Distinguished lecture series. We would ask that you please silence your cell phones. A little activity there. Let me begin by first lifting up those who have been impacted in our giving and are dealing with hurricane dorian. If you are able, please consider supporting relief efforts. Clintonrd dean of the school, and on behalf of at t, the Clinton Foundation, and the Clinton School, we are glad youre here. Special thanks to catherine and compurisrue and dean for establishing this series honoring their parents. What a gift. [applause] and what a tribute to your mom and your dad. Just please know how grateful we are. I want to recognize the new class of Clinton School students. Stand up, guys. [applause] as well as our returning students, our faculty, our staff and our very talented group of alumni, right over there. [applause] also joining us, congressman french hill, university of arkansas system president don, and his wife, susan. System Vice President for academic affairs, current and former members of the board of trustees, several members of the federal and state judiciary, the staff of the national archives, many elected officials including little rock mayor, frank scott. [applause] and guests from all over the region. We are pleased to welcome the students from a Philander Smith college, and several other campuses including the constitutional law class at university of arkansaslittle rock school of law. This event could not have happened without the long hours and hard work on the Clinton Foundation and Clinton School staff, along with the support of many dedicated volunteers. Thank you all very much. [applause] a few months ago, i heard a 10yearold anna Lee Castleberry deliver a personal and inspiring speech. In her remarks, she listed people she most admired and in addition to her family members, she proudly said, and i quote, rbg. [applause] this evening, she is here, sitting with us. As a salute to the many young people who are also inspired by Justice Ginsburg. Lee, we are glad to have you here. Again, thank you all for joining us, and thank you for making all this possible. [applause] good evening. I am also thrilled to be here with all of you at our largest compuris distinguished lecture ever. [applause] we knew that Justice Ginsburg would draw a large crowd. Larger than the centers great hall could hold. We were right. We have enough people here tonight to fill 40 great halls. [applause] as a young white house staffer, i had the honor of being in the rose garden on a very sunny day in june 1993. When president clinton announced his nominee for the United StatesSupreme Court. Although i was somewhat familiar with the judge ginsburgs accomplishments, she had already achieved so many firsts, i was not prepared to be awestruck. Her remarks that they were poignant and powerful and have stayed with me all these years. As she was wrapping up, she thanked the many people who had helped her along the way and she saved the last thank you for her mother, cecelia bader. Justice ginsburg described her as the bravest and strongest person she had ever known. She said, and i quote, i pray that i may be all she would have been had she lived in an age when women could aspire and daughters could be cherished as much as sons. I believe your mother would be very proud. You have accomplished so much. [applause] and you are cherished by so many. It is now my honor to introduce is cherished by so many of us. For hisecting the site president ial center, president clinton said, one reason he chose his beloved home state was because he would have never become president without the support of the people from arkansas. [applause] as congressman french hill shared with a group of educators shared at the Clinton Center last month, the Clinton Center has made a lasting educational and economic impact. It is the gift that keeps on giving. [applause] and 15 years after we opened our doors, the clinton president ial center continues to give back to our community and our state. I think this program tonight is a good example. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome the 40th and 42nd governor of the great state of arkansas, the 42nd president of the United States, and the founder of the Clinton Foundation, bill clinton. [applause] clintomr. Clinton thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I want to thank stephanie and skip for the work they do at the Clinton Center, at the Clinton School of public service. I want to thank the family for sponsoring this lecture series. And thank you. [applause] fmr. Pres. Clinton i want to thank all of you. I tried to entertain Justice Ginsburg for a few moments before we came over here by telling her a story of my adventures and misadventures in her politics. In arkansas politics, back when we thought of each other as people, as threedimensional human beings, before we realized we were just twodimensional cartoons. [applause] and as is fairly well known now, i had not actually actually met Justice Ginsburg until that memorable sunday evening in june of 1993, when she came to see me at the white house. I had already interviewed two other people and it immediately leaked to the press. I had a lot of young aides who worked hard, and were good people, but if a reporter called them, they were more afraid to say, i dont know, than anything else, so i got a big kick out of it. I sneaked who is now one of the most famous people in the world into the white house and nobody knew. [laughter] less been president for than a year, and i already had a Supreme Court appointment to make. I wanted to do a good job. Then, was one of three people still in the running. Judge ginsburg was one of three people still in the running. They