Bill Clinton: Hope, Charisma, Controversy

This episode of BIOGRAPHY examines the life and career of President Bill Clinton at the time of the 1996 election. Bill Clinton: Hope, Charisma, Controversy goes back to tiny Hope, Arkansas, to trace the president's story. As a high school student, Clinton set his sights on the White House after meeting then-President John F. Kennedy. Later, Clinton became the youngest governor in Arkansas history. But for all his successes, he has been dogged by controversy. He aggravated important political interests in Arkansas, avoided the draft during the Vietnam War, and admitted to smoking marijuana while at Oxford. Bill Clinton: Hope, Charisma, Controversy would be useful for classes on American History, Political Science, American Culture, American Government and Civics. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

• affirmation
• agenda
• alienate
• ambivalence
• apparatus
• aspirations
• formidable
• improvisation
• incumbent
• induction
• mediator
• milieu
• oasis
• patrician
• relentless
• surrogate

1. The election of Bill Clinton has been referred to as a "watershed" in American political history. What does the term watershed mean? How does this term apply to Bill Clinton's presidency?

2. Bill Clinton grew up in a segregated community in Hope, Arkansas. How did this experience affect his future political visions?

3. Bill Clinton is one of the youngest presidents in American history. How were Bill Clinton's political aspirations evident in his youth?

4. Bill Clinton has been dogged by the fact that he evaded military service during the Vietnam War. Why is Clinton's lack of military service still an issue twenty years later?

5. Vietnam is probably the most controversial war in American history. What made this war so controversial? How did different groups of people have different opinions about America's involvement in this war?

6. Bill and Hillary Clinton have always operated as a political team. How do the Clintons complement each other?

7. Bill Clinton was the youngest governor in Arkansas history. He was also the youngest ex-governor. What mistakes did Bill Clinton make in his first term as Governor of Arkansas that cost him a consecutive second term?

8. How did Hillary Clinton contribute to Bill Clinton's comeback as Governor of Arkansas?

9. Hillary Clinton is one of the most influential and controversial First Ladies in American history. Why does her role as First Lady cause so much discussion and controversy?

10. What are the differences between Bill Clinton's first term as president and his second?

1. Create a campaign poster for the 1996 presidential election.

2. Create a timeline that highlights the major issues during Bill Clinton's presidency.

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