Bill Clinton – “Slick Willy”

August 19, 2016 — Leave a comment

William Jefferson Blythe IV was born on August 19, 1946 in Hope, Arkansas to his recently widowed mother Virginia Cassidy Blythe. His father was a traveling salesman who died three months earlier in a traffic accident. His mother, a vivacious and fun-loving free spirit moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to complete two years of nursing school. She left Bill with her parents, Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who had a small grocery business. His grandparents were strict disciplinarians who instilled in him the importance of a good education. Bill recalled, “My grandparents had a lot to do with my early commitment to learning. They taught me to count and read. I was reading little books when I was 3.”

Bill’s mother came home from nursing college in 1950 and eventually married Roger Clinton, co-owner of an auto dealership in Hot Spring, Arkansas. Bill assumed his stepfather’s name but didn’t officially change it until after he turned fourteen as a sign of accepting his stepfather. His only sibling, Roger Clinton Jr., was born in 1956.

Although his parents or his grandparents were not religious, Bill became a devoted Baptist. While his mother went to the racetracks on Sunday, Bill attended church. He woke himself up, put on his best dress clothes and walked half a mile to Park Place Baptist Church to attend services alone. He was drawn to the gospel music performed at his church and began playing the saxophone.

Bill grew increasingly disturbed by his stepfather’s drinking and abusive behavior toward his mother and younger half-brother. At the age of 14, already standing more than 6 feet tall, Bill told his stepfather, “If you want them, you’ll have to go through me.” The abuse stopped, but his stepfather’s drinking didn’t, Bill’s mother divorced him in 1962, but remarried him shortly afterwards.

Bill attended Hot Springs High School, a segregated all-white school. The principal, Johnnie Mae Mackey, focused on producing students devoted to public service and she developed a strong bond with Bill. He excelled as a student and as a saxophone player and played in a jazz trio known as the “Three Blind Mice,” he was considered the best jazz saxophonist in the city.

As a high school student and delegate to the American Legion Boys Nation, on July 24, 1963 Bill met President John F. Kennedy in the White House Rose Garden and is photographed shaking Kennedy’s hand. On the same trip, Bill met another of his political heroes, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee J. William Fulbright. Bill said, “Fulbright I admired to no end … He had a real impact on my wanting to be a citizen of the world.” The Kennedy handshake left Bill determined to fulfill his mother’s prediction that he would someday be President of the United States. She did see her son become president before her death in 1994 of cancer.

Another significant event in his life was when he heard Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech “I Have A Dream” in 1963. Bill said it changed the way he looked at life and he started to think what he wanted to do with his life and that was to work with and for other people.

After graduating from Hot Springs High School in 1964, Bill attended Georgetown University to study international affairs and covered his expenses through scholarships and part-time jobs. He immediately thrust himself into university politics, serving as the president of his freshman and sophomore classes. Bill lost the election for student body president during his junior year because his classmates found him “too political,” and viewed him as an outsider from backwoods Arkansas. Bill began working as a clerk for the Foreign Relations Committee under Senator Fulbright, who was a critic of the Vietnam War. Bill came to share Fulbright’s view that the war was both immoral and contrary to the United States’ best interests.

Bill graduated from Georgetown University and in 1968 won a Rhodes Scholarship to study for two years at Oxford University in England. However, shortly after he arrived in England he received his draft notice and was forced to return to Arkansas. Senator Fulbright’s office and Governor Winthrop Rockefeller managed to persuade the admissions staff of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (ROTC) program at the University of Arkansas Law School to accept Bill. Instead of attending law school that fall, he returned to Oxford.

Eventually Bill felt guilty about his decision to avoid the draft and resubmitted his name to the draft board. He received a high enough lottery number and would not have to serve in Vietnam. Bill sent a letter to the director of the Arkansas ROTC program thanking him for “saving” him from the draft, explaining that he still loved his country, but disapproved of the war.

Upon the completion of his Rhodes Scholarship, Bill entered Yale Law School where he met Hillary Rodham, a young woman who shared his political ambitions. They graduated from Yale in 1973 and married two years later on October 11, 1975.

After graduating from Yale Bill began teaching at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Law School and in 1974 challenged Republican incumbent John Paul Hammerschmidt for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bill lost the race, and two years later he was elected as the states attorney general. In 1978, at the age of 32, he became the Governor of Arkansas, one of the youngest governors in American history.

