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Bill Clinton on Principles & Values
President of the U.S., 1993-2001; Former Democratic Governor (AR)
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America comes through every fire a little stronger
In 2012, my husband addressed the Democratic National Convention and formally nominated the President, while I was across the Pacific in tiny Timor-Leste. It had been sixteen years since Bill's last campaign, but he still loved the excitement of a
great political moment. Like a country lawyer laying out the facts for a jury, he explained how deeply damaged our economy and global standing had been in 2009 and how the Obama Administration had begun turning things around.
At the end of his speech he addressed the question of American decline and renewal: "For more than 200 years, through every crisis, we've always come back," he said. "People have predicted our demise ever since George Washington was criticized for being
a mediocre surveyor with a bad set of wooden false teeth. And so far, every single person that's bet against America has lost money because we always come back. We come through every fire a little stronger and a little better."
Source: Epilogue to Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton
, Apr 10, 2015
Good Friday Agreement ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland
[By 1993], the Troubles in Northern Ireland had been raging for decades. Most Protestants wanted to remain part of the UK, while most Catholics wanted to join the Republic of Ireland to the south. Long years of violence had left both sides embittered and
dug in. Northern Ireland was an island within an island.In 1995, Bill appointed former Sen. George Mitchell as Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. Bill became the 1st US President to visit Northern Ireland when he and I traveled to Belfast later that
year.
The Good Friday Agreement, which was signed that year and put Northern Ireland on the path toward peace, was a triumph of diplomacy, especially for Bill and George Mitchell, who did so much to bring the parties together. Most of all, though, it
was a testament to the courage of the people of Northern Ireland. Implementation would be bumpy, but peace began to bring benefits. Unemployment fell, home values rose, and the number of American companies investing in Northern Ireland increased.
Source: Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, p.224-5
, Jun 10, 2014
First US President to visit Northern Ireland
When Bill was first elected President, the Troubles in Northern Ireland had been raging for decades. Most Protestants wanted to remain part of the UK, while most Catholics wanted to join with the
Republic of Ireland to the south, and long years of violence had left both sides embittered and dug in. Northern Ireland was an island within an island.In 1995, Bill appointed former Senator George Mitchell as Special Envoy for Northern Ireland.
Bill became the 1st US President to visit Northern Ireland when he and I traveled to Belfast later that year, and turned on the lights of Belfast's Christmas tree in front of a vast crowd.
I returned to Northern Ireland nearly every year for the rest of the decade and stayed actively involved as a Senator in the years that followed.
Source: Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, p.224
, Jun 10, 2014
Good Friday Agreement ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland
In 1998 I helped organize the Vital Voices Conference of women in Belfast who were pressing for a peace agreement. Their whispers of "Enough!" had become a rallying cry that could no longer be ignored.
The Good Friday Agreement, which was signed that year and put Northern Ireland on the path toward peace, was a triumph of diplomacy, especially for Bill and George Mitchell [appointed by Bill as
Special Envoy for Northern Ireland], who did so much to bring the parties together. Most of all, though, it was a testament to the courage of the people of Northern Ireland. Implementation would be bumpy, but peace began to bring benefits.
Unemployment fell, home values rose, and the number of American companies investing in Northern Ireland increased.
Source: Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, p.224-5
, Jun 10, 2014
Conflict makes good politics, but cooperation works
Through my foundation both in America and around the world, I'm working all the time with Democrats, Republicans, and independents. Sometimes I couldn't tell you for the life who I'm working with because we focus on solving problems and seizing
opportunities and not fighting all the time.When times are tough and people are frustrated and angry and hurting and uncertain, the politics of constant conflict may be good, but what is good politics does not necessarily work in the real world.
What works in the real world is cooperation.
What works in the real world is cooperation, business and government, foundations and universities. Now, why is this true? Why does cooperation work better than constant conflict? Because nobody's right all
the time, and a broken clock is right twice a day.
Unfortunately, the faction that now dominates the Republican Party doesn't see it that way. They think government is always the enemy, they're always right, and compromise is weakness.
Source: 2012 Democratic National Convention speech
, Sep 5, 2012
America is an idea: play by the rules and pursue your dreams
America at its core is an idea--the idea that no matter who you are or where you're from, if you work hard and play by the rules, you'll have the freedom and opportunity to pursue your own dreams.
Work is about more than making a living. It's fundamental to human dignity, to our sense of self-worth as useful, independent, free people.
It's heartbreaking to see so many people trapped in a web of enforced idleness, deep debt, and gnawing self doubt.
Our political system hasn't done a good job of meeting our challenges, and [that's] why government still matters and what it should do.
I want American Dreams growth--lots of new businesses, well-paying jobs, and American leadership in new industries, like clean energy and biotechnology.
Source: Back to Work, by Bill Clinton, p. ix-x
, Nov 8, 2011
Liberal and Conservations can learn from each other
In a positive political environment, liberals and conservatives could learn from each other and advance the public interest. Liberals want to use the government to solve problems and are usually eager to experiment.
True conservatives are more cautious, reminding us that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is, or at least mitigate them. Conservatives believe culture, including strong work ethic and stable families, matter more.
Today, our process is too tilted in favor of powerful private interests over the public interest, in favor of short-term financial gains over long-term employment and income growth, in favor of consumption over investment,
in favor of pushing more of our national income up to the top 1 percent over increasing the incomes of the middle class and giving poor people a chance to work their way into it.
Source: Back to Work, by Bill Clinton, p. 46-47
, Nov 8, 2011
2012 voters should understand this recession is different
Q: How can President Obama get re-elected with an unemployment rate hovering around 9%?A: I think the President will be able to rely on the fact that he has tried to come up with a serious and comprehensive plan. The question is, Will voters understan
that this was a different sort of recession and then evaluate the competing candidates in terms of whether their ideas are more or less likely to get us out of the fix we're in? You know, I think people are pretty smart once they understand the deal.
Source: Time Magazine on "Back To Work" book tour by Bill Clinton
, Jan 21, 2011
2001: outgoing staff removed "W" from computer keyboards
[Entering the White House in January 2001], some of our predecessors had not "honored the House." Members of the Clinton staff had trashed offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Ripped the W's off keyboards, left obscene messages on walls
and furniture, scribbled profane graffiti in restroom, poured glue or something sticky on furnishings, broke glass tops on desks, burned furniture with cigars, and left vulgar greetings on the voice-mail system.
The most disruptive thing they did was to remove phones from one office and put them in another. At the White House, each phone is programmed to work at a specific outlet. Plug it in elsewhere and it won't work. Departing
Clinton staffers moved about one hundred phones to the wrong outlets and there was no simple way to figure out where each one belonged. Some of my colleagues were without phone service for almost a week as technicians sorted out the mess.
Source: Courage and Consequence, by Karl Rove, p.225
, Nov 2, 2010
OpEd: MonicaGate sin was self-indulgence, not immorality
Mike Bloomberg's' pragmatism seems always to prevail over Mike Bloomberg's emotions, and a cold-eyed discipline over his frailties. Get a hold and get over it, as his parents instructed and he does.
When Bill Clinton's dalliance with Monica Lewinsky was entertaining America, Bloomberg was indignant.
Casual acquaintances were amazed to hear him vent angrily about the president. Clinton's behavior was not only outrageous, he would say, it was unacceptable; he should resign.
Mike Bloomberg suddenly a prig? No way. He saw Clinton's offense not as immoral; it was self-indulgent, lacking self-control. Not the Bloomberg way.
Source: Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics, by J.Purnick, p. 70-71
, Sep 28, 2010
Founders knew that America, to endure, would have to change
In his inaugural speech, Clinton said: "This ceremony is held in the depth of winter. But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring. A spring reborn in the world's oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and
courage to reinvent America. When our founders boldly declared America's independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change. Not change for change's sake, but change to preserve
America's ideals--life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless." Clinton was greatly influenced by President Kennedy and it was the humanity and hopeful vision of earlier presidents that
Clinton liked to evoke, saying, for example: "Let us resolve to make our government a place for what Franklin Roosevelt called `bold, persistent experimentation', a government for our tomorrows, not our yesterdays."
Source: The 100 Greatest Speeches, by Kourdi & Maier, p. 63
, Mar 3, 2010
All great contests are head games
"All great contests," Bill Clinton once said, "are head games."Clinton had always regarded political contests as the greatest contests of all. He loved them, lived for them, mastered them--in no small part because he understood the
psychological rules so well. Successful combatants, Clinton said, had to put "distance between them and these withering attacks" they would face. "You just have to know they're coming in different ways and you just can't let yourself be defined by them."
You couldn't let them undermine your judgment. Couldn't let yourself be paralyzed. "Only a small percentage of what voters are looking for is whether any of this stuff if true," he said. "What they're really looking for is to see,
how is this person going to react?"
[In the 2008 NH primary], Clinton had been playing a head game with Obama and had arguably been winning.
Source: Game Change, by Heilemann & Halpern, p.209
, Jan 11, 2010
Exited office with peace, prosperity, & historic popularity
Bush's inaugural will take place against a backdrop of the divisive controversies of the Clinton years, which resulted in only the second impeachment of a president in history. Clinton still ignites
Bush's conservative base with anger, but he will be leaving office with an unusually high public approval rating of 65 percent.
He also bequeaths favorable conditions to his successor: a nation at peace, facing no visible foreign threats, with projected surpluses for years to come. The rosy forecast for Bush's inauguration day is nearly
$6 trillion in surpluses that would accumulate between 2001 and 2011. If a national political consensus can be achieved, America has the ability to do almost anything it wants.
Source: The Battle for America 2008, by Balz & Johnson, p. 9
, Aug 4, 2009
OpEd: The ultimate surrogate campaigner, popular everywhere
Bill Clinton provided Hillary with an asset no other candidate could employ. He was the ultimate surrogate, popular in virtually every corner of the Democratic Party, an obviously skilled campaigner who could double the reach of the campaign by assuring
that the Clintons could be in twice as many places on any given day as Obama. He also was a strategist with few peers in presidential politics. There were limits on his powers, however. This was, after all, Hillary's campaign, not his, and her advisers
talked at length about how to make maximum use of him without allowing him to overshadow his wife. Behind the scenes, he was an influential voice on strategy but, as the experience of 2007 had shown, did not get his way on how much Obama should
be attacked.Bill insisted that Hillary compete all out in S.C., against the advice of her top advisers. Bill wanted to demonstrate that he still had political force and influence within the African-American community. [Obama won S.C. overwhelmingly.]
Source: The Battle for America 2008, by Balz & Johnson, p.156-157
, Aug 4, 2009
OpEd: Feeds on energy from personal contact with crowds
A Secret Service agent notes, "When presidents get into a crowd, they just seem like they feed on the energy from the people they are shaking hands with. They may be dragging from a long day of campaigning, but when they hit the rope line, they start to
get energized all over again. I've seen it time and time again. It seemed to have the strongest effect on Clinton. He'd replenish his energy from theirs and get charged up and ready to continue. They all did it, but it seemed to have the strongest effect
on him.""We had a young, gregarious guy who absolutely thrived on and was energized by being in crowds," another agent says. "We weren't going to have a conversation saying, 'Sir, you're really going to have to change. This isn't presidential.' We
really had to redefine the way we did business on the road."
The Secret Service adapted to the fact that Clinton would plunge unpredictably into crowds. They identified places where Clinton could go and allow agents to scout out the areas in advance.
Source: In the President`s Secret Service, by R. Kessler, p.162-167
, Jun 29, 2009
OpEd: Won election by going where others unwilling to tread
Bush's poll ratings were very good. As it turned out, a brilliant guy and friend of mine from Arkansas, Bill Clinton, ran and won. He has the ability to think big, and his wife, Hillary, also has the ability to think big. That's why Bill Clinton won
the election. When others were unwilling to tread against those huge poll numbers of George Bush, Bill Clinton had no fear. When Bush's numbers dropped like a rock, he was in a position to win. Bill Clinton is a great guy with courage.
Source: Think Big, by Donald Trump, p.278
, Sep 8, 2008
Rebuild the American dream and restore American leadership
Our nation is in trouble on two fronts. The American dream is under siege at home and America’s leadership in the world has been weakened. Middle-class & low-income Americans are hurting, with incomes declining, job losses, poverty and inequality rising,
mortgage foreclosures and credit card debt increasing, health care coverage disappearing and a very big spike in the cost of food, utilities and gasoline. Our position in the world has been weakened by too much unilateralism and too little cooperation by
a perilous dependence on imported oil; by a refusal to lead on global warming; by a growing indebtedness and a dependence on foreign lenders; by a severely burdened military; by a backsliding on global nonproliferation and arms control agreements; and by
a failure to consistently use the power of diplomacy from the Middle East to Africa to Latin America to Central and Eastern Europe. Clearly, the job of the next president is to rebuild the American dream and to restore American leadership in the world.
Source: Speech at 2008 Democratic National Convention
, Aug 26, 2008
1992: Applied Reagan's method to his presidential transition
His speechwriter Michael Waldman forlornly concluded, "Of the wasted prospects in the Clinton presidency, the transition was not only the first, but in some ways, the worst." Waldman cited "enormous wasted energy" on "task forces and clusters.
Nearly all of it was make-work."The irony was that Bill was an avid student of history and had read at least 10 presidential biographies for guidance on successful transitions. He cited Ronald Reagan's disciplined approach as his model, specifying
that he would "follow Reagan's pattern in establishing a limited set of priorities." George Stephanopoulos said that, like Reagan, his boss didn't want to get "sidetracked by side issues." Indeed, the Reagan transition was a paragon of efficiency and
planning that began 7 months before Election Day, with nearly 1,000 people working on it. By contrast, the Clinton transition sometimes seemed to have a staff of two--Bill & Hillary--and their failure to delegate slowed the appointment process to a crawl
Source: For Love of Politics, by Sally Bedell Smith, Chapter 2
, Oct 23, 2007
Despite critics, fervent believer in policy solutions
The notion of Hillary and Bill Clinton as power-hungry acquisitors with little interest in the public weal save some sort of left-leaning ideology has always been at odds with the facts. In his inaugural address, he proclaimed floridly: “For as long as
I can remember, I have believed passionately in the cause of equal opportunity, and I will do what I can to advance it. For as long as I can remember, I have loved the land, air, and water of Arkansas, and I will do what I can to protect them.
For as long as I can remember, I have wished to ease the burdens of life for those who, through no fault of their own, are weak or needy, and I will try to help them.“ Over the next two years,
Clinton would find himself walking a thin line between implementing policies that could dramatically contribute to the lives of his fellow Arkansans, and attempting not to rattle of the establishment and the good ol’ boys who ran the legislature.
Source: A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, p.145-146
, Jun 5, 2007
When he set the agenda, he won; but scandals interfered
The greatest power of the presidency and the essential tool put to use by modern American presidents, was the ability to set the national agenda.The joint Clinton presidency lost the ability to set the national agenda as no other modern presidency had
Whenever Clinton was able to regain control of the agenda, he was almost always successful: the economic plan, NAFTA, welfare reform, and a series of orders & actions toward the end of his administration that made higher education available to almost any
American. His perseverance in winning the major achievements of his presidency were extraordinary.
From its outset until Clinton’s acquittal in the Senate trial, the terms of the national debate were more often set by the press, the
Clintons’ enemies, the Republican opposition, and the special prosecutor. The best efforts of the Clintons, their aides and lawyers were spent in response to investigations. The Clinton presidency was sapped of its almost limitless potential.
Source: A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, p.350-351
, Jun 5, 2007
OpEd: Fairy tale that Clinton emerged from nowhere in 1992
There's a romantic story people like to tell themselves about this figure named Bill Clinton, whom no one had ever heard of--that he simply emerged from nowhere to be the most talented man in American political life. The point of telling the story this
way, obviously, is to reassure us that if we just look around one more corner, we may find his cousin, who is lurking as, say, a governor of some small unnamed state.Right? Wrong. There are, of course, any number of problems with this story, as there
are with any good fairy tale.
First of all, everyone in politics had known, or known of, Bill Clinton for 20 years before he ran for president. He was the boy wonder, for goodness's sakes, not an unknown.
Second, Bill Clinton was the front-runner
from the start in 1992. That's why he was on the cover of Time--before the Gennifer Flowers story broke. Clinton recovered, because he was as experienced as you get, and had all the advantages of the front-runner in a front-loaded system.
