1997
DECEMBER
December 19, 1997
Forum: Ordinary or Extraordinary?
Dinesh D'Souza explores Ronald Reagan's presidency.

December 16, 1997
Some Answers
President Clinton answered questions from White House and State Department reporters for almost an hour and a half this afternoon. Here are some excerpts.

December 9, 1997
Honest Disagreement
Janet Reno and Louis Freeh explain their views of an independent counsel.

December 3, 1997
Family Feuds
A historical look at the President - Attorney General relationship.

December 2, 1997
"The Decision is Mine"
Janet Reno will not begin an independent counsel investigation into fund-raising calls made by President Clinton and Vice-President Gore..

NOVEMBER
November 26, 1997
Nixon Tapes
Margaret Warner talks with Stanley Kutler, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, about his book, "Abuse of Power."

November 10, 1997
Fast Track Derailed
President Clinton fails to convince Congress to support the trade deal.

November 6, 1997
Up Hill Battle
The fight to renew the President's authority to negotiate trade deals.

November 6, 1997
Presidential Libraries
A look at the opening of the George Bush Library and Museum followed by a discussion with the historians.

OCTOBER
October 14, 1997
Caught On Tape
Former President Lyndon B. Johnson's secretly-taped conversations.

October 10, 1997
Political Wrap
Shields & Gigot discuss the White House coffee tapes.

SEPTEMBER
September 22, 1997
Fundraising Questions
Will the attorney general appoint an independent counsel?

September 19, 1997
Political Wrap
Our political pundits handicap the chances for campaign finance reform.

September 12, 1997
Mission Unaccomplished
Secretary of State Madeline Albright admits failure to mediate peace in the Middle East.

September 12, 1997
Political Wrap
Shields and Gigot discuss Weld's nomination and other D.C. dramas.

September 11, 1997
Sandy Berger Testifies
The former Clinton National Security Advisor, testified before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

September 10, 1997
Trading Priorities
The President fights his own party for trade negotiation rights.

September 10, 1997
The DNC's Legal Chief
The Democratic National Committee's head legal counsel testified he believed the Vice President did nothing wrong when he made 85 fund-raising phone calls from his White House office.

September 9, 1997
Party Favors?
The Senate looks into charges of political access peddling.

September 9, 1997
Searchable Peace?
Jim Lehrer takes a look at the histories of former American secretaries of state in light of Madeleine Albright's trip to the Middle East.

September 5, 1997
Political Wrap
Our pundits discuss nuns under scrutiny and Gore under investigation.

September 4, 1997
What Did Gore Know?
Did Vice President Gore violate federal campaign laws?

AUGUST
August 11, 1997
Strike Out
President Clinton exercised his new line-item veto power on three provisions of the balanced budget deal. It is the first time a president has used such power; will it be the last?

August 6, 1997
At The Podium
At a press conference, President Clinton spoke for nearly an hour, discussing such topics as the balanced budget deal, the UPS strike, terrorism, and campaign finance reform.

August 5, 1997
Crunching The Numbers
President Clinton signed a budget bill that promises to balance the federal books by 2002 and cuts taxes. Who are the plan's biggest winners?

JULY
July 28, 1997
... Mightier Than The Sword
Political cartoonists from around the country discuss the political and other events of this summer.

July 17, 1997
Who Is Henry Shelton?
The President has nominated Army Gen. Henry Shelton to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Those close to the nominee say he's a soldier's soldier and a perfect candidate.

July 9, 1997
Questions And Answers
President Clinton talks with reporters about NATO, the fundraising hearings, Medicare, and the Middle East.

July 3, 1997
A Tale Of Three Tax Plans
The President and both houses of Congress have each proposed ways to reform what we pay in income tax. All three address child and college tax credits, and capital gains and estate tax reductions. But their formulas vary widely. What's the best plan?

JUNE
June 17, 1997
"A Third Rate Burglary"
It started as a bungled burglary; it ended with the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Our panel of historians looks back at Watergate 25 years later.

MAY
May 12, 1997
Public Or Private?
The Supreme Court will decide whether conversations between Mrs. Clinton and lawyers concerning the Whitewater investigation fall under lawyer-client privilege.

May 1, 1997
South Of The Border
President Clinton is set to visit Mexico, Costa Rica and Barbados. Mack McLarty, U.S. special envoy to the Americas, provides a preview of this presidential trip.

APRIL
April 30, 1997
Reno Stands Firm
The Attorney General, testifying before Congress, has vowed to resist pressure to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged Democratic campaign finance abuses. The NewsHour's regional commentators weigh in on Reno's performance, after a background report.

April 10, 1997
Robert Rubin
The Treasury Secretary's recent trip to Vietnam made him the highest ranking U.S. official to visit that country since it fell to Communist forces in 1975. He discusses his impressions of Asia's newest economic tiger, as well as his trade talks in Japan and the Clinton administration's fiscal policy.

April 2, 1997
Tangled Webb
With the release of new White House documents, Webster Hubbell, the man who President Clinton once described as his closest friend, appears to be increasingly at the center of political scandals that dog the White House.

