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Christmas in Washington 2/14/89 [OA 4424]
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323154644
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Christmas in Washington 2/14/89 [OA 4424]
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Mary Kate Grant Subject Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
foia Number:
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Grant, Mary Kate, Files
Subseries:
Subject File, 1988-1991
OA/ID Number:
13878
Folder ID Number:
13878-016
Folder Title:
Christmas in Washington, 2/14/89
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
19
2
7
3
McNally
December 11, 1989
Draft Two (B:X-MAS)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING
THE WHITE HOUSE
THURSDAY, DEC. 14, 1989, 5:45 P.M.
LIKE EVERY HOUSE, THE WHITE HOUSE IS ALIVE WITH HOLIDAY
TRADITIONS, TRADITIONS THAT ENDEAR, TRADITIONS THAT ENDURE.
AND THE WHITE HOUSE IS ALIVE WITH THE MERRY GHOSTS OF
CHRISTMAS PAST. THE JOYFUL SOUNDS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON'S FIDDLE.
THE WARM SMELLS OF THE CHRISTMAS DINNER ABE LINCOLN'S SON HOSTED
FOR THE NEEDY. THE RICH, DEEP ECHOES OF FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT
READING DICKENS' "CHRISTMAS CAROL" TO HIS GRANDCHILDREN. 11
WE'LL HONOR ONE HOLIDAY TRADITION A WEEK FROM TONIGHT, WHEN
WE CELEBRATE THE BEGINNING OF HANUKKAH WITH A SPECIAL WHITE HOUSE
CEREMONY. AND ANOTHER BEGINS TONIGHT, HERE BESIDE THE WHITE
HOUSE, WHERE WE GATHER TO LIGHT THE NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE.
BUT THIS IS NO ORDINARY CHRISTMAS. 11
THIS IS THE CHRISTMAS WE'VE AWAITED FOR 50 YEARS. III
FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE URALS, 1989 IS ENDING BRIGHT WITH
THE PROSPECT OF A FAR BETTER CHRISTMAS THAN EUROPE HAS EVER
KNOWN, A FAR BETTER FUTURE THAN THE WORLD DARED TO DREAM. 11
HALF A CENTURY AGO THERE BEGAN IN CENTRAL EUROPE A STRUGGLE
THAT LEFT AS ITS LEGACY A DIVIDED BERLIN, A DIVIDED GERMANY, A
DIVIDED EUROPE.
WORLD WAR II ALSO BECAME THE GREAT DIVIDE FOR MY GENERATION,
AN ABYSS FROM WHICH MANY WOULD NEVER RETURN, AND A TOUCHSTONE
AGAINST WHICH WE WOULD FOREVER MEASURE TIME AND CHANGE. 11
2
AND IN THIS TIME OF GREAT HOPE, IT IS EASY TO FORGET THE
THIN MARGIN THAT OFTEN SEPARATED OUR ALLIANCE AND ITS ARMIES FROM
DEFEAT. 50 YEARS AGO POLAND HAD FALLEN AND EUROPE WAS HELD IN
THE ICY GRIP OF ITS DARKEST WINTER. NONE COULD IMAGINE THE AGONY
AND THE ANGUISH THAT WOULD BE ENDURED BEFORE THE WORLD WAS RID OF
THAT HORROR. III
I THINK OF CHRISTMAS EVE 1944. 10 MILLION AMERICANS IN
UNIFORM. HERE IN WARTIME WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT FRANKLIN
ROOSEVELT LIT THE NATIONAL TREE WITH THE SAME ELECTRIC SWITCH I
HAVE HERE TONIGHT.
IT WOULD BE ROOSEVELT'S LAST CHRISTMAS. THE LAST CHRISTMAS
OF THE WAR. THE LAST CHRISTMAS THAT WOULD KNOW JUST ONE BERLIN.
ON THAT SNOWY NIGHT I RODE A TRAIN EASTWARD ACROSS AMERICA.
BACK FROM THE PACIFIC. 20 YEARS OLD. ON CHRISTMAS EVE THE TRAIN
STOPPED JUST OUTSIDE NEW YORK, AND YOUNG BARBARA PIERCE CLIMBED
ABOARD. AND WHEN WE JOINED MY PARENTS THERE WAS LAUGHTER AND
TEARS, HUGS AND JOY, THE LOVE AND WARMTH OF FAMILY AT CHRISTMAS.
TWO WEEKS LATER, BARBARA AND I WERE WED.
