(born 1946). Bill Clinton became the 42nd president of the United States in 1993. He was the first Democrat to be elected to the nation's highest office since 1976. Reelected to a second term in 1996, Clinton oversaw an economic expansion unprecedented in United States history.

Family and early life

Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe IV on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. His father died in an automobile accident three months before Bill was born. His mother, Virginia Dell Blythe, later married Roger Clinton. Bill eventually took his stepfather's name.

Bill became interested in politics at an early age. During high school he went to Washington, D.C., with the American Legion Boys Nation. There he met President John F. Kennedy, his political hero.

Education and marriage

With presidential goals in mind, Clinton attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He graduated in 1968 with a degree in international affairs. He then attended Oxford University, in England, for two years as a Rhodes scholar. In 1973 he received a law degree from Yale University. Afterward he returned to Arkansas to teach at the University of Arkansas Law School.

In 1975 Clinton married Hillary Rodham, a fellow graduate of Yale Law School. She became a successful attorney and took an active role in her husband's political career. Their daughter, Chelsea, was born in 1980.

Governor of Arkansas

Clinton ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1974. Two years later, however, he was elected attorney general of Arkansas. In 1978 he won the governorship. At 32 years old, he was the youngest person to be elected chief executive of any state in nearly 40 years.

Clinton lost his bid for reelection in 1980, but he regained the governor's office two years later. He was reelected three more times by substantial margins. As governor he reformed the state's educational system. He also encouraged the growth of industry in Arkansas by changing the state's tax system.

Nomination and election

Clinton became the Democratic candidate for president in 1992. He chose Tennessee Senator Al Gore as his vice-presidential running mate.

Clinton's Republican opponent in the November 1992 election was President George Bush. Clinton won 43 percent of the popular vote to 38 percent for Bush. An independent candidate, Ross Perot, received 19 percent of the popular vote.

First term

Clinton's presidency got off to a shaky start. Early on he appointed his wife to head a committee on health-care reform. The appointment was heavily criticized by Clinton's Republican opponents in Congress. These same opponents argued strongly against the committee's eventual proposal. After a year of debate, Clinton abandoned the health-care reform effort in September 1994.

Despite this and other early problems, Clinton's first term had many successes. Clinton changed the face of the federal government, appointing women and minorities to important posts throughout his administration. In 1993 Congress passed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which removed barriers on trade between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

In international affairs, Clinton took on a prominent role in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in the Middle East. In 1994 he helped return ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power. Clinton also sent U.S. peacekeeping forces to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the aftermath of that country's civil war.

Reelection and second term

Controversy marred Clinton's presidency from the outset. During his first term, he and his wife were investigated for their part in a business deal known as Whitewater. Although the investigation continued through the 1996 presidential campaign, Clinton was reelected easily. He won 49 percent of the popular vote to Republican Bob Dole's 41 percent and Perot's 8 percent.

A major reason for Clinton's reelection was the nation's increasingly strong economy. Economic growth continued during his second term, and unemployment dropped to its lowest point in nearly 30 years.

While the economy soared, however, Clinton continued to face scandal. In 1998 the focus of the Whitewater investigation switched from the business deal to an alleged affair between Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Clinton repeatedly denied that the affair had taken place. After strong evidence of the affair surfaced, the United States House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment against the president. This meant that Clinton was accused of committing crimes in his effort to conceal his affair with Lewinsky. He was found not guilty of the charges by the Senate in 1999.

Despite his impeachment, Clinton remained popular. In the last year of his presidency he tried to negotiate a final peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The talks broke down, however, and Israel experienced a new round of violence. In December 2000 Clinton called attention to efforts to find peace between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland on his last official trip as president. He visited Ireland, Northern Ireland, and England. He was accompanied on the trip by his wife, who was elected to the Senate a month earlier. She was the first wife of a sitting president to be elected to public office.

Clinton left office in January 2001. His successor was the Republican George W. Bush, son of former president George Bush.