Bill and Hillary’s only child, Chelsea, was born on February 27, 1980. They named her after the popular 1960’s song, “Chelsea Morning,” by Joni Mitchell. They insisted that they would try to raise Chelsea outside the glare of media attention. She frequently traveled with her parents and eventually graduated from Stanford University.

Bill made several mistakes as the Arkansas governor, he served his first two-year term before losing to Frank White. Bill was devastated but refused to let it put an end to his political career. He worked for two years at a Little Rock law firm and in 1982 ran for another term as governor.

He admitted his past mistakes and voters gave him a second chance, this time Bill would hold onto the job for four consecutive terms. Bill advocated educational reform and appointed Hillary to lead a committee to draft higher standards for Arkansas schools. The education reforms positively impacted the schools, which experienced a decrease in dropout rates and an increase in college-entrance exam test scores. He also promoted welfare reforms and appointed more African Americans to state boards, commissions, and agency posts than all of his predecessors combined.

From 1986 to 1987 Bill served as the chairman of the National Governors Association, and became involved in the Democratic Leadership Council. Bill had an opportunity to announce himself as an obvious future presidential candidate at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, but he delivered an excruciatingly long and boring nomination speech for Michael Dukakis. In a skillful bit of political damage control, he quickly made fun of his disastrous speech on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

During his fifth term as governor of Arkansas, on October 3, 1991, Bill announced his intention to run for president. During his campaign he faced accusations of draft dodging during the Vietnam War and claims of an extramarital affair. Although he said he had smoked marajuana as a college student, he added that he “didn’t inhale,” which struck his critics as disingenuous. Most voters seemed unconcerned with his private life or his stand on a war that had ended about two decades ago. Both Bill and Hillary appeared on the television program “60 Minutes” to quell the controversy, Bill admitted that he had harmed his marriage and Hillary defended her husband and his work.

Bill and his running mate, Tennessee’s Senator Albert Gore Jr., then 44, represented a new generation in American political leadership. For the first time in 12 years both the White House and Congress were held by the same party. But that political edge was brief due to the Republicans controlling both houses of Congress in 1994.

Bill received 43 percent of the popular vote and more than twice the number of Electoral College votes than George H.W. Bush. Independent candidate Ross Perot drew support from both parties, winning approximately 19 percent of the popular vote but no electoral votes.

Bill was inaugurated in January 20, 1993 at the age of 46, making him the third-youngest president in history up to that time. Two days later he signed orders overturning the Reagan and Bush era restrictions on abortions. Ultimately Bill appointed a number of women and minorities to key government posts, including Janet Reno who became the first female U.S. attorney general, and Madeleine Albright, who was sworn in as the first female U.S. secretary of state. He appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court, the second female justice in the court’s history.

After disputes over whether to allow homosexuals to serve in the military, Bill proposed a “don’t ask, don’t tell” compromise with military leaders on July 19, 1993. The policy allowed homosexuals to serve in the military if they do not reveal their homosexuality and refrain from homosexual conduct.

Bill’s 1993 economic package passed without a single Republican vote in either chamber of Congress, they predicted that it would result in economic chaos. His economic policy lowered the deficit from $290 billion in 1992 to $203 billion by 1994 and by 1999, the booming economy generated a surplus of $124 billion.

In 1994, Bill signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act providing an additional 100,000 policemen and increased the death penalty to fifty other crimes. Finally, before the year ended, Bill, along with the presidents of four other nations signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty to eradicate and abolish 9,000 nuclear warheads.

But on Bill’s personal life an investigation started to review the Clintons’ real-estate investment in the Whitewater Development Corporation. In May 1994 Paula Jones filed a civil lawsuit against Bill alleging that he made sexual advances toward her in 1991 when he was governor of Arkansas, it was later dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge.

On December 16, 1995, the federal government was shut down when the Republican majority Congress was trying to force Bill to sign their proposed budget, Bill vetoed the Republican budget. Three-quarters of a million federal workers were caught in the middle of this political fight just before Christmas, leaving them to wonder if they would be paid during the holiday season. Angry Americans, faced with locked government offices and closed national parks, blamed the Republicans, forcing them to back down and pass a temporary measure to reopen the government on January 5, 1996. They finally agreed on a compromise to the federal budget on April 26, 1996.

