Bill Clinton knew at an early age that he wanted to be in politics. Over time, his dream would become reality as he moved up the political ranks to become the 42nd President of the United States. During his college years, starting at Georgetown, then at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, and completing his law degree at Yale, Bill Clinton proved to be a quick study. While at Yale, he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham, who would become his closest adviser. As a member of the Democratic Party, he began his political career in Arkansas, where he was elected as attorney general and later governor. Though Clinton was a brilliant politician with several noteworthy accomplishments during his two terms as president, he had bitter enemies who would stop at nothing to destroy him—which they nearly did. He did bring the Democratic party back into the White House for two successive terms, a feat which hadn’t been accomplished since Franklin Roosevelt guided the nation through the Great Depression and much of World War II. His political life didn’t end with the presidency, as he was closely involved in his wife’s two failed bids for the highest office in the land.

Bill Clinton is a man of great contrasts and contradictions, a man whose presidency was disgraced by impeachment, but who remains one of the most popular presidents of the modern era. Read this short biography and see his journey unfold.