Biography for
Bill Clinton (I) More at IMDb Pro »

Date of Birth

19 August 1946, Hope, Arkansas, USA

Birth Name

William Jefferson Blythe III

Nickname

The Man From Hope (Arkansas)
Bubba
the Compromiser in Chief
Secretariat
The Wizard of "Is"
The Comeback Kid
Slick Willie
The first black president (given to him by Toni Morrison)

Height

6' 1" (1.85 m)

Mini Biography

Bill Clinton's father died in a car crash three months before Bill was born. He was raised by his grandparents for four years while his mother was in Louisiana studying nursing, in order to support herself and her son. In 1950 his mother married Roger Clinton, and his half-brother, Roger Clinton, was born in 1956. Always interested in politics and working to help people, Clinton majored in International Affairs at Georgetown University. He graduated in 1968 and won a Rhodes Scholarship, which he used to study government at Oxford University. Clinton graduated from Yale Law School in 1973. He then taught law in Arkansas, and ran for political office. He was elected Arkansas Attorney General in 1976, then Governor in 1978. He won re-election in 1982, and served until he won the US Presidency in 1992, becoming the 42nd President of the United States, and winning re-election in 1996.

IMDb Mini Biography By: anon-14

Spouse

Hillary Rodham Clinton

(11 October 1975 - present) 1 child

Trade Mark

Raspy southern accent.

Trivia

Is an avid coin-collector.

Graduated from Hot Springs High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1964.

Listed in "People Weekly"s "Most Intriguing People" list. (December 25, 1995/January 1, 1996 issue)

Graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and received his law degree from Yale Law School, where he met his wife Hillary.

Enjoys playing golf and the saxophone.

Daughter, Chelsea Clinton, born 27 February 1980.

Impeached (the equivalent of indicted) by the U.S. House of Representatives, Dec. 1998, for "high crimes and misdemeanors" on a strictly party-line vote (all Republicans voted for it, all Democrats voted against it; since the Republicans controlled the House, the impeachment was approved). He is the second president to be impeached; the first was Andrew Johnson in 1868 (Richard Nixon would likely have faced impeachment, but he resigned before it came to that).

Admitted to having an affair with Monica Lewinsky. [August 1998]

Left-handed.

Named Time magazine's Co-Man of the Year (with Ken Starr) in 1998.

Ranked 21st (out of 41) in a survey of the best U.S. presidents. Some historians also rated him last in "moral authority", largely stemming from the Monica Lewinsky scandal and numerous rumored affairs. [February 2000]

Has said that Comedian Harmonists (1997) is the movie that moved him the most deeply, and that High Noon (1952) is his favorite movie of all time.

Became the second youngest U.S. President to leave office, after Theodore Roosevelt. (January 20th 2001).

Was the third youngest person ever to serve as president, after John F. Kennedy and Theodore Roosevelt.

Named Time magazine's "Man of the Year 1992".

Collects saxophones, both miniature and life-size.

Left the presidency with an approval rating of 65%, higher even than former President Ronald Reagan.

Pardoned his half-brother, Roger Clinton, thereby erasing his criminal record shortly before leaving the White House in January 2001.

On January 19, 2001, agreed to admit that he gave misleading testimony in connection with the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He was also fined $25,000 and agreed to have his Arkansas law license suspended for 5 years. In exchange, he will not face criminal charges after leaving the White House.

Is fluent in German.

Became the first sitting U.S. president to be sued. Paula Jones sued him after claiming he sexually harassed her six years previously. [1997]

Had a 12-year affair with Gennifer Flowers from 1980-1992 while he was governor of Arkansas.

After leaving the White House, he established his new office in the Harlem section of New York City.

Since leaving the White House, he has made his living mostly giving speeches before various political and business organizations, both domestically and worldwide, averaging $100,000 per speech. That doesn't compare to former President Ronald Reagan, whose first speech after he left office, to a group of wealthy Japanese businessmen, netted him $3 million. [2001]

In August 2001 he signed a book deal with publisher Alfred A. Knopf, for a $10-million advance.

Attended a national prayer service for victims of the terror attacks of the World Trade Center, at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Also in attendance were former Presidents George Bush, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, former Vice President Al Gore, former Senator Bob Dole and all their wives. [September 2001]

Was portrayed on "Saturday Night Live" (1975) by Phil Hartman, Chris Farley (once), David Spade (once), Chris Elliott (once), Michael McKean, and Darrell Hammond.

Was the first Rhodes Scholar to be elected President of the United States.

Secret Service codename was Eagle.

Inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, October 2002 (honorary induction).

Has his look-alike puppet in the French show "Guignols de l'info, Les" (1988).

The producers of "60 Minutes" (1968) originally wanted to pair Clinton with right-wing talk-show host Rush Limbaugh in their (now failed) Point/Counterpoint segment, but Clinton's people nixed the idea. They also rejected former Republican Congressman Newt Gingrich, conservative author William J. Bennett, former Christian Coalition executive Ralph Reed and conservative businessman and former Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes as possible adversaries in debate, before settling on former Senator/Republican Presidential candidate Bob Dole.

At the 1988 Democratic Convention, Gov. he gave the introduction for Michael Dukakis, it was the longest keynote speech in the history of American politics. Throughout the speech people were screaming for Dukakis, and wanted him off the stage, after 48 minutes, he said, "In closing..." The entire audience stood up and went crazy. Shortly thereafter, he appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962), where he received a three-minute, 48-second introduction from Johnny Carson, it was multiple pages long, and was Carson's longest introduction for a guest. When Clinton finally came out, Carson, said, "Well, governor, I thank you for coming here tonight. And my first question is, how are you?" With that, Carson placed an hour glass timer on the desk.

