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Draft 04/07/00 6:45pm
Gottheimer
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS FOR THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT SERIES
THE WHITE HOUSE
April 7, 2000
Good evening. Tonight I have the privilege of opening the first in a series of events
celebrating the 200th anniversary of the people's house. Of course, it's befitting that our first
event honors the lives of the individuals who have roamed its halls and carried the awesome
burden that accompanies it.
This room - like the White House - has not only witnessed historical events - it has
played a role in shaping them. It has played host to forty-one administrations - and forty-one
different personalities. The East Room began as a laundry room for Abigail Adams. Thomas
Jefferson and his personal aide Meriwether Lewis laid maps upon the floor and charted the
Lewis and Clark expedition. It later served as quarters for battle-worn Union troops during the
Civil War. President Roosevelt's children even roller-skated on its floors. Over the years, it has
survived a fires, two wars, a plane crash -- even five weddings. And, of course, it has been a
gallery for priceless artwork.
Each portrait on these walls tells the story of the promise of one American life and, in
doing so, the promise of all American life. They offer a lesson, an example, a challenge for
every American to live up to the responsibilities of citizenship. While this series recounts the
lives of forty one individuals, as a whole, it too captures the promise of American life.
Each President in his own time has faced unique challenges in striving to fulfill the
purpose of our Constitution "to form a more perfect Union." Tonight we will have the
opportunity to view two selections from the American President series - the first documentary
series ever to profile all of America's chief executives. The first viewing is on the life of one of
our Founding Fathers, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and our third President,
Thomas Jefferson. Every American President has been inspired by Jefferson's ideals - affected
by his decisions, fascinated by his character. Jefferson spent a lifetime shaping a new and ever-
evolving democracy, that would become, as he said, "more developed, more enlightened as new
discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change."
One hundred and fifty years later, our thirty-fifth President. John F. Kennedy, brought
that same spirit of innovation and progress to the White House. John Kennedy's fleeting time
among us remains a singular story in the history of our great nation. He was our President for
only a thousand days, but he changed the way we think about our country, our world, and our
own obligations to the future. With his New Frontier, he inspired million of Americans -
including myself - to take a personal responsibility for moving our country forward and for
advancing the cause of freedom throughout the world. As Kennedy said, "The new frontier
is
not a set of promises. It is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the
American people, but what I intend to ask of them."
Now I'd like to introduce Sy Sternberg [Chairman of New York Life Insurance Program]
who made this evening and this project possible.
Good evening. Tonight I have the privelage of opening the first in a series of events
celebrating the 200th anniversary of the people's house. Of course, it's befitting that our first
event honors the lives of the individuals who have roamed its halls and carried the awesome
burden that accompanies it.
This room - like the White House - has not only witnessed historical events - it's helped
shaped
played host to historical events - but has also helped shaped to shape them. It has
survived a fire, two wars, a plane crash, - and even five weddings. Like our nation, this room,
and this Mansion, had a humble beginning. What began as a laundry room for Abigial Adams, it
has since served as a galary priceless artwork as a laundry room as quarters to battle-worn
Union troops during the Civil War
a nerve center for American expansion. Nearly two
centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson and his personal aide Meriwether Lewis laid maps upon the
floor and charted the Lewis and Clark expedition. President Roosevelt's children even roller-
skated in this very room. During the civil war, this room served as quarters to battle-worn
Union soldiers. John Quincy Adams frequently would come here to watch the Sun rise after he
finished his early morning swim in the Potomac.
Each portrait on these walls tells the story of the promise of one American life and, in
doing so, the promise of all American life. They offer a lesson, an example, a challenge for
every American to live up to the reponsiblities of citizenship. While this series recounts the lives
of forty one individuals, as a whole, it too captures the promise of American life.
But, most importantly, it has played host to 41 diff personalities/ administrations - and
the personalities and historical events that accompanied them.
