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Friday, December 12, 2008
Bill Clinton #3
In this next section of Bill Clinton's life, Clinton is forced to make a decision that could impact not only his life but the lives of many others. In 1987, Ronald Reagen was about to leave office and the Democratic Party was getting ready for the primaries. Clinton had a lot of support around the country to try and run for President but he was conflicted over the issue. He writes that he "was holding back. I know I would be a good candidate but I wasn't sure I had lived long enough to aquire the wisdom and judgement necessary to becomes President" (333). Clinton knew that if he ran for President and got elected, the lives of his nation would be in his hands and he wasn't sure that he could shoulder all that responsibility yet. In the end, the deciding factor for him was his daughter, Chelsea. Clinton had been talking to a friend about making a decision when she asked where they were going for summer vacation, to which he responded "I might not be able to take one if I ran for President. Chelsea replied, 'Then Mom and I will go without you.' That did it" (334). At that moment, Clinton realized that the place he needed to be most right then was home with his family and that it was more important to him to watch his daughter grow up now then to run for an office that he wasn't sure he was ready for. Though many were disappointed by his choice, Clinton knew that he had made the right decision for his consituents, his nation and his family.
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6 comments:
Even though I am a republican, I really respect the decision that Bill Clinton made to take care of his family first. I understand that it must a weighty decision to be president, and I think it's really cool that Clinton had the maturity to put his family and his nation before himself. It shows that he put more thought into his presidency than his own personal gain.
This was a really interesting post. I am impressed with Bill Clinton's decision. So many politicians would have not thought about this decision as thoroughly Bill Clinton did, and would have wanted to run for president if faced with the same decision.
Clinton got the best of both worlds. He relieved his conscience by deciding to stay with his family and, several years later, he ran for president and was elected though the presidency probably wasn't as important as his family in 1987 or anytime for that matter. Clinton's decision was wise, putting family first and not leading a nation because he wasn't wise enough.
I think that family is an important thing to think about when making the choice to do anthing. It is werid to see Bill Clinton do this because we know what happens to him later on.
This is the kind of honest I respect over any other trait in man. The selflessness of it. Like George Washington refusing to be president again and again because he knew the country needed to have different people on the hill. Clinton proved to be less responsible then Washington, but this gives me a new respect for him.
It seems that the character of Bill Clinton is in support of his family, not of his society. Although he cares about his society, he believes that it is his job to be with his family. At the time, he had also seemed to realize that someone else besides him could take on the responsibility of caring for society. If there, was not, Clinton's decision would've probably been different. He already weighed out the costs and the benefits. It seems like if he didn't become president, he would allow others to care for his country and at the same time he could care for his family. This decision, differentiates from Joe Keller's because it helped family and society.
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