Bill Clinton in What A Party, by Terry McAuliffe

On Families & Children: Medical Leave Act made real difference in people's lives

If you listened only to the right-wing echo chamber, it would be easy to forget that innovative programs like the FMLA were not just slogans, they were often turning points in individual lives. Clinton signed the FMLA in 1993, which enabled workers to take up to 12 weeks of leave, whether to look after a newborn baby or to care for a sick family member.

Again and again, I heard stories from people who had decided to take advantage of the provisions of the FMLA and ended up having a truly life-altering experience. Often they would get emotional as they told me about the time they had spent being there for a close family member, or being at home with their wives and sharing a baby's first weeks of life in a way their fathers never experienced.

The FMLA was just one of the hundreds of programs enacted in the Clinton years that made a real, palpable difference in people's lives.

Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p.197-198 Jan 23, 2007

On Families & Children: 1990s: Doubled federal funding for child care

There was no mystery why Clinton had such high marks from the people. He had earned it, working during his 8 years to compile an unprecedented record of accomplishments:

Highest homeownership rate in history at 67.7 %
Lowest poverty rate in 2 decades, down to 11.3 %
Child poverty declined a record 28.7%
Expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, lifting 4.1 million out of poverty
Created the FMLA, allowing nearly 9.1 million workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to deal with family medical crisis
Doubled federal funding for child care
Increased the hourly minimum wage for $4.25 to $5.15
Created AmeriCorps, allowing 400,000 young people to serve their communities
Largest investment in education in 30 years

Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p.263-264 Jan 23, 2007

On Foreign Policy: 1995: reached out to Irish Republican Army Sinn Fein leader

Many people thought the President was crazy when he gave Gerry Adams a visa in 1994 and again in 1995, and invited him to come to the White House for a St. Patrick's Day celebration. The president wanted to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

Many in Washington snickered. The idea of Bill Clinton reaching out to the leader of Sinn Fein, the political army of the IRA, was almost treasonous to some. Clinton truly believed Sinn Fein might be serious about negotiating to get rid of IRA stockpiles of weapons. The President had his eye on history and didn't care what anyone said. He always believed that when you negotiate, you have to negotiate with all sides. If you're going to get a lasting agreement, you have to have everyone sitting at the table with you. That's how you get true dialogue and compromise and ultimately a meaningful agreement. George W. Bush didn't see it that way, which was the No. 1 complaint you heard about him around the world. Clinton's vision had paid off in spades.

Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p.116-118 Jan 23, 2007

On Health Care: 1990s plan: affordable, competitive, universal healthcare

The Clintons' plan was nothing revolutionary. The idea was just to make health care universal, make it affordable, make it more competitive, and improve the quality. If different insurance companies had to offer the same benefits and compete on quality, the result would be better, cheaper health care. That was a worthy goal, but the administration made some mistakes in its communication strategy, and the press twisted everything they were doing way out of proportion. We were all learning lessons about how effective some people could be at manipulating the press.

"I didn't get that," Hillary says now. I read these newspapers. I sort of figured that what we read was a fact. I was shocked to find out otherwise."

Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p. 91 Jan 23, 2007

On Jobs: 1998: Highest employment rate since 1948

In sharp contrast to the net job loss in the early years of the George W. Bush administration, the economy under Clinton was booming. "Riding a strong economy, the nation's employers added 370,000 new jobs to their payrolls last month-- far beyond expectations--and at year's end, employment reached record levels," The Times wrote that morning in January. "Not since the government began to compile employment numbers, starting 1948, has such a large percentage of Americans worked." Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p.152 Jan 23, 2007

On Principles & Values: 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

On Principles & Values: 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

On War & Peace: 2000 plan: Palestinians retain 97% of West Bank

[Initial the Israeli-Palestinian] talks ended on a sour note, but Bill Clinton, understanding the stakes, was not about to give up. He knew that the Camp David meetings would probably not result in an agreement but could move the ball forward. He ordered his team to keep negotiating and pressing for more creative solutions to the intractable problem of forging Middle East peace. The Israeli and Palestinian delegations capped off months of additional work when they met in Washington on December 23 to go over the latest version of what came to be known as the Clinton plan. Unlike the deal being discussed at Camp David under which the Palestinians would have had to give up more than 9% of the West Bank, the Clinton plan provided for them to retain the equivalent of about 97% of the West Bank. Through Clinton's efforts they were also able to resolve most of the territorial and neighborhood issues as well as questions relating to holy sites. Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p.251-252 Jan 23, 2007

The above quotations are from What A Party! My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators, and Other Wild Animals by Terry McAuliffe. Click here for other excerpts from What A Party! My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators, and Other Wild Animals by Terry McAuliffe. Click here for other excerpts by Bill Clinton. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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