"I did not have sexual relations with that woman." -- Bill Clinton

Sadly, that's the only thing I can quote Bill Clinton saying in his 8 years in office. In all honesty, I thought Bill Clinton probably did great things for this country. But, I (admittedly) based that on the fact that the economy was booming during his administration. I didn't know that much about his foreign policy, and I couldn't really name anything he did in 8 years (besides what he did with Monica Lewinsky). But that's what Presidential Libraries are for. And as good American citizens, Joe and I are trying to visit them all. So far we've been to Kennedy, Reagan, Johnson and now, Clinton. Four down and eight to go (and one being built!).

So, on a weekend in May when Joe and I planned on flying off for a weekend away, we ended up driving to Little Rock, AR to visit the William Jefferson Clinton Library. Weather, again, hampered our plans to fly, but we were determined to get out of town. We had decided on College Station, TX to see the George H. W. Bush Library, but when we couldn't find a hotel, we realized it was graduation weekend at A & M, Baylor, and UT. Since we don't really like people that much - particularly in LARGE numbers - we decided to head the other direction and visit another library instead.

The library is built on the Arkansas River close to downtown Little Rock.


It's an interesting building - representing a bridge because that was Clinton's campaign slogan for his 2nd administration - "a bridge to the 21st century." (or something like that). I learned that Clinton presided over the longest period of peace-time economic expansion in American history. He was a proponent of NAFTA, which has received mixed reviews. He passed the Brady Bill (which I strongly support even though I realize it is not 100% effective due to the black market). He was a huge proponent of civil rights and furthering civil rights for minorities. He passed the FMLA act. He was involved in the environment (much influenced by his Vice-President, Al Gore, on this one). He was involved in a LOT of scandals besides the Lewinsky scandal, which led to his impeachment. These included Whitewater, Troopergate, and Paula Jones.


Overall, I guess the library didn't really change my opinion of Clinton. I still have a problem with the cheating (on his wife, that is) and have been known to say that it bothers me when the leader of the free world has the morals of an alley cat. However, I have since learned that five other presidents including Jefferson (although not while his wife was alive that we know of), Kennedy, Johnson, F.D.R. and Eisenhower all had mistresses. Okay, I already knew about some of those, but what does that say? When ranking the President's 1 - 44, those five President's are ranked in the top eleven in the latest CNN poll taken last President's Day. Maybe I have it all wrong. Maybe to be a good President you need a mistress. Hum. Somehow, I still don't like it!!! (Bill Clinton ranked a respectable #15.)

We stayed across the street from the Library and were able to walk to the river district for dinner. We ate a fun place called The Flying Fish. If you bring your Big Mouth Bass, you get a free entree and they hang it on the wall for you.




We drove by the Arkansas State Capitol and then on Sunday we took the long way home. Daisy performed well on the road, but I think I'm ready for a flying weekend. Nothing planned for now, but stay tuned!!