Bill Clinton Says His 'Small' Family's Decades-Long Thanksgiving Tradition Involves About 40 People (Exclusive)
A memorable Thanksgiving coordinated by Chelsea more than 20 years ago led the Clintons to rethink their holiday ritual, the former president explains to PEOPLE
Bill and Hillary Clinton have a decades-long Thanksgiving tradition at their New York home.
While speaking with PEOPLE about his new memoir, Citizen: My Life After the White House, the former president of the United States, 78, shared how he and his "pretty small" family celebrate the November holiday.
Bill said that his daughter, Chelsea, 44, whom he shares with Hillary, 77, started a tradition when she traveled overseas to attend University of Oxford in England that involves them celebrating with a larger group than usual.
"She invited us to come have lunch with her and 24 of her friends," Bill recalled.
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Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving in 1997Sharing the day with chosen family in addition to the core Clinton trio left a mark on the former first couple, who have sought to extend their Thanksgiving dinner table each year since.
"Every Thanksgiving for more than 20 years now, we have gathered," Bill said, explaining that their typical Thanksgiving Day gathering now includes "older friends of Hillary's and mine who are alone, and all of Chelsea's friends who are either single, alone or from another country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving."
"We have between 40 and 45 people in a normal year in our little house," he added. "So it's pretty hard, but we do it."
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Bill noted that their holiday festivities don't end with a large dinner, either.
"The ones that wanna stay, stay the night, and Chelsea and [her husband] Marc play cards with 'em, and then we go walk in the hills near our house the next day. And that's it," he said. "It's great, we love it."
The former president's new book was released on Nov. 19 and offers his first-person account of the years that followed his two-term presidency from 1993 to 2001.
"Just days after leaving the White House, the call came to aid victims of a devastating earthquake in India, and Clinton hit the ground running," the synopsis teases. "Over the next two decades, he would create an enduring legacy of public service and advocacy work, from Indonesia to Louisiana, Northern Ireland to South Africa, and in the process reimagine philanthropy and redefine the impact a former president could have on the world."
Additionally, the book covers the former president's thoughts on major events that have unfolded since his time in office, including 9/11, the Iraq War, the Haiti earthquake, the Great Recession, the January 6 insurrection, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and his wife Hillary’s time as senator, secretary of state and presidential candidate.
Speaking with PEOPLE about his personal life principle, he said, "You need to be thinking about what you're gonna do today that will help tomorrow. I just decided that's the way I would think all the time: What can I do today? How can I move the law forward on something I care about?"
Citizen: My Life After the White House is now available wherever books are sold.
