Defiant to the End, Clinton Says: 'I'm Still Here'
By Deb Riechmann
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, January 20, 2001
Reluctant to relinquish the spotlight, Bill Clinton fell back Saturday into the ranks of ordinary citizens.
"I left the White House, but I'm still here," he said. "We're not going anywhere."
Clinton's defiant farewell earned wild applause from 2,500 followers attending his farewell in a hangar at Andrews Air Force Base in nearby Maryland. He then boarded a plane, dubbed Special Air Mission 28000, and headed to New York, where he and freshman Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will have their primary residence.
It was an end to a roller-coaster presidency that, even in its last two days, was marked by his typical mix of defiance and scandal.
On Friday, he cut a deal with prosecutors, agreeing to acknowledge that he had lied to grand jurors in exchange for shutting down the investigation of an obscure Arkansas land deal that had morphed into the sex and videotaped lies of the Monica Lewinsky affair.
On Saturday morning, Clinton pardoned Susan McDougal, one of his partners in the original Whitewater land deal, among 140 pardons he issued on his last day.
At noon, George W. Bush was sworn in as 43rd president, and his inaugural speech included subtle references to his campaign pledge to restore the dignity he believed Clinton had removed from the White House.
"America, at its best, is a place where personal responsibility is valued and expected," Bush said, and then: "Our public interest depends on private character."
Clinton, booed by some at his entrance, appeared unperturbed, smiling and applauding Bush at times. He grinned and held his wife's hand as they headed for their last ride in a presidential limousine.
Humility jostled hubris at Andrews as well. The opportunity to serve as president was "a great gift," he said. "We have to go on to the next chapter in Americas' life, in our lives, in our struggle to do the things we believe in."
And then, grinning, he warned: "You see that sign there, 'please don't go'? I left the White House, but I'm still here. We're not going anywhere."
He referred to the 25-year low in crime, and attributed it to his fulfilled pledge to spend more on police hiring.
In his final radio address Saturday, he said he was handing Bush "a nation renewed, ready to move into a new century and a whole new era in human affairs" – a subtle jab at Bush's father, defeated by Clinton during a recession in 1992.
Clinton's life changed dramatically the moment the younger Bush finished reciting the oath of office. He no longer had armies to lead, policy to craft, parks to declare. And he no longer called 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue home.
"You know how it is," he said at Andrews. "When you leave the White House you wonder if you'll ever draw a crowd again."
Clinton, who worked until the last minute of his presidency, walked into the Capitol with a relaxed gait, his eyes puffy from little sleep. Clinton smiled. Bush looked stonefaced, managing only a small grin.
At 54, Clinton is the youngest president to leave office since Teddy Roosevelt left the White House at age 50. He is two decades younger than the youngest of five living ex-presidents.
