The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, will give a free public lecture at Hamilton College on Tuesday evening Nov. 9 in the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House. The doors will open at 6 p.m. and tickets will not be required.
His visit is part of the Sacerdote Great Names Series at Hamilton, named in recognition of a significant gift from the family of Alex Sacerdote, a 1994 Hamilton graduate. President Clinton will be the fourth former head of state or prime minister to speak at Hamilton as part of the series.
Clinton was elected president of the United States in 1992 and again in 1996 – the first Democratic president to be awarded a second term in six decades. Under his leadership, the U.S. enjoyed the strongest economy in a generation and the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. President Clinton's newly released memoir, My Life (Knopf, June 2004), sold 1.5 million copies in its first month on sale.
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President Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe IV on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Ark., three months after his father died in a traffic accident. When he was four years old, his mother wed Roger Clinton, of Hot Springs, Ark. While in high school, he took the family name. He excelled as a student and as a saxophone player and once considered becoming a professional musician. As a delegate to Boys Nation while in high school, he met President John F. Kennedy in the White House Rose Garden. President Clinton graduated from Georgetown University and, in 1968, won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. He received a law degree from Yale University in 1973 and entered politics in Arkansas. He was defeated in his campaign for Congress in Arkansas' Third District in 1974. The next year he married Hillary Rodham, a graduate of Wellesley College and Yale Law School. In 1980, Chelsea, their only child, was born. President Clinton was elected Arkansas Attorney General in 1976, and won the governorship in 1978. After losing a bid for a second term, he regained the office four years later, and served until he defeated incumbent George Bush and third party candidate Ross Perot in the 1992 presidential race.
President Clinton is founder of the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation, whose mission is to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence. To accomplish this, the Foundation is currently focused on economic empowerment of poor people; racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation; combating HIV/AIDS; and leadership development and citizen service. The Foundation does its work principally through partnerships with like-minded individuals, organizations and corporations, often serving as an incubator for promising policies and projects.
Currently, President Clinton serves as Advisory Board co-chair with President Nelson Mandela and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the International AIDS Trust. He also served as co-chair with Senator Dole of the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, which was created to provide educational assistance for postsecondary study to children and spouses of those killed or permanently disabled as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This scholarship fund achieved its fundraising goal of $100 million.
President Clinton has partnered with VH-1 Save the Music to bring music education to public schools in Harlem and across the country; established the Harlem Small Business Initiative to help small businesses in Harlem better compete in the expanding marketplace; and created, with City Year, the Clinton Democracy Fellowship Program, which brings young leaders together to learn about citizen service.
The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Park is scheduled to open this November.
Previous Great Names at Hamilton speakers include Bill Cosby, Rudy Giuliani, Madeleine Albright, Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lady Margaret Thatcher, Colin Powell, Mary Matalin and James Carville, Elie Wiesel and F.W. de Klerk. In 1998, jazz and blues singer/musician B.B. King was the first artist to appear as part of the series.
For updated information call the Info. line at 315-859-4636. Tickets will not be required.
