Biography of Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton, born Blythe III, was an American politician who served in government office from 1993 to 2001. At the age of 30, he was elected Attorney General of the State of Arkansas - Minister of Justice; at 32, he became the youngest governor in the history of the state, having served in this post for 11 years.
Politician Bill Clinton
As the president later recalled, already at the age of 16 he was confident that he was capable of becoming a famous politician, and also understood that he would not be able to reach the same heights in the musical field as, for example, John William Coltrane, or in medicine as Michael DeBakey , although these areas of activity also always attracted him.
A significant event that influenced the choice of his life path was also a meeting in 1963 with the head of state John F. Kennedy, when he was elected as a delegate to the annual Boys Nation forum, held by the American Legion military-patriotic organization. In addition, young Bill was greatly impressed by the most famous speech of the fighter for the rights of African Americans, Martin Luther King, “I Have a Dream,” delivered during the same period.
Bill Clinton and John Kennedy
The years in power of the 42nd owner of the White House are notable for the significant progress of the United States in the technological and economic sphere, as well as for high-profile scandalous revelations, including the disclosure of his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
Scandals
Bill Clinton's life is filled with numerous scandals, both real and imagined by political opponents for the sake of coveted votes. During Bill Clinton's first election race, as usual, a lot of dirty laundry from the past of the Clintons was brought to light. For example, the Democratic candidate was accused of strange behavior that saved him from being drafted during the Vietnam War.
Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton
The press unearthed that Bill smoked marijuana during his student years, to which Clinton joked that he “didn’t inhale.” The candidate's extramarital sex life also raised many questions: the press brought to light an accusation of sexual harassment that was brought to court. There were accusations of real estate fraud in which Hilary Clinton's wife was allegedly involved. And although almost all of the accusations were not convincingly confirmed, they “bite off” several percent of the Democrat’s victory.
But the scandal that broke out in 1998 almost cost Bill Clinton his presidency. Information about the president's intimate relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky was leaked to the press. The young woman shared revelations about an intimate relationship with the head of state, revealing piquant details of what happened in the famous Oval Office.
This scandalous relationship has become a top topic not only in America, but throughout the world. Bill Clinton's already unenviable position was made worse by perjury under oath. Miraculously, the president managed to avoid impeachment, largely thanks to his wife Hillary, who managed to gather her will into a fist and curb her feelings. She demonstrated an iron character and enviable self-control by forgiving her husband. The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal has finally died down. But the reputation of the Democratic Party turned out to be seriously tarnished.
In addition to the sensational story with Monica Lewinsky, Clinton is credited with a long-standing relationship with a black girl from Arkansas who was involved in prostitution. This story surfaced in 2016, right in the midst of the Clinton-Trump election race. A certain black youth named Danny Lee Williams called himself the son of Bill Clinton.
Danny Lee Williams and Bill Clinton
Perhaps the young man’s external resemblance to the former president is just an accident, and his “kinship” with a famous politician is a dirty election trick.
Bill Clinton's childhood and family
The future leader of the superpower was born on August 19, 1946 in the city of Hope in the southwestern federal state of Arkansas. His dad, William D. Blythe Jr., was a traveling salesman. He died tragically in a car accident at age 36 shortly before this important event. Mom, Virginia, nee Cassidy, was forced to return to her homeland with her son, where she decided to qualify as a nurse and soon went to study in New Orleans.
Bill Clinton as a child
She handed over her son to be raised by her parents, who were the owners of a small grocery store. Bibliographers emphasized that the Cassidy couple sold their goods to customers, regardless of the color of their skin, although in those years in the south of the country it was usually practiced to sell products separately for the white population and for representatives of other ethnic groups. Thus, from early childhood, Billy acquired a positive lesson in tolerance.
In 1950, Bill's mother returned home. At the same time, her wedding took place with Roger Clinton, whose surname was later taken and glorified by her first-born. The stepfather was a co-owner of a car dealership in Hot Springs, where he moved his young wife and child. Six years later they had a son together, Roger Jr. The stepfather turned out to be not a very exemplary family man, he abused alcohol and even beat his wife.
Bill Clinton in his youth
At school, Bill became one of the best students, a leader among his peers, and passionate about reading and music. He played the saxophone superbly in the school band, was invited to the state musical group and performed as a soloist.
During lessons during legal games and mock trials, the teenager also demonstrated his excellent oratorical abilities. So he enthusiastically and convincingly once defended the leader of the conspiracy in Ancient Rome, Lucius S. Catilina, after which he assured the teacher that he would certainly someday seriously study jurisprudence.
