Basic Information
Name: Born William Jefferson Blythe III
Nickname: Bill, Bubba, the Comeback Kid
Born: August 19th, 1946
Nationality: American
Hometown: Hope, Arkansas
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: 42nd president, governor of Arkansas, attorney general of Arkansas
Education: Georgetown University, Oxford University, Yale Law School
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: William Jefferson Blythe Jr. and Virginia Cassidy
Siblings: Roger Clinton Jr.
Spouse: Hillary Rodham Clinton
Children: Chelsea Clinton
Friends: Cheryl Mills, Al Gore
Foes: Monica Lewinsky, dry cleaners, George H. W. Bush
Analysis
Oh, Bill Clinton. We know he was president, but wasn't there some other thing he's remembered for? Hmm…
Oh, yeah! Executive Order 13072—we probably took the words right out of your mouth.
Executive Order 13072 is just the official name of the White House Millennium Council, the organization President Clinton created to celebrate the 20th century—the good and the bad—and bring its lessons into the next century. The council sponsored talks and other events, and it hosted the lecture series that brought Elie Wiesel to the White House to deliver "The Perils of Indifference."
The White House Millennium Council was one of the highlights of the Clinton years. He also paid off a lot of the country's debt and created millions of jobs, and as a result, unemployment was the lowest it had been in 30 years. He appointed America's first female secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, and the first female attorney general, Janet Reno. Plus, the American economy experienced the longest period of growth in its history, and that's always a good thing.
Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and roses. Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, which essentially outlawed gay marriage, and he put lots of people in prison—and by lots, we're talking millions of people, largely African Americans and those from other minority populations.
And when it comes to foreign policy, Clinton was a little lax in sending help to Rwanda and other countries dealing with genocide and civil war. In 1994, Christiane Amanpour pulled zero punches when she questioned President Clinton about the violence in Bosnia, and he got pretty fired up about it.
And then wasn't there a little something about a blue dress and a presidential impeachment? For some reason, that rings a bell.
Bill's second term came to an end in 2000, but he was back in the spotlight for the 2016 election, this time as the dutiful spouse while Hillary ran for president. There was lots of debate on what to call ol' Bill if his wife had become the first female president, so much so that MSNBC created a poll to get everyone's opinion.
("First Gent" was the winner—but we think that term needs to go back to the drawing board for a bit.)