Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton served as the forty second President of the United States of America (USA) from 1993 to 2001. His original name is William Jefferson Blythe III but he takes the name of William Jefferson Clinton and popularly known as Bill Clinton.

He is originally from the state of Arkansas. Before becoming the President of the United States he had served as the Governor of Arkansas. He belongs to the Democratic Party in United States of America. The symbol of Democratic Party is donkey. The Democratic Party has given Presidents like Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR,), John F. Kennedy among others.

According to historians the Presidency of Bill Clinton witnessed good economic growth and it was one of the reasons for his popularity in America. He was born on 19 August 1946 in Hope city of Arkansas. Bill Clinton’s father died in an accident. Bill Clinton’s mother was pregnant when his father died. After the death of his father his mother got married with Roger Clinton. Thus, Bill took the Clinton surname of his stepfather. His mother’s name was Virginia Dell Blythe. Bill Clinton’s step father was an alcoholic. Hence, the young Bill was mostly taken care by his maternal grandfather.

Bill Clinton has an opportunity to meet and shook hands with John F. Kennedy in the year 1963. John F. Kennedy popularly known as JFK, was the President of the United States of America at that point of time. This incident was very inspiring for young Bill who was around seventeen years old then. It can be said that since that time he started seriously thinking to join the politics.

He studied at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and completed a Degree in International Affairs. Later on he also studied at Oxford University in United Kingdom. In 1973 he received a Law Degree from Yale University, one of the prestigious Universities in the United States. At Yale University he met his future wife Hillary Clinton. They got married in the year 1975 and have one daughter viz. Chelsea Clinton.

He started his political career from the state of Arkansas. In the beginning he became Attorney General of Arkansas and in 1978 went on to become the Governor at the age of thirty two. He lost the Governor’s election held in 1980. But in 1982 he was again elected as the Governor of Arkansas as the nominee of Democratic Party. He went on to win subsequent elections of  the Governor of Arkansas.

In 1992 Bill Clinton entered the fray to get the ticket of Democratic Party for Presidential elections. He was the Governor of Arkansas at that point of time. Against all odds he went on to win the nomination of Democratic Party and picked Al Gore as his running mate i.e. Vice Presidential candidate. Al Gore was the Senator from the state of Tennessee when he became the running mate of Bill Clinton in 1992 Presidential elections.

Bill Clinton was having a formidable opponent in the form of George Bush Sr. who had served as the Vice President of Ronald Reagan and subsequently became the President in 1988. George Bush Senior’s popularity had gone up due to American invasion of Iraq. But, Bill Clinton was able to defeat his Republican opponent and went on to become the President of the United States.

Some of the important decisions taken during the first administration of Bill Clinton were- North American Free Trade Agreement, enactment of Family and Medical Leave Act, Violence against Women Act among others. When Republican Party got majority in Senate and House of Representatives they started non-cooperating with the President. It helped Bill Clinton to get the sympathy of Americans.

One of the prominent features of Clinton Presidency was that he appointed women and persons from minority communities to key positions.

In foreign policy arena he brought Yitzhak Rabin, the then Prime Minister of Israel and Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation together. He intervened and convinced these two to sign an agreement which would give some solace to Palestinians in Israel.

In 1996 Bill Clinton was re-elected to the White House. In spite of big criticism from his political opponents Bill Clinton managed to win the Presidency for second tenure, thanks to the strong economic growth witnessed by America under his leadership. This time around Bill Clinton defeated his Republican opponent Bob Dole.

One of the major problems faced by Bill Clinton during his second tenure was the Monica Lewinsky scandal. His affair with Monica Lewinsky, an young intern working in White House became the international issue. Kenneth Starr, an independent counsel conducted enquiry in this matter and prepared the Starr Report. In the year 1999 Bill Clinton’s career was saved when the United States Senate decided to acquit him.

Some of the important foreign decisions and initiatives during his second tenure were- bombing of Iraq in 1998, NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 and visits to Ireland and Vietnam.

After completing the second term of Presidency, Bill Clinton formed the William J. Clinton Foundation and involved himself in social and philanthropic work. He also supported the political ambitions and career of his wife Hillary Clinton. He wrote his autobiography titled ‘My Life’ which was published by the Knof Publishing Group. His autobiography became one of the best selling books.

If one has to judge the Presidency of Bill Clinton then it has to be said that he was one of the highly successful and popular Presidents of the United States of America in spite of several controversies.