Bill Clinton chose to study law
After school, the young man became a student at Georgetown University in the US capital, graduating in 1968 as a specialist in international relations. His family, given his stepfather’s addiction to alcohol, did not have sufficient funds for his education, so the young man achieved everything on his own. For example, having demonstrated extraordinary academic abilities, he was awarded a Cecil Rhodes scholarship to study at British Oxford. In 1973, he kept his promise to his schoolteacher by also graduating from the prestigious Yale Law School.
Who is William Jefferson Blythe III
If you dig deeper, he is not Bill at all, but William. Plus Jefferson. And not just Jefferson, but the Third. And the last name is different, Blythe. It was under this full name that the baby who became the 42nd President of the United States was born in 1946, on August 19. And it’s not about some secret affairs, he didn’t change the city, didn’t change his name, but it turned out that Bill’s own father, his full namesake, only the Second, died in a car accident shortly before the birth of his son, performing the duties of a sales manager for an industrial equipment. So, he married four times, went through the whole war, both Egypt and Italy, and death awaited him in peacetime and on his native land.
Bill Clinton's political career
After graduating from university, the young lawyer taught law for some time at the University of Arkansas. Bill Clinton then decided to concentrate on politics. In 1976, he was appointed prosecutor general.
Bill Clinton went into politics
In 1978, at 32 years old, he became the governor of his native region. Despite his youth, he managed to increase the economic performance of his state, previously one of the poorest, and also achieve significant results in other areas, especially in education.
Having gained experience and learned the basic principles of political behavior, in 1988 Bill Clinton ran for the post of leader of the state, but lost. However, in 1992, he managed to achieve success and take the presidency, despite the fact that such serious charges were brought against him as lack of patriotism due to his refusal to fight in Vietnam in his youth, drug use, and adultery.
Bill Clinton became the 42nd President of the United States
At the initial stage of his reign, a number of the president’s ideas, including the conscription of gay men into the army, failed. Subsequently, the Americans appreciated his efforts and successes in strengthening the state budget and increasing social guarantees, providing him with another electoral triumph in 1996.
The politician's second term in the White House was marked by the greatest economic growth, global leadership in the IT field, a decrease in crime rates, the creation of new jobs, the expansion of NATO, but also scandalous revelations in connection with adultery, financial fraud of the Whitewater company, and the threat of impeachment. Bush's budget deficit of $290 billion gave way to a surplus of almost $260 billion.
Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky At the age of 54, before leaving the highest government post, Bill Clinton signed decrees to pardon 140 convicted Americans, including his brother Roger, who was serving a sentence for illegal possession and sale of narcotic drugs.
Policy
Bill Clinton decided to turn his impeccable and brilliant biography of a simple and honest guy from the people, who earned his own education and achieved notable heights, into a launching pad for a future political career.
After a short period of teaching at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, the 28-year-old Clinton took his first step into politics. He tried to win a congressional seat in Arkansas's 3rd District as a Democratic candidate. The young, eloquent and outwardly attractive politician (Clinton's height is 188 cm) immediately received quite strong support from voters.
Bill Clinton in his youth
And although the young Democrat lost, his Republican rival was only a few percentage points ahead of him. This became the reason for the close attention of the Arkansas political establishment, which turned to the young and promising “prodigy.”
Two years later, in 1976, Bill Clinton won the election for Attorney General in his state. Another 2 years later, the 32-year-old politician took the post of governor of Arkansas, becoming the youngest to hold this position in US history.
Bill and Hillary Clinton
When Clinton took office, the only state ranked below Arkansas in income statistics was Mississippi. It cannot be said that after 11 years of the reign of the young governor, Arkansas suddenly became a leader - the rate of income growth was measured at a modest figure of 4.1%. But entrepreneurs noticed a “warming” climate, which contributed to the development of business in the state and the influx of investment, as well as a decrease in unemployment.
Another notable achievement of Governor Bill Clinton is educational programs. The politician was able to “break through” stubborn resistance and carried out an extensive reform program, thanks to which today Arkansas is the state in which the largest funds are allocated per capita for education.
US President Jimmy Carter and Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, 1978
In October 1991, Bill Clinton announced his candidacy for the presidency. At that time, he already had a reputation as the most prominent “new democrat”. On the way to his goal, the young politician “bet” on the middle layer, which in the 80s the Republicans managed to lure into the ranks of their voters. Clinton promised this large segment of society tax cuts and economic pragmatism.
Clinton's campaign rhetoric and promises fell on fertile ground. During the outbreak of the Cold War, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush put economics in second place after politics. Therefore, people's real earnings began to decline, and the number of jobs began to decline sharply.