[Merri
Each President in his own time has faced unique challenges in striving to fulfill the
purpose of our Constitution "to form a more perfect Union." Tonight we will have the
opportunity to view two selections from the American President series - the first documentary
series ever to profile all of America's chief executives. The first viewing is on the life of one of
our Founding Fathers, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and our third President,
Thomas Jefferson. Every American Presdient has been inspired by Jefferson's ideals - affected
by his decisions, fascinated by his character. Jefferson spent a lifetime shaping a new and ever-
evolving democracy, that would become, as he said, "more developed, more enlightened as new
discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change."
One hundred and fifty years later, our thirty-fifth President, John F. Kennedy, brought that same
spirit of innovation and progress to the White House. John Kennedy's fleeting time among us
remains a singular story in the history of our great nation. He was our President for only a
thousand days, but he changed the way we think about our country, our world, and our own
obligations to the future. With his New Fronteir, he inspired million of Americans - including
myself - to take a personal responsibility for moving our country forward and for advancing the
cause of freeedom throughout the world.
President John F. Kennedy, the subject of tonight's other segment, once said of Jefferson to a
group of Nobel laurettes, "This is the most extraordinary collection of talent that has ever been
gathered at the White House -- with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined
alone."
Now I'd like to introduce Sy Sternberg [Chairman of New York Life Insurance Program] who
made this evening and this project possible.
Good evening. Tonight I have the privelage of opening the first in a series of events
celebrating the 200th anniversary of the people's house. Of course, it's befitting that our first
event honors the lives of the individuals who have roamed its halls and carried the awesome
burden that accompanies it.
This room - like the White House - has not only witnessed historical events - it has
played a role in shaping them. It has played host to forty-one administrations - and forty-one
different personalities. The East Room began as a laundry room for Abigail Adams. Thomas
Jefferson and his personal aide Meriwether Lewis laid maps upon the floor and charted the
Lewis and Clark expedition. It later served as quarters for battle-worn Union troops during the
Civil War. President Roosevelt's children even roller-skated on its floors. Over the years, it has
survived a fires, two wars, a plane crash -- even five weddings. And, of course, it has been a
galary for priceless artwork.
Each portrait on these walls tells the story of the promise of one American life and, in
doing so, the promise of all American life. They offer a lesson, an example, a challenge for
every American to live up to the reponsiblities of citizenship. While this series recounts the lives
of forty one individuals, as a whole, it too captures the promise of American life.
Each President in his own time has faced unique challenges in striving to fulfill the
purpose of our Constitution "to form a more perfect Union." Tonight we will have the
opportunity to view two selections from the American President series - the first documentary
series ever to profile all of America's chief executives. The first viewing is on the life of one of
our Founding Fathers, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and our third President,
Thomas Jefferson. Every American Presdient has been inspired by Jefferson's ideals - affected
by his decisions, fascinated by his character. Jefferson spent a lifetime shaping a new and ever-
evolving democracy, that would become, as he said, "more developed, more enlightened as new
discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change."
One hundred and fifty years later, our thirty-fifth President, John F. Kennedy, brought
that same spirit of innovation and progress to the White House. John Kennedy's fleeting time
among us remains a singular story in the history of our great nation. He was our President for
only a thousand days, but he changed the way we think about our country, our world, and our
own obligations to the future. With his New Fronteir, he inspired million of Americans -
including myself - to take a personal responsibility for moving our country forward and for
advancing the cause of freeedom throughout the world.
President John F. Kennedy, the subject of tonight's other segment, once said of Jefferson
to a group of Nobel laurettes, "This is the most extraordinary collection of talent that has ever
been gathered at the White House with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined
alone."
Now I'd like to introduce Sy Sternberg [Chairman of New York Life Insurance Program] who
made this evening and this project possible.
"Let Us Rise to the Challenge"
Governor Bill Clinton
Palace Theater, May 18, 1992
Sun You of 1 is loe pris
evelue
seen just ago
hank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much my longtime friend David
Mixner - he's been making speeches in his mind for thirty years, he's about to get good
at it -- for that wonderful statement. Thank you Roberta Achtenberg for your statement and
for your friendship. Thank you Scott and Diane and Roberta and Bob, all the rest of you
who were co-chairs and active in this event.
