Clinton to speak at Princeton, Penn State commemcement

President Clinton will give three commencement addresses this year -- including one at Princeton University -- according to White House spokesperson Mike McCurry. Clinton will also address Pennsylvania State University graduates on May 10 and United States Coast Guard Academy graduates on May 22, before speaking at Princeton on the morning of June 4. Clinton accepted Princeton's invitation to speak as part of its 250th anniversary celebration. Princeton officials typically do not invite a speaker to address the university's graduates, but they have made an exception because of the university's anniversary, according to Princeton spokesperson Mary Caffrey. "It's been our tradition that on major anniversaries we've invited the sitting president to come and speak," Caffrey added. "For the 200th anniversary, we had Harry Truman and for the 150th we had Grover Cleveland. "It should be a pretty interesting and extraordinary event," Caffrey said. "We're still going to attempt to have it outside on the lawn in front of Nassau Hall and try to keep all the same graduation traditions." In a White House statement, McCurry said Clinton's commencement speeches will focus on some key issues as the nation prepares for the future. "The three [speeches] will sort of work together thematically to reinforce some ideas the president wants to present to the nation about his ideas for the future of this country as we look ahead to the 21st century," McCurry, a Princeton graduate, said. "I'd describe them all as dealing with economic issues." Clinton's speeches will address several major topics -- including "how we can ensure that the United States remains the moral force for leadership in this changing world and how here at home we can reflect the values that have long been important in the American tradition." Clinton will also focus on the future of the nation's economic policy and how the government can improve "the health retirement income and wage security of Americans," according to McCurry. While Clinton has never spoken at Penn's commencement, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was a guest speaker in 1993. Barbara Bush also spoke at Penn's commencement in 1990. Ten presidents have also visited campus. As part of Penn's 250th anniversary, President Reagan addressed students in 1990. And to commemorate Penn's 200th anniversary in 1940, both President Hoover and then-President Franklin Roosevelt spoke. The most recent visit by a sitting president occurred in 1975, when Gerald Ford gave the commencement address.