Posted in: Comics, Editor's Picks Comic News | Tagged: ,


Bill Clinton's First Job… Was Selling Comic Books

downloadSee, I know that Bernie Sanders' campaign organiser was a comic shop owner.

But I didn't know that the possible-first First Gentleman made his first dollars in the same way.

In 2012 President Bill Clinton talked to the National Retail Federation's 101st convention,

The former U.S. chief then recalled his first retail job, working for a grocery store at age 13. He subsequently talked the grocery store owner into allowing him to set up his own retail business within the store that sold used comic books. "I had two chests filled with perfectly preserved comic books," he recalled. "During the months I worked at the grocery store, I sold every one. I made about $100 and I felt like a millionaire. I now know I was a fool. If I had saved those comic books, they'd be worth $200,000 to $300,000 today. But it was a good experience."

Or as Donald Trump would call him, a failed businessman and loser.

There's a history here.

Alex Hillman of Hillman Periodicals, the original publisher of Airboy, Air Fighters, etc was considered such a good businessman that he was put in charge of the Marshal plan after the Second World War, of which I am – or at least my parents are – a direct beneficiary.

Pulp publisher Frank Munsey, who published the first Tarzan and Princess Of Mars stories, among many many other things, funded the most successful third party Presidential run in US history, that of Teddy Roosevelt for the Progressive Party, garnering 27% of the vote and coming second.

And does anyone actually know the rumoured connection between DC Comics owner Harry Donenfeld and father of JFK, Joe Kennedy?


Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
twitterfacebookinstagramwebsite
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.