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Clinton plans global initiative Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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9/19/05
He's Not the retiring kind
Bill Clinton is building on Jimmy Carter's example and creating a new paradigm for ex-presidents
By Kenneth T. Walsh
They're ba-aack. Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush, America's political odd couple, are teaming up for another big roadshow, this time to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Last week, they stood shoulder to shoulder with President George W. Bush in the Oval Office, the 59-year-old Clinton now completely gray and looking a bit fragile, and the 81-year-old Bush looking stooped and a bit weary. Later the pair appeared together in Houston, chatting with evacuees at the Astrodome and the Reliant Center Arena. Their goal was to demonstrate unity at a time of calamity.
But the re-emergence of the 41st and 42nd presidents was more than a photo op. The elder Bush and Clinton are pioneering a new, more active role for ex-presidents, who for much of American history have been sad, even forlorn figures, often considered politically useless by their successors, with little or no role in public life.
This week, Clinton will take the concept of an activist post-presidency to another level when he convenes up to 1,000 world leaders at a Sheraton Hotel in New York. His aim, in what he grandly calls "the Clinton Global Initiative," is to bring together the best and the brightest in government, nonprofit organizations, science, religion, and business to accomplish a fourfold mission: End extreme poverty around the world, lessen religious conflict, reduce global warming, and promote good government in new democracies. The initiative will revolve around a series of discussion groups, many of them led by Clinton. Among the expected participants are British Prime Minister Tony Blair, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, General Electric Chairman Jeff Immelt, and investor George Soros.
Not a bad lineup, made all the more impressive because of Clinton's determination to use the initiative to remain a player on the world stage. "He doesn't think in terms of 'I'm going to pioneer a new way to have a post-presidency,' " says a Clinton confidant. "But that's in fact what he is doing. . . . He wants to make a difference."
For his part, Clinton told U.S. News: "I am going to ask every private-sector and [nongovernmental organization] person who comes to make a specific commitment to take some action." Clinton tells friends that in the 21st century, NGO s will be among the biggest catalysts for change in the world, and he believes he can be a "walking catalyst" himself. The charismatic Clinton is able to get heads of state and CEO s to chat with him and help take on his projects, as he did in convincing pharmaceutical firms to cut prices for AIDS drugs in African and Caribbean countries.
All in all, the undertaking appears to be audacious. At the same time, says a former Clinton adviser, there's a danger that the conference will feature too much "yak-yak" and not enough action. But Joe Lockhart, who was Clinton's press secretary, says the former president "has as good an understanding of the forces of globalization as anyone. . . . And Clinton, like no one else, can marshal a broad array of government and nongovernmental interests to reach his objectives."
He's Not the retiring kind
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Toward a better world. Clinton is building on a model established by Jimmy Carter, who redefined post-presidential activism after losing the 1980 election. "When I left office, I was in a quandary," Carter told U.S. News in a telephone interview. "I was 56 years old, and I knew I had a life expectancy of 25 years or more. I began to wonder what Rosalynn [his wife] and I could do in the international world." He created the Carter Center in Atlanta, where he has focused on projects to alleviate poverty, improve healthcare, and resolve conflicts in poor nations, especially those in Africa. Carter has decided to focus on projects that no other major organization is working on, such as eradicating river blindness around the world. He also builds houses for poor people in the United States through Habitat for Humanity.
"Many [presidents] espouse humility and service and compassion, but they don't ever find a way to put it into practice," Carter said. "When you run for public office, you're trying to figure out, 'What can I say . . . that would be beneficial for people who might vote for me?' That's the prime motivation in the political world. It's not easy for anybody to cross the natural barrier between the folks who have everything in life and the folks who don't have everything."
For George Herbert Walker Bush, the recent forays into a more public role have been something of a delicate dance. The elder Bush has told U.S. News in the past that he did not want to be very visible, out of deference to his son, the current president. "Hell," he said, "I'm out of it," adding that "I don't need to complicate the life of the president." But he will take on missions when his son asks, as he has in regard to hurricane relief and an earlier joint effort with Clinton to help tsunami victims.
