National merit scholar semi-finalist.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42First chair in the Arkansas State Band.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Student government leader.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49By his senior year, he held so many honours that the Principal
0:15:49 > 0:15:53barred him from running for Class President.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Bill Clinton always found himself
0:15:56 > 0:16:00trying to redeem and rescue his family.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02Part of doing that is to sort of...
0:16:02 > 0:16:07put yourself in the position of rescuing not just your family,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10but everybody, including yourself, by doing good.
0:16:12 > 0:16:19By the early 1960s, Bill Clinton's generation had a new hero.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22President John F Kennedy's youth and charisma
0:16:22 > 0:16:25reached all the way to Arkansas
0:16:25 > 0:16:31and sparked the teenager's idealism with a call to public service.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36Ask not what your country can do for you,
0:16:36 > 0:16:38ask what you can do for your country!
0:16:38 > 0:16:40CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:16:40 > 0:16:47We loved living in a time when JFK was President.
0:16:47 > 0:16:54He was so young, he made public service seem accessible,
0:16:54 > 0:17:00so if we had ever entertained thoughts of a life in public service,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04he made it seem all the more possible.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10In 1963, Bill Clinton travelled to Washington
0:17:10 > 0:17:12as a delegate to Boys Nation,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15a programme for aspiring future leaders.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18During a visit to the White House,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21he rushed to the front of the line to shake his idol's hand.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25It's a moment that is just
0:17:25 > 0:17:29emblazoned in your mind.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34To have a President of the United States look you in the eye,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38take your hand, speak to you...
0:17:38 > 0:17:41the world stops.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49Bill said to me, "We will never forget that, will we?
0:17:49 > 0:17:51"We will never forget that."
0:17:56 > 0:17:58A decade later,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02after leaving Arkansas to study at Georgetown, Oxford, and Yale,
0:18:02 > 0:18:07Clinton returned home to begin his own long march to the White House.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Bill Clinton went back to Arkansas for politics, pure and simple.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16He knew the people there and he was of that place.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20He could see his political future,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22and that he was destined for something
0:18:22 > 0:18:25much larger than Hot Springs or Arkansas.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29In his first political race at age 28,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Clinton took on a conservative Republican Congressman
0:18:32 > 0:18:34named John Paul Hammerschmidt.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37I know that I can make a big difference
0:18:37 > 0:18:38for our district and for our people,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41if I can have the opportunity to serve them in Congress.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Few gave Clinton a chance to compete.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48It wasn't just his inexperience,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51many worried that in his time away,
0:18:51 > 0:18:55Clinton had lost touch with Arkansas and its values.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58There always has been, with him,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02a suspicion that, this guy is not to be trusted.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06This guy's too liberal for us. And he encountered that.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10But, initially in Arkansas, he just totally overpowered it
0:19:10 > 0:19:13with his charm, with his political skill,
0:19:13 > 0:19:15with his ability to connect and relate.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20In this small state, politics is art and it's entertainment,
0:19:20 > 0:19:23and he was the best we had seen.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27# There's a fellow here been talking some
0:19:27 > 0:19:30# About being our next Congressman He's a new man
0:19:30 > 0:19:32# Bill Clinton is his name... #
0:19:32 > 0:19:34For weeks on end, Clinton drove
0:19:34 > 0:19:38the back roads of north-west Arkansas, sleeping on couches,
0:19:38 > 0:19:42waking up at dawn to catch the shift change at nearby factories.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44# ..Bill Clinton's ready He's fed up too
0:19:44 > 0:19:45# He's a lot like me
0:19:45 > 0:19:48# He's a lot like you Bill Clinton wants... #
0:19:48 > 0:19:51'He's got an extra battery. After about four or five days with him,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54'I was ready to go home. I had all the fun I could stand,
0:19:54 > 0:19:56'and he would just keep going.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59'We might stop in a service station, or a restaurant, or whatever,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01'he would want to meet the cooks.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04'He would go back in the kitchen and meet everybody back there.'
0:20:04 > 0:20:08He would not leave a place, I think, where he had not met everyone.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17As Bill Clinton campaigned for Congress,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Hillary decided to follow him to Arkansas.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24She could have had lots of jobs in Washington.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Instead, she elects to go...
0:20:26 > 0:20:30not even to Little Rock, but Fayetteville, Arkansas?!
0:20:30 > 0:20:34You know, her friends thought she was absolutely mad.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36"He's just a country lawyer, what do you see in him?"
0:20:36 > 0:20:40When Hillary arrived in Arkansas,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43a Chicago-born feminist in the Deep South,
0:20:43 > 0:20:48she felt unwelcomed by Bill's campaign staff.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53I said, "Look, you know, we got enough problems here as it is."
0:20:53 > 0:20:54She comes in here and I say,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57"I don't mind her being on the inside, doing everything she does,
0:20:57 > 0:21:01"cos she's sharp as a tack, but taking her out on the road,"
0:21:01 > 0:21:05I said, "that's going to create a little bit of a question."
0:21:05 > 0:21:09And he said, "Why?" I said, "Well, she's got outcroppings of
0:21:09 > 0:21:14"where she grew up in Chicago and her parents all came from Pennsylvania."
0:21:14 > 0:21:17I said, "You know, she's never really overcome all of that
0:21:17 > 0:21:20"to get involved in what we're doing here in Arkansas."
