For fifteen-year-old Carolyn Yeldell, Bill Clinton was just the boy next door long before he rose to prominence in Arkansas and outside politics. In 1961, little Bill, who was also fifteen, moved to Scully Street and lived with Yeldell, her mother, her father, her pastor, and her three siblings in a new home next to the rectory of Hot Springs Second Baptist Church. A career in music was still an option for the future 42nd president, whose goals were still developing at the moment. When he knocked on the door of the rectory, looking for a pianist to play saxophone with him, a long-lasting pair was formed, with relationships that have lasted for 60 years and counting.
As a singer, pianist, church leader, and supporter for the arts and literacy, Carolyn Yeldell, now known as Carolyn Staley, can boast a long list of accomplishments. She is currently adding the author to the list. On August 19, Clinton’s 79th birthday, Staley will attend a book launch celebration at the Clinton Presidential Center to celebrate the release of her book, The Boy Next Door: My Sixty-Year Friendship with Bill Clinton, which comes out on August 1.
Clinton wrote the foreword to Staley’s book himself. He comments that it’s nearly impossible to sum up the significance of our friendship spanning over 60 years in a few lines. You would need to write a book because there are so many stories. Carolyn did that, and for that I am thankful.
You wrote this book, but why?
For years, friends and coworkers encouraged me to publish a book since I had a unique historical perspective on Bill Clinton. I had done a lot of interviews with the Norwegian, Swedish, and French media before we relocated to Washington, D.C. People merely wanted to know what he was like from a friendship perspective. So, I decided to just talk about how our friendship has been going, our experiences together when we were 15, living in Little Rock, having Bill Clinton as a friend, and being neighbors in high school and D.C.
How did you two meet?
I was a sophomore when my family relocated to Hot Springs, which is a challenging period. I wanted to continue being involved in music and running for student government. I had to start over since we were moving, as it turned out. I therefore inquired, “Who do I need to know?” And the name of Bill Clinton kept coming up. Oh, you’ll share a love of music. You will share a common interest in student governance. You must definitely know him. He told me, “She’s going to be my new neighbor,” when I noticed him talking to someone outside of geometry class one day when we didn’t have any classes together as sophomores.
A few months later, he knocked on our house, rang the bell, and said, “I need someone to accompany my solos on the saxophone.” Would you mind playing the piano for me? And I replied, “Well, I’m happy to.” That’s how our friendship, intimacy, and time spent together through music began.
His path intersected with mine as he was in student council and I ran for it. “Come over and bring the newspaper, and let’s have a contest on who can work the crossword puzzle fastest,” he would remark on numerous mornings when he called. Together, we read. We played a lot of cards. We spent hours listening to records.
When did he decide to pursue a career in politics?
His mother, Virginia, claimed to have noticed a significant shift in him after we attended [The American Legion’s] Boys Nation and Girls Nation, and that public service started to emerge as a more viable career option. The patriotic principle of our high school encouraged us that more people should run for office since it was a respectable career. I didn’t believe I wanted the nightlife of a jazz sax player, and I didn’t think I was good enough to compete and be really successful at it, he stated later.
You remained pals even if your paths diverged for college?
We remained friends throughout college, and he came to hear me perform when I was a singing waiter on Cape Cod. We simply tried to keep in contact via writing letters.
How did you two become neighbors once more in Arkansas?
In 1979, he ran for governor and won. He added, “I always imagined that you would return home and be a part of my administration if I accomplished something good with my life. I wonder if you and Jerry would move back home and be a part of it.” Can we once more be neighbors? We then located an old house at 15th and Broadway, and I began serving as the director of the Arkansas Arts Council. He was in and out frequently, jogging past the Governor’s Mansion, which was only four streets away. And together, we brought up our children. We spent a lot of time together while my girls looked after Chelsea.
Then a friend from your youth moved into the White House. Have you ever experienced intimidation?
The immense weight on his shoulders astounded me, and I was extremely pleased of the way he carried out his duties as president. I thought, “This guy can be anything he wants to be,” when I seen that leadership trait even in high school. He is capable of being president. In fact, his presence felt quite normal.
Does the impeachment come up in your book?
It’s not a book about politics. I do discuss how we were all very supportive of him during his impeachment process and how worried we were. We didn t know what to believe. We simply wanted to believe him. And more than anything, we wanted to just stand by him and support him, and we did.
I did attend the impeachment hearings the last day and Jeanne Cummings with The Wall Street Journal was there. She asked, What are you doing here? I mean, what a terribly difficult time. And I said, I just feel like you re with your friends when they re up, you re with your friends when they re down. I felt like this is where a good friend needed to be. She did a front page story, and it was, Come hell or Whitewater, she s no fair-weather FOB, or something like that.
What do you want readers to take away from the book?
I just hope the viewpoint of a friend, sharing a side that I should have told a long time ago. Maybe it would have helped the public know him better, would benefit him in some way. But I ve interwoven the story of my life and our children and families. So it s a bit autobiographical as well. But I just wanted to say what a gift it s been to be his friend and to be invited on this journey, and to experience it up close.
Bonus questions
Who are some of your favorite Arkansas celebrities (other than Bill Clinton)?
Harry Thomason, Mary Steenburgen, George Newbern (we were in The Sound of Music together at UALR) and Brad Simpson (he lived in downtown Little Rock when we did and was my voice student).
What s a song you wish you and Bill could cover?
Summertime from Porgy and Bess.
What are some books you ve been recommending lately?
The President s Daughter by James Patterson and Bill Clinton, Prayer: Finding the Heart s True Home by Richard J. Foster.
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