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Print Biographies are really interesting reading for those people who are curious about historical events and the folks who participated in them. The writer of a biography is probably more objective about his subject than the hero of the autobiography, and the subject’s standing might change as the years pass, depending on the research material available or the point of view of the author. On the other hand, the man who writes an autobiography is free to put in whatever pleases him and omit whatever does not. In an autobiography, the writer’s truthfulness also comes into play. Sometimes the smallest thing is projected as a monstrous lie. An example of this occurred when British scholar Paul Johnson, interviewed in an Argentine newspaper, stated that Mr. Clinton lied even about the origin of his wife’s name. Mr. Clinton said that his wife was named for Sir Edmund Hillary, the mountaineer famous for his expedition on Mt. Everest. Impossible, said the scholar, because Sir Edmund was an unknown beekeeper in New Zealand at the time Hillary Clinton was born. A search on Snopes.com indicates that at the time of her birth neither the Chicago Tribune, nor the New York Times had any mention of Sir Edmund Hillary. Therefore, this might be an example of one of those stories that parents tell their young children to make them feel good. This is only one example of the pettiness that some display towards President Clinton’s autobiography. I’ve come to the conclusion that if the reader is inclined in Mr. Clinton’s favor, he’ll assume that the president is telling the truth. Those inclined away from Mr. Clinton will regard the book as a badly written pack of lies, but then they probably wouldn’t read it anyway. Since I am one of three Democrats in a congregation of approximately three hundred people, I was very curious about why the U.S. president who had more connections with members of the United Pentecostal Church than any other U. S. president (as far as I know) was and is so disliked. This was before the contretemps with Monica Lewinsky. I had heard rumors that President Clinton had attended the Louisiana Camp Meeting and attended services at the church in Alexandria. I wondered why there wasn’t more of a connection between the president and the UPCI as a whole, when he seemed to like the organization so much. I don’t know that I have yet to find an answer to this question. For those Apostolics who would like to read the section that refers to Pentecostals without the need to invest in the book ($35 at the bookstore, free at the public library), the following members of the UPCI are mentioned on pages 250-252: Diane Evans, James Lumpkin, Mickey Mangun, Anthony Mangun, “Bald Knobbers,” and Janice Sjostrand. Janice Sjostrand is mentioned in connection with the funeral of the President’s mother at which she sang “Holy Ground.” Barbara Streisand, who was sitting behind the President, was amazed. Afterwards she asked, “Who is that woman and what is that music? It’s magnificent” (569). Mr. Clinton states, “Knowing the Pentecostals has enriched and changed my life. Whatever your religious views, or lack of them, seeing people live their faith in a spirit of love toward all people, not just their own, is beautiful to behold. If you ever get a chance to go to a Pentecostal service, don’t miss it” (252). This must certainly be the first time that an invitation to a Pentecostal service has ever been issued by a president of the United States. In 957 pages, not counting the acknowledgments and the index, Mr. Clinton relates stories of his childhood and youth, his beginnings in Arkansas politics, and, of course, his White House years. He includes just about everything of importance that happened to him, which, depending on the reader’s point of view, makes very interesting reading, or a boring experience. He naturally has a few sharp words for those people he considers to have harmed him, but he is generous in his praise for those who have helped him. Mr. Clinton was born after his father was killed in an automobile accident. He was raised by his mother. Since she went to nursing school in Louisiana, his grandparents cared for him during her absence. His grandma thought a fat baby was a happy baby, so he was well fed. However, she never missed an opportunity to teach him, and she not only put cards on the window while he ate so that he could learn numbers, she also read to him. His mother remarried for a second time, and Bill’s name was changed to Clinton. Unfortunately, his stepfather was an alcoholic who beat his wife. On one occasion, Bill grabbed a golf club and threatened his father if he didn’t stop. His grandfather ran a general store. From the kindness that his grandfather showed to the African-American customers, Bill learned tolerance for those who were different. His mother would make enemies of people when she thought they were taking advantage of those who were in lesser positions. Mr. Clinton was able to attend Georgetown University where he was very interested in his courses. He did well, and one of the professors of that Catholic institution asked if he’d ever considered becoming a Jesuit priest, since he thought like one. The Baptist Clinton later told this story before Catholic audiences in Arkansas, telling them that he was the closest thing they would have to a Catholic governor. During his time at Georgetown, he went into the poorer parts of Washington to help tutor children and adults. What he saw there helped to form some of his later ideas on helping the poor. He himself wasn’t in such great economic circumstances, since he spent a dollar a day for food, five dollars for cleaning his shirts, and he tried to save fourteen dollars a week so that he could have a date on Saturday night. From Georgetown University, he took a job on the Foreign Relations Commission. This job required that he read six newspapers a day. He learned enough from all this to help him pass the interviews for the renowned Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in England. Regarding the Whitewater incident, he quotes a conversation with Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming, a conservative Republican. “I asked Alan if he thought Hillary and I had done anything wrong in whitewater. ‘Of course not,’ he said. ‘That’s not what this is about. This is about making the public think you did something wrong. Anybody who looked at the evidence would see that you didn’t.’ Simpson laughed at how willing the ‘elitist’ press was to swallow anything negative about small, rural places like Wyoming or Arkansas and made an interesting observation: ‘You know, before you were elected, we Republicans believed the press was liberal. Now we have a more sophisticated view. They are liberal in a way. Most of them voted for you, but they think more like your right-wing critics do, and that’s more important.’ When I asked him to explain, he said, ‘Democrats like you…get into government to help people. The right-wing extremists don’t think government can do much to improve on human nature, but they do like power. So does the press. And since you’re president, they both get power the same way, by hurting you” (692, 693). Regarding his actions toward Monica Lewinsky, He asks forgiveness to those whom he has harmed by his actions, and is quick to extend forgiveness to those who have harmed him. My Life, by its very length, demands time and attention. Not everyone is willing to devote so much attention to it. Even so, the Apostolic who reads as a minimum pages 250-252, will experience a little of the flavor of Bill Clinton’s life.
ninetyandnine.com © 2004, David Agriesti ----- David Agriesti lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, a cat and a dog. A retired teacher, he works part-time in a suburban public library. |
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