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William Jefferson Clinton was born in 1946 as William Blythe III, the son of a salesman who died before his son was born, and Virginia Dell, a professional nurse who became the single greatest influence in her son's life. Bill Clinton's mother, Virginia Cassidy Blythe, moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, to study nursing. Bill Clinton stayed with his mother's parents in Hope, Arkansas. There his grandparents, Eldrigde and Edith Cassidy, taught him strong values and beliefs such as "equality among all and discrimination to none". This was a lesson Bill will soon pursue. His mother returned from New Orleans with a nursing degree in 1950, when her son was four years old. From an early age, his instincts drew him to politics. "Civil rights was the defining political issue of my childhood," Bill said, "starting when I was quite young, in the 1950s. The other thing was the fact that we got a television when I was nine years old, and I got to watch, in 1956, the Republican and Democratic Conventions. I watched the whole thing, and I was utterly fascinated by it." In 1963, he took the last name of his stepfather, Roger Clinton, an alcoholic whose rough behavior brought out in Clinton new powers of resilience and empathy. That same year he was chosen to be part of Boys Nation, a group of young people from around the country sent to experience Washington, D.C., firsthand. There, he got to shake hands with his political hero, John F. Kennedy. The encounter changed Bill Clinton's life forever. "I was elated," said Clinton. "When I went home I had the feeling that if I worked hard and prepared myself, I could have an impact." The following year, Clinton entered Georgetown University, where he became known for his self-confidence, for his intelligence, and for being a man in a hurry.
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