0:21:23 > 0:21:25To make matters worse,
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Hillary had to deal with Bill's constant womanising.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33I mean, you got to understand,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36at one time, there was at least 25 women per day
0:21:36 > 0:21:40coming through there trying to find him, and I'd tell them,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43he's out on the road, you know, and they'd get out the door...
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Lord, it was bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50He draws women in
0:21:50 > 0:21:56and they are literally mesmerised by this man.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00It was absolutely like fly to honey.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02Despite Bill's infidelities,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Hillary decided to stay in Arkansas
0:22:05 > 0:22:07and dedicate herself
0:22:07 > 0:22:09to their mutual goals.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13On October 11th, 1975,
0:22:13 > 0:22:18the couple wed in a simple ceremony in their living room.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Most of the people I know
0:22:20 > 0:22:23who have been around the Clintons for a long time
0:22:23 > 0:22:25come to the conclusion that I've come to -
0:22:25 > 0:22:28the two of them are in love.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Walter Lippmann, the great columnist, said,
0:22:31 > 0:22:36"Love endures when the lovers love not just each other, but love many things together."
0:22:36 > 0:22:40That, I think, is the essence of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44They had a common love, which is for politics,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47for the game. They love it. It's their life.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53With Hillary firmly behind him,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56there was no stopping Bill Clinton.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Though he narrowly lost his Congressional bid,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03he had positioned himself as a rising star.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07The morning after he lost that Congressional race in 1974,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10he was out in the town square, shaking hands again.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14Every Democratic figure in the state
0:23:14 > 0:23:19knew that he was the next big figure in Arkansas politics.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24Two years later, he was easily elected Attorney General.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Two years after that, he ran for Governor,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31brimming with youthful confidence and ambition.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33I'm Bill Clinton, and one of the reasons I want to be Governor
0:23:33 > 0:23:36is to make sure that every child in this state
0:23:36 > 0:23:38has a chance to go to kindergarten.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43Clinton won, with more than 60% of the vote.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46I believe that if you and I together
0:23:46 > 0:23:50can practise what we preach about government,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52I know that you and I together
0:23:52 > 0:23:55want to do what is right for our people.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05In the late 1970s, most of Arkansas was poor and undeveloped.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Bill Clinton was determined to turn that around.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14Not much had been done for 150 years in Arkansas.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Spending on education, per capita income,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21our highway system was one of the worst in the country.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24So Bill Clinton comes in and he has all these ideas.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28He's going to transform the state at once.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32Feeling, as he recalled, "an urgent sense to do everything,"
0:24:32 > 0:24:37Clinton and his staff took on entrenched interests in Arkansas.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42He created new regulations, revamped rural health care,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46reorganised school districts, and took on utilities.
0:24:46 > 0:24:52Most ambitious of all was a project to fix Arkansas roads.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56It was paid for by a steep hike in taxes on car licences,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59and was a political disaster.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Every month, one twelfth of the people of Arkansas
0:25:02 > 0:25:07went down to the courthouse to renew their licence plates
0:25:07 > 0:25:12for the following year, and instead of being 19, it was 36.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16That became extremely unpopular,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20and he realised that late in the election of 1980.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22He'd go early in the morning to a factory gate
0:25:22 > 0:25:25and all these guys refused to shake his hand and they said,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29"You raised my truck tag and I'm not going to vote for you."
0:25:34 > 0:25:36After one term, Clinton ran for re-election
0:25:36 > 0:25:40against an obscure Republican businessman named Frank White,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44who pounded away at Clinton's youth and arrogance.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48He tells you he can create jobs, he's never had a job!
0:25:48 > 0:25:53To Clinton's dismay, White's tactic worked.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57I regret that I will not have two more years to serve as Governor,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00because I have loved it. I have probably loved it
0:26:00 > 0:26:04as much as any person who ever had this office.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07- APPLAUSE - Since he was a teenager,
0:26:07 > 0:26:11Bill Clinton had prepared himself to be President.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16Now, just 34, with his new baby Chelsea to support,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20he feared his political career might already be over.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29Hillary was as devastated by that defeat as Bill was,
0:26:29 > 0:26:34and as determined to make amends and figure out a way back.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38I mean, she had devoted her life
0:26:38 > 0:26:42and given up a lot to go out to Arkansas for their rise together,
0:26:42 > 0:26:47and at this very early age, it seemed like it was all vulnerable.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49So she was not going to allow that to happen.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57Hillary traded in her thick glasses for contact lenses
0:26:57 > 0:27:02and her unkempt hair for a fashionable blonde bob.
0:27:02 > 0:27:08To quiet some of her critics, she took her husband's last name.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Frustrated by what she regarded as poor advice,
0:27:11 > 0:27:15she took over her husband's re-election campaign.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18Hillary was the mastermind in that comeback.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Most of his people advised him at the time -
0:27:21 > 0:27:24don't run again, wait two years.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Hillary says, "You can come back and you can do it again."
0:27:28 > 0:27:31He didn't trust himself as much as he trusted her.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36Determined never to lose again,
0:27:36 > 0:27:42Clinton studied the results of his defeat precinct by precinct.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46He resolved to win back every single one.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49'The crowd has waited, they're ready to celebrate.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52'It's been a long two years.'