Bill ran for re-election in 1996 and defeated U.S. Senator Bob Dole of Kansas by a margin of 379-159 electoral votes and 49.2 percent of the popular vote to Dole’s 40.7 percent of the vote. Ross Perot also ran for president and only received 8.4 percent of the popular vote. Bill’s victory marked the first time since Franklin Roosevelt that a Democrat was elected to a second presidential term. Republicans continued to control the House and Senate.

Bill was sworn in to his second term of office on January 20, 1997, the United States economy was healthy, unemployment was low and the nation experienced a major technology boom and the rise of the Internet. But Bill was marred by scandals and on December 19, 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached him for perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with a sexual relationship he had with White House intern Monica Lewinsky between late 1995 and early 1997. According to a Secret Service officer, Bill had at least three affairs during his tenure in the White House. In addition to Monica Lewinsky, Bill ‘entertained’ Vice President Walter Mondale’s daughter, Eleanor Mondale, at the time a T.V. journalist, as well as an unnamed receptionist. It sounds like his role model President John F. Kennedy, who was also known to have a number of affairs while in office.

The investigation leading up to Bills impeachment proceedings was led by Kenneth Starr who left no stone unturned in both Bill and Hillary’s professional and personal lives. He subpoenaed the First Lady to testify about lost billing records from the Rose law firm that mysteriously turned up in the residence area of the White House. Personal or business associates of the Clintons, past and present members of the President’s political staff and administration, and just about anyone who might have knowledge of their private and public actions were subject to subpoena as witnesses to be questioned.

Starr expanded the investigations to include not just the President’s financial affairs but also his sexual behavior. Starr’s investigators questioned Bill under oath about his relationship with Lewinsky. Bill publicly denied the Lewinsky allegations, saying, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.” Starr was convinced that Bill had lied in trying to cover up the affair and had instructed others to lie on his behalf.

On December 16, 1998 Bill became the second U.S. president to be impeached by the House of Representatives. The first president was Andrew Johnson (1808-75) who was impeached in 1868 and later acquitted. Bill was charged with lying under oath and many Senators saw the charges as “low” and tawdry actions involving private matters, not “high crimes and misdemeanors” amounting to offenses against the state. It became immediately clear that the Senate would not produce a two-thirds majority vote to convict Bill and remove him from office. On February 12, 1999, the U.S. Senate acquitted Bill of the charges and he remained in office for the remainder of his term.

Toward the end of his second term Bill became the first president who was married to a U.S. Senator when Hillary was elected to represent New York state in the U.S. Senate. Al Gore lost his run for president to the Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush

On Bill’s last day in office, January 20, 2001, he issued 140 presidential pardons, including his half-brother, Roger Clinton Jr., who was serving time in prison for cocaine possession. The most controversial pardon was the international fugitive Marc Rich, whose ex-wife was a prominent Democratic fundraiser.

Bill left office dogged by charges of scandal that had become common during his time in the White House. His greatest accomplishment as president was leading the nation to a period of strong economic prosperity. While he was in office, the nation enjoyed the lowest unemployment rates in recent times, the lowest inflation rate in decades, the highest home-ownership rates in its history and a surplus budget. His successor, George W. Bush, reversed the nation’s fiscal position, from one of exceptional surpluses to one of exceptional deficits.

Bill offered his own evaluation of his presidency in his memoirs when he wrote, “I judge my presidency primarily in terms of its impact on people’s lives. That is how I kept score: all the millions of people with new jobs, new homes and college aid; the people who left welfare for work; the families helped by the family leave law; the people living in safer neighborhoods—all those people have stories, and they’re better ones now.”

After Bill left the White House, he moved to Chappaqua, New York, the home-base of Hillary’s political administration. Bill keeps an office in New York City and maintains an active speaking schedule and published his memoir “My Life,” in 2004. He is actively involved in issues of public concern through the Clinton Presidential Foundation, later renamed the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. The foundation works to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for girls and women, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change. He also oversaw the creation of his presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas which opened on November 18, 2004.

