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FOIA Number:
2006-0469-F
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting
Series/Staff Member:
Michael Waldman
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
13659
FolderlD:
Folder Title:
Strategic Scheduling: Letter on POTUS Small Dinner Group
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
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�RICHARD J. TRABULSI, JR.
1701 Brun Street
Suite #200
P.O. Box 150488
HOUSTON. TEXAS 77219
(7M) 529-1861
|C|
io
p.
September 11, 1994
Hon. John Dalton
Secretary of the Navy
The Navy Department
The Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20350-1000
Dear John:
This l e t t e r i s to state formally the suggestion I made to
you i n our recent telephone conversation — namely, that
President Clinton undertake regular, small dinner meetings
with ordinary c i t i z e n s . I f one reads the Nicholas-Hay
d i a r i e s , one i s struck at how accessible President Lincoln
was to ordinary Americans. I think t h i s enabled him to stay
close to the people and helped to make him perhaps our
f i n e s t President.
I think today's p o l i t i c a l leaders, especially those housed
in Washington, l i t t l e understand the utter sense of
disenfranchisement f e l t by the American people. I think
t h i s feeling of powerlessness, of distance from government,
i s the reason why term l i m i t s pass by overwhelming
majorities wherever and whenever they are on a ballot and
one reason why we have such poor voter turnouts.
There are lots of f i l t e r s between the President and the
people. The President i s exposed to p o l i t i c i a n s , to
academics, to bureaucrats, to the r i c h , to the powerful, to
the i n f l u e n t i a l , to the p o l l s t e r s , and to the p o l i t i c a l
s t r a t e g i s t s . How often during h i s Presidency has he dined
with a working man (not a union president), with a farmer
(not the head of the national Farm Bureau), with an
independent banker (not the chairman of C i t i c o r p ) , with a
r e t a i l stock broker (not a partner in Goldman Sachs), with a
business transaction lawyer i n a mid-size c i t y (not the
managing partner of Akin Gump), with a pharmacist (not the
director of research for Merck), with a homemaker (not the
editor of Vogue)? When he i s face to face with ordinary
people, i t i s usually ( i f not always) extremely structured,
a media event, and viewed by most persons as j u s t part of
�Hon. John Dalton
September 11, 1994
Page Two of Three Pages
p o l i t i c s rather than as a true outreach by the President to
the people he governs.
I think a l l who govern should from time to time re-read
David Halberstam's The Best And The Brightest. No matter
how b r i l l i a n t our governors, I think i t impossible for them
to govern remotely and govern wisely. Wasn't the American
Revolution the result of disgust with a distant,
i n s e n s i t i v e , and unresponsive governance? I think i t i s
impossible to govern arrogantly and govern well.
Isn't
history replete with examples of "Vietnams", where the
governing e l i t e t r i e s to impose i t s w i l l against the w i l l of
the governed?
I think the President, especially t h i s President, who can be
a r e a l l y good l i s t e n e r , would benefit enormously i f twice a
month he would invite to the West Wing two or three couples,
people who l i v e ordinary l i v e s . Those ordinary l i v e s are
important l i v e s . There i s common sense and wisdom gained
from a l i f e of building a small business, of servicing
banking c l i e n t s , of farming the land, of r a i s i n g children.
Most of the people our President governs lead very different
l i v e s than the l i v e s that are led by Senators, Cabinet
ministers, Wall Street bankers, and p l a i n t i f f s ' lawyers.
Yet the President hears about the anxieties, the hopes, the
frustrations, the expectations of the great mass of the
American people not from them, but from Senators and Cabinet
ministers and Wall Street bankers and p l a i n t i f f s ' lawyers.
Why not occassionally hear directy, without f i l t e r s and
interpretation, from the people themselves?
I have i n mind people l i k e Don and Judy Sherrod, who are
second generation c a t t l e ranchers on the Elk River i n
northern Colorado, and have raised three children, working
hard and loving the land. People l i k e Roland and Judy
Adamson, who l i v e i n Richmond, Texas and have two children;
Judy teaches school and Roland i s executive director of the
George Foundation. These are not p o l i t i c a l l y i n f l u e n t i a l
people, but they are productive, thoughtful c i t i z e n s who
every day l i v e with the consequences of governmental action
and omission, and who have something to say to those who
govern them but no e f f e c t i v e way to say i t . I don't think
any of these folks have the one idea that w i l l unlock the
health care impasse or w i l l deliver the Haitians from Cedras
without s p i l l e d blood. But I do think that these folks w i l l
help the President gain better perspective. Also, as the
�Hon. John Dalton
September 11, 1994
Page Three of Three Pages
people learn (quietly) that he i s doing t h i s , I think they
w i l l respect him for i t .
I know t h i s i s a r a d i c a l ideal Having ordinary c i t i z e n s to
the White House for dinner with the President. Think about
that. I t i s a r a d i c a l , almost unthinkable, idea for our
President to dine with a t r u l y representative sample of the
people he governs. I can think of no better manifestation
of why our people feel so disenfranchised.
Thank you, John, for your interest i n t h i s idea. I
appreciate your service to our country, and I hope to see
you soon.
Sinc^s^ly,
Richard J . Trabulsi, J r .
RJT/dt
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Michael Waldman
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Michael Waldman was Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting from 1995-1999. His responsibilities were writing and editing nearly 2,000 speeches, which included four State of the Union speeches and two Inaugural Addresses. From 1993 -1995 he served as Special Assistant to the President for Policy Coordination.</p>
<p>The collection generally consists of copies of speeches and speech drafts, talking points, memoranda, background material, correspondence, reports, handwritten notes, articles, clippings, and presidential schedules. A large volume of this collection was for the State of the Union speeches. Many of the speech drafts are heavily annotated with additions or deletions. There are a lot of articles and clippings in this collection.</p>
<p>Due to the size of this collection it has been divided into two segments. Use links below for access to the individual segments:<br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+1">Segment One</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+2">Segment Two</a></p>
Creator
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Michael Waldman
Office of Speechwriting
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993-1999
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0469-F
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
Segment One contains 1071 folders in 72 boxes.
Segment Two contains 868 folders in 66 boxes.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Strategic Scheduling: Letter on POTUS Small Dinner Groups
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
Michael Waldman
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 34
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36403"> Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763296">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0469-F Segment 1
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Medium
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Preservation-Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
6/3/2015
Source
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7763296
42-t-7763296-20060469F-Seg1-034-010-2015