‘We were neighbors and so much more’: Pres. Bill Clinton among those honoring legacy of late Gov. William Winter

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A select group of people gathered inside the Neilsen Auditorium at Two Mississippi Museums to celebrate the life and legacy of former Governor William Winter and First lady Elise Winter.

Winter is remembered for pushing Mississippi lawmakers to enact the Education Reform Act of 1982, serving as co-chairman of a national commission on racial reconciliation created by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, and encouraging the change of the Mississippi flag in 2000 and 2001.

He was also instrumental in the opening of the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson.

Speakers at the event included former President Bill Clinton, former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, and former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson.

Former President Bill Clinton said Winter and his wife, Elise, were great at positively keeping score of their lives.

“The ultimate lesson of their lives [William and Elise Winter] is that how your lives turn out, assuming you don’t have a terrible piece of bad luck, is largely a function of how you decide to keep score,” Clinton said.

Clinton said he and Winter “were neighbors and so much more,” adding that he was an extremely genuine individual.

“I was blessed to know a person who was truly good, truly great, and truly fun,” Clinton said. “From the minute I met Bill Winter, I never had a scintilla of doubt that I was with one of the most authentic people I’d ever meet.”

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