Bill Clinton: ‘Policy Matters’ Despite Being Misunderstood, Distrusted
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Bill Clinton Gives First of Lecture Series at Georgetown video April 30, 2013
April 30, 2014 – Policymaking today tends to be “dimly understood, often distrusted and disconnected from the consequences of the policy being implemented,” President Bill Clinton (SFS’68) said today in a speech at Georgetown.
The 42nd president of the United States, who delivered the second of his Clinton Lectures at Georgetown talks, said he observed this “most intensely” in regard to the Affordable Care Act.
When a policymaker is a political leader being followed by the press, he said there is a “craving that borders on [addiction] to have a story line,” and once that’s settled, “a craving which borders on blindness to shoehorn every fact, every development, everything that happens into the story line, even if that’s not the story.”
Too Much Cynicism
Clinton, who first welcomed his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to her seat in the university’s historic Gaston Hall to cheers and thunderous applause, also noted he has spent a lifetime “really believing that policy matters.”
“The disagreements are important, but it’s not very helpful to overlay them with too much cynicism and pretend it doesn’t matter, and it’s all just a roll of the dice,” he said.
The Four Ps
Georgetown President John J. DeGioia greets former President Bill Clinton during Wednesday’s lecture in Gaston Hall.
Though some made fun of him while he was president for his attention to details, Clinton said that focus often resulted in sound policies and economic stability.
The Clinton Lectures at Georgetown are designed to explore the people, events, lessons and principles that shaped the Georgetown alumnus’ career in public service.
During the first lecture last April, he said that young people interested in public service should focus on four areas – “people, purpose, policies and politics.”
At the second lecture today, Clinton defended the economic policies he employed that resulted in a balanced budget, a middle-class tax cut and noted the creation of the Children’s Health Insurance Program and other initiatives.
Personal Commitment
The lecture was webcast live with students at the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas watching.
Diondra Hicks (C’15) a psychology major in Georgetown College, presented Clinton with questions submitted by students at both universities.
Georgetown President John J. DeGioia introduced the former president.
“All of his accomplishments demonstrate President Clinton’s deep and personal commitment to the power of cooperation…of working together for the betterment of society,” DeGioia said, “a similar commitment that is at the core of the tradition that animates our Georgetown community. Ours is a tradition that asks of us to use our skills and our talents to make an impact in the world.”
America’s Happiest Protestant
Clinton thanked his wife for coming and joked that she hadn’t “had to sit through one of these for ages.”
He also noted that his former Georgetown professor, Rev. Otto Hentz, S.J., was in the audience, and thanked him for reminding him “that if I had been a Catholic I could have been a Jesuit.”
Hentz famously asked a young Bill Clinton in his undergraduate years if he had considered becoming a Jesuit.
Clinton also called himself “America’s happiest Protestant when the new pope took his holy office."
"I’ve been thrilled by that," he said, "and I think all the Jesuits in the world should be proud of him.”
Second Series
This is the second time Clinton has given a series of talks at Georgetown.
In 1991, as the governor of Arkansas and a Democratic candidate for president, he presented three “New Covenant” speeches to students on Responsibility and Rebuilding the American Community, Economic
Change and American Security.
“This is an historic day on our campus,” DeGioia said at last year’s Clinton lecture. “We celebrate the inaugural lecture in a series that we believe will have a deep and meaningful impact not just within our university community but throughout the academy and the world of policy, politics and global affairs.”
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Former President Bill Clinton Remarks on His Career
April 30, 2013
"One of our own"
DeGioia, John J. President Georgetown University
Former President Bill Clinton gave the first of a series of lectures on the people and events that shaped his career. He spoke at Georgetown University, where he graduated from the School of Foreign Service in 1968. Following his remarks he responded to questions from the audience. close
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Unidentified Speaker DEAN OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE SCHOOL. [ APPLAUSE ] >>> GOOD MORNING, IT'S MY PLEASURE AND PRIXFLTH TO WELCOME YOU HERE TO THE CLINTON LECTURES...
00:00:52
Unidentified Speaker PRESIDENT CLINTON, IT IS AN HONOR TO WELCOME YOU BACK TO THE HILLTOP AND KEER DEEPLY GRATEFUL FOR SUSTAINED COMMITMENT TO GEORGETOWN AND...
00:01:23
Unidentified Speaker ARKANSAS, CLINTON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC SERVICE. AFTER PRESIDENT CLINTON DELIVERS HIS LECTURE HE'LL TAKE QUESTIONS FROM THE STUDENTS AND STUDENTS...
00:07:18
Unidentified Speaker WHATEVER SHE WANTED. I OFTEN SAY THE GREAT THING ABOUT BEING A FORMER PRESIDENT IS YOU CAN SAY WHATEVER YOU PLEASE. AND SAD THING IS NOBODY...
