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HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.
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This is Doug Johnson. On our show this week:
Country music from Kenny Chesney …
A question from China about who has more power in America, thepresident or Congress …
And a look at America’s newest presidential library.
Clinton Library Opens
HOST:
Last Friday, November nineteenth, the William J. ClintonPresidential Center opened to the public in the southern city ofLittle Rock, Arkansas. It is the twelfth presidential library in theUnited States. Shep O’Neal tells us about it.
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Government officials havedescribed the Clinton Presidential Center as a kind of “bridge tothe twenty-first century.” They say it much different from the othereleven presidential libraries.
It includes a large museum area. The museum shows more thaneighty million objects that aim to tell the story of the BillClinton presidency. Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that the librarywill tell the true story of her husband’s time in Washington. Thisincludes his involvement with White House assistant Monica Lewinskyand his impeachment.
One room shows public events that took place each year that BillClinton was president. These include his peace efforts in NorthernIreland and the Middle East. Also on display in the museum is anelectronic copy of the president’s book of daily appointments.Visitors can touch a screen and see his official duties that day.
The museum also includes the only full-size copy of the OvalOffice in a presidential library. Reports say Clinton administrationofficials took thousands of pictures of the president’s office inthe White House so they could re-create the room.
Other, more personal presidential property is also displayed. Forexample, visitors can see Mister Clinton’s collection of objectsthat belonged to singer Elvis Presley. Letters the presidentreceived from famous people. And an area honoring the Clintons’ petcat and dog that lived with them in the White House.
Along with the library and museum, the center includes an elevenhectare park and a bridge across the Arkansas River. It will alsoinclude a University of Arkansas graduate school that will trainstudents in public service.
The Clinton Center was built with one hundred sixty-five milliondollars in private money. Officials expect more than three hundredthousand visitors a year. And the city of Little Rock expects theClinton Center to increase its popularity as a place people want togo for a holiday.
Separation of Powers
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Guangzhou, China.Huang Shixiang asks who is more powerful in the United Statesgovernment — the president or the Congress?
Early American leaders designed the government so that no onepart would become too powerful. The federal government is organizedinto three branches. Most government offices are in the executivebranch. This branch is led by the president.
The legislative branch is Congress, made up of the Senate and theHouse of Representatives. And the judicial branch is the federalcourt system, under the Supreme Court.
This way of government is known as the system of checks andbalances, or the separation of powers. Under this system, eachbranch of government is restricted by the others. For example, bothhouses of Congress must approve a bill before it can become law. Andthe Supreme Court has the power to declare laws unconstitutional.
Bills are signed into law by the president. But the president mayveto a bill. The rejected measure then goes back to Congress.Congress can let the veto stand. Or it can vote to make the billinto law without presidential approval. To do so, two-thirds of themembers of both houses must agree.
The Constitution gives the president the power to sign treaties.But treaties must be approved by the Senate. In nineteen nineteen,President Woodrow Wilson signed the Treaty of Versailles to endWorld War One.
That treaty also included a proposal to establish a League ofNations where countries could meet and discuss problems. ButAmericans feared they would become involved in another war. TheSenate rejected the Treaty of Versailles.
The League of Nations was established anyway without Americaninvolvement — and without much success. After World War Two, theUnited Nations took its place.
Kenny Chesney
HOST:
If there were a president of country music, it might very well besinger Kenny Chesney. Earlier this month, he won two awards from theCountry Music Association — Entertainer of the Year and Album ofthe Year. Then, the American Music Association named him Artist ofthe Year. Faith Lapidus tells us about him.
ANNCR:
Kenny Chesney is thirty-six yearsold. He grew up in the southern state of Tennessee, and has beenrecording country music since nineteen ninety-one. His firstsuccessful single record was a song he wrote and recorded innineteen ninety-four, “The Tin Man.”
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Fans have been buying his albums ever since. Two years ago, herecorded a popular album called “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems.”One of the most popular songs on that album was this one, “Young.”
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Kenny Chesney’s awards are the result of his latest album, “Whenthe Sun Goes Down.” Critics say the album is a celebration of livinglife, seeking love and not being afraid to dream. We leave you nowwith the title song from “When The Sun Goes Down” that Kenny Chesneyperforms with Uncle Kracker.
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HOST:
I’m Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC.
Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Paul Thompson was theproducer. And our engineer was Efeem Drucker.
Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazinein Special English.