Lucile King: September marks 20th anniversary of Bill Clinton’s presidential visit to Selma

If you were to ask any one of the 18,800 people who were present on the campus of Abraham Lincoln Middle School in Selma 20 years ago this week what it was like to see President Bill Clinton, that person would probably tell you it was electrifying and miserably hot. I was principal.

With the temperature hovering at 90 degrees that day, intensified by an endless expanse of sidewalk, light gray concrete columns and towering cement walls – all these factors were made worse by the poor start for green turf and trees the year before – and we were all sweltering.

Our nearly new school appeared brand new, especially in regard to its vegetation. It is no wonder, then, that what was to have been a presidential history lesson on the conclusion of World War II and the creation of the GI Bill, which provided funding for servicemen to attend college, turned out to be, instead, a brief talk about Abraham Lincoln.

However, there is more to the story. The president’s advance team worked with city, school and district staff, as well as a myriad of law enforcement agencies on several occasions, to iron out details, such as making sure there were enough temporary phone lines installed in the library for the 28 reporters (including one marked “Wolf Blitzer”).

We also were challenged in that this was the first gig for the new Selma High School band director, Eric Cymanski. (Can you imagine having to lead “Hail to the Chief” for the president on the first day of your new job?)

But how did this all come about? In the middle of our administrative retreat earlier in August, I was told to take a phone call by our superintendent, Steve E. Bojorquez. The person on the phone said he was calling to review what the students would need to know when the president would arrive to teach a class on the first day of school. I looked around the room and started to hang up the phone, thinking someone was playing a joke on me.

“No, don’t hang up, it’s for real!” I was told.

I listened to his request, and tried to explain to him that in California, World War II is taught in U.S. History in 11th grade, not in eighth grade. He was insistent, and called me two more times during the following two weeks to make sure that the students would be prepped. I contacted Mark Mulligan at Heartland Continuation to borrow 20 copies of the simplified Steck-Vaughn U.S. History textbook he used, which had a single page addressing the topic.

After randomly selecting 20 students’ names from a large bowl to make up the president’s class, Pat Bringetto, assistant principal, and I met with the group three times until we were certain that any one of the students would be able to answer any question that might be asked. I dismissed the students that Labor Day about 3 p.m., then I returned to the office, where teachers were making photocopies, sharpening pencils and puzzled to see that the windows were covered with butcher paper (to prevent those outside from looking in).

“What’s with the windows being covered?” one asked. “Is that so the secretaries can’t see the president?” another queried.

None of the teachers knew, but four days earlier, all the office staff scheduled to work on the first day of school had been summoned to the site to learn from Secret Service staff how to do their phone duties. Myra Ghilardi, my secretary, Rachel Guzman, secretary, Lupe Perez, attendance clerk, and Toni Booker, office staff, went through an extensive training to determine gender, regional dialect and extraneous background noises that might be heard on incoming calls (similar to a scene in “The Fugitive,” where Tommy Lee Jones had his team repeatedly examine a phone call from Harrison Ford).

Grounds were spiffed up, portable bleachers were trucked in from schools and parks, and several strategically placed metal detectors were manned by additional security guards. With Secret Service agents talking to the backs of their hands, the president finally arrived via helicopter behind the homemaking wing at Lincoln, allowing the president to shake hands with school board members, school and city officials and elected representatives before heading in out of the sweltering heat.

With front-line security personnel hidden on mats on the rooftops since 7 a.m., the president was guided by Secret Service agents (including Lloyd Painter, originally from Dos Palos) into the homemaking room that smelled delightfully of Colleen Nelson’s freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. After a few pleasantries, the group continued on to a makeshift classroom set up in Kathy Meadows’ sewing room.

As a wall of reporters with cameras clicked and videotape rolled, the president walked to the front of the classroom to begin his lesson. At that exact moment, the cooler kicked on loudly, drowning out the president’s voice. He signaled to cut off the air conditioner and began to speak as the temperature immediately rose.

“Rather than teach the lesson I prepared for today about the end of World War II and the GI Bill, I will speak briefly about the namesake of your school, Abraham Lincoln,” he said.

Extemporaneously, the president shared amazing details of Lincoln, his trials and tribulations, his accomplishments and, after about 10 minutes, he stopped speaking and asked, “Are there any questions?” Immediately, 20 sets of eyes turned toward me and all I could do was shrug my shoulders.

They knew about the end of World War II and that the GI Bill provided funds for veterans to further their education, but no one expected questions about Honest Abe, our namesake! Quick to my feet, I invited our student body president, Eleanor Brown, to the front to give the president a set of Lincoln gym clothes as a memento. She confidently concluded her speech and sat down. Then the president asked if he could answer any questions, while the wall of reporters clicked over and over in rapid succession.

Finally, a hand went up. “We understand you were raised by your grandmother so your mom could go to college to become a nurse. What was that like?”

Clinton explained he was raised by a single mom and was lucky to have had the opportunity to spend quality time with his grandmother. Then another hand shot up.

“We learned you had a dog when you were growing up. Did you play with him?”

The president responded that having a pet taught him responsibility and to do chores.

“Any more questions?” our president asked.

“I learned you had the opportunity to meet President Kennedy when you were a delegate to Boys Nation,” one student offered.

“Yes, it was a wonderful opportunity to go to Washington, D.C., to participate in that program, and all of us met President Kennedy.”

Click, click, more pictures. Then after the president and other dignitaries were ushered out of the room, I turned to one of the three brave souls and asked: “How did you know all those details about the president?”

“You know Mrs. Thomas, our honors academic block teacher – she knew we had 20 minutes of class time before we were to be released to see the president this morning, and she doesn’t let us waste any of our instructional minutes.”

One of them took out a copy of a newsstand pulp magazine. I can’t remember if was Woman’s Day or Family Circle, but on the predominantly pink cover was a small picture of Clinton shaking Kennedy’s hand and a note all in caps that said “CLINTON RAISED BY GRANDMOTHER.”

I know this acknowledgment is 20 years late, but thank you, Mrs. Thomas, for saving the day!

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 9:10 AM with the headline "Lucile King: September marks 20th anniversary of Bill Clinton’s presidential visit to Selma."