Source: The Case for Hillary Clinton, by Susan Estrich, p.140-141
, Oct 17, 2005
Republicans have to portray Democrats as unacceptable to win
We Democrats want to build a world and an America of shared responsibilities and shared benefits. We want a world with more global cooperation where we act alone only when we absolutely have to. We think the role of government should be to give people th
tools to create the conditions to make the most of their own lives. And we think everybody should have that chance. The Republicans believe American should be run by the right people-their people-in a world in which America acts unilaterally when we can
& cooperates when we have to. They believe the role of government is to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of those who embrace their economic, political and social views, leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves on important matters like
health care and retirement security. Now, since most Americans aren’t that far to the right, our friends have to portray us Democrats as simply unacceptable, lacking in strength and values. In other words, they need a divided America. But we don’t.
Source: Speech to the Democratic National Convention
, Jul 29, 2004
Strength and wisdom are not opposing values
Strength and wisdom are not opposing values. They go hand in hand, and Kerry has both. His first priority will be to keep America safe. Kerry and Edwards are good people with good ideas, ideas to make the economy work again for middle-class Americans, to
restore fiscal responsibility, to make health care more affordable, college more available, to free us from dependence on foreign oil, and create new jobs with clean energy and a cleaner environment, and to make a world with more friends and less terror.
Source: Speech to the Democratic National Convention
, Jul 29, 2004
Right wing ideology trumps compassionate conservatism
I had watched the Washington Republicans for eight years and imagined that President Bush would, from the outset of his term, be under pressure to abandon compassionate conservatism by the more right-wing leaders and interest groups now in
control of his party. They believed in their ways as deeply as I believed in mine, but I thought the evidence, and the weight of history, favored our side (democratic liberalism).
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p.951
, Jun 21, 2004
First president to admit he participated in psychotherapy
Virginia Kelley told me that she and Bill and her younger son, Roger, had gone into family therapy together after Roger was busted for cocaine (while Bill was governor; the surveillance and arrest took place with Bill's prior approval).The last was an
admission that I didn't appreciate sufficiently at the time: Bill Clinton was the first American President to admit that he had participated in a form of psychotherapy.
I asked Clinton what he'd learned in family therapy. "Well," he said without
hesitation, "there are different sorts of addictions." By which I assumed he meant--I was too embarrassed to pursue this aggressively--that his addiction was to fame & success & glory.
The conversation did establish an important subtext for Clinton's
success as a politician in the 1990s: his thorough mastery of the therapeutic vocabulary and the trompe l'oeil sense of intimacy it provided. I barely knew the man and we were talking, or seeming to talk, about the most ridiculously intimate things.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p. 24-25
, Feb 11, 2003
Awe & disappointment intertwined in Clinton staff
The President's relationship with his staff was as complicated as the rest of his life. Awe and disappointment were intertwined. The awe was inspired by Clinton's intelligence--particularly, his encyclopedic knowledge of policy questions--his perseveranc
and his ability to charm almost anyone under any circumstances; he was, without question, the most talented politician of his generation. At close range, his skills could be breathtaking: He was always the center of attention; he filled any room he
entered. But there was a harshness, a certain brute insensitivity that was inextricable part of these fluorescent energies. All of Clinton's emotional sensitivity seemed to be expended in his work, which meant that there was not much
decency or graciousness left over for the help. His self-involvement, self-indulgence, and, all too often, self-pity, were notorious. And yet, the staff was intensely loyal, with a deep sense of political mission.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p. 3
, Feb 11, 2003
OpEd: Sloppy personal habits reflected in sloppy policy
One of Clintons' alleged women, Paula Jones, was encouraged by conservatives to come forward and tell her story: that the governor of Arkansas had approached her and she had refused him vehemently. The trooper who had originally told this story, Danny
Ferguson, had a different version: Jones had visited Clinton in a hotel room and emerged smiling, offering herself in perpetuity as "the governor's girlfriend."The Paula Jones story had the ring of truth--at least,
Ferguson's version did--and it gained great currency in Washington. In a May 1994 Newsweek essay, I argued that Clinton's tendency toward sloppy policy-making, particularly overseas, might be a reflection of his sloppy personal habits. The argument soon
was prove wrong-headed (to its author, at least) as the President gradually became far more disciplined in his statements and public actions, but the theory became a staple of the conservative case against Clinton, especially during the Lewinsky scandal.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p.108
, Feb 11, 2003
Toni Morrison calls Clinton “first black president”
Nobel laureate Toni Morrison came up with the “first black president” concept because, in her view, Clinton displayed ‘almost every trope of blackness.’ These included being raised in a single parent household, poverty, playing the saxophone, and liking
junk food, especially from McDonalds. All this dysfunction, victimhood, & sexuality, gave Bill Clinton genuine blackness, she proposed. Clinton echoes Morrison’s sentiments: “That’s why I went to Harlem. Because I think I am the first black president.”
Source: The Final Days, by Barbara Olson, p. 56
, Oct 25, 2001
Future: fiscally responsible; lead world; weave diversity
Tonight I want to leave you with three thoughts about our future. - America must maintain our record of fiscal responsibility. If we choose wisely, we can pay down the debt, deal with the retirement of the baby- boomers, invest more in our future
and provide tax relief.
- Because the world is more connected every day in every way, America’s security and prosperity require us to continue to lead in the world. At this remarkable moment in history, more people live in freedom than ever before. Our
alliances are stronger than ever. People all around the world look to America to be a force for peace and prosperity, freedom and security.
- We must remember that America cannot lead in the world unless here at home we weave the threads of our coat of
many colors into the fabric of one America. As we become ever more diverse, we must work harder to unite around our common values and our common humanity. We must work harder to overcome our differences in our hearts and in our laws.
Source: President Clinton’s farewell address
, Jan 18, 2001
Republicans won in 2000 by neutralizing issue of the economy
We were left hanging around for ages waiting for Bill Clinton. He finally arrived 45 minutes late and did the rounds of Assembly members and we then met some of the leaders. I spoke to several of the Clinton people about the Gore situation.
They obviously felt the campaign could have gone better if Bill had been more involved. The Supreme Court judgment had basically been that a recount was unconstitutional so that was basically that.
Gore was planning to concede 2am our time, then Bush would speak an hour later. Clinton was reasonably discreet but he clearly felt his legacy was at risk, that they lost by allowing the
Republicans to neutralize the issue of the economy, by allowing their basic message to move leftwards, and by not using him properly. He was right on all 3 counts.
Source: The Blair Years, by Alastair Campbell, p.483-484
, Dec 13, 2000
What’s right with America can fix what’s wrong with America
In an earnest if unremarkable speech--edited, like all his other major addresses, by Hillary--the president speaks of the hopes that have put him in office. “The American people have summoned the change we celebrate today. You have raised your voices in
an unmistakable chorus,” he tells the vast throng spread the Capitol down Pennsylvania Avenue. “There is nothing wrong with America,” he assures them, “that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”
Source: Partners in Power, by Roger Morris, p. 8
, Apr 25, 1999
OpEd: Able to make anyone feel comfortable and at home
Pres. Clinton and I are from the same hometown. We were both born in Hope, Arkansas. We went to the same kindergarten--Miss Marie's--9 years apart, then both attended Brookwood Elementary.Even though we were born in the same town, we grew up in very
different environments. The president has told the story of how he grew up with an abusive, alcoholic stepfather. I was fortunate to grow up without that sort of family tension.
Clinton went to college out of state, then on to England as a Rhodes
Scholar. He had a secular educational environment. I went to Ouachita Baptist University.
Today the president and I have a cordial, genuinely engaging relationship. He is warm, hospitable, and encouraging to everyone around him. He can make anyone,
regardless of who he or she is, feel comfortable and at home. He really enjoys being around people. I admire what he has been able to accomplish. Of course, this doesn't mean I celebrate the president's worldview.
Source: Character IS the Issue, by Mike Huckabee, p.129-130
, Sep 9, 1997
$200 haircut scandal: accused of delaying airline flights
In the midst of the fight to pass the economic plan, 2 media flaps exposed the lack of organization and discipline within the White House. First, the
White House had fired some of its travel office personnel, citing "gross mismanagement," and then hired a cousin of Clinton's, prompting accusations of nepotism. Then Clinton delayed his departure on Air Force One from the
Los Angeles Airport so he could receive a ridiculously expensive haircut--some reports said $200--from a Beverly Hills stylist. For a while, reports incorrectly said the haircut delayed other flights.
Though neither story had long-term implications, they reflected basic management problems that Clinton did not insist be addressed.
Source: The Agenda, by Bob Woodward, p.195
, Jun 6, 1994
Promise of ethical reform invited harsh unceasing scrutiny
The Clintons complained bitterly that from their first days in office they had been singled out and judged by harsher standards than any of their predecessors, and victimized by a consortium of enemies and overzealous press. There is little question that
they were treated more harshly, and often pursued with different standards & more relentlessly than any president & his wife of the 20th century.Moreover, the underlying assumptions of some of the basic charges & assertions that fueled the unceasing
investigation--most notably those related to the so-called Whitewater matter--were often contextually misleading, exaggerated in significance, and sometimes factually off-base.
Yet there can be no question that the Clintons had invited unusual scrutiny
by their impassioned promises of probity to voters in the campaign of 1992, and an unwavering inaugural theme that stressed the ethical reform they said they were bringing to Washington. There was something of an implicit challenge in their manner.
Source: A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, p.233
, Jun 5, 2007
Worked several jobs to pay for law school
Bill Clinton at Yale was a bit older than the average law student, and bore more responsibilities. Although he was fortunate enough to be chosen for one of Yale’s few law school scholarships, the money was nowhere near enough to cover even the most meage
costs of living. To meet expenses, he was forced to hold as many as three part time jobs at once. In the course of his years at Yale he taught at a small community college, staffed for a city councilman at Hartford, and worked for a lawyer in New Haven.
Source: The Inside Story, by Judith Warner, p. 47
, Aug 1, 1999
Bill Clinton on Early Life
1955: attended church on his own accord at age 9
In the midst of household turmoil, Bill found a place of refuge amid the rottenness of Hot Springs: a church.By the mid-1950s, the only religious education that Bill Clinton had received came from two years in a Catholic grade school, a subject on
which virtually nothing has been written. But starting in 1955, the 9-year-old began to wear a suit on Sunday mornings and walk alone to Park Place Baptist Church. The pastor, Reverend Dexter Blevins, said the boy was there “every time the door opened.”
The boy sensed, maybe from observing the behavior of the two immature adults in his small universe, that it was important that he go to church in order to “to try to be a good person.”
His mother agreed with her young son’s decision to find
God, encouraging him to go every week, even though she and her husband made it only on Christmas and Easter.
The claim will shock his detractors today, but there were some who thought that the young Clinton would grow up to be a minister.
Source: God and Hillary Clinton, by Paul Kengor, p. 41
, Jul 18, 2007
1974:Turned down dairy money because it had strings attached
In the final weeks of Bill’s campaign for Congress, an operative was contacted by a lawyer connected to the dairy industry. He was willing to give $15,000 to be used in
Sebastian County, which would “ensure that you are able to win the election.” The unspoken message was that such funds could be used to buy votes. And if Bill won, the dairy interests would expect political payback.
At a meeting, the operative explained the deal. Hillary listened to his pitch in silence, then shouted, “No. You don’t want to be a party to this.” The operative asked Bill, “Do you want to win or do you want to lose?”
Hillary said, “If we can’t earn it, we can’t go.” And that was that. On election night, Bill’s opponent won by 6,000 votes.
Source: Her Way, by Jeff Gerth & Don Van Natta, p. 54-55
, Jun 8, 2007
1982 theme: “My daddy never had to whip me twice”
[After Bill’s gubernatorial loss in 1980, polls suggested] an ad in which Clinton apologized for his mistakes, most notably the car tag increase. This led to an ad campaign with the theme, “My Daddy Never Had to Whip Me Twice” Given another opportunity
by Arkansas citizens, said Bill, he would pay them heed and not make the same mistakes again. The ads aired in early Feb. 1982, but Bill would not announce his candidacy until Chelsea’s 2nd birthday on Feb. 27. At that press conference, Hillary gave
Bill a framed picture of the three of them, with the engraving, “Chelsea’s second birthday, Bill’s second chance.” The 1982 campaign became the model for their political future, with Hillary assuming a far more direct, hands-on role in terms of
policy, strategy, and staff. Hillary was never bashful about telling you when she thought you made a mistake. Bill Clinton would never tell you that, though he might think it. He was the good guy. Hillary was the one that laid the law down.
Source: A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, p.165
, Jun 5, 2007
From mother Virginia came stamina & gregariousness
Hillary and Bill were asleep when the phone rang in the early morning hours of January 6. Dick Kelley, Virginia’s husband, was on the line to tell the president that his mother had died in her sleep. She had been fighting breast cancer since 1990.
Virginia had been the big influence on Bill’s life. She had persevered through hard knocks, inculcated in him her optimism and drive. She had buried three husbands, two of whom had abused her. She had worked long hours and paid most of Bill’s tuition to
Georgetown. “I got my stamina from my mother,” Bill said.
Clinton’s gregariousness, his fun-loving nature, his glad-handing, his hugging, his empathy, his ability to focus on whomever he was talking to, all those were traits he shared with his mother.
Hillary believed that Bill and Virginia shared great optimism, along with a tendency to repress unpleasant thoughts. He had nearly photographic recall, yet for decades had blocked out painful scenes involving his abusive stepfather.
Source: A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, p.369-370
, Jun 5, 2007
Born in 1946 in Hope Arkansas to a widowed mother
Early on the morning of August 19, 1946, I was born under a clear sky after a violent summer storm to a widowed mother in the Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, a town of about six thousand in southwest Arkansas, thirty-three miles east of the Texas border
at Texarkana. My mother named me William Jefferson Blythe III after my father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr., one of nine children of a poor farmer in Sherman, Texas.My father met my mother at Tri- State Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1943, when
she was training to be a nurse. Two months later, they were married and he was off to war. He served in a motor pool in the invasion of Italy, repairing jeeps and tanks. After the war, he returned to Hope for Mother and they moved to Chicago, where he
got back his old job as a salesman for the Manbee Equipment Company.
On May 17, 1946, [my father died in a traffic accident] drowned, only twenty-eight years old, married two years and eight months, only seven months of which he had spent with Mother.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, First Chapter
, Jun 23, 2004
Father’s death in traffic accident drove Bill to achieve
On May 17, 1946, my father was driving from Chicago to Hope to fetch his wife. Late at night, he lost control of his car, when the right front tire blew out on a wet road. He was thrown clear of the car but landed in, or crawled into, a drainage ditch.
He drowned, only 28 years old, married 2 years & 8 months, only 7 months of which he had spent with Mother.When I was about 12, sitting on my uncle’s porch in Hope, a man walked up the steps, looked at me, & said, “You’re Bill Blythe’s son. You look
just like him.“ I beamed for days.
My father left me with the feeling that I had to live for two people, and that if I did it well enough, somehow I could make up for the life he should have had. And his memory infused me, at a younger age than most,
with a sense of my own mortality. The knowledge that I, too, could die young drove me both to try to drain the most out of every moment of life and to get on with the next big challenge. Even when I wasn’t sure where I was going, I was always in a hurry.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, First Chapter
, Jun 23, 2004
Discovered a half-brother in 1993
In 1993, on Father’s Day, my first as President, [several newspapers ran] investigative stories on my father. The stories turned up a lot we didn’t know, including the fact that my father had probably been married three times before he met Mother,
and apparently had at least two more children.My father’s other son was identified as Leon Ritzenthaler, a retired owner of a janitorial service, from northern California. He said he had written me during the ‘92 campaign but had received no reply.
I got in touch with him and later met him & his wife, Judy. We had a happy visit and since then we’ve corresponded in holiday seasons. He and I look alike, his birth certificate says his father was mine, and I wish I’d known about him a long time ago.