MARCH
March 27, 1997
Sandy Berger
President Clinton's new National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger, discusses the Vice President's trip to China and the growing campaign finance scandal.

March 26, 1997
Capitalists At The Gates
Vice President Al Gore has wrapped up his visit to the People's Republic of China. He called on the communist leaders to allow more U.S. access to the huge Chinese market.

March 26, 1997
As Goes Maine...
Hedrick Smith reports on one state's effort to change the way political campaigns are funded and run in the final installment of his three-part series.

March 25, 1997
Sugar Daddy
In the second installment of his three part series on money in politics, special correspondent Hedrick Smith looks at one groups efforts to protect their interests. The sugar producers have supplied millions of dollars to political campaigns to protect price supports they receive from the government.

March 24, 1997
Whiff Of Scandal
The campaign finance issue in Washington is turning public opinion in America against politicians more than ever.

March 17, 1997
Forum: The Greening of the White House
Join Irish Times correspondent Conor O'Clery on his new book about the Clinton administration's work to negotiate a new British-Irish accord.

March 14, 1997
The President's Knee
A look into President Clinton's knee injury, his surgery, and his recovery.

March 11, 1997
Financing Furor
Following a concession by the Republican leadership, the Senate expanded the focus of its campaign finance investigation to cover all "improper" actions during the 1996 elections.

March 11, 1997
Anthony Lake Confirmation Hearings
After weeks of delay the Senate Intelligence Committee took up the nomination of Lake as director of Central Intelligence.

March 7, 1997
Capital Woes
Kwame Holman looks at Washington, D.C.'s problems and possible solutions.

March 6, 1997
The Money Trail
Elizabeth Farnsworth explores the legal issues of campaign fund-raising with two attorneys.

March 4, 1997
One For The Books
Ahistorical discussion of money and politics with presidential historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Michael Beschloss, journalist/author Haynes Johnson and William Kristol, editor and publisher of The Weekly Standard.

March 3, 1997
All Inclusive?
In response to weekend news reports which said he was one of the campaign's most active fund-raisers, Vice President Gore said he did nothing illegal or wrong when he solicited funds for the 1996 presidential campaigns.

FEBRUARY
February 27, 1997
Costly Visits
For two straight days President Clinton denied there was any improper use of the Lincoln Bedroom and other White House functions in raising campaign funds for his 1996 re-election campaign.

February 27, 1997
Nomination On Hold
President Clinton's nonimee for Director of Central Intelligence, Anthony Lake, has run into trouble. Some Republican senators have questioned Lake's ethics and his activities when he headed the National Security Council.

February 25, 1997
Motel 1600?
A storm continues to brew around the White House with allegations that the Lincoln bedroom has been given out for overnight stays in return for campaign donations. After a background report, Elizabeth Farnsworth talks to Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), who is heading up the House investigations and Lanny Davis, special White House counsel.

February 5, 1997
Colorado Views
Colorado Republicans, Democrats and Independents give their views on the President's State of the Union.

February 5, 1997
Reaction From The Hill
After the President's State of the Union speech, some reaction from four freshman Senators.

February 3, 1997
Past As Preview
On this eve of President Clinton's State of the Union address Tuesday night some thoughts about the importance and impact of these annual speeches.

JANUARY
January 30, 1997
Civil Discourse
A panel of historians debates bipartisanship in government operations.

January 28, 1997
Clinton Q&A
The presidential news conference was President Clinton's first formal meeting with the White House press corps since he began his second term last week.

January 28, 1997
Going Public
Executive power has been based more on the president's ability to communicate his vision than any constitutional authority, students of the office have noted. This may be even more true after the advent of television.

January 24, 1997
Affairs Of State
Secretary of State Madeline Albright meets with the diplomatic press corps at the State Department.

January 22, 1997
Civil Discourse
A bipartisan look at the bitter Washington atmosphere into which abortion and other political and legislative debates must now exist.

January 21, 1997
Forum: Analyzing an Inaugural Speech
What makes an inaugural speech memorable? Ask two veteran Presidential speech writers.

January 17, 1997
Regional Views
Analysis of the Gingrich ethics punishment and President Clinton's second inauguration.

January 17, 1997
Panetta Heads West
Former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta is on his way home to California. On his last day in office he talks about ethics, money in politics, and Clinton's Presidency.

January 17, 1997
Mood Of A Nation
What is the public mood of the country on this inaugural weekend?

January 13, 1997
Clinton In Court?
The case of William Jefferson Clinton versus Paul Corbin Jones went before the Supreme Court. The issue is whether the Judicial Branch can require a sitting President to defend a private civil lawsuit based on alleged misconduct that occurred before he became President.

January 13, 1997
Forum: The Second Time Around
Second term Presidencies should be smoother and more successful than first terms. But history suggests they've gone the other way. Why?

January 2, 1997
Nixon Tapes: Open To The Public
The Nixon estate has ended a long battle to keep the 37th President's conversations private. Nixon-watchers who have heard the tapes say they are only fragments, and disappointingly out of context.

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