On 14 December 25 years ago I was incredibly fortunate to play a very small part in one of the most exciting events of my higher education career. The visit of Bill Clinton to Warwick to deliver his final overseas address at the very end of his Presidency had been fixed and notified to the University under a fortnight before the event meaning there was very little time for the huge logistical operation to be delivered.

My minor contribution to the preparations involved trying (along with my then colleague Dave Hall) to fill over half of a large auditorium with a wide range of UK and international students. It was harder than it sounds, particularly because it was after the end of term and the number of seats available moved up and down on a pretty regular basis. 

Senior leaders spent 10 days running in and out of meetings with very senior officials and security staff from UK and US governments and the campus felt full of people in suits with earphones looking intently at things and people all the time.

And then there was a concrete landing pad to be laid for the helicopters bringing the President and his very large secure car to the site.

It was all terribly exciting. But a huge collective effort by a team who all came together under the leadership of the late and very great Jonathan Nicholls, Registrar at the time, meant that everything worked just as it should and everyone went home happy. Even the President who had had to use the Vice-Chancellor’s office to phone and congratulate his successor on the confirmation of his election.

I was lucky in the end to get into the hall and stand at the back to listen to the speech. You can read the full text of Clinton’s Remarks at Warwick University here.

In today’s context it seems stunningly insightful and erudite. At the time it felt a little on the dry side but the delivery was completely compelling from a speaker who just exuded charisma. And then it was all over. Everyone flew off and a couple of weeks later we all received a commemorative mug.

There is some terrific footage of the event here and you can see how popular Tony Blair was at the time too – he really worked the line well.

Dave Hall and I also have a brief reminiscence about the event on this  episode of the University Registrars Talking About Stuff podcast (about 21.20 minutes in).

It really was a remarkable day.