Clinton says we 'owe' it to Oklahoma City bombing victims to 'do better' as a nation

Former President Bill Clinton urged Americans to "do better" in his remarks at an event marking the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He said it’s "what we owe 30 years later to the people who made the ultimate sacrifice."

The bombing on April 19, 1995, at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building is the deadliest homegrown attack in U.S. history. A truck bomb that exploded in front of the federal building at 9:02 a.m. claimed the lives of 168 people, including 19 children. Nearly 700 others were injured in the attack.

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Clinton was nearing the end of his first term in office when the attack occurred. At the 30th anniversary event, he recalled the day of the tragedy.

"Thirty years ago, I thought I was going to have a very different day when I woke up," Clinton told the attendees at the event on Saturday. "I went jogging with the winners of the Boston Marathon, giving me the illusion, and an illusion it was, that I was somehow pretty fit. And then I got back to the White House and the devastating news." 

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The former president also spoke about the beauty and importance of the "Oklahoma Standard," a spirit of resilience and unity that emerged in response to the bombing. Clinton said he wished "every American would get a copy of the Oklahoma Standard in the mail or on their cell phone tomorrow. I bet you it would have a terrific impact."

He urged Oklahomans to take the spirit of the "Oklahoma Standard" and spread it across the country, saying that he was grateful for the standard’s existence.

On the morning of April 19, 1995, former Army soldier and security guard Timothy McVeigh parked a rented Ryder truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building before he set off the bomb.

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"The bombing in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens. It was an act of cowardice and it was evil. The United States will not tolerate it. And I will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards," Clinton said on April 19, 1995, according to a DOJ transcript.

McVeigh and his co-conspirators were eventually captured and convicted. On Aug. 14, 1997, more than two years after the bombing, McVeigh was sentenced to death. He was executed on June 11, 2001, exactly three months before America would be rocked by the 9/ 11 attacks. The Oklahoma City bombing was the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil up until 9/11.