Politics & Government
On This Day In 1992: Presidential Candidate Bill Clinton Visits MSU
On this day in 1992, Democratic presidential nominee Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton visited Michigan State University and spoke.
September 23, 2021
On this day in 1992, Democratic presidential nominee Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton visited Michigan State University and spoke to a crowd behind the Beaumont Tower at the East Lansing-based institution.
Find out what's happening in Across Michiganfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
After the speech, Clinton walked on campus and along Grand River Avenue shaking hands with passersby. Clinton went on to win the presidency, defeating Republican incumbent President George H.W. Bush and independent H. Ross Perot in a three-way major candidate race.
The Democrat had planned to be in East Lansing to debate Bush, but the Republican objected to the debate format. Ultimately, the three men did debate at Michigan State University on Oct. 19, 1992. It was their third of three contests.
Find out what's happening in Across Michiganfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“I got in this race for president because I did not want you and your generation — including my daughter, who’s a little younger than you are— to grow up to be a part of the first generation of Americans to do worse than their parents,” Clinton told the Sept. 22 crowd. “I am part of the ‘we-can-do better crowd’ and I want you to be, too.”
“I feel a sense of hope,” Rick Graim, a United Auto Workers international representative, told the Lansing State Journal at the time. “There is a new sense of hope out there, a sense of positive change,” he said. “It’s time for us to take our country back over.”
Clinton won the 1992 election. He went on to serve two terms as president and was credited for leading the country during a recession-free eight years.
In his second term, he was impeached after having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives voted on Dec. 19, 1998, to impeach Clinton for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” After a 21-day trial in the U.S. Senate, a majority voted on Feb. 12, 1999, to acquit Clinton.
His wife, Hillary Clinton, went on to be elected U.S. senator from New York and secretary of state. She was the first woman nominated for the presidency by a major party in 2016. However, the Democrat lost to now-former President Donald Trump.
The Michigan Advance, a hard-hitting, nonprofit news site, covers politics and policy across the state of Michigan through in-depth stories, blog posts, and social media updates, as well as top-notch progressive commentary. The Advance is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.
