We actually celebrated #42's birthday on Thursday. It's not until this coming Thursday, but you know, things to do places to see. I meant to do the blog that night, but that didn't happen. Oh, procrastinating me. I'm going to try and get this done SUPER quick, because the Bucs are on, and I have lots to do tomorrow, and well, he's a president most of us know about first hand. Calib gets to take the picture, since Bill Clinton was president when he was born.
A quick run-down of Bill...
These are Bill's parents: Virginia, and William Jefferson Blythe II.
Virginia was pregnant when traveling salesman William Jefferson Blythe II got into a car accident and died.
Then, on August 19, 1946, William Jefferson Blythe III was born in a town called Hope, Arkansas. (I mean, born in Hope, come on, he was destined to be president!)
Do you like our casting for Bill?
Virginia was now a 22 year old widow, so she enlisted some help from her mom and dad....
...while she went New Orleans for school.
Bill spent his childhood reading, living with his pretty strict grandparents. His grandpa owned a grocery store in the heavily segregated south. Some African Americans in his neighborhood couldn't afford groceries and so Bill's grandpa would just give them groceries on credit. It was a good example for a kid who went to a segregated school.
Over in New Orleans, Virginia met some new guy, a car salesman named Roger Clinton.
Roger and Virginia get married, and move back to Arkansas. For awhile, the family lives on a farm (and Bill gets rammed by a goat on said farm!) Oh, and he likes doing crossword puzzles.
He also becomes interested in the Baptist Religion. Even though nobody else in his family is religious, he gets up early to walk himself to walk on Sunday mornings.
When Bill was 10, his little brother Roger Jr. was born. But, Roger Sr. is drinking a whole lot..
..and he becomes quite abusive towards Virginia. (He even once shot a gun at her). The police are called several times.
Eventually Virginia files for divorce. And while he ended up not having the best of relationship with his step-father, he did take on his last name, becoming William Jefferson Clinton.
During high school, Bill also became super good at playing the saxophone. Some say he was the best in the state. He talked about being a musician when he grew up.
But then as part of boy's nation he gets to go to the White House, and shakes hands with JFK, just a few months before his assassination, and Bill decides he wants to go into politics.
Also fun fact: he memorized Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream" speech for fun.
Bill went off to college at Georgetown, the only school he applied to. There he ran for student government (but lost, his friends saying he was "too political" about it.)
After he graduated, he was awarded one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world. Fun fact, he is the only president to be a Rhodes Scholar.
But, you know, the Vietnam War is going on and all...
...and Bill gets his draft notice.
He heads back to Arkansas and enrolls in the ROTC. But, this would be a huge point of contention later. Draft dodger? Who's to say.
Eventually Bill goes off to law school at Yale.
Where he meets Hillary, a star student.
They work together on the McGovern presidential campaign (he's the guy who lost to Nixon). Oh, and fun fact: Stephen Spielberg worked on the campaign too!
After law school, Bill went back to Arkansas to teach law. Hillary meanwhile worked on the committee looking into Nixon impeachment. She was considered a star in D.C., and people talked about how she would be a Senator... or even President... some day.
Bill was in Arkansas begging Hillary to marry him, but she wasn't so sure about this Arkansas business. However, she failed the bar in D.C., and passed it in Arkansas. Helping to make her decision even easier, Bill told her he bought her a house, and he didn't want to live in it alone. So, the two got married.
Bill became the Attorney General, and then the Governor of Arkansas (he was only 32!). He was the youngest governor in the country (and one of the youngest ever.)
The couple had Chelsea, and Bill lost re-election. (He joked he was now the youngest EX Governor in history.)
But the Clinton's stay outside of the Governors mansion was short lived, and only two years later he was back in.
A decade as governor, which he conducted as a campaign (taking public opinion polls on everything), and he made a good candidate for the Democratic Party for president. With George H.W. Bush running for a second term, Bill was at first considered a long shot. But, with some late night TV appearances, and charisma...
...and a rich billionaire named Ross Perot..
...and at 46 years old (the third youngest president ever!).. Bill Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd president of the United States.
Hillary and Clinton moved into the White House..
...along with Socks and Buddy (true story: I met Buddy in person when I was in high school).
...and Bill installed a 7 person hot tub. (And he started the WhiteHouse.Gov website).
Bill is responsible for FMLA, which Asa and I had no idea wasn't a thing until then. (He also tried to pass universal health care, but that didn't go over so well).
The World Trade Center was bombed...
...and so was the Federal Building in OKC.
Bill hired the first ever female Secretary of State Madeline Albright.
And instituted 'don't ask, don't tell', hoping it would appease those in Congress who wanted to keep anyone who was gay from serving in the military at all.
Of course, we know, this didn't go over well, and isn't a thing anymore. But, I think it's an important Civil Rights issue to note for the boys.
Re-election time came rolling around...
...and with a balanced budget, and everyone with jobs, and a money, and houses.. Bill and Al we're easily elected for a second term. He was the first Democrat to win re-election since FDR! (Obama did it too, obviously, but that's a seriously long stretch.)
Somewhere along the way we talked about the shady dealings of Whitewater. (Real estate, talk of corruption and fraud, just shady stuff.. that's all you need to know) I guess we missed a picture about that, but I just thought of it because we have another scandal incoming....
you know, there was that 22 year old intern shows up in a blue dress, and well...
...I kept that as PG (or maybe PG-13) as I possibly could.
He lied about the affair, which is important because it set off impeachment hearings. The House impeached him, the Senate acquitted him, leaving him in office. Only two president's have been impeached: Bill, and Andrew Johnson.
Trying to distance himself from Bill, Al Gore ran for president without involving Bill too much.
..and for a small moment, it seemed like that might work out for him.
But, ultimately, as we know George W. became president.
Bill meanwhile, had another campaign on his mind: Hillary's bid for Senator from New York (where they had purchased a house for their post-presidency years).
She won, making her the first First Lady to serve in the Senate.
Bill's been busy in retirement. He teamed up with George H.W. Bush to help during Hurricane Katrina..
...and he wrote a GIGANTIC book called My Life.
and when Obama was elected, he made Hillary his Secretary of State... and of course now she's running for president.
With a new president we can't really talk about legacies, or where president's are placed in history.
We added our props to the board..
Bill Clinton Fun Facts...
...and famous quote.
He had owl mail...
...and made birthday cards...
These cards got sent out to President Clinton himself.
Our Bill Clinton historical hashtag..
For our activity we played Trivial Pursuit, a Bill Clinton favorite! (A shout out to Zack, one of Asa's co-workers who gave us the Millennium version of Trivial Pursuit!) The family version is great for playing with the kiddos, though.
Dinner was a Clinton favorite: hamburgers. We also had homemade fries, baked beans, and cinnamon apples (he liked to eat them whole- core, seeds, and all!)
For dessert, another Clinton favorite (at least in his earlier years): Cinnamon Rolls.
That's it, another thing off my to-do list!
Next Up: Benjamin Harrison's birthday if I get to nothing else before that.
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