EXCLUSIVE: Clinton, Bush, Obama and Biden Share Message for America250

[0:00] We're back at 808 now with a Today exclusive, part of NBC News' Common Ground initiative aimed at bringing people together in search of solutions to the challenges we face across the country. [0:11] Well, Jenna is here. She had the chance to sit down with each of the four former U.S. presidents for their reflections ahead of America's 250th anniversary in July. [0:20] Yeah, I did, you guys. The former presidents were all gathered in Philadelphia at a private event hosted by the History Channel. [0:26] It's called History Talks. It's in partnership with our parent company, Comcast. [0:31] I caught up with each of the former presidents on the sideline of the event. [0:36] We talked about what inspired their service to our country, their legacies, and I asked them to share their messages to the American people on our country's historic anniversary. [0:49] Jefferson Clinton. [0:51] It's a time-honored tradition, 250 years strong. [0:55] I, George Walker Bush, do solemnly swear. [0:57] The American people electing their leaders. [1:00] Hi, Barack Hussein Obama. [1:01] The president's an indelible mark on our nation's history. [1:05] Hi, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., do solemnly swear. [1:09] Serving their country, the highest office in the land. [1:13] Hi, Dad. [1:15] What's it like to be part of the ex-president club? [1:19] Well, it can be boring when we're all together. [1:22] No, it's an honor. [1:24] There's a great camaraderie because we all share something special. [1:28] Our nation's leaders, each carrying the weight of those promises and the ideals of our founding fathers. [1:36] There is a weight of the presidency that few can understand. [1:41] You understand it. [1:41] I understand it. [1:43] I found that people were ready to help. [1:46] Look, I mean, I was a senator for a long time, been in that building a lot of times. [1:49] Yes. [1:50] 36 years I was a senator and then eight years as vice president. [1:55] And it was an opportunity to be able to focus on the things that I thought needed to happen. [2:02] What was your favorite part about being the president? [2:07] You get to meet the widest possible cross-section of the American people. [2:13] You know, every corner of this country is just full of really amazing, hardworking, decent people. [2:21] And getting that broad overview of who we are as Americans, it made me much less cynical. [2:29] It made me less prone to think there's an us and a they. [2:34] For some, that inspiration came from the very place they would one day call home, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. [2:43] At 16 years old, you walked into the White House and met then-president JFK. [2:50] What did that moment do to inspire a 16-year-old kid from Hope, Arkansas to want a life in service? [2:58] It made a huge impression on me. [3:00] It made me realize that a president, even on a bad day, can do something good for somebody. [3:11] That's what I took out of it. [3:13] I just couldn't believe he was spending all that time with us. [3:17] Everybody says when you become president that they remember it, blah, blah, blah. [3:20] And that I knew when I was standing in the Rose Garden that I was going to be there someday. [3:26] That's just not true. [3:27] You couldn't have even imagined it at 16. [3:29] No. I thought I wanted to be a United States Senator from Arkansas. [3:33] I did dream of doing that. [3:36] I never dreamed I'd be president. [3:38] What were you most grateful for about the experience of being president of the United States? [3:43] Well, I think this was the greatest honor of my life, or any American's life. [3:49] The idea that a kid from Scranton, Pennsylvania, we weren't poor, but we're a middle-class guy, [3:55] could, you know, used to have a stutter, could end up being president of the United States. [4:00] It's just kind of a story of what America's all about. [4:06] These formers, as they are called, remembered for leading our country through some of our greatest challenges. [4:12] What do you think was the most historically significant moment of your presidency? [4:18] 9-11. [4:19] I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. [4:24] I think historians will analyze that day, America's response after that day. [4:30] It was a reminder that the human condition elsewhere matters to the security of this country. [4:35] It mattered then. It matters now, by the way. [4:39] But I think people want to know how the country responded. [4:44] And it was overwhelming volunteerism, starting with the military. [4:49] It was an outpouring of patriotism. We can recapture that. [4:53] I hope it doesn't require a crisis, but it's still latent in the American soul. [4:57] Your presidency was a historic one. You were the first black president of our country. [5:02] What do you think the history books are going to look back and say? [5:07] It's very hard for us to judge our place in history. That's up to other people. [5:12] I can speak about what an extraordinary honor it was to serve the American people. [5:18] I can speak to how inspired I was to hear the stories of folks out there who were doing wonderful things in their communities, [5:27] helping each other out, being good neighbors. [5:34] Maybe one thing I am proud of is the fact that I think