Bill Clinton Named 'Father of the Year'

The National Father's Day Council named Bill Clinton its Father of the Year in 2013, an honor the former president received with characteristic grace even as the selection drew predictable commentary from those who found the choice ironic given his well-documented personal history.

Clinton, who has frequently spoken about the profound influence of his daughter Chelsea on his life and worldview, accepted the honor in good humor. "Being Chelsea's father has been the greatest blessing of my life," he said at the event.

The National Father's Day Council has awarded the honor annually since 1942, recognizing public figures for their role as fathers and their embodiment of fatherly values. Previous recipients have included the full range of American public life: athletes, entertainers, politicians, and business leaders.

The selection of Clinton was not without critics who pointed to the gap between the fatherhood values the award is meant to honor and the president's conduct during his marriage, which included the Monica Lewinsky affair that led to his impeachment in 1998. Conservative commentators were particularly vocal.

The Council's response, broadly, was that Clinton's relationship with his daughter, universally described by those close to the family as warm, devoted, and a genuine source of pride for both father and daughter, was the relevant criterion, and that the award was not a character assessment across all domains of a person's life.

Chelsea Clinton, for her part, has spoken warmly and publicly about her father throughout her adult life, describing their relationship as close and her admiration for him as deep, whatever complications his public conduct created for the family.

The episode illustrated the degree to which even ceremonial honors become entangled in the full complexity of public figures' lives.

FAQ

Who named Bill Clinton Father of the Year? The National Father's Day Council, which has given the award annually since 1942.

When was the award presented? The 2013 award was presented at the Council's annual dinner in New York.

Why was it controversial? Critics cited Clinton's infidelity and 1998 impeachment as inconsistent with the award's fatherhood values.

What was the Council's defense? That the award judged his fatherhood, specifically his widely attested devotion to Chelsea, not his whole biography.

The takeaway

A fatherhood award for Bill Clinton was always going to be a Rorschach test. What you saw in it said more about you than about him, or about Chelsea, who never doubted the choice.