Clinton's objectives, by contrast with other ex-presidents, are sweeping. "Carter is more hardscrabble and missionary in approach," says historian Douglas Brinkley. "He will spend a week sleeping on a cot in Togo or Zimbabwe and working directly to dispense medicine for Guinea worm. Clinton is taking a more wonkish view on how to deal with world questions. He wants to create a new position for himself and be a sort of global gadfly." There is endless speculation in political circles that Clinton's dream job would be secretary general of the United Nations. He tells friends it's a fascinating idea, but he doubts it could ever happen because of anti-American resentment worldwide.
As always, Clinton's interests and his desire for visibility know no bounds. After quadruple heart bypass surgery in September 2004 and follow-up surgery last March, he called attention to his experience to promote regular exercise and better nutrition. Now he preaches against the dangers of obesity.
Clinton, a saxophone player, has even gotten into the music business; he recently authorized production of a CD, The Bill Clinton Collection: Selections From the Clinton Music Room ($15.95, with proceeds going to charity). It features 11 of his favorite songs performed by various artists, including "My Funny Valentine" by Miles Davis and "Chelsea Morning" by Judy Collins (after which his daughter, Chelsea, was named).
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Globe-trotter. His travel schedule is far more hectic than that of predecessors such as Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, who spent most of their time in leisurely pursuits. In fact, he may be busier than any ex-president except Theodore Roosevelt, who traveled abroad, hunting, fishing, and hiking, and who campaigned unsuccessfully for president after having served nearly two terms.
Clinton isn't an outdoorsman like TR, but he has set a strenuous pace, visiting nearly 70 countries since leaving the White House in January 2001. In July alone, he went to Mozambique, Lesotho, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. His access to world leaders remains unparalleled, which will again become clear at his CGI conference in New York (cleverly timed to coincide with a United Nations meeting in Manhattan). Last week, he met with senior officials in Kazakhstan, India, and China to drum up support for AIDS prevention, democracy, and free trade. Clinton also makes two or three speeches a month, sometimes for up to $250,000 each, and has become a millionaire.
Clinton remains a divisive figure among conservatives. Many haven't forgiven him for his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, which was one reason for his impeachment by the House of Representatives. The Senate acquitted him, but the episode remains a blemish on his record.
Yet he has a knack for disarming his adversaries. He has cultivated George H. W. Bush to such an extent that his onetime adversary (whom he defeated in 1992) invited Clinton to stay at the Bush estate at Kennebunkport, Maine, in June. Bush took Clinton for a speedboat ride, and they played golf at Cape Arundel Golf Club.
Bush the elder tells friends he never really knew Clinton until he began traveling with him for the tsunami relief effort eight months ago after devastating floods in Asia; that initiative has raised $11 million. Clinton ingratiated himself by deferring to his 81-year-old predecessor on everything from seating on their plane to who got to speak first at joint appearances. Bush admired his range of intellectual curiosity. Both of them thought their public friendship could, in some small way, show that civility was still possible in politics.
And in this, there is resonance with Gerald Ford, now 92, who is particularly proud of how he and Carter settled old scores from their 1976 campaign after both left office. "We demonstrate that political adversaries need not be political enemies," he said in a written statement.
Clinton's political interests remain deep, which will come in handy if his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, runs for president in 2008. But the former chief executive points out that she faces re-election in New York next year. "One of my rules is, 'Never look past the next election, or you may not get past the next election,' " he says. There's no doubt that if she runs for the White House, the former president will be one of her most valued political advisers. (Mrs. Clinton generally spends weekends with her husband at their home in Chappaqua, N.Y., when the Senate is not in session, aides say.)
Clinton splits his time among traveling, Chappaqua, and his office in Harlem, with periodic trips to his presidential library in Little Rock, Ark. In Chappaqua, he often strolls the town's streets and stops regularly for yogurt and juice at the local Starbucks. On one occasion, someone standing in line congratulated him for his post-tsunami effort, and Clinton began a discourse. A crowd gathered. "It became like a classroom," recalls Starbucks employee Josh Dreisacker. "And my supervisor, not knowing it was him, comes out and says, 'Who's the old man holding up the line?' " Dreisacker says Clinton "seems more like a relaxed hippie, sort of, who comes here to chill out."
Chilling out, however, is the last thing on Clinton's agenda.
With Krista Reese, Stephen Sawicki, Marty Graham and Thomas Omestad
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