FOR US THE WAR WAS OVER. BUT FOR HALF OF EUROPE, THE WAR
AND ITS AFTERMATH WAS TO CONSUME THREE GENERATIONS. 11
DECEMBER 1948 BROUGHT THE BERLIN AIRLIFT, BRAVE YOUNG
AMERICAN FLYERS BATTLING TIME AND THE ELEMENTS TO BRING CHRISTMAS
TO AN ISLAND OF FREEDOM IN THE GRAY, GRAY SEAS OF EASTERN EUROPE.
THE YEARS TOOK A TOLL BUT NEVER DIMMED OUR FAITH. ON
CHRISTMAS MORNING 1955, RADIO FREE EUROPE BROADCAST PRESIDENT
EISENHOWER'S MESSAGE BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN, TO THE PEOPLES OF
3
EASTERN EUROPE. HE TOLD THEM: "DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON, I
WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
SHARE YOUR FAITH THAT
RIGHT, IN THE END, WILL PREVAIL -- TO BRING YOU ONCE AGAIN AMONG
THE FREE NATIONS OF THE WORLD."
20 YEARS LATER, DURING MY FIRST WINTER IN CHINA, I SAT IN
CHURCH WITH A HARDY BAND OF COURAGEOUS CHINESE CHRISTIANS, AND
FOUND THE FACE OF CHRISTMAS EVEN IN A GODLESS LAND.
IN MY FIRST WINTER AS VICE PRESIDENT, POLAND WAS CUT OFF
FROM THE WORLD, SILENCED BY THE IRON FIST OF MARTIAL LAW. THAT
CHRISTMAS EVE, WE KEPT A CANDLE BURNING ALL NIGHT IN THE WHITE
HOUSE, IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE POLISH PEOPLE.
TODAY FIFTY WINTERS HAVE COME AND GONE. AND TODAY THAT LONE
CANDLE HAS GROWN TO FILL THE COBBLED SQUARES OF ANCIENT EUROPE,
AND GIVE BIRTH TO A NEW SEASON OF HOPE.
AND LAST MONTH, AS LECH WALESA CAME TO AMERICA, THE WALL
CAME TUMBLING DOWN. 111
AND AS ANOTHER WINTER DESCENDED ACROSS EUROPE -- SPRING
RETURNED TO PRAGUE. III
TODAY AT THE WALL A NEW SOUND RINGS OUT. NOT THE HAMMER AND
SICKLE -- BUT THE HAMMER AND CHISEL. 111
AND THE GLAD SOUND YOU HEAR IS NOT ONLY THE BELLS OF
CHRISTMAS -- BUT ALSO THE BELLS OF FREEDOM. III
UNCONQUERABLE PEOPLE. 11 UNQUENCHABLE DREAMS. 11
LIKE THE ALLIED VICTORY IN WORLD WAR II, TODAY'S NEW SEASON
OF HOPE WAS NOT FOREORDAINED. IT IS THE RESULT OF HARD WORK,
4
COMMITMENT, AND FARSIGHTED LEADERS WHO LOOKED BEYOND THE HORIZON,
AND SAW AN IMAGE OF A WORLD THAT COULD BE.
TODAY THE TRIUMPH THAT LOOMS IS LIKE THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS.
IT IS NOT A TRIUMPH FOR ONE PARTICULAR COUNTRY OR ONE PARTICULAR
RELIGION -- BUT A TRIUMPH FOR ALL HUMANKIND.
11
IT'S SAID THAT THE CHRISTMAS TREE BEGAN MORE THAN 500 YEARS
AGO, WHEN MARTIN LUTHER WAS WALKING THROUGH THE WOODS AND WAS
STRUCK BY THE SIGHT OF BRILLIANT, WINTER-WHITE STARS TWINKLING
THROUGH THE SNOWY BRANCHES OF AN EVERGREEN TREE.
AND so IT IS ESPECIALLY APPROPRIATE THAT WE GATHER THIS YEAR
TO LIGHT A LIVING TREE, A TREE WHOSE BRANCHES ARE HUNG WITH A
THOUSAND STARS, A THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT.
THE HOLIDAYS ARE A TIME OF LAUGHTER AND CHILDREN. A TIME
WHEN SONGS FILL THE AIR, AND HOPE FILLS OUR HEARTS.
WE'VE WORKED HARD THIS YEAR TO HELP BUILD A BETTER AMERICA,
TO MAKE THIS A KINDER, GENTLER NATION. BUT THERE REMAINS A WORLD
OF NEED ALL AROUND US. AND WHEN WE SAY THE TIMES PRESENT
OPPORTUNITIES FOR GREAT AND HISTORIC CHANGE, IT'S NOT ONLY IN
EASTERN EUROPE, BUT RIGHT HERE AT HOME, WHERE "PEOPLE POWER" CAN
ALSO DO A WORLD OF GOOD.
THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, REACH OUT TO SOMEONE RIGHT WHERE YOU
LIVE. THE HUNGRY AND THE AFFLICTED. THE LONELY, THE AGED AND
THE YOUNG. THOSE WHO ARE ILLITERATE. AND THOSE WHO, LIKE MARY
AND JOSEPH, SIMPLY HAVE NO PLACE FOR THEIR FAMILY TO SLEEP.
BECAUSE FROM NOW ON IN AMERICA, "THERE'S NO ROOM AT THE INN"
IS SIMPLY NOT AN ACCEPTABLE ANSWER.
11
5
AND FROM NOW ON IN AMERICA, ANY DEFINITION OF A SUCCESSFUL
LIFE MUST INCLUDE SERVING OTHERS. III
FOR CHRISTMAS IS MEASURED NOT BY WHAT'S BENEATH YOUR TREE,
BUT BY WHAT'S INSIDE YOUR HEART. III
IN THE DEEP DECEMBER DUSK OF CHRISTMAS EVE, THE CHURCHES AND
THE STREETS EMPTY OUT INTO THE NIGHT, AND A WINTER STILLNESS
DESCENDS GENTLY ACROSS THE LAND. DRIVING BY THE FARMS AND THE
CITIES AND TOWNS, THE WINDOWS ALL LOOK THE SAME, TV'S GLOWING
BLUE IN THE WINTER TWILIGHT.
BUT INSIDE EACH HOUSE THERE ARE PEOPLE WITH STORIES TO TELL,
THERE ARE FAMILIES BOUND TOGETHER IN THE JOY AND THE STRUGGLE OF
LOVE.
AND EACH CHRISTMAS EVE, IN MANY OF THOSE HOUSES, FAMILIES
GATHER FOR A MODERN FABLE ABOUT LOVE, FAITH, AND THE IMAGINATION.
THE MOVIE IS CALLED IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, AND IT COMES WITH A
MESSAGE AS SIMPLE AS CHRISTMAS ITSELF:
EVERY MAN'S LIFE IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT TOUCHES so MANY
OTHER LIVES.
AND IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT, IN THE FADING GLOW OF THE
FAMILY CHRISTMAS TREE AND THE RICH, WARM-WAX SMELL OF CANDLES
JUST GONE OUT, PARENTS STAND ALONE BESIDE THEIR SLEEPING
CHILDREN. THERE'S HOPE IN THEIR HEARTS. A WHISPERED PRAYER ON
THEIR LIPS. THEY BRUSH THE HAIR FROM THE EYES OF THE INNOCENTS.
AND IN THAT MOMENT, PERHAPS, WE SEE WHAT IS ETERNAL IN CHRISTMAS
-- AND IN OURSELVES. III
6
THIS YEAR, THE SPIRIT OF THE HOLIDAYS IS AT LONG LAST
MATCHED BY THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES.
AND TONIGHT THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM AND THE CANDLES OF THE
MENORAH STILL CAST THEIR LIGHT IN EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD, WITH
A TIMELESS MESSAGE OF HOPE AND RENEWAL THAT RADIATES TO PEOPLE OF
ALL FAITHS. 11
IT IS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW DECADE -- AND THE END OF AN OLD
CENTURY. WHATEVER YOUR DREAM, WHATEVER STAR YOU'RE FOLLOWING --
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT WITH POSSIBILITIES. 11
THANK YOU FOR YOUR WARM GREETING ON THIS COLD WINTER'S
NIGHT. GOD BLESS YOU ALL THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON. AND NOW, LET'S
TURN ON THE NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE. 1111
#
#
#
Grant/Simon
December 5, 1990
A:XMASINDC
2:00 p.m.
BRIEF REMARKS: CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON PROGRAM
THE PENSION BUILDING
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1990
6:00 p.m.
Thank you, John [Denver]. And to all the performers: What a
wonderful program this year -- Barbara and I really enjoyed the
magnificent singing, the glorious music, and the warm Christmas
spirit that has filled this fabulous room.
We all know that in the hubbub of the holidays, it's easy to
forget that Christmas is more than just how many presents we get
or how big the tree is this year.
Christmas is remembering the story from 2000 years ago, of
Mary and Joseph being turned away from the inn on a cold winter's
night. It's reaching out -- 365 days a year -- to the hungry,
the lonely, the aged, the illiterate, and those, like Mary and
Joseph, who simply have no place to sleep.