And I want to say a special word of thanks to ANGLE for their work on my behalf over the
last several months. I want to thank John Garamendi, my state chair, for being here and
"Tonight, / want to
all the others who are here in support of this event.
talk to you about how
Y ou know, I have said many times that a campaign for president has two purposes. One
we can be one people
is for the country to get to know the candidate, and the other is for the candidate to
again -- without regard
get to know the country. If the candidate does not grow and deepen in understanding
to race or gender or
and compassion and feeling, then the race itself is already half lost.
sexual orientation or
There are people in this room today to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude, for you
age or region or
have helped me to get to know my country better than I did when I began.
income, how we can
We just finished the worst urban riots in our history in Los Angeles. And as the people
be one again."
here begin to pick up the pieces, I think it might be well for us to note where we are at
this moment in our history as a nation. Not just here in Los Angeles, and not just in the
cities of our great land, but all of us, all across America.
We should be dancing in the streets with joy today because the Cold War is over. If three
years ago anyone had told any of you that within three years the Berlin Wall would fall,
all of the governments in Eastern Europe would fade away, the Soviet Union itself would
collapse and cut its defense budget by 50% in a year, and the threat of nuclear
annihilation would begin to fall into the distance of history, no one would have believed
it.
If anybody had told you that would happen and we would still be deeply divided and
anxiety-ridden at election time, it would be difficult to believe. But we are. And we are
because as we celebrate the triumph of our values around the world, we see them lying
in tatters here at home. A country defeated in so many ways economically. a country in
the grip of political paralysis a country under immense social strain practicing denial
instead of responsibility, division instead of unity.
T 'oday I have made three stops in which I have been able to now talk about three things
that I care about a great deal. This morning I met with 4,000 workers at a shipyard in
San Diego -- the only place in America where people, Americans, are still making ships.
An employee-owned company with seven unions and management working together,
"And / tell you, it
against all of the odds, to make the leap from a defense to a domestic economy. And I
may be good politics
talked to them about my vision to bring real job growth back to a peacetime America.
at election time, but it
would be a terrible
And then I went to the University of Oregon in Eugene where there were thousands
I don't know how many, but at least 4,000 students. And I talked to them about the future
mistake for this
that they have -- so much more ahead of them than I do and what I hoped it would be,
country to change the
and what role-education should play in that.
fundamental law of
spile don't
the land and repeal
Tonight, I want to talk to you about how we can be one people again without regard
to race or gender or sexual orientation or age or region or income, how we can be one
the right to privacy
again.
and the right to
chose."
This country has so often been divided, especially at election time. The pollsters and
the political consultants tell people all the time how to cut the electorate up in just
"this little slice and that little slice" so that we cannot be one again. And yet, it is against
all our natures, against our basic values, against the statements of all our basic laws, and
still we do it, over and over again.
This election is almost about the paradigm of Willie Horton on the one hand, and what
Roberta Achtenberg and I went through on Mother's Day at the Glide Memorial Church
in San Francisco on the other. All kinds of Americans, hundreds of them homeless, there
holding hands, worshipping, reaching out for their better selves.
And we're going to have to decide in this election, all of us, what kind of people we are
and where we want to go. The American people are plainly going to be divided if this
administration has its way, by gender over the choice issue.
Some of us are old enough to remember what it was like before there was a Roe V. Wade.
I am. I am. I remember when I was a boy seeing someone who was running an abortion
mill put into a police car and taken off to jail and asking who that person was and why
"And those of you
he was being arrested. And I tell you, it may be good politics at election time, but it
who are here tonight,
would be a terrible mistake for this country to change the fundamental law of the land
you represent a
and repeal the right to privacy and the right to chose.
community of our
If we want to be if we want to be pro-child and pro-family, let us embrace the cause of
nation's gifted people
life. Let us agressively seek to reduce unwanted pregnancies and thereby reduce the
whom we have been
number of abortions. Let us give people the health care they need and birth and the
willing to squander.
pre-school their children need. And let's provide for child-care and family leave and
We can't afford to
meaningful child support enforcement and supports that people need to raise their
children. But don't criminalize a decision that belongs in the private recesses of a
waste the capacities,
person's soul.
the contributions, the
hearts, the souls, the
Let us not be divided again by race. I was so sad when Michael Woo and I were walking
amid the ruins and when Maxine Waters took me through her district to see the tensions
minds of the gay and
still there between African American and Hispanic and white and Korean communities
lesbian community."
and people looking at each other with great suspicions thinking that some of this that
has happened was due to the color of their skins.
