Pres. Clinton Rides Links to Underground Railroad

Receiving an honorary degree from Knox College "boosted my spirits," said former United States President Bill Clinton, in remarks at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, just hours after giving the address to graduates at Knox's commencement exercises.

"This has been a very special day in my life, an interesting and harmonious one," Clinton said at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, where he and former U.S. President George H.W. Bush both received "Freedom Conductor" awards on Saturday, June 2.

In his remarks, Clinton noted, as he had done earlier that day at Knox, that Knox College had given Abraham Lincoln an honorary degree, "when he was running for president, to boost his chances [in the 1860 presidential election].  They gave me an honorary degree when I couldn't run for anything, but they boosted my spirits."

Both at Knox and in Cincinnati, Clinton recalled Galesburg's history as a significant location on the Underground Railroad, an informal network of anti-slavery activists who helped thousands of African-Americans flee to freedom in the northern U.S. and Canada.

"I was thinking about the connection between the Underground Railroad -- America's long struggle for both individual liberty and national unity, to find harmony out of our many voices, seemingly diverse -- and one of our great challenges of the world today," Clinton said at the Center, which presents Freedom Conductor awards to people and organizations that have made major contributions to the cause of freedom and human rights.