Hillary Clinton may speak at U. later this spring

The Fox Leadership Program is involved in negotiations with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to have the former first lady speak at Penn this spring.

"[Fox Leadership Program Director] John DiIulio is a friend of hers, and they spoke about a possible date for her to come," said Chuck Brutsche, the program's associate director. "She said she wants to come, but she is really busy."

Despite Clinton's busy schedule, Brutsche remains optimistic about bringing the former first lady to campus.

"I think there is an 80 percent chance [that Clinton will come]," he said.

In addition to the possibility of bringing Clinton to campus, program officials have announced that Fox will sponsor a lecture from renowned journalist and presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on Feb. 20 at Irvine Auditorium.

Goodwin has written about the life of former President Lyndon Johnson, who was the subject of her first book, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream. In 1995, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her book No Ordinary Time, written about Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.

Although DiIulio, a political science professor, is the driving force behind Clinton's potential visit to Penn, it was University President Judith Rodin, in conjunction with Fox Leadership, who invited Goodwin to speak.

"The invitation came from Dr. Rodin's office," Brutsche said. Goodwin "has a talk that talks about various leadership qualities of the different leaders she has worked with, and being the Fox Leadership, we thought it would be appropriate."

Like Brutsche, Rodin said she is excited about Goodwin's speech.

"Doris Kearns Goodwin is a noted biographer and commentator on public lives," Rodin said. "She has made a very distinguished career in studying leaders, and she herself has become a leader of public figures in the role that effective civic leaders play in society."

A diehard baseball afficionado, Goodwin published her memoir as an avid Dodgers fan, entitled Wait Till Next Year, and was the first ever female sports writer to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room.

With such credentials, Rodin expects that Goodwin will elicit a large turnout.

"We're quite excited about having her and... we're very glad Fox Leadership could support it," Rodin said. "It should be something that we think many many students and faculty and staff would like to hear."

While the date for Goodwin's lecture is official, the timing of Clinton's visit is still up in the air. DiIulio said that although the appearance seemed to be a certainty before winter break, Clinton has been forced to reschedule her lecture for a later time.

Regardless, Brutsche said he is excited at the possibility of a speech from Clinton.

"I think she is a leader in her own right and has a lot of experiences to share," Brutsche said. "She has been in the spotlight and scrutinized under a lot of situations, and she has handled it with a lot of decorum and a lot of class."

He predicted that a speech of hers might include "how she handled herself in moments of adversity and went on to become a senator."

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