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Clinton proves he loves a long goodbye
By MARY JACOBY © St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001 WASHINGTON -- The script read "exit, stage left." But Bill Clinton ignored it. Thumbing his nose at his Republican successor and flouting inaugural day etiquette, the 42nd president delivered a masterful goodbye speech at Andrews Air Force Base Saturday that fairly upstaged the less practiced oratory of George W. Bush. On a day in which the departing president is supposed to fade gracefully into the past, Clinton remained firmly in the spotlight, promising to remain involved in the national dialogue. As he and his family prepared to board an Air Force plane for New York, Clinton gave a rousing, tearful, humorous and reflective speech that was the political equivalent of an ice-skater whipping off a showy triple axel, just because he can. "You see that sign there that says "Please Don't Go.' I left the White House, but I'm still here," Clinton told 2,500 cheering friends, supporters and former colleagues who gathered at the hangar to see him off. With a nod toward his wife, the recently elected senator from New York and potential 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, Clinton pledged: "We're not going anywhere." In his last hours in office, Clinton issued 140 pardons and chatted with aides and staffers. Then he went for one last look around the Oval Office, taking with him a ceremonial pen and a few golf balls as mementos. In his speech, he recounted the emotions of that moment, which he shared with chief of staff John Podesta. "We walked out of the Oval Office for the last time today . . . and he (Podesta) was tearing up a little bit. He just looked, he said, "We did a lot of good.' " The crowd erupted in applause. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, standing in a row of dignitaries near the president's podium, wiped away tears. "The whole nature of public service is, by definition, a reflection of the nature of life. It is passing. It has seasons. It is a process, not a destination," Clinton said. "The work of this country will never be over. And no one will ever get to do it forever. And that's not all bad." He closed with a passing allusion to a scandal-tarred eight years in which Clinton became only the second president in history to be impeached. "You gave me the ride of my life," he said, "and I've tried to give as good as I've got." "Thank you," he said. "And God bless you." Then Clinton plunged into a receiving line as if it were his first presidential campaign in 1992 again, shaking hands and kissing babies with the hunger of a young Arkansas governor looking to make it big. Upon arriving at Andrews, Clinton received a 21-gun salute and made an elongated review of the Honor Guard. After more than an hour of basking in the adulation, Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea headed for the plane. Clutching the collar of his coat together against the cold, he ascended the steps to the Boeing 747 named Special Air Mission 28000 because planes not carrying a president cannot be called Air Force One. He gave a few last, resolute waves to the crowd and the door was closed a few minutes before 3 p.m. Clinton arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport as the spouse of a senator. There, it was not the former president who first greeted the crowd but a confident, finger-thrusting Hillary Clinton. "Thank you all so much for coming out to welcome us!" she boomed. Clinton stood to the side, hands clasped behind his back. On his face was a bittersweet, smiling-through-the-tears expression. While Chelsea clapped at the appropriate applause lines in her mother's speech, her father looked around wistfully, as if searching for his bearings. Every now and then, he waved a little American flag. Back in Washington, President and Laura Bush were leading the inaugural parade up a drizzly Pennsylvania Avenue to their new home, the White House. The Clintons, too, will spend much time in Washington, where they recently bought a $2.85-million home near Massachusetts Avenue's Embassy Row. There is much speculation that the Clintons' brick Georgian-style home will become a kind of White House-in-waiting, a gathering place for ousted Democrats as they plot a return to power. At 54, Clinton has many productive years ahead and is bound to play an important role in helping his party recover its fortunes. He has quietly installed his top fundraiser, Terry McAuliffe, as head of the Democratic National Committee, a move that has fueled speculation that Clinton plans to devote himself over the next four years to getting his wife elected president. "You've got a senator over here who will be a voice for you," Clinton told the well wishers at Andrews. "So we're going to New York and spend the weekend, and then Hillary will show up promptly so as not to miss any votes." She will also, Clinton said, in a reference to Congress's role as a check and balance on the executive branch, "fulfill the oversight function of the U.S. Senate." At that, he broke into a faint but unmistakable smile.
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