And now, Former President Clinton . . .

The President visited Dallas on Thursday of this week. A friend and I, along with about 4,000 other North Texans, decided we were willing to pay the concert-ticket kind of fee to hear him speak. The format was one hour of lecture and one hour of Q and A. I had hoped the Q and A would be from the audience, but it was not.

Too bad I didn't bring my camera--all we have is this cell phone pic of one of the screens:



Among the audience were a few too many "Hilary '08" shirts for my taste. The standing ovation that greeted President Clinton was deafening and prolonged. The President seemed more serious than he used to appear . . . he barely smiled at the applause. I believe he is working to squeeze as many world improvements as possible into the time he has remaining, through his work in his Foundation.

He began with a joke. Looking out at the nearly-filled large auditorium, he said, "Probably 90% of all the Democrats in North Texas are here tonight. I'm a little worried about the 10% out there without someone to protect them."

I did not see President Clinton look at his notes until near the end of the first hour. This was impressive because he spoke quickly, as if he wanted to make absolutely certain that we heard everything he wanted to say that night. His lecture was structured around three questions: (1) What is the fundamental character of the early 21st century world?; (2) Is this a good thing?; and (3) What should we do to change it? He said he didn't care if our answers to those questions were the same as his, but that it is important to ask those questions and know how you would answer them. In his opinion, the fundamental character of the world now is connectedness, diversity, a shared sense of vulnerability and global non-security threats. He views this world character as a good thing, but as "unequal, unstable and unsustainable." To change these qualities, he recommends that we build integrated communities, meaning communities that have shared benefits, shared responsibility and a sense of genuine belonging among members. In order for the U.S. to do this, the President thinks it is necessary to use a security program, and diplomacy efforts, create partners, not enemies, and conduct "home improvement" with respect to our economics, healthcare and energy. His point that resonated most strongly with me was this: "We have to believe our common humanity matters more than our differences."

Next, the strangely goofy "host" of the program sat down with Clinton and asked him questions submitted by random people who were not at the event. The question that brought out the most genuine enthusiasm and animation was about the Clinton Library--the President enthusiastically described its layout and contents. He excitedly described a recent special exhibit about cowboys, which contained a Gary Cooper outfit from an old Western.

Asked about what he views to be the biggest problem in the U.S. today, the President said it is that we used to think there was no problem we couldn't solve together, but that is no longer the case. We should be in the "problem-solving business, not the hand-wringing business."

The portion of the evening with the strongest emotional impact, both on the audience and on Clinton, was his answer to the question about which of the world leaders he has met were most interesting, and why. The two leaders he named were Nelson Mandela and Yitzhak Rabin, saying, "I feel my life is immeasurably better because they were in it."

About Mandela, the President noted that he was jailed for 27 years, then forgave his jailers, even placing them in important posts in his government. Clinton finds Mandela to be "real" and "great in all the important ways." Mandela let go of his hatred after 14 years in prison, deciding that his jailers had control over every aspect of his life, with the exception of his heart and mind. He told Clinton, at a time when Clinton was heavily under attack from the right, "I decided not to give away my heart and mind, and neither should you." Mandela's hatred for his oppressors sprang back to life when he was freed from prison, as he was freshly reminded of all they had stolen from him. But he told Clinton, "I wanted to be free, so I let it go."

The President teared up when speaking of Rabin's death, saying, "The day they killed him was the worst day of my presidency." Considering all that went on during his eight years in the White House, that is saying something. He said he was closer to Rabin than to any other man. Laughter returned to the auditorium when Clinton told us of a conversation with Rabin just before Rabin and Arafat shook hands as the first step toward a peace accord. Rabin expressed concern about shaking Arafat's hand, saying he really did not want to do that publicly. After Clinton told him he had to do it as a symbol of the peace effort, Rabin said he would do it, but that there would be no kissing, despite the Palestinian tradition in that regard. (It was funnier when Clinton told the story.)

So, there you have it: the conversation Bill Clinton had with me and 3,999 others. He left us with this: "I was more idealistic and more optimistic about the ability of America to meet its challenges when I left the White House than when I went in."