Richard Nixon in Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton

On Health Care: 1970s: first proposed "employer mandate"

Pres. Nixon recognized the draining effects of health costs on the economy and proposed a system of universal health care based on what's known as an "employer mandate": all employees would be required to pay for limited benefits for their employees. Although as many as 20 different health care proposals were introduced in Congress during the Nixon Administration, no proposal for universal coverage got a majority vote from a congressional committee until 1994.

Presidents Ford and Carter also pursued reform in the 1970s, but they ran into the same political obstacles that had blocked change for most of the 20th century. Over several decades, the health insurance industry had grown increasingly powerful. The historical odds were against Bill.

On Welfare & Poverty: Founded Legal Services Corporation to assist poor