Bill Clinton's Kevo

Charles Allen titled his 1992 book about Bill Clinton The Comeback Kid. It is an appropriate name, for the President has again and again overcome adversity – much of it by his own making – to achieve his goals and become one of the more popular presidents of his time.

Bill Clinton overcame an unstable childhood growing up first with his grandparents, and then with his mother and stepfather, Roger Clinton. Although Roger Clinton often beat his wife and his natural son Roger Jr., Bill managed to excel in school and his extra curricular activities. His hard work got him to Georgetown University, then to Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and finally to Yale Law School (where he met his wife Hillary Rodham). A setback in a Congressional election in Arkansas did not deter him from a career in politics. After becoming the state attorney general, he went on to become governor in 1978, the youngest in Arkansas history. Although he lost the next election, he came back after much soul searching and with more humility to serve as governor from 1982-1992. In his bid for the presidency in 1992, he beat a strong field of Democratic hopefuls, including Paul Tsongas and Bob Kerrey. In the election versus incumbent George Bush, Clinton overcame stories of state corruption in Arkansas and a history of extramarital affairs to become the first Democratic president since Jimmy Carter.

Almost since the day he was elected, President Clinton has been dogged by controversy, some of it fabricated and some not. His involvement in fraudulent real estate deals, potentially illegal fundraising practices, the mysterious deaths of people privy to potentially incriminating evidence (including Vince Foster), affairs and alleged affairs with (among others) White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and the resignation of many of his initial (and perhaps inexperienced) Cabinet appointments are a few of the scandals in which President has been embroiled. He has, however, managed to overcome these and early troubles over his wavering foreign policy and rejected health insurance reform plan by overseeing a tremendous period of economic growth in the United States. Even his highly documented affair with Monica Lewinsky and the impeachment hearings that followed did not lessen his popularity with the American people; nor did these problems interfere in his Presidential accomplishments. An open advocate of equality and affirmative action, Clinton appointed Madeline Albright the first woman Secretary of State, Janet Reno the first Attorney General, and appointed several blacks and Hispanics to his Cabinet, including Hazel O’Leary, Ron Brown, Mike Espy, Bill Richardson, Federico Pena, and Alexis Herman. President Clinton has helped create a federal budget surplus for 1999 and made commitments to improving the quality and safety of American schools. On the foreign front, he has overcome a shaky start to help orchestrate normal relations with China, peace in Bosnia, and peace in the Middle East.
Work History
(02/19/1999) Posthumously pardons Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of West Point, whose military career was tarnished by a racially motivated discharge.

(02/18/1999) Warns Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to choose peace with ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, or face a devastating military strike.

(02/06/1998) Signs a bill changing the name of Washington National Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

(02/06/1996) Unveils his $1.61 trillion budget, combining mild tax relief and spending reductions.

(1996-present) Re-elected to the presidency.

(1992-1996) Elected President of the United States.

(1982, 1984, 1988) Reelected (the term became 4 years in 1984).

(1980-1982) Counsel for law frim Wright, Lindsey & Jennings, Little Rock, Arkansas.

(1978-1980) Arkansas governor.

(1976-1978) Arkansas state attorney general.

(1973-1976) Lawyer, private practice, Fayetteville, Arkansas; also Member of the faculty, University of ARkansas School of Law, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

(1973) Staff attorney, House Judiciary Committee.

(1965) During summer break from college, worked for Arkansas sentator J. William Fulbright and for the unsuccessful Arkansas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Frank Holt.

(c. 1965) Through his time at Yale Law School, works with a New Haven lawyer, a community college, and a city councilman.
Affiliations
Democratic Leadership Council,chairman, 1990-1991; Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission, chairman, 1989-1990; Education Commission of the States chairman, 1986-87; National Association of Attorneys General; American Bar Association; Arkansas Bar Association