Video exists showing a young Bill Clinton shaking hands with President John F. Kennedy. The video was aired on television during his 1992 presidential campaign on CBS News.

His terms in office made him the last US president of the 20th century as well as the first president of the 21st century.

Shares a birthday with Tipper Gore, wife of his former presidential running mate, Al Gore.

42nd President of The United States of America (1993-2001).

Son of Virginia Clinton Kelley (1923-1994).

Underwent emergency quadruple heart bypass surgery in September 2004 after experiencing an episode of angina. The former President had not suffered a coronary infarction, but some of his arteries were more than 90% clogged up. He later underwent corrective surgery for a partially collapsed lung in March 2005.

Considered becoming a jazz musician early in his career.

Attended the state funeral of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, along with incumbent President George W. Bush and former President George Bush. This was Clinton's first public appearance since undergoing corrective surgery at a New York hospital. (April 8th 2005)

As of 2005, is only the second United States President who has been adopted. The only previous President who was adopted was Gerald Ford.

Brother of Kappa Kappa Psi, Inc. Fraternity.

Attended the state funeral of former President Ronald Reagan at the Washington National Cathedral with former U.S. Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George Bush, incumbent President George W. Bush, and all their wives. (11 June 2004)

He was not adopted by Roger Clinton. He used the name "Clinton" when he started school. When he was a teenager, and his younger brother Roger Clinton was going to start school, Bill went to court to have his name legally changed to "Clinton". The future President wanted to have the same name as his brother, to avoid confusion in the Arkansas school system.

Cousin of Congressman James A. Lockhart.

Left the Presidency with a substantial budget surplus, the only president in more than 50 years to do so.

Is mentioned in the lyrics to the theme song of the cartoon series "Animaniacs" (1993) ("....Wakko packs away the snacks, while Bill Clinton plays the sax.").

On November 3, 1992, Clinton was elected the 42nd President of the United States by a wide margin in the Electoral College, despite receiving only 43% of the popular vote. The 1992 election was the first time since 1968 that a candidate won the White House with under 50% of the popular vote. (Neither Clinton in 1996 or George W. Bush in 2000 garnered 50% of the popular vote, though he did in 2004.) Clinton's home state of Arkansas was the only state in the entire country that gave the majority of its vote to a single candidate; the rest were won by pluralities of the vote. Clinton came in third in Utah, behind President George Bush and third party candidate Ross Perot, while Bush came in third in Maine, where the Bush family maintained a summer home in Kennebunkport.

Despite their numerous political and personal differences, he and former President George Bush, his opponent in the 1992 Presidential election, have actually become friends in recent years. The two have made several commercials together on behalf of the victims of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. As cited in "Time" magazine, former First Lady Barbara Bush even called them "The Odd Couple".

Huge fan of Elvis Presley.

In 1972, he was hired as a non-tenured professor of Law at the University of Arkansas at a starting salary of $14,706 per year.

In 1976, he was elected Attorney General for the State of Arkansas at a salary of $26,500 per year.

His allergies include chocolate, dairy products, and flour.

When he left the White House in 2001, he had legal bills in excess of $12 million as a result of campaign financing, the Monica Lewinsky trial, and Whitewater.

In 2006, he earned between $9-10 million on the lecture circuit. He gave 352 speeches, only 20% for personal income. His speaking fee, is approximately $150,000 per speech unless it is for one of the many Clinton causes or organizations, in which case he speaks for free.

In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year at $7 million.

Became the first serving US President to visit Northern Ireland. [November 1995]

Nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for "Giving: How Each Of Us Can Change the World" [Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Story Telling)].

Prior to the 2008 election, he is the youngest of the four living US presidents, born 44 days after current president George W. Bush.

Personal Quotes

[1996] Will you help me build a bridge to the 21st century?

[in 1992, responding to a question about whether he ever smoked pot] I didn't inhale.

[2 October 2002 at the UK Labour Party Conference] It's good to be in a place where our crowd are still in office.

What's the sacrifice that's being asked of people who make more than $1 million per year? It's the energy they have to expend opening the envelopes containing their tax cuts."

[to British TV interviewer David Dimbleby after Dimbleby persisted in questioning him about the Monica Lewinsky incident] Look how much time you spent asking me these questions. And that's why people like you always help the far right because you like to hurt people, and you like to talk about how bad people are and all their personal failings. Look - you made a decision to allocate your time in a certain way. You should take responsibility for that. You should say "Yes, I care much more about this [the Lewinsky affair] than whether the Bosnian people were saved, than whether 27 million people had jobs at the end, and whether we moved a hundred times as many people out of poverty as [Ronald Reagan] and George W. Bush]." This is what I care about."

In some ways she [Hillary Rodham Clinton] would be better because of what we did together. First, she has the Senate experience I didn't have. Second, she would have had the eight years in the White House. I think she wouldn't make as many mistakes because, you know, we're older and more mature, and she is far more experienced now in all the relevant ways than I was when I took office. So I think in a way she has the best of both worlds.

That's the difference in me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying [to kill Osama Bin Laden]. They had eight months [before September 11th] to try; they did not try.

You know, [George Bush] is always comparing me to [Elvis Presley] in sort of unflattering ways. I don't think Bush would have liked Elvis very much, and that's just another thing that's wrong with him.

[discussing the balanced budget amendment] Obviously I don't support it, but I support the impulses that are giving rise to it.

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