VARIOUS: Profile of Former U.S. president Bill Clinton as he celebrates his sixtieth birthday

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton, turned 60 years-old on Saturday (August 19). The audience at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto Canada on Tuesday (August 15) applauded Clinton and his upcoming birthday singing "Happy Birthday" to him. An archetypal baby boomer who lived through the swinging '60s and disco era, Clinton plays the saxophone and admits he smoked marijuana (although he says he did not inhale). Clinton was born William Jefferson Blyth IV in Hope, Arkansas. His father, William Blyth III was killed in a car accident two months before he was born. His mother, Virginia, married Roger Clinton when he was four years old - but Clinton did not take his stepfather's surname until he was 15. As a teenager Clinton confronted his alcoholic stepfather, warning him that he was old enough to defend his mother. His first experience in politics was in 1972 - when still a Yale student - he directed the George McGovern campaign in Texas. In the wake of Watergate, Clinton ran for Congress and nearly upset Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt. In 1976 he directed the Jimmy Carter campaign in Arkansas. Clinton was just 32 when elected to his first term as Arkansas Governor. He became America's youngest governor in 40 years when he took office. During his inaugural address as Governor, Clinton underlined his basic principles. "All I expect from you is what I will try and earnestly give back. And that is that you be honest and open," he said. His term was marred by a highly unpopular tax. He was closely associated with Carter and voters were put off by his high-flying image. In the Reagan landslide of 1980, he lost his bid for re-election. In 1982 he returned to office, after apologising for the mistakes of his first term and promising not to 'lead without listening'. He was re-elected easily in 1984 and 1986 and came very close to running for President in 1988. He bowed out citing the campaign's potential effect on his 7 year old daughter. Clinton managed to use the populist approach to gather support - by playing his saxophone, appearing on talk shows and comparing himself to Elvis Presley. The rousing success of the Democratic Convention shot Clinton up in the polls to leads even his most optimistic supporters didn't expect he could maintain until November. His strategy was also helped by forces out of his control, primarily the state of the nation's economy and incumbent President George Bush Sr. seemingly helpless reaction to it. On January 20, 1993 Clinton was sworn into office as the forty second President of the United States of America. His marriage to Hillary Rodham came in 1975. She stood by him during a number of scandals during his career. In sworn testimony in a sexual harassment lawsuit by former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones, Clinton denied having sexual relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time, never. These allegations are false. And I need to go back to work for the American people," said Clinton. The Jones lawsuit was later dismissed however his seven months of denying a sexual relationship with Lewinsky lead to a grand jury trial for impeachment of the President of the United States. Since leaving office, Clinton has set up the Clinton Foundation for the promotion of global, economic and social welfare. Recently Clinton along with his predecessor former U.S. president George Bush visited Sri Lanka and the Maldives on their tour of tsunami-stricken countries. Sri Lankan children traumatised by Asia's tsunami gave former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush harrowing crayon drawings of the dead and drowning on Monday (February 21). Clinton and Bush were touring the island's south to raise funds back home. Clinton has estimated another 4 billion U.S. dollars could be needed to bring all tsunami-stricken areas back to normal. He and Bush have also appealed for tourists to head back to Indian Ocean beaches as a way of directly helping distressed economies of the region, where 300,000 people may have died in the worst natural disaster in living memory. The pair will report back to the U.S. president next month on the trip, and Clinton said he hoped the well-publicised visit would help the White House's increased aid budget of 950 million U.S. dollars pass Congress at a time when funds were also needed for Iraq. Clinton is also committed to working on behalf of AIDS treatment and prevention. On Tuesday (August 15) speaking at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto Clinton was passionate about his belief in the power of collective action in the fight against AIDS. "If we're organised, persistent and passionate, I think we can. We can break the back of aids and lift the hopes of billions of people," he said.

ITN Source | August 19, 2006

Tags:. .confronted. .carter. .upset. .honest. .sri