The 1996 United States presidential election was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election,held on Tuesday,November 5,1996. Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton defeated former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole,the Republican nominee,and Ross Perot,the Reform Party nominee and 1992 Independent presidential candidate.
Joseph Isadore Lieberman is an American politician,lobbyist,and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party,he was its nominee for vice president of the United States in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. During his final term in office,he was officially listed as an independent Democrat and caucused with and chaired committees for the Democratic Party.
David Norman Bossie is an American political activist. Since 2000,he has been president and chairman of conservative advocacy group Citizens United and in 2016,Bossie was the deputy campaign manager to the Donald Trump presidential campaign.
Edward Spencer Abraham is an American attorney,author,and politician who served as the 10th United States Secretary of Energy from 2001 to 2005,under President George W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party,he previously served as a United States Senator from Michigan from 1995 to 2001. Abraham is one of the founders of the Federalist Society,and a co-founder of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. As of 2023,he remains the last Republican to serve as a U.S. senator from Michigan.
Melquíades Rafael Ruiz Martínez is a Cuban-American lobbyist and former politician who served as a United States senator from Florida from 2005 to 2009 and as general chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19,2007. Previously,Martínez served as the 12th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President George W. Bush. Martínez is a Cuban-American and Roman Catholic. He announced he was resigning as general chairman of the Republican National Committee on October 19,2007.
Christopher John Dodd is an American lobbyist,lawyer,and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1981 to 2011. Dodd is the longest-serving senator in Connecticut's history. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1981.
Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20,1993,and ended on January 20,2001. Clinton,a Democrat from Arkansas,took office following his victory over Republican incumbent president George H. W. Bush and independent businessman Ross Perot in the 1992 presidential election. Four years later,in the 1996 presidential election,he defeated Republican nominee Bob Dole and Perot again,to win re-election. Clinton was limited to two terms and was succeeded by Republican George W. Bush,who won the 2000 presidential election.
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002,commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or BCRA,is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971,which regulates the financing of political campaigns. Its chief sponsors were senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ). The law became effective on 6 November 2002,and the new legal limits became effective on January 1,2003.
David Bruce Vitter is an American politician,attorney,and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator from Louisiana from 2005 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party,Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.
Melvin Luther Watt is an American politician who served as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency from 2014 to 2019. He was appointed by President Barack Obama. He is a former United States Representative for North Carolina's 12th congressional district,from 1993 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Ira William McCollum Jr. is an American lawyer and Republican Party politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 2001,representing Florida's 5th congressional district,which was later redistricted to the 8th congressional district in 1993. As a member of the House,McCollum rose to become Vice Chairman of the House Republican Conference,the fifth-highest ranking position in the House Republican leadership. He voted to impeach President Bill Clinton and subsequently took a leadership role in managing Clinton's trial in the Senate,which ended in acquittal.
Martin Joseph O'Malley is an American lawyer and former politician who currently serves as commissioner of the Social Security Administration since December 2023. A member of the Democratic Party,he was the 61st governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015 and the 48th mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007.
William Joseph Green III is an American politician from Pennsylvania. A Democrat,Green served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1964 to 1977 and as the 94th Mayor of Philadelphia from 1980 to 1984.
The 1996 United States campaign finance controversy,sometimes referred to as Chinagate,was an effort by the People's Republic of China to influence domestic American politics prior to and during the Clinton administration and also involved the fundraising practices of the administration itself.
Lawrence Joseph "Larry" DeNardis was an American politician who served as a U.S. Congressman for the state of Connecticut. He was also president of the University of New Haven.
Christopher Scott Murphy is an American lawyer,author,and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously served in the United States House of Representatives,representing Connecticut's 5th congressional district from 2007 to 2013. Before being elected to Congress,Murphy was a member of both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly,serving two terms each in the Connecticut House of Representatives (1999–2003) and the Connecticut Senate (2003–2007).
Frank Joseph Pallone Jr. is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 6th congressional district since 1988. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district,numbered as the 3rd district from 1988 to 1993,is in the north-central part of the state and includes New Brunswick,Woodbridge Township,Perth Amboy,Sayreville,Edison,Piscataway and Asbury Park. Pallone is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
John Nathan Hostettler is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for 12 years,representing Indiana's 8th congressional district as a Republican. He lost his reelection bid for a seventh term to Democratic challenger Brad Ellsworth in the 2006 midterm election by a landslide.
The Irish American lobby are groups and individuals who influence United States policy in both foreign and domestic affairs in support of causes related to Ireland and Irish American interests.
The RAISE Act is a bill first introduced in the United States Senate in 2017. Co-sponsored by Republican senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue,the bill seeks to reduce levels of legal immigration to the United States by 50% by halving the number of green cards issued. The bill would also dramatically reduce family-based immigration pathways;impose a cap of 50,000 refugee admissions a year;end the visa diversity lottery;and eliminate the current demand-driven model of employment-based immigration and replace it with a points system. The bill received the support of President Donald Trump,who promoted a revised version of the bill in August 2017,and was opposed by Democrats,immigrant rights groups,and some Republicans.
