Bill Clinton

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Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe IV on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. His father, an automobile-parts salesman, died in a car accident three months before Bill was born. His mother, Virginia Cassidy, married Roger Clinton, an automobile dealer, when Bill was seven years old. The family moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where Bill and his younger half brother, Roger, Jr., attended public schools. His mother often engaged Bill in political discussions and encouraged his ambitions. Growing up had its difficulties, however, because his stepfather was an alcoholic who sometimes beat his mother. Virginia and Roger eventually divorced but soon remarried, when Bill was 15. As a gesture Bill had his last name legally changed to Clinton.
Bill participated in many activities, including student government, at Hot Springs High School. In the summer of 1963 he was chosen to attend the American Legion Boys State, a government and leadership conference, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was elected a senator and given the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. where he shook hands with President John F. Kennedy. When Bill returned to Arkansas, politics became a pursuit from which he never wavered.
After high school, Clinton went to Georgetown University. While pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies he worked for Democratic Senator William Fulbright of Arkansas, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who became an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War. Clinton's own opposition to the war grew as he attended hearings and clipped newspapers.
Like his mentor, Fulbright, Clinton won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University. During his two years at Oxford Clinton's opposition to the Vietnam War came into conflict with his political aspirations. When he received a draft notice in 1969 he enrolled in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) at the University of Arkansas Law School. ...