Bill Clinton says he made mass incarceration issue worse

Former US President Bill Clinton speaks in Washington, DC, in 2015. It was part of a series of lectures he was giving.

Clinton was born in Hope, Arkansas, on August 19, 1946.

A young Clinton shakes hands with President John F. Kennedy while other American Legion Boys Nation delegates look on during a trip to the White House in 1963.

In 1974, Clinton ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives seat for Arkansas' Third Congressional District.

Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas in 1978. He is seen here with civil rights activist Rosa Parks and first lady Rosalynn Carter in July 1979.

Talk show host Arsenio Hall gestures approvingly as Clinton plays the saxophone during a taping of "The Arsenio Hall Show" in 1992. Clinton was running for president at the time.

Clinton and his running mate, US Sen. Al Gore, tour a factory in Davenport, Iowa, in 1992.

Clinton debates President George H.W. Bush and independent candidate H. Ross Perot, not pictured, in October 1992. It was their third and final debate.

From left, Hillary Clinton, Tipper Gore, Bill Clinton and Al Gore celebrate their election victory in Little Rock, Arkansas, in November 1992. Clinton won with 43% of the vote to Bush's 37% and Perot's 19%.

The Clintons' cat, Socks, is photographed outside the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock in November 1992.

Former President Ronald Reagan presents Clinton with a jar of red, white and blue jelly beans in Los Angeles in November 1992. Reagan said they kept him from smoking cigarettes.

Clinton takes his morning jog through the National Mall in May 1993.

From left, Former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush join Clinton at the White House for the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in September 1993.

James Brady, the Reagan administration press secretary who was wounded during a 1981 assassination attempt, watches Clinton sign the Brady Bill at the White House in November 1993. The bill required a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases.

Clinton calls on a reporter during a White House news conference in March 1994. The President said he would release his tax returns from the late-1970s to answer questions about his Whitewater investment. Six years later, independent counsel Robert Ray closed the Whitewater investigation, clearing the Clintons of any wrongdoing in the real-estate scandal.

Clinton sits in a 1967 Ford Mustang while visiting the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina in April 1994.

White House intern Monica Lewinsky embraces Clinton at a Democratic fundraiser in Washington, DC, in October 1996.

Clinton tees off while playing golf at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts in August 1997.

Paula Jones, center, arrives at the office of a lawyer representing Clinton in January 1998. The former Arkansas state employee filed a federal civil lawsuit in 1994 accusing Clinton of making "persistent and continuous" unwanted sexual advances during a conference in 1991, when he was governor. The President agreed to an $850,000 settlement in November 1998.

Clinton speaks about the Monica Lewinsky scandal at the White House in January 1998, as first lady Hillary Clinton looks on. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," he said.

Members of the 105th Congress fill the Senate chamber as Clinton delivers his State of the Union address in January 1998.

Vice President Al Gore looks on as Clinton writes a "0" on the board, showing what the federal deficit would be after unveiling his balanced budget plan for 1999. The President declared an end to "an era of exploding deficits" as he sent a $1.73 trillion budget to Congress that promised the first surplus in more than three decades.

The Clintons and their daughter, Chelsea, depart the White House with their dog, Buddy, in August 1998. They were leaving for a two-week vacation at Martha's Vineyard. The day before, the President gave a televised address regarding his testimony to a federal grand jury in which he admitted to an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Clinton answers questions from reporters in December 1998 before the start of a meeting with his foreign policy team. After a December 16 military strike on Iraq, Clinton warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein against threatening his neighbors. Clinton also indicated his determination to complete the operations that continued the next day with renewed bombing of Iraqi sites suspected of housing parts to manufacture weapons of mass destruction.

The Clintons listen as House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt addresses the nation oat the White House in December 1998. It was after the House of Representatives voted to impeach the President on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice related to the Lewinsky scandal. A defiant Clinton rejected calls for his resignation.

Clinton pauses while reading a statement in the White House Rose Garden after the Senate voted to acquit him in February 1999. Clinton apologized for the actions that led to his impeachment, saying he was "profoundly sorry."

Clinton meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, left, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat at Maryland's Camp David in July 2000. It was at the end of a Mideast peace summit. The talks ended without an agreement.

Clinton leaves a McDonald's in Monroe Michigan, in August 2000. The day before, he spoke at the Democratic National Convention, passing the Democratic Party's symbolic torch to Vice President Al Gore.

Clinton speaks at a New York fundraiser as he supports his wife's US Senate campaign in October 2000.

Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, wave as they leave Washington, DC, following George W. Bush's inauguration in January 2001.

Clinton cheers a group of saxophone players at a rally in New York in July 2001. Harlem residents were welcoming Clinton, who was moving into his new post-presidential office.

Dr. Craig Smith, right, answers a reporter's question about Clinton's health after Clinton had quadruple bypass surgery in September 2004. Clinton was hospitalized after suffering chest pains and shortness of breath. Doctors announced that some of Clinton's arteries had been blocked more than 90%.

Clinton attends the inauguration of his presidential library and museum in Little Rock, Arkansas, in November 2004. Clinton was joined, from right, by his wife, his daughter, former President George W. Bush, first lady Laura Bush, former President George H.W. Bush, former first lady Barbara Bush, former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter.

Clinton gestures as he explains to journalists that the baby being held here was born just two days earlier at a refugee camp in Jantho, Indonesia, in May 2005. Clinton was visiting ground zero of the tsunami disaster.