William Jefferson Clinton Essays (2324 words) - Rodham Family

William Jefferson Clinton William Jefferson Clinton: Bill Clinton was born on August 19, 1946 in a town called Hope, with the birth name William Jefferson Blythe. His birth father died in a car accident just three months before his birth. When he was born his mother sent him to live with his grandparents, due to the fact that because of the current economy she couldn't possibly support a child by herself. He lived with his grandparents for two years while his mother was away at nursing school in New Orleans trying to advance her career. His grandparents tried to instill in him strong southern Baptist principles and a desire to get a good education. When Bill was four his mother returned to Hope where she met and married Roger Clinton Sr.. A few years later Bill and his family moved to Hot Springs, where despite his Baptist upbringing Bill attended a catholic school. When he was nine years old he changed schools and went to Ramble Elementary. When Bill was ten Roger Clinton Jr. was born, and at age fifteen Bill took his step fathers las t name in hopes of helping his mothers troubled relationship. While Bill was growing up in Hot Springs, the town was plagued by illegal gambling, but Bill had little contact with this part of society despite his parents frequent participation in these illegal practices. As time went by his mothers relationship became more and more unstable with the alcoholic Roger Clinton Sr.. The relationship turned abusive and his parents often separated. In high school Bill was a member of the band, student government, honor society and numerous other organizations. One summer at a political summer camp called Boys State, Bill ran for delegate to Boys Nation. He won this election and was on his way to Washington to meet John F. Kennedy and Senator William Fulbright. Bill said of his victory as delegate to Boys Nation, I didn't know if I could win a race like that, because when I was a student politician, I was about as controversial as I have been in my later life (Allen pg.10). After meeting JFK and Senator Fulbright face to face, Bill became determined to enter politics. After high school Bill went to the University of Georgetown where he concentrated on international studies, in order to prepare himself for the world of politics. While enrolled at Georgetown, he had to get job to help pay the tuition cost. He took advantage of the meeting he had with Senator Fulbright to get a job as Fulbright's assistant. While at school Clinton was awarded a Rhodes scholarship and went to Oxford to study for two years. After traveling through Europe and graduating form Oxford, he then went on to study law at Yale in 1971. At this time in his life, Bill did something that would come back to haunt him in his political career many years down the road. During the Vietnam war Clinton tried to receive a draft deferment for his education. Also, despite his hatred for the war enrolled in ROTC. He failed to fulfill his enrollment in the program when he realized that if he got a lottery number for the draft, his chances of being called were slim to none. While attending Yale, he met Hillary Rodham and the two started a friendship that turned into a relationship. After graduation from Yale Clinton planned on returning to Hot Springs to set up a small law practice, but on before he left Yale one of his professors suggested that he seek a position as a professor of law at the University of Arkansas. Bill thought about this on the way b ack to Arkansas and when he arrived there he called up the University and requested an interview. After a few tries, he successfully landed a job on the faculty and began to teach law at age twenty-eight. In 1974 he decided to run for congress in his district and was narrowly defeated by his elder opponent John Paul Hammerschmidt. After this narrow defeat, he received a lot of attention as an up and coming politician. In 1975 Bill and Hillary got married at a house that Bill had