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Arkansas
Gov. William Jefferson Clinton
-
January 9, 1979 - January 19, 1981
January 11, 1983 - December 12, 1992 - Democrat
- August 19, 1946
- Arkansas
- Georgetown University, Oxford University, Yale University
- Married Hillary Diane Rodham; One child
- NGA Chair
- President
- Rhodes Scholar
About
WILLIAM “BILL” JEFFERSON CLINTON was born in Hope, Arkansas. He received a bachelor’s degree in international affairs in 1968 from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. After graduating from Yale Law School in 1973, he joined the staff of the University of Arkansas School of Law and practiced in Fayetteville. He was elected Attorney General of Arkansas in 1976 and in 1978 won his first bid for governor, becoming the nation’s youngest governor. In 1981, after losing reelection, he joined a Little Rock law firm. He ran again for governor and was elected in 1982, and reelected in 1984, 1986, and 1990. He served as chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, the Democratic Governors’ Association, and the Education Commission of the States. In 1986 he served as chair of the Southern Growth Policies Board and was appointed to the third Commission on the Future of the South. He served as chair of the National Governors Association from 1986 to 1987, overseeing the initiative “Making America Work: Productive People, Productive Policies” and leading an effort to develop a national welfare reform policy. While serving as governor, Clinton was devoted to economic development and improving education. Bill Clinton resigned as governor after his election to president in 1992 and served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 until 2001.