Ron Fournier on Bush, Clinton making him a better father

Through Election Day, Ron Fournier was running on all cylinders. He's been reporting for the National Journal on America's changes and how it influences our ideas about ourselves and our institutions.

After the election, he published an article that was one of the toughest he's ever written and it was about his own family. In the recent National Journal cover story, Fournier wrote about how two former presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, helped him to understand his son with Asperger's syndrome and become a better father:

On the trips to Arkansas and Texas, I saw through both presidents a successful future for Tyler--in Clinton, big possibilities for a boy with a sharp mind and rough edges. In Bush, Tyler's gift of humor as a means to find confidence in himself and connections with others. I learned that while Tyler was not my idealized son, he was the ideal one. In the Oval Office, years ago, I thought Bush had ordered me to "love that boy" in spite of his idiosyncrasies. Now, I realize, I love my son because of them.

Fournier joins The Daily Circuit Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013 to discuss the story.

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