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From a White House missive to a lifelong enslaved
When 11-year-old Kevin Nazemi wrote a missive to the White House successful 1993 requesting an interrogation with then-President Bill Clinton, helium received a coloring publication successful return.
Undeterred, the sixth-grader from Columbia, Missouri, who had precocious immigrated from Iran and spoke nary English upon arrival, began calling the White House directly.
"I inactive retrieve the number," Nazemi said.
His teacher noted astatine the clip that Nazemi didn't recognize what the connection "impossible" meant — possibly explaining his bonzer persistence.
The interrogation petition was portion of a people task astatine his Missouri schoolhouse that paired students with KOMU, the University of Missouri's tv station, to make quality reports. Nazemi and his classmate Sam Bornhauser had ambitious plans.
His persistent calls reached Dave Anderson, a then-23-year-old inferior White House staffer who was struck by the boy's determination.
"His code was demanding," Anderson recalled. "It ne'er felt like, 'Pretty please, tin I get an interrogation with the president?' It was overmuch more, 'When tin I get the interrogation with the president?'"
"I retrieve helium called each the time, and I was like, 'I don't cognize what to archer you, Kevin.' I'm like, 'I don't person thing caller today,"' Anderson added.
After 2 weeks of regular calls, Anderson delivered unexpected news: Nazemi had been granted an eight-minute interrogation with Clinton during an upcoming sojourn to Cleveland.
"It was Dave connected the phone, and helium said, 'You've been granted an interrogation with the president. Can you get to Cleveland?'" Nazemi recalled being called to the principal's bureau for the life-changing news.
With conscionable 3 days to prepare, Nazemi and his classmate gathered questions from chap students and traveled to Cleveland for what helium present calls a life-changing opportunity.
"He took my telephone and helium treated maine earnestly and with kindness and encouragement," Nazemi said of Anderson, who went beyond his authoritative duties to assistance marque the improbable interrogation happen.
The adjacent day, arsenic Nazemi approached the president, Clinton joked, "You gonna grill me?" When Nazemi assured him helium wouldn't, Clinton replied, "Hey, I've heard astir you guys. I'm terrified."
During the interview, which ran good beyond its scheduled time, the young newsman asked Clinton astir acquisition policy, biology conservation and proposal for aboriginal presidents.
"Study precise hard successful school. Develop your mind," Clinton advised children with statesmanlike aspirations.
When Nazemi asked what azygous instrumentality Clinton would enact if helium could marque conscionable one, the president responded, "I would walk an economical argumentation that would marque our families secure."
"They talked forever," Anderson said. "The president loved him."
The interrogation became a half-hour peculiar connected KOMU.
"Sam and I were impressed that the president had prepared for our interrogation and spent immoderate other clip chatting with us," Nazemi reported successful his broadcast conclusion.
Nazemi went connected to be MIT and Harvard Business School. He has since founded 4 startup companies, including his latest venture, Charlie, which focuses connected banking services for older Americans.
The puerility acquisition "absolutely" acceptable him connected his way to success, Nazemi said.
But the communicative doesn't extremity there. Nazemi and Anderson maintained their relationship implicit the decades, and years later, Anderson received a astonishing missive from Nazemi announcing helium had established assemblage funds for Anderson's 2 children, Noah and Maddie.
"Your doing truthful opened up my caput and eyes to what is possible," Nazemi wrote successful the missive that moved Anderson to tears.
Recently, Nazemi met Anderson's children for the archetypal clip arsenic Noah prepared to be Mississippi State University.
"It's my honor. What I've done is truthful tiny compared to what your dada has done for me," Nazemi told the siblings.
"Thank you for the never-ending acquisition that started with me, but is being passed connected to truthful galore others. You mean the satellite to maine and I still, to this day, inquire myself, 'Can I beryllium arsenic bully arsenic Dave was? Can I beryllium arsenic diligent arsenic Dave was? Would I prime up the phone? Would I springiness idiosyncratic who is pursuing their imagination the abstraction to research that you gave me?'"
A reunion
While Nazemi and Anderson maintained their adjacent relationship, Nazemi and Clinton hadn't truly spoken since that interrogation successful 1993, speech from 1 little brushwood — until CBS News arranged a reunion successful Washington past week.
"I inactive retrieve erstwhile you came to interrogation me," Clinton told Nazemi during their affectional reunion. "I inactive retrieve erstwhile Dave Anderson said we should bash it. And my unit looked similar this, and I said, no, this is simply a bully idea. Let's bash this."
More than 30 years aft interviewing President Bill Clinton arsenic a sixth-grader, Kevin Nazemi reunited with him successful Washington.
David Begnaud
Nazemi expressed however that puerility brushwood shaped his life.
"The accidental that you provided for maine convinced maine that you acceptable really, truly large goals and beryllium persistent towards them," Nazemi told the erstwhile president. "And certainly, the generosity and the honesty successful the acquisition of sitting down with you showcased for maine traits that I've tried to transportation guardant successful my nonrecreational and idiosyncratic life."
Clinton recalled the determination to assistance the interrogation with a smile.
"I person a precise wide representation of the speech we had earlier I met you astir whether it was a bully idea. And I said, if he's worked this hard, this is simply a bully idea, and he'll springiness america a bully interview," Clinton said with a lukewarm laugh. "And you know, I didn't ever get the champion press, truthful I knew astatine slightest I'd get a consecutive interrogation from you."
As they parted ways, Clinton offered words that echoed crossed the decades.
"I'm arrogant of you," Clinton told Nazemi. "We request much radical similar you."
David Begnaud loves uncovering the bosom of each communicative and volition proceed to bash so, highlighting mundane heroes and proving that determination is bully quality successful the quality with his exclusive "CBS Mornings" series, "Beg-Knows America." Every Monday, get acceptable for moments that volition marque you grin oregon adjacent shed a tear. Do you person a communicative astir an mean idiosyncratic doing thing bonzer for idiosyncratic else? Email David and his squad at DearDavid@cbsnews.com
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David Begnaud is simply a CBS News contributor and antecedently served arsenic the pb nationalist analogous for "CBS Mornings," based successful New York City.
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