Somewhere around this time, I also received information about a daughter, born Sharon Lee Blythe in Kansas City in 1941, to a woman my father later divorced. I’m sorry to say that, for whatever reason, I’ve never met her.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, First Chapter
, Jun 23, 2004
Father's early death left me with sense of my own mortality
My father [who died at age 28] left me with the feeling that I had to live for two people, and that if I did it well enough, somehow I could make up for the life he should have had. And his memory infused me, at a younger age than most, with a sense
of my own mortality. The knowledge that I, too, could die young drove me both to try to drain the most out of every moment of life and to get on with the next big challenge. Even when I wasn't sure where I was going, I was always in a hurry.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p. 7
, Jun 1, 2004
Father brought date to hospital where he met mother, a nurse
Early on the morning of Aug. 19, 1946, I was born under a clear sky after a violent summer storm to a widowed mother in the Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, a town of about 6,000 in southwest Arkansas. My mother named me William Jefferson Blythe III after
my father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr., 1 of 9 children of a poor farmer in Sherman, Texas, who died when my father was 17. According to his sisters, my father always tried to take care of them, and he grew up to be a handsome, hardworking, fun-loving
man.He met my mother at Tri-State Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1943, when she was training to be a nurse. He brought a date with some kind of medical emergency into the ward where she was working, and they flirted while the other woman was
being treated. The next day he sent the other woman flowers and Mother's heart sank. Then he called Mother for a date, explaining that he always sent flowers when he ended a relationship. Two months later, they were married and he was off to war.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p. 4
, Jun 1, 2004
Knew his father only through stories from family
After serving in the war in Italy, he returned to Hope for Mother and they moved to Chicago, where he got back his old job as a salesman. They bought a little house in the suburb of Forest Park but couldn't move in for a couple of months, and since
Mother was pregnant with me, they decided she should go home to Hope.On May 17, 1946, my father was driving from Chicago to Hope to fetch his wife. Late at night on Highway 60 outside of Sikeston, Missouri, he lost control of his car when the right
front tire blew out. He was thrown into a drainage ditch. The ditch held three feet of water. When he was found, after a two-hour search, his hand was grasping a branch above the waterline. He had tried but failed to pull himself out. He drowned, only
28 years old.
That brief sketch is about all I ever really knew about my father. All my life I have been hungry to fill in the blanks, clinging eagerly to every photo or story or scrap of paper that would tell me more of the man who gave me life.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p. 4-5
, Jun 1, 2004
Father had two children from three previous secret marriages
In 1993, on Father's Day, the Washington Post ran a long investigative story on my father, which was followed by other investigative pieces. The stories turned up a lot we didn't know, including the fact that my father had probably been married three
times before he met Mother, and apparently had at least two more children.My father's other son was identified as Leon Ritzenthaler, a retired owner of a janitorial service, from northern California. I got in touch with him and later met him and his
wife, Judy. Since then we've corresponded in holiday seasons. He and I look alike, his birth certificate says his father was mine, and I wish I'd known about him a long time ago.
Somewhere around this time, I also learned about Sharon Pettijohn, born
Sharon Lee Blythe in Kansas City in 1941, to a woman my father later divorced. She sent copies of her birth certificate; her parents' marriage license; a photo of my father. I'm sorry to say that, for whatever reason, I've never met her.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p. 5
, Jun 1, 2004
OpEd: Virginia an unlikely, but American, presidential mom
Bill Clinton's mother gave me a tour of Hot Springs, Arkansas, the town where she had raised her two boys. Virginia Kelley was an unlikely, but wonderfully American, candidate to be the mother of a President. She was the sort of woman whom proper folks
tend to scorn, particularly in the South: a ton of makeup, almost comically applied; a white streak down the middle of her dyed black hair (some of the locals called her "skunk woman"); a passion for the racetrack, for nightlife, and for the wrong sort
of men. And yet, Mrs. Kelley was not at all pathetic; she was canny and formidable and charming; an entertaining guide who, in the course of our day together, managed to ask all the right political questions and also to make some very astute
predictions. "I think the press is going to give Bill a lot of trouble." She sighed. "Don't you?" At one point she startled me. "That's the church where I go to my A.A. meetings," she said, nodding toward a prim Protestant outpost of recent vintage.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p. 23-24
, Feb 11, 2003
Alcoholic dad may have defined Clinton’s personality
Bill Clinton, as the stepchild of an alcoholic father, came into adulthood with a legacy of family dysfunction that he had almost no choice but to re-enact to a certain degree with Hillary.
It is also axiomatic that adult children of alcoholics will seek affirmation and approval everywhere they can find it. They lack the inner mechanism that naturally allows them to feel good about themselves, and are cruelly harsh in judging themselves.
Source: The Inside Story, by Judith Warner, p.111
, Aug 1, 1999
Half siblings Henry & Sharron, by two different mothers
As in all the bawdy old jokes about traveling salesmen, there were women--especially for Bill Blythe [Bill Clinton’s father; known as “W.J.”]. He married, somewhat furtively, 18-year-old Adele Gash. They were divorced in 1936. Still, he went back to
Adele often after the divorce and, the following spring, fathered a baby boy by her, Henry Leon, born in January 1938. In 1940, he met a dark-haired 17-year-old named Wanetta Alexander. By the end of 1940 Wanetta was pregnant, and Bill Blythe had gone
to northern California, supposedly to see Adele and his first child.
But after a few days Bill had suddenly run off with Adele’s pretty younger sister, Minnie Faye. Bill and Minnie Faye Gash were married on December 29, 1940, in Durant, Oklahoma.
That too, was soon over.
Under pressure from the Alexander family, his hasty marriage to Minnie Faye was annulled in Little Rock in April 1941. In less than a week, he married Wanetta. His new wife gave birth to a baby girl. They named her Sharron.
Source: Partners in Power, by Roger Morris, p. 19-21
, Apr 25, 1999
His father committed bigamy by marrying his mother
[In 1943 Bill Bythe met] Virginia Dell Cassidy. She was engaged at the time to a high school sweetheart but was immediately taken with Bill Blythe and his striking good looks. [They married in September.] On April 13, 1944, a
Missouri court granted the divorce [for Bill Blythe and Wanetta Alexander, whom he had married in April 1941. That means that on] September 3, 1943, Bill Blythe had committed bigamy by marrying Virginia Cassidy before a justice of the peace in
Texarkana.
He joined the army and was sent abroad only five weeks after his marriage to Virginia. He was discharged as a technician, third grade, in December 1945 with a commendation for his service.
Virginia became pregnant [with Bill Clinton] almost immediately. Her conception came at the beginning of the great postwar baby boom. [Bill Blythe died in a car accident that May]
Source: Partners in Power, by Roger Morris, p. 20-22
, Apr 25, 1999
Bill Clinton on Hillary Clinton
Clintons were millions in debt when leaving White House
HILLARY CLINTON (ON TAPE): We came out of the White House, not only dead broke, but in debt.(END TAPE) Q: Do you understand some people who have been critical of Secretary Clinton?
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: It is factually true that we were several
million dollars in debt. Everybody now assumes that what happened in the intervening years was automatic; I'm shocked that it's happened. I'm shocked that people still want me to come give talks. And I'm grateful.
Q: But when you say you pay ordinary
taxes, as Secretary Clinton did, unlike other people who are really well off who pay taxes maybe just off capital gains, can you understand as a political matter that that could strike people as being out of touch?
BILL CLINTON: Yes, but she's not out
of touch. And she advocated and worked as a senator for things that were good for ordinary people. And before that, all her life. And the people asking her questions should put this into some sort of context.
Source: Meet the Press 2014 interview by David Gregory
, Jun 29, 2014
1986: Made mocking bumper stickers "For First Lady"
When Clinton ran for governor in 1986, he was facing Gov. Frank White, who had defeated him for reelection in 1980 (and whom he had defeated in his 1982 comeback). White ran a negative ad attacking Hillary for allegedly taking legal fees from the Rose La
Firm for a specific piece of state business while Bill was governor. The fees were for representing Arkansas in a utility rate case--and White took money from utility companies in his campaign.So Clinton answered: "Frank White would let the utility
companies raise their rates at will. They are financing his campaign. Now White attacks Hillary Clinton for representing Arkansas in a lawsuit against the utilities. Says she took fees from tax money. But she didn't. She represented the state for free.
Hey, Frank: If you want to attack Bill, attack Bill. But not his wife. After all, you're running for governor...not for first lady."
It worked: Clinton festooned the state with "Frank White for First Lady" bumper stickers, & White's campaign was cooked
Source: Take Back America, by Dick Morris, p.290-291
, Apr 13, 2010
Bill’s “let me think about it” meant “I’ll ask Hillary”
Bill and Hillary’s joint decision-making at the beginning of his presidency was as overt as it would ever be in the White House. “He would say, ‘Hillary thinks this. What do you think?’” said White House counsel
Bernard Nussbaum. “They really were a partnership. She was the absolutely necessary person he had to have to bounce things up against, and he was that for her. I sensed a tremendous need for each other.
They didn’t have to see each other, but they would talk continually every day.“ In deference to her continuing role as Bill’s ”closer,“ staff members called Hillary ”the Supreme Court.“ ”We would always say, ‘Has the
Supreme Court been consulted?’“ recalled Dee Dee Myers, the president’s press secretary for two years, now a V.F. contributing editor. Whenever Bill said, ”Let me think about it,“ aides knew he intended to call Hillary.
Source: For Love of Politics, by Sally Bedell Smith, p. X
, Oct 23, 2007
Hillary more important as presidential adviser than Al Gore
Time: "John Kennedy said that after he was elected, he began to think in terms of who it was he had to have in the room when he made the really big decisions. For him, that was Robert Kennedy. Who is it for you?"Bill Clinton: "Hillary."
With that simple one-word reply in December 1992, Bill Clinton adumbrated the complications that would bedevil his presidency. Bill was giving her primacy even above his Vice President, Al Gore, a formidable politician with far greater experience.
Bill and Hillary had been using the first-person plural since his initial run for governor in 1978, when Bill told The New York Times, "Our vote was a vindication of what my wife and I have done and what we hope to do for the state."
They were such a "working unit" in Arkansas that they became known as "Billary"--a term of disparagement as well as admiration.
Source: For Love of Politics, by Sally Bedell Smith, Chapter 1
, Oct 23, 2007
1992: This is not an arrangement; this is a marriage
Stephanopoulos explained it as "the ultimate inoculation." Bill would tacitly admit he had strayed in the marriage but would refuse to offer any details or discuss the Flowers allegations specifically. When a "60 Minutes" interviewer suggested that the
Clinton marriage was hollow, Bill shot back, "This is not an arrangement or an understanding. This is a marriage." But it was Hillary's comments that saved her husband's candidacy. "You know, I'm not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man
like Tammy Wynette," she said. "I'm sitting here because I love him." Ironically, Hillary WAS following the country singer's advice and standing emphatically by her man.
The image of the couple side by side, along with Hillary's words, made a convincing performance. The Clintons left the impression that their problems were in the past--and if Hillary was unconcerned, voters shouldn't be bothered either.
Source: For Love of Politics, by Sally Bedell Smith, Chapter 1
, Oct 23, 2007
Don’t eliminate Hillary over “dynasty”; vote on her merits
Q: Do you ever think of the historical significance, a husband and a wife both being president?A: Sometimes. I think you asked her last time about how for 28 years...
Q: From 1980 to 2008 there will be a Bush or a Clinton on the national ticket.
Two families, political dynasty.
A: She responded, “Well, I think Bill was a pretty good president,” which is a way of saying, “I’m not responsible for 20 of those 28 years.” To be fair, though, when we think of dynasties in historical circumstances,
you get it because of who your family is, not because of what your merits are. I think the real question here is not whether she’s establishing a dynasty, but almost whether we should eliminate her because she happens to be my wife if she is otherwise
the person who would be the best president. I think she’s the best suited, best qualified nonincumbent I’ve had a chance to vote for for president for this moment in time. So I don’t want to see her eliminated because [of concern over dynasty].
Source: Meet the Press: 2007 “Meet the Candidates” series
, Sep 30, 2007
1986: Attacked for Hillary working at Rose while First Lady
In Sept. 1986, Frank White, the Republican candidate for governor, began running ads stating that the Clintons had a conflict of interest because Hillary was a member of the law firm that her husband’s administration had hired. Bill and White then argued
about the issue in a televised debate. “The money the state paid to the Rose firm was subtracted from the firm’s income before Hillary’s partnership profits were calculated,” Bill said, “so she made no money from it.” Bill also deflected White’s attacks
by asking him if he wanted to run for First Lady instead of governor. These arguments resonated. In the eyes of the voters, the relationship became a non-issue. But previously undisclosed law firm records show that Hillary didn’t ask the firm to
segregate her share of the state business until two months after White’s unsuccessful attack. Hillary eventually rectified the situation by repaying her share of past state fees “in any year Bill served as Governor,” which she calculated at $12,235.83.
Source: Her Way, by Jeff Gerth & Don Van Natta, p. 80-81
, Jun 8, 2007
Met Hillary in 1970: impressed with strength, not appearance
Bill Clinton remembers the moment he first set eyes on Hillary. It was toward the end of the fall of 1970. Bill was not initially attracted to Hillary’s appearance. There was something else Bill saw that he liked. It was an attraction to something less
obvious and more irresistible. Bill later admitted that Hillary “conveyed a sense of strength and self-possession I had rarely seen in anyone.” Bill followed Hillary, fully intending to introduce himself. When he came within two feet of her, a force
larger than himself stopped him. “It was almost a physical reaction. Somehow I knew that this wasn’t another tap on the shoulder, that I might be starting something I couldn’t stop.”
Bill and Hillary met near the end of their first year. They were
inseparable that first week. Over the weekend, Hillary went to see a man she had been dating. Bill spent the weekend fretting. When she returned, he called her but she was sick. Bill brought her soup, and with that, neither was interested in anyone else.
Source: Her Way, by Jeff Gerth & Don Van Natta, p. 44-45
, Jun 8, 2007
Start of “20-Year Project”:Hillary managed Bill’s House race
Hillary & Bill had made a secret pact, one whose importance has remained their secret across all these years. They agreed to embark on a partnership with two goals: revolutionize the Democratic Party and capture the presidency for Bill. They called it
their “twenty-year project.” They agreed that the only way they would be able to achieve their goals was to do whatever it took to win elections & defeat opponents. Bill would be the public face, and Hillary would serve as the behind-the-scenes manager.
In a letter to Bill, Hillary laid out some of the details. One of Bill’s ex-girlfriends accidentally stumbled upon the letter. “The note talked about all their future plans. political plans. the letter had everything to do with their careers, there
was no talk of a home, family, and marriage.” Having glimpsed the missive Crider was not surprised to see Hillary running Bill’s first campaign for Congress. Hillary did everything. She wrote Bill’s speeches. She even sold sandwiches to raise money.
Source: Her Way, by Jeff Gerth & Don Van Natta, p. 53-54
, Jun 8, 2007
OpEd: Marriage is a jet-set cosmopolitan arrangement
In 1988, Bill broached the subject of divorce with governors from other states who had survived the collapse of their marriages. But he told his friends in Arkansas that he wanted to save his marriage. And Hillary wanted to save it, too. She had invested
too much in Bill Clinton.By now even Clinton true believers are curious about the dynamic of the fractious Clinton marriage. The marriage is a very cosmopolitan arrangement, more typical of European jet-set society than of America. It is a playboy
marriage. True, at a certain practical level it is the marriage of convenience, allowing both Clintons to advance their political ambitions as they avail themselves of each other's uncommon political skills. Yet there is an emotional side, too, deeply
fulfilling to both parties' idiosyncratic needs. Bill's waywardness gives Hillary ample opportunities to exercise Madame Hillary's indignant bossiness. And Madame Hillary's tireless watchfulness allows Bill exciting opportunities to sneak out on mother.
Source: Madame Hillary, by R. Emmett Tyrell, p. 84-85
, Feb 25, 2004
Gave up job with McGovern 1972 campaign to follow Hillary
Bill had signed on to work in Senator George McGovern’s presidential campaign and that the campaign manager, Gary Hart, had asked Bill to organize the South for McGovern. The prospect of driving from one Southern state to another
convincing Democrats both to support McGovern and to oppose Nixon’s policy in Vietnam excited him. Although Bill had worked in Arkansas on campaigns for Senator J. William Fulbright and others, and in Connecticut for Joe Duffey and Joe Lieberman,
he’d never had the chance to be in on the ground floor of a presidential campaign.
I tried to let the news sink in. I was thrilled.
“Why,” I asked, “do you want to give up the opportunity to do something you love to follow me to California?”
“For someone I love, that’s why,” he said.
He had decided, he told me, that we were destined for each other, and he didn’t want to let me go just after he’d found me.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, first chapter
, Nov 1, 2003
Loves Hillary but has caused pain in their marriage
We appeared on “60 Minutes” right after the Super Bowl to discuss the Gennifer Flowers issue.The interviewer started with a series of questions about our relationship, adultery and divorce. We declined to answer such personal questions about our
personal lives. But Bill acknowledged that he had caused pain in our marriage and said he would leave it to voters to decide whether that disqualified him from the Presidency.