Bill Clinton
And although his rival George Bush, who had a “fresh” victory in the Persian Gulf, seemed invincible, the young democrat managed to get ahead. But this victory was not stunning: Bill Clinton received 43% of the vote, ahead of his opponent by only 5%. And if you consider that the non-partisan candidate Ross Perot managed to “pull back” the votes of a fifth of the voters, it becomes clear that Clinton’s victory was largely due to a happy coincidence of circumstances.
The inauguration of the new president took place in January 1993. If we do not take into account the short period of Jimmy Carter’s reign, the protracted pause of the Democrats’ “exclusion from power” amounted to almost a quarter of a century. Clinton put an end to the long neoconservative era of Reagan-Bush.
42nd US President Bill Clinton
A liberal renewal of the country was expected from the new, 42nd democratic president. William Jefferson Clinton in his speech conveyed the main idea to the audience: he announced the coming to power of new young politicians who would replace the old generation and focus on the economy, putting it in first place.
However, Americans soon noted Bill Clinton's lack of experience in big politics. During the first stage of his presidency, he spent a long and chaotic time forming his team, causing sharp criticism from Republicans. For example, he proposed Zoya Beard, who is under criminal liability for tax evasion, for the position of Prosecutor General. For a long time, Clinton was unable to establish constructive interaction with the Republican Party and Congress.
Bill Clinton: First Term
Bill Clinton's lobbying for openly gay men to serve in the military ended in failure. The President had to accept a compromise proposed by the Department of Defense, which had significant differences from Clinton's version.
The peacekeeping operation initiated by America in Somalia, conducted under the auspices of the UN, also turned out to be a failure.
Among the most unpleasant “mistakes” of Bill Clinton during his first presidency is health care reform. It was this that the presidential candidate called a priority task and appointed his wife Hillary as head of the reform committee.
Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton
He wanted to ensure that all American citizens had health insurance. To do this, a significant part of the costs had to fall on the shoulders of employers and medical manufacturers. Clinton did not calculate the opposition that both the first and second had to him.
As a result, the intended large-scale reforms were narrowed down to minor legislative amendments that Congress agreed to.
And after the defeat of the Democratic Party in the next congressional elections in 1994, support for many of Bill Clinton’s initiatives turned out to be even more elusive.
Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton
However, the activities of the 42nd President of the United States were crowned with many achievements in domestic politics. The American economy was growing at a remarkable pace. Unemployment was decreasing.
In foreign policy, Clinton managed to reduce the degree of tension with many countries with which the United States had previously been openly at odds. In Moscow, the American president gave a lecture to Moscow State University students and received the title of honorary professor at the country's main university.
However, we must not forget that Bill Clinton’s successes in foreign policy are more likely due to the president’s luck, because his period of rule fell during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin, who two years before Clinton’s appointment announced a policy of disarmament of the USSR and a course of friendship with the United States.
Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton
Also, as noted by Strobe Talbot, First Deputy Secretary of State of the United States, Boris Yeltsin agreed with all the US demands at the negotiations, which the Secretary of State associated with the Soviet leader’s penchant for alcoholism, which is why Yeltsin paid more attention to the buffet table at the negotiations than to the content of the meetings.
The next US presidential election in 1996 was calm and even routine: Clinton had a dull competitor, Robert Dole. 49% versus 41 is a good result, although not triumphant.
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton's second term was more successful due to his increased experience. The US economy continued to grow. America's foreign debt has decreased significantly. The country has become a leader in the field of information technology (previously Japan was the leader). The collapse of the USSR relieved the United States of tension in this political area, allowing it to direct its forces and resources to the economy.
The fourth stage of NATO expansion took place after the war in Yugoslavia.
After completing his double presidential term, Bill Clinton retreated into the background, actively supporting his own wife, who also began to aspire to the presidency. But in 2008, when Hillary Clinton was defeated in the primaries by Barack Obama, the couple came out in support of this candidate.
Barack Obama and Bill Clinton
During the 2012 presidential election, Bill and Hillary Clinton also took an active part in the presidential election, re-endorsing Barack Obama.
In addition, in January 2012, Bill Clinton, at the request of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, undertook to coordinate international assistance to the people of Haiti affected by the devastating earthquake.
In 2020, Bill Clinton, now together with Obama, again actively supported his wife Hillary, who also spoke on behalf of the Democratic Party, for the presidency of the United States. The aggressive campaign, in which Hillary's opponent was Donald Trump, brought the couple together.
Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and Melania Trump
The elections took place on November 8, 2020. Hillary Clinton was defeated, losing almost a hundred electoral votes to Donald Trump. But the paradox of this situation is that if the votes were counted directly based on the popular vote, then Hillary Clinton would have left her competitor far behind. The woman received 65.84 million votes, and Trump only 62.98 million. The gap was almost 3 million votes.