Bill joined former President George H.W. Bush three times, after the 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Hurricane Ike in 2008, and with President George W. Bush in Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. In December 2005 Bill and President George H.W. Bush were named ABC News’ people of the year for their relief efforts from the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

Bill played an active role in Hillary’s failed 2008 presidential bid and afterward he helped with Barack Obama’s successful presidential campaign. He also showed his support for President Obama at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in his speech stating that President Obama was “cool on the outside, but who burns for America on the inside.”

In November 2013, Bill received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to civilians. Recipients of the medal are chosen for their “meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

On September 26, 2014, Bill became a grandfather when Chelsea gave birth to Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky. His second grandchild, Aidan Clinton Mezvinsky, was born on June 18, 2016.

Hillary Clinton became the official Democratic nominee for the American presidency in May 2016, becoming the first woman in the United States to win a major political party’s presidential nomination.

Bill is considered as one of America’s most important leaders of today. In spite of the controversies connected to him, he was able to revive his image and maintained his popularity as a political figure and continues to be one of the most astute political analysts within the Democratic Party. He has been selected as “Man of the Year” twice by Time Magazine.

Who knows, he may soon be known as the First Gentleman.


Quotes

“Every time we pray our horizon is altered, our attitude to things is altered, not sometimes, but every time, and the amazing thing is that we don’t pray more.”

“Everybody counts, everybody deserves a chance, everybody has a responsible role to play and we all do better when we work together.”

“Sometimes I feel like a fire hydrant looking at a pack of dogs.”

“We’re doing 60 Minutes because we’re too old for “”Survivor”” and “”Star Search.”

“You know the one thing that’s wrong with this country? Everyone gets a chance to have their fair say.”

“When our memories outweigh our dreams, we have grown old.”

“We’ve got the power, we’ve got the juice. We should do the job.”

“You know, everybody makes mistakes when they are president.”

“When we make college more affordable, we make the American dream more achievable.”

“We must teach our children to resolve their conflicts with words, not weapons.”

“Today, many companies are reporting that their number one constraint on growth is the inability to hire workers with the necessary skills.”

“Strength and wisdom are not opposing values.”

“Part of our essential humanity is paying respect to what God gave us and what will be here a long time after we’re gone.”

“In today’s knowledge-based economy, what you earn depends on what you learn. Jobs in the information technology sector, for example, pay 85 percent more than the private sector average.”

“In the new economy, information, education, and motivation are everything.”

“I like the job. That’s what I’ll miss the most… I’m not sure anybody ever liked this as much as I’ve liked it.”

“I don’t believe you can find any evidence of the fact that I have changed government policy solely because of a contribution.”

“I believe I’m a better authority than anybody else in America on my own wife. I have never known a person with a stronger sense of right and wrong in my life ever.”

“Today we can declare: Government is not the problem, and government is not the solution. We, the American people, we are the solution.”

“There is nothing more precious to a parent than a child, and nothing more important to our future than the safety of all our children.”

“Taxing less and spending more… it’s fun in the short run, but it’s a recipe for disaster”

“We are living in a world, where what we earn is a function of what we learn..”

“You live in a country that makes it harder to raise children than any other country in the world. You vote for me and I’ll give you family values.”

“We need to help younger people recognize their own capacity to do good, and help them discover the rewards of generosity.”

“That depends on what your definition of “is” is”

“For too long we’ve been told about “us” and “them.” Each and every election we see a new slate of arguments and ads telling us that “they” are the problem, not “us.” But there can be no “them” in America. There’s only us.”

“We don’t need a constitutional amendment for kids to pray.”

“Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless”

“Keep your eyes on the prize and don’t turn back.”

“We need not just a new generation of leadership but a new gender of leadership”

“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America”

“By lifting the weakest, poorest among us, we lift the rest of us as well.”

“I like that about the Republicans; the evidence does not faze them, they are not bothered at all by the facts.”

“Global poverty is a powder keg that could be ignited by our indifference.”

“We cannot build our own future without helping others to build theirs.”

“If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit.”

“Big things are expected of us, and nothing big ever came of being small.”

“For too long we’ve been told about “”us”” and “”them.”” Each and every election we see a new slate of arguments and ads telling us that “”they”” are the problem, not “”us.”” But there can be no “”them”” in America. There’s only us.”

“I did not have sexual relationship with that woman!”

“My doctor ordered me to shut up, which will make every American happy.”

“The American people are concerned, and rightfully so. Americans should never have to worry that their employers are looking at the medicines they take, or the ailments they’ve had.”

