Bill Clinton

American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was sworn into office as U.S. President on 20 January 1993 at 11:59 AM EST in Washington DC, and inaugurated for a second term on 20 January 1997 at 12:05 PM EST in Washington, DC. Prior to the presidency, he was the governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1992, and the attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979. Born three months after his dad died, he was raised by an alcoholic step-father whose name he took. At about 13, he stood up to his father and told him to never hit his mother again. His mother, always a fun-loving friend and his biggest fan, died of breast cancer on 6 January 1994. He married Hillary Rodham and they had one daughter, Chelsea. His administration was fraught with suspicions of corruption and associates who went to jail. The accusation by cabaret singer Gennifer Flowers, 42, of a 12-year affair led off his presidential race followed by continual rumors about his womanizing. In early 1999, public health administrator, Juanita Broderich, alleged that he had raped her on a date which was later deduced to be 25 April 1978 in her hotel room at a medical conference. On 17 August 1998 he testified to the grand jury that he had "misled" his family and the nation when he had emphatically claimed several months prior that he had never had a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky from mid-1996 to January 1998. He had not only humiliated his wife and daughter but had turned his personal flaws into a public matter when he made the whole country complicit in his cover story. On 9 September 1998, the Starr report reached Congress, recommending impeachment for lying under oath, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. On 19 December 1998 at 1:25 PM EST in Washington, DC, the motion was passed to adopt impeachment proceedings. The president was acquitted on 12 February 1999 as the Senate did not reach the two-thirds majority vote in spite of ferocious partisan passions. On 20 January 2001, the presidency was turned over to the Republican candidate, George W. Bush. On his last day in office, Clinton struck a deal with Independent Counsel Robert Ray in which he acknowledged for the first time that he had made false statements under oath about Monica Lewinsky and he surrendered his license to practice law for five years in exchange for the end of the investigation (that had cost tax-payers $55 million) and an agreement that the grand jury not seek an indictment. Both parties agreed that the matter was now concluded. Former president Clinton agreed to pay a fine of $25,000 and to pay his own legal costs. Among the deals and pay-offs garnered in his administration (or perhaps in a spirit of Christian forgiveness?), in his final two hours of office the president granted 140 pardons to a range of individuals accused or convicted of crimes, including his brother for a 1985 drug conviction; Susan McDougal, who had served 18 months in jail rather than testify about the Clinton business affairs to Ken Starr; and perhaps most notoriously, Marc Rich along with his partner Pincus Green, charged with owing the government $48 million in taxes. In the latter case, the pardons were made without consulting Justice Department officials, who may inquire about the $450,000 that Marc Richs former wife and personal friend of the Clintons has contributed to the Clinton Library between July 1998 Read less