0:27:52 > 0:27:54CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:27:54 > 0:27:56If victory is ours tonight,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00I have been given something that few people get in life -
0:28:00 > 0:28:03a second chance to serve the people of Arkansas.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05APPLAUSE
0:28:05 > 0:28:07Clinton had learned from his mistakes.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Rather than take on every problem in Arkansas with his second term,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14he narrowed his focus to a single issue
0:28:14 > 0:28:16that he knew would serve the people
0:28:16 > 0:28:19and his political future - education.
0:28:19 > 0:28:25I still believe that until we have a system which guarantees competence
0:28:25 > 0:28:29in basic learning skills, we will never be able to prepare our people
0:28:29 > 0:28:32for a higher level of achievements, I don't care what else we do...
0:28:32 > 0:28:37It's a winning issue. The people are willing to go that way.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41And it's something we can get done if we focus on that.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44He has settled on the strategy.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46Now, who's the right person?
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Who's my point person? Hillary.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53We know it's a huge task,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55but we're very optimistic
0:28:55 > 0:28:58that we're going to be able to make a substantial improvement
0:28:58 > 0:28:59in what our students receive.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03She went from town to town all over Arkansas,
0:29:03 > 0:29:07met with civic groups and PTAs and school groups,
0:29:07 > 0:29:09and talked about what they wanted to do about
0:29:09 > 0:29:11improving schools in Arkansas.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13By the time it was over,
0:29:13 > 0:29:16I think she was one of the most popular people in the state.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23One legislator popped up at a hearing one day and said,
0:29:23 > 0:29:25"We elected the wrong Clinton."
0:29:25 > 0:29:28It just resurrected him.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32He needed a success and it made him the Education Governor
0:29:32 > 0:29:36at a time when education was a vital issue in the country,
0:29:36 > 0:29:40and he was able to use that to open all kinds of doors for him.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43Over the next few years,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46Clinton began to catch the attention of the media
0:29:46 > 0:29:49and national Democratic leaders,
0:29:49 > 0:29:50desperate to find a candidate
0:29:50 > 0:29:53who could loosen the Republicans' grip on the Presidency.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57He would spend a huge amount of time
0:29:57 > 0:30:01meeting with, impressing and charming his fellow Governors
0:30:01 > 0:30:03and other elected officials.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05And after a day and a night with him
0:30:05 > 0:30:08talking about philosophy and politics,
0:30:08 > 0:30:10you came away with the impression
0:30:10 > 0:30:12this was the smartest guy in the class,
0:30:12 > 0:30:14and that if you were going to have a President,
0:30:14 > 0:30:15it probably should be this guy.
0:30:15 > 0:30:21In 1987, during his fourth term as Arkansas Governor,
0:30:21 > 0:30:23Bill Clinton was finally ready
0:30:23 > 0:30:26to leap onto the national stage,
0:30:26 > 0:30:28with a long-shot run for the presidency.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30APPLAUSE
0:30:30 > 0:30:34In July, he summoned the national media to Little Rock
0:30:34 > 0:30:38for the big announcement.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42Then, abruptly, he sent them home with hardly an explanation.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46I need some family time.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49I need some personal time.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55Behind the scenes, an old weakness had come back to haunt him.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01'Just the day before the press conference
0:31:01 > 0:31:04'when he was going to announce that he was going to run, Betsey Wright,'
0:31:04 > 0:31:09his ferociously protective campaign manager,
0:31:09 > 0:31:13sat him down with a list of names of women
0:31:13 > 0:31:16and went through one after the other -
0:31:16 > 0:31:20how many times, where did you meet her,
0:31:20 > 0:31:22how likely is she to talk?
0:31:22 > 0:31:25For each name, he said, "Oh, she'll never say anything."
0:31:25 > 0:31:29And Betsey Wright said, "But you don't know that.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32"You don't understand,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34"on a national scale,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36"people will investigate it.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38"Your opponents will investigate it.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40"The media will investigate it.
0:31:40 > 0:31:46"The problem is, we're not just talking about you.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49"We're talking about your wife, Hillary.
0:31:49 > 0:31:54"We're talking about your child, Chelsea."
0:31:54 > 0:31:58She said, "I don't think you can run."
0:32:01 > 0:32:03I mean, it just became clear that night
0:32:03 > 0:32:08it was not the time for him to do it. It just was not the time. No.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12He felt for quite a while that...
0:32:12 > 0:32:16that probably was the last real chance he would ever have
0:32:16 > 0:32:19to run for President. That was it, it was over.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23You know, where would he go now that he wasn't going to run for President?
0:32:23 > 0:32:25What could he do in the future?
0:32:25 > 0:32:29I think that over the next few months,
0:32:29 > 0:32:32that became a tough time for them.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35It did put into question their whole marriage.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37And it was very unnerving to Hillary
0:32:37 > 0:32:41because she had put everything on the line
0:32:41 > 0:32:43for him to pursue the presidency,
0:32:43 > 0:32:49and if he had too much of a record of reckless behaviour to do that,
0:32:49 > 0:32:53then what had she been doing for the last 15 years?
