Don Jones

Don Jones (1931–2009) — Methodist minister, professor of social ethics at Drew University for 36 years, author of eight books, and one of Herbert's closest friends. They were graduate school classmates together at Drew.

Jones was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, served in the U.S. Navy from 1951 to 1955, earned his bachelor's degree from Augustana College in Sioux Falls in 1957, and was ordained through Drew's theological school in 1961. His first post was as a Methodist minister at First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Illinois — where he became the youth pastor for a teenager named Hillary Rodham.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Jones directed his youth group at Park Ridge under the name "University of Life," introducing his students to a world outside their suburban experience — including a trip to Chicago to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak. He resigned after two years, under pressure from congregants who found his methods too provocative. He returned to Drew, earned his doctorate, and taught social ethics there for the rest of his career. But the pastoral connection lasted a lifetime. In her memoir, Hillary Rodham Clinton named Jones as one of the most influential people in her life. There is a photograph of Jones with a young Hillary Clinton that circulated widely after his death.

Former Governor Tom Kean, himself president of Drew University, called Jones "an institution, a mentor to a whole generation of students."

The Cross-Connection

This creates one of the vault's most satisfying loops: Herbert's daughter Joy Anderson met Bill Clinton directly, while Herbert's Drew classmate was the pastor who shaped Hillary Rodham Clinton's moral and spiritual formation. The Clintons' marriage closes the loop — two entirely independent paths from Herbert's world converge on the same couple.

Cross-Connections

• Hillary Rodham Clinton — Don was her youth pastor in Park Ridge, IL; she named him in her memoir
• Joy Anderson met Bill Clinton → the Clinton loop