Bill Clinton famously cultivated a wide network of friends and political loyalistsβa group that came to be known as F. But in his personal life, the 42nd president counted one man, first and foremost, as his best friend: the power broker and civil rights leader Vernon Jordan, who died in March at age He was only His vision of a grand political careerβwhich many believed might someday carry him to the White Houseβappeared to be in tatters.
He was depressed, convinced his career as an elected official was over. That is, until Jordan came down from New York to talk some sense into him. On election night, , Vernon Jordan had watched the returns from his Fifth Avenue apartment. Ronald Reagan and his conservative coalition had swept the nation, winning the White House, flipping the Senate, and ushering in a generational realignment of American politics.
One race in particular saddened him: the defeat of his new friend Bill Clinton. Jordan had come to town to raise funds for the civil rights organization he had led for nearly a decade. Clinton was then the state attorney general. We started talking and instantly I was struck by his intelligence, his charisma and mannerisms.
Just an incredible public presence. We had a heck of a crowd there and he was a big star. The emcee for the evening was this woman who was one of our best TV anchors.
She wore a beautiful dress that was high collared but had no back. Vernon and I were sitting on either side of the lectern where she was speaking, and her back was visible to Vernon. That single exchange presaged thousands that would keep Clinton and Jordan engaged and entertained for the next four decades. But their easy rapport and love of the gameβespecially in politics and sportsβtook the Clinton-Jordan friendship to another level. At six foot two and six foot five, respectively, Clinton and Jordan, with broad shoulders and radiant smiles, lit up whatever room they occupied.