Q: You seem to have reached some sort of an understanding or an
arrangement.Bill: Wait a minute. You’re looking at two people who love each other. This is not an arrangement or an understanding. This is a marriage. That’s a very different thing.
Hillary: I’m not sitting here, some little woman standing by my
man like Tammy Wynette. I’m sitting here because I love him and I respect him. If that’s not enough for people, then heck, don’t vote for him.
23 days later, Bill became known as the “Comeback Kid” for his strong 2nd-place finish in N.H.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Clinton, p.106-107
, Nov 1, 2003
Nature of Clinton marriage was abiding mystery of presidency
[The story went], "During a heated political discussion, suddenly, Bill took Hillary in his arms and started kissing her all over her face and he said, 'God, what would I do without you!'"There are several plausible reactions: One is "Oh, yuck."
Another is "Oh, come on." The story conformed to the recollection of a great many people who knew the Clintons well. (And I accidentally witnessed the Clintons in a serious snuggle on a dark pathway after a campaign speech in Columbia SC, in 1992.)
The
quality and texture, and the nature, of the Clinton marriage was the great abiding mystery of his presidency. Most of the speculation was vapid, tabloidy stuff.
Over time, I decided that the wisest course regarding the Clinton marriage was to be
indiscriminately credulous, to believe ALL the stories. He was chronically unfaithful. They fought like harpies. They were political partners. They were best friends. They loved each other madly, in every sense. None of these were mutually exclusive.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p.114-115
, Feb 11, 2003
OpEd: Appointing Hillary shows inappropriate boundaries
A further indication of Clinton's difficulty with forming appropriate intimacy boundaries occurred with the selection of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to serve as chairperson of the commission for health-care reform. Regardless of her educational and
other qualifications, her selection raised a number of issues.If Clinton had become dissatisfied with the action of the commission, would he have fired his wife? Did members of the health reform commission have complete freedom to express their
opinions knowing that the chairperson shares a bed with the president? Even if these freedoms exist, such a decision reshapes the role of a nonelected spouse.
When the president was governor of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton also served as chairperson on an
important committee reforming educational standards. Clinton's comment at the time was: "This guarantees that I will have a person who is closer to me than anyone else overseeing a project that is more important to me than anything else."
Source: The Dysfunctional President, by Paul Fick, p. 56-57
, Jun 1, 2000
Hillary’s coldness contributed to Bill’s infidelity
Hillary knew Bill too well: his warts and weaknesses alike. She too was disappointed, critical of his first term in office, if not personally of him. It is altogether understandable that, under conditions that would have been so painful to him,
he went beyond his marriage to seek the feeling of unconditional love and approval he so needed-the kind of love that, for people with poor self esteem, a spouse cannot provide.
Source: The Inside Story, by Judith Warner, p.112
, Aug 1, 1999
Bill Clinton on Impeachment Scandal
1998: Group of Democratic Senators asked Bill to resign
Bill Clinton came perilously close to losing his presidency in 1998 following the release of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report on the President's misconduct with Monica Lewinsky.
That September, a number of key senators discussed asking him to resign.
Democratic senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska even called him 4 days after the report's release to tell him he should "begin thinking about leaving the White House" and that he had 3 options: "to resign, to plea bargain, or to await impeachment." Kerrey told
the President he would be "healthier and happier" if he stepped down. But Bill later said, it "never entered my mind" to resign. Kerrey, along with other pundits and politicians, underestimated Bill and Hillary Clinton's tenacity as political warriors.
Source: For Love of Politics, by Sally Bedell Smith, Introduction
, Oct 23, 2007
Still angry at Ken Starr for tawdry details
The bombshell hit the public on August 17, 1998, with Bill giving public admission in a prime-time speech on national television. Bill Clinton was master of the parsed word. The way he phrased his admission, conceding a “lapse in judgment,” would have
allowed for merely a single sexual act. That was all he needed to admit, since there was only one verifiable stain. Moreover, he used the speech to take the offensive against Kenneth Starr, the official independent counsel.
President Clinton did say he was “solely and completely responsible,” though that stand-up statement seemed to fall by the wayside as he tore into Starr.
Yes, Starr had reported some tawdry personal material.
Yet, Bill Clinton, publicly and under oath, had denied the relationship with Lewinsky. Starr had a legal and ethical duty to find and report the details. To this day, Bill Clinton remains angry at Starr.
Source: God and Hillary Clinton, by Paul Kengor, p.163-165
, Jul 18, 2007
1996: faith community most scandalized by Easter liaison
The 1998 Starr Report had one item focusing on Bill Clinton’s faith and the public’s perception of him as a religious or nonreligious man--the tale of Clinton’s sexual exploits with Monica on Easter Sunday, 1996, when
Bill, who had spent the morning at church, had an afternoon liaison with Monica in the Oval Office. This liaison was perhaps the most scandalous of them all, having commenced in the hallway before moving to
Bill’s private study, whereupon the president received oral sex from the intern as he simultaneously conducted business over the phone.
The incident has hardly been forgotten, especially among observant Christians. Detractors and skeptics of Bill’s faith never cease to bring it up, always eager to denounce Bill as a hypocrite.
Source: God and Hillary Clinton, by Paul Kengor, p.166
, Jul 18, 2007
“What the meaning of is, is” became symbol of hairsplitting
[On 8/17/98, Bill Clinton testified before a grand jury.] When asked directly whether he was “physically intimate with Monica Lewinsky,” he read a written statement acknowledging “inappropriate intimate contact,” but he repeatedly said that this “did not
consist of sexual intercourse,” nor did it “constitute sexual relations” under the 3-pronged definition he had been given during the Jones deposition.The prosecutor pointed to a passage in the Jones deposition when his lawyer had assured everyone that
there is no sex of any kind in any manner, shape, or form between the president & Lewinsky. The prosecutor asked the president whether he agreed that this “was an utterly false statement.”
With a wan smile, the president said, “It depends on
what the meaning of ‘is’... is. If ‘is’ means is, and never has been, that is one thing. If it means, there is none, that was a completely true statement.” The quotation came to symbolize Bill’s hairsplitting obfuscation, and infuriated the prosecutors.
Source: Her Way, by Jeff Gerth & Don Van Natta, p.191-192
, Jun 8, 2007
Expanding Whitewater to Lewinsky was a perjury trap
Linda Tripp had a riveting tale that implicated the president in an affair with a White House intern. In 1998, the president was scheduled to be deposed by Paula Jones’s lawyers in a sexual harassment lawsuit. During that session, he would be asked, unde
oath, about the nature of his relationship with Lewinsky.The deposition amounted to nothing less than an elaborate perjury trap designed to catch the president in an under-oath lie. The trap by Jones’s lawyers was intended to harm Bill politically and
possibly drive him from the presidency.
Kenneth Starr sought permission to extend the Whitewater inquiry into Tripp’s allegations. The thinking was that the president’s alleged attempt to “buy” Lewinsky’s silence through a job in NY was tantamount to
the same sort of obstruction of justice. By virtue of the wording of the independent-counsel statute, he was within his rights to follow nearly any lead. It was not surprising that Attorney General Janet Reno granted Starr’s request to investigate it.
Source: Her Way, by Jeff Gerth & Don Van Natta, p.171-172
, Jun 8, 2007
Monica affair was “inappropriate” but not sex in legal terms
In the Paula Jones deposition, Clinton’s lawyer represented to the judge that “there is no sex of any kind in any manner, shape, or form” between the president and Monica Lewinsky. [In the Starr inquiry], Clinton was asked by a prosecutor “Wouldn’t you
agree, this was an utterly false statement?” Clinton smiled. “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.... If ‘is’ means is and never has been, that’s one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement.” A few minutes later, “I
was not trying to give you a cute answer to that.“Clinton read from a prepared statement in which he admitted ”inappropriate intimate contact“ with Lewinsky, which ”did not consist of sexual intercourse,“ and did not ”constitute sexual
relations“ as defined in a long list of terms he had read at his deposition. He said, ”I’ll bet the jurors, if they were talking about a sexual relationship, they meant they were sleeping together; they meant they were having intercourse“--not oral sex.
Source: A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, p.514
, Jun 5, 2007
$52M Whitewater investigation began on real estate; not sex
Upon the Clinton’s arrival at the White House, the notion that their failed $100,000 investment in an old real estate deal would lead to the president’s impeachment for lying about his sexual conduct was inconceivable. The “Whitewater story” became
overblown almost from the moment the NY Times first wrote about it, during the 1992 campaign. The Clintons’ response was not straightforward, & served only to create more suspicion. It was a reasonable issue to explore in a presidential campaign: the
governor of a state who had regulatory authority over a savings-and-loan was in business with the owner of an S&L, jointly owning a piece of land. But in retrospect, it’s shocking how much was made out of that mistake.
After 6 years of investigation,
$52 million, and a Senate trial, the special prosecutor was forced to acknowledge that there had been no violation of law by either Hillary or Bill surrounding the land transaction. The allegation that stuck was that Bill Clinton lied about sex.
Source: A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, p.348-349
, Jun 5, 2007
Monica & impeachment propelled him to highest approval
During the Monica Lewinsky episode, Hillary appeared on the Today show and said, “I do believe that this is a battle. I mean, look at the very people, who are involved in this. They have popped up in other settings. The story here for anybody willing to
find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.”A week after her appearance on the show, a poll showed that
59% believed that “Clinton’s political enemies are conspiring to bring down his presidency.” Bill had achieved the highest approval ratings of his presidency--67% of Americans approved of his performance.
The impeachment locomotive was gathering steam. Hyde would have doubts about the wisdom of continuing down the impeachment track, especially because Bill’s popularity remained high, but Gingrich had no hesitancy.
Source: A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, p.498-505
, Jun 5, 2007
1994 Lincoln Bedroom Memo: "start overnights right away"
I had written [a memo to Clinton] just after my breakfast with the President in late December 1994, when he was dejected after the midterm loss. [The press was very interested]. "Okay, I'm fine with that," I said. "So what?""Well, unfortunately for
you, Terry, the President turned the memo over and wrote a note on the back saying, "Ready to start overnights right away,'" she said. Thus the famous Lincoln Bedroom Memo.
"Okay, but it doesn't have anything to do with me,"
I said. "He didn't write that note to me. I didn't even get a copy of the memo back."
"Terry, I know you didn't get it back," she said. "I'm just letting you know this is going to be news." An AP reporter was about to move a story saying that
I wrote a memo to the President recommending that he use the Lincoln Bedroom for fund raising. I have never written the words 'Lincoln Bedroom' in my life.
Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p.131-132
, Jan 23, 2007
Asks forgiveness from Monica and her family
I said that I was sorry for all who had been hurt--Monica Lewinsky and her family; that I had asked for their forgiveness:-- a willingness to give the very forgiveness I seek.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p.810
, Jun 21, 2004
Cites John 8:7 as defense against impeachment
I have two stones with the New Testament verse John 8:7 inscribed on them. In what many people believe was Jesus’ last encounter with his critics, the Pharisees, they brought to him a woman caught in the act of adultery
and said the law of Moses commanded them to stone her to death. Jesus responded ‘He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.’ My sense of my own mortality and human frailty and the unconditional love
I’d had as a child had spared me the compulsion to judge and condemn others. And I believed my personal flaws, no matter how deep, were far less threatening to our democratic government than the power lust of my accusers.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p.846-7
, Jun 21, 2004
OpEd: too unconcerned with money to care about Whitewater
In 1989, Al From [the president of the DLC] went to Little Rock and offered Clinton the chairmanship of the Democratic Leadership Council. There followed a halting, anguished mating ritual of the sort that has now become Bill Clinton's signature in both
life and politics. The governor seemed to love the idea, but... he didn't quite accept the post.Months passed, and there was still no firm commitment. "I've got a big decision to make," Clinton told Al From. "I've got to decide whether I'm going to ru
for governor again. If I don't do it, I'm going to have to figure out some way to make $100,000 a year to support my family." Al From responded, "You stupid son-of-a-b*, I'll pay you $100,000 right now to be chairman of the DLC!"
Al From later recalled
with a laugh. "That's why I never believed he was money-corrupt during the Whitewater business--the guy had no sense of his own worth." In time, Clinton chose to do both: He ran for reelection as governor and became chairman of the DLC (without pay).
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p. 30-32
, Feb 11, 2003
OpEd: 1998 scandal: surplus of libido & deficit of integrity
On January 21, 1998, after five tumultuous, sloppy, often brilliant, exhausting--and elusive--years as President of the United States, Bill Clinton finally landed in a political mess from which he seemed unlikely to extricate himself.
That morning, the Washington Post reported the President apparently had been intimate with a White House intern, a young woman named Monica Lewinsky--and that he had lied about this relationship under oath (in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought
by a second woman, a former Arkansas state employee named Paula Corbin Jones).These charges combined the President's most commonly assumed depravities: a surplus of libido and a deficit of integrity.
The surplus had been expended upon an employee the approximate age of his daughter, and the deficit involved untruthfulness of a potentially criminal sort. Furthermore, there appeared to be solid evidence of Clinton's guilt.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p. 1
, Feb 11, 2003
1998: Lewinsky affair upset GOP & press more than the public
To Clinton's circle of friends and employees, his habits, excesses, and eccentricities had become both legendary & entirely predictable over the years. The Lewinsky affair was shocking & disgraceful but not unpredictable. The reaction of the press, the
Republicans, and the public had gone pretty much as expected (the press and the Republicans were a lot more upset than the public seemed to be). That the President would somehow survive the squalid moment seemed likely, too. He always did. But there
would be a difference this time. In the past there had always been a certain exhilaration inherent in watching the President elude the posse.He would survive yet again--but he had damaged himself irrevocably. His behavior, during the affair and after,
was both outrageous and pathetic. He had lawyered his way through an act of passion, redefining what "sex" was and what "is" is; but he would survive--but there would be no joy in watching him elude the posse this time. Just embarrassment and disgust.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p.162-163
, Feb 11, 2003
OpEd: Bill’s infidelity was enabled by state troopers
After the election, Arkansas troopers told reporters for the American Spectator, the Los Angeles Times, and CNN that they had procured more than 100 women for Bill Clinton, at his request, during the campaign and after the election.
One of those mentioned turned out to be Paula Corbin Jones, a 24-year-old secretary. The governor directed a trooper to bring her to his hotel room where Clinton made an indecent and lewd proposition, complete with lowered trousers.
Source: The Final Days, by Barbara Olson, p.107
, Oct 25, 2001
Loses Supreme Court on sexual harassment lawsuit
After seeing her name in one of the Troopergate stories, Paula Jones brought suit in federal court for sexual harassment by her then superior, the governor of Arkansas. The stakes were now astronomical.
Clinton was president, and he could not afford to answer questions about liaisons with women, particularly unwelcome approaches to young employees. He fought the suit all the way to the United States Supreme Court, losing 9-0.
Source: The Final Days, by Barbara Olson, p.107-108
, Oct 25, 2001
Accepted 5-year law license suspension in Paula Jones case
Clinton’s Court Statement in Paul Jones Case: “Today I signed a consent order in the lawsuit brought by the Arkansas Committee on Professional Conduct, which brings to an end that proceeding. I have accepted a 5-year suspension of my law license,
agreed to pay a $25,000 fine to cover counsel fees, and acknowledged a violation of one of the Arkansas model rules of professional conduct, because of testimony in my Paula Jones case deposition. The disbarment suit will now be dismissed.”
Source: The Final Days, by Barbara Olson, p.100
, Oct 25, 2001
Clinton disbarred from Supreme Court
The Supreme Court said today that a lawyer who was disciplined in his home state of Arkansas cannot practice law before the High Court. The action was totally unremarkable, except that the lawyer in question is former President Bill Clinton.
The justices’ action followed Clinton’s acceptance earlier this year of a five-year suspension of his law license in Arkansas and his payment of a $25,000 fine to the Arkansas Bar Association [stemming from a sexual-harassment suit filed in 1994 by
Paula Corbin Jones].
The high court’s rules call for it to suspend a lawyer who has been disbarred or suspended by a lower court from practicing before the United States Supreme Court. The rules also give the lawyer 40 days to respond to
final disbarment from the high court. No further punishment is involved but, since it is an honor for a lawyer to be admitted to practice before the high court, losing that privilege could be seen as an embarrassment, especially for a former president.
