When listing desirable ideals for an American president, the two most desirable ideals are those of honesty and integrity. The American people want a president they can trust, a president of civic virtue who will put aside all personal pleasures instead of serving his country to the best of his ability. Bill Clinton, throughout his presidency and even in past government positions, sought to maintain his personal pleasures while appearing to the public as a man of civic virtue. This approach ultimately backfired in some of the most embarrassing scandals known to the office of president. Clinton's scandals undermined respect for the presidential position as they now showed the world that immoral scandals were not inferior to the highest elected position in America. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Most of Clinton's scandals began before he even became president. While Clinton was governor of Arkansas, he had been involved in a lending scandal involving the sale of unusable land advertised as superior to what it actually was. While this scandal was by no means illegal, it was clearly immoral and a rather dishonest decision for a future president. Clinton had also sexually harassed an Arkansas state employee named Paula Jones while serving as governor of Arkansas, a decision that would later lead to the discovery of other sexual affairs and his eventual impeachment. These deals clearly temper Clinton's credibility as governor of Arkansas, a position already considered an inadequate level of critical political experience for a president. While these decisions may have made sense to Clinton at the time, his decision to run for president was ill-advised as he would have accepted the job with a lot of evidence that could, and ultimately could, incriminate him while he was trying to do so. fulfill his presidential duties. Clinton's past scandals fortunately were not an issue for him during his first term as president, allowing the first four years of the Clinton administration to be a resounding economic success. In Clinton's first term, America was beginning to see the positive effects of George Bush's tax increases on the economy. Even though the government shut down twice during the Clinton administration, one could argue that it was a necessary action that was ultimately more beneficial to the American economy than previously thought. During the government shutdown in 1996, with the House led by new House Speaker Newt Gingrich, there was enormous pressure on Clinton to compromise with Republicans on the national budget. Fortunately, Clinton and Gingrich were able to reach a compromise that significantly reduced the deficit and resulted in a budget surplus. The surplus, combined with the fact that the Clinton years were economically prosperous from the start, have led to very positive sentiment towards the Clinton administration in terms of the economy. While to some extent the economy would have prospered regardless of who the president was due to the tax increases that Bush had enacted during his term among other economic factors, it can be argued that Clinton's compromise was very constructive for the American economy and has probably been called the most important achievement of his presidency. Unfortunately, towards the end of Clinton's second term, scandal would.