At Screening, Clinton Reflects on Presidents of the Past, Future

WASHINGTON —  President Clinton reflected on his predecessors and their families Friday at a White House screening of public television’s “The American President.”

Clinton said he hopes the 10-part series that premieres Sunday will “give people a feel of the mixture of the personalities and the character” of the presidents.

Clinton frequently looked up from his prepared remarks to talk about past presidents and their families and life in the White House, from Franklin Pierce to Abigail Adams to Rutherford B. Hayes.

“I spend a lot of time reading the histories of previous experiences in the White House and the biographies of some of my lesser-known predecessors,” he told an audience of about 150 people, most of them involved in putting together the series.

“Many great people have called this house home,” he said. “All of them so far have been white males of European decent. I’m absolutely convinced that in the not-so-distant future, there will be a woman president and a person of color who will occupy the White House and the Oval Office.”