Source: David Stout, New York Times
, Oct 1, 2001
Acknowledges wrongdoing; pays fine; seeks closure
Today, I signed a consent order in the lawsuit brought by the Arkansas Committee on Professional Conduct which brings to an end that proceeding. I have accepted a five-year suspension of my law license, agreed to pay a $25,000 fine to cover counsel
fees, and acknowledged a violation of one of the Arkansas model rules of professional conduct because of testimony in my Paula Jones case deposition. The disbarment suit will now be dismissed.
In this consent order, I acknowledge having knowingly
violated Judge Wright’s discovery orders in my deposition in that case. I tried to walk a fine line between acting lawfully and testifying falsely, but I now recognize that I did not fully accomplish this goal and that certain of my responses to
questions about Ms. Lewinsky were false.
I have apologized for my conduct and I have done my best to atone for it with my family, my administration and the American people. I hope my actions today will help bring closure and finality to the matters.
Source: Statement on conclusion of Whitewater investigation
, Jan 19, 2001
OpEd: Monica opened discussion of Clinton's compulsions
Since the 1996 edition of The Dysfunctional President, new allegations of serious sexual misconduct by President Clinton have come to light that reinforce the book's original thesis. The Monica
Lewinsky bombshell finally spurred the media to take seriously allegations that the president had been leading a very active extramarital sex life that could compromise his ability to govern the country.
Almost overnight, the president's personal weaknesses, which were self-evident and detailed several years ago in this book, ceased to be a media taboo.Media attention was long overdue, though it is tempting to retort, "Where were you when The
Dysfunctional President was initially released? However, what is truly important is that the impact of the president's psychology and sexual compulsion can now be subject to reasoned discussion.
Source: The Dysfunctional President, by Paul Fick, p. v-vi
, Jun 1, 2000
Tendency to lie results from being adult child of alcoholic
Ronald Reagan was also an adult child of an alcoholic (ACOA). In his autobiography, Reagan expanded on the role that his mother, Nelle, played in forging his perception of his father. "When Nelle thought we were old enough to know, she sat us down and
explained why my father sometimes disappeared. She said Jack had a sickness that he couldn't control--an addiction to alcohol."It is important to stress that a significant difference exists between Reagan and Clinton.
Reagan did not repeatedly demonstrate the effects of his background as an ACOA. Clinton, on the other hand, did.
The discrepancies in Clinton's statements are the clearest examples of such behavior.
Clinton frequently exhibits the process of denial and automatic lying. Following Clinton's election, the lies have become legendary. As a nation we are experiencing the replay of the dysfunction inherent in Pres. Clinton's childhood.
Source: The Dysfunctional President, by Paul Fick, p. 34-37
, Jun 1, 2000
Betsy Wright: Bill had female ‘fan base’ nationwide
Betsy Wright [Chief of Staff while Clinton was Arkansas Governor and campaign staffer] on Bill Clinton’s female ‘fan base’: “They were on the streets, sidewalks, in choirs, singing at his church. They were in the walls here.
And nationwide! We’d go to a National Governors Association meeting and there’d be women licking his feet. There were always so many women who were throwing themselves at him.”
Source: The Inside Story, by Judith Warner, p.110
, Aug 1, 1999
The Star paid Gennifer Flowers for affair story
The Star agreed to pay [Gennifer Flowers] a considerable amount of money for the tapes and her statement that she had been Clinton’s lover for twelve years. The Star shortly after published a rehash of the Nichols suit.In the story,
Flowers claimed she had begun to see Clinton in 1977 and continued an affair with him even after she had moved to Dallas in the early 1980s. She had told friends then about special visits from a ‘Bill’ from Arkansas.
Source: The Inside Story, by Judith Warner, p.178
, Aug 1, 1999
Evidence disappeared in Whitewater scandal
Many other questions could not be answered, because Whitewater’s records could not be located. Jim McDougal said that at the Governor’s request they had been delivered to the mansion years earlier.
The Clintons said that many of them had simply disappeared.No evidence of wrongdoing ever emerged. Federal regulators finally took the savings and loan away from McDougal, and a federal grand jury charged him with fraud.
Source: The Inside Story, by Judith Warner, p.184
, Aug 1, 1999
1995: Budget impasse caused federal shutdown & MonicaGate
In Nov. 1995, the federal government literally shut down because of a budget impasse between Clinton and the Republican Congress. It was the biggest gamble of Clinton's presidency. On Nov. 15, amid the chaos of having no regular employees on duty,
Clinton wound up alone in the chief of staff's office with a young intern who caught his eye. They began flirting.She told Clinton she had a crush on him. He laughed. Would you like to see my private office? Clinton asked? She nodded.
Clinton took her through his private dining room toward his study. They kissed passionately. Before leaving, she wrote on a piece of paper her phone number & her name: "Monica Lewinsky."
He told Lewinsky he liked her smile and her energy. "I'm usually
around on weekends, no one else is around, and you can come and see me," he told her. Lewinsky was on cloud nine, but she was worried that perhaps Clinton's regular girlfriend was furloughed and would be back as soon as the government shutdown ended.
Source: Shadow, by Bob Woodward, p.292-293
, Jun 15, 1999
Arkansas trooper declined to cover up for Governor Clinton
Clinton's lawyer Bennett [for MonicaGate did] final preparation. Every case, every witness, every client had a point of greatest vulnerability--an Achilles heel. Locating it was a lawyer's, and ultimately the client's, insurance policy. Of the nine women
on the list he had located the real problem. It was not Monica Lewinsky.No, Bennett believed, he had smoked out the real liability on the list--Marilyn Jo Jenkins, a beautiful marketing executive whom Clinton had known for more than a decade.
Danny
Ferguson, the Arkansas trooper who was Clinton's codefendant in the Jones case, had sworn under oath that he had brought Jenkins four times for private basement office visits with Clinton at the Governor's Mansion. Ferguson had brought gifts to
Jenkins from Clinton.
Bennett had learned from another lawyer that Clinton had asked Ferguson to cover for him; the trooper had declined. "It's tough to be in love with two different women," Ferguson quoted Clinton as saying.
Source: Shadow, by Bob Woodward, p.373
, Jun 15, 1999
There IS no relationship with Monica, and WAS none
PBS NewsHour asked about Starr's investigation of the Lewinsky allegations. Clinton's eyes were baggy, and he was tightly wound. "There is not a sexual relationship," the president said, "an improper sexual relationship,
or any other kind of improper relationship."It seemed that Clinton was leaning heavily, even exclusively, on the present tense "is." Reporters accustomed to parsing
Clinton's language would seize on it. "Look," an aide said, "you used the present tense, were you meaning to communicate anything?"
"Oh, no, no, no, no," the president said.
"WAS it in any way sexual?"
another aide asked, leaning hard on the 'was.'
"The relationship WAS not sexual," the president replied.
Source: Shadow, by Bob Woodward, p.389-394
, Jun 15, 1999
Grounds for impeachment: lying & obstructing justice
The Office of the Independent Counsel hereby submits substantial and credible information that President Clinton committed acts that may constitute grounds for an impeachment. The information reveals that President Clinton:- lied under oath at a
civil deposition while he was a defendant in a sexual harassment lawsuit, jones v. Clinton;
- lied under oath to a grand jury about his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky;
- attempted to influence the testimony of a potential witness;
- lied to potential grand jury witnesses, knowing that they would repeat those lies
before the grand jury; and
- engaged in a pattern of conduct regarding his relationship with Monica Lewinsky that was inconsistent with his constitutional duty to faithfully execute the law.
Source: The Starr Report, p. 21-22
, Sep 11, 1998
OpEd: Respond to MonicaGate by emphasizing big picture
- Jan. 23: Clinton's problems were getting worse. The problem was not his affairs, so much as the charge he asked Monica Lewinsky to lie.
- Jan. 26: Clinton, Hillary and Gore did a press event on childcare, at the end of which Bill said he did not
have an affair with Lewinsky.
- Feb. 2: [British Prime Minister Tony Blair] had been worrying how best to express support for Clinton but in the end it was fairly easy. It was all about emphasizing the big picture, the importance of the transatlantic
relationship, the leadership Clinton had given to the centre left.
- Feb. 5: The news came in that Lewinsky was to get immunity. Clinton, Blair and I started talking about how we would deal with it all at the full press conference. Clinton was steamed
up about some of the commentators, going on about THEIR private lives. I said he was crazy to engage on the detail. He is so much bigger than them. Keep going on the big picture. He said there has to be a change in the way the media operates.
Source: The Blair Years, by Alastair Campbell, p.272-276
, Jan 23, 1998
1987: Delayed presidential run to get their house in order
In Sept. 1987, Bill Clinton declined to run for the presidency. He said it was because of Chelsea--that she was too young to be left behind during a campaign.But the talk was of something less noble. Senator Gary Hart had seen his political career
derailed when he was caught in an affair with a young woman. The rumors about Bill had been rampant for years--he was a man with an appetite; he couldn't pass up a pretty face. I had other friends like the Bill Clinton of those rumors--except their lived
Source:
, Nov 1, 1997
OpEd: Whitewater? No; Clinton distrusted Jim Guy Tucker
Jim Guy Tucker and I were nothing alike, but initially I had a very good working relationship with him [when I was Tucker's Lt. Governor]. In fact, I had much better working relationship with Tucker than he had experienced with Gov. Clinton. The two of
them had been rivals for years. I know a person doesn't understand Arkansas politics when I hear him talking about how Tucker and Clinton were tied together in a Whitewater conspiracy. Tucker and Clinton mistrusted each other far too much to be
partners in any sort of business deal. Privately, neither would say a nice thing about the other. They barely spoke, much less worked together. Their rivalry went back to 1978 to Clinton was the attorney general running for governor and Tucker was a
congressman running for the Senate. Tucker lost. In 1982, when Clinton was making his comeback after having been voted out of office in 1980, Tucker ran against him in the Democratic primary. Clinton beat Tucker & the bitterness between them intensified.
Source: Character IS the Issue, by Mike Huckabee, p. 62-63
, Sep 9, 1997
1992: Left AR financial mess for successor to clean up
I've heard people say they suspect Clinton and Tucker made some sort of deal: "Back off and let me get reelected, then you can move up when I become president." They would never have trusted each other enough for that.When Clinton became president,
Tucker was thrust into the governor's office; but even before that, during the 1992 presidential campaign, Tucker was the de facto governor because Clinton was never there. Clinton was not terribly interested in staying governor after 1990. He was
running for president the whole time.
What really bothered Tucker was that Clinton would hand unfinished business to him but never give him the inside information he needed to handle it well. It was a tough time. Increasingly as Clinton got into the
presidential campaign, Tucker had more day-to-day impact on managing the government.
When Clinton moved to the White House after the 1992 election, Tucker was furious with him. Clinton left the state in a financial mess, which Tucker had to clean up.
Source: Character IS the Issue, by Mike Huckabee, p. 64
, Sep 9, 1997
Bill Clinton on Personal History
Tears when grandchild born; carries her around home
Bill and I heard we were going to be grandparents. On September 26, 2014, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky made her grand entrance. Chelsea emerged, exhausted but glowing. Bill and I followed the proud parents back into their room. All our pent up
nervous energy burst out in laughter and excited whoops, more like a couple of kids than newly-minted grandparents. After a while, Bill and I stepped out into the hallway to let them rest. We sat quietly, holding hands, trying to process the rush of
emotions. I looked over and saw a tear in Bill's eye.In many ways, taking care of a baby has gotten a lot more complicated since we did it more than three decades ago. But some things never change. As I watch Bill carry Charlotte around our house,
stopping at nearly every book on the shelf to explain the plot and how much she will enjoy reading it one day, I can't help but remember how he used to walk Chelsea around the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, singing and rocking until she fell asleep.
Source: Epilogue to Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton
, Apr 10, 2015
AdWatch 1992: successful intro ad as poor small-town boy
In his book "The Political Mind", Drew Westen compared the introductory political ads for Bill Clinton and John Kerry. Bill Clinton's ad ("The Man from Hope") tells the story of how he grew up poor in small-town America. Clinton spoke about his hopes and
dreams and recounted meeting John F. Kennedy at the Boy's Nation summer camp.In contrast, John Kerry's ad began with his narration of his biography: he was born on an army base and always felt the call for military service, especially since he had had
the privilege of going to Yale.
Westen deemed Clinton's ad as clearly superior: "Clinton told his own life story, but he told it as a parable of what anyone can accomplish if just given the chance. He tied the theme of hope to the well established
theme of the American dream, presenting himself as someone no different from anyone else who grew up on Main Street in any town."
In contrast, Westen judged the Kerry piece to be a disaster: "It conveyed one primary message: This guy isn't like me."
Source: The New Black Politician, by Andra Gillespie, p.151-2
, May 7, 2012
OpEd: America elected Clinton knowing his personal history
I've heard many people blame the sordid transgressions that marred Bill Clinton's presidency for causing a moral decline in America. But I don't think one person can cause a moral decline, nor can one person improve our society's moral condition.
Unethical behavior sometimes comes out of the blue. But in the case of Bill Clinton, for example, Americans already knew a lot about his...er...unusual personal history during his first presidential campaign--and we elected him anyway.
Source: Leadership and Crisis, by Bobby Jindal, p.151
, Nov 15, 2010
"Clinton Standard Time": late to most appointments
Secret Service agents refer to what they call Clinton Standard Time. That is a reference to the fact that Bill Clinton is often one to two hours late. To Clinton, an itinerary with scheduled appointments was merely a "suggestion." Sometimes Clinton was
late because he was playing a game of hearts with his staff. Other times he ignored his schedule because he wanted to chat with a janitor or hotel worker he happened to meet. Like Clinton, Gore was often late.
Source: In the President`s Secret Service, by R. Kessler, p.145&148
, Jun 29, 2009
Clinton mystique: generates excitement & also generates cash
The Clinton Mystique: How do two people control the oldest and largest party in the country? What are their levels of control? On the surface, of course, it is their extraordinary appeal. Bill Clinton remains a mesmerizing figure to those he does not
thoroughly repel. He still brings out the crowds, generating excitement like no former president since Teddy Roosevelt. No other ex-president has ever been such an inexhaustible ham. What is more, no white politician has ever developed a stronger hold on
the loyalties of African-American voters than Bill Clinton.Hillary's appeal, by contrast, is almost metaphysical. She represents the transcendent dreams of the feminist, the gay rights advocates, the eco-activist. But she also connects with the murky
dreams of millions of suburban women who quietly enter the ballot booth and assert their independence from their family's party affiliation. But there are other levers, the most important of which is the lever releasing the quantities of money.
Source: Madame Hillary, by R. Emmett Tyrell, p. 21-22
, Feb 25, 2004
OpEd: Denied problem of father's alcoholism
One can draw an interesting parallel between Reagan and Clinton. It serves as an example of how two presidents, both ACOAs, adult children of an alcoholics, can be perceived in strikingly different terms. It is my contention that the difference between
the two exists because of the different ways alcoholism was addressed within each of their families. Reagan's mother dealt directly with his father's alcoholism. In the case of Clinton, denial of the problem and of anything unpleasant was the means by
which the alcoholism was avoided. One cannot use the various forms of denial frequently without being perceived as inconsistent.Reagan did not repeatedly demonstrate the effects of his background as an ACOA. Clinton, on the other hand, did.
The discrepancies in Clinton's statements are the clearest examples of such behavior. Clinton frequently exhibits the process of denial and automatic lying.
Source: The Dysfunctional President, by Paul Fick, p. 37&109
, Jun 1, 2000
OpEd: Clinton's love goes hand-in-hand with abuse
Dick Morris helped orchestrate Clinton's rise in Arkansas politics going back to 1977. Morris had come to realize that the dynamic on the relationship included periods in which Clinton showered love, punctuated by periods of intense abuse.A defining
moment in Morris's understanding of Clinton's personality dated back to the 1990 governor's race. Clinton felt Morris was neglecting him and his campaign. "You're screwing me!" Clinton shouted at Morris. Morris stormed out.
Hillary then walked Morris
around the grounds and apologized on her husband's behalf. She made three points--forgive him, he didn't mean it and he needs you. She offered Morris a telling explanation for Clinton's behavior. "He only does that to people he loves," she said. In other
words, the love went hand in hand with the abuse. You buy in for one, you get the other. Morris was not sure whether abuse was a form of love or how they fit together, but taking the abuse was certainly the price of admission to Clinton's inner circle.
