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President Obama Visits East Tennessee

By Mike Steely

steelym@knoxfocus.com

The quick visit to Knoxville and Clinton Friday was President Barack Obama’s first visit to Knoxville as Commander in Chief and his proposal of a nation-wide two year college education, patterned after Tennessee’s Promise, was well received by local citizens.

President Obama, joined in the visit by Vice-President Joe Biden and his wife, Professor Jill Biden, referred to Governor Bill Haslam’s efforts to guarantee all high school graduates two free years of community or technical education during his address that afternoon at Pellissippi State Community College. Professor Biden spoke of her many years as a community college teacher and the president said that neither he nor the vice-president would be in the positions they are today had it not been for financial assistance in college.

The address at Pellissippi State College was attended by a packed house of college students, teachers, local and national officials, and the local, regional and national press.

The President then traveled to Clinton where he spoke at the Techmer PM plant about creating new jobs.

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