0:32:56 > 0:33:00It is now time to place the name
0:33:00 > 0:33:04in nomination for President of the United States, Michael Dukakis.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Just when it seemed things couldn't get worse,
0:33:10 > 0:33:12Clinton was asked to give the speech
0:33:12 > 0:33:17nominating Michael Dukakis at the 1988 Democratic convention.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22I'm honoured to be here tonight to nominate my friend,
0:33:22 > 0:33:26Michael Dukakis, for President of the United States...
0:33:26 > 0:33:29'That piece was supposed to be the set piece
0:33:29 > 0:33:33'to launch him on the national stage'
0:33:33 > 0:33:35and it turned out to be something
0:33:35 > 0:33:37that almost killed his career
0:33:37 > 0:33:38before it got started.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42..I'd like to talk a little about Mike Dukakis, the man...
0:33:42 > 0:33:47The speech was going on, and on, and on.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50..Mike's old fashioned, all right.
0:33:50 > 0:33:55He's the kind of man who plays it straight and keeps his word...
0:33:55 > 0:33:56CROWD: We want Mike!
0:33:56 > 0:34:01'The crowd was just getting restless, and we said,'
0:34:01 > 0:34:03"Oh, man, we dead." Right?
0:34:05 > 0:34:09He is going by the script that the Dukakis folks has approved,
0:34:09 > 0:34:10and he has to carry it out.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13Now, I want you all to calm down,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16so I can tell the rest of the country
0:34:16 > 0:34:17why THEY should want Mike.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20'Of course, the famous thing was
0:34:20 > 0:34:23when he said "in conclusion," he got a round of applause, finally.
0:34:23 > 0:34:29In closing... CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:34:29 > 0:34:33'Linda, my wife, and I are at our house'
0:34:33 > 0:34:35and we're looking on in disbelief.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41Sometime in the wee hours, Linda wakes me up, and she says,
0:34:41 > 0:34:46"Look, he's got to go on the Carson show to make this right."
0:34:46 > 0:34:47My first question is,
0:34:47 > 0:34:52- how are you? - LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:34:56 > 0:34:58- Fine.- Fine!
0:34:58 > 0:35:01I watched the speech, um,
0:35:01 > 0:35:03and as a performer,
0:35:03 > 0:35:06I kind of felt for you, in a way. What happened?
0:35:06 > 0:35:09It just didn't work. I mean, I don't know, what can I tell you?
0:35:09 > 0:35:13I really... My sole goal was achieved, however.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18I wanted so badly to make Michael Dukakis look great,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21and I succeeded beyond my wildest expectations!
0:35:21 > 0:35:24'In an instant, he had turned it around,'
0:35:24 > 0:35:26because the next day,
0:35:26 > 0:35:29papers were full of good things
0:35:29 > 0:35:31and had kind things to say about him,
0:35:31 > 0:35:34and so it erased almost all of it in one day
0:35:34 > 0:35:37and made him more visible than he had ever been.
0:35:37 > 0:35:38It's tenor sax you play, right?
0:35:38 > 0:35:41We're going to play a short song. LAUGHTER
0:35:41 > 0:35:44'He recovers better than anybody'
0:35:44 > 0:35:46I have ever known. It's extraordinary.
0:35:49 > 0:35:56'I mean, he can have horrible things crash down upon his head,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59'but he crawls out from under it and keeps on going.'
0:36:07 > 0:36:10Four years later, in the snows of New Hampshire,
0:36:10 > 0:36:14Clinton held a comfortable lead in the Democratic primary.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16With the Gennifer Flowers scandal behind him,
0:36:16 > 0:36:20he was campaigning with the confidence of a front-runner.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26But just 12 days before the primary,
0:36:26 > 0:36:30an old letter had surfaced,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33written by Bill Clinton more than 20 years earlier
0:36:33 > 0:36:37when facing the possibility of being drafted to fight in Vietnam.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40In the letter, Clinton thanked
0:36:40 > 0:36:44Colonel Eugene Holmes "for saving me from the draft."
0:36:44 > 0:36:46Clinton's letter sounded to many
0:36:46 > 0:36:49like the confession of a draft dodger,
0:36:49 > 0:36:53and sparked a second round of attacks against his character.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55Governor, are you a draft dodger?
0:36:55 > 0:36:56Did you burn your draft card?
0:36:56 > 0:36:58No, I had a lock-cinch
0:36:58 > 0:37:00four-year deferment.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03I gave it up after less than two months
0:37:03 > 0:37:04because I didn't think it was right.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06I went back into the draft,
0:37:06 > 0:37:08then this lottery came along.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10I got a high number and I wasn't called...
0:37:10 > 0:37:13Stan Greenberg, our pollster, came in and said,
0:37:13 > 0:37:15"The bottom's fallen out."
0:37:15 > 0:37:16We dropped 18 points in a weekend
0:37:16 > 0:37:19and we didn't have that many points to start with!
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Of course I've had some problems in the polls.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23All I've been asked about by the press
0:37:23 > 0:37:26are a woman I didn't sleep with and a draft I didn't dodge.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32'I think a lot of us thought, you know, "This is over."
0:37:32 > 0:37:35'But, I mean, Clinton, he never flinched.'
0:37:35 > 0:37:38You know, he willed himself back into that race.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40How you doing? I need your help!
0:37:40 > 0:37:44For the next week, Clinton campaigned 20 hours a day,
0:37:44 > 0:37:48pushing himself to the limits of his endurance.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50We have to reject the political philosophy
0:37:50 > 0:37:52that gripped this country in the 1980s...
