Arc of Bill Clinton's political career will be on display during his RFK commemoration

By Annie Linskey GLOBE STAFF JUNE 01, 2018

WASHINGTON — Bill Clinton sounded hopeful back in 1993 when, less than six months into his presidency, he delivered an address at Arlington National Cemetery commemorating the 25th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination.

It was years before Monica Lewinsky and her blue dress, before Clinton allies coined the phrase “vast right-wing conspiracy,’’ and before independent counsel Ken Starr became a household name. At the cemetery that June day, Clinton’s presidency still held the promise of sweeping social progress.

“The legacy of Robert Kennedy is a stern rebuke to the cynicism, to the trivialization, that grips so much of our public life today,” said a fresh-faced Clinton to an audience of 16,000 who came to witness the event. “Let us believe again. We can do better.”

Twenty-five years later, Clinton, now 71, is set to speak at a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of RFK’s death. Again, it will be held at Arlington National Cemetery, and several thousand are expected to attend. But the optimism embodied by Clinton’s 1993 speech, for Democrats, has been replaced by deep dismay over Hillary Clinton’s defeat at the hands of Donald Trump as well as newly revived questions about Bill Clinton’s sexual improprieties.

more
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/06/01/arc-bill-clinton-political-career-will-display-during-his-rfk-commemoration/JfBS1LkXvm0tN3sc9A2dlJ/story.html