| 1998 Northern Ireland Peace Representatives of the Catholics and Protestants of Ireland, together with representatives of the Irish Republic and the United Kingdom, signed a major peace accord. US envoy former Senator Mitchell brokered the accord, and it was hoped it would bring to an end the bloodshed in Northern Ireland. |
| 1998 Republicans lose seats in Congressional elections Much to the surprise of political pundits, the Republicans did not pick up any seats in the Congressional elections of 1998. In fact, in a precedent-breaking election, the Democrats, who were the party of the President, actually gained seats in a Congressional election during the second term of the Presidency. Many analysts explained the results as a repudiation of the Republican efforts to impeach President Clinton. |
| 1998 US Embassies Bombed Simultaneously On August 7, 1998, bombs exploded simultaneously at US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar el Islam, Tanzania. The bombings killed a total of 224 people. The bombings were said to be done by international terrorist Osama bin Laden. The United States responded by bombing terrorist sites in Afghanistan and the Sudan. |
1999
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| 1999 Kosovo Before the rise of Milosevic in Yugoslavia, the province of Kosovo, which was primarily populated by Moslem ethnic Albanians, had been granted extensive autonomy. Milosevic rescinded that autonomy, which resulted in growing resentment of Serbian control. It led to the rise of the KLA, which was dedicated to Kosovo independence. In order to avoid the slaughter that had taken place in Bosnia, NATO became actively involved in negotiating a peace settlement between the KLA and the Serbs. An agreement was reached between the KLA and the Serbs, which was accepted by the KLA and rejected by the Yugoslav government. NATO demanded that the Serbs accept the agreement and, when they refused, NATO began a bombing campaign that lasted 79 days. During the campaign, the Serbs engaged in an active campaign of ethnic cleansing of Kosovo, killing at least 10,000 ethnic Albanians. The bombing campaign, in which the US lost only two planes and no pilots, achieved its goal, and the Serbs withdrew from Kosovo, to be replaced by NATO peace-keeping forces. |
| 1999 Free Parliamentary Elections in Indonesia On June 7, Indonesia held free parliamentary elections. The opposition leader, Megawati Sukarnoputri, won the most support. Her "Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party - Struggle" (PDI-P) won 33.7% of the vote, followed by the ruling "Golkar Party" of President B.J. Habibie with 22.4%. |
| 1999 Ehud Barak wins the elections by a landslide Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu lost his re-election bid to the "Israel One" canidate– Ehud Barak. Barak won a landslide victory, after campaigning to move the peace process forward. After his election Barak kept his promise and on September 4th, 1999 he signed a revised agreement with the PLO to implement further Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank. That agreement included a blueprint for final status negotiations aimed at a final peace accord. |
| 1999 Nelson Mandela Retires On June 16, 1999, Nelson Mandela stepped down from the Presidency of South Africa. He was replaced by Thabo Mbeki, the new leader of the African National Congress. The ANC had won parliametary elections on June 2. |
| 1999 President Clinton Impeached President Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in a straight party-line vote. The President was accused of lying to a Grand Jury and giving false testimony in his deposition in the Paula Jones lawsuit. Paula Jones accused the President of improper advances while he was governor of Arkansas, and the President was accused of lying about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. When the case went to the Senate, the Senate voted to acquit on a vote of 50 to 50; 66 votes were needed to find the President guilty. |
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