American opinion leaders called the 2018 elections in the United States one of the most difficult and controversial, since both candidates did not enjoy much public support and more than once found themselves embroiled in economic, political, and ethical scandals. Voting in these presidential elections was not for a candidate, but against his opponent.
Bill Clinton's personal life
The former “owner” of the White House is married. They met Hillary Rodham during their student years (in 1971) and 4 years later they officially married. Together they taught their subject, jurisprudence, in Arkansas, and later concentrated on their political careers.
Bill Clinton and Hillary
In 1980, they had their first child, daughter Chelsea Victoria. In 2010, the girl married banker Mark Mezvinsky. In 2014, the young couple gave their parents a granddaughter, Charlotte.
The secret of the happy marriage of the presidential couple was considered to be their common interests. However, their family did not escape shocks - the adultery of the leader of a superpower, discussed throughout the world. Although, according to some media reports and Roger Stone’s book “Clinton’s War on Women,” it turned out that the relationship between the head of state and the first lady can hardly be called cloudless. On her part, allegedly, there were scandals and hysterics, on his part - endless infidelity, and it happened that he had close relationships with 8 mistresses at once.
Danny Williams calls himself Bill Clinton's son
There were rumors that Lewinsky gave him about three dozen gifts, including a poetic declaration of love engraved on marble, that Chelsea is not the ex-president’s biological daughter, but he has an illegitimate black son. Bill Clinton plays the saxophone Since childhood, Bill has been passionate about playing the saxophone. For his personal contribution to the popularization of jazz in 2014, he was awarded one of the highest awards in this form of musical art - the Thelonious Monk Award. The former head of state loves cycling, reading, and horse riding.
Grandfather, grandmother, mother, brother and stepfather
The boy was raised by his grandfather and grandmother, wonderful people, supporters of equality and opponents of racial segregation. At that time in the South, blacks shopped, ate, traveled, and even went to the restroom only where there were signs that said “Blacks Only,” and Cassidy’s Grocery served all who came. Mother, Virginia, meanwhile studied in Shreveport (Louisiana). She remarried in 1950 and soon had her second son, Roger. At the age of fifteen, Bill, appreciating the role of his stepfather in his life, took his last name. The family then lived in the town of Hot Springs (Arkansas).
While studying at high school, Bill Clinton was fond of jazz, formed a jazz band, and George Gershwin became his favorite composer. He studied well, and therefore in the summer of 1963 he took part in a meeting of the best representatives of youth with US President J.F. Kennedy, and even shook his hand.
Bill Clinton now
The former leader of the United States, during whose reign the country was in a state of prosperity and growth, is engaged in humanitarian activities and strives to change the world for the better in his public speeches.
He became a member and founder of various charitable and public organizations, including the Trilateral Commission, designed to solve world problems of various directions, his own fund to combat global warming, to provide assistance to AIDS patients and obese children. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton In early 2010, Bill Clinton was authorized by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to lead the coordination of international assistance to victims of the earthquake in Haiti. In February of the same year, he underwent medical surgery due to problems with the coronary vessels of the heart and after that became a vegetarian to prevent his illness. In 2011, he donated more than one million dollars to the development of the Haitian education system, receiving the “National Order of Honor and Merit” of this state.
Now Bill Clinton is involved in public affairs
Bill Clinton took an active part in the election campaign of Barack Obama, supported and advised his wife Hillary, the former Secretary of State and Senator, in the development of her independent political career, including the fight for the presidency in the 2020 elections.
Awards
- 1998 - Order of Good Hope, 1st class (South Africa)
- 1998 - Order of the White Lion, 1st class on a chain (Czech Republic)
- 1999 - Order of the Turkish Republic
- 1999 - Ellis Island Medal of Honor
- 2001 - Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service
- 2005 - Grammy Award for Best Spoken Album - “My Life”
- 2006 - Philadelphia Medal of Freedom with George W. Bush
- 2006 - Order of Logohu, Grand Companion degree (Papua New Guinea)
- 2006 - Order of the Cross of the Land of Mary, 1st class (Estonia)
- 2008 — “TED Prize” for creating a network of clinics in Rwanda
- 2010 - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals named Clinton Person of the Year.
- 2011 - National Order of Honor and Merit, Knight Grand Cross in gold (Haiti)
- 2013 — Presidential Medal with Honors (Israel)
- 2013 - Order of Victory named after St. George (Georgia)
- 2013 - Presidential Medal of Freedom
