Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton: on Foreign Policy
Bill Clinton:
Months of preparation went into Arafat-Rabin handshake
Bill was focused on preparations for the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and the signing of a Middle East peace accord. The meeting that took place on the White House lawn on
September 13, 1993, was the result of months of negotiations in Oslo, Norway and was known as the Oslo Accords. It was important to establish our government’s support for the agreement because the
US is the only country that could push both sides to actually implement the agreement’s terms and be trusted by Israel to protect its security.On that day, Bill persuaded Yitzhak to shake hands with Arafat as a tangible sign of their commitment to
the peace plan. Rabin agreed. Unfortunately, the handshake and agreement were seen by some Israelis and Arabs as a rebuke to their political interests and religious beliefs, which later led to violence and Rabin’s tragic assassination.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Clinton, p.184-185
Nov 1, 2003
Bill Clinton:
1980: Sent state troopers for refugee riot in Fort Chaffee
In spring 1980, hundreds of detained Cuban refugees were sent to a "resettlement camp" at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. In late May, the refugees rioted and hundreds broke out of the fort, heading toward the nearby community of Fort Smith. County deputies and
local citizens loaded their shotguns and waited for the expected onslaught. The situation was made worse because the Army, under a doctrine known as posse comitatus, had no police authority off the base and were not even empowered to forcefully
keep the detainees--who were not technically prisoners--on the grounds. Bill sent state troopers.I attended some tense meetings Bill held with the frustrated general in command of Fort Chaffee, and representatives from the White House.
Bill wanted federal assistance to contain the detainees, but the White House message seemed to be: "Don't complain, just handle the mess we gave you." Bill had done just that, but there was a big political price to pay for supporting his President.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p. 88-89
Nov 1, 2003
Bill Clinton:
1993 Somalia crisis at same time as Russian coup attempt
Two Black Hawk helicopters had been shot down in Somalia. Details were vague, but it was clear that American soldiers had been killed and that there might be ongoing violence. Troops had originally been sent to the famine-ravaged country by President
Bush on a humanitarian aid mission, but it had evolved into a more aggressive peacekeeping effort.Then the news got worse: The body found of an American serviceman had been dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, an appalling act of barbarity
orchestrated by the Somali warlord General Mohamed Aideed.
Bill was given terrible news about Russia, too. There had been an attempted military coup against President Boris Yeltsin. On October 5, in Culver City, California,
Bill cut short a town hall meeting about health care reform and returned to Washington. Over the next few weeks, Bill, the news media and the nation were consumed by Somalia and the unrest in Russia, and health care reform took a backseat.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p.191
Nov 1, 2003
Colin Powell:
Attended inauguration of South African Pres. Nelson Mandela
Fifty thousand people attended Nelson Mandela's inauguration, a spectacle of celebration, release and vindication. Everyone marveled at the orderly transfer of power in a country that had been so ravaged by racist fear and hatred. Colin
Powell, a member of our delegation, was moved to tears during the flyover of jets from the South Africa Defense Force. Their contrails streaked across the sky, tinted with the red, black, green, blue, white and gold colors of the new national flag.
A few years earlier, the same jets were a powerful symbol of apartheid's military power; now there were dipping their wings to honor their new black commander in chief.Mandela's speech denounced discrimination on the basis of race and gender, two
profoundly embedded prejudices in Africa and most of the rest of the world. As we were leaving the ceremony, I saw the Rev. Jesse Jackson weeping with joy. He leaned over and said to me, "Did you ever think any of us would live to see this day?"
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p. 234
Nov 1, 2003
Hillary Clinton:
Supports USAID projects in developing world
My visit to the subcontinent was meant to demonstrate that this strategic and volatile part of the world was important to the US and that Bill supported their efforts to strengthen democracy, expand free markets and promote tolerance and human rights.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p.268-270
Nov 1, 2003
Hillary Clinton:
Focus on women's rights in international policy
China had been chosen to host the upcoming UN Fourth World Conference on Women, and I was scheduled to attend as honorary Chair of the US delegation.Typically, governments limit their foreign policies to diplomatic, military and trade issues,
the staple of most treaties, pacts and negotiations. Seldom are issues such as women's health, the education of girls, the absence of women's legal and political rights or their economic isolation injected into the foreign policy debate. Yet it was clear
to me that in the new global economy, individual countries and regions would find it difficult to make economic or social progress if a disproportionate percentage of their female population remained poor, uneducated, unhealthy, and disenfranchised.
The UN women's conference was expected to provide an important forum for nations to address issues such as maternal and child health care, microfinance, domestic violence, girls' education, family planning, women's suffrage, property and legal rights.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p.298-299
Nov 1, 2003
Jimmy Carter:
1980: Broke promise of no more refugees to Fort Chaffee
Jimmy Carter's Presidency was beset by problems. Some of those troubles spilled over into Arkansas in spring 1980, when hundreds of detained Cuban refugees--mostly inmates from prisons and mental hospitals whom Castro released to the US in the infamous
Mariel boat lift--were sent to a "resettlement camp" at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. In late May, the refugees rioted and hundreds broke out of the fort.Bill sent state troopers. Bill wanted federal assistance to contain the detainees, but the White House
message seemed to be: "Don't complain, just handle the mess we gave you." Bill had done just that, but there was a big political price to pay for supporting his President.
After the June riots, President Carter had promised Bill that no more Cubans
would be sent to Arkansas. In August, the White House broke that promise, closing sites in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and sending more refugees to Fort Chaffee. That reversal further undermined support for Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter in Arkansas.
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p. 88-89
Nov 1, 2003
Rev. Jesse Jackson:
Attended inauguration of South African Pres. Nelson Mandela
Fifty thousand people attended Nelson Mandela's inauguration, a spectacle of celebration, release and vindication. Everyone marveled at the orderly transfer of power in a country that had been so ravaged by racist fear and hatred. Colin
Powell, a member of our delegation, was moved to tears during the flyover of jets from the South Africa Defense Force. Their contrails streaked across the sky, tinted with the red, black, green, blue, white and gold colors of the new national flag.
A few years earlier, the same jets were a powerful symbol of apartheid's military power; now there were dipping their wings to honor their new black commander in chief.Mandela's speech denounced discrimination on the basis of race and gender, two
profoundly embedded prejudices in Africa and most of the rest of the world. As we were leaving the ceremony, I saw the Rev. Jesse Jackson weeping with joy. He leaned over and said to me, "Did you ever think any of us would live to see this day?"
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p. 234
Nov 1, 2003
Page last updated: Feb 14, 2019