Statement on the Passing of Nelson Mandela

Statement by President Clinton on the Passing of Nelson Mandela

Statement

Today the world has lost one of its most important leaders and one of its finest human beings.  And Hillary, Chelsea and I have lost a true friend.
History will remember Nelson Mandela as a champion for human dignity and freedom, for peace and reconciliation. We will remember him as a man of uncommon grace and compassion, for whom abandoning bitterness and embracing adversaries was not just a political strategy but a way of life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Graça and his family and to the people of South Africa. All of us are living in a better world because of the life that Madiba lived.  He proved that there is freedom in forgiving, that a big heart is better than a closed mind, and that life’s real victories must be shared.

###

Hillary Clinton to Speak in Montreal in March

Starting Saturday, December 7, seat reservations will be available for those who would like to hear Hillary Clinton speak to the Montreal Board of Trade in March.

Remarks by the Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 from 6:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT AS OF SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 AT 10 AM

Read more >>>>

These tickets are very reasonable, so if you would like to attend, I recommend you make those reservations as soon as possible! 

Earlier in March, Hillary will address the Vancouver Board of Trade.  It will be interesting to see how the media weaves these Canadian visits into some kind of 2016 scenario.  My guess is that the fabric of that fairy tale will be even more gossamer than the recent fable about the Clintons and the African American community based on a speech and a funeral (they should be ashamed!) in summer and a random photo from a White House event two weeks ago.

Hillary Clinton Helps Inaugurate The Richard C. Holbrooke Forum

Continuing her holiday season of galas, Hillary was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this evening to inaugurate the Richard C. Holbrooke Forum.

Inaugurating the Richard C. Holbrooke Forum

The American Academy in Berlin in New York

On December 4, 2013, the American Academy in Berlin will celebrate the launch of the Richard C. Holbrooke Forum for the Study of Diplomacy and Governance with a gala dinner at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will speak to former Academy Trustee David M. Rubenstein about her longtime friend and colleague Richard Holbrooke, her experiences as America’s chief diplomat, as well as the challenges she believes the United States will confront in the twenty-first century. The dinner will be preceded by a colloquium earlier that afternoon at Hunter College, which will offer a preview of the work of the Holbrooke Forum. Participants will be senior foreign-policy experts, who will explore the challenges facing global leadership on both sides of the Atlantic.
Inaugural Colloquium: “Germany in Europe, the United States in the World: Two Reluctant Hegemons Who Just Want to be Left Alone”
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Location: Four Freedoms Room, Roosevelt House at Hunter College, 47-49 East 65th St.
(Enter through West Lobby and check in at Visitors Desk)
Opening Remarks: John C. Kornblum, former Ambassador to Germany, Academy Trustee
Moderator: Josef Joffe, Publisher, Die Zeit, Academy Trustee
Panelists: Michael Ignatieff, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Toronto; Nader Mousavizadeh, Co-founder, Macro Advisory Partners; Vali Nasr, Dean, The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies; Michael Schaefer, Chairman, BMW Foundation; Ann-Marie Slaughter, President and CEO, New American Foundation, and Princeton University
Gala Dinner
Chaired by Vincent A. Mai, Peter G. Peterson, Joan Ganz Cooney, David M. Rubenstein
Time: 6:30 - 10:00 pm
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue

More information on this event here.

Hillary Clinton, at Holbrooke gala, is silent on Iran but shares warm anecdotes of her life

By Philip Rucker, Updated: Wednesday, December 4, 

NEW YORK — A foreign policy debate is underway about Iran. Asia has become an urgent hot spot. And on Wednesday evening, the Democratic foreign policy establishment gathered in tuxedos and gowns around the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of European statues to hear from the last secretary of state and possibly the next president.

But Hillary Rodham Clinton did not have anything to say about the Iran nuclear deal, nor about the air defense zone over the East China Sea. During 30 minutes of questioning, she simply wasn’t asked.

Read more >>>>

Those who expect her to remark on current foreign policy issues must remember that she is no longer a public official and has no obligation to comment in any way about any matter except as she chooses.  Almost a year out of office, she lacks current inside information.   To make a statement would represent the height of irresponsibility on her part.  She was not part of the Iran negotiations.  What, exactly, do people expect her to say?  Memo to world:  She has turned her former post over to John Kerry.  Do not expect her to comment on his work or performance one way or another.   (I am speaking to you, MoveOn.  Please put your heads on straight.) 

From Hillary Clinton's Too Small to Fail: The Value of Soft Skills

Our ‘Soft Skills’ May Be Most Important Skills of All

Learning how to take turns, control emotions, share with others and pay attention to instruction are important skills for all human beings, regardless of age. But recent research has found that these so-called “soft skills”—social and emotional development skills—are critical to success in school and life, and they actually begin forming earlier than previously believed. In fact, these skills may be the most important skills we learn as they open the path for all future learning.

Beginning from birth, babies interact with their parents and caregivers by crying, babbling, and gazing into their eyes. These first human-to-human interactions help children recognize and understand emotions, and teach them what to expect from future social experiences. Similarly, when very young children are allowed to explore their immediate environment—crawling in their living rooms or practicing self-feeding, for example—they learn self-confidence and how to manage emotions like frustration and fear.

Children who live in high-stress environments due to family instability or violence, or who do not experience nurturing and responsive relationships with parents and caregivers, do not develop the parts of their brains that govern social and emotional skills. As a result, they may exhibit behavior problems and have trouble focusing on important tasks later in life. According to the Urban Institute, kindergarten teachers estimate that 30 percent of low-income children lack the social and emotional skills they will need to participate effectively in school.

