The former president was the last to leave office with a budget surplus.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — In Bill Clinton ’s prime-time speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1988, the young governor of Arkansas bored delegates so thoroughly that they cheered when he said, “in closing...” Many years later, as a former president whose legacy had made a comeback, Clinton aidedThe 78-year-old Clinton, a veteran of convention speeches over the past four decades, knows as well as anyone the difference between a good and a disastrous performance.
Though he spoke at the 1980 and 1984 conventions, Clinton made his first national splash when he formally nominated then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis at the 1988 convention. It didn’t go well.“It was thirty-two minutes of total disaster,” he later wrote in his 2004 autobiography, “My Life.” That set the stage for Clinton’s next two convention speeches, first as the party’s nominee in 1992 where he proclaimed he still believed “in a place called Hope.” And in 1996, seeking reelection, he vowed to build “a bridge to the 21st century.”“He walks on the stage being the most experienced convention speaker there,” Rutherford said. “But I still bet he talks about the future.”
In 2000, as Clinton came to the end of his second term as president, he ceded the spotlight to his vice president, Al Gore, who looked to distance himself from the scandal and Clinton’s impeachment. Gore highlighted his own marriage with a long on-stage kiss with Tipper Gore, emphasizing the contrast between the two men.
“I would say he’s a diminished figure, there’s no doubt about that, in the Democratic Party,” said Nelson Lichtenstein, a historian of the Clinton administration at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Democratic National Convention
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Democratic National Convention Day 3 Speakers Include Walz, Pelosi, Bill Clinton: Live UpdatesFollow along for the latest updates from the DNC in Chicago.
Read more »
Tim Walz And Bill Clinton To Headline Third Day Of DNCThe third night of the convention marks a transition from Tuesday’s exuberant party atmosphere to a theme that organizers have dubbed “a fight for our freedoms.”
Read more »
Tim Walz and Bill Clinton will speak at the Democratic National Convention's third dayU.S. Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and former U.S. president Bill Clinton will headline the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, the third day of the party's choreographed rollout of a new candidate, Kamala Harris, and her pitch to voters.
Read more »
Tim Walz, Bill Clinton to speak at Democratic convention’s third dayConvention organizers dubbed the theme for Wednesday ‘a fight for our freedoms,’ a nod to the concept around which Harris has organized her campaign
Read more »
Tim Walz, Bill Clinton to speak at Democratic convention's third dayU.S. Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and former U.S. president Bill Clinton will headline the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, the third day of the party's choreographed rollout of a new candidate, Kamala Harris, and her pitch to voters.
Read more »
25-Year-Old Step-Daughter Of Slash Loses Her Life, Shares Post-Mortem Cryptic Instagram Post'May my soul learn to evolve from my poor job at being Lucy-Bleu.'
Read more »