Encyclopedia · Biography
Bill Clinton
42nd president of the United States
Personal details
- Full name
- William Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III)
- Born
- August 19, 1946 · Hope, Arkansas
- Parents
- William Jefferson Blythe Jr.; Virginia Cassidy Blythe
- Stepfather
- Roger Clinton
- Education
- Georgetown University, B.S. (1968); Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar, attended); Yale Law School, J.D. (1973)
- Religion
- Baptist
- Spouse
- Hillary Rodham Clinton (m. 1975)
- Children
- Chelsea Clinton
- Political party
- Democratic
- Public offices
- Arkansas attorney general (1977–1979); governor (1979–1981, 1983–1992); U.S. president (1993–2001)
William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton (born 1946) is an American Democratic politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001.
Family and education
Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III in Hope, Arkansas, after the death of his father in an automobile accident. His mother Virginia Cassidy later married Roger Clinton, whose surname Bill adopted. He attended Georgetown University, studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and graduated from Yale Law School in 1973. He married Hillary Rodham in 1975; they have one daughter, Chelsea.
Work and Arkansas politics
After law school Clinton taught at the University of Arkansas, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1974, served as Arkansas attorney general and was elected governor in 1978. After losing reelection in 1980, he returned to the governorship in 1982 and continued in office until the presidential transition in 1993.
Presidency and the 1990s
Clinton defeated incumbent President George H. W. Bush in the 1992 election. His administration enacted the 1993 budget law, the 1994 crime law and welfare reform in 1996 and confronted a Republican House majority after the 1994 midterms. The Chapter 3 comparison concerns how institutions survived changes of presidential party; it does not establish that Clinton directed the independent conservative organizations.
References
Research compiled through November 12, 2026. Sources and historical roles are dated where known.