FIFTEEN PRESIDENTS AND ME--PART THREE

Bill Clinton served from 1993 to 2001.  Clintons’s Presidency was primarily characterized by
“The longest peacetime economic expansion in U.S. history.”The economy featured job growth and the first federal budget surplus in history.  It was an economic boom. However, my personal life took a turn. My husband and I had both retired—He from a University Professorship, and I from my journalistic and book writing careers.We moved from Atlanta to Tucson, Arizona in 1994, and sadly, he died in 1998.  To tackle my grief, I turned to play writing.
Times had changed in many ways, and although, in the past, former President’s sexual relationships were not press fodder President Clinton was not protected. Consequently, he was exposed in more ways than one, but that did not prevent him from getting the people’s vote a second time.  After all, as James Carville always said, “It’s the economy stupid!”

George W. Bush, the son of George H.W. became our next President (2001-2009). It was a challenging time in the world. On 9/11/2001 on a Tuesday morning, the terrorist group Al-Qaeda flew two planes into the World Trade Center in New York— causing their collapse. My son, Josh lived in New York at the time, and after a successful stint as an actor, decided to return to graduate school. Consequently, he was scheduled to take a refresher course somewhere downtown, and I was unable to reach him by phone. When I was finally able to contact him, he told me that he had witnessed the second Tower being hit, and had gone to a hospital to donate blood.  He had been in a voting booth which  had prevented him from going downtown earlier. That day began our “War on Terror,” with invasions on Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003). President Bush also had to navigate the 2008 financial crisis as well as the response to Hurricane  Katrina in New Orleans. When he left office, he resumed his love of painting and did not involve himself in politics.

Barack Obama,  served as our 44th  President  from 2009-2017. Several momentous events happened during President Obama’s tenure. On May 6, 2012, Josh married Barbara Binzak, and  I got a daughter-in-law!  The second most important event was that voters selected the first African-American  to hold the office of the Presidency. My parents were right when they taught me that America is a melting pot where people from all over the world enriched our Nation, bringing with them their cultures, music, food and creativity. President Obama passed major health care reform, managed financial recovery and authorized the mission that killed the Islamic Militant Osama bin Ladan, who founded the terrorist organization responsible for the 9/11 attacks. President Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

At this point in my story,I don’t have enough perspective to evaluate the impact of the Presidencies of either Donald Trump  (January 2017-January 2021) and his “America First Trade Policies” or the Covid-19 Pandemic.  The historians will have many more years to unravel his— as well as— Joe Biden’s term (2021-2025) that focused on economic recovery— post Covid, infrastructure investment, and withdrawal from Afghanistan. Nor can I consider the effects of Donald Trumps second term  (2025—?) as he continues to follow the theory of  “Deconstruction of Government.” However, I do know that when we celebrate the 250th birthday of our Nation, we must acknowledge that the population of our Country is now a majority of people of color, who have come to the United States to build a better future for themselves and their children, and if my parents were right, it will benefit us all.  In 1992 Salsa overtook Ketchup, the best selling condiment in the Country, and in the 1960’s and 1970’s Yoga became a mainstream fitness regime.  I suspect that much of the present political upheaval comes from fear of change. However, in the meantime, some of those who bear resentment still go to the beach in the summer and lay in the sun to turn their skin brown, because they think brown is beautiful.  Go figure!

So that’s my history with the Presidents.  Of course I left a lot out, but I do know that “The good old days” are selective memory.

Esther Blumenfeld