The William J. Clinton Presidential Center & Park celebrated its five-year anniversary. Former President Bill Clinton took part in the ceremonies and spoke to a crowd of 1,000. He challenged everyone to not be "afraid to change with the times."
The
William J. Clinton Presidential Center & Park is home to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, and the Little Rock offices of the Clinton Foundation.
Located on the banks of the Arkansas River in Little Rock, Arkansas, the center attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world to its grounds each year.
The presidential center was opened in 2004 and celebrated its five-year anniversary on Nov. 18.
Former President Bill Clinton was on-hand for the celebration and delivered a 30-minute speech to a crowd of 1,000 gathered on the lawn of his presidential center, reports the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Clinton wants visitors who leave the center "to believe that decisions have consequences in real people’s lives,and therefore we should all care about the political system. It matters who does what. Cynicism is not an option.”
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Night view of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, AR.
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Further, according to the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Clinton said he "hoped that the center and the nearby Clinton School of Public Service could become places where serious discussion can take place on the nation’s pressing issues of sustainable energy, health care and immigration."
Serious discussions have been taking place at the
Clinton School of Public Service and they will continue.
On
Nov. 24, for example, accompanied by U.S. Senator Mark Pryor, Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski will visit the Clinton School to discuss efforts to increase broadband access in America.
Previous speakers include CNN's John King, Afghanistan's Ambassor to the United States Said Jawad, Pulitzere Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam, and Newsweek editor Eleanor Clift, among many other distinguished speakers.
President Clinton told the crowd that:
One of the greatest challenges now facing Americans is what seems like an ongoing battle against change, whether it involves health care, the environmentor education. As citizens, we need to be in the change business when our institutions no longer further the purpose they were started for.
Clinton added that he "wants his center’s legacy to be that Americans can 'always be forever young' as long as they’re not afraid to change with the times."