Parents and caregivers can help ensure their babies and young children develop important social and emotional skills by talking to their children, cuddling them, remaining calm when they express anger or frustration, and encouraging them to explore their environments safely. With proper support and encouragement, young children can develop healthy social and emotional skills that will serve them well throughout their lives.

Read More:

• In-depth exploration of social and emotional development, from the Urban Institute.
• Children can be encouraged to develop a healthy emotional vocabulary using these simple steps.

In The News:

• “Lifelines for Poor Children”, The New York Times, September 14, 2013

Video The Heckmann Institute outlines the importance of social skills that come out of early learning. >>

Diane Ravitch puts test scores in perspective in light of these very same soft skills. 

What You Need to Know About the International Test Scores

Diane Ravitch

Historian, NYU professor

Posted: 12/03/20

The news reports say that the test scores of American students on the latest PISA test are "stagnant," "lagging," "flat," etc.

The U.S. Department of Education would have us believe -- yet again -- that we are in an unprecedented crisis and that we must double down on the test-and-punish strategies of the past dozen years.

The myth persists that once our nation led the world on international tests, but we have fallen from that exalted position in recent years.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Read more >>>>

Hillary Clinton's Busy Day in NYC: A King and Two Award Galas

Prior to attending two galas honoring her this evening,  Hillary Clinton met with King Mohammed VI in New York City today.

Then she was off to not one but two overlapping events.  Women for Women celebrated their 20th anniversary at the Museum of Natural History on Central Park West and honored her with their 2013 Champion of Peace Award.  The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation presented her with their Global Impact Award at their event at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square.
Here are some twitpics from the AIDS event.  Diane Sawyer presented the award.  I will add pictures should I find more.

This is nice.

Hillary Clinton and Diane Sawyer step down memory lane

By Page Six Team

December 5, 2013 | 12:55am

Global Impact Award Recipient Hillary Rodham Clinton and Journalist Diane Sawyer greet each other on stage during Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's Global Impact Award Gala Dinner .

Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

Hillary Clinton and Diane Sawyer took a trip down memory lane Tuesday night at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation’s 25th-anniversary gala. Sawyer — who was presenting the former secretary of state with the Global Impact Award — recalled her time with Clinton at Wellesley College, when they were “young girls with coke-bottle glasses.” “One of us spent a lot of time having an identity crisis — that was me,” Sawyer told the crowd at the Best Buy Theater. “I went to law school and didn’t graduate, and ended up doing the weather in tight skirts and lamentably pointy bras.” Clinton was quick to set the record straight, saying, “Everything Diane said is inaccurate.” The evening also featured dramatic readings from Glaser’s memoir by Mary Steenburgen and former “ER” stars Julianna Margulies and Gloria Reuben, who we’re told became visibly emotional while reading the excerpt. Other guests in the house included Nigel Barker, Willow Bay and Miss Universe Gabriela Isler.

###

Honors On Hillary Clinton's Agenda

With the long holiday weekend in the rear-view mirror,  Hillary's loyal supporters can look forward to seeing her honored three times this week by organizations she has long supported.  It is always gratifying to see her dedicated work recognized this way.

Congratulations, Mme. Secretary!

The

WOMEN FOR WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

20TH ANNIVERSARY

GALA CELEBRATION

Honoring

The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton

2013 CHAMPION OF PEACE AWARD

---

WfWI Co-Founders

Zainab Salbi and Amjad Atallah

VISIONARY AWARD

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013

American Museum of Natural History

Milstein Hall of Ocean Life

Central Park West at 79th St

New York, NY

6:30PM Cocktail Reception
7:30PM Gala Dinner & Awards Program
Festive Attire
Read more >>>>

Read more >>>>

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton To Be Named 2013 Lantos Prize Laureate

November 7, 2013, WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice today announced that it will award the 2013 Lantos Human Rights Prize, its highest honor, to Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Former Secretary of State will receive the award for her tireless efforts to promote human rights for women around the world and her groundbreaking work on promoting human rights through Internet freedom.  Former recipients of the Lantos Prize include the Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, Paul Rusesabagina and Chen Guangcheng. The award ceremony will take in Washington, DC on December 6, 2013. It will be open to press and coverage is invited. 

“Hillary Rodham Clinton has gained global recognition for her leadership in so many critical arenas, but we are particularly proud to recognize the enormous contributions she has made to human rights causes,” said Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation. “Her proclamation that ‘women’s rights are human rights’ changed the way the world thinks about human rights and opened doors for women in a way that only Hillary Clinton could. Furthermore, Secretary Clinton’s  pioneering work on Internet Freedom has  focused worldwide attention on the urgent need to “tear down the walls” of closed societies that seek to imprison their citizens behind internet firewalls that have become the iron curtains of this “virtual” century, She has also provided a powerful intellectual framework for advancing this central human right of our time.”

In nearly four decades of public service, Hillary Rodham Clinton has served as an advocate, attorney, First Lady, United States Senator and most recently as Secretary of State of the United States. Though she has championed a number of issues ranging from education to health care, Secretary Clinton is revered in the human rights community for her 1995 Beijing speech where she boldly stood up for women’s rights and became a true global champion for those issues. She also broke new ground in 2010 when she declared that governments that fail to allow for Internet freedoms are not only attempting to crush dissent, but to deny human rights.

Read more >>>>