"My Life" Part 2

In this next section of "My Life" by Bill Clinton, much talk goes on about the war in Vietnam that is occuring at this point in his life. This gives him lots of conflicting emotions concerning his options. As a recent graduate, he knows that he will be drafted soon, but his insider knowledge from working within the Foreign Relations Committee as an aide alerts him to the fact that the American public is being mislead. Clinton writes that "I remembered Bert Jeffries' letter telling me to stay away. I was really torn. As the son of a WWII veteran...I had always admired people who served in the military. Now I searched my heart, trying to determine whether my aversion to going was rooted in conviction of cowerdice" (157). Clinton's upbringing was of one that made him feel obligated to fight and though he knew that there was no real point to fighting, the guilt he would feel if he didn't go would be devestating as well. He didn't go in the end, but the experience still made an impression and "I always felt bad about escaping the risks that has taken the lives of so many of my generation whose claim to a future was as legitamate as mine"(161). Had Clinton ended up serving in the front lines, his life would have been very different at the very least and at most cut short. The fact that he is haunted by this knowledge speaks about his character as well as his respect for those who serve in war.



Another life changing experience that happened in this section was that Bill Clinton met his future wife, Hillary Rodham, at law school. Having never been in a lasting relationship prior to meeting her, this meeting has a significant effect on Clinton. Even after just seeing her he felt that "This wasn't just another tap on the shoulder, that I might be starting something I couldn't stop" (181). While maybe a slightly embellished memory for literary purposes, the message is clear that he knew she would be an important person in his life. Clinton was so enthralled by her that even though he had been asked to help Senetor McGovern of Arkansas to run for reelection, he turned down the offer to advance his political career to spend the summer in California with Hillary. When he told her of his desicion, "She was incredulous at first, because she knew how much I loved politics and how deeply I felt about the war. I told her I had the rest of my life for my work and my ambition, but I loved her and wanted to see if it could work out for us" (184). Clinton's surity that what he felt for Hillary was so important, it took priority over anything else in his life is not only intense, (they'd only been dating a month) but also turns out to lead to a choice that affects him for the rest of his life, namely his marriage to the future Hillary Rodham Clinton.



In the winter of 1969, Bill Clinton took a forty day trip through northern Europe and into Russia, meeting people and experiencing things that have impacts on him as a person but also affect him politically to some extent in the future. He encountered a Hatian woman whose husband and daughter were living in Paris. She gave his a traditional Russian hat and told him "'You were kind to me and made me have hope.' In 1994, when, as President, I made the decision to remove Haiti's military dictator, General Raoul Cedras...I thought of that good woman...and wondered if she ever went back to Haiti" (168). Meeting some of the people whom he later affected through his power as President was likely humbing when he put through policies as the head of the most powerful country in the world because even with all this influence, the impact he had on so many was always something to remember. Many natives were excited to see Americans and when people saw Clinton, they wopuld proudly welcome him to Moscow. They were friendly and fascinated by Americans. Through Clinton's experiences in Russia, he realized that "my country was still a beacon of light to people chafing under communism. Ironically, when I ran for President in 1992, the Republicans tried to use the trip against me, claiming that I had consorted with Communists in Moscow" (170-171). The positive experiences Clinton had in Russia helped to inspire him to help his nation although they also inspired fear in those who have always lived in freedom and are fearful of those who don't, whatever their desired may be.

Bill Clinton's "My Life"

I chose to read the autobiography of our 42nd president, William Jefferson Blythe Clinton III, entitled "My Life". President Clinton does indeed write of his whole life and the section that I read for this week explores his childhood through his freshman year at Georgetown University. Clinton's father died before his birth so his main father figure was his step-father, a car dealer but also an alcoholic. Clinton did love his step-father very much, enough to take his name, but that doesn't mean that he didn't recognise his problems. President Clinton's overall view of his step-father was that he was "fundamentally a good person...He was generous...smart and funny but he had that combustible mix of fears, insecurities and psychological vulnerabilities that destroys...so many addicts lives" (51). Roger Clinton was at many times a good parent to young Bill but that still can't erase all the bad times or the abuse. But he tried hard and Bill knew this and forgave him and loved him despite his weaknesses. Roger Clinton could also be violent at times and this left deep scars on Bill that caused so much pain that his brain simply blocked them out. The records of this abuse still exist though and when Bill found them later on, he'd "forgotten both instances, perhaps out of the denial experts say families of alcoholics engage in when they continue to live with them" (51). As a sort of self-defense mechanism, Bill's memories of the pain are dimmed and even forgotten, leaving happier times. This doesn't bother him so much though because he knows that those thoughts are buried for a reason and that knowing what happened won't help himself. The only thing he can do is keep moving foreward. President Clinton's step-father has a lot of influence in his life as his mother's husband. Even though he's not perfect, Bill Clinton still has love and respect for him to this very day.