In 1992, I took part in my first presidential election. I voted for the upstart Democrat Bill Clinton. After years of hearing my parents bemoan Reagan and Bush although they were registered Republicans (something I never totally understood), it was not a surprise to see their offspring vote for the donkey. As I look at the candidates for president now and generally in the past, I can say we're not going to have a president like Bill Clinton for a while.

No one could utterly fail and bounce back like Clinton. In 1994, the Democrats lost both houses of Congress to the Republicans, Clinton's universal health care plan was trounced, and aside from NAFTA, it was unclear what the administration accomplished in its first two years. But the economy was getting better. In 1996, he bounced back to beat Bob Dole convincingly to be the first Democrat to be elected to a second term since LBJ (though, really, the line probably goes back to FDR). I had given up my Democrat membership by then in disgust of political parties and have been an Independent to this day. I voted for Ralph Nader because I thought both major candidates were a bit too smarmy, and Ross Perot was a flake. But the economy was getting better.

After sidestepping Whitewater, travelgate and haircutgate, Clinton finally met Monica Lewinsky. The president had groupies, but this wasn't the America that JFK lived in. The media had become insatiable for tabloid stories, and oral sex with an intern was on the mouth of America (it's still impossible to avoid puns when talking about it). Clinton, being a man of precedent, was the first president to be impeached since Andrew Johnson (the guy right after Lincoln). Unlike other presidents, he kept his destruction personal and left the rest of us alone. The economy boomed to its greatest levels ever.

Clinton kept us fairly war-free. His 'bomb them from up high' strategy made Iraq and Bosnia submit without any ground troops. He bugged Ireland and the Middle East to consider peace. While his attempts have not been fully successful, it's nice to see the effort.

The government has run on a surplus for the last two years! I never thought that was possible.

For every positive I've said about Clinton, people could say 'yeah, but.' But allow me to 'yeah, but' any 'yeah, buts.' History looks at how the United States fared during each president's term, and we've come along way. At the beginning of the 90s, we sauntered around in flannel brooding over the lack of opportunity. Now we drive around in shiny cars with cell phones and listen to teenagers on the radio squeak about loving them. I actually fit into society better during hard times, but I'll concede that I'm not like majority of folks.

In his last State of the Union address, Clinton did a little bragging and little dreaming. The economy is great, the deficit is down, crime is down, and so on. He still wants universal health care, a higher minimum wage, tougher gun laws and deficit reduction. He won't get hardly any of it (you can tell by how many Congressmen applauded during each topic), but it's a great vision.

Clinton has less than a year left to be replaced by either Bush or Gore (the underdogs will tumble). Neither have a clue of what they will really do if elected. Most of what presidents are remembered for have nothing to do with their campaign promises.

Presidents are lucky if the public remembers two things about them. Usually one bad thing and one good thing. Clinton will be remembered for Monica Lewinsky and the economic boom. That's more than most people can say about the first Bush, Carter and Ford put together. Reagan is remembered for Iran Contra and calling for the Berlin Wall to come down. Nixon is remembered for Watergate and opening the doors to China (maybe). Johnson had the Civil Rights Act and Vietnam. JFK had the Cuban Missile Crisis, womanizing and his assassination. Eisenhower? Ummm, I Like Ike.

Clinton will fit in pretty well. Legacy, schmegacy. All I know is come this time next year, the presidency won't be quite as much fun.

Chris Jungle listened to 75 of the 87-minute State of the Union Address.