Posted by Mark Silva at 3 pm CDT
Bill Clinton came to town today to pick up an award and the $50,000 that comes with it. He left with a funny tale about first coming to work here.
Clinton, the 42nd president, also is the recipient of the 2005 J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding. Arriving to collect his award at a luncheon in Washington today, Clinton recalled coming to work as an aide in Sen. Fulbright’s office here in the late 1960s.
Fulbright’s office told the young Clinton, all they had to offer was two part-time jobs.
“I’ll take them both,’’ Clinton said.
“That’s why they hired him,’’ according to a source at the luncheon.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Clinton was awarded the prize for his initiatives in eliminating poverty, ignorance, racial, ethnic and religious prejudices that are barriers to peace in the world, according to the Fulbright Association. He spoke for some 20 minutes at a luncheon at the International Monetary Fund.
How sweet it is: The award carries a $50,000 prize from the Coca-Cola Foundation. Past winners include Colin Powell, the former secretary of state for President Bush, in 2004, former President Jimmy Carter in 1994 and Nelson Mandela, the first year the award was given, in 1993.
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Comments
Maybe his "funny tale" was really just a test to see who had read his autobiography, "My Life." This was a job he held
while he was a student at Georgetown University.
Posted by: vondrakovia | April 12, 2006 5:01 PM
That's a real thigh-slapper, that "funny tale".
Posted by: bruce | April 13, 2006 8:16 AM
Yes, you're right. That was a job in DC. Notice that the article was written from The Tribune's Washington office. We'd note that the 'here' means DC, not Chicago!
Posted by: pete | April 13, 2006 10:46 PM