I know this is old news but a few photos never hurt! Here are some pics from the December 5th Artist's Dinner at the Kennedy Center. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posed with the honorees Grace Bumbry, Dave Brubeck, Robert De Niro, The Boss aka Bruce Springsteen and the great Mel Brooks. December 5, 2009 in Washington, D.C.
Here is a two minute news clip from the ceremony:
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The Daily Beast hailed Hills as the #4th SMARTEST PERSON IN THE DECADE! Woo Hoo! Why did she earn the title? Well, according to The Beast,
Hillary Clinton began the decade as first lady, spent most of it as a U.S. senator and finished it Secretary of State. Oh, and she almost became the first female commander in chief. “She made us all see women as potential presidents,” says one of our MacArthur “genius” voters, David Montgomery, a geomorphologist and professor at the University of Washington. If anyone had a more intellectually rigorous résumé for the decade, we have yet to see it.
Not only did The Daily Beast give Hillary some cred, but ForeignPolicy.com listed Hillary as #6 on their Top 100 Global Thinkers. Well, it wasn't JUST Hillary named at #6, she shared the spotlight with Bill too. I guess they still come two for one! Sheesh!
Bill was named for "for redefining philanthropy in the modern era," while Hillary was named for "giving "smart power" a star turn at the State Department." Here is what else they said about Hillary and Bill:
A year ago, there were questions. Would she play the follower in an administration she had hoped to lead? Would he use his global clout -- tremendous, if no longer paramount -- to give tacit support to the new, young Democratic administration? To both, the answer is yes, and more: In the past year, Bill and Hillary Clinton have solidified their status as the global power couple of all power couples.Read entire postBill Clinton's brainchild, the Clinton Global Initiative, now in its fifth year, brings together leaders from aid organizations, academia, business, and government to put their checkbooks behind his big ideas. This year, they committed $9 billion to provide inoculations for 40 million, job opportunities for 80 million, and schools for 30 million, among other ambitious targets. In his off hours, he moonlights as a freelance diplomat, tackling Haiti, on behalf of the United Nations, and North Korea, as a private citizen. In Port-au-Prince, he worked with humanitarian physician Paul Farmer to bolster investment and alleviate poverty. In Pyongyang, he successfully negotiated the release of two U.S. journalists and helped start a thaw in relations with the Hermit Kingdom. Miraculously, Clinton kept his diplomatic side gig without stepping on the toes of his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This year, she has tirelessly broadcast the administration's banner diplomatic message: The United States under Obama is a smart power, a participant in a "new era of engagement based on common interests, shared values, and mutual respect." But Clinton is also aiming to remake the State Department itself. The Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review she initiated promises a thorough, ongoing assessment of the massive bureaucracy in order to create a leaner, more responsive State Department capable of being the engine of Washington's new diplomacy.
US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton received the Four Freedoms Award at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York on Friday, September 11th, in a ceremony attended by Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Máxima and Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen.
"A true defender of justice and human rights."
Those were the words used by Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen to describe his American counterpart Hillary Clinton at the presentation of the Four Freedoms Award in New York.
He praised the Secretary of State for her tireless commitment to human rights saying, "The universality of human rights is being challenged on many fronts. Our response should be to stand together in support of these fundamental rights. Our countries, and you and I personally, have worked together well to this end…."
The Four Freedoms award takes its inspiration from the four freedoms articulated by President Franklin Roosevelt: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear. He regarded these freedoms as the basis for human rights around the world. Read more about the award at my previous post here!
We all know this is a huge honor for Hillary, as she admires the Roosevelts, especially Eleanor. This award would be like me getting an Hillary Clinton award, for being as awesome and amazing as Hillary. I would be totally honored!
Here is an excerpt of her remarks during the ceremony:
I am an admirer, I think as we all are, of both of these great Americans. As some of you might remember, I used to have imaginary conversations with Eleanor. (Laughter.) And she gave me a lot of really good advice. (Laughter.) I often remarked about how there was nothing I did as First Lady that Eleanor had not already done. I would go to a place in New York or a place in India, and be greeted by some excited person saying, “Oh, we haven’t had a First Lady here since Eleanor Roosevelt.” I discovered that she had blazed trails that were not only unique for her time, but really stood the test of time. But when she visited, it was not just a simple drop-in. She would listen, she would learn, she would bring that information back to her husband, and she would continue to push for the kinds of changes that were absolutely necessary.Read her full remarks here.And of course, President Roosevelt and the Four Freedoms speech and the declaration, the real call to action that what he said still resonates through the years, shaped much of the work that Eleanor did on her own as she chaired the drafting committee for the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that enshrines the Four Freedoms in its preamble. So when leaders from around the world gather for the UN’s General Assembly in about ten days, we will do so in part as inheritors of her work and wisdom.
Also, just thought I'd throw this little bit in... Here is an article from the NY Times from June of 1996 about Hillary's said "conversations" with Eleanor. The article is basically saying that Hillary is NOT crazy or insane for having imaginary conversations with Eleanor, that she is simply participating in "intellectual exercises." Hey, po-tay-to po-tah-to, one woman's intellectual exercises are another's schizophrenic outbursts... heh just kidding. Read entire post
I think I may have posted this a while back, but to be honest... I am waaay to lazy tonight to search the blog for the post... sooo, I will just come right out and say it! On September 11th, Secretary Clinton will receive the Roosevelt Institute's Four Freedoms Award at the Roosevelt Institute's Four Freedoms Medals gala dinner.
