on one important issue: the granting of permanent normal trade relations with China. The initiative had strong bipartisan support, despite a campaign by human rights advocates to quell the effort because of China's poor rights record. Elsewhere, Clinton's efforts to broker a Middle East peace began to crumble as that region became embroiled in renewed violence. Some criticized the president's efforts as having only exacerbated the tensions in the region. Historians will debate for years the meaning of the Clinton legacy. Was he a president who benefited politically from a strong economy, or was he the architect of policies that created economic growth? Was he a visionary leader who redefined the Democratic party, or was he a political chameleon who changed ideological stripes whenever it was in his interest to do so? And was his impeachment a partisan travesty for which Republicans will be shamed in history, or was it the justified rebuke of a president who had truly committed high crimes? Regardless of the answers to these questions, there is no doubt that Bill Clinton was the towering political figure of his era and that his impact on the country will be analyzed and debated for generations to come....