Source: Shadow, by Bob Woodward, p.331-332
, Jun 15, 1999
OpEd: Rise to power epitomizes the American dream
Although President Bill Clinton and I obviously differ greatly on political issues, in many ways the president represents what Republicans promote in their public policy: self-determination, setting goals, and overcoming adversity on your own.
Young Bill Clinton was poor and disadvantaged; but from the time he was young, he was focused like a laser on becoming president of the US.
It's what he wanted; it's what he worked for and sacrificed for, and through the years he managed to remove all the barriers to his goal.
While there are 260 million Americans who can say whatever they want about him, he'll sleep in the White House tonight and the rest of us won't. In that way, Bill Clinton's rise to success epitomizes the American dream.
Source: Character IS the Issue, by Mike Huckabee, p.125-126
, Sep 9, 1997
Attended Yale on a law school scholarship
Bill Clinton at Yale was a long-haired, bearded Rhodes Scholar. Although he had been fortunate enough to be chosen for one of Yale's few law school scholarships, the money was nowhere near enough to cover even the most meager costs of living.
To meet expenses he was forced to hold as many as three part-time jobs at once. In the course of his years at Yale, he taught at a small community college, staffed for a city councilman in Hartford, and worked for a lawyer in downtown New Haven.
Like Hillary, he had clearly not come to law school to prepare for a career on Wall Street. Politics was his destiny.
During his first three months of law school, he worked full-time on a political campaign, only starting to study for his classes after the November election. He then amazed his worried friends by acing all his finals.
Source: The Inside Story, by Judith Warner, p. 47
, Aug 1, 1993
Bill Clinton on Political Philosophy
I should be the favorite of the Tea Party!
Q: You balanced the budget and cut the size of the government. How come you're not a hero of the Tea Party?A: I thought I should've been their favorite politician. I think because
I didn't do it according to the ideology. I raised taxes and cut spending. I did it with a mix of policies that also left us money to invest in our future and in our quality of life.
Source: Time Magazine on "Back To Work" book tour by Bill Clinton
, Jan 21, 2011
Don't go to sleep with an unanswered negative out there
It's important for candidates to answer every negative attack ad their opponents run against them. If a candidate doesn't answer an attention-getting ad, the public has to assume it's true. Voters look to the candidates themselves for answers--to "say
it ain't so, Joe," and give them the truth.Bill Clinton's political career thrived because he lived by one rule: "Don't go to sleep with an unanswered negative out there. Always, always answer!" Clinton's ability to parry negatives--right down to
surviving a presidential impeachment--was largely due to his speed in answering attacks and his inventiveness in discrediting his attackers. It's like the old political saying: Deny the allegation--and then shoot the alligator!
The key to answering an
attack quickly & effectively is to anticipate the attack before it's made. It takes time to dig up the kinds of old records that can disprove an attack. So all candidates must do their own negative research--not just on their opponents, but on themselves
Source: Take Back America, by Dick Morris, p.286-287
, Apr 13, 2010
OpEd: Triangulation worked but set up defeat in 2000
As an anti-party president, Clinton weakened his own capacity to deliver--and strengthened the opposition party by becoming reliant on its votes, its ideology, or both. Triangulation may have helped Clinton personally, but by disparaging his own party
and its core worldview, Clinton's strategy helped set up the Democrats for a defeat in 2000, a year of peace and prosperity that should have produced a strong Democratic win. Like Typhoid Mary, Clinton survived while infecting his community.
As an anti-party president, Clinton weakened his own capacity to deliver--and strengthened the opposition party by becoming reliant on its votes, its ideology, or both. Triangulation may have helped Clinton personally, but by disparaging his own party
and its core worldview, Clinton's strategy helped set up the Democrats for a defeat in 2000, a year of peace and prosperity that should have produced a strong Democratic win. Like Typhoid Mary, Clinton survived while infecting his community.
Source: Obama`s Challenge, by Robert Kuttner, p.193
, Aug 25, 2008
Self-styled ‘New Democrat’ to separate himself from liberals
Bill shrewdly styled himself as a ‘New Democrat’ who could broaden his appeal to include independent voters and Republican moderates by shifting away from the Democratic liberal orthodoxy that has consistently lost elections.
He advocated ideological flexibility and a smaller but more open government that would provide opportunity for those who assumed responsibility.
Source: For Love of Politics, by Sally Bedell Smith, p. 5.
, Oct 23, 2007
OpEd: Savors the sheer joy of the political game
Bill savors the sheer joy of the political game, the energy he gets from the outstretched hands, the connections with people of every sort, the validation of a triumphant campaign, the ability to affect events, the applause and adoration that come with
being a political star. For Hillary, politics has long been more utilitarian: a means to gain power and enact programs she believes would make a difference. For more than 3 decades, politics has bound them together when other aspects of their lives
showed signs of crumbling.Politics may seem an odd foundation for a marriage, but for the Clintons it has served as the defining factor not only of their careers but also of their friendships, their dinner-table conversations, their intellectual
interests, and, to outsiders at least, their emotional lives. There is no doubt about their shared commitment to public affairs and the Democratic party--and, ultimately, to the pursuit of political power.
Source: For Love of Politics, by Sally Bedell Smith, Introduction
, Oct 23, 2007
We define ourselves by allegiance to American values
FDR seemed to agree, asserting that "Americanism is a matter of the mind and heart. Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race and ancestry. A good American is one who is loyal to this country and to our creed of liberty and democracy."
To be one nation, said Bill Clinton, all we need do is define ourselves by "our primary allegiance to the values that America stands for and values we really live by."
Arthur Schlesinger is among the most articulate champions of the idea of America as a nation united by a shared belief in the ideas found in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address: The American Creed.
In his first
inaugural, George W. Bush endorsed the creedal nation concept: "American has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests, and teach us what it means to be citizens."
Source: State of Emergency, by Pat Buchanan, p.144-5
, Oct 2, 2007
You can't win talking just to people who agree with you
"You can't win," Clinton said, "talking just to people who agree with you." You have to meet the arguments of people who start out on the other side.When Bill Clinton got in trouble, I did my best to defend him. I thought the Republicans were going
way too far, but mostly because in Boston that's what's known as loyalty. When a friend is in the right, it isn't a matter of loyalty to support him. That's easy. It's when somebody screws up that they need their friends. That's when loyalty kicks in.
Source: The Case for Hillary Clinton, by Susan Estrich, p. 2-3 & 7
, Oct 11, 2005
Developed the New Democrat Philosophy for 1992 campaign
By the end of 1986, I had formed some basic convictions about the nature of the modern world, which was later developed into the so-called New Democrat philosophy that was the backbone of my 1992 campaign for President. These are the new rules that
I believe should provide the framework within which we make policy today:- Change may be the only constant in today’s American economy
- [Human capital] is probably more important than physical capital now.
- A more constructive partnership
between business and government is far more important than the dominance of either.
- As we try to solve problems which arise out of the internationalization of American life and the changes in our own population, cooperation in every area is far more
important than conflict. We have to share responsibilities and opportunities--we’re going up or down together.
- Waste is going to be punished [especially corporate debt].
- A strong America requires a resurgent sense of community.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p.326-7
, Jun 21, 2004
Regained popularity via "triangulation" with GOP Congress
Dick Morris, before his reincarnation as a television political analyst, was the political wizard who rescued the Clintons from the policy disasters and faux pas of their first term in the
White House, just as he had rescued them from the similar disasters of Bill's first term in the Arkansas governor's mansion. After Republicans captured both houses of
Congress, causing woebegone President Clinton to protest that he remained "relevant," it was Morris who coached Clinton in asserting managerial ambivalence
("Triangulation" is the esoteric term they applied to it) and thereby regaining his popularity with contented voters.
Source: Madame Hillary, by R. Emmett Tyrell, p. 73
, Feb 25, 2004
DLC echoed in U.K. by Tony Blair's "Third Way"
Tony Blair was trying to devise alternatives to traditional liberal rhetoric, assumptions and positions in the hope of finding ways to advance economic growth, individual empowerment and social justice in the global informative age.Whether you call it
New Democrats, New Labour, the Third Way or the Vital Center, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton clearly shared a political vision. But the question confronting each of them was how to invigorate a progressive movement that had lost steam through much of the
1970s and 1980s, giving rise to Reaganism in the US and Thatcherism in Britain.
Shocked by the margin of their party's losses in 1964, several Republican multimillionaires embarked on a strategy to seed conservative, even right-wing political
philosophy, and to develop and advance specific policies to further it. They funded think tanks, endowed professorships and seminars and developed media channels for communicating ideas and opinions.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p. 423
, Nov 1, 2003
Recruited in 1989 as chair of Democratic Leadership Council
I'd first met Clinton at a meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council in 1989. We were introduced by Al From, the president of the DLC, who hooked a thumb in Clinton's direction and said, "This guy delivers our message better than any other politician.
The Democratic Leadership Council had been formed in 1985, as a moderate, mostly Southern response to the leftward rush--and attendant electoral failures--of the Democratic Party since the 1960s. The group was derided as the "Southern White Boys," or, in
Jesse Jackson's phrase, "Democrats for the Leisure Class." Al From believed that the only way to reinvigorate the Democratic Party was to reinvent liberalism; he was very much in the market for new ideas and new leaders. In 1989, the Democratic
Leadership Council launched a small think tank called the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI). This turned out to be Al From's second most important initiative that year: The first was to recruit Bill Clinton to become the chairman of the DLC.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p. 28-29
, Feb 11, 2003
Third Way Principles: opportunity, responsibility, community
In his 1998 State of the Union speech, he recited the three principles of The Third Way: opportunity, responsibility and community--words that Clinton had made the slogan of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council when he became its chairman in 1991.
Ever since, politicians from Tony Blair in England to George W. Bush has used the same words to win elections; by 1998, however, the formulation was beginning to seem hackneyed. He made a last attempt to summarize his governing philosophy, offering a
three-point "strategy for prosperity: fiscal discipline to cut interest rates and spur growth; investments in education and skills to prepare our people for the new economy; new markets for American products and American workers."There was no applause
The words were too abstract; there was nothing stirring or controversial about them. The Third Way--which challenged both liberal and conservative orthodoxies--could sound like Everyone's Way when massaged into platitudes by a decent speechwriter.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p. 17-18
, Feb 11, 2003
New Democrat from the New South
The Governor of Arkansas is on his way to Washington to become the 42nd president of the United States. His own bus bears the license plate HOPE 1, after the small town where he was born in southwestern Arkansas. A reportedly prodigal young governor, wha
he calls a New Democrat from the New South, he is the first of his party to win the White House in a dozen years and, at 46, the 3rd-youngest chief executive in American history. He is not alone, just as he has never been alone in an unswerving
20-year political career since law school. At his side is the woman who has been there from the beginning, 18 years as his wife. A year younger than the new president, Hillary brings her own vivid history to this moment. If the new president carries
hope, so does she, the symbol of a matured liberation and equality of women. For now at least, on the eve of her husband’s inauguration, she promises to become the most powerful and significant First Lady in American history.
Source: Partners in Power, by Roger Morris, p. 1-2
, Apr 25, 1999
1986 initiative: Good beginnings, Good schools, & Good jobs
Bill Clinton had successfully reinvented himself as Boy Wonder, and in November 1986 he again beat Frank White to win the state's first four-year term as governor. In his inaugural speech, he presented a comprehensive set of initiatives for "Making
Arkansas Work--Good Beginning, Good Schools, and Good Jobs."
Hard economic times and slumping tax revenues might once have suggested cutting back on education and human development spending, he said. "But that will not work today.
In our highly integrated, highly competitive world economy, either we press ahead or we are pushed back. There is no status quo." It was a brilliant speech, delivered well. Time and again he was interrupted by applause.
Source: Friends in High Places, by Webb Hubbell, p.129
, Nov 1, 1997
Character isn't the issue
Responding to questions regarding his personal character, Bill Clinton once told his audience, "Character isn't the issue." Yet our character defines the world we live in. Our government, welfare programs, schools, & everything else in our lives are
shaped & directed according to our character. It's commonly said that "you can't legislate morality," but, in fact, every law in the country is a reflection of our moral values. Over the past 30 years, a decline in moral character has
produced a decline in the character of our society. Everything hinges on the men & women we choose to establish public policy. And their character depends on you. There IS something you can do: you can live a God-centered life of high moral character,
and you can support candidates who share your Christian standards.Character is the issue, and your character makes a difference every day--in the work you do, the people you vote for, the people you look to for leadership.
Source: Character IS the Issue, by Mike Huckabee, p. 1-2
, Sep 9, 1997
OpEd: Good on big picture, and backed up with details
Clinton surprised me in several regards. His enormous feet were all the more noticeable because his shoes were even shinier than [British Prime Minister Tony Blair]'s. His suit and tie were immaculate, as was his hair. He had huge hands, long thin
fingers, nails clearly manicured and he used his hands a great deal as he spoke, usually to emphasise the point just before he made it. I was also struck at the amount of detail he carried in his head.
Like Blair, he was good on the big picture, but he backed it up with phenomenal detail. He was a people person, terrific at illustrating policy points by talking about real people, real places. He was also tremendous at working a room. If he made a long
intervention, he found a way of addressing part of it to all the different people in the room. It's a great talent in a politician, and in his manner and his speaking style, he engages you, makes you feel warmly disposed towards him.
Source: The Blair Years, by Alastair Campbell, p.115
, Apr 11, 1996
America stands today between hope and history
When I visited Ireland last year, I met with Seamus Heaney, the Nobel Prize-winning poet, a man who has chronicled Ireland’s long struggle and his own fight against cynicism and defeat. I was particularly moved by some words he had written,
which I quoted in my speeches to the Irish people. Later, he was kind enough to write them out for me. That piece of paper now hangs in my study at the White House, and I look at it often. One line always leaps out at me-the moment when “hope and history
rhyme.“I believe that America today stands between hope and history-at the edge of a moment when these two powerful forces are as one, when we can embrace the dawn of the new
century, drawing strength and guidance from our past, filled with confidence that in this new age of possibility, our best is yet to come.
Source: Between Hope and History, by Bill Clinton, p.175
, Jan 1, 1996
OpEd: At his best when winning support to manage change
Clinton had an interesting line about how achievement was less important than definition in the information age. He said there is no point saying what you've done, keep saying what you're going to do, have a clear direction. Reagan and
Thatcher did it and didn't have to achieve that much. Like [British Prime Minister Tony Blair], he talked a fair bit about the polls and media, and like Blair, he was at his best when talking about how to win support and manage change.
He said the Congress having gone against him, and with the press more in conflict mode, he was always striving to get his message over to people direct. He was hugely impressive on strategy, especially considering he had just 45 minutes' sleep on the pla
Source: The Blair Years, by Alastair Campbell, p. 96
, Dec 4, 1995
New Covenant: responsibility, citizenship, opportunity
We all gain when we give. We reap whatever we sow. That’s at the heart of the New Covenant: Responsibility. Citizenship. Opportunity. They are the virtues by which we can fulfill ourselves and our God-given potential-the virtues by which we can live out
the eternal promise of America, the enduring dream of that first and most sacred covenant: ‘that all men are created equal.’We need to forge a New Covenant that will repair the damaged bond between the people and the government and restore our basic
values-the notion that our country has a responsibility to help people get ahead. That citizens have not only the right but a responsibility to rise as far and as high as their talents and determination can take them, and that we’re all in this together.
Make no mistake: This New Covenant means change-change in our party, change in our national leadership, and change in our country. People have lost faith in the ability of government to change their lives for the better.
Source: Clinton on Clinton, p. 65&156, State of the Union speech
, Jan 24, 1995
New Covenant: Opportunity and responsibility go hand in hand
Tonight we must forge a new social compact to meet the challenges of this time. As we enter a new era, we need a new set of understandings, not just with Government but, even more important, with one another as Americans.I call it the New Covenant.
But it's grounded in a very old idea, that all Americans have not just a right but a solemn responsibility to rise as far as their God-given talents and determination can take them and to give something back in return. Opportunity and responsibility:
They go hand in hand. We can't have one without the other. And our national community can't hold together without both.
Our New Covenant is a new set of understandings for how we can equip our people to meet the challenges of a new economy, how we
can change the way our Government works to fit a different time, and, above all, how we can repair the damaged bonds in our society and come together behind our common purpose. We must have dramatic change in our economy, our Government, and ourselves.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1995 State of the Union message to Congress
, Jan 24, 1995
Hope and opportunity: broad themes for presidency
Clinton arranged to have his entire cabinet and senior White House staff gather at Camp David for their retreat the weekend of January 30-31. "We've lost track of why we ran," Clinton said.Clinton turned to some of the broad themes for his presidency.