0:37:52 > 0:37:54With only days left, his voice ragged,
0:37:54 > 0:37:58Clinton spoke at an Elks Lodge in Dover, New Hampshire.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01..I'm going to give you this election back and if you'll give it to me,
0:38:01 > 0:38:03I won't be like George Bush. I'll never forget
0:38:03 > 0:38:04who gave me a second chance,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07and I'll be there for you till the last dog dies.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10And I want you to remember that...
0:38:10 > 0:38:14"I'll be there for you till the last dog dies."
0:38:14 > 0:38:19And we knew we'd seen one of those astonishing political performances.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23..I don't promise you a miracle, I promise you a movement.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26Let's take our country back, and see this country win again.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28Thank you very much! God bless you!
0:38:28 > 0:38:32'How many second chances, right? How many second chances
0:38:32 > 0:38:35'does any one person deserve? Clinton's view is'
0:38:35 > 0:38:39as many second chances as a person is willing to try to take.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41As many times as you fail,
0:38:41 > 0:38:44don't you deserve the chance to redeem yourself?
0:38:44 > 0:38:47Isn't history loaded with people who have fallen and gotten up,
0:38:47 > 0:38:50and fallen and gotten up, and fallen and gotten up and done great things?
0:38:50 > 0:38:52You know, who's to say?
0:38:52 > 0:38:55- You've definitely got my support.- Thank you.
0:38:55 > 0:38:56I need you tomorrow, thanks.
0:38:56 > 0:39:01On February 18th, the voters of New Hampshire went to the polls.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05Despite the one-two punch of Gennifer Flowers and the draft,
0:39:05 > 0:39:07Clinton finished a strong second
0:39:07 > 0:39:11behind former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14Let me say that...
0:39:14 > 0:39:17APPLAUSE
0:39:17 > 0:39:19..while the evening is young... LAUGHTER
0:39:19 > 0:39:25..and we don't know yet what the final tally will be,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28I think we know enough to say with some certainty
0:39:28 > 0:39:34that New Hampshire tonight has made Bill Clinton the Comeback Kid.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:39:42 > 0:39:44In the weeks to come,
0:39:44 > 0:39:47Clinton rolled up primary victory after primary victory.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50In Florida, in Tennessee, in Mississippi...
0:39:50 > 0:39:53In early June, he surpassed the number of delegates
0:39:53 > 0:39:56needed for the Democratic nomination by winning the California primary.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00The election for America's future begins tomorrow.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04It is not about me, it's about all of you.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06Even though he's winning voters over,
0:40:06 > 0:40:09and winning these primaries with bigger and bigger margins,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12the news coverage, you know, for the general electorate,
0:40:12 > 0:40:14is one of a politician
0:40:14 > 0:40:16you would never make President of the United States.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19You could not possibly trust this guy.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21A team of top campaign aides
0:40:21 > 0:40:24planned a complete overhaul of Clinton's image,
0:40:24 > 0:40:26culminating in a nostalgic film
0:40:26 > 0:40:30shown during the Democratic National Convention in New York.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33It was called A Man From Hope.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39I was born in a little town called Hope, Arkansas,
0:40:39 > 0:40:42three months after my father died.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46I remember living in that old two-storey house
0:40:46 > 0:40:48where I lived with my grandparents...
0:40:48 > 0:40:53'The film, I think, brought people back, "OK, here's who this guy is.'
0:40:53 > 0:40:57"Here is what we're really about and we really have a strong candidate."
0:40:57 > 0:40:59CHEERING
0:40:59 > 0:41:03My fellow Americans,
0:41:03 > 0:41:09I end tonight where it all began for me.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12I still believe
0:41:12 > 0:41:15in a place called Hope.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19God bless you, and God bless America!
0:41:19 > 0:41:21CHEERING
0:41:21 > 0:41:27MUSIC: "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac
0:41:27 > 0:41:32With a rock anthem from the 1970s as the campaign theme song,
0:41:32 > 0:41:36Clinton staffers positioned their candidate as the young,
0:41:36 > 0:41:39dynamic face of a new generation.
0:41:39 > 0:41:43To complete the image, Clinton chose as his running mate
0:41:43 > 0:41:46the youthful senator from Tennessee - Al Gore.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49# Don't stop... #
0:41:49 > 0:41:53'It turned the conventional wisdom on its head.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55'He believed - you don't dilute your message,
0:41:55 > 0:41:59'you put a big underline and exclamation point,
0:41:59 > 0:42:03'and this is a new generation, new ideas, a new Democratic party.'
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Totally energised the general election campaign.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09# ..Don't stop thinking about tomorrow
0:42:09 > 0:42:14# Don't stop, it'll soon be here
0:42:14 > 0:42:17- # It'll be... # - Heading into the fall,
0:42:17 > 0:42:21Clinton had surged ahead of President George HW Bush
0:42:21 > 0:42:23and third-party candidate Ross Perot.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27With the economy still faltering,
0:42:27 > 0:42:31Clinton had found his issue and his voice.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33The crowd that's running Washington today
0:42:33 > 0:42:39has had 12 years to test their economic theory and it's failed.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41The decisive event
0:42:41 > 0:42:44came in mid-October, at the second Presidential debate.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48'A woman stood up and asked a question'
0:42:48 > 0:42:50that was on a lot of people's minds.
