Clinton To Bid Farewell to Nation

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Now that he's said his goodbyes at the landmarks of his political career, President Clinton is bidding adieu to the American people. <br><br>Clinton planned to closet himself in

Thursday, January 18th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Now that he's said his goodbyes at the landmarks of his political career, President Clinton is bidding adieu to the American people.

Clinton planned to closet himself in the White House on Thursday to prepare for a nationally televised speech that aides billed as largely a thank you to Americans who sent him to the White House twice and regularly told pollsters they approved of his performance, even at his lowest moments.

A Clinton aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Clinton's remarks Thursday night would have ``a little bit of an edge'' to them, containing, among other things, an appeal for Americans to reject an isolationist stance and remember U.S. responsibilities as a world leader.

Clinton and President-elect Bush have disagreed over the use of U.S. forces in Europe. While Clinton has dispatched troops aggressively to Kosovo and the Balkans, Bush has promised to be more circumspect about sending American soldiers abroad.

Thursday's speech caps the long, slow farewell that Clinton began in December with speeches on foreign, domestic and economic policy. Last week, he gave an exit address in New Hampshire, where he resuscitated his flagging 1992 campaign with his famous ``last dog dies'' speech, and this week paid final visits to Chicago, his wife Hillary's hometown, and Michigan.

On Wednesday, in his last official road trip, Clinton spent a few nostalgic hours in Arkansas, his home state. Tears welled in his eyes as he stood in the state House chamber â€” where he was sworn in as governor five times â€” and thanked lawmakers for a lifetime of political lessons that carried him to the White House and kept him there for eight years.

``I know perfectly well I wouldn't be president if it hadn't been for the people of Arkansas,'' he said later to a crowd gathered in a hangar at the Little Rock airport. ``Through all the storms and all the sunshine,'' he said, serving as president was one of his greatest delights.

``There has never been a day ... that I have landed that helicopter on the back of the White House lawn and not felt a thrill, not felt like a 17-year-old boy looking at the White House for the first time,'' Clinton said.

Arm-in-arm with daughter Chelsea, Clinton stood on the corner of St. Vincent and the new President Clinton Ave., pointing out businesses that sprang up since he left. He visited an ailing monsignor at a local hospital and mused about the small niceties of private life â€” driving his own car again, maybe even fixing up his long-stored Mustang.

``I've got a daughter about to graduate from college and a wife going into the Senate,'' Clinton said. ``It seems to me one of the things I'll have to do is go to work, which won't do me any harm.''

Before leaving town on Air Force One, he said he hopes his presidential library here will become ``a real beacon'' for public service, and urged fellow Arkansans to be proud that their small, rural state has left a credible, indelible impression on American politics.

``We proved that national politics ... is not the private province of some elite somewhere in some big, distant place,'' Clinton said. ``People with common sense, with basic American roots ... can move this country forward.''