Clinger was born in Warren, Pennsylvania, the son of Lella May (Hunter) and William F.

[8][9] In addition, he served as vice chairman of the United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and ranking member on the Subcommittee on Aviation.

After his retirement from Congress, Clinger served as the chairman for the Chautauqua Institution's board of trustees.

[4][5] He was a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Advanced Governmental Studies [10][7] and co-chairman of the board of directors for the Institute for Representative Government.

[12] In October 2016, Clinger was one of thirty Republican ex-lawmakers to sign a public letter condemning GOP presidential nominee (and future president) Donald Trump[9] as "manifestly unqualified to be president.