No, the US ran a trade deficit all through the Clinton years. The current deficit is the largest we have ever had, but it's the continuation of a trend that began in 1992 with the end of the Last recession.
The thing is the trade deficit isn't really a good indicator of the health of the country's economy. More often than not our trade deficit goes up in strong economic years because a strong economy means we have more money to buys stuff. However, the TD can go down in good years and up in bad. Our economy can be bad and still be better than our trading partners, and vice versa.
The Last year we had a surplus in trade was 1975.
Raw Data: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/...ical/gands.pdf
One thing I do think is interesting in looking at the chart is how the balance of trade in goods and and the balance of trade in services have moved in opposite directions. It's a good example of the trend of our nation from a production to a service economy. That's a trend that has been going on since the 60s.
Geoschmo
"I'm not an economist, but I play one in the forum." 
[ May 14, 2003, 20:45: Message edited by: geoschmo ]