Bill Clinton and Dr. Ruth at the 45th Grammy Awards in 2003.Photo: L. Cohen/WireImage
Former PresidentBill Clintonand renowned sex therapistDr. Ruth Westheimernearly broke the internet this week whenthey were spotted sitting and laughing togetherduringSerena Williams’historic US Open match.
Their acquaintance was made thanks to a program that connected Bill’s wife, Sec.Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Westheimer’s daughter, Miriam Yael Westheimer. The program is called Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters —HIPPY, for short — andHillary brought the teaching model from Israel to the Stateswhile she was first lady of Arkansas to help parents educate their pre-K children right at home.
As the youth education program started to pick up in the U.S., Ruth’s Columbia-educated daughter stepped in as the director of HIPPY International, officially linking the two families. It just so happens that around the same time, Ruth was earning a name for herself as a sex-forward talk show host.
Dr. Ruth and Bill Clinton attend a 2018 charity event in New York City.Dia Dipasupil/Getty
Through the decades, the pair have been photographed together on a number of occasions, often bearing wide grins or doing silly poses that accentuate their comical height difference (Ruth proudly stands at 4 feet, 7 inches, with the former president towering overhead at 6 feet, 2 inches).
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They have attended charity events, the Grammys and even a White House state dinner honoring Moroccan royalty together — and now, they can say they’ve watched aretiring tennis legendwin a match at the US Open together.
According to PEOPLE’s source, the US Open hangout came to be after a mutual friend invited them both to attend. Also sitting in their section were former Hillary aideHuma Abedinand Olympic skierLindsey Vonn.
Bill Clinton and Dr. Ruth at the 2022 US Open.Office of President Bill Clinton
Ruth’s captivating spirit that won the former president over so many years ago comes from an experience-rich lifefull of twists and turns.
Born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1928, she was only 10 when she was sent away to Switzerland to escape the Holocaust. Back home, her parents were taken to concentration camps and subsequently killed. At 16, she moved to the Palestine region, eventually serving as a sniper in the Israeli military.
She later studied psychology in France, then relocated to New York City when Miriam was a newborn, officially training as a sex therapist in the ’70s and becoming a famed source of sex advice the following decade.
source: people.com
