On Friday, May 17, 1946, a man was driving from Chicago, Ill. to a destination in Arkansas. The man had been in Chicago, moving his family's furniture into a small house in the suburb of Forest Park.

He was driving a 1942 Buick on Highway 60 near Sikeston, Mo. late at night, when the right front tire on his Buick blew out. His car crashed. He was thrown from the car but ended up in a ditch, where he drowned.

The man was 28 years old. He left a wife and son in Arkansas, an unborn son.

What would happen to this young son, still unborn at his father's death? What would he grow up to be? How could he be successful? What would he do?

Describing the day the young father died, the young mother wrote, "It seemed almost unbelievable at the time but you see I am six months pregnant and the thought of our baby keeps me going and really gives me the whole world before me."

The young son was born and grew up to, among other things, write a book. In that book, he wrote, "To my mother, who gave me a love of life, To . . . (his wife), who gave me a life of love, to . . . (his daughter), who gave joy and meaning to all, And to the memory of my grandfather, who taught me to look up to people others looked down on, because we're not so different after all."

The young boy who grew up to write that book grew up to be quite successful. Not only did he write a book, but he also became the President of the United States of America.

His grandfather's advice to him remains good advice to us: Look up to people others looked down on, because we're not so different after all.

The young boy was Bill Clinton.

Jack Rollins is the managing editor of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.