William Jefferson Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe IV on August 19, 1946 in Hope, Arkansas, named after his father who had died three months prior to his birth in a traffic accident. His mother was Virginia Cassidy. When he was four years old his mother wed Roger Clinton of Hot Springs, Arkansas. At the age of 15, he legally changed his name to Clinton. Excelling as a student he attended Georgetown University, the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and Yale University Law School. Returning to Arkansas he taught law at the University of Arkansas. In 1977, he married Hillary Rodham whom he had met while attending Yale University. Their daughter Chelsea was born in 1980.
             Clinton had shown an early interest in politics and his mother engaged him in political discussions, encouraging his ambitions. He became motivated to a life of public service after meeting President John F. Kennedy in the Rose Garden of the White House while in high school. In his first foray into the political arena in 1974 he lost a bid to unseat the incumbent four-term Republican Congressman from Arkansas in a very close race. Clinton was elected state attorney general in 1976.
             In 1978, at the age of 32, he had become the youngest governor in Arkansas history. His bid for re-election was damaged by a situation involving thousands of Cuban refugees being housed at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas. He was unable to persuade the White House to make other states share the problems and costs of the operation, and the people of Arkansas were infuriated. Clinton was defeated, and joined the Little Rock law firm of Wright, Lindsey and Jennings. He ran again for governorship in 1982 and he was elected and served four more terms. He was named the most effective governor in the nation in a 1991 poll of governors.
             After declaring his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President on October 3, 1991, Clinton faced accusations of marital infidelity and char...