IT TAKES NO VILLAGE TO RAZE A LEGACY

KENNETT, Mo. -- One of the benchmarks Americans instinctively use in assessing the performance of their outgoing presidents is the grace they display at the moment of relinquishment of great power.

Aware of this unrecorded judgment made by millions of Americans, historians often devote hundreds, even thousands, of words to describe the actions, moods and reflections of a lame-duck chief executive as he hands over the keys of the Oval Office to his successor, more often than not a political enemy rather than a partisan associate.

Several historic exits have been recorded over time. The most recent graphic departure was that by Richard Nixon in 1963 as he crouched at the doorway of a helicopter and flashed his trade mark "V" symbol to a watching crowd that, thanks to television, numbered into the millions.

In a flash, the first president of the United States to resign his office was gone, destined to remain, if not a pariah, then an embarrassment to his party, his followers, his family and, not least, the members of his family. To the world, he was at that moment the most recognizable image of the strongest, richest nation in the history of mankind.

In recent days, a serious challenge to Nixon's final moments on the U.S. political scene, another outgoing president made his departure under, if possible, even stranger circumstances.

The scenario for Bill Clinton's departure from the White House wasn't written by Watergate investigators nor secret oval-office tapes nor the secret information provided by "Deep Throat."

The story of Clinton's exist was written by Clinton himself, and what an unremarkable story it turned out to be.

The irony of this autobiography is that Clinton's stated aim in the waning months and weeks of his presidency was his creation of a legacy, how he would be perceived not only by the public at large at the moment of its denouement but also how he was to be perceived by historians, academics, columnists and the public at large a decade from now, ten decades from the moment of his retirement.

Before Bill and Hillary's move from Washington to New York, and prior to news of the final hours of their departure had been imprinted in every daily newspaper in the land and halfway around the world, I wrote a partial defense of the administration of the past eight years, striking out at critics I felt were generally and almost consistently pathologically unfair, not about the big issues but the smaller ones that were often utilized to characterize the 42nd president. Within a very short time after that column went out, the startling and shocking actions of William Jefferson Clinton began to unfold.

In some ways, I suppose, the president's actions were predictable, maybe inevitable.

The Clintons arrived in Washington in 1993 to dwell among capital denizens they had spent the better part of a year denigrating, then appeared surprised when they encountered hostile forces that quickly devoted themselves to the destruction of the new administration.

This callous indifference to Washington's political institutions that had existed for more than two centuries was -- like the phrase or not -- just plain dumb. It was even unpatriotic at a certain level, since it served to weaken all three branches of government, particularly the branch the former governor of Arkansas had just been elected to administer.

For the next six years, the team of Bill and Hillary devoted great energy, even dedication to their respective duties, and even if some of these enterprises were less than successful, they were generally seen by the American people as reflections of a political but genuine interest in the welfare of all Americans.

That kind of perception was far and away superior to the view accorded most presidential terms. It was the kind of record the aforementioned Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George Bush would have relished but which they were denied.

Then along came Monica and a Bimbo Brigade that at times seemed almost endless. Did Clinton hit on every pretty woman who came into his view? This soon became less a question and more a permanent view of the president's actions. The list seemed almost limitless and, unfortunately, seems so even to this very day.

I still believe it was proper to note the undying, prejudiced, vicious smears on Clinton & Co. by right-wing fanatics whose only constituency is composed of Republicans Who Can Retain Lifelong Hatred Without Remorse.

For the record, there's a Democratic branch of this subspecies as well.

The improprieties of our immediate past president, the former first lady turned senator, the strange and imperfect brothers of both of them and the small cadre of Clinton pals and gals who elbowed their way into the public spotlight have equaled if not exceeded the days of the Tea Pot Dome and scores of other scandals that have tied presidential politics to political profit.

In the view of many Americans, Clinton & Co. were wrong to have granted questionable pardons, traded clemency for cash, toted away priceless heirlooms that are the property of all Americans and generally behaved like spoiled kids who felt no responsibility to observe either the historical or ethical standards of national leadership.

On his final day as president, Harry Truman, accompanied by the only woman in his life, packed their clothes and boarded a train that brought them back home to Missouri. I remember angrily writing a column defending the Trumans and their criticized, less-than-spectacular exit form Washington. I recall the column, titled "Exit Under Grace," because one day not long after it was printed I received a call from its subject thanking me for "giving the Boss and me a great deal of pleasure."

Now that's the way presidents should be remembered.

~Jack Stapleton is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.