As a proud American, I am glad that these two women are coming home. However the bigger story and more intriguing factor is the fact that President Clinton was the man to do it. It was like James Bond was given a mission and he had to infiltrate hostile territory to rescue Americans from a foreign "enemy." Most politic ans get elected to office, run again, and when they either get defeated or walk away they deliberate a comeback behind the scenes. Presidents usually reach the plateau of the office of the president and once their time is up they drift to background and a new man steps in. Former presidents tend to work on a book or prepare the groundbreaking and circumstances around their presidential library. Before the modern former presidents, they virtually disappeared. Men like George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson retreated back to their estates and enjoyed the farm life. Others like John Quincy Adams and John Tyler made a go at running for office again in another form. William Howard Taft even became the 10th Supreme Court Chief Justice.
Today again showed me that once you are out of office, you can use your experience and name to continue to do good on the domestic front or the foreign front. Few former presidents in the last century have been as active as Clinton. I grew up during Bill Clinton's administration. I was too young to really know much about the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. It was during the Clinton administration that I fell in love with history and politics. In January 2001 President Clinton relinquished the reins of the White House to George W. Bush. Despite that, it seems that he has never left our eyes. He has done multiple philanthropic events, including the tsunami relief a few years ago, wrote a book, opened a library, had heart surgery, and helped campaign for his wife's bid to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee last year. And it seems that he is not slowing down with this latest venture to North Korea.
He continues to work hard with his foundation, the William J. Clinton Foundation. Through his foundation he strives to do work through the Clinton Global Initiative, which works to stop poverty and climate change as well as promote health and education programs. Outside of his foundation he has teamed with former rival, George H.W. Bush on many initiatives including the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to assist with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas and the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Fund to assist with the tsunami-affected areas of Asia.
Bill Clinton is going to be 63 later this month. For most individuals, that is right around the retirement age. However, as President Clinton has shown since he has left office, he has no plans of slowing down. He has done the philantrophic work, wrote books, given speeches, and five years ago underwent heart bypass surgery. If that couldn't slow him down, what will? Clinton's spokesman, Jay Carson, has criticized some who lash out at Clinton's works around the globe.
"Most revealing is one simple fact: President Clinton has helped save the lives of more than 1,300,000 people in his post-presidency, and Vanity Fair couldn't find the time to talk to even one of them for comment," spokesman Jay Carson said.
So it may be almost ten years since he left the office of the presidency. And there may be critics, then and now, of his politics and policies. Like anyone, he is human. He made mistakes. He didn't always make the best calls on everything. But could you have done any better? No one can discredit "the Will of Bill." He continues to find ways to serve the public, here and abroad. Presidents Carter and G.H.W. Bush are well into their eighties. Don't be surprised if Clinton continues to give back in various well into his eighties.
I may have the audacity of Covin, but I would love to have the will of Bill in my future.
No comments:
Post a Comment