Bill Clinton's Life
Most of us know Bill Clinton solely by his record as the 42 nd President of the United States, but his life before and after that period deserve some attention as well. Originally named William Jefferson Blythe III, after his father, he took the last name Clinton when his father was killed in a car accident, and his mother remarried Roger Clinton. His hometown was Hope, Arkansas, and while a child there he was an excellent student, and also a highly talented saxophone player—a skill that he would later use to woo viewers of The Arsenio Hall Show during his first presidential campaign.
Clinton's first political inklings came during a trip to John F. Kennedy's White House, where he decided to lay his saxophone aside and devote himself to public service. His first step was to attend George Washington University, where he earned a B.S.F.S. from the School of Foreign Service, and a Rhodes scholarship to study at University College, Oxford. After Oxford, Clinton traveled to Yale, where he earned a Juris Doctor degree, and met his future wife, Hillary Rodham.
After an unsuccessful bid for the US House of Representatives in 1974, and an unchallenged election as the Attorney General of Arkansas, Clinton became Governor of the State of Arkansas at the age of 32. Although his first term ended shortly after, Clinton regained the position in 1982, and stayed there until his first presidential campaign in 1992.
Although most people remember the highlights of Clinton's campaign, from the saxophone on late night television to the debate in which George H. W. Bush frequently peered at his watch, apparently bored, Clinton won the election in large part because Bush's popularity had been cut in half from the time of the Persian Gulf War. With the war being effectively over and the Nation's focus returning to the slumping economy allowed Clinton to win the election with 42.9% of the popular vote.
Clinton's first and second terms as President of the United States focused on a joint package of domestic reforms and international diplomacy. Although Clinton's attempts at universal heath care were overturned by congress, and his administration neglected to step in during the Rwandan genocide, his presidency is generally seen as a time of both international and domestic well being. As the arbiter of peace accords between both Palestine and Israel and the British government and the IRA, Clinton added international success to his productive domestic policy—a policy which created a government surplus and added millions of jobs to the American economy
His relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky resulted in an impeachment trial, but the Senate acquitted him of all charges in the matter.
Since the end of his second term, Clinton has focused on becoming a diplomatic leader, teaming up with former president George H. W. Bush in support of relief efforts for both the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in the south of the United States. He also penned an autobiography, My Life , which had huge popular success.
