Bill Clinton
A charismatic political survivor who presided over America's longest economic expansion and defined a new centrist path for his party.
Born 1946 (age 80)·President of the United States from 1993 to 2001·Birthday: August 19·Baby Boomers
Biography
Born in Hope, Arkansas, Bill Clinton's journey from a difficult childhood to the White House became the archetype of the American political dream. His presidency was a study in contrasts: marked by sweeping policy successes like welfare reform and budget surpluses, yet permanently shadowed by personal scandal and impeachment. Clinton possessed an almost preternatural ability to connect with audiences, using his fluency in policy detail and Southern charm to navigate a Republican Congress and reshape the Democratic Party around a pragmatic, market-friendly vision. His time in office is remembered as an era of technological optimism and globalized trade, but also of intense partisan warfare that set the stage for the decades to follow. In his post-presidency, he has built a global philanthropic foundation, remaining a persistent, if complicated, force in public life.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Bill was born in 1946, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bill Was Born
The biggest hits of 1946
#1 Movie
The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives
Bill's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1946Born
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1951Started school
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1959Became a teenager
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1962Could drive
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1964Could vote
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Turned 21
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1976Turned 30
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 40
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 50
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 60
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 70
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 80
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Presided over the signing of the Oslo Accords, a major attempt at Israeli-Palestinian peace, in 1993.
- Signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law, creating one of the world's largest free-trade zones.
- Achieved a federal budget surplus for fiscal years 1998-2001, the first such sequence in decades.
- Appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court, securing a liberal voice on the bench for 27 years.
Did You Know?
He is a skilled saxophone player and performed on "The Arsenio Hall Show" during his 1992 presidential campaign.
Clinton is the first U.S. president born after World War II, part of the Baby Boomer generation.
He won a Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Spoken Word Album for the audio version of his autobiography "My Life."
As a Rhodes Scholar, he studied at University College, Oxford.
“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”
