Hillary Clinton at Wellesley College Commencement: Then and Now, Part 1

On May 26, 2017, Hillary Rodham Clinton gave the commencement address at her alma mater, Wellesley College. In 1969, she was chosen by her peers to give the student speech at her own commencement.

The press typically characterized her 2017 speech as an attack against Donald Trump. It was, sort of. Let's look at that, but also look at how these two commencement speeches were in most ways typical ceremonial speeches that addressed basic human values.

Now, the 2017 speech did make some oblique references to Trump's rhetoric. Yet, these were undercurrents. She never mentioned names. For example, she commented, "when people in power invent their own facts and attack those who question them, it can mark the beginning of the end of a free society." I imagine that the audience immediately thought about Trump advisor's Kellyanne Conway's statement that White House claims that Trump's inauguration brought the biggest crowd ever were defensible: "You're saying it's a falsehood. And they're giving -- Sean Spicer, our press secretary -- gave alternative facts." Of course, everyone who was interested could see the photographs proving otherwise. Yet, Clinton did not mention Trump, Conway, Spicer, or even the exact incident. She let the audience draw the inference.

Hillary Clinton, DOS photo

Clinton continued on the theme.  She cited late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan: "everyone," she said, "is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts." She commented that "You are graduating at a time when there is a full-fledged assault on truth and reason." To prove this, she mentioned conspiracy theories, including the ridiculous "hurtful conspiracy theories about child abuse rings operating out of pizza parlors." Clinton herself had been the victim of that accusation, which, although utterly unfounded, and patently ridiculous, had found many committed believers.

Commenting on the political situation in 1969, Clinton said: "We were furious about the past presidential election of a man whose presidency would eventually end in disgrace with his impeachment for obstruction of justice. After firing the person running the investigation into him at the Department of Justice." This was an obvious reference to Richard Nixon. However, no one could miss the parallel to Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey.
 
So, the press in the audience was reading things into her speech. And she obviously wanted people to read things into her speech. All the same, she never mentioned Trump. Her accusations were more along the lines of, if the shoe fits, wear it. That is, she commented on certain things that should not be done, and left it for the audience to figure out that Trump was doing these things.This was much classier than making a direct attack, and probably more effective. It is unfortunate in some ways that the subtle nature of her criticisms escaped most news reporters, who treated her speech as a "firey" assault.

In Part 2, I will talk about how Clinton's two commencement speeches were classic ceremonial speeches, and compare the two of them more explicitly. Stay tuned!


PS: I have been posting about unjustified conspiracy theories for some time, since these have become a blight on American democracy. Real conspiracies are bad, but false accusations of conspiracy are equally bad.