Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton, full name William Jefferson Clinton (1946- ). US politician, 42nd president of the US (1993). Born in Hope, Arkansas, Clinton studied at Yale Law School and became a successful lawyer. He subsequently entered politics and served five terms as governor of Arkansas (1979-81, 1983-92). In 1992 he defeated George Bush in presidential elections to be-come the first Democrat president for 12 years. Al-though he had campaigned on domestic issues, once in office he found himself preoccupied with problems in Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia. His plans for a national health-care programme, formulated largely by his wife Hilary (1947- ), failed to pass into law. Following mid-term elections in 1994, he was faced with a Republican majority in both houses of Congress.
