Vincent Foster

Vince Foster
Sketch of Vince Foster
Born	Vincent Walker Foster Jr. (1945-01-15)January 15, 1945 Hope, Arkansas, U.S.
Died	July 20, 1993(1993-07-20) (aged 48) Fairfax County, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation	Attorney Deputy White House Counsel
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Braden Foster
Children	3

Vincent Walker "Vince" Foster Jr. (January 15, 1945 – July 20, 1993) was a Deputy White House Counsel during the first half-year of President Bill Clinton's administration. Prior to that, he was a partner at Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was a colleague and friend of Hillary Rodham Clinton and where, as The Washington Post later wrote, he rose to "the pinnacle of the Arkansas legal establishment." At the White House he was unhappy with work in politics and spiraled into depression. His death by gunshot was attributed by five official or governmental investigations to suicide but several conspiracy theories emerged.

Foster was born in Hope, Arkansas, to Alice Mae and Vincent W. Foster. His father became prosperous from real estate sales and development. Vincent had two sisters, Sheila and Sharon. He was a childhood neighbor and friend of Bill Clinton for the first eight years of his life, until Clinton moved away. As Clinton later recalled, "I lived with my grandparents in a modest little house across from Vince Foster's nice, big, white brick house." Another childhood friend was Mack McLarty, who would one day become White House Chief of Staff for Clinton.

Foster excelled as a student and athlete. At Hope High School, he became president of the student council, with McLarty as vice president. He graduated from there in 1963.

Foster attended Davidson College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1967. His father wanted him to join the family real estate business, but he instead chose law.

After starting at Vanderbilt University Law School, he joined the Arkansas National Guard during the height of the Vietnam War to avoid the military draft. To be closer to his guard responsibilities, he transferred to the University of Arkansas School of Law, where he was managing editor of the law review and received his Juris Doctor in 1971, graduating first in his class. He scored the highest in his class on the Arkansas bar exam.