we upheld the integrity and the honor of the office [5:41] and how we conducted ourselves and how we ran our administration. [5:45] What are you most grateful for, for all your years of service and your time as president? [5:53] I am grateful that I had a chance to do what President Kennedy said everyone should want to do, [6:01] to make maximum use of the talents God gave me and to do it in a way that benefited other people. [6:10] You know, you can get up every day, no matter how bad it is. [6:13] You can make something good happen for somebody. And that is a gift beyond imagining. [6:23] How do you hope the history books see your service? [6:27] Well, I hope it's not unlike I see your dad's and your grandfather's service [6:33] as generated by making sure everybody got a shot. [6:39] My dad used to say, look, Joey, everyone's entitled to a shot. No guarantee. Everyone's entitled to a shot. Guarantee. [6:44] Two 50 years later, a nation testocracy that endures. [6:58] You ran on a simple yet effective principle, which was hope. [7:02] Yeah. [7:03] Do you still feel that hope in our country? [7:06] I do. I, I, you know, um, the first time I was on the national stage and I talked about hope. [7:13] Hope of difficulty. [7:18] I reminded people hope is not blind optimism. [7:21] The audacity of hope. [7:23] Hope arises in the face of difficulty, in the, in the face of uncertainty. [7:29] And obviously we're going through some uncertain times, but when you look at the sweep of American history, [7:34] we've gone through rough patches and we tend to come out on the other side of them stronger. [7:42] Family members can't sit across from one another and debate. [7:46] Well, we can. [7:46] We can. [7:47] Yeah. [7:47] And we have. [7:48] Right. [7:48] For a long time. [7:49] Yes, we have. [7:50] But what, what can help us bring us back to each other? [7:56] Well, I think one of the things about the 250th is a chance to focus on, uh, the common good [8:02] and the wonders of this country, the history of this country. [8:06] The fact that you can worship freely without government tell you how to worship. [8:10] The fact that you can speak in the public square without being jailed. [8:13] The fact that we have a press that's willing to hold the power for to account. [8:17] I mean, these are all things that should and generally do unite us. [8:21] I am not concerned about the long-term health of our country because I've studied enough history [8:25] to know that we've been through the periods of the, of intense, uh, anger and intense, uh, [8:32] uh, rivalry of ideas. [8:34] Uh, but the beauty about democracy, Jen, is that it's self-correcting. [8:39] And one of the key things I'm going to try to do during the 250 is encourage citizens to [8:46] participate in the process. [8:47] And if you don't like what's going on, vote. [8:50] And that's how America heals itself. [8:52] I'm not sure we're as divided as we portray it. [8:58] I'm sure there's anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of the people who are on the one end here. [9:05] But I think the vast majority of people are coming around to conclude that, you know, [9:10] those things, they don't even think about it directly, but they're safeguards in the Constitution. [9:15] I think people are beginning to realize they're sort of being trampled on right now. [9:20] So I'm hopeful that people are going to begin to say, [9:24] wait, wait, wait, wait, we got to slow this thing up. [9:26] We're coming to the 250th anniversary of the country. [9:29] And, uh, for me, it, I think it reminds people that democracies depend on certain basic rules. [9:37] In 1993, when, when you became president, my grandfather left you a letter. [9:46] Uh, what did that letter mean? [9:48] It meant the world, because it basically said, we had a tough campaign, it's over, you've won, [9:57] and I wish you well, because you're all our president now, and your success is America's [10:06] and every American's, so I really wish you well. [10:11] I kept that letter close at hand for years after the, I read it. [10:17] I was just so touched by it. [10:19] And then when your dad was elected, I wrote him a letter that said basically the same thing. [10:26] What do you think we can learn from that in this moment in history? [10:33] That America is bigger than anybody's personal hopes and dreams. [10:40] For the American people, sometimes it's the smallest gestures that have the biggest impact. [10:47] I get a little antsy, as I'm sure you know. [10:49] And I was sitting next to Michelle, that's what happened, that's who I sit next to at funerals. [10:54] And, uh, I was kind of teasing her and stuff, and I slipped her an Altoid. [10:58] Not as a joke, but, uh, I thought she might want one. [11:02] And, uh, I got in the car afterwards and she said, you're trending. [11:06] I didn't know what trending meant. [11:07] And, uh, and it turns out that country is starved to see a, you know, white center-right Republican [11:15] and an African-American center-left Democrat having fun and being able to, uh, converse, [11:23] not as political figures, but as citizens. [11:26] And, uh, I, I, I intend to continue to try to do that. [11:29] Our next chapter filled with the same passion and determination on all sides to hold close [11:37] to the principles that built America and made her strong. [11:42] As