The 1990s was a decade full of surprises. The people, events, and trends, strongly influenced America in many ways, marking a new generation, a new society, and a new economy. Bill Clinton, the president during this decade, had a great impact on America. He helped established a stable economy and improved the society. Although Bill Clinton was a president of whom America approved, the accusation of him having a sexual affair with another woman destroyed his image as a great president and badly influenced America. In 1994, an agreement was created called the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. NAFTA was a benefit to America but at the same time it was also a disadvantage. The development of the Internet during the 1990s was a great advantage for entrepreneurs. The Dot-Com craze benefited not only entrepreneurs, but also ordinary people. It was a way of making easy money. The 1990s proved to be a period of prosperity for many Americans.

When Bill Clinton became president in 1992, he was a strong leader for America and citizens were behind the president regardless of the circumstances. Clinton was somewhat liberal, and he greatly improved America's society and economy in many ways. He took office with plans for improving health care, reducing the federal deficit, helping families, and strengthing gun control. Although he stumbled on health care, he still stressed the need to help American families. He was also very considerate of children and education. An Americorps program was created which put students to work improving low income housing, teaching children to read, and cleaning up the environment. Another deed that American citizens acknowledge Clinton for was the gun-control law known as the Brady Bill, which allowed people to buy handguns but only with permission. Clinton did not only improve the society but the economy had grown much stronger especially since he pulled America out of debt.

Clinton stated under oath and announced to the world on national television that he did not have an affair with another woman. Special prosecutor Ken Starr became obsessed in the investigation of Clinton and eventually it became a mess. By 1998 he was accused of having sexual rela

tions with another woman and it marred his second term. He had an affair with a twenty two year old intern at the White House named Monica Lewinksy. This secret affair was out in the public due to her friend Linda Tripp whom secretly recorded the conversation between them and then handed the recording to Kenneth Starr (an investigator). Starr didn't give up because this was a way to put Clinton down. Later, republicans in Congress and some Democrats condemned Clinton's behavior and began hearings to see if there were grounds to impeach the president. It turned out that Clinton lied about not having an affair before the grand jury with Lewinksy and eventually he was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice. He became the second United States president to be impeached. Clinton would have been removed from office if convicted by the Senate. It was a vote of 55 to 50 against conviction on the first article (not guilty of perjury) and 50 to 50 on the second (the charge of obstruction of justice) and he needed a two-thirds vote to be removed. Although Clinton survived the ordeal, his reputation was ruined. This impeachment badly affected his presidency and had a bad impact on America but despite his faults, the American citizens were still behind him.

The North American Free Trade Agreement had its disadvantages and advantages. NAFTA was debated in 1993 and passed on January 1, 1994. It was an agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada to trade goods without tariffs. Restrictions were also removed from many categories such as motor vehicles, computers, textiles, agriculture, and NAFTA also protected property rights. NAFTA was a great benefit to Mexico. It helped Mexico improve its economy and became a more stable neighbor for the United States. NAFTA also gave the United States better access to Mexican and Canadian consumers. Although NAFTA was very beneficial, it had a bad effect on the workers. Many labor unions were against NAFTA because they were concerned that loss trade restrictions between the United States, Mexico, and Canada would mean more job losses for Americans. In fact, many American workers did lose their job. A lot of American companies moved their businesses to Mexico because it was cheaper. Since more companies were planted in Mexico, it was an advantage for the Mexican citizens to have a job but they were paid very low wages. The North American Free Trade Agreement was an event that was helpful to the United States but at the same time it was a problem and hurt the American society.

During the 1990s, the Internet brought a whole new world to people's fingertips. During this growth period of the Internet, the Dot-Com business emerged, being a great advantage for people especially Internet entrepreneurs, who were making easy big profits. Many Internet entrepreneurs became overnight millionaires. These people were known as dot-com millionaires. This new trend became so popular that even thousands of talented young people dropped out of elite business schools to join the dot-com gold rush. Eventually Internet companies sold stock to eager investors. Many of the business makers started to become very dependent of this easy making money, but after a time their business would crash just like a stock market. The Dot-Com craze did not last forever.

The 1990s was a decade of great change. Bill Clinton truly made a big difference in the country as well as the history of Presidents. He truly cared about the citizens and was even considerate of providing better health care for the less fortunate. He was not successful but later in 2007, his wife Hillary Clinton, a candidate for the President of the United States in the 2008 election, carried on with the plan for better health care. The North American Free Trade today is still an issue. Although NAFTA is a benefit to America, it is still badly affecting Mexico. NAFTA affects Mexico's workers, economy, and environment. Numerous Internet entrepreneurs including ordinary people became overnight millionaires and new companies emerged such as EBay, Craigslist, Recycler, and so on. The events, trends and people in the 1990s had its pro's and con's, advantages and disadvantages, but it had a huge impact on the society and economy of America. The decade of the 1990s were a prosperous period of time and Americans had reason to be optimistic about the future.

SOURCES:

"ALL POLITICS CNN", <http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/17/speech/transcript.html>

"NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE", From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Free_Trade_Agreement>

"BILL CLINTON", From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton>

PICTURE 1, <www.24headquarters.com>

PICTURE 2, <http://www.greenfield-sanders.com/tgs/media/lewinsky.jpg>

PICTURE 3, <usliberals.about.com>