were all excellent candidates. I carefully reviewed their resume but also their life stories. Hillary and a lot of other people had already to me that i needed to take a hard look at ruth bader ginsburg. Hilary had met her grand daughter, because she went to a preschool event not long before i announced her appointment. Her granddaughter was a pretty good advertisement for her grandmother. She told me you need to know about this person, because she actually lived what she believes. For those who havent seen the recent film about her mark of a life, a very short version she grew up in brooklyn in a family of modest means and as you heard stephanie say, thanks to her mothers relentless early encouragement, she attended Cornell University and then harvard law, where she helped her husband and partner marty through Cancer Treatment while raising a daughter and earning a degree. When he took a job in new york, she left harvard. Now, that was a big sacrifice. There were than 500 people at Harvard Law School, and she was one of nine women. [applause] fmr. Pres. Clinton today, most students in law school are women. [applause] after she graduated from law school, she went on to cofound the womens rights project at the aclu and began her career as a judge. Still, when the legal field was not particularly open to women. From the start of our first conversation in 1993, i got why so many people were hoping i would appoint her. She was both brilliant, and had a good head on her shoulders. She was rigorous, but warmhearted. She had a great sense of humor and a sensible, achievable judicial philosophy. She also kept the moral compass and the mental toughness that guided her from humble beginnings. I was so engrossed with her story, i just kept peppering her with questions. The i suddenly felt that i was really not interviewing somebody for the Supreme Court at all, i was just a guy talking to somebody that i really liked, and that i hoped could be a part of our future. Constitutionalht law, and i knew how much the Supreme Court mattered. Even to people who didnt know it, i knew that it affects all of america, sometimes very personally and deeply. I always thought a Supreme Court justice should have the heart spirit, talent, common sense and , wisdom to translate the hopes of the American People and a for fairitimate desire in all thereatment cases presented to it, and to an enduring body of constitutional law that would preserve our most cherished values and still enable the American People to move forward. When i ran for president , i promised the American People that kind of justice. I think i cant that promise. That promise. Ept [applause] appointed Justice Ginsburg for three reasons. First, she proved to be one of the nations best judges on the bench, progressive and outlook and judgment, balanced and fair in opinion. Second, she had a lifetime of pioneering work on behalf of women, and she had a truly historic record of achievement there. Before she was a judge, she argued six cases involving gender discrimination before the Supreme Court and won 5 of them. That is a better average than most people have. [applause] fmr. Pres. Clinton finally, i thought she had the ability to build, and ground in a country that was our day becoming increasingly polarized. To find a way whenever possible for the court to be an instrument of our common unity and fidelity to the constitution. She had already proved herself to be a hero. Time and again, our moral imagination had cooled the fires calling for discord. She ensured that jurists kept their right to dissent without entangling the court in endless animosities. In short, i liked her and i believed in her. I just knew that she was the right person for the court, but i have to say, in the last 26 years, she has far exceeded even my expectations. [applause] she has written landmark opinions advancing gender equality, marriage equality, the rights of people with disabilities, and the rights of immigrants. [applause] and she is almost as wellknown for her amazing dissenting opinions. [applause] , she offers an alternative vision about how america ought to work for everybody, how it ought to be. How votes ought to be counted, not discredit. How districts should be fair. I could go on. There are seven or eight of those dissents that i just read every now and then when i am bored, and want to be reminded about why i still believe in americas constitution. [applause] but i have to say this. One thing i did not see coming when i nominated her is her ascendance to popculture icon. [laughter] her workout routine is marveled at. [laughter] hillary got me a book, the rbg workout, and said i bet you cant do it. Yeah, i can. I am just a kid. Just 73 years old. I can do this. [laughter] i had to work out on my weight machine and do other stuff for two months before i could complete her workout. [applause] regularly, she is portrayed on saturday night live delivering. Er blistering ginsburns [laughter] now you can see her image and her quotes on tshirts, tote bags, coffee mugs the world over. You could become resentful of such a person. [laughter] but you are not. We like her because she seems so totally on the level. In a world hungry for people who are not trying to con you. She is on the level. [applause] she spent a lifetime trying to give other people from the get go the opportunity she spent her early life struggling to reach. In one of her law review articles, she wrote figures of the american judiciary with open but not empty minds. The people willing to listen and learn have exhibited a readiness to examine their own premises, liberal or conservative, as thoroughly as those of others. She has lived her life doing that. And