42 - Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton was born August 19, 1946, in the small town of Hope, Arkansas.  Born as William Jefferson Blythe III, Clinton's father was killed in an automobile accident three months before his birth and he later took the surname of his mother's second husband.  The Julia Chester Hospital where Clinton was born no longer exists, but there is a marker at the bottom of the flagpole in front of the funeral home that now stands on the same spot at 1001 S Main St.  I visited in the spring of 2015:



Clinton's mother brought him home from the hospital to the house of her parents.  Clinton remained with his grandparents while his mother moved temporarily to New Orleans to attend nursing school.  He lived in this home until 1950.  I visited The President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home in March 2015:



As an infant, Clinton first slept in a bassinet in his grandparents' room...


...before moving down the hall to his own room.



In 1950, Clinton's widowed mother remarried and the new family moved into a home at 321 E 13th Street where they lived for three years.  I visited in 2015 with my nephew Brian:


In front of the home is a marker built from bricks recovered from the demolished hospital where Clinton was born:



In 1954, the Clinton family moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, into a home at 1011 Park Avenue.  I visited this site in 2015:



In 1961, the Clinton family moved to 213 Scully Street in Hot Springs.  Clinton lived here until he left for college.  I visited in 2015 with my sister Marta:



Clinton enrolled at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, in 1964.  He lived at Harbin Hall.  I visited in the fall of 2015:



Clinton won a Rhodes Scholarship and enrolled at Oxford University in England in 1968.  In his first year, his dormitory was in University College.  In his second year at Oxford, Clinton shared a house with some friends at 46 Leckford Road.  Close by is the Turf Tavern, where Clinton famously didn't inhale.

In 1970, Clinton enrolled at Yale Law School.  During the first year, he rented a beach front home with three friends at 889 East Broadway in Milford, Connecticut.

Clinton met his future wife at a Yale library in 1971.  He spent that summer with her in California, where they stayed at the home of her aunt in Berkeley at  2667-71 Derby Street.


Clinton graduated from Yale in 1973 and moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas.  This was Bill and Hillary Clinton's first home together.  I visited the Clinton House Museum in March 2015:



It was in the living room of this house where on October 11, 1975, Bill Clinton wed Hillary Rodham in front of this window:



Clinton became the attorney general of Arkansas in 1977 and the couple moved to the capital city of Little Rock.  They lived at 5419 L Street for the duration of his two-year term.  I visited in the spring of 2015 with my nephew Brian:



In 1979, Clinton became governor and moved into the Arkansas Governor's Mansion.  I visited with my nephew Brian on a very rainy day in March 2015:



Clinton lost his bid for reelection as Arkansas governor and the family moved into a home at 816 Midland Street in Little Rock.  I visited in the spring of 2015:



The Clintons returned to the governor's mansion in 1983 and remained there until they moved into the White House in 1993.   In 1999, the Clinton's purchased a home in Chappaqua, New York, at 15 Old House Lane (although I believe the houses have been renumbered).


The Clintons purchased a home at 3067 Whitehaven Drive in Washington, DC, and lived there beginning during his wife Hillary's tenure as a United States senator from New York and as United States Secretary of State.  The Clinton's continue to use this home while they are in Washington DC.  I visited this site in the fall of 2015:


The house is located in an area where we were not able to get out of the car, so I took a selfie from the front seat with my brother-in-law Jim:



The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum is located in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I visited with my nephew Brian in the spring of 2015:





In 1995, just two years into his presidency, the state of Arkansas placed a bust of Clinton on the grounds of the governor's mansion.  I visited with my nephew Brian in 2015:


In 2011, a railroad bridge near the Clinton Library was renovated as a bicycle and pedestrian bridge and renamed as the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge.  I visited in 2015:


In 2012, the airport in Little Rock was renamed as the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.  This photo is from my 2015 trip to Arkansas:


In 2013, the US Government renamed the Washington DC headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency as the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building.  This photo is from April 2015:



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1 comment:

  1. Steve,
    I really enjoyed this post! I know that you are in your element during this election season!
    Proud Arkansan (Little Rock) and graduate of the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville,
    Cassandra

    ReplyDelete