--- title: Bill Clinton Says Obama Painted a 'Pretty Picture' Of U.S. description: But said millions of Americans don't see themselves in it canonical: https://time.com/4250018/bill-clinton-obama-america-dream/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-07T20:08:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:41:20.517Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bill Clinton Says Obama Painted a 'Pretty Picture' Of U.S. og:description: Clinton said millions don't see themselves in that picture og:url: https://time.com/4250018/bill-clinton-obama-america-dream/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt427f01b30ea2840a/6988808a8e0601314d464eab/514184290.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Bill Clinton Canvasses North Carolina Before the NC Primary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bill Clinton Says Obama Painted a 'Pretty Picture' Of U.S. twitter:description: Clinton said millions don't see themselves in that picture twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt427f01b30ea2840a/6988808a8e0601314d464eab/514184290.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bill Clinton Says Obama Painted a 'Pretty Picture' of the U.S. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 7, 2016 8:08 PM UTC  Former President Bill Clinton speaks to supporters in support of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, at a Get Out the Vote event in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday, March 7, 2016\. Al Drago—CQ-Roll Call,Inc. Former President Bill Clinton speaks to supporters in support of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, at a Get Out the Vote event in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday, March 7, 2016\. Al Drago—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.Al Drago—CQ-Roll Call,Inc. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 7, 2016 8:08 PM UTC Former President Bill Clinton said though he believes President Barack Obama has performed better than he’s gotten credit for, he said millions [can’t see themselves in the “pretty picture”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time%5Fcontinue=110&v=Sc5FRA9C-b8) the President has painted about the American economy in speeches like his 2016 state of the union address. “Why is it such a wacky election? Because millions and millions and millions and millions of people look at that pretty picture of America he painted and they cannot find themselves in it to save their lives,” Clinton said while campaigning for his wife on Monday. “That explains everything.” Clinton said the intensity on both sides of the political spectrum throughout the 2016 campaign links back to the feeling among a good deal of Americans that they’ve been left behind. “People are upset, frankly, they’re anxiety-ridden, they’re disoriented, because they don’t seem themselves in that picture,” Clinton added. The former president went on to say his wife is running to “put every single American in the picture President Obama painted.” The remarks were critical of the 44th president, who Hillary Clinton ran against in 2008 before joining his cabinet as Secretary of State, yet deferential. Clinton has been tying herself more to Obama as the campaign drudges along, likely in an effort to tap into the groundswell of support Obama earned from liberals in 2008 and 2012. President Clinton was in Raleigh, North Carolina campaigning for Hillary. The remarks come ahead of yet another primary contest in Michigan. Voters head to the polls in that state on Tuesday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4250018/bill-clinton-obama-america-dream/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4250018/bill-clinton-obama-america-dream/"},"headline":"Bill Clinton Says Obama Painted a 'Pretty Picture' of the U.S.","datePublished":"2016-03-07T20:08:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:41:20.517Z","description":"Says \"millions\" of Americans don't see themselves in the \"pretty picture\" Obama painted about the U.S. economy","url":"https://time.com/4250018/bill-clinton-obama-america-dream/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Barack Obama","Obama","Clinton","Bill Clinton"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt427f01b30ea2840a/6988808a8e0601314d464eab/514184290.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt427f01b30ea2840a/6988808a8e0601314d464eab/514184290.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bill Clinton Canvasses North Carolina Before the NC Primary","caption":"Bill Clinton Canvasses North Carolina Before the NC Primary","creditText":"Al Drago—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4250018/bill-clinton-obama-america-dream/","name":"Bill Clinton Says Obama Painted a 'Pretty Picture' of the U.S."}}]}] ```