I grew up in the segregated South. But I lived long enough to see my daughter in a public
school where she is in the racial minority, but where she learns every day intellectually,
where she thrives and where she learns how to be a person in a multi-racial society and
where she has the emotional space and freedom to do what Martin Luther King said he
wanted for his children: to judge people, not by the color of their skin, but by the content
of their character.
And the great passion of my life has been education and telling people we don't have a
person to waste. The great heartbreak is seeing people wasted. Three years ago before
it was fashionable, I was in south-central Los Angeles meeting with community groups,
before I was a candidate for president. And I met with a dozen sixth graders in a public
school all of them minorities, Hispanic and black who told me their greatest fear
was being shot going to and from school. I had never heard such a thing before.
I later went to Houston and found eleven elementary schools where the children were
walking through metal detectors every day so the guns and knives could be taken from
When childern are
the eight and nine-year-olds. And I wonder about those children now they're ninth
shot going to and from
graders. And when this riot occurred, my wife and I asked ourselves how many are in
school.
we can say,
gangs now, who stayed home because their parents asked them to and who looted and
whether they are all still alive. We don't have a person to waste.
they are our children,
and we cry. But well
A
nd those of you who are here tonight, you represent a community of our nation's gifted
over 100,000 Americans
people whom we have been willing to squander. We can't afford to waste the
have died from AIDS,
capacities, the contributions, the hearts, the souls, the minds of the gay and lesbian
Americans.
and they are all our
children, too."
For every day that we discriminitate, that we hate, that we refuse to avail ourselves of the
potential of any group of Americans, we are all less than we ought to be. You heard
Roberta give my speech for me tonight better than I could have.
As soon as the Pentagon issued a study ironically by a spokesperson who himself was
said to be gay which said that there was no basis in national security for discriminating
based on the sexual orientation of Americans who wish to serve in the military, I said I
would act on the study. It seemed to me elemental that if a person, a man or woman,
wanted to serve their country, they ought to be able to do it. The presumption should
be in favor of doing it unless there is some reason not to.
The Pentagon had a study which said there was no reason not to. The Secretary of
Defense, himself, obviously personally very uncomfortable at not changing the rules, said
it was a "quaint little rule." Well, my fellow Americans, we have too much to do to endure
"quaint little rules."
I want people like David Mixner and Roberta Achtenberg, Dr. Scott Hitt, some of you
in this audience, to be a part of a Clinton Administration, not because of or in spite of
your sexual orientation, but because America needs you. And if I become the President
of the United States, I owe it to my country to find the best and most gifted and most
"/ just want to thank
knowledgeable people in the United States of America to solve the problems and
the gay and lesbian
embrace the challenges of this time.
community for your
We cannot afford to do otherwise. I want to crack down on those who do want to do
courage and your
otherwise, who now practice hate crimes that the Justice Department should move
commitment and your
against. And perhaps more importantly than anything right now, I'd like, for a change,
service in the face of
for there to be a real war on AIDS.
the terror AIDS. When
no one was offering a
W hen children are shot going to and from school, are shot in their own schools as those
two children were in Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn not very long ago,
helping hand, and
a place where I spoke a month before the shooting, we can say, they are all our children,
when it was dark and
and we cry. But well over 100,000 Americans have died of AIDS, and they are all our
lonely, you did not
children, too.
withdraw, but instead
Over a million people, over a million Americans are now HIV positive. And yet, the
you reached out to
administration is still curiously silent until the famous fall. Until, like Magic Johnson,
others."
they come forward, or like Arthur Ashe, someone takes advantage of their privacy. Then
someone says something appropriately touching.
