AOL News has a new home! The Huffington Post.

Click here to visit the new home of Politics Daily!

Hot on HuffPost:

See More Stories
Politics Daily
FEED
WOMAN UP

Bill Clinton's Lasting Legacy May Be Haiti's Earthquake Recovery Effort

1 year ago
  0 Comments Say Something  »
Text Size
Suzi Parker
Suzi Parker
Correspondent
Author Bio »
Contact Author »
Subscribe :
Bill Clinton's love for Haiti began in Arkansas.

In 1975, he and wife Hillary traveled to the Caribbean nation for a delayed honeymoon. When he became president nearly two decades later, Haiti was on his early agenda, with the goal of ending the violent military dictatorship there and restoring its elected president.

After Clinton left the White House, his work continued in Haiti through his Clinton Global Initiative and the United Nations. When the devastating 7.0 earthquake struck the country a year ago, on Jan. 12, Clinton traveled to the country six days later with supplies.

The former president, who is the U.N.'s special envoy for Haiti, has returned to mark the one-year anniversary of the quake and to evaluate progress and problems. He has visited 13 times since the catastrophe that killed more than 200,000 people and left millions homeless.

In Little Rock, where Clinton's fascination with the Third World country ignited, the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center is currently hosting an exhibit, "Haiti: Building Back Better," that celebrates the beleaguered nation's history and outlines its current state.

"The Haitian people are reimagining their future," Clinton says in a film that welcomes exhibit visitors. "It won't be easy. It won't be quick, but it can be done. There are great reasons to hope."

The exhibit, mounted in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution, begins on the museum's first floor with a history of Haiti and a display of pre-Columbian stone artifacts. But it quickly jumps to the 1990s when Clinton, in his first 18 months as president, worked with the United Nations and the Organization of American States to strengthen economic sanctions against the ruling junta -- Haiti's eighth -- and its surrogates. When Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned as president in 1994, Clinton called it "the beginning of a new era of hope for the people of Haiti . . . and a victory for freedom throughout the world."

News footage of Aristide and Clinton at the Presidential Palace plays on a continual loop.

Historical points, which remind visitors that Clinton has worked to change the course of Haiti's history, are made amid displays of vivid papier-mache masks, vibrant paintings given to the Clintons (one by director Jonathan Demme) and glittery gifts from current Haitian President Rene Preval. For example, one display spotlights Hillary Clinton's two-day visit to the country in November 1998. The purpose of the trip was "to encourage the people and assess progress" after Hurricane Georges. The floor-to-ceiling display also highlights the Clinton administration's efforts to curb deforestation in the country. The impact: By 1998, more than 7 million trees had been planted in the country by Peace Corps volunteers.

Visitors exit the first part of the exhibit through two large doors covered with a massive picture of the presidential palace. A time stamp and date are on the picture: 4:52 p.m., Jan. 12, 2010.

On the library' third floor, past the life-size replica of the Oval Office, two doors feature a completely different picture -- the presidential palace in ruin. The time stamp: 4:53 p.m., Jan. 12, 2010. It takes visitors longer to reach the third floor than it did for the building to collapse in the 7.0 earthquake.

The exhibit's second half shows a country torn apart by the quake It bluntly details the staggering statistics -- 2.3 million people displaced; 220,000 fatalities; 300,000 injuries.

Chunks from Holy Trinity Cathedral's historic murals offer a concrete glimpse of the disaster's impact for those who may never visit Haiti. The Smithsonian is currently helping to restore the church, which has been destroyed six times in its history.

The final displays prop up the Clinton Foundation and its Global Initiative work in Haiti and show footage of President Obama asking Clinton and former President George W. Bush to raise money for the relief effort. But it's the last feature -- the story of the Iron Market -- that highlights Clinton's talent for uniting forces to help Haiti.

The Iron Market was built in France in the 1890s and shipped to Port-au-Prince to become the city's core as a beloved bazaar where an array of goods, from dried starfish to artisan wares, were sold. Before the earthquake, it had already suffered a major fire and parts of it were already in rubble.

On Tuesday, the Clinton Foundation tweeted: "I just arrived at the opening of the historic Iron Market, a true symbol of Building Back Better." The tweet included a picture of the restored structure.

Denis O'Brien, an Irish billionaire who is founder and chairman of Digicel, the largest mobile telecommunications operator in the Caribbean, had been interested in restoring the dilapidated market before the earthquake. Afterward, O'Brien, whose company was already the single largest private sector investor in Haiti, moved quickly to do so. In turn, he also became a facilitator for the Clinton Global Initiative's Haiti Action Network. O'Brien has been named the Goodwill Ambassador for Port-au-Prince by its mayor. He invested $12 million of his own money into the restoration and has committed to oversee the Iron Market for 50 years.

The new Iron Market, painted in its original bright red with a clock tower and minarets, meets international codes, features solar panels and was built to resist hurricanes and earthquakes. It could become an engine to help fuel Haiti's economy.

"When you look at what you have achieved here, this should be a sign to you that you can have success in the reconstruction, in education, in health care," Clinton said Tuesday at the Iron Market's opening.

Clinton's work, and hope, for Haiti may just be his most lasting legacy.

