Return of the Natural

WASHINGTON
IN THE 1990s the freshly empowered Republican Congress could not "reform" welfare. Neither could President Bill Clinton. But together they did. Later, they did the same on balancing the federal budget.

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Neither task was accomplished easily, but in the pre-impeachment days before politics elevated animosity and ideology above government, some instructive things went on, even in the midst of political turmoil, that served the public interest.

Clinton did a masterful job putting the art of governance into a broader perspective last week at the dedication of his remarkable library in Little Rock. Typically, The Natural performed this feat while winging it, instead of trying to read a prepared speech in a driving rainstorm.

In just a few minutes of oratory while the rain plastered down his hair, the former president managed to say more of consequence than any other political figure has blabbered since the latest ugly election season mercifully ended. Instead of new thinking or deep thinking, politicians have mostly been positioning themselves, thinking narrowly. President Bush ran a parade of promotions of patsies and yes people in preparation for more of the same; Senator John McCain signaled a return to independence by slamming Bush for inaction in the face of ongoing climate change; Senator Chuck Hagel all but announced that he is running in 2008; and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist quietly burnished his credentials with conservative activists by helping make Arlen Specter practically beg to get his chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee.

On the Democratic side, John Kerry signaled he won't ape Al Gore by growing a beard and teaching college kids, but is instead back in action with a Senate statement deploring the budget deficit; and Hillary Rodham Clinton, pre-library dedication, displayed her ability to deliver a tour of the foreign policy horizon in a speech in Massachusetts.

Fairly thin gruel. By contrast, Clinton talked about national leadership. The first task, he said, is to understand and then explain the great forces shaping the world. A national leader then articulates a clear vision of a response to these realities and a strategy to achieve it, then works doggedly to make progress.

To actually make a difference -- as opposed to simply passing some bill or blocking another one -- usually requires alliances across ideological as well as party lines. In classic Clintonese, he explained the contributions left and right bring to the table. Conservatism is at its best a set of bright lines that should not be crossed; progressivism, by contrast, is about breaking down barriers that have either outlived their usefulness or should never have been erected in the first place.

At his best Clinton reveled in building his famous bridges in ways that really did make a difference while dominating a prosperous and internationally hopeful decade. As he put it, the forces he recognized included the replacement of the Cold War by a growing international interdependence that offered possibilities as well as dangers. They also included the sudden arrival of the information age in a global economy that demanded responsible government policies he led his party to adopt. And in a particularly profound insight, he said they included a change from decades of fights to end racial discrimination to a new imperative of coping with what he called an explosion of diversity.

People can yell at each other about immoral behavior and vast right-wing conspiracies all they want, but Clinton remains above current divisions in his conviction that "we can't escape each other" and that important differences that must never be dodged still pale before our common humanity.

I was also struck at his one venture into current affairs, naturally involving the Middle East, where he came so close to ultimate success. Instead of hectoring President Bush, he tried vintage Clinton nudging, saying he hoped that the "good opportunity" (presented by Yasser Arafat's death) to move forward can be Bush's moment to achieve what Arafat's inability to say yes kept Clinton from achieving.

After an election, there is almost always a period of silly self-indulgence by winners and losers alike, further polluted by the latest maneuvers in the endless cat fight for partisan advantage. There is usually someone, however, who does better than that, raising the level or at least demonstrating what a higher level of discourse sounds like.

Bill Clinton was that someone this season -- off the cuff and in the rain.

Thomas Oliphant's e-mail address is oliphant@globe.com.