First Man @ the DNC

Story posted July 27, 2016 in Convention Coverage by Samantha Lauriello.

Barbara Bush worked to promote literacy among the youth of the nation. Lady Bird Johnson devoted herself to national beautification. Michelle Obama tackled childhood obesity.   First ladies have a history of devotion to great causes.

Will Bill Clinton follow suit if he reenters the White House as “first man” or will he, given his former job, write a history of his own?

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Hundreds of people stopped to pose with the FirstLadyBill.com mascot during Philly Feast, a food truck festival in downtown Philadelphia on Monday July 25, 2016 during the Democratic National Convention. "Using humor and heart to help make history," their website says. The Political Action Committee is challenging traditional gender roles in support of Hillary Clinton's goals as president. (Photo by Gabrielle Mannino)

“There will certainly be a lot of jokes about him redecorating the White House or hosting receptions,” Cat Ritcher, a Sanders delegate from South Philadelphia, said laughing. “But he’ll do much more than that.”

Delegates found humor in the “Bill for First Lady” shirts being sold around Philadelphia this week, but many agreed that Clinton has the power and prestige to take the position to a new level.

“Bill Clinton was the best president in my lifetime and if he’s willing to serve as an adviser to his wife, I think the country will be all for the better,” said Marcel Groen, chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, as he awaited the former president’s address in the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night.

  Clinton opened his speech with the words, “In the spring of 1971, I met a girl,” and he focused his talked on the couple’s lifetime of teamwork.

Groen said the Clintons will certainly be able to understand each other’s roles. He also said the former president should continue his Clinton Foundation work on climate change, global health and economic development.

“He’ll continue to grow in his work and help her to grow in hers,” Groen said.

Hillary Clinton herself, with her background as a lawyer and advocate for social causes, played a substantive role as first lady for her husband. In 1993, she chaired a task force to overhaul the nation’s health care system. The proposal her group developed ultimately stalled.

  Bill Courtwright, mayor of Scranton and a Clinton delegate, said Bill Clinton should take on that kind of role, serving his wife as an adviser.

“They say behind every great man is a great woman,” Courtwright said. “Now you have a great man behind a great woman.”

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Former President Bill Clinton speaks at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, July 26, 2016. He focused on his relationship with Hillary, who was officially nominated as the Democratic nominee for president earlier that evening. (Photo by Gabrielle Mannino)

 Jo Ellen Litz, a Clinton delegate from Lebanon, said she would hope to see such a “knowledgeable” first man use his influence to continue working with his already established causes of the Clinton Foundation and adopt new ones.

“He could do just about anything. He obviously has the know-how,” she said, praising the economic prosperity that occurred while Clinton was president in the 1990s.

Laurel Dagnon, a 12-time delegate from Pittsburgh, said she has hopes Clinton will be able to use his skills in the area of foreign policy.

“I could see him utilizing globalization as a positive step forward for the United States,” she said.
Sylvia Wilson, a Clinton delegate from Pittsburgh and member of the Democratic National Committee, said she is confident the would-be first man will play a critical role in a Hillary Clinton administration.

“The man is so mega-intelligent and such a wealth of knowledge,” she said, “he’ll get much more accomplished than redecorating.”