The risks and rewards of the former president on the campaign trail* *Flip the cover for Melania Trump KLMNO SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016 Bill Clinton: ‘Boy, What a Future We Can Make’ P. 22 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION: DESIGN TRENDS P. 16-20 THE QUANDARY THAT IS BILL Can the master politician help secure a Hillary presidency? Or will a misstep complicate her path? STORYBYNEELYTUCKER « Bill Clinton arrives at a campaign rally in Exeter, N.H., in January. he plane descends through a haze of that is now solidly held by Republicans. afternoon heat and humidity, the He touts Hillary: “The Republican head of the Farm Arkansas River appearing as a lazy Bureau on Long Island endorsed her for reelection. ... brown ribbon running through fields And he’s still for her in 2016 ... because he knew she’s of green. There, flanking its southern the real deal!” He jabs Trump: “Anybody that spends all T banks, lies the City of Clinton, also their time trying to keep you mad at somebody else is known as Little Rock. not really your friend.” He recites an anecdote/joke on Once the plane touches down at Bill and Hillary Texas, always popular here, that ends with the punch Clinton National Airport, it’s a short drive downtown line, “If they can suck as hard as they blow ... they’ll have to the William J. Clinton Presidential Center, the all the water they need!” primary feature of which is the William J. Clinton The crowd of 2,000 eats it up. They’ve donated a Library and Museum. collective $500,000 for this night with their former Here, you can stroll into the Clinton Presidential governor, the man from Hope. As the rain pummels Park and across the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge. the roof, they have him all to themselves. The media Or you can walk west onto President Clinton Avenue, platform is near empty. A couple of newspapers, some taking you through the city’s hip River Market local television. Exactly two national news organiza­ district. tions applied for accreditation. But we have not come to see the highs and lows of For the Hillary Clinton campaign, this is perfect. home­state monuments to the 42nd president of the Particularly after his 2008 performance, the job of United States, though there are plenty more to this potential first first gentleman is pretty much the consider. same of any traditional first lady: Do good deeds, As thunderstorms break the heat on this Friday raise some cash and don’t get in front of the evening in July, we’re here because he has acces­ candidate. Bill Clinton, who famously loves to talk, sorizedtheringfingeronhislefthandwithabandof has made more than 400 appearances at fundraisers, gold that has bound him, in so many complicated rallies, shopping malls and so forth in support of his and historic ways, to Hillary Rodham Clinton, the wife’s campaign in the past eight months — but has Democratic nominee to be the 45th president of not given a sit­down interview since last fall. these United States. And yet ... he has already flubbed it. We’re here to see, striding onto the dais for a He made negative front­page news by meeting Democratic fundraiser at Verizon Arena in North with U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch on an Little Rock, the potential first first gentleman in airport tarmac as the FBI was finalizing its investiga­ American history. tion into his wife’s email accounts while she was William J. Clinton is regal in a blue suit — secretary of state. two­button, herringbone­stripe — white shirt and “Bill Clinton has made a mess,” wrote Dan Balz, power­red tie with a matching red H (for Hillary) The Post’s senior political correspondent. lapel pin. Both suit buttons are fastened, perhaps Heading into the homestretch, it seems obvious signifying the formality of the evening. (Twelve days that even if he makes no further mistakes, even if he later, when he wears much the same outfit to the gives brilliant tactical advice, promotes inspiring Democratic National Convention, he will button only programs for the working class and offers soaring one, perhaps signifying the more intimate nature of rhetoric about the Great Promise of America, he is SO SEAMLESSLY DID BILL AND HILLARY WORK that speech.) still going to be pilloried by opponents as being THE IDEA IS THAT THE POTENTIAL FIRST TOGETHER AFTER MEETING AT YALE LAW SCHOOL The silver hair is impeccable. The voice, a bit morally unfit to return to the White House. GENTLEMAN CAN BEST CAMPAIGN AS THE hoarse. Like many ex­pat Southerners, his native He allegedly cheated on his wife, repeatedly, THAT, EVEN BEFORE HIS PRESIDENTIAL BID, twang (“yes­ter­daaay”) has returned now