President William Jefferson Clinton
(42nd US President, 1993-2001)
Monroe’s third presidential visit also came on a summer day, 80-years after President Taft’s visit when the 42nd president
of the United States stood and delivered a speech within 30′ of where
President Taft stood and spoke. On August 15, 2000 under a blazing sun
that saw the heat index reach 101-degrees, at least 17,000 people jammed
Loranger Square in downtown Monroe to listen to President William
Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001). In a rare joint appearance, Vice
President Al Gore joined the president. Vice President Gore was
campaigning for the presidency and the presidential visit was designed
to symbolically pass the political mace of leadership from the president
to the vice president. Besides the rareness of a joint
presidential/vice presidential visit, the two executive branch officials
were joined by their wives: First Lady Hillary Clinton (along with
daughter Chelsea) and Tipper Gore. The event was well documented, with
more than 200-news representatives were credentialed for the visit,
including Japanese t-v network NHK.
The tightly packed
crowd stood shoulder to shoulder north up Washington Street to Front
Street, and west to Monroe Street. President Clinton told the crowd
that the views he saw driving into Monroe reminded him of the scenes
they saw and the people they met during the bus tour he, his wife
Hillary and then Senator Gore and his wife Tipper took as they
campaigned for the presidency in 1992. While in a mood to reminisce,
President Clinton stood on the dais on the front lawn of the Monroe
County Courthouse and summarized his nearly two-terms in office
“Miraculously for us the people of Michigan and the people of Ohio twice
gave us the chance to serve. Al Gore and I have worked for nearly
eight-years now to put you first, never to forget about you. To get the
economy going again and to get our society moving in the right
direction. To make us a more united nation, a stronger, a better
nation.”
PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON
PRESIDENT HOWARD TAFT
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH