Former President Bill Clinton headlined the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, delivering a passionate and personal stump speech on behalf of his wife, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Clinton opened his speech on a personal note. “In the spring of 1971 I met a girl,” he began, telling the story of his first encounter with Hillary Rodham. “Believe it or not, momentarily, I was speechless.”
WATCH: Bill Clinton shares story of first meeting Hillary: #DNCinPHL #Decision2016 https://t.co/y6Hs5OTwp7
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 27, 2016
Clinton explained how his future wife influenced him and helped steer him towards a life in government: “Hillary opened my eyes to a whole new world of public service by private citizens.”
Clinton maintained a personal focus throughout the speech, using tales about his family as a recurrent narrative thread as he weaved a long tale recounting his and Hillary’s long careers in government, calling Hillary “the best darn changemaker I’ve ever met in my entire life.”
The word "yarn" doesn't begin to describe this epic by Bill Clinton. pic.twitter.com/zVip0kkMVk
— Brad Mielke (@TheBradMielke) July 27, 2016
One thing's for sure: No one could ever accuse Bill Clinton of plagiarizing this speech.
— Gregory Korte (@gregorykorte) July 27, 2016
"She's a change-maker" shows how worried Clinton camp is about Trump's "Hillary Clinton’s message is that things will never change."
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 27, 2016
Clinton’s intensely personal speech included accounts of his engagement to Hillary (which he said required multiple marriage proposals) and the birth of their daughter Chelsea:
Mission of Bill Clinton's speech tonight: Humanize Hillary. #DemsInPhilly
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) July 27, 2016
Another first: a story about a presidential nominee’s water breaking. #DemsInPhilly
— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) July 27, 2016
To the surprise of some, Clinton made no mention of his impeachment or the sex scandals of the 1990s in the linear narrative of his marriage, which otherwise painted an intimate picture:
He's dwelling so much on their relationship that he may have to allude at least to troubles in it that he caused, and her forgiveness.
— Ramesh Ponnuru (@RameshPonnuru) July 27, 2016
For Bill to dwell on 1998 would make it about him, not Hillary.
— Irin Carmon (@irin) July 27, 2016
Clinton’s most memorable moment came when he turned to the choice facing voters in the 2016 election, saying that the difference between the Republican and Democratic campaign narratives is that “One is real, the other is made up.”
.@billclinton calls the @HillaryClinton presented at #RNCinCLE as "fake." #DemsInPhilly pic.twitter.com/m0OKwycYr4
— Mashable News (@MashableNews) July 27, 2016
"One is real. One is made up." I could literally imagine Omar Little saying that. CLINTON COMIN'. #DemsInPhilly
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) July 27, 2016
Clinton returned to the personal to wrap up his speech: “I’ve lived a long, full, blessed life. It really took off when I met and fell in love with that girl in the spring of 1971.”
Bill Clinton: "I've lived a long, full, blessed life. It really took off when I met and fell in love with that girl" https://t.co/TJaa8iQq8L
— CNN (@CNN) July 27, 2016
Response to Clinton’s performance was generally positive, with the former president even drawing compliments from some conservatives:
"Wedding toast gone bad" — Steve Schmidt says of Bill Clinton speech. Says it was too long.
— Michael Barbaro (@mikiebarb) July 27, 2016
Andrew Sullivan on Bill Clinton's "superb" reintroduction of Hillary: https://t.co/lZaW2lgZWH pic.twitter.com/XESrZbiKMi
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) July 27, 2016
Years ago #BillClinton when president was telling staff those stories about young Hillary. Authentic to me. @CNN
— David Gergen (@David_Gergen) July 27, 2016
One week ago, the featured prime time speaker was Ben Carson.
— Matt Viser (@mviser) July 27, 2016