Clinton supposedly ran some surpluses, but then I heard later it was more due to juggling of books than tightening of belts.
Last 2 years of the Clintoon admin. was “budget friendly”/balanced due to “The Contract With America”, Newt Gingrich, GOP, etc.. (Welfare reform & tax cuts):
https://rollcall.com/2019/09/25/the-contract-with-americas-legacy/
Some departments that need to be completely abolished are the TSA, DHS, DoE, to name a few. Many, or the rest, need to be completely overhauled.
From what I saw, you ar ecorrect.
There is a .gov website that shows the debt and annual deficit every year since like 1950...and if you look at the Clinto years....each year we still were running a deficit and adding to the debt. It got close to balanced...but not quite.
But...on the flip side, in was actually Gringrich’s budget..that I believe Clinton vetod a couple times before he signed it...that got the budget that close to balanced.