C is for Clinton, Carson, & Cop Killer (2017 Blogging A to Z)

Welcome to my '92 Time Capsule, where I unearth artifacts and memories from a quarter century ago in alphabetical order everyday (excluding Sundays, with the exception of the 30th) during the month of April. 

Today's letter is C, so here we go...

On Tuesday, November 3, 1992, William "Bill" Jefferson Clinton, defeated incumbent George H. W. Bush to become the 42nd President of the United States.

Winning both the popular vote and the electoral college, he became the third youngest president and the first Baby Boomer to hold the office at the age of 46.

Politically, Clinton was know for being president during one of the longest periods of peace and economic expansion.  He was also the first two-term democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In popular culture, he was known for his love of McDonald's, running, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and for his saxophone performance on the Arsenio Hall Show.

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On May 22, long time, late-night talk show host, Johnny Carson, signed off for the last time and retired after hosting The Tonight Show for 30 years.  

Johnny Carson was fundamental in the establishment of the modern late-night talk show format - opening with a monologue full of one-liners typically touching on current affairs and popular culture, followed by a sketch comedy, then proceeding to guest interviews, and musical or comedy performances.  He has been credited  as giving early breaks to George Carlin, Billy Crystal, David Letterman, and Jay Leno, whom proceeded him as The Tonight Show host, to name a few.

Carson received six Emmy Awards and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987.  He was rarely seen after retirement and only granted a few interviews.  Johnny Carson died in 2005 at the age of 79.

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Cop Killer, is a song by the American band Body Count that was featured on their 1992 self-titled debut album.  Body Count's lead singer is Ice-T.

Cop Killer was a highly controversial song that was met with strong opposition from politicians, law enforcement agencies, and various parental groups such as the Parents Music Resource Center.  (Interestingly enough, Tipper Gore, the wife of Al Gore, who was Bill Clinton's running mate in the 1992 presidential election, was one of the founders of the PMRC.)

Although the band did received some support based on freedom of speech, the controversy against the song continued to grow.  Eventually, the decision was made to pull the song from the album.

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On a personal note, I have very vivid memories of the 1992 Presidential Election because that was the first one I was eligible to vote in.  Sometime during the fall of 1992, Hillary Clinton made a campaign stop at Marshall University, where I was a student.  I, along with thousands of other students, stood outside the Morrow Library and listened to her campaign on behalf of her husband.  I remember feeling so excited on the day that I completed my absentee ballot, knowing that I had just participated in one of the greatest freedoms - voting.

Do you have a favorite memory of Johnny Carson or maybe even the 1992 Presidential Election?  If so, please feel free to share.

As always, thanks for stopping by!