The Secretary will accept the award on Friday, September 11 at 7:00 p.m. at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. This award honors a lifetime of distinguished service and an unwavering commitment to freedom. Each year, a single individual is selected for the FDR Four Freedoms Award. William J. Vanden Heuvel, founder and chair emeritus of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Insitute says this about the choice of Hillary Clinton for the 2009 award:
"We think Hillary Clinton has one of the most extraordinary public careers we have seen in some time. We are not just honoring her as Secretary of State, but also as the former First Lady and Senator from New York. As Secretary of State she has shown the wisdom and judgment to handle difficult questions of foreign affairs".Some of the other previous honorees have included some of the most distinguished Americans of our time, including Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Carter and Clinton; Coretta Scott King; Elie Wiesel; Katharine Graham; Robert C. Byrd, and Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall. International recipients have included: Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, the Dalai Lama, H.M. Juan Carlos of Spain, Mary Robinson, Desmond Tutu, Shimon Peres, Kofi Annan and Nelson Mandela.
Today, the Secretary addressed the topic of world hunger as she delivered the keynote address at 2009 World Food Prize Announcement Ceremony in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the State Department.
"The issue of chronic hunger and food security is at the top of the agenda that we’re pursuing here in the State Department and in the Obama Administration.This morning, one billion people around the world woke up hungry. Tonight, they will go to sleep hungry.
Today, in a village in Niger, a woman will walk for miles in search of water to irrigate crops that are parched by drought. Today, in Haiti, a farmer’s surplus fruit will go to waste because he has no way to store it or to bring it to market. Today, in Congo, a family will flee a conflict that has left their farms and fields fallow.
And today, in a schoolhouse in Bangladesh, children will struggle to learn because their bodies are struggling to survive on insufficient nutrition."
She named Ethiopian scientist the winner of the 2009 World Food Prize. Gebisa Ejeta, a faculty member at Purdue University in Indiana, was honored for his work on drought and weed-resistant varieties of sorghum.
Ejeta is only the second African to win the Food Prize since its creation in 1986 by Nobel Peace Laureate Norman Borlaug, the American agronomist credited with starting a so-called "Green Revolution" with high-yield wheat varieties.
The Ethiopian geneticist and seed-breeder, who joined the Purdue University faculty in 1984, is being honored for his work in developing strains of sorghum that are resistant to drought and the parasitic weed Striga, which has been a plague to farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Ejeta was not present at the State Department event. But he will receive the award on October 15 in a ceremony by the World Food Prize Foundation in Des Moines, Iowa.
The president of the foundation, former U.S. ambassador to Cambodia Kenneth Quinn, said Ejeta's work with sorghum has benefited millions of people in Africa and beyond.
Secretary Clinton stressed the Obama administration's commitment to attack world hunger, which affects an estimated one billion people.
She noted that in addition to developing new sorghum strains, Ejeta worked in India and Sudan on ways to get his improved seeds into the hands of farmers, underscoring the need for a comprehensive approach to repairing what Clinton called a broken global supply chain for food.
Read her full remarks here or watch below:
"The Obama administration is committed to providing leadership in developing a new global approach to hunger... For too long, our primary response has been to send emergency aid when the crisis is at its worst. This saves lives, but doesn't address hunger's root causes. It is at best a short-term fix. So we will support the creation of effective, sustainable farming systems in regions around the world where current methods are not working."
Well, the past few days I have been internetless - if you have been following ATHC on Twitter, which you should be... cause Twitter is the shit... you will be well aware of my internetlessness, as I was complaining to my followers very much! - but anyways, I am back online and ready to get in the Hillary game again!
Yesterday was a busy day for the Secretary. She was the recipient of another award, the 2009 Annual Alice Award. The ceremony was held at the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, 144 Constitution Avenue, NE, Washington, DC.
She gave a great speech:
"We know that where women flourish, families flourish, communities flourish, and nations flourish. That’s why this important mission of extending women’s equality and full participation is not finished, and we each have a role to play.What made Alice Paul so special was her fearlessness. I mean, she went where most men and women would not have gone. She took on every obstacle that came her way. She was a tireless human rights activist, an unyielding advocate for the equal rights for all women. Her Quaker upbringing instilled in her the value of simplicity, and to her, it was very simple: Gender equity was so self-evident that she often would express frustration that her motivating idea that women and men should be equal partners in society caused such a ruckus in so many places – not that I ever experienced that."
"So I am deeply honored to receive this award named for one of the real giants of American history. But I know how much more we have to do, and as Secretary of State I see it every single day. But I am more encouraged than discouraged. I am more optimistic because I think history is on our side."Read her full remarks upon receiving the award here.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2009, NEW YORK, NY
6:30 p.m. - Cocktails
7:30 p.m. - Dinner, Awards, Live Auction, and Entertainment
HOSTED BY
Paul Simon, Irwin Redlener, M.D., and Karen Redlener
Humanitarian Award:Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State
Corporate Award: Steve Hemsley, President and CEO, UnitedHealth Group
Founders' Award: Skip Keesal, Partner, Keesal, Young & Logan
ENTERTAINMENT
Willie Nelson with Paul Simon
BENEFIT CHAIRS
Bernard Poussot, Chairman, President, and CEO, Wyeth
David Pulman, Ph.D., President, Global Manufacturing and Supply, GlaxoSmithKline
Tim Rothwell, Chairman, sanofi-aventis U.S.
This is cool! Wow! When is Hillary NOT getting an award? She is amazing, and well deserving. I think this certain award will be close to her heart.
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