The Clinton Presidential Center -- Bill’s well-deserved edifice -- is spreading out to include a wing just for a twice-failed candidate for the highest office in the land, his gal Hillary: the Hillary Rodham Clinton Institute. It appears that Hillary’s accomplishments haven’t been properly highlighted since her time as first lady, and that will be rectified post-haste.
“The proposed expansion will help the Clinton Center fulfill its mission to engage and educate people about President Bill Clinton’s lifetime commitment to advancing opportunity for everybody, instilling responsibility throughout our society, and cultivating a shared sense of community,” read the press release from the Clinton Foundation. Ironically, one of the most popular exhibits at the Arkansas library is Dinosaur Explorer, which has nothing to do with the purpose stated above. But they explained: “Dinosaur Explorer unearths the most wonderous [sic] dinosaurs and examines human physiology through the lens of these magnificent creatures.” It’s a reach, but credit for the attempt.
Hillary Can’t Stop Being Needy
Hillary Clinton rode into the public policy limelight on the coattails of her popular husband. Once installed in the Oval Office, Bill quickly invited his wife to abandon the traditional role of first lady ensconced in the East Wing and brought her to an executive office in the West Wing. She made herself very visible by chairing the President’s Task Force on National Health Care Reform years before America wanted to buy into government-controlled medicine. The electorate greeted her in prickly fashion.
The Smithsonian Behring Center in DC has a US First Lady exhibit in which Mrs. Clinton has a place of honor. But it is brief on work and expansive on frivolities. There is a china plate commemorating 200 years, an Inaugural ball gown and matching shoes, and a campaign button that reads Hillary Clinton for First Lady. There are items of interest for those others who operated as the first lady. But Clinton was a wild card, blazing her trail, and perhaps Arkansas is where she needs to be celebrated. The Clinton Center in Little Rock has plenty of room anyway: situated in a 29-acre park in downtown. Where better to showcase Hillary’s contributions, no matter how controversial?
Clinton Deserves Some Recognition
Hillary Clinton (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The new wing will celebrate Hillary as a US senator for the state of New York and Secretary of State in the Obama administration. You can bet there will be no mention of the brutality that occurred in Benghazi, the bleaching of computers to erase hundreds of emails on an unsecured server, or the framing of President Donald Trump. Instead, an entire wing will be added to house “personal archives and papers” and to serve as a “hub for [Hillary Clinton’s] nonprofit and advocacy work.”
There are three Clinton Foundation locations: Little Rock, New York, and East Africa. But it’s the center in Arkansas that is home to the University of Arkansas’ Clinton School of Public Service. Opened in 2004, it has received 5 million visitors, including world dignitaries and students, who have paraded through the doors to learn, conduct business, and strategize on how best to keep the Clinton goals alive.
Work is still unscheduled and should be announced early in 2024. Finally, all Americans can rest easy, knowing Hillary will get her due.
