Top 10 American Political Prodigies

Before they became a power couple, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham were rising political stars, each in their own right. When she met her future husband at Yale Law School — where she was one of 27 women in a class of 235 — Hillary had a reputation that preceded her. She had given a famously fiery commencement speech that attacked the Vietnam war in May, 1969 as student body president at her alma mater, Wellesley. The speech landed the young star in LIFE Magazine and made her a spokeswoman for her generation in the eyes of the media. As a young lawyer she served as a member of the impeachment inquiry of President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. For his part, when 33-year-old Arkansas attorney general Bill Clinton won the governorship in 1978, he became the youngest governor the country had seen in some 40 years. He, of course, also went on to become the nation's third youngest president when he was inaugurated at age 46.

See pictures of how Presidents age in office.