Biography & Career Of Bill Clinton

Forum 3 years ago

Biography & Career Of Bill Clinton

Williams Jefferson Clinton is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Prior to his presidency, he served as governor of Arkansas and as attorney general of Arkansas.

Early Life

Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III in Hope, Arkansas on August 19, 1946. His father unexpectedly died in an automobile accident three months before his birth. His mother Virginia Dell Cassidy moved to New Orleans to study nursing soon after his birth, and he was raised in Hope by his maternal grandparents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy. His mother returned in 1950 and married Roger Clinton Sr., and the family moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he grew up. Clinton almost immediately began using his stepfather's surname, and legally changed his name when he turned 15.

In 1963 Clinton visited the White House to meet then President John F Kennedy as a Boys Nation Senator. This moment combined with Dr Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech inspired a young Clinton to want to become a public official. Clinton would go onto to attend Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where he graduated with a degree in Foreign Service. After graduating he received a Rhodes Scholarship to University College, Oxford. From Oxford, Clinton went to Yale Law School. It was here where he met fellow Law school student Hillary Rodham, who he would later go on to marry. While at Georgetown, Clinton won elections for class president in 1964 and 1965. He also interned and clerked in the office of Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright.

Bill married his wife Hillary Rodham on October 11, 1975. Their only child, daughter Chelsea, was born on February 27, 1980.

Political Career

After graduating from law school, Clinton moved back to his home state of Arkansas and began teaching as a law professor at the University of Arkansas. He ran for the House of Representatives in 1974, narrowly losing out to incumbent Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt. He then ran for Arkansas attorney general in 1976 with no opposition in the general election, and was thus elected to the position. A mere two years later, he became the youngest Governor in the country when he defeated Republican candidate Lynn Lowe at the age of 31, and took office when he was 32.

With his main focus being on education and healthcare reform, Clinton caught the eye of the nation. He was even looked upon to run for President in the 1988 election. By 1992 Clinton was ready to run. He won the 1992 presidential election and was elected into office over the incumbent President George Hubert Walker Bush, along with his Vice President Al Gore. He served his first term as President from 1993 to 1997, and won his re-election campaign in the 1996 presidential campaign. He served his second presidential term from 1997 to 2001. During his time in office, he signed The Family and Medical Leave act of 1993, the Brady Bill, and expanded the earned income tax credit. He also appointed two justices to the Supreme Court: Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993, and Stephen Breyer in 1994. He left the White House with the highest approval rating of any President since World War II, at 66%.

However, his time in the White House was not without its turbulent periods. Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998, by the House of Representatives. The House had voted 228-206 to impeach him on charges of perjury to a grand jury, and he was impeached a second time 221-212 for obstruction of justice. The impeachment proceedings were based on allegations that Clinton had attempted to illegally obscure and cover up his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Eventually, the Senate acquitted Clinton of both charges. He is the second US president ever to be impeached, the first being Andrew Johnson and the third being Donald Trump.

Net Worth

Bill Clinton is an American politician who has a net worth of $120 million. That is a combined net worth with his wife, Hillary Clinton. Bill was the 42nd President of the United States, serving two terms from 1993 to 2001.