On 20 January, Bill Clinton will become the first Democratic president of the United States for 12 years. Two days before he enters the White House, Peter Jay , who was Britain's ambassador to the USA during the Carter administration, examines the mood of the country. Travelling by road from Bill Clinton 's birthplace in Hope, Arkansas, to his new home in Washington, he asks whether the president-elect's promise of a new dawn for America can be fulfilled.