Jim - you are actually correct - most presidents fire all of their federal prosecuters when they come into office as a routine thing - since those are usually political assignments
The difference here is those were prosecuters werent old holdovers - they were just doing their job and it was well on its way to a big emabarrasment - if not leading to some pretty hefty prosecutions that they didnt want to happen
So yeah - youll hear the pundits say - well Clinton fired all of his when he came to office - trying to divert the subject - since all presidents do that when they take office
But not halfway through a second term