WJC

August 11th, 2009

With all the media attention for Bill Clinton’s surprise trip to North Korea last week, I couldn’t help but think of the photograph I’d taken of him back when I was the photo editor for the U of I’s daily student newspaper, The Daily Illini.  The sitting president had decided to pay our school a visit, and I got to ride in his press pool while he was in town.

It was an interesting time in Clinton’s presidency.  A day after delivering his State of the Union speech to Congress in January of ‘98, he had chosen to take his Washington message to the Midwest, specifically our Assembly Hall.  He touted his initiatives for education and social security, and he even addressed his VP’s top issue, global climate change.  Gore was there to introduce the President, and it seemed clear from his unusually animated style that the second in command was going to be running for the top dog spot soon enough.

Most people’s minds however, were more focused on a brewing controversy that had just begun to surround the president – Monica Lewinsky.  It would be another seven months or so before Clinton finally acknowledged his affair with the intern, but the scandal was already clearly taking it’s toll on the President when he came and visited us in Champaign.  He looked tired.

I thought the above image captured that weariness in his eyes, which was why we chose it to run on the front page of the next day’s paper.  It was the beginning of the end for ol’ Bill, but after last week’s heroics, one can’t help but wonder if he hasn’t finally gotten just a bit of his mojo back again.

Entry Filed under: Pic of the Day, Portraits, The Daily Illini