0:42:50 > 0:42:56How has the national debt personally affected each of your lives?
0:42:56 > 0:42:59And if it hasn't, how can you honestly find
0:42:59 > 0:43:02a cure for the economic problems of the common people,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06if you have no experience in what's ailing them?
0:43:06 > 0:43:10And President Bush said - I don't get it, I don't get the question.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12Are you suggesting that if somebody has means,
0:43:12 > 0:43:15that the national debt doesn't affect them?
0:43:15 > 0:43:19- What I'm saying is...- I'm not sure I get it. Help me with the question and I'll try to answer it.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23'Clinton understood that she wasn't talking about the deficit or the debt.'
0:43:23 > 0:43:29What she was talking about was the economy and the recession.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32And the body language was absolutely crucial at that point.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34He took two steps towards her.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36Tell me how it's affected you again.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41- Um...- You know people who've lost their jobs and lost their homes?- Uh-huh.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44Well, I'll tell you how it's affected me.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48I see people in my state, middle-class people,
0:43:48 > 0:43:51their taxes have gone up in Washington and their services have gone down,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54while the wealthy have gotten tax cuts.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57I have seen what's happened in these last four years when...
0:43:57 > 0:44:02in my state, when people lose their jobs, there's a good chance I'll know them by their names...
0:44:02 > 0:44:05'That was giving the American public
0:44:05 > 0:44:08'precisely what they wanted at that point.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12'They had this brilliant foreign policy President.'
0:44:12 > 0:44:15What they needed was someone who cared about THEM
0:44:15 > 0:44:18and who was as scared about the economy as they were.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21And in that moment, he encapsulated that.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24I think what we have to do is invest in American jobs, American education...
0:44:24 > 0:44:27'He was on his way to winning,'
0:44:27 > 0:44:31but that was the deal-closer. He closed the deal.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Like a marathon runner nearing the finish line,
0:44:39 > 0:44:44Clinton spent the final 24 hours of the campaign in an all-out sprint,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47touching down in nine states.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51His voice gone, he could only wave at adoring crowds.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55'Sometime during the next half hour,
0:44:55 > 0:44:57'the man who likes to call himself the Comeback Kid,
0:44:57 > 0:44:59'Bill Clinton of Hope, Arkansas,'
0:44:59 > 0:45:05will be projected the winner of the presidential candidacy of 1992.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15Ladies and gentleman, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton!
0:45:17 > 0:45:22My fellow Americans, on this day,
0:45:22 > 0:45:26with high hopes and brave hearts,
0:45:26 > 0:45:29in massive numbers,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33the American people have voted to make a new beginning.
0:45:33 > 0:45:38'There was this joy and buoyancy
0:45:38 > 0:45:40'and he had so much promise about him.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44'Those of us who believed in Bill Clinton, and I did,'
0:45:44 > 0:45:45had a sense of,
0:45:45 > 0:45:48"Wow, this is going to be really, really good for the country."
0:45:48 > 0:45:50On a crisp January morning in 1993,
0:45:50 > 0:45:53Bill Clinton took the oath of office
0:45:53 > 0:45:56as the 42nd President of the United States.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58Promising a new start,
0:45:58 > 0:46:02he sounded the themes of change and optimism
0:46:02 > 0:46:04that had won him the White House.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world,
0:46:08 > 0:46:12but the engine of our own renewal.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15There is nothing wrong with America
0:46:15 > 0:46:21that cannot be cured by what is right with America.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27'He did have heroic visions of what he might do as President.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34'He felt that the winds of change were blowing heavily at his back
0:46:34 > 0:46:37'and that he could ride them to great, magnificent victories.'
0:46:42 > 0:46:45The harder reality was that he only won with 43% of the vote
0:46:45 > 0:46:48in a three-man race,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51and that's not exactly a heady mandate for governing.
0:46:51 > 0:46:58Clinton's victory had come despite a deep divide in the country.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02Millions had responded to his campaign message of change,
0:47:02 > 0:47:05but millions of others feared where the country was heading.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10There's a sense of him being a used car salesman,
0:47:10 > 0:47:15there's a sense of a guy being a charming hick.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18He was loathed because, first of all,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21I think we've all known somebody like Bill Clinton
0:47:21 > 0:47:23and we don't want them to be President of our country.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27And the wife was terrifying as well.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30She was pushy, she was humourless,
0:47:30 > 0:47:32she couldn't get her hair figured out.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35There were just so many things about Hillary that we didn't like!
0:47:39 > 0:47:42Despite all their education and experience,
0:47:42 > 0:47:48the Clintons were unprepared for their reception in Washington.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Is there a teleprompter?
0:47:50 > 0:47:53What are we going to do about the teleprompter? What...?
0:47:53 > 0:47:56'He had no comprehension of the rules in Washington.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59'No Governor ever elected to the presidency'
0:47:59 > 0:48:01has ever understood what they were getting into,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04and he looked more unprepared than most.
0:48:04 > 0:48:05Wait a minute...
0:48:05 > 0:48:08'His first address from the Oval Office,
0:48:08 > 0:48:10'sitting behind the desk,
0:48:10 > 0:48:12'it looked like a big mistake had happened
0:48:12 > 0:48:15'and some little kid had been allowed in there,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17'with his 12 digital watch.'
0:48:17 > 0:48:21Everything about him suggested he was not up to this.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29Clinton ran his White House as if it were an extension of the campaign,
0:48:29 > 0:48:34filling his staff with 30-year-olds with little Washington experience.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37He wanted to be part of the hurly burly,
0:48:37 > 0:48:42to hear every opinion, weigh in on every decision.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46The atmosphere in the White House
0:48:46 > 0:48:49in that first year was chaos.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52He wanted to do everything, to deal with every problem.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54He was in the middle of every conflict.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56They would have these college bull sessions
0:48:56 > 0:48:59that would go on late into the night.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02The meetings were endless, especially if Clinton was there.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04It would go on and on and on.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07He was often thinking out loud,
0:49:07 > 0:49:09making decisions on the fly,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12making a decision tentatively at midnight
0:49:12 > 0:49:15and then waking up the next morning and saying, "Let's rethink this."
0:49:15 > 0:49:21The West Wing was littered with pizza boxes and Coke cans,
0:49:21 > 0:49:24as staffers wandered freely in and out of meetings.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28It wasn't the kind of orderly process
0:49:28 > 0:49:30that Republicans brought to the table.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33It was all these discordant voices,
0:49:33 > 0:49:35informal voices,
0:49:35 > 0:49:37people who didn't even wear ties and jackets
0:49:37 > 0:49:39when they went into the Oval Office, my God!
0:49:41 > 0:49:44'You've got to be a little grand,
0:49:44 > 0:49:46'because the American people want it,
0:49:46 > 0:49:50'it's the biggest job in the world, and I think we underestimated that.'
0:49:50 > 0:49:56People felt like, "What is it, a fraternity house over there?"
0:49:56 > 0:49:57During the transition,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01Clinton had promised to focus on the economy "like a laser beam."
0:50:01 > 0:50:06But he quickly discovered how easily his focus could be deflected
0:50:06 > 0:50:08by an unscripted comment to a reporter.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10Do you intend to keep your commitment
0:50:10 > 0:50:12- to lift the ban on gays in the military?- Yes.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16I want to... I have...
0:50:16 > 0:50:19You know what, my issue on this is,
0:50:19 > 0:50:21number one, we've got a study which says that
0:50:21 > 0:50:24a lot of gays have performed with great distinction in the military.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26I don't think status alone,
0:50:26 > 0:50:32in the absence of some destructive behaviour, should disqualify people.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35Now, Bill Clinton, with his wits about him, would have said,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38"Oh, yes, I'm going to stick to my campaign pledge and,
0:50:38 > 0:50:40"in furtherance of that,
0:50:40 > 0:50:43"we're going to appoint a blue-ribbon commission that will
0:50:43 > 0:50:49"report back to my successor 100 years from now," but he didn't.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51He just said the first part.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55"I'm going to keep my campaign pledge." And all of a sudden,
0:50:55 > 0:51:00the laser-like focus on the economy was derailed to a, you know...
0:51:00 > 0:51:03a lurid issue in the minds of many people.
0:51:03 > 0:51:05Mr President, would you consider
0:51:05 > 0:51:08backing down on your view on the ban on gays in the Military?
0:51:08 > 0:51:11We're not here to discuss that. We're here to discuss the economy,
0:51:11 > 0:51:16which is all I discussed yesterday with the congressional leadership, contrary to the press reports.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18- But would you consider... - We're here to discuss the economy.
0:51:18 > 0:51:23Trapped by his own promise, Clinton attempted to lift the ban,
0:51:23 > 0:51:27but ran into heavy resistance from two allies,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Colin Powell
0:51:30 > 0:51:32and Democratic Senator Sam Nunn.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35So, you have the military leadership bucking him,
0:51:35 > 0:51:39the Democratic Congressional leaders, led by, you know,
0:51:39 > 0:51:41Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, saying no,
0:51:41 > 0:51:44and the President is powerless to do anything about it.
0:51:44 > 0:51:46And so he's now put into a position where
0:51:46 > 0:51:47he has to try to negotiate
0:51:47 > 0:51:50some kind of a resolution to this that will save face.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54Therefore, the practice now six months old...
0:51:54 > 0:51:58After weeks of fruitless wrangling, Clinton announced a compromise -
0:51:58 > 0:52:01"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - that few could even understand.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05..An open statement by a service member that he or she is a homosexual
0:52:05 > 0:52:07will create a rebuttable presumption
0:52:07 > 0:52:11that he or she intends to engage in prohibited conduct,
0:52:11 > 0:52:13but the service member
0:52:13 > 0:52:17will be given an opportunity to refute that presumption.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20'Nobody was particularly happy with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell",'
0:52:20 > 0:52:21but it was the best you could do,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24to get it off the table, so you could move on.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30Other capitulations quickly followed.
0:52:30 > 0:52:32He dropped a stimulus bill
0:52:32 > 0:52:37and campaign finance reform, in the face of Congressional opposition.
0:52:37 > 0:52:42It became very apparent very soon that Bill Clinton as President
0:52:42 > 0:52:46was not going to be an LBJ.
