Mozelle Nelson (center), student in a course on the Clinton presidency, and teacher Margaret Scranton talk to Al From, founder of the Democratic Leadership Council.
Posted on 05/09/2003 5:46:48 PM PDT by Utah Girl
Bill, they hardly knew ye.
Oh, they knew what they liked and didn't like about you.
But they didn't know that some of your top advisers were so picky about recognition or that Joycelyn Elders isn't mad at you for firing her.
Or that your presidency would affect them so much as Democrats, Republicans, Arkansans and students.
Since January, 35 students of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and others who attended online have heard from Clinton's closest advisers and a few of his opponents about the inner workings of his presidency and its legacy.
On May 23, the students have agreed to reconvene to hear Clinton, who'll meet with them after attending a ceremony topping the structure that will contain his library.
For their final exam Thursday, the students turned in their grades on how well the 42nd President did his job and explained the grades.
The marks came from Mozelle Nelson, a 75-year-old liberal grandmother for whom Clinton lit a fire for politics, but who scolds him for a few of his decisions. She gave him an A.
They came from Jeff Cook, 25, a real-estate agent, full-time student and a Republican who describes Clinton's tenure as "eight years of luck." He planned to give Clinton a C or C-.
For many of the people of Arkansas and, apparently, the rest of the country, William Jefferson Clinton retains the loyalty he had when he rallied his Arkansas friends and political allies from across the country to win the presidency in 1992.
Three months ago, a Scripps-Howard poll revealed that Americans rank Clinton behind Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy as their favorite president. He beat Franklin Roosevelt and received more than twice the approval rating (13 percent) that George W. Bush (6 percent) did.
The class met recently for the last time before finals, hearing two of Clinton's closest aides, deputy counsel Bruce Lindsey and chief domestic policy adviser Carol Rasco, talk about his legacy. Other speakers have been Elders; Gen. Wesley Clark, former NATO commander; and assistant special prosecutor Hickman Ewing Jr., a former Memphis U.S. attorney.
Although the university has offered a course on the presidency, it's the first time one was devoted to one man's presidency, said Dr. Margaret Scranton, who taught the course.
It's been broadcast weekly by C-SPAN2. The final airing of the class will be at 7 p.m. today.
"The ability for us to have some of the key players in his administration come here was an unprecedented opportunity," said Scranton, who said she's a Republican who's met Clinton only briefly.
"I don't know him in a friend-of-Bill sort of way," she said.
One of the reasons the course was offered was to give students a primer on the Clinton presidency so they could better use the Clinton Library, set to open in downtown Little Rock a year from this fall.
But that's got nothing to do with why Nelson, a retired medical social worker, signed up.
It has more to do with how the death of her husband left her wanting a diversion in 1986, when she agreed to work in Clinton's gubernatorial campaign.
"I was trying to do something besides having dessert and tea with ladies' clubs," she said.
Nelson is adamant that she was enthusiastic about Clinton becoming president but says she had other reasons for supporting him.
"I loved the idea of having someone from little old Arkansas as president. If he'd been a Republican, I would probably have supported him too, but not as much."
While lauding most of Clinton's decision and dismissing his scandals, Nelson said she's still angry that he fired Elders, the controversial surgeon general.
"He caved in to the conservatives," she said.
Classmate Wynona Bryant-Williams, 53, felt the same way but decided to forgive Clinton after Elders told the class she wasn't angry about the firing.
Bryant-Williams, who has taught political science, is black and signed up for the class partially because she was intrigued by Clinton's popularity among members of the black community.
"I wanted to step aside and look at him in a more holistic way," she said, adding that, after completing the course, she thinks Clinton's popularity was deserved.
Cook, who'll graduate this month, said the course didn't change the perception he had of Clinton's presidency before he enrolled.
"Everything I thought was re-affirmed," he said. "I'm not supportive of Clinton, but I am interested in politics."
Although the course was designed to be about Clinton's presidency, and not about Clinton himself, the distinction was a bit blurry, some students said.
"You can't study one without the other," said Marty Sullivan, 25, one of the class's most vocal members both in class and in its online discussion group.
Sullivan, describing himself as conservative, said his interest in the class was the historical value of Clinton's presidency.
"I'm a big Arkansas history buff," he said. "I'm not that fond of Clinton. If he had waited another 10 years to run he might have been better, but he didn't have the maturity he needed."
Part of the coursework was looking at how Clinton has spent his post-presidency time, and Nelson's curious about that.
"I've always talked about how I'd like to have seen John Kennedy in that situation, what he'd have done with those years. Now maybe we'll have a chance to see what we missed with that."
And what of Clinton's legacy? Two of his closest friends, Lindsey and Skip Rutherford, who's heading the library project, took a while to answer.
"For the most part, I think it will be very positive," said Rutherford. "His legacy, now, is in pretty good shape. Whether you like him or not, he is the most intriguing political figure in recent history."
Mozelle Nelson (center), student in a course on the Clinton presidency, and teacher Margaret Scranton talk to Al From, founder of the Democratic Leadership Council.
Thanks for the post. I haven't had such a good opportunity to comment on the Slick's lack of merit for quite a while ... and I definitely agree with you that Bill's hogwash should not displace news on CSPAN. :<)
Bull-hockey!
I did searches on "Scripps-Howard poll", "Scripps Howard", and "Scripps Howard ranks presidents". Not a single hit on such a poll.
No influencing the votes going on here! Nope, this is purely their own independent opinions. (gag)
So did Monica.
Huh, and he speaks German, too.
I think MAGGOT discribes the man, the wife, and the daughter very well. Scumbags and dirtbags all!!
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