Bill Clinton (b.1946,) fully William Jefferson Clinton, originally William Jefferson Blythe III, is an American Democratic political leader. As 42nd president of the United States 1993–2001, he oversaw the country’s longest peacetime economic expansion.
Born in Hope, Arkansas, Clinton studied at Georgetown University, spent two years at Oxford’s University College on a Rhodes Scholarship, and studied law at Yale. There he met and married Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton.
Clinton then taught law at the University of Arkansas, served as state attorney-general, and became the governor of Arkansas. At age 32, he was the youngest person ever to hold the office. After an eventful two-year term as governor, Clinton failed in his reelection bid in 1980. He regained the governor’s office in 1982 and served until 1992 when he became president.
Clinton’s two terms in office were successful: he oversaw the booming economy, balanced the federal budget, initiated welfare reforms, and reduced crime. He reached several momentous agreements in foreign affairs, including movement toward peace in the Middle East and Northern Ireland. Notwithstanding its successes, Clinton’s presidency was dogged by constant allegations of impropriety. In 1999, he was impeached on counts of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying about his sexual relationship with a young White House intern but was found not guilty by the Senate.
Post presidency, Clinton became a well-paid public speaker and raised funds for his foundation, and for victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. His writings include the autobiography My Life (2004,) Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World (2007,) and Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy (2011.) Clinton co-wrote the thriller The President is Missing (2018.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Bill Clinton
Pessimism is an excuse for not trying and a guarantee to a personal failure.
—Bill Clinton
Topics: Pessimism
A lot of presidential memoirs, they say, are dull and self-serving. I hope mine is interesting and self-serving.
—Bill Clinton
Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all.
—Bill Clinton
The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.
—Bill Clinton
The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists.
—Bill Clinton
Topics: Peace
We cannot build our own future without helping others to build theirs.
—Bill Clinton
Topics: Helping
By lifting the weakest, poorest among us, we lift the rest of us as well.
—Bill Clinton
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
- Jimmy Carter American Head of State
- Hillary Rodham Clinton American Head of State
- Franklin D. Roosevelt American Head of State
- George H. W. Bush American Head of State
- Ronald Reagan American Head of State
- John F. Kennedy American Head of State
- Andrew Jackson American Head of State
- Theodore Roosevelt American Head of State
- Woodrow Wilson American Head of State
- Herbert Hoover American Head of State