And Christmas reminds us of the star of Bethlehem, leading
the three kings toward the Child in the manger. Over the past
year, the light of liberty began to shine around the world -- and
Christmas in cities far away from ours will be different this
time -- cities like Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and even
Moscow, where not only the bells of Christmas but the bells of
freedom ring out proud and true.
This year, the wish of the heavenly angels to the frightened
shepherds -- "peace on Earth" -- holds special meaning. To all
2
the men and women serving in the Persian Gulf, defending freedom
and keeping the peace: know that you are in our thoughts every
day, and your safe return home is in our prayers every night.
Christmas fills our hearts with hope for the future -- one
of peace, goodwill, and freedom for all mankind. May this coming
year be the best ever for all of us.
This evening has been such a treat. From the Bush family to
your family -- Merry Christmas. And thank you very, very much.
# # #
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ITEM #32
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
INTROS PRESIDENT
BUSH
(Olivia Newton-John)
(OLIVIA IS AT THE C/S PODIUM
WITH THE ENTIRE CAST DOWNSTAGE)
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
Now it is my great pleasure to
welcome to our stage. the
President of the United States
and Mrs. Bush.
John Denver - into
aretha Franklin
Reba Mc Entire
Barbara Hendricks - opera
(PRESIDENT AND MRS. BUSH ASCEND THE STAIRS
Naval academy slee Club
AND CROSS TO C/S FODIUM)
Eastern Hs Choin
Sing Hank the
Hebald sing
(INTO: PRESIDENT MESSAGE)
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ITEM #33
PRESTDENT'S MESSAGE
(President Bush)
PRESIDENT BUSH
Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
Please... well Olivia, thank you
very much. You know Barbara and I
don't often see this many stars
together all at CHOCK I think
finally -- - - somebody understood
what H meant by a "thousand points
of light".
You know we've been thrilled by
tonight's program, the musical
inspiration, the wonder, the
Christmas excitement and it has
really given our holidays a
magnificent beginning.
For all of the kids and the
families that are here: and for
our own family; and for many
watching across the country, this
will be a very special Christmas.
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PRESIDENT'S MARCAGE
(CONT'D)
PRESIDENT BUSH (CONT'D)
It is a time when we think about
giving more of ourselves. We
understand that the value of our
lives is not measured by our
possessions, but by the good we do
for others and each of us can be at
"point of light* in someone else's
life - making the holiday season a
little brighter for those in need.
Christmas is always a time to
celebrate the birth of God's love
on earth. But this year, Christmas
has a powerful new meaning. For
people around the world, Christmas
in 1989 will be a moment to be
remembered. A mement of new faith
in freedom. New hope for peace.
For forty years the world has
known only a grim and joyless
peace - 68 hard and cold as a long
Winter night.
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
(CONT'D)
PRESIDENT BUSH (CONT'D)
But now, everywhere, we 888 signs
of a warmer, more hopeful peace,
like a candle that flickers in a
distant window and it beckons,
encourages, casts a bright glow in
the world's darkest corners.
Changes come, and challenge us.
Freedom comes, and lights a candle
that must never be put out. And
so let's pray to God to give us
the strength to help bring peace
and freedom to a hopeful, changing
world.
We can see new possibilities for
prosperity. And a new peace,
within our reach, within this
dentury.
(MORIS)
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
(CONT'D)
PRESIDENT BOSH (CONT'D)
so let every candle we light,
every hand we offer, symbolize the
hope of a new century, the hope of
mankind: that there Will indeed be
peace on earth, good will. and the
blessings of freedom, for all
people.
Thank you.. and thank you for this
special treat, all of you. And
merry Christmas to all. Thank you
very, very much.
(APPLAUSE)
(INTO: "HARK THE HERALD AMGELS")
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HARK THE HERALD
ANGELS SING
(Diahann Carroll, Vic
Damone, Olivia Newton
John, James Galway, Take
6, Michael Smith, Eastern
H.S. Choir, US Naval
Academy Glee Club, AFTRA
Choir, US xxmy Hereld
Trumpets, President Bush,
Mrs. Bush)
MUSIC: "HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING"
A.
4 - (ORCE)
-
- (4)
ALL
B.
HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING
GLORY TO THE NEWEORN KING
PEACE on EARTH AND MERCY MILD--
GOD AND SINNERS RECONCILLED
C.
JOYFUL ALL YE NATIONS RISE
JOIN THE TRIUMPH OF THE SKIES-- -
WITH THE ANGELIC HOST PROCLAIM
CHRIST IS BORN IN BETHLEHEM
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