EAST LANSING - It was an exciting evening in East Lansing Wednesday night as former President Bill Clinton visited the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center at Michigan State University's campus.

Clinton gave the key note address at the public service forum sponsored by Governor Jim Blanchard.

He was honored and received the Spartan Statesmanship Award for distinguished public service.

Before Clinton spoke, Governor Blanchard stood at the podium enlightening the room with several of the former President's accomplishments.

"Bill Clinton served as attorney general of Arkansas, 5 terms as Governor of Arkansas, 2 terms/8 years as our President, he led the US to the longest economic expansion in American history and that includes the creation of 22 million jobs…" Blanchard stated.

He continued saying...

"Here is a man from humbled beginnings who had extraordinary gifts of knowledge, talent and energy …a man who accomplished extraordinary things for our country and the world…and yes, he had a big brain, a big smile and more importantly a big heart..he truly loved the world and the whole world loved him," Blanchard humbly said.

Clinton took the stand and began his address discussing four items that are important in identifying your purpose as well as public service.

The first being that you must have an obsessive interest in people.

"A lot of the protests you see in the world today are from people who feel they are not seen much less heard," Clinton stated.

He made it a point to say that it is a great mistake to insult the intelligence of the people of the poor.

The second item Clinton mentioned was that if you're going to be in public service, you have to decide on what your purpose is.

Thirdly, he stated that the policy's you decide to adopt to achieve your purpose.

He shared his opinion mentioning that sometimes we the people think we know what the best purpose is but we don't.

Lastly, President Clinton highlighted that politics is broadly defined.

"There is politics in everything," Clinton declared.

As Clinton shared his address, the feeling in the room was indescribable.

The crowd sat still and listened intently as he captured the attention of the room.

"The job of public service even by private citizen is to pick some space no matter how small and do public good as a private citizen," mentioned Clinton.

He finished his speech with this captivating statement:

"The reason you should do public service is because we are going to share the world rather we like it or not..but only we can determine the terms upon which the sharing proceeds."

Clinton received a standing ovation as he made his way off the stage and as usual, his captivating yet provoking address was one for the books.