At forty-six years old, William Jefferson ("Bill") Clinton was the third-youngest president, and the first of the post-World War II "Baby Boom" generation to reach the Oval Office. Clinton defeated incumbent President George Bush and Independent candidate Ross Perot. Chief Justice William Rehnquist administered the oath of office. Marilyn Horne sang at the ceremony, and poet Maya Angelou read her poem "On the Pulse of Morning," which she wrote especially for the inauguration.
