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Article: Winner but not champion: President Clinton and the separated system. (US President Bill Clinton, three-pronged democratic system)
- Article from:
- Brookings Review
- Article date:
- June 22, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Brookings Institution. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In a news conference after winning the heavyweight championship, Cassius Clay, as he was then known, responded sharply to reporters' badgering, "I don't have to be who you want me to be. I am free to be who I am." In those words Muhammad Ali declared his independence from the archetype sports hero created by those who earn their living tracking and testing the winners.
Is Bill Clinton free to be who he is? Or does he have to be what we want him to be? Certainly, Clinton was the winner in the contest that made him president. But unlike heavyweight boxing's tide bout, the presidential contest cannot produce a champion--by constitutional design. The most outstanding ...