Bill Clinton and TED

by Mary

Michelle Kraus has a fascinating piece up at The Huffington Post where she reviews Bill Clinton's recent appearance before TED (Technology, Education and Design), a body of technologists, scientists, designers, musicians and very smart people. She asks:

Is Clinton Auditioning for Secretary General, United Nations?

President Bill Clinton came a calling to an audience of successful and moneyed technologists, scientists, designers, musicians and very smart people at a week long meeting of a group called TED.

In fact, he was invited to receive one of three lifetime achievement awards given to empower those attempting to make fundamental changes to the World.

So Clinton brought his agenda of developing high-quality sustainable health care delivery systems for the rural country of Rwanda. It is one of many of Clinton's efforts to heal the horrors of our civilization: AIDS in Africa, the Tsunami in Indonesia and on and on....

This time he challenged these leaders and children of the Internet boom to take action, to engage, to lend their minds and their wallets to solving this problem. He challenged them to engage in policy, politics and world philanthropy. He left his trusty Lieutenants to gather information, commitments and partnerships so that within the next year the travesties of Rwanda can be wiped off the planet. Frankly, as he remarked, it is the least we can do given the genocide suffered by these people.

What is fascinating about yesterday's event is that it appears to have officially kicked off the convergence of Clinton's journey to lead the United Nations and the burgeoning organization of TED, struggling to grow into the American version of DAVOS.

Read the whole thing and let me know what you think.