[52] After extensive investigation over several years, no indictments were made against the Clintons related to the years in Arkansas.[12][53]
According to some sources, Clinton was a death penalty opponent in his early years, but he eventually switched positions.[54][55] However he might have felt previously, by 1992, Clinton was insisting that Democrats "should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent".[56] During Clinton's final term as governor, Arkansas performed its first executions since 1964 (the death penalty had been reinstated in 1976).[57] As Governor, he oversaw the first four executions carried out by the state of Arkansas since the death penalty was reinstated there in 1976: one by electric chair and three by lethal injection.[58] To draw attention to his stance on capital punishment, Clinton flew home to Arkansas mid-campaign in 1992, in order to affirm in person that the controversial execution of Ricky Ray Rector, would go forward as scheduled.[59][60]

1988 Democratic presidential primaries
In 1987, the media speculated that Clinton would enter the presidential race after incumbent New York governor Mario Cuomo declined to run and Democratic front-runner Gary Hart withdrew owing to revelations of multiple marital infidelities.