While my memory of reading an autobiography by Hilary Rodham Clinton is still fresh, I have embarked on another adventure of hearing her husband's side of the story in his memoir "My Life."
Bill Clinton had unfortunate childhood -- his biological father (William Jefferson Blythe Jr.) was killed by a car accident while his mother (Virginia) was still pregnant, and his stepfather (Roger Clinton Sr.) since he was three was alcoholic and violent. He recounted that his "daddy" even fired a gun toward him and his mother, though it barely missed.
I was curious how he rose to the very top from this terrible background. Reading this book, I realized that it would have been the agony that made him sensitive to the pain of others and question how society should be. At elementary school, he was most interested in reading about Native Americans and their struggle.
Bill was raised by his grandparents until three because her mother lived in another town to learn skills to become a nurse anesthetist and raise family income. His grandfather, who ran a grocery store, treated people equally and accepted black customers as well. That was very rare in the South where segregation was still the norm. He grew up playing with other children, white and black, and naturally cultivated a sense of equality.
While problematic Roger did not earn much income, his elder brother Raymond was fairly successful and financially supported Roger's family. That's why they were able to live in a middle class house. Meanwhile, Roger's violence escalated. Virginia, Bill and his half brother Roger Jr. finally ran away and moved to a smaller house that Virginia purchased. She then divorced her husband, but Roger Sr. was upset and pestered Virginia to come back. Bill opposed, but Virginia accepted and they remarried in part because her income alone may not be sufficient to raise her sons.
Shortly before the family got together again, at the age of fifteen Bill changed his family name from Blythe to Clinton, visiting a local court on his own. He recounts that part of the reason is that having the same last name with his half brother before he enters elementary school would be better to help prevent unnecessary abuse at him. Bill might have wanted simply to have the same name with other members of his family, or do something that would please Roger Sr.
That may be true, but I also assume Bill wanted to show his gesture to appreciate the larger Clinton family including his step uncle Raymond for their financial support that he would needed to attend university. At the age of sixteen, Bill had already decided to become a politician, and in his senior year at high school, Georgetown University was the first choice despite its high tuition. That is because he believed he needed to be in Washington as a first step toward his career goal.
This memoir is extremely detailed, like every person he met and each episode he experienced appear. I agree with a reviewer on Amazon saying that his editor should have organized the book wisely. In my view, Hillary is a much better writer or at least must have a better editor, but she might have been too busy as Senator to help her husband on this book. That said, these pieces of information help me understand the context of what's reported in the media about Bill Clinton. I could also relate to him about an episode that he was stung by wasps while gardening.
To be continued...