During the 1990s, Haiti seemed like a blip on the radar screen of a U.S. administration trying to tackle myriad world and domestic issues simultaneously. The Little Rock exhibit, and Clinton's visit to Haiti this week, show that he is still married to a place he discovered 35 years ago.
Filed Under: Woman Up
Tagged: Bill Clinton, denis obrien, haiti earthquake, haiti relief, Hillary Clinton, iron market, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, port-au-prince, rene preval, rene preval haiti, william jefferson clinton presidential center
More articles from Suzi Parker »

Our New Approach to Comments

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum Comment Moderation Enabled. Your comment will appear after it is cleared by an editor.

10 Comments

Filter by:
phylliskunz

And that he brought peace to Ireland, for which he deserved the Nobel Peace
Prize. I did not vote for former President Bill Clinton but I believe in
giving credit where credit is due.

January 12 2011 at 9:30 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
jtanis9033

It's all about the dollar for Clinton, how many business deals does he have going in Haiti, what market is he trying to corner for profit?

January 12 2011 at 5:10 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
mastercfo

Clinton's legacy will ultimately be that he failed Haiti. The problem is the country is populated with expectant consumers only, no producers. Most economic endeavors either have already failed or will eventually fail there. The US has propped up this country for years, all to no avail. People who expect a handout as the normal course of economic activity will always fail. Progressives such as the Clinton's want to control populations. They try to accomplish this with policies that essentially cause societies to revert to fuedalism i.e populations become dependent on the ruler and the ruler's altruism. They want to do away with the industrial revolution which required both producers and consumers in a society. Without producers there can be no consumers, and vice-versa. Without industrialization, Haiti will continue as it always has, a subsistence economy. The people there seem to like it that way(otherwise they would have changed it by now). Forget about it.

January 12 2011 at 1:20 PM Report abuse +17 rate up rate down Reply
kukboyce

Bill Clinton has done great things for Haiti and the world. I admire him for his good work!

January 12 2011 at 12:57 PM Report abuse -23 rate up rate down Reply
ejorillion

He and Jimmy Carter were made for each other. Neither will quitely ride off nto the sunset and disappear..But continue to interject themselves in today's politics when they aren't want. The will soon be joined by Obama and Michelle.

January 12 2011 at 12:39 PM Report abuse +28 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to ejorillion's comment
tenderlies1

Such foolish attitudes many of you have, all Presidents achieved some good. Were all what you wanted, proably not bet we don't leave here as one certain group and the good is to be done for all people not a few. The only way you could have all your way would be if you lived here alone and then what or who would you share it with. It is really ridiculous how selfish we have become as a people. I think it would be good for all to know what its like to have nothing. Maybe when we obtained again what we have been so use to having we would appreciate it more

January 12 2011 at 4:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bubba1zfg

Sorry, some of us have not forgotten Monica and how he allowed that story to play out for months. It is hard to respect the office of the President, when the President himself had no respect for the position he held or his family.

January 12 2011 at 11:21 AM Report abuse +34 rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to bubba1zfg's comment
tenderlies1

We are talking about a human emotion that is well known to men as well as women and a serious moral issue not a crime against the Country. If you look back that deed by Clinton ws not a first and it caused no harm as to his job. You simply didn't like the man if you had his affair with Monica would have never mattered and more than the War started on lies, the weapons sold for hostages or The Break-In to the Democratic Officies. John Kennedy was a womanizier but of the three years he lived to serve he never drew a Salary but you never hear that mention. George Bush when elected got one of the largest raises ever, he went from 200,000 to 400,000 did he know the cost of living would rise that much in his first year. I don't think so. Its fine you don't like a president but about all of them have nade some mistakes and certainly never pleasd everyone.

January 12 2011 at 4:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
christybridgeman

I am sorry. I think I was in middle school when that happened, and even then I asked my Mom why everyone was so interested in his sex life? Sure, he is less than faithful, and what man would be honest about that. And, who should investigate him on it? I did not know we were Muslims! I could understand the ridicule and possible stoning that might come afterwards, but we are not under muslim law!! Jeeze.

January 13 2011 at 9:57 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Bruce

I read where good old Bill made 55 million in one year. That would go a long way to help those poor people. I guess as long as it doesn't cost him anything personally he is willing to help. What a great guy. He and his wife ought to move there and let those people support them instead of us, but that will never happen either.

January 12 2011 at 11:20 AM Report abuse +28 rate up rate down Reply
mlaurel58

Mr Clinton's lasting legacy ought to be the pathos of a man who won't act the role of former president/senoir statesman, but rather inserts himself into partisan politics, much like a local precinct party hack. It all about him craving the spotlight, and it's really to bad!!

January 12 2011 at 10:58 AM Report abuse +33 rate up rate down Reply
Janet

So Bill Clinton has a fancy exhibit about the "work" he's done in Haiti...I just read another article on AOL about what a mess it still is; graft, corruption, squalor. What exactly are the Haitian peoples' "great reasons to hope"? More cash infusions to go to corrupt officials? More salesmen looking to hawk their products? Honestly, Bill, do you really want this to be your "most lasting" legacy?

January 12 2011 at 9:22 AM Report abuse +42 rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Janet's comment

Follow Politics Daily


  • Comics
%PostTitle%
robert-and-donna-trussell
CHAOS THEORY
Featuring political comics by Robert and Donna TrussellMore>>
  • Woman UP Video
politics daily videos
Weekly Videos
Woman Up, Politics Daily's Online Sunday ShowMore»
politics daily videos
TV Appearances
Showcasing appearances by Politics Daily staff and contributors.More>>

News From Our Partners