William J. Clinton

Bill Clinton 42nd President of the United States (1993-2001)


Clinton sites that I have seen:

Clinton birthplace, boyhood homes and gravesite of his parents and grandparents. Hope, AR

Bill Clinton's parents and grand parents are buried in this fenced in cemetery plot. Hope, AR

Me at the gravesite of Clinton's parents and grandparents

This sign at the gravesite explains it better than I could

Me at the birthplace marker for Bill Clinton. My first Presidential birthplace of a living President.

A close up of Clinton's birthplace marker

Clinton's grandparents home, where he lived for the first 4 years of his life.

We visited Clinton sites in Hope, AR on our way down to Texas in June 2011. We saw the gravesites of his parents and grandparents, his birthsite, and 2 of his boyhood homes. His first boyhood home is the most recent addition to the National Park Service parks, as shown above. His birth name was William Jefferson Blythe III. His father William Jefferson Blythe II was killed in a car accident before Bill was born. After he was born his mother Virginia Cassidy Blythe went away to nursing school, leaving  Bill with her parents. Eldridge and Edith Cassidy. It was at his grandparents house that he would live from 1946-1950. This is the house that the National Park Service took over. Virginia would eventually marry Roger Clinton, who adopted Bill as a teenager changing his name to William Jefferson Clinton.

Clinton's first home, his grandparents house, now part of the National Park Service.

Living room in Clinton's first house

Young Bill's room

Clinton's 2nd home from 1950- 1953. Where he lived with his mother in Hope, AR. The small brick monument in the front by the fence is made of bricks from the hospital where he was born.

I actually got the chance to hear Bill Clinton speak twice. When my sister graduated from Ohio State University in 2007, Clinton was the speaker. I enjoyed it. I remember him speaking of recently befriending George Bush the elder when they worked together on a charity for Hurricane Katrina victims. 

Living in the swing state of Ohio the last few election cycles I've been trying to go to campaign events for both candidates as they come nearby, trying to cover all my bases in my attempt to see the next President in person. During the primaries I went over to Fort Wayne, Indiana and saw Trump. I've been keeping an eye on Hillary Clinton's website to see if she might be coming near me when I saw that Bill Clinton was actually coming to campaign for her in Toledo. As I mentioned above I had seen Clinton speak once before but it was in a stadium and I didn't get a very good look at him and I had no pictures. So everything came together, I was able to get the day off and I ended up taking my five-year-old son with me. Here are some pictures of the event. 

    Former President Clinton in Toledo, Ohio on September 27, 2016

    We got a lot closer than I had thought

   My son Nicky and I both got to shake his hand. There were people all around behind and from the side pushing to get their hands up to shake his hand so it was tough to get pictures. As he talked a little with my son I got a couple pictures of him reaching for his hand and shaking it. It was a pretty cool experience.

   Here President Clinton is shaking hands with my son

    Nicky, President Clinton and I 

Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas before being elected President in 1992. He is the first Democrat elected to 2 full terms since FDR. It is interesting to note that if it wasn't for Ross Perot running as an Independent then Clinton probably wouldn't of won either election. In 1992 Clinton only received 42% of the vote and in 1996 he received 49% of the vote. Both times Perot took enough votes away from the Republican that Clinton won. Even though more people voted against him then voted for him.

For the most part he governed from the center and made decisions based on public opinion polls. His administration was plagued by several sex scandals. Most notable the Monica Lewinsky affair. When he lied under oath about the affair, it led to him being the 2nd President in history to be Impeached. Just like Johnson he avoided removal from office.

George H. W. Bush

George Bush 41st President of the United States (1989-1993)


Bush sites that I have visited: 

Bush Birthplace Home Milton, Mass.

Bush boyhood home, Greenwich, CT
                              

 Bush family vacation home, Walker's Point Kennebunkport, Maine
                              

 Bush's student housing at Yale New Haven, CT.

Parents gravesite, Greenwich, CT
                               

Bush Library and future gravesite College Station, TX

With the historic marker in front of the house in which George Herbert Walker Bush was born. Milton, Mass. near Boston.

The house in which President Bush was born is now private property. And the owner does a good job of keeping the house hidden behind the overgrown trees. To keep away people like me, no doubt.

Bush boyhood home Greenwich, CT. He spent most of his childhood here.

Walker's Point, Kennebunkport, Maine. This is the life long summer home of the Bush Family. President George Herbert Walker Bush is named after his Grandfather George Herbert Walker. This was his Grandfather's families home originally. As a kid, George Bush spent Summers here, and he still comes here occasionally. I was surprised how close you can get to it.

I thought this was cool. When zooming in on the flag pole. The USA Flag at top, and Texas and Maine flags on the sides.

2 days before we stopped here, former President Bush made headlines by attending a lesbian wedding of family friends in Maine. So it is likely that he was staying here at the time of our visit our at least shortly before.

Me over looking Walker's Point

From my return trip in August 2017. This is the other side of Bush's Walker's Point home.

It hasn't changed much in 4 years.

When George Bush attended Yale he lived here in this house. At the time this house was reserved for students with families. And at the time George was married and had a young son. So he lived in one of the apartments here.

Gravesite of Bush's parents. Senator Prescott and Dorthy Walker Bush. Bush's daughter Robin was also buried here until she was moved to her parents future burial site at the Bush Presidential Library in College Station, TX.

The kids and I at the George Bush Library. College Station, TX

This statue at the Bush Library has horses trampling actual pieces of the Berlin Wall.

Starring contest with the statue of Bush.

A model of the U. S. Capital at the Bush Library

They had a nice play area for kids that my Khloe really enjoyed.

2 future Presidents and a first lady. George Bush was a student at Yale when his son George W. Bush was born.

My wife and kids even enjoyed the museum

Bush's oval office

Goofing off at the Presidential podium

a piece of the Berlin Wall

Desert Storm display

Bush situation room

Portrait of both President Bush's

Bush gravesite. College Station, TX

Me at the future gravesite of George Bush

I thought the George Bush Library was one of the better ones that I have seen. I think that I enjoyed the Truman Library just as much. My wife and her cousin were along for the ride with me and really enjoyed it if that tells you anything.

I actually got the chance to shake hands with George Bush once. It was during the 1992 Presidential campaign and President Bush was campaigning by train. He was to make a stop in a neighboring town just 5 miles away from my home town. I was 11 at the time and already was very interested in studying Presidential history. Bush started shacking hands with the crowd as secret service hurried him through. I was 3 or 4 people width back from the front. I tried to push to the front but couldn't on my own. Just as Bush passed by my Dad lifted me up over the crowd. I stuck my hand out and Bush saw and said to my Dad, " I got him" as he shook my hand. It was pretty cool.

I didn't get any pictures of seeing the President. But browsing online I found this picture of President Bush riding the train on the same day that I shook his hand.

Bush was a WW2 war hero. He served as a naval pilot. His plane once caught on fire and he continued and completed his mission before bailing. He would have a long political career. He was a Congressman, Ambassador to the UN, Chairman of the Republican National Committee during Watergate, Director of the CIA, and Vice President under Ronald Reagan. Bush was the first person to go from Vice President to President by election since Martin Van Buren.

The fall of the Berlin Wall occurred during the Bush Administration. So did the Persian Gulf War. I can still remember wearing a T shirt that said 'Support our troops in Operation Desert Storm' as a kid. we basically ran Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

Bush would lose re election in 1992. But he would become the 2nd President to see his own son elected President (next to John Adams) when his son George W. Bush was elected President in 2000. Bush is alive and well and lives in Huston, TX. He is currently the longest lived President in US history, being the first President to live to the age of 94.