However, he marked numerous successes in the first term

Despite these early slip-ups, Clinton's first term was marked by many achievements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement's approval by Congress, which established a free-trade zone for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Throughout his presidency, Clinton also appointed several women and minorities to important government positions. These included Madeleine Albright, the first female secretary of state, Janet Reno, the attorney general, Donna Shalala, the secretary of health and human services, Joycelyn Elders, the surgeon general, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second female justice in the US Supreme Court.

During Clinton's first term, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, as well as about 30 other significant bills dealing with education, crime prevention, the environment, and women's and family issues. The deficit-reduction package passed the Senate with Gore's tie-breaking vote.

An inquiry of Clinton and his wife's business dealings with Whitewater, an Arkansas house construction enterprise, was given the go-ahead by Attorney General Reno in January 1994. The Whitewater investigation, which was overseen by independent counsel Kenneth Starr starting in August and costing more than $50 million, lasted several years and produced no indisputable proof of Clinton's misconduct.