that he’s even in the Oval Office, and with a young woman DEVOTED HUSBAND AND LOVING GRANDPA, THEY WERE ALREADY KNOWN AS “BILLARY.” back home. who wasn’t that much older than their daughter. He STUMPING FAR AWAY FROM THE TRAIL. The prospect of Mr. & Mrs. presidential por­ was impeached by the House of Representatives. traits was raised eight years ago when she ran but Used the Lincoln Bedroom as a fundraising pack­ failed to get out of the primaries — and his angry, age. Said, “I did not have sex with that woman.” Wild Bill outbursts were at least partly blamed. Said, “It depends upon what the meaning of the Now,shouldsheloseagain,itisalmostcertainlythe word ‘is’ is.” Clintons’ last national election after three and a half Fortunately for Team Clinton, there is Team Trump. decades in public life. America’s alternative first spouse is Melania So with the family legacy on the line, with it all Trump. Her website had said she has a college degree down to win­or­go­home, let’s see how the Support­ ive Campaign Spouse is holding up this time around. Above: Hillary and Bill Clinton laugh during the dedication He’s easy and relaxed on stage, name­checking ceremony of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little friends in the audience — “Davie, you remember Rock in 2004. Opposite page: The couple at Wellesley this?”— and seeking to motivate the base in a state College in Wellesley, Mass., in 1979. 24 The Washington Post Magazine . August 21, 2016 PHOTO: BROOKS KRAFT LLC/SYGMA VIA GETTY IMAGES PHOTOS: PREVIOUS PAGES BY ANDREW HARRER/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES; ABOVE BY ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES (she has also testified in court that she has one), but “I realize not everybody gets to see the Hillary we journalists who have examined her academic record know, and that’s where you and I come in. The people report they could not verify it. who love Hillary have got to do what we can to make In her one and only campaign speech, she plagia­ sure everyone knows what she’s about.” rized Michelle Obama. Also, the third wife of the After asking for a donation — starting as low as $3 Republican nominee once posed nude for the cover of — he signs off as “Bill.” British GQ. The headline: “NAKED SUPERMODEL Getting the picture? The idea, at least so far, is SPECIAL!” that the potential first gentleman can best campaign In the battle of spouses, it is Bill “blue dress” as the devoted husband and loving grandpa, stump­ Clinton vs. Melania “no dress” Trump. Vote your ing for votes far away from the trail. This is what he conscience, America. often did in 2008, too — he made 47 stops in seven weeks before the Pennsylvania primary, most of them in small towns — but that season, he was most “In the spring of 1971,” Clinton told the Democratic certainly not the Supportive Spouse. National Convention in Philadelphia in late July, “I “The constant fear is that he will embarrass her,” met a girl.” the New Yorker wrote in a May 2008 story titled, It was his very first sentence, spoken with raised “Bill vs. Barack.” “Every story has seemed to reinforce hands and eyebrows. It was fond, affectionate and an image of Clinton as a sort of ill­tempered coot completely focused on his dazzling and impressive driven a little mad by Obama’s success” running spouse who happens to be your candidate. For nearly against Hillary. 45 minutes, he waxed eloquent about their marriage This year, the campaign is once again dispatching of 40 years, their ups and downs (prudently skipping him to Small Town, U.S.A. the details on the downs), and even, in a presidential “He can travel to smaller television markets that campaign first, talked about the moment “her water we simply don’t have the time to get her to,” says broke.” Robby Mook, Hillary’s campaign manager. “He can In Little Rock, two weeks earlier, it took him speak to rural and Southern voters with particular nearly45minutestomentionmuchabouthisspouse credibility because of his time as governor of Arkan­ at all. He spoke about Democratic Party values and sas.” the vast financial inequalities in the nation and All that said? You dance with the one that brung opioid addictions in coal country and wind farms in ya. Iowa. Bill Clinton is one of the most brilliant political When he finally did mention his wife, it was minds of his generation. He’s the original political strictly business: “Boy, what a future we can make. star in the family. Despite his well­documented That’s what Hillary’s whole campaign is about.” shortcomings, he is still his wife’s best fundraiser, Taken together, the speeches show him at his and “both from a substantive but also tactical supportive best.