A new exhibit unveiled this week at the Clinton House Museum commemorates a meeting between a young Bill Clinton and then-president John F. Kennedy
Staff photo
A new exhibit commemorating a 1963 meeting between then-president John F. Kennedy and future president Bill Clinton opened this week at the Clinton House Museum in Fayetteville.
The exhibit, released Wednesday on the 50th anniversary of the July 24, 1963 meeting in the White House Rose Garden, includes a handful of photographs and a brief video of the encounter.
Clinton was in the garden that afternoon as an Arkansas representative of Boys Nation, a week-long event featuring two representatives from each state intended to educate young leaders on the structure and function of government. After Kennedy addressed the Boys Nation graduates, as Clinton recalled in a 2003 ABC News broadcast, he “muscled his way” through the crowd in order to shake hands with the president.
Last week, in a video address he issued to the 2013 Boys Nation class, Clinton discussed the impact of his meeting with President Kennedy.
“That (Boys Nation) week had a profound impact on me,” Clinton said. “I was also deeply inspired to pursue life in public service. Of course, I couldn’t know then what jobs I’d have or when I would be elected or what I would be elected to or whether I would even be elected. I did know that I wanted to spend my life being of service.”
The Clinton House Museum is located at 930 W. Clinton Drive. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Admission is $5 $8.
