Former President Bill Clinton was awarded the title of “Father of the Year” by The National Father’s Day Committee at a Save the Children benefit on Tuesday.
Parade captured his touching acceptance speech, and Chelsea Clinton‘s surprise appearance to present her father with the award. Here are the highlights:
What Hillary thought of Bill winning the award:
“I received a text message from Hillary saying, ‘Congratulations. I think you deserve this.’ In our family, that’s a very big deal,” he said.
Chelsea’s heartfelt introduction:
“Every day he’s my dad, and I don’t need an award to tell me he’s the best that I ever could have hoped for,” she said. “But I’m grateful he’s getting the recognition that I, of course, his unapologetically biased daughter, think he’s always deserved.”
Bill’s memories of Chelsea’s birth:
Upon arriving at the hospital, the Clinton’s were told that the baby was in a breech position and would have to be delivered via Cesarean section—and that fathers weren’t allowed in the operating room, he said. “If you send her into that room without me, I think you’re making a big mistake … I want to see my daughter born,” he recounted saying. Eventually, the doctors relented, he said. “They let me go in and hold Hillary’s hand. I saw Chelsea come out, and it changed the hospital’s policy on letting fathers into the delivery room when surgery was required. And from that day to this, I have believed without the shadow of a doubt that it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”
Chelsea thinks Bill has set a high bar for her husband, Marc.
“Of all reasons that I’m proud of my father, I’m most proud that he’s my dad and that he’s always been there for me. And he’s set the bar very high for my husband, as Marc [Mezvinsky] and I think about having our own children,” she said. “He has always provided me a safe place to land and a hard place from which to launch.”