Known as “Man from Hope” to the US people, Bill Clinton was the 42nd two-time US President from the year 1993 till 2001. He was born in Arkansas in 1946 and faced a tough childhood in his hometown, with a population of approximately 8,000 inhabitants. His father died in a car accident while his mother was a nurse who later married a car salesman named Roger Clinton.
A lot has been written about Bill Clinton. We have compiled some interesting information about the 42nd US President for our readers below.
Bill Clinton: interesting facts about the Grammy award-winning US President
1. Bill was a great musician
Bill Clinton was a highly intelligent student, as well as a musician. He was a fantastic saxophone player when he was in high school., an interesting fact about Bill Clinton. Interestingly, he was part of the high school band as a saxophone player. Upon completion of his high school degree, Bill received academic as well as music scholarships.
2. He shook hand with US President John F. Kennedy
At the time of his senior year at Hot Springs high school, Bill traveled to Washington DC as he was part of the American Legion civics program delegation, known as Boys Nation. In this prestigious program, talented and distinguished students were gathered for a week-long seminar, and the students get a chance to meet with several government leaders and officials.
On July 24, Bill Clinton, who was 16 at that time, and all his fellow delegates gathered at Rose Garden of the White House. The then US President Kennedy addressed the delegates, and later met with the students. The handshake between the President and the young Bill lasted for only seconds, but the brief contact between the two inspired the teen to such an extent that he planned his presidential election campaign around 30 years afterwards.
3. He was selected as Rhodes Scholar
After completing graduation from Georgetown University in 1968, Bill Clinton earned the distinguished and prestigious Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University in England. During his years at Oxford, Bill studied law and played an active role in protest demonstrations against the US-led Vietnam War. Bill’s batchmate and fellow scholar, David E. Kendall, became his private lawyer later on. To date, Bill is the only US President to have earned the Rhodes scholarship, an interesting fact about Bill Clinton.
4. Clinton was elected as the youngest governor
Bill Clinton won the election for Arkansas Governor at the age of 32 after working with Hillary to devise a winning campaign. He was the youngest and the most inexperienced governor across the US. Being in the office for the first time, Clinton made some critical mistakes due to which his popularity graph declined within the Arkansas people. Some of his notable mistakes were the imposition of a new tax on automobiles and the escape of a Cuban refugee who was in custody of the law enforcement agencies.
Due to these mistakes, Bill lost the next election, and he joined a private law firm.
5. Bill was the 3rd youngest US President
Clinton was elected as the 42nd US President at the age of 46, after defeating his rival candidate, George H.W. Bush. At that time, he was the 3rd youngest President of the United States of America while the first from the generation, called Baby Boomer. It was during his first tenure that the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect.
6. Bill Clinton became the second Democrat to be elected for a second term
Bill Clinton was the first Democrat after Franklin D. Roosevelt to be elected for a second term. It was during this term that he was successful in passing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and some other welfare reforms. The Children’s Health Insurance Program provided a variety of health coverage to hundreds and thousands of children across the US. It is noteworthy that the second term of Bill Clinton was marred with the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
7. Clinton was the second US President to be impeached
In the year 1998, Bill Clinton faced impeachment proceedings by the US House of Representatives due to scandal revolving around Monica Lewinsky, an intern at the White House. an interesting fact about Bill Clinton. Monica claimed that she had sexual relations with the then US President, Bill Clinton. Initially, the US President denied, but later, he accepted and admitted having relations with her.
At the time, when Bill was serving as attorney general of US State of Arkansas, 35-year-old Jennifer Flowers was the first woman to claim about illicit relations with Bill.
As much as 8 women claimed about sexual relations with Bill Clinton. Almost after 20 years, the #MeToo online movement demanded reinvestigation of the scandal as several of the well-wishers and supporters of the former US president doubt his mishandling of the episode. In an interview in the summer of 2018, the former president said that he did not feel to render an apology to the White House intern. Meanwhile, Lewinsky posted online that the relations between her and Clinton were the result of authority misuse.
8. Bill Clinton won a Grammy Award
In 2004, Bill Clinton won a Grammy Award for Wolf Tracks, an album which was compiled by a French musician who used Russian orchestra for the music. Bill was the first US President to win this award. The following year, he won another Grammy Award for his autobiography, My Life.
Conclusion
Since Bill left office in 2001, he has actively been involved in several causes, which include fighting obesity among teen children, global warming, and preventive steps of the AIDS epidemic. He joined hands with the former US President and his successor, George H. W. Bush, in the money-raising event for the 2004 South Asia tsunami as well as the victims of hurricanes Rita and Katrina, which hit the US.
Bill Clinton also authored several books, including one on aid and volunteering, Giving: How each of us can change the world, which was released in September 2007.
So, here you go – these were 8 exciting things which you didn’t know about the Grammy Award-winning 42nd US President, Bill Clinton.
I hope that this article on Bill Clinton Facts was helpful. If you are interested, visit the Historical People Page!