“I think we all ought to be questioning all the time and learning and growing. And I think that’s what we need, but it’s not my deal, I don’t think.”

“As the father of Earth Day…He inspired us to remember that the stewardship of our natural resources is the stewardship of the American Dream.”

“The man knows how to build a crowd.” 


Links

Bill Clinton

https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/williamjclinton

http://www.biography.com/people/bill-clinton-9251236

http://millercenter.org/president/clinton

http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/bill-clinton

http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/bill-clinton/

http://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-clinton/

http://www.politifact.com/personalities/bill-clinton/

http://totallyhistory.com/bill-clinton/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton

https://twitter.com/billclinton?lang=en

https://www.facebook.com/billclinton

Clinton Foundation

https://www.clintonfoundation.org/about/president-clinton

Presidential Approval Ratings — Bill Clinton

http://www.gallup.com/poll/116584/presidential-approval-ratings-bill-clinton.aspx

How the Clintons went from ‘dead broke’ to rich: Bill earned $104.9 million for speeches

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-the-clintons-went-from-dead-broke-to-rich-bill-earned-1049-million-for-speeches/2014/06/26/8fa0b372-fd3a-11e3-8176-f2c941cf35f1_story.html

What Are Some Fun Facts About Bill Clinton?

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/facts-about-bill-clinton.html

9 Secret and Scandalous Facts About Bill Clinton

http://www.lifedaily.com/19-very-interesting-facts-about-bill-clinton/

Timeline: President Bill Clinton Through the Years

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Bill_Clinton/timeline-president-bill-clinton-years-life-presidency-post/story?id=247332

Bill Clinton Facts for Kids

http://www.presidential-power.org/american-presidents-facts/bill-clinton-facts.htm

Timeline: Clinton’s Years in Office, 1992-2000

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/clinton/

Bill Clinton Timeline

http://www.american-presidents-history.com/bill-clinton-timeline.html

The many (nick) names of Bill Clinton

http://billclinton-talk.com/article/many-nick-names-bill-clinton

It’s Come To This: A Nickname That’s Proven Hard to Slip

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/slick122098.htm


Books

By Bill Clinton

Putting People First: How We Can All Change America

http://amzn.to/2b8i5q3

Technology for America’s Economic Growth, a New Direction to Build Economic Strength

http://amzn.to/2aU7st7

My Life

http://amzn.to/2aRE9op

My Life: The Presidential Years Vol. II

http://amzn.to/2aSkmoq

Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy

http://amzn.to/2bh9thc

Between Hope and History

http://amzn.to/2aU6FII

Giving

http://amzn.to/2aRENSJ

 

By Other Authors

William Jefferson Clinton: Forty-Second President of the United States (Encyclopedia of Presidents)

http://amzn.to/2brVKYl

Clinton Foreign Policy Reader: Presidential Speeches with Commentary: Presidential Speeches with Commentary

http://amzn.to/2bfsHqg

The Impeachment and Trial of President Clinton

http://amzn.to/2aRE2ce

PREFACE TO THE PRESIDENCY, SELECTED SPEECHES OF BILL CLINTON 1974-1992

http://amzn.to/2aREK9q

Clinton on Clinton: A Portrait of the President in His Own Words

http://amzn.to/2brW3T6

No One Left to Lie To: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton

http://amzn.to/2brVJ6H

Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich

http://amzn.to/2aU7rFS

The Speeches of President Bill Clinton

http://amzn.to/2aU8i9j

Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate

http://amzn.to/2aU8lC1

Partners in Crime: The Clintons’ Scheme to Monetize the White House for Personal Profit

http://amzn.to/2aU93iw

Hillary and Bill: The Clintons and the Politics of the Personal

http://amzn.to/2aRFOdx


Videos

http://www.biography.com/people/bill-clinton-9251236

http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/bill-clinton

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bill+clinton

Bill Clinton: Biography, College, Education, Economy, Early Life, U.S. History (1995)

https://youtu.be/ejy82jbl6Go

Clinton – One of The Most Successful Politicians in Modern American History

https://youtu.be/p3yGcT5x38I

clintonlibrary42

https://www.youtube.com/user/clintonlibrary42

Bill Clinton’s Best Speech Ever!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-fSmSWI5EM

 

 

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