Nafta Wasn't Just About Politics for Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton was an ardent backer of free trade even before he ran for president in 1992. Accordingly, a defining issue of his campaign was his support for the North American Free Trade Agreement. Once elected, he faced vigorous challenges on trade from within the Democratic Party and from organized labor, but in that difficult environment he deployed the full powers of the presidency to get Nafta approved. In this second of three excerpts from "Inside the Clinton White House: An Oral History," some of his top aides recall that successful fight.

Al From, head of the Democratic Leadership Council: In September 1991, we had a meeting of the so-called Clinton exploratory committee. He was thinking of running [for president]. It was a day-and-a-half meeting of all these people from around the country who were giving him their advice, and a lot of it was to back off on Nafta. At the end of it, Clinton listened and listened, and he finally just said, “If you want me to be a protectionist and an isolationist, get another candidate because I won’t do it.” I think that was a very important part of his presidency.