Bill Clinton Council (DLC), the New Democrats argued that in light of President Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in 1984, the Democratic Party needed to adopt a more centrist political stance in order to succeed at the national level. Clinton delivered the Democratic response to Reagan's 1985 State of the Union Address and served as chair of the National Governors Association from 1986 to 1987, bringing him to an audience beyond Arkansas. In the early 1980s, Clinton made reform of the Arkansas education system a top priority of his gubernatorial administration. The Arkansas Education Standards Committee was chaired by Clinton's wife Hillary Rodham
Bill Clinton doctors Dean Ornish and Caldwell Esselstyn. The Clintons accrued several million dollars in legal fees during his presidency; the bills were paid off four years after he left office. Bill and Hillary Clinton have both received millions of dollars in book authorship fees. In 2016, "Forbes" reported Bill and Hillary Clinton made about $240 million in the 15 years from January 2001 to December 2015 (mostly from paid speeches, business consulting and book-writing). Also in 2016, "CNN" reported the Clintons combined to receive more than $153 million in paid speeches from 2001 until spring 2015. In May 2015, "The Hill"