01:04:39
Unidentified Speaker CURRICULUM, WHICH I THINK HAS BEEN DONE. YOU NEED TO KNOW ALL MY CLASSMATES AND I WERE HERE, WE DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE ELECTIVE UNTIL THE...
01:18:44
Unidentified Speaker TEACH AND WHY? >> I WOULD LIKE TO TEACH A CLASS IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS AND POLITICS. BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT...
01:19:19
Unidentified Speaker WHAT ARE ITS BIGGEST CHALLENGES, WHAT EVIDENCE DO WE HAVE ABOUT HOW BEST WE CAN DEAL WITH THEM? SO THAT'S WHAT I WOULD TEACH NOW. ALTHOUGH...
01:20:45
Unidentified Speaker ME? >> WELL, WHAT I WOULD ANSWER TO THE SECOND QUESTION IS I GO ONCE A MONTH. I WILL BE THERE WHEN THE STUDENT IS THERE AND HAPPY TO...
01:21:17
Unidentified Speaker CHEAP. THIS IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT. THIS KOREAN COMPANY SAOV, A HUGE COMPLEX, IS MOVING THE FIRST TEXTILE MILL THE COUNTRY HAS EVER HAD,...
01:22:50
Unidentified Speaker IT, BUT I THINK THAT BEFORE THE RECESSION WELFARE REFORM DID WAY MORE GOOD THAN HARM EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE SOME THINGS IN IT THE REPUBLICAN...
01:23:10
Unidentified Speaker MAKING, GETTING IN FEBRUARY OF '94 WHEN THE WELFARE ROLLS WERE ALL-TIME HIGH. WHEN THEY DROPPED 60% WHEN I WAS PRESIDENT, STATES HAD A LOT...
01:25:44
Unidentified Speaker BE. IT WOULD BE TOO SELF SERVING FOR ME TO DO IT. IF I WERE HERE, MY RESEARCH, I
01:25:51
Unidentified Speaker WOULD BE FOCUSED ON WHAT WE COULD DO TO INCREASE THE LEVEL OF EMPLOYMENT GROWTH AROUND THE WORLD. ONE OF THE REAL PROBLEMS WITH HAVING
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Unidentified Speaker I.T. DRIVEN GROWTH AND, BELIEVE ME, I THINK IT HAS BEEN A GOD SEND. WHEN WE REBUILT THE FISHING INDUSTRY IN INDONESIA AND SRI LANKA AND ...
01:29:09
Unidentified Speaker A FILLIBUSTER IN THE SENATE, AND WILL THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE ALLOW ANY BILL THAT PASSES THE SENATE TO BE VOTED ON THE HOUSE FLOOR IF...
01:29:32
Unidentified Speaker DESERVES A LOT OF CREDIT. HE VARIED FROM THAT POLICY THREE TIMES THIS YEAR ALREADY INCLUDING TO ALLOW THE HOUSE TO VOTE ON THE VIOLENCE...
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Unidentified Speaker OFFICE I DID NOT WANT TO SPEND MOST OF MY TIME JUST TALKING ABOUT CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES OR TALKING ABOUT MY RECORD OR LEGACY. I WANTED...
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Unidentified Speaker PRESIDENT WHERE I COULD STILL HAVE AN IMPACT. NOW, A LOT OF THINGS I CARE ABOUT AS PRESIDENT, BUT I HAVE RELATIVELY SMALL IMPACT LIKE...
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Unidentified Speaker WELL, VERY INTERESTING. IF YOU -- I WILL NEVER FORGET, I HAD A VERY INTERESTING ENCOUNTER WHEN I WAS ATTEMPTING TO CHANGE THE PENTAGON POLICY...
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Unidentified Speaker ISSUE. IT SAID THAT IN THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AS IT EXISTED IN 1993, VERY DIFFERENT FROM NOW. WE'RE MUCH MORE DIVERSE NOW IN...
01:40:27
Unidentified Speaker BETTER OFF WITH A SHOTGUN THAN AN
01:40:29
Unidentified Speaker ASSAULT WEAPON. TRUST ME. IT IS NOT EVEN CLOSE. SO THIS IS MOSTLY
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Unidentified Speaker A RURAL URBAN DEAL. DO YOU REMEMBER SENATOR MURKOWSKI TALKING ABOUT THE FAR REACHES OF ALASKA AND SOMEBODY WANTS TO SELL A GUN TO THE...
01:46:23
Unidentified Speaker FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON GREETING THE AUDIENCE THERE AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY. PRESIDENT OBAMA EARLIER TODAY HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE IN...
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Unidentified Speaker UP LIVE ON C-SPAN. >>> THIS WAS THE FIRST OF FOUR LECTURE THAT IS FORMER PRESIDENT CLINTON WILL BE GIVE AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ABOUT...
*The transcript for this program was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.
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Seems as if its a old habit to him...
ReplyDeleteThe Good son always returns home.