somehow, she has also found the time not only to attend just about every opera ever produced, and shelly, if yo actually appeared on the stage of some of them as well. Not very long ago, i had the honor of going to the university of virginia, to a special symposium on the presidency. Define it seems you can the presidency of everyone who served by having answer to questions connected to the oath of office. You have to promise to protect and uphold the constitution, and those two questions can be found in the first page of the we the people of the United States, in order to form a more Perfect Union. The same could be said of Supreme Court justices. The two questions are, who is in we, the people, and what does a more Perfect Union mean . I believe for ruth bader ginsburg, we the people is all of us. And i believe [applause] that in her more Perfect Union, all of us are on equal terms at home. [applause] she will be interviewed tonight by nprs remarkable Legal Affairs correspondent, and i think we have reached the stage in her life where i can admit without hurting her career, one of my favorite journalists. Nina totenberg. [laughter] [applause] now, here is the last thing i want to say, and i am confident i speak for everyone in this only one person here appointed her, and one person, senator david pryor, voted for her, but all of us hope that she will stay on that court forever. [cheers and applause] fmr. Pres. Clinton ladies and gentlemen, Justice Ginsburg and nina totenberg. [applause] all Justice Ginsburg thank you. Thank you. [cheers and applause] [chanting] rbg rbg rbg Justice Ginsburg thank you, thank you thank you rbg rbg rbg ms. Totenberg thank you all for coming. I think Justice Ginsburg and i have never, ever, appeared before an audience this large before. [laughter] [cheers and applause] i understand that normally this is, i guess, recently the worldwide wrestling entertainment [laughter] we are not going to wrestle each other. [laughter] we are going to try to entertain you a bit and inform you. You have heard president clinton describing why he picked Justice Ginsburg, but i think i should start this interview asking you about that interview. So let me set the stage. The year is 1993, the new president is flirting with all manner of potential Supreme Court nominations, and the names keep getting leaked to the likes of me. [laughter] and behind the scenes, martin the inimitable Martin Ginsberg is doing everything in his power to promote his tiny but officious wife. And finally, you get a call from the white house counsel, and it is a call that you had long hoped for, but you are in something of a fashion dilemma. Tell us about how you got the call that day calling you to the white house and what your fashion dilemma was. Justice ginsburg i was called on a saturday in vermont, where i was to attend a wedding. Bernie nussbaum said the president wants to meet you. Please come out to d. C. And i said, well, ive come all this way to attend a wedding. Can i come tomorrow morning . [laughter] and he said, fine. Youll go right from the airport to the white house. And i said, but ill be wearing my traveling clothes. Well, that is ok. The president would be just coming off a golf course. So i arrive in my plainclothes, handsomemes a very president wearing his sunday best, because he had just come from church. [laughter] ms. Totenberg so what was the conversation like . What kinds of things did he ask . And did you have a good time, or were you in interview agony . Justice ginsburg i didnt hear that did you have a good time . Justice ginsburg i had a wonderful time. It was very easy to talk to the president. We talked about constitutional law. After all, he was a constitutional law professor. We talked about family. We talked about many things. I found the experience with some men that they have certain discomfort talking to a woman. That was not that way with president clinton. [laughter] [applause] ms. Totenberg i was told after that interview by a number of white house aides that he just fell for you hook, line and , sinker. When we were talking, he said in five minutes, i had just fallen for her hook line and sinker. [laughter] when did you get the word, do i recall that you got a call from Bernie Nussbaum when you were in the bathtub or Something Like that, that night . Justice ginsburg [laughter] it was rather late on sunday it was one of the happiest moments of my life. I was absolutely on cloud nine. And then the president said, and tomorrow morning, we will have a little ceremony in the rose garden and we would like you to make a few remarks. So i had to come down from the cloud, sit at my writing table. I liked the remarks. It was the only time in that entire episode one there was no time for white house handlers to go over what i was going to say. [laughter] it was my own words unedited. Ms. Totenberg you then went into a confirmation process. I think in the end you got i am not sure about this i think there were only Justice Ginsburg 963. Ms. Totenberg 963. [cheers and applause] ms. Totenberg republicans today often cite the ginsberg rule. When i go back and read the transcripts, i read about what your rule was, but it strikes me that in light of modern confirmation hearings, nominees are considerably less responsive, of all political stripes, not just republican nominees. You actually answered questions about abortion and the death penalty, and all kinds of things. Justice ginsburg the ginsberg rule was, please do not ask a question that may come before the court, because then, i would have to disqualify myself if i gave you an answer. A judge is not supposed to react off the top of her head when a question is presented to us. We read first o