Birkett Williams Presenter: The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton.
Location: Jones Performing Arts Center
Date and Time: March 27, 2007, 7:30 p.m.
The Honorable William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
William Jefferson 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 United States enjoyed the strongest economy in a generation and the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. President Clinton’s core values of building community, creating opportunity, and demanding responsibility resulted in unprecedented progress for America, including moving the nation from record deficits to record surpluses; the creation of over 22 million jobs—more than any other administration; low levels of unemployment, poverty and crime; and the highest homeownership and college enrollment rates in history.
His accomplishments as president include increasing investment in education, providing tax relief for working families, helping millions of Americans move from welfare to work, expanding access to technology, encouraging investment in underserved communities, protecting the environment, countering the threat of terrorism and promoting peace and strengthening democracy around the world. President Clinton previously served as the Governor of Arkansas, chairman of the National Governors’ Association and Attorney General of Arkansas. As former chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, he is one of the original architects and leading advocates of the Third Way movement.
President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation (www.clintonfoundation.org) to construct and endow the Clinton Presidential Center and to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence. To advance this mission, the Foundation is focused on four critical areas: health security, with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS; economic empowerment; leadership development and citizen service; and racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation. The Clinton Presidential Center, which is comprised of the Library, the archives, Foundation offices and the Clinton School of Public Service, opened in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 18, 2004. To date, more than 200,000 people from around the country and the world have visited the Center, which has also helped promote $1 billion of development in the community.