Bill Clinton becomes new head of Constitution Center

Former President Bill Clinton will replace former President George H.W. Bush as chairman of the National Constitution Center, it was announced yesterday.

"It's quite a coup for us," said Joseph M. Torsella, the center's president and chief executive officer. Clinton will take over chairmanship in January. The center's 43-member board meets twice annually to set policy for the five-year-old center, on Arch Street in Independence Mall.

Bush suggested Clinton as a replacement and helped recruit his onetime adversary to the post, Torsella said. He said Gov. Rendell also helped convince Clinton that he could fit the chairman's obligations into his schedule.

Torsella said no other nonprofit in the country could boast of having both former presidents at its helm. "It certainly sets a standard for the level of distinction that the position should have, and I think it also sends a message about bipartisanship," Torsella said.

Clinton, in a statement, said he looked forward to working with the center.

"It is with pride and privilege that I will serve as the new chair of the board of directors of the National Constitution Center, an institution dedicated to increasing the public's understanding of one the most important documents in American history - the U.S. Constitution," Clinton said.

Bush, 82, who has joined with Clinton on philanthropic missions in their post-presidential lives, said Clinton could draw on a wide range of resources to boost the center. "With his worldwide popularity and his devotion to a number of important causes, President Clinton is the perfect person to lead this distinguished Center into the future," Bush said in a statement.

Torsella said Clinton has had a "special relationship" with the center. As president, Clinton was the keynote speaker when the center broke ground in 2000, and he added his signature to a ceremonial steel beam marking the beginning of construction.

Clinton has also made several visits to the center since its opening, including a 2006 visit to accept the Liberty Medal he shared with Bush for their relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami. The medal is administered by the center board.

After the award ceremony, Torsella recruited Bush as chairman to replace Vanguard Group founder John C. Bogle. Bush agreed to take on the job despite having pledged to curtail his volunteer activity after he turned 80. He stayed on for a second term.

"I think we would have been abusing our privilege to ask him to do any more," said Torsella.

Torsella said he nailed down the commitment from Clinton in July, when the former president visited Philadelphia to speak at the National Governors Association meeting. By that time, it was also clear that Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign was finished.

"He is very much in demand, and we're a real organization - it's not an honorific chairmanship, put your name on the invitation," said Torsella.

He said he hoped Clinton could help expand the nonpartisan center's "international dimensions." He also said Clinton, as well as Bush, enhanced the center's ability to attract donations.

"I think Clinton will continue to enhance it in different directions," Torsella said. "I think he's a pretty prolific fund-raiser in his own right."

Torsella said the chairman ran the twice-annual board meetings, which are held in the autumn in Philadelphia, and in the spring, at a location of the chairman's choosing. Last year, the board met at Bush's presidential library in College Station, Texas, and this year it met at Bush's vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Torsella said the board had yet to decide where next year's spring meeting will be held. "Somewhere I suspect in Washington or in Arkansas . . ."