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Remarks of the President at the Groundbreaking Ceremonies for the F. Edward Hebert Library [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7338871
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Remarks of the President at the Groundbreaking Ceremonies for the F. Edward Hebert Library [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
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1975-04-23
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1975
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Digitized from Box 10 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 23, 1975
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
(New Orleans, Louisiana)
THE WHITE HOUSE
REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT
AT THE
GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONIES FOR THE
F. EDWARD HEBERT LIBRARY
10:50 A.M. CDT
Thank you very much, my close and dear friend,
your Congressman, Eddie Hebert.
Mrs. Hebert, Governor Edwards, Lt. Governor
Fitzmorris, Senator Johnston, my former colleagues in
the House of Representatives, Lindy Boggs and Dave Treen,
Mayor Landrieu, Bishop Hannan, distinguished guests,
ladies and gentlemen:
I don't believe that I have ever had a more
complimentary introduction. And I hope and trust, Eddie,
that what you have said I can live up to. It certainly
is what we, as a people, must do. And to the extent
that I can, you can be assured that I will try to the
maximum.
I am here in the great area of New Orleans. It
is a privilege and a pleasure for me to participate in
the groundbreaking ceremony for the Hebert Library.
There are few men in the United States Congress
that I have known longer or respected more than the man
that all of us honor here on this occasion today.
Eddie Hebert and I have many views in common.
We have had some areas of disagreement, but the main
relationship that I have had with your great Congressman
is the personal one. And that personal relationship has
meant a great deal to me over the time that we have known
one another.
I compliment all of you in this great part of
our country for showing the superb judgment in seeing
to it that you are represented by Eddie Hebert.
MORE
Page 2
Eddie Hebert was a legislaltive veteran when I
entered the Congress in January of 1949. Eddie Hebert is a
leading member of the Congress today, 26 years after I first
met him, and 34 years after he first entered the Congress
of the United States.
But we are not paying tribute today to Eddie
Hebert because of his stamina and Eddie's power, remarkable
as those attributes are, we are here today because of the
service Eddie Hebert has rendered to all of you and many
before you and hopefully many that will follow you.
He has rendered an unbelievable service on behalf
of his people, his State, and his country.
Now, even though Eddie and I have served on
different sides of the political aisle in the House of
Representatives, I have especially respected his total
dedication to a stronger America. I guess so many of us
feel very close to Eddie Hebert and I especially, and let
me tell you a story. if I might.
When I was the Republican Leader in the House
of Representatives, Eddie Hebert, a very staunch Democrat,
was sent an invitation to a Republican leadership break-
fast by mistake. Well, Eddie had enough of that wonderful
sense of humor to let that one go by. He didn't say a
word. He just sent the invitation back to me with a
clipping of an ad for cigarettes and it said, "I would
rather fight than switch." (Laughter)
I worked with Eddie for more than a quarter of
a century as a colleague and now as President and I can
plainly and categorically tell you that one of the reasons
America is strong, free, and secure as a Nation is because
of men like Eddie Hebert in the Congress of the United
States
MORE
Page 3
Congressman Hebert's skill as a negotiator is
well known in Washington. The tangible evidence of it is
apparent here in the great State of Louisiana.
Eddie Hebert is such a great negotiator that if
he had arranged the Louisiana Purchase, not only would he
have purchased that huge amount of land for only $15
million, but I have the feeling that Eddie would have
gotten some green stamps, too. (Laughter)
You know, of course, that Eddie was one of the
outstanding crusading newspaper people in Louisiana
prior to his service in the Congress. He had a
reputation as an individual who was hard working in that
field of journalism, and a nose for news, and was
highly recognized in his profession.
But, Eddie has a slight credibility gap, as I
discovered in reading his biography. It goes back to
1940, during his first campaign. Eddie said, if
elected, he would serve only one term. He said he was
just taking a sabbatical from his newspaper occupation.
I think it is fair to say that even if he has
extended his sabbatical a few extra years -- 32, to be
exact -- Eddie has paid his dues both as a journalist and
a Congressman.
It seems highly appropriate to me that his
literally thousands and thousands of friends here in
New Orleans and elsewhere would pay tribute to his record
and to him as a person by the establishment of this
library.
I consider it a great privilege and a very high
honor to participate. There is no finer way, in my
judgment, to make Congressman Hebert's record indelible
in this community than to have this building and its
contents in this wonderful place in this area.
Of course, Eddie's best monumentawill be his
achievements, his own record as a public servant, but the
momentoes in this building, in this library, will help
to tell the story of those great achievements, will help
to keep them alive for the generations to follow.
It occurs to me that everything I have said
so far reeks a little too much of the past, of a
story that is already ended, and that is not the way
his friends, and particularly myself, feel about Eddie
Hebert.
MORE
Page 4
We honor him today, not only for what he has
achieved, but for what he continues to achieve. He is
a courageous, untiring patriot, and on a personal basis I
think a great guy.
May he keep serving his country. May he keep
serving his country, warming all our hearts for many,
many long years to come.
If I may, may I add a personal note. May Eddie's
wonderful sense of humor stay with us, too, lightening
the burdens when things seem heaviest, and reminding us
all that in serious times -- and we have some serious
times right now -- we:must never lose our gift of laughter.
Another quality which Eddie possesses was once
described by Robert E. Lee, in very simple and very moving
words. "Duty," said Lee, "is the sublimest word in our
language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do
more; should never wish to do less."
Eddie Hebert lives by that code. I have
never known him to do any less than his very best.
Louisiana is a better State and America is a
better country because of our friend, Eddie Hebert.
I am proud. I cherish the many times I have
been with him on the floor of the House, in meetings
concerning our national security. I cherish that relation-
ship and the opportunity to have served with him.
As I said earlier, I am even prouder to call
him my friend, and I think this is really the feeling that
all of us have here today, and we are fortunate to be
sharing with one another.
Thank you very, very much.
END
(AT 11:03 A.M. CDT)