In 1956, I finally got a brother, and our family finally got a television set. My brother, Roger Cassidy Clinton, was born on July 25, his father's birthday. I was so happy. Mother and Daddy had been trying to have a baby for some time(a couple of years earlier she'd had a miscarriage). I think she, and probably he too, thought it might save their marriage. Daddy's response was not auspicious. I was with Mammaw and Papaw when Mother delivered ny caesarean section. Daddy picked me up and took me to see her, then brought me home and left. He had been drinking for the last few months, and instead of making him happy and responsible, the birth of his only son prompted him to run back to bottle.
1956年，我終于有了一個弟弟，而我家也終于有了第一臺電視機(jī)。我的弟弟叫羅杰·卡西迪·克林頓，出生了7月25日，與他父親的生日相同。我高興壞了。老媽和老爸好一段時間以來都想要一個小孩了（幾年前老媽曾經(jīng)流過產(chǎn)）。我想她，也許還有老爸都認(rèn)為這個孩子挽救了他們的婚姻。老爸的反應(yīng)并不那么積極。老媽做剖腹產(chǎn)手術(shù)時，我和外祖父母在一起。老爸接我?guī)胰タ此缓髮⑽矣炙土嘶貋?，便離開了。在過去的幾個月里，他嗜酒如命。他唯一的兒子的生出并沒有讓他快樂和變得負(fù)責(zé)，反而讓他更加醉生夢死。
Along with the excitement of a new baby in the house was the thrill of the new TV. There were lots of shows and entertainers for kids: cartoons, Captain Kangaroo and Howdy Doody, with Buffalo bob smith, whom I especially liked. And there was baseball: Mickey Mantle and the Yankees, Stan Musial and the Cardinals, and my all-time favorite, Willie Mays and the old New York Giants.
除了新嬰兒的降生讓人興奮以外，那段時間最讓人激動的東西莫過于新電視了。電視會播放許多的適合兒童觀看的表演和娛樂節(jié)目：卡通片，如袋鼠船長和胡迪·都迪，我尤其喜歡里面的法布羅·鮑勃·史密斯。此外，還有棒球節(jié)目：米奇·曼托和洋基隊(duì)，斯坦·穆休和紅雀隊(duì)，和我一直以來的最愛——威利·梅斯和老紐約巨人隊(duì)。
But strange as it was for a kid of ten years old, what really dominated my TV viewing that summer were the Republican and Democratic conventions. I sat on the floor right in front of the TV and watched them both, transfixed. It sounds crazy, but I felt right at home in the world of politics and politicians. I liked president Eisenhower and enjoyed seeing him renominated, but we were democrats, so I really got into their convention. Governer Frank Clement of Tennessee gave a rousing keynote address. There was an exciting contest for the vice-presidential nomination between young senator John F. Kennedy and eventual victor, Senator Estes Kefauver, who served Tennessee in the senate with Al Gore's father. When Adlai Stevenson, the nominee in 1952, accepted his party's call to run again, he said he had prayed"this cup would pass from me." I admired Stevenson's intelligence and eloquence, but even then I couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want the chance to be president. Now I think what he didn't want was to lead another losing effort. I do understand that. I've lost a couple of elections my self, though I never fought a battle I didn't first convince myself I could win.
但是對一個十歲的孩子來說，最令人奇怪的是，那個夏天占據(jù)我絕大部分時間的電視節(jié)目居然是共和黨和民主黨大會。我坐在電視機(jī)前的地板上看著它們兩個，完全看呆了。這聽上去很瘋狂，但是在政治和政治家的世界里，我就感覺如魚得水一般。我喜歡艾森豪威爾總統(tǒng)，很高興他能獲得提名，但我們是民主黨人，所以我真的被他們的會議吸引住了。田納西州州長弗蘭克·克萊蒙特發(fā)表了一篇激動人心的主旨演講。在大會上，年輕參議員約翰·肯尼迪與參議員埃斯蒂斯·凱弗維爾圍繞副總統(tǒng)的人選展開了激烈的競爭，最終，凱弗維爾獲勝。他曾經(jīng)代表田納西州與埃爾·戈?duì)柕母赣H一起擔(dān)任過參議員。當(dāng)1952年被提名人阿德萊·斯蒂文森接受黨的號召，重新參選之時，他說他祈禱過“讓我來傳遞這一棒”。我欽佩斯蒂文森的智慧與口才，但是即便是在當(dāng)時，我也不明白為什么沒有人想要競選總統(tǒng)?，F(xiàn)在我認(rèn)為，他們可能是害怕再一次失敗而已。我真的很理解這一點(diǎn)。盡管每次競選前我都堅(jiān)信自已一定會勝利，但我也失敗過好幾次。
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