He spoke of hope and opportunity, and the difference between them: Opportunity, he said, was an objective reality. Hope was the faith that things could be better. FDR created hope long before he created opportunity. Clinton talked about "making
change our friend." He reminded everyone that things were worse than he had thought before taking office, that the American people had been misled, and that the economic situation had deteriorated. He wanted to keep faith with the middle class. "It's
scary to be a little person," he said someone had told him in the line at the White House. But more important, he said, "the eyes of our children are upon us." If we do our jobs, and reform health care, he said, "We'll return to office."
Source: The Agenda, by Bob Woodward, p.108-109
, Jun 6, 1994
1991: Led "New Democrats" who rejected liberal orthodoxy
On May 13, 1991, Clinton visited Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, with some ideas. He had been formulating what he felt was a powerful critique of the economics and the values of President Reagan and Bush. Too many feared for their jobs,
their health care, the educational opportunities of their children, their retirement.Though not well known on the national stage, Clinton was a leader in a movement of self-styled "New Democrats" who rejected the party's liberal orthodoxy. Mostly
Southerners, they were trying to convince the middle class that the Democratic Party could be strong on foreign and defense policy, moderate in social policy, and disciplined in spending tax money and taming runaway government. While retaining the ideals
of the New Deal and the Great Society, New Democrats sought more efficient activism. Clinton had been traveling the country saying that these ideals were neither liberal nor conservative, but both, and different. He cast his ideas in the loftiest terms.
Source: The Agenda, by Bob Woodward, p. 19
, Jun 6, 1994
Time for a change from the last 12 years
Q: What do you believe is the single most important separating issue of this campaign?CLINTON: The most important distinction in this campaign is that I represent real hope for change: a departure from trickle-down economics, a departure from
tax-and-spend economics, to invest and grow. But before I can do that I must challenge the American people to change, and they must decide. Tonight I say to the President: Mr. Bush, for 12 years you've had it your way.
You've had your chance, and it didn't work. It's time to change. I want to bring that change to the American people, but we must all decide first we have the courage to change for hope and a better tomorrow.
BUSH: I think one thing that distinguishes
is experience. Change for change's sake isn't enough. We saw that message in the late seventies when we heard a lot about change. And what happened? That "misery index" went right through the roof.
Source: The First Clinton-Bush-Perot Presidential Debate
, Oct 11, 1992
Bill Clinton on Post-Presidential Legacy
Greatest legacy: set standard for connecting with electorate
Compared with many other contemporary political leaders of his time (such as Al Gore and Bob Dole in the USA), the others were often regarded as stiff and a little uncomfortable when facing various audiences. Emotion was lacking. Clinton also pioneered
the use of technology and the internet to raise funds and to communicate with people in his election campaigns, a technique that has been taken much further by other politicians in the 21st century, notably Barack Obama.
In fact, other leaders, including the UK's Tony Blair and the USA's Barack Obama, owe much to Clinton's natural style. Without doubt, one of Clinton's greatest legacies was the standard he set for connecting with the electorate and communicating clearly,
in a way that supports strong, reassuring leadership. He ended his inaugural speech with poetic language and people drew huge strength from his allusions to the scriptures."
Source: The 100 Greatest Speeches, by Kourdi & Maier, p. 64
, Mar 3, 2010
Why Harlem? "We won't let anything happen to that man"
After Clinton left the presidency, "Anywhere he went, he shook hands; he'd go out of his way to shake the hand of a worker," says a Secret Service agent. "On a tarmac, he's walking around a plane to shake the hand of a worker. Or going through the hotel'
restaurant, he's in the back in the kitchen shaking people's hands and taking pictures."Clinton's office is in Harlem, where a woman on the street told the agent, "Honey, you can take the day off. We're not going to let anything happen to that man."
Source: In the President`s Secret Service, by Ronald Kessler, p.171
, Jun 29, 2009
Opens post-Presidential office in Harlem
In front of the building [in Harlem in which he will set up his post-Presidential office], Mr. Clinton said that “I feel wonderful about it” and “I hope we can work the lease out in the details.” Mr. Clinton said that Harlem had long held a special
attraction for him, first when he was a university student in England and then later when he became president. The building, which may be the best privately owned office building in Harlem, is in an economic empowerment zone that Mr. Clinton helped
create in his first term. Aides have added that Mr. Clinton is also grateful that African-Americans stood by him in the bleakest moments of his presidency. Should Mr. Clinton eventually settle on office space in Harlem, it would settle the storm of
criticism that has followed him since he first planned to move into the 56th floor of [a midtown office tower]. The lease for that space was estimated from $738,700 to $811,000 a year. The asking annual rent for the 14th floor in Harlem would be $210,000
Source: NY Times, p. A22
, Feb 13, 2001
Turns over reins of leadership with America at its strongest
- Our economy is breaking records with more than 22 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment in 30 years, the highest home ownership ever, the longest expansion in history.
- Our families and communities are stronger. 35 million Americans have
used the family leave law, 8 million have moved off welfare, crime is at a 25-year low.
- More people than ever are going to college. Our schools are better: higher standards, greater accountability and larger investments have brought higher test scores
and higher graduation rates.
- More than 3 million children have health insurance now and more than 7 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty.
- Our air and water are cleaner, our food and drinking water are safer and more of our precious
land has been preserved.
- America has been a force for peace and prosperity in every corner of the globe.
I’m very grateful to be able to turn over the reins of leadership with America in such a strong position to meet the challenges of the future.
Source: President Clinton’s farewell address
, Jan 18, 2001
Bill Clinton on Previous Campaigns
OpEd: Won with public focus on domestic over foreign issues
Come November, Bush lost, capturing what McConnell called an "embarrassingly low" 37% of the popular vote. The peculiar Perot garnered 19%. Yet McConnell rejects the conventional wisdom that this surprisingly strong 3rd-party showing is why
Clinton won. He places more emphasis on the shift in public concern from foreign affairs to domestic ones, where Democrats had a more activist agenda and had maneuvered Bush into several controversial vetoes. Republicans also lost a seat in the Senate.
Source: Republican Leader, by John Dyche, p. 91
, Sep 15, 2010
1990: opponent's ad repeated Bill stating "raise and spend"
When Clinton ran for governor in 1990, his opponent, Sheffield Nelson, took a tape of Bill's own voice saying "raise & spend" and put it in a negative ad: "What did Bill Clinton do to us in 1983?" the ad asked. "'Raise & spend.' And in 1987? 'Raise
& spend.' And if we give him another term what will he do? 'Raise & spend.'" Clinton's vote share tanked.Clinton's reply: "Here's what I actually said to the legislature. 'Unlike our friends in Washington, we can't write a check on an account that is
overdrawn. Either we raise and spend or we don't spend.' All I was doing was fighting for a balanced budget. But Nelson went to work and cut out the words 'raise and spend' from my speech to give you the wrong impression." Clinton regained the lead and
won.
See what Clinton did? He didn't deny that he'd raised taxes twice before. (He had.) He didn't say he wasn't going to raise them if he got reelected. (He did.) What he did was dismantle Nelson's gimmick, discrediting the attack--and the attacker!
Source: Take Back America, by Dick Morris, p.289-290
, Apr 13, 2010
GOP lost when they put faith voter out of way in '92 & '96
In 1980, the "Christian right" became an army of citizens that was instrumental in motivating an entirely new constituency to support and help elect Ronald Reagan as the 40th president. I remember when Ronald Reagan embraced these spiritual leaders well
known within the community of faith but largely unknown by the general public and told them, "I'm not here for you to endorse me; I'm here to endorse YOU." In the elections since 1980, when this constituency was energized and turned loose,
they made the difference in elections. When they were discouraged or driven to the sidelines, elections were lost.The energy of this group of voters made the difference for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984, and for George Bush in 1988. In
1992 and 1996, when the GOP somewhat put us back in the attic and out of the way, we lost. In 2000 and in 2004, the faith community was again activated, and I believe it provided the votes that put the GOP back in the White House.
Source: Do The Right Thing, by Mike Huckabee, p. 52-53
, Nov 18, 2008
1996: swept Latino vote 70% to 21%; among young, 91% to 6%
At 43 million, Hispanics outnumber black Americans by 6 million now, but we are not so solidly Democratic. Bush lost African-Americans 11 to 1 in 2000 and 9 to 1 in 2004. But he lost Hispanics by only 2 to 1 in 2000 and 3 to 2 in 2004. He was fortunate
in running against white-bread candidates like Kerry and Gore who lacked the charisma of Clinton.In 1996, Clinton swept the Latino vote 70 to 21. Among first-time Latino voters, his margin was 91 to 6. Aware that immigrants can give the Democrats
their own lock on the White House, Clinton's men worked to naturalize them. In the year up to September 30, 1996, the Immigration and Naturalization Service swore in 1,045,000 new Americans so quickly that 80,000 with criminal records--6,300 for serious
offenses--became citizens.
In every presidential election since 1984, Hispanics have voted Democratic by anywhere from 60% to 75%. The more Hispanic America becomes, the more Democratic America becomes.
Source: State of Emergency, by Pat Buchanan, p. 57-9
, Oct 2, 2007
Spend retirement giving; politics is a "getting" business
When I left the White House, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life giving my time, money, and skills to worthwhile endeavors where I could make a difference. I didn't know exactly what I would do, but
I wanted to help save lives, solve important problems, and give more young people the chance to live their dreams. I felt obligated to do it because of the wonderful, improbable life I'd been given by the
American people and because politics, which consumed so much of my life, is a "getting" business. You have to get support, contributions, and votes, over and over again.
If you serve well, it's probably a fair trade, but no sensible person can do it as long as I did without thinking you still have to give more to balance the scales. Besides, I thought I'd enjoy it.
Source: Giving, by Bill Clinton, p. ix
, Sep 4, 2007
Founded “New Democrat” message in 1980 Convention speech
At the 1980 Democratic convention in New York, Bill was chosen by the Democratic governors to deliver a prime-time speech as their representative. [Bill said in his speech that] the time had come to find “more creative and realistic” solutions than the
old Democratic coalition had been recycling for two generations. “We were brought up to believe, uncritically, without thinking about it, that our system broke down in the Great Depression, and was reconstructed in the New Deal and
WWII, and would never break down again. But the hard truth is that for ten long years through Democratic and Republican administrations alike, this economic system has been breaking down. We have seen high inflation, high unemployment, large government
deficits, the loss of our competitive edge.“
That synthesis would be the foundation of the ”New Democrat“ movement in politics that Bill Clinton would come to symbolize over the next ten years.
Source: A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, p.158-159
, Jun 5, 2007
1987: Declined chance to run; some say due to affairs
[In the wake of Gary Hart’s withdrawal from the 1988 presidential race, due to an affair, Bill Clinton became the subject of presidential speculation.] An advisor reviewed names to evaluate which women were most likely to seek out the press,
and the advisor said that it would be disastrous to declare his candidacy. Hillary wrote many years afterward that Bill was still undecided the day before his announcement. The next day,
Bill announced he would not be a candidate in 1988.Bill would later say of the decision, “Finally I felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders.
I was free to be a father, husband, and governor and to work and speak on national issues unencumbered by immediate ambitions.”
Source: A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, p.179-180
, Jun 5, 2007
1980: Became youngest ex-governor in US history
One of the big surprise losers of 1980 was the young governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. No one had thought he was vulnerable, but he raised fees on the state car tags, and Carter put him in a terrible position by reneging on a promise not to send more
Cuban refugees to Arkansas. Clinton was still looking shell-shocked that December and nobody was quite sure he would be able to overcome the tough loss, which made him the youngest ex-governor in US history. How's that for a distinction?
Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p. 35
, Jan 23, 2007
1996: Legislative alliance with GOP Senate Leader Trent Lott
In 1996, Bill Clinton hired Dick Morris as his reelection campaign strategist. "I can tell you what one of your biggest problems is," Morris said of Clinton; "You're not getting enough done. And the public is aware of that. But I have a plan."
Morris's plan centered on two unlikely partners: me and Bill Clinton.What Morris proposed was a highly unusual alliance between the president of the US and the majority leader of the opposing party, with himself serving as clandestine intermediary.
It may have been unique in the history of American politics.
Morris's plan was stunning in its audacity. He wanted me to forge a working relationship with Bill Clinton to enact a series of landmark bills. As Morris pointed out, both the Republican
Senate Conference and Clinton would benefit from a series of legislative coups. Morris embraced my suggestions for major welfare reform, a balanced budget act, that would include Medicare cuts, and immigration reform.
Source: Herding Cats, by Trent Lott, p.130-131
, Aug 29, 2006
Bush believes in his way, but history favors Clinton’s
I thought about the note to President Bush I would write and leave behind in the Oval Office, just as his father had done for me eight years earlier. I wanted to be gracious and encouraging, as George Bush had been to me. Soon George W. Bush would be
President of all the people, and I wished him well. I had paid close attention to what Bush and Cheney had said in the campaign. I knew they saw the world very differently from the way I did and would want to undo much of what I had done,
especially on economic policy and the environment. But those were not my calls to make anymore. I had watched the Washington Republicans for eight years and imagined that President Bush would, from the outset of his term, be under pressure to abandon
compassionate conservatism by the more right-wing leaders and interest groups now in control of his party. They believed in their way as deeply as I believed in mine, but I thought the evidence, and the weight of history, favored our side.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p.951
, Jun 21, 2004
Key to 1992 success was timing of entry into race
"The most brilliant decision the Clintons ever made was to get into the 1992 race when they did," says a major national political correspondent. "In 1991, candidates stayed out of it, thinking that [the first] President Bush was unbeatable. The
Clintons shrewdly picked a time to run when the [Democratic] field was open. She was the one who told Bill, 'You can take this guy. You've got to go now.' "After deciding to launch Bill toward the presidency in 1991, Hillary made another shrewd
decision in 1999. Hillary decided to run for the Senate, and not from Arkansas, but from New York, where big media and big money come together. 4 years later, Senator Hillary was surrounded by people telling her the same things she had once told
Bill, things like , "The second Pres. Bush is another paper tiger." They reminded her that Gore beat Bush by 539,947 votes in the popular tally. Bush, they said, is suffering from jobless recovery syndrome and Iraqi fever. In short, "Hillary, go for it!"
Source: Madame Hillary, by R. Emmett Tyrell, p. 7-8
, Feb 25, 2004
OpEd: 1994 loss resulted in adoption of GOP rhetoric
Our two political parties are increasingly polarized on cultural issues and the Republican electoral victory of 1994 surely reflected dissatisfaction with the degenerate culture liberals have made. Clinton's subsequent adoption of Republican rhetoric and
policies as his own, however insincere, is another sign that a conservative cultural & political revival is probably underway. It is quite possible, however, that the party of cultural conservatism will be defeated by the public appetite for entitlements
and benefits.But it is well to remember the limits of politics. The political nation is not the same as the cultural nation; the two have different leaders and very different views of the world. Even when conservative political leaders have the votes,
liberal cultural leaders operate and exercise influence where votes do not count. Institutions that are overwhelmingly left-liberal (89% of journalists voted for Bill Clinton in 1992) will continue to misinform the public and distort public discourse.
Source: Slouching Towards Gomorrah, by Robert Bork, p.338-339
, Dec 16, 2003
OpEd: 1992 election represented moral & cultural sea change?
Clinton epitomizes the leading edge of the trends this book has discussed. The London Spectator, shortly after the 1992 presidential election, saw the election result as representing a moral and cultural sea change in the US:"The election of Clinton i
nothing less than a cultural revolution. America of the Baby Boomers is a radically different place from the American of their parents. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that a large part of the American people have turned their backs on that
old-fashioned quality: Virtue--private and public Virtue."
Thirty years ago, Clinton's behavior would have been absolutely disqualifying. Since the 1992 election, the public has learned far more about what is known, euphemistically, as the "character
issue." Yet, none of this appears to affect Clinton's popularity. It is difficult not to conclude that something about our moral perceptions and reactions has changed profoundly. If that change is permanent, the implications for our future are bleak.
Source: Slouching Towards Gomorrah, by Robert Bork, p.341
, Dec 16, 2003
Nominated Dukakis at 1988 Convention; turned into fiasco
Although Bill decided not to run in 1988, the nominee, Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, asked him to give the nominating speech at the Democratic Convention in Atlanta.
