Abdul El-Sayed’s commencement speech in 2007 was so good it led Bill Clinton to tell him to go into politics at just 22 years old

Abdul El-Sayed, now senator-elect, delivered a 2007 University of Michigan commencement address that so impressed then-Former President Bill Clinton that Clinton urged the 22-year-old to enter politics. The anecdote traces El-Sayed's political path back to that speech, which he gave as a graduating senior. The endorsement from a former president at such an early age highlights the long arc of El-Sayed's rise to elected office.