Living Among the People
Bill Clinton, his wife and their daughter have completed their first Southern California vacation since the election, a four-day stay over the extended Thanksgiving weekend. Even in that short time, the next First Family left a clear impression that it will do things differently--to the chagrin, surely, of the bodyguards but certainly to the delight of the public.
From a Glendale shopping mall to the sunny beaches of Santa Barbara--and whether ordering room service pizza at a Pasadena hotel or burgers and nachos at a Summerland grill--Clinton and his family displayed a common touch and an easy accessibility that were at first downright startling, and in retrospect downright refreshing.
The happy mob scene at the Glendale Galleria, where the President-elect did some early Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving, reminded many observers of the spontaneous public adulation that an earlier young and vigorous President received.
But therein, sadly, lies the rub for those of us old enough to remember John F. Kennedy and, for that matter, his brother Robert and the other public figures who have either been the victims of assassination or the targets of would-be assassins.
It is hard to forget that, in addition to John Kennedy’s murder, unsuccessful attempts have been made on the lives of at least four other White House occupants in the last 60 or so years--Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Gerald R. Ford and Ronald Reagan.
That is no reason for Clinton and his family to meekly accept living inside a security bubble, of course. As a matter of fact, it’s good to see that the next President understands that he will be not just the chief executive but the key national symbol--and that Americans seem to be yearning for a leader with whom they can connect.
The new openness clearly poses a challenge for the Secret Service: finding ways to protect a gregarious young President without forcing him to change his outgoing style. It won’t be easy, but given how Southern Californians responded positively last week to the nation’s next leader, the effort will be well worth it--for both Clinton and the American people.