PHILADELPHIA — Former President Bill Clinton, speaking to the Democratic National Convention just hours after his wife officially became the party’s nominee, saying that she was “the best darn change-maker I have met in my entire life.”
“This woman has never been satisfied with the status quo in anything. She always wanted to move the ball forward, that is who she is,” Clinton said.
He also dinged Donald Trump, comparing the stories heard last week at the Republican National Convention to the “real” stories about his wife.
“One is real. The other is made up. You just have to decide which is which.” He said that Republicans had created a “cartoon” version of Hillary at their convention.
He drew a roar of approval as he said, “Today, you nominated the real one.”
He talked of her accomplishments as a senator and then as Secretary of State, including her work to win votes in the Senate for an arms reduction treaty with Russia and for engaging in shuttle diplomacy throughout the Mideast and Far East.
“She flew all night from Cambodia to the Middle East to get a ceasefire to avoid a shooting war between Hamas and Israel,” he said.
The first speech was devoted to his personal story of their courtship and marriage and their shared interest in politics and public service.
Clinton began his speech by talking about first meeting Hillary Rodham, finding her presence “magnetic.”
“She had big blond hair and big glasses,” he said, amusingly.
He then talked about their first conversation, “I was so impressed and surprised that, whether you believe it or not, I was momentarily speechless.”
“She was easy to underestimate with her soft manner,” he said, noting that meeting her mother Dorothy and “knowing her was one of he greatest gifts to me.”
He then talked about how his future wife worked with Marian Wright Edelman on the Children’s Defense Fund and took an extra year in law school so she could work on children’s issues.
He also talked about asking her to marry him — and she said yes only after the third try.
“The third time was the charm,” he said, adding that he married his best friend. “I was still in awe of … how smart and strong and loving a caring she was.”
He focused also on the birth of their daughter Chelsea, and when he and Hillary took her to college to college. He largely avoided the 1990s, when he was president.
“I will never forget moving her into her dorm room at Stanford. It would make for a very good reality pic.”
After her parents lingered at seeing their only child ready to leave home, Clinton said, Chelsea finally said, “Mom and dad, time to go.”