Pardoned drug dealer gets chance to meet Clinton

Peter Ninemire’s dream came true.

“I got to shake Bill Clinton’s hand,” Ninemire said, minutes after Clinton’s appearance Friday at Allen Fieldhouse. “I got to thank him for saving my life.”

Ninemire, 49, was one of 17 nonviolent drug offenders whose sentences Clinton commuted Jan. 20, 2001.

Now a youth counselor in Wichita, Ninemire drove to Lawrence in hopes of getting a chance to meet and thank the former president.

“I’m not kidding, every morning when I get up, I think of Bill Clinton and the courage it took for him to do what he did for me,” said Ninemire, who had spent 10 years in prison when Clinton commuted his 27-year sentence.

Shortly before Clinton arrived, Ninemire, who was featured in a story in Thursday’s Journal-World, was interviewed by a Topeka television station.

After his speech, Clinton spent several minutes shaking hands. Ninemire was one of the first in line.

“I said, ‘Mr. President, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me my life back,'” Ninemire said. “He looked kind of astonished, and then said, ‘You’re the guy in the newspaper.'”

The ex-president then told Ninemire, “God bless you.”

Ninemire replied: “No, Mr. President, God bless you.”

Clinton told Ninemire he was proud of him.

And Ninemire said: “Mr. President, I will continue to make you proud of me every day of my life.”

“I was looking right in his eyes and he was looking right into mine. I know I was teary. I think he was, too,” Ninemire said. “It was pretty emotional, but it was awesome!”