It turned into a fiasco. Dukakis and his staff had reviewed and approved every word of Bill’s text ahead of time, but the speech was longer than the delegates or the television networks expected.
Some delegates on the floor began yelling at Bill to finish. This was a humiliating introduction to the nation, and many observers assumed Bill’s political future was over. Eight days later, though, he was on Johnny Carson’s
Tonight Show, making fun of himself and playing his saxophone. Yet another comeback.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Clinton, p. 98
, Nov 1, 2003
Worked for Joe Lieberman's Senate campaign in 1970s
[During Monicagate], Joe Lieberman admonished him publicly. Lieberman, who had been a friend since Bill had worked on his first campaign for the Connecticut state senate in the early 70s, took to the Senate floor to denounce the President's conduct as
immoral and harmful because "it send as message of what is acceptable behavior to the larger American family."When Bill was asked to respond to Lieberman's speech, he replied: "Basically I agree with what he said. I've already said that I made a bad
mistake. It was indefensible, and I'm sorry about it. I'm very sorry about it."
It was the first of many unconditional public apologies my husband would make on his long journey of atonement. But I realized that apologies would never be enough for
hardcore Republicans and might not be enough to avert a meltdown within the Democratic Party. Other Democratic leaders condemned the President's personal actions and said he should in some way be held accountable. None, however, advocated impeachment.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p.473
, Nov 1, 2003
Employed Dick Morris for gubernatorial & presidential races
Bill and I considered Dick Morris a creative pollster and a brilliant strategist, but he came with serious baggage. First of all, he had no compunction about working both sides of the aisle and all sides of an issue. Although he had helped Bill win five
gubernatorial races, he also worked for conservative Republican Senators.Morris's specialty was identifying the swing voters who seesawed between the two parties. His advice was sometimes off-the-wall; you had to sift through it to extract the useful
insights and ideas. And he had the people skills of a porcupine. Nonetheless, I thought Morris's analysis might be instructive, if we could involve him carefully and quietly. With his skeptical views about politics and people,
Morris served as a counterweight to the ever optimistic Bill Clinton. Where Bill saw a silver lining in every cloud, Morris saw thunderstorms.
Starting in 1978, Morris worked for Bill on all his gubernatorial campaigns except the one he lost in 1980.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p.251
, Nov 1, 2003
1992 staff called him "The Natural" after Redford movie
The Clinton campaign appeared to exist entirely, and very comfortable, within the grammar of popular culture--a cross between a disaster movie and a country music song.
The governor roused his languishing campaign by playing the saxophone on Arsenio Hall's television program: he distanced himself from Jesse Jackson by attacking a rap singer named Sister Souljah; his wife compared herself to
Tammy Wynette. He traveled by bus. His staff called him Elvis--and, more privately, "The Natural," after the character played by Robert Redford in the film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's baseball novel.
He was, quoting the film, "the best there ever was." It was all great fun, and the distant, patrician President George Bush provided a perfect foil.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p. 41-42
, Feb 11, 2003
1992: opponents failed to find disloyalty in Bill in Moscow
Bill Clinton’s ties to the intelligence community go back all the way to Oxford and come forward from there, says a former government official who claims to have seen files long since destroyed. The subject of sharply varying accounts, the future
president’s final months in England were indeed shrouded in some mystery and in inconsistencies never explained--though the very polarity of the suspicions and allegations seem only to obscure what really happened.Republican aides rifled passport file
in vain for some evidence of Clinton disloyalty while abroad. Trailing in October, George Bush himself tried almost pathetically to impute something subversively, unpatriotically sinister to Clinton’s 1969-70 trip to Moscow or his role in antiwar rallies
demanding that Clinton tell voters “how many demonstrations he led against his own country from a foreign soil.” [Others claimed that Bill Clinton] was a full-fledged CIA “asset,” who informed on his American friends in the peace movement in Britain.
Source: Partners in Power, by Roger Morris, p.102-103
, Apr 25, 1999
1987: Delayed presidential run to get their house in order
In Sep. 1987, Bill Clinton declined to run for the presidency. He said it was because of Chelsea--that she was too young to be left behind while her parents went off to campaign.But the talk was of something less noble. Sen. Gary Hart had seen his
political career derailed when he was caught in an affair with a young woman. The rumors about Bill had been rampant for years--he was a man with an appetite, people said.
I never asked Bill or Hillary about the truth of those rumors. I knew both of
them too well to ask. Bill and I never once talked about the rumors until after he was elected President. Hillary never came to me and said, "Bill and I are having trouble."
But what I think was happening was that Bill & Hillary had decided that before
a presidential run, they had to get their house in order--in whatever ways it needed ordering. Something she said later also seemed to shed light on Bill's decision not to run. One day, I overheard Hillary say, "We've got to straighten up Whitewater."
Source: Friends in High Places, by Webb Hubbell, p.136-137
, Nov 1, 1997
1991: Torn by promise not to run for president
Bill wasn't sure he could even run for the President. Arkansans are touchy about being used, and everybody knew Bill really wanted to be President. To head off such speculation, he foolishly promised during the gubernatorial campaign that if they elected
him governor, he would serve out his four-year term. It was the classic catch-22: He had to be governor to run for President, but he couldn't be governor unless he promised not to run for President. He was torn as only he can be. Around this time
I was part of a series of strategy meetings being held at the Governor's Mansion, where most of the discussion centered around what had become known as the Pledge--his promise not to run for President if elected governor.
I didn't even think he should run in 1992, but my reasons weren't so much about the pledge as George Bush's perceived invulnerability. He asked me once, and I advised him against it. I thought Bush was too formidable.
Source: Friends in High Places, by Webb Hubbell, p.154
, Nov 1, 1997
1991: Urged by AR Sen. David Pryor to run for president
The moment I knew Bill was going to run was during a trip the two of us made to Vince's father's funeral. It was the summer of 1991. During the funeral service, we were settled on the same pew as Senator David Pryor.
Hillary, who had been driven down, was sitting between Pryor and Bill, and I was on Bill's other side. Sometime during the service, I saw Pryor lean over and hand Bill a folded piece of paper. Bill unfolded it and read the message.
Then he handed the paper to me. Pryor, the most revered politician in Arkansas, had scribbled a single word" "RUN."On the way home, Bill was upbeat, excited energized.
Pryor's advice carried a lot of weight. They had talked following the service, and the senator had told Bill, "The ones who love you will be with you, anyway. The ones who are against you won't change their minds. Bush is vulnerable. This is the time."
Source: Friends in High Places, by Webb Hubbell, p.154-155
, Nov 1, 1997
OpEd: 1988 DNC speech fiasco was to not overshadow Dukakis
Bill Clinton's summer of discontent came in 1988, at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. Positioning himself for next time, he landed the job of introducing the Democratic candidate for President, Michael Dukakis.It was a wonderful
opportunity, and his friends gathered around their television sets to watch him dazzle a national audience. What we saw was the potential derailment of a brilliant career. A speech that was supposed to last 15 minutes droned on for 32 minutes. Bill
Clinton was finally booed off the stage.
I later heard from someone who was there that Dukakis's staff was worried about the nominee being overshadowed by Clinton. They had already been upstaged by Jesse Jackson, so they encouraged the length of the
speech and the failure of the dim lights. I have no idea whether or not that's true.
Fortunately, Bill had media-savvy friends who advised him to head off the crisis by poking fun at himself in a very public venue: Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.
Source: Friends in High Places, by Webb Hubbell, p.144-145
, Nov 1, 1997
First Arkansan to run for President; set AR turnout record
During the 1992 race, the Clinton Presidential race dominated media coverage that year. His national campaign headquarters was in Little Rock, which meant reporters from around the world were camped out there to cover the campaign.
It was the first time an Arkansan had ever been a major party nominee for president, and voter turnout in the state was off the charts.
Source: Character IS the Issue, by Mike Huckabee, p. 59
, Sep 9, 1997
1988: Stayed neutral on Al Gore vs. Mike Dukakis primary
In 1987, when Gore was running for president, he had visited Clinton in Little Rock ostensibly to solicit the governor's endorsement, though his real purpose had been simply to keep Clinton from endorsing his fellow governor and friend Michael Dukakis.
Gore had presented to Clinton what he considered a theory of the mutuality of their interests. When the histories of late 20th-century American politics were written, Gore believed, they would show that the only politicians capable of uniting the
Democratic coalition were Southern moderates such as Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and, Gore argued, himself and Clinton. If Gore succeeded in his bid, Democrats would build on this pattern of success and turn to those like Clinton.
Gore said that the two of them should regard themselves not as rivals or antagonists but as allies, working toward the same goals, able to succeed together. Gore sensed that Clinton shared his outlook. In the 1988 primaries, Clinton remained neutral.
Source: The Agenda, by Bob Woodward, p. 52-53
, Jun 6, 1994
Bill Clinton on Religion
Part of his “New Democrat” included religious Democrats
The Clinton strategy for 1992 was to run Bill as a “New Democrat,” a moderate Democrat. This was well planned: From 1990 to 1991, Bill chaired an important group called the Democratic Leadership Council, a collection of Democrats who understood that if
their party was ever again to win the White House, they would need to stop running ultraliberals at the time of the ticket. There, he was joined by a onetime moderate, the pro-life senator from Tennessee, Al Gore.A moderate
Democrat must, of course, be a religious Democrat. Bill Clinton noted during the campaign that he was such a Democrat. “I pray virtually every day, usually at night, and I read the Bible every week,” he said. He added that he believed strongly in “old-
fashioned things” like the “constancy of sin, the possibility of forgiveness, the reality of redemption.” While these words might sound hollow from some candidates, from Clinton they were in line with his long-established beliefs and life experiences.
Source: God and Hillary Clinton, by Paul Kengor, p. 95
, Jul 18, 2007
Familiar with Bible & has genuine faith, say his pastors
Philip Wogaman became part of what became known as the “God Squad”--the trio of ministers that began counseling Bill during the intern scandal. He was joined by Tony Campolo and Gordon MacDonald.In an interview for this book, Wogaman confirmed that
Bill, not Hillary, was the impetus. Wogaman confirms that Bill, in addition to his regular church attendance, was meeting once a week with personal spiritual counselors.
Even before the Lewinsky scandal, Campolo says he and Clinton “would get together
about once every five or six weeks for a couple of hours.“
Wogaman said they discussed how important faith is in forming our lives. The minister said that through these experiences, he learned that Clinton’s faith was genuine, though Wogaman did
carefully concede that ”you can never entirely read into the heart of a person.“
In his first session with the God Squad, Bill opened his Bible and read his favorite passage from Isaiah. Wogaman perceived that Clinton was ”very familiar with the Bible.
Source: God and Hillary Clinton, by Paul Kengor, p.171-173
, Jul 18, 2007
Learn from Creation what one must be
According to Ernest Becker [a philosopher who wrote The Denial of Death], as we grow up, at some point we become aware of death, then the fact that people we know and love die, then the fact that someday we, too, will die. Most of us do what we
can to avoid it. Meanwhile, we embrace identities and the illusion of self-sufficiency. We pursue activities, both positive and negative, that we hope will lift us beyond the chains of ordinary existence and perhaps endure after we are gone.
Whether we succeed or fail ,we are still going to die. The only solace, of course, is to believe that since we are created, there must be a Creator, one to whom we matter and will in some way return. Becker seemed to have met Immanuel Kant’s test of life
: ‘How to occupy properly that place in creation that is assigned to man, and how to learn from it what one must be in order to be a man.’ I’ve spent a life time trying to do that. Becker’s book helped convince me it was an effort worth making.
Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p.235
, Jun 21, 2004
Supports Hyde Park Declaration of "Third Way" centrism.
Clinton adopted the manifesto, "A New Politics for a New America":
As New Democrats, we believe in a Third Way that rejects the old left-right debate and affirms America’s basic bargain: opportunity for all, responsibility from all, and community of all.
We believe:- that government’s proper role in the New Economy is to equip working Americans with new tools for economic success and security.
- in expanding trade and investment because we must be a party of economic progress, not economic reaction.
- that fiscal discipline is fundamental to sustained economic growth as well as responsible government.
- that a progressive tax system is the only fair way to pay for government.
- the Democratic Party’s mission is to expand opportunity, not government.
- that education must be America’s great equalizer, and we will not abandon our public schools or tolerate their failure.
- that all Americans must have access to health insurance.
- in preventing crime and punishing criminals.
- in a new social compact that requires and
rewards work in exchange for public assistance and that ensures that no family with a full-time worker will live in poverty.
- that public policies should reinforce marriage, promote family, demand parental responsibility, and discourage out-of-wedlock births.
- in enhancing the role that civic entrepreneurs, voluntary groups, and religious institutions play in tackling America’s social ills.
- in strengthening environmental protection by giving communities the flexibility to tackle new challenges that cannot be solved with top-down mandates.
- government must combat discrimination on the basis of race, creed, gender, or sexual orientation; defend civil liberties; and stay out of our private lives.
- that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.
- in progressive internationalism -- the bold exercise of US leadership to foster peace, prosperity, and democracy.
- that the US must maintain a strong, technologically superior defense to protect our interests and values.
Source: The Hyde Park Declaration 00-DLC0 on Aug 1, 2000
Member of Democratic Leadership Council.
Clinton is the chair of the Democratic Leadership Council:
Mission
The DLC’s mission is to promote public debate within the Democratic Party and the public at large about national and international policy and political issues. Specifically, as the founding organization of the New Democrat movement, the DLC’s goal is to modernize the progressive tradition in American politics for the 21st Century by advancing a set of innovative ideas for governing through a national network of elected officials and community leaders. Who We Are
The Democratic Leadership Council is an idea center, catalyst, and national voice for a reform movement that is reshaping American politics by moving it beyond the old left-right debate. The DLC seeks to define and galvanize popular support for a new public philosophy built on progressive ideals, mainstream values, and innovative, non bureaucratic, market-based solutions. At its heart are three principles: promoting opportunity for all; demanding responsibility from everyone; and fostering a new sense
of community.Since its inception, the DLC has championed policies from spurring private sector economic growth, fiscal discipline and community policing to work based welfare reform, expanded international trade, and national service. Throughout the 90’s, innovative, New Democrat policies implemented by former DLC Chairman President Bill Clinton have helped produce the longest period of sustained economic growth in our history, the lowest unemployment in a generation, 22 million new jobs, cut the welfare rolls in half, reduced the crime rate for seven straight years, balanced the budget and streamlined the federal bureaucracy to its smallest size since the Kennedy administration.
Now, the DLC is promoting new ideas -- such as a second generation of environmental protection and new economy and technology development strategies -- that is distinctly different from traditional liberalism and conservatism to build the next generation of America’s leaders.
Source: Democratic Leadership Council web site 01-DLC0 on Nov 7, 2000
New Democrat: "Third Way" instead of left-right debate.
Clinton adopted Third Way principles of the Democratic Leadership Council:
America and the world have changed dramatically in the closing decades of the 20th century. The industrial order of the 20th century is rapidly yielding to the networked “New Economy” of the 21st century. Our political and governing systems, however, have lagged behind the rest of society in adapting to these seismic shifts. They remain stuck in the left-right debates and the top-down bureaucracies of the industrial past.
The Democratic Leadership Council, and its affiliated think tank the Progressive Policy Institute, have been catalysts for modernizing politics and government. The core principles and ideas of this “Third Way” movement [began with] Bill Clinton’s Presidential campaign in 1992, Tony Blair’s Labour Party in Britain in 1997, and Gerhard Shroeder’s Social Democrats in Germany in 1998.
The Third Way philosophy seeks to adapt enduring progressive values to the new challenges of he information age. It rests on three cornerstones: - the idea that government
should promote equal opportunity for all while granting special privilege for none;
- an ethic of mutual responsibility that equally rejects the politics of entitlement and the politics of social abandonment;
- and, a new approach to governing that empowers citizens to act for themselves.
The Third Way approach to economic opportunity and security stresses technological innovation, competitive enterprise, and education rather than top- down redistribution or laissez faire. On questions of values, it embraces “tolerant traditionalism,” honoring traditional moral and family values while resisting attempts to impose them on others. It favors an enabling rather than a bureaucratic government, expanding choices for citizens, using market means to achieve public ends and encouraging civic and community institutions to play a larger role in public life. The Third Way works to build inclusive, multiethnic societies based on common allegiance to democratic values.
Source: Democratic Leadership Council web site 01-DLC1 on Nov 7, 2000
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