The Clinton experience
Toolbox
Published: May 29, 2007
Middlebury College had the Bill Clinton experience on Sunday. The former president's appearance at the college's commencement ceremony produced extra excitement, a larger crowd, and a feeling of connection to the world beyond and to history.
Amid the line of scholars in their academic regalia and their varied ceremonial hats, Clinton marched, hatless, his white hair shining in the morning light. He is evidently aware of his own effect on the public because he assumed a modest pose, as if he were slightly embarrassed and yet grateful for the buzz of excitement his presence caused, people craning for a glimpse of him, holding cameras aloft for a photo. He has the relaxed self-consciousness of a movie star who expects all eyes to be on him, and they were.
His post-presidential life has been another astonishment in an astonishing career. He has continued to be a mover and shaker in international humanitarian work and in nurturing the career of Hillary Clinton. No recent former president has had a life quite like his.
Richard Nixon went into seclusion and spent years trying to erase the disgrace with which he left office. Gerald Ford retired to a private life of golf and friends. Ronald Reagan drifted into Alzheimer's. George H.W. Bush entered private life, where he gave a boost to the fortunes of George W. Bush, whose failing presidency is likely to haunt his remaining years.
Jimmy Carter's post-presidential years most closely resemble Clinton's. Through the Carter Center, Carter has pursued a career as an international emissary of peace, and though his career has not been without controversy, he has continued to be a respected defender of human rights.
Clinton operates at a different level than Carter, more at home among international power brokers and jet-set humanitarians. He also remains more actively involved in the politics of the day through the presidential candidacy of Senator Clinton. He is not likely to court controversy that would somehow taint his wife's political prospects.
His comments at Middlebury focused on our "common humanity" and the importance of community. He used a scientific fact to underline our common humanity: that 99.9 percent of the human genome is identical and that what distinguishes one individual from another amounts to 0.1 percent of his or her genetic identity.
Through community we recognize the humanity of the other. He mentioned that in the African language of Nelson Mandela a common response to a greeting is to say, "I see you." Those who feel excluded from the human community believe no one sees them.
He challenged the Middlebury graduates to see the people in the world around them, from the staff workers who would fold up the thousands of wooden chairs after the graduation ceremony was finished, to the billions of people in the world who live in poverty and whose economic prospects are growing worse as economic inequality in the world increases.
His speech was significant for what he did not say. He did not talk about enemies or try to foster fear. He talked about the responsibilities of those of us to whom much has been given. It was not a political speech, but the political implications were there to be interpreted.
In one provocative formulation, he said it was important to respect strength, but not power. He might have added: Community fosters strength; unchecked power destroys community, which makes us not stronger, but weaker.
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