0:52:46 > 0:52:51He was not going to assert his authority, make deals,
0:52:51 > 0:52:53crack heads, push his weight around,
0:52:53 > 0:52:56say to any members of Congress in the leadership that -
0:52:56 > 0:52:59if you don't follow me, you're going to pay for this,
0:52:59 > 0:53:02because I'm going to remember it. You're not going to get this,
0:53:02 > 0:53:06you're not going to get that. You know, LBJ knew how to use power.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09Bill Clinton knew much of that,
0:53:09 > 0:53:12but he also wanted to be liked.
0:53:12 > 0:53:17The media, which had embraced Clinton during the campaign,
0:53:17 > 0:53:19now began to turn on him.
0:53:19 > 0:53:24When his nomination of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg
0:53:24 > 0:53:28to the Supreme Court took a tortuous course, reporters pounced.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32Your turn - late, it seems - to Judge Ginsburg
0:53:32 > 0:53:35may have created an impression, perhaps unfair,
0:53:35 > 0:53:38of a certain zig-zag quality in the decision-making process here.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40I wonder, sir, if you could walk us through it
0:53:40 > 0:53:45and perhaps disabuse us of any notions we may have along those lines? Thank you.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48I have long since given up the thought that
0:53:48 > 0:53:51I could disabuse some of you of turning any substantive decision
0:53:51 > 0:53:53into anything but political process.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57How you can ask a question like that after the statement she just made
0:53:57 > 0:53:59is beyond me. APPLAUSE
0:53:59 > 0:54:01'What he wanted people to do is - just look at the result.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05'Did I make a good decision or not?'
0:54:05 > 0:54:08But as President, every decision that Bill Clinton makes,
0:54:08 > 0:54:11and not just the decisions, but how he makes these decisions,
0:54:11 > 0:54:13is receiving merciless scrutiny.
0:54:13 > 0:54:18The messiness of the process became part of the story
0:54:18 > 0:54:21and Bill Clinton found it maddening.
0:54:26 > 0:54:31The Clintons arrived in Washington in the midst of a media revolution.
0:54:31 > 0:54:36The advent of cable television and the 24-hour news cycle
0:54:36 > 0:54:41created an insatiable appetite for colourful coverage of Washington.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45Cable television was beginning to become a force.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50And the competition among cable news
0:54:50 > 0:54:54became a vicious fact of Bill Clinton's life.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Sex sold.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Corruption sold.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02Throughout the spring of 1993,
0:55:02 > 0:55:04a series of scandals -
0:55:04 > 0:55:09including "Travelgate" and "Hairgate" - flared in the press.
0:55:09 > 0:55:14Hillary found it hard to shrug off the negative press.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Stories like the one alleging that
0:55:17 > 0:55:20she broke a lamp during a heated argument with the President
0:55:20 > 0:55:23embarrassed and humiliated her.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26"I've always believed in a zone of privacy," she said,
0:55:26 > 0:55:30"but I guess I've been re-zoned."
0:55:30 > 0:55:34She had an agenda,
0:55:34 > 0:55:38changes in the country, in the world, that she wanted to see done.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41She couldn't understand why the media
0:55:41 > 0:55:45was focusing constantly on their private life,
0:55:45 > 0:55:48but the more she fought it, the more she drew attention to it.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54The lawyer chosen to lead the Clintons' defence
0:55:54 > 0:55:58was their close friend and deputy White House Counsel - Vince Foster.
0:55:58 > 0:56:04Vince, he got very upset with the attacks.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06He felt we couldn't stop these attacks,
0:56:06 > 0:56:08and yes, no, we couldn't stop these attacks.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10You know, this is the nature of the game down here.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12This is the partisan game down here.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15And I kept trying to calm him down,
0:56:15 > 0:56:19but I did see him getting sadder and sadder.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21And then...
0:56:21 > 0:56:24Then that day came when he took his own life.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31On the afternoon of July 20th,
0:56:31 > 0:56:36Vince Foster told an assistant that he was going out for a few minutes.
0:56:36 > 0:56:41That evening, his body was found in a secluded park
0:56:41 > 0:56:46ten miles from the White House, a bullet hole through his head.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51A torn-up note was found a few days later
0:56:51 > 0:56:54at the bottom of Foster's briefcase.
0:56:54 > 0:57:01"I was not meant for the job, or the spotlight, of public life in Washington," it read.
0:57:01 > 0:57:06"Here, ruining people is considered sport."
0:57:09 > 0:57:12'I was very concerned that...
0:57:12 > 0:57:16'knowing how close Vince Foster was to both Bill and Hillary,
0:57:16 > 0:57:20'that it would be sort of the final straw for Bill Clinton
0:57:20 > 0:57:23'and Hillary Clinton in Washington.'
0:57:23 > 0:57:26They would just think, "This town's impossible.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28"We've lost one of our best friends,
0:57:28 > 0:57:30"he's taken his life in the midst of this melee,"
0:57:30 > 0:57:35and that something very intangible would be lost.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42Bill Clinton's one of the most resilient people I've ever met.
0:57:42 > 0:57:48The pain goes deeper with Hillary, and it can stay there longer.
0:57:48 > 0:57:52She's strong, but she's also vulnerable.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57Far from destroying the Clintons,
0:57:57 > 0:58:01Foster's death steeled them against their adversaries.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04For Hillary, there could be no more illusions.
0:58:04 > 0:58:09This would be a war with only one winner.