we're celebrating 250 years of our democracy, what message do you have to Americans? [11:49] Remember what's best in us. [11:51] Um, the, the basic principle upon which this country was founded, which is, uh, we don't [11:59] have rulers, we don't have kings or monarchs or aristocracies, uh, we have citizens. [12:07] And if we hold true to that idea that we, the people, uh, have been gifted this chance of [12:17] self-government, if, if we pay attention to, uh, our responsibilities and our duties, and if [12:25] we extend respect and thoughtfulness to our fellow citizens, um, even if we disagree with [12:33] them, if, if, if we understand that part of this democratic project is to sort through our [12:40] differences in peaceful, legal ways, um, then, uh, I'm confident that we're going to have [12:48] another 250 year run that's going to be just as good. [12:51] The country will survive as much by the process, by the freedom to speak, by the freedom to [12:57] vote, by the freedom to be active in politics, as by any particular issue. [13:05] And as the reason, because it's like it is, compromise is essential. [13:11] We're the most unique country in the world, the most unique country in the world in the [13:16] sense that we really do think democracy is dictated by the rules of the Constitution. [13:22] And we do believe, and we act, and when we do, we do well, that all men are created equal. [13:29] My message is consider yourself fortunate to be a part of, uh, a great nation. [13:34] Study our history so you, you have a better sense for what the future will be like, [13:38] and be a citizen, not a spectator. [13:41] And by that, I mean participate in the process, but also love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved [13:46] yourself. [13:47] See, one of the beauties of this country is that there are thousands and thousands of citizens [13:51] who volunteer on a daily basis to help somebody in need. [13:56] They're often not heralded, but they make a huge difference one person at a time. [14:02] And, uh, I would hope people will take a look at our history and realize we're an imperfect [14:07] nation trying to be more perfect, but be optimistic about the future of the country. [14:16] Hear, hear. [14:17] What a great conversation. [14:19] It really, I mean, what an honor. [14:21] I realized when I was flying home, I mean, I've interviewed each of them. [14:25] I know you all have too, but to get to be with them all on one day, they have different [14:29] beliefs, different thoughts. [14:30] They've served differently. [14:32] But, you know, to hear them all say, I have hope in our country, I'm optimistic. [14:39] My dad did say we, we, we didn't have time in that, um, documentary to put this in, but, [14:45] um, he did say he was going to bring, they're all going to be together for President Obama's [14:50] library opening early, later this summer. [14:52] And he said he was going to bring Mrs. Obama a crate of Altoids. [14:56] I love that moment. [14:57] I mean, I mean, I said a lot of good things, but that really resonated with me, [15:01] because I remember that moment with him and, and Michelle, and it was so needed just [15:05] watching them. [15:05] But he's right, that starvation for it. [15:08] It also shouldn't be trending, it shouldn't be the unusual thing, it should be something [15:12] that common courtesy, but, you know, this 250 years and a conversation like that is a gift [15:17] because it gives perspective, and that is so vanishingly rare. [15:21] So thank you, Jenny, you did a beautiful job. [15:23] You know, also, um, we were all at the history talks, we were in one room and they were coming [15:27] back to back, and we had this moment where President Clinton and President Biden were together, [15:33] which was great, you know, because we also don't often get to see them together. [15:38] So it was really nice to see. [15:41] They had a meet-cute, had that interview location. [15:43] Exactly. [15:43] It was also, it was refreshing to hear just how optimistic all of them were and still are [15:50] about the next 250 minutes. [15:52] We live in a really special country. [15:53] But a clarion call, too, to all of us citizens, you know. [15:56] Yeah, to pay attention. [15:57] Exactly. [15:58] Does your dad know about trending now? [15:59] No, he still doesn't. [16:00] I told him he was trending when he also had that poncho over him. [16:04] Oh, yeah. [16:05] That's right. [16:06] How does he not have a deal with Altoids? [16:08] I know. [16:09] You guys, we should mention the History Talks event traditionally features former presidents, [16:14] you know, obviously, to talk about their legacies, and we should know that the History [16:18] Channel is also working with President Trump on an America 250 project, which they plan [16:23] to announce later this spring. [16:25] Well done. [16:25] All right. [16:25] Thank you, guys. [16:26] Enjoy that. [16:27] Thank you. [16:27] All right. [16:28] She's going to have more of her conversation with the former president. [16:30] She's going to have more of her conversations ahead in the fourth hour as well. [16:32] Hey, thanks for watching. [16:33] And don't forget, you can catch the Today Show every morning on NBC or take Today when [16:39] you're on the go. [16:40] Just follow the Today podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.