Description:

Clinton Bill

Bill Clinton, Arkansas Attorney General, ALS: "Hope it didn't hurt me too badly in White County"

1p ALS on watermarked cream stationery paper with "Office of the Attorney General, Little Rock, Bill Clinton, Attorney General" letterhead inscribed overall and signed in black felt tip pen by then 50th Attorney General Bill Clinton (born 1946) as "Best, Bill" in the lower right corner. Companion envelope with "Office of the Attorney General, Little Rock" printed return address verso also fully inscribed in Clinton's hand and postmarked from Little Rock, Arkansas on May 19, 1977. Both in near fine condition. The 7.25" x 10.5" letter has expected light horizontal paper folds while the envelope has been letter-opened at top.

 

State Attorney General Bill Clinton wrote Lee Jones of Searcy, Arkansas on May 18, 1977 from his offices in Little Rock. Clinton wrote: "My attorney Dave Greenbaum said he was roundly booed at Amos Lester's trial -- Hope it didn't hurt me too badly in White County -- it couldn't be delayed any longer -- Anyway if you have a report on Amos' or public reaction to the AG's office's role, I'd like to have it."

 

Here, Clinton the ambitious political aspirant demonstrated a concern about public opinion that foreshadowed later gubernatorial and presidential poll watching. The constituents of White County, along with other Arkansas voters, would elect future Arkansas governors, and Clinton worried about his public image. He understood that negative press received during his attorney generalship might jeopardize future political opportunities.

 

Dave Greenbaum (born 1948) served as Arkansas Assistant Attorney General under Clinton. A Jewish refugee, he escaped with his family from Nazi Germany. Greenbaum graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1970 and received his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1973.

 

Clinton continued: "Martha thinks a lot of you -- she's worried about whether she's been a food mother and needs encouragement now. Call her if you can -- ." The identity of "Martha" is unknown, but Clinton showed a real sensitivity towards her similar to that he showed his own beloved mother, Virginia Clinton Kelley (1923-1994).

 

Clinton graduated from Yale Law School and served as a law professor at the University of Arkansas in the early 1970s. In 1976, he defeated two other Democratic candidates for Arkansas Attorney General and ran unopposed in the general election. This letter was written just five short months into Clinton's 2-year term as Arkansas Attorney General. The handsome and personable Clinton become "Boy Governor" of Arkansas in 1979; he entered the White Office as 42nd U.S. President in 1993.

 

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