President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton-October 22, 1999 (Source: Clinton Library & Museum)
Born on August 19, 1946 in Hope, Arkansas, William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton, 42nd President of the United States.
The first Democratic president to be elected to two terms in office in his own right since Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bill Clinton had a story that was as compelling as it was sometimes tawdry. In the face of private controversies and partisan infighting of blowtorch intensity, he was able to rebound repeatedly –the self-styled “Comeback Kid”– to win the presidency in 1992 and a second term in 1996.
He then survived the second impeachment of a president in American history. That proceeding was prompted by his denial of a sexual relationship with a White House intern during a legal deposition related to a suit by a woman who had accused Clinton of sexual harassment while he was governor of Arkansas. Clinton was acquitted in the Senate impeachment trial on February 12, 1999.
Fast Facts:
*Clinton is the only president who was a Rhodes Scholar.
*Inaugurated at age forty-six, Clinton was the third youngest president (after Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy) and the first “baby boomer” president.
*His wife, Hillary Clinton, was the first First Lady to ever run for public office, becoming a U.S. Senator from New York. After campaigning for president in 2008, she lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama, who then selected Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state.
President Clinton’s attempt to introduce a major health care reform, with his wife Hillary leading the task force that created the legislation, was a political disaster. His campaign promise to end discrimination against homosexuals in the military led to creation of the much-criticized “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. That was followed in 1996 by the passage of the “Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)” which denied federal recognition of same sex marriages or civil unions.
But with 22 million jobs created, a balanced budget and budget surplus when he left office, and a brief but largely successful military intervention in Serbia, Clinton’s popularity, based on approval polls, was high when he departed the White House. In spite of the impeachment proceedings, the American public seemed willing to separate his private life from his public performance.
The Clinton Library & Museum offers resources and information on Clinton’s life, his presidency and his unique partnership with his wife — a story that is not yet complete.
Read more about the Clinton years in Don’t Know Much About the American Presidents and Don’t Know Much About History.
Don’t Know Much About the American Presidents (Hyperion Books and Random House Audio)
Don’t Know Much About History (Revised, Expanded and Updated Edition-Harper Collins and Random House Audio)
