The Post’s David Maraniss argues that though they grew up in similar circumstances and share many characteristics, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama developed different approaches to life and their presidencies.

They were born on August days 15 years apart, at opposite ends of the baby-boom generation, Bill Clinton in 1946 and Barack Obama in 1961. Both came into the world under circumstances that made it surpassingly unlikely that either boy would grow up to be president of the United States. It is hard to imagine two places further from the centers of power than southwestern Arkansas... Joel Achenbach/THE WASHINGTON POST