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Ken Starr

Ken Starr (21 July 1946-13 September 2022) was US Solicitor-General from 26 May 1989 to 20 January 1993, interrupting William Bryson's two terms. He was well-known for his investigation into President Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs, leading to Clinton's impeachment.

Biography[]

Ken Starr was born in Vernon, Texas, United States on 21 July 1946, the son of a minister. He was an active member of the Democratic Party while he was a student at Harding University in Arkansas, and he supported anti-Vietnam War protests. In 1973, he graduated from the Duke University School of Law with a juris doctor in law, and he served as a law clerk and a lawyer before serving in the US Court of Appeals from 1983 to 1989. By this time, he had switched his allegiance to the Republican Party, and he was appointed Solicitor-General under President George H.W. Bush's administration. In 1990, he was a candidate for the US Supreme Court, but Bush nominated David Souter instead. In 1994, he became an independent counsel heading the Whitewater investigation against President Bill Clinton, and he also investigated his extramarital affairs. Starr's allegation concerning Clinton's lying about his extramarital affairs set the stage for Clinton's impeachment, and he later returned to law before serving on the staff of Baylor University, of which he was president from 2010 to 2016. He died in 2022 at the age of 76.

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