But this administration ingores its own commission reports, underfunds research and
treatment, leaves red tape binding science and drug trials and research, and says behavior
modification is the issue. But then, unlike Dr. Koop, refuses to embrace the cause of sex
education in our schools which would give our children the chance to save their lives.
When it comes to AIDS, there should be a Mahattan Project. One person should be in
charge. One person who can cut across all the departments and agencies, who has the
President's ear and the President's arm. One person who can make sure that we begin
by implementing all those recommendations and those two commission reports now
gathering dust in Washington, D.C.
One person who will launch a real national education campaign someone as forthright
as Dr. Koop was, telling the American people starting with our children -- the hard
"What / came
truth and giving them a fair chance to save their lives and other people's lives as well.
Someone who will see that women and people of color are included in the research and
here today to tell
in the drug trials.
you is I have a
vision and you are
And, I might add, for women especially, that is a problem for general application, not
just as it relates to AIDS, but as it relates to breast cancer and any other health problem.
part of it."
We have got to improve our approach to women's health. Someone who will fund the
Ryan White Act fully, someone who will approach this problem with compassion and
teach the American people what he has learned. That is what I will try to do.
There are two things that I would like to mention again to make sure you know I am
serious. The first is that I want to make a major speech on AIDS to a non-traditional
group of Americans, who may not cheer at every word but who need to hear the message.
The second is, that I have pledged to see that someone who is HIV posistive, but also
has a positive attitude, come before the American people at the Democratic National
Convention to speak about this issue.
A nd now, before I leave, I want to say something which is not part of a political program.
I just want to thank the gay and lesbian community for your courage and your
commitment and your service in the face of the terror of AIDS. When no one was
offering a helping hand, and when it was dark and lonely, you did not withdraw, but
instead you reached out to others.
And this whole nation has benefited already in ways most people cannot even imagine
from the courage and commitment and the sense of community which you practice.
It was your community who created the first AIDS service organizations, who did the
first important work in pioneering AIDS drugs, who sounded the alarm and created the
first education programs, who stood strong in the face of all governmental opposition
and discrimination and killing silence.
This nation owes you thanks for that, and I want to give you my thanks and respect for
that struggle today.
Finally, let me say again, this is not an election, or it should not be, about race or gender
"Let us never forget,
or being gay or straight or religion or age or region or income. What kills the country
there are things we
is not the problems it faces. There will be problems even until the end of time. What
kills the country is to proceed day in and day out with no vision, with no sense that
can and cannot do.
tomorrow can be better than today, with no sense of shared community.
But the beginning of
wisdom is pulling
What I came here today to tell you in simple terms is I have a vision and you are a part
of it. I believe tomorrow will be better than today if we act. And we are all a part of the
together and learning
same community, and we'd better start behaving as if we are.
from one another and
being determined to
If I could, if I could wave my arm for those of you that are HIV positive and make it go
do better."
away tomorrow, I would do it, so help me God I would. If I gave up my race for the White
House and everything else, I would do that.
Let us never forget, there are things we can and cannot do. But the beginning of wisdom
is pulling together and learning from one another and being determined to do better.
And this country is being killed by people who try to break us down and tear us up and
make us be little when we have to be big.
This is a big time. Let us rise to the challenge.
Thank you and God bless you all.
Clinton Presidential Records
Digital Records Marker
This is not a presidential record. This is used as an administrative
marker by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a tabbed divider. Given our
digitization capabilities, we are sometimes unable to adequately
scan such dividers. The title from the original document is
indicated below.
The Presidency
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PRESIDENCY INFO.
Message on the Observance of Presidents' Day, 1996,
February 17, 1996
Warm greetings to everyone celebrating Presidents' Day, 1996. I am pleased and proud that so many
of our citizens gather at this time each year to celebrate our nation's rich history and to pay tribute to
the office of the Presidency.
America has been blessed with many great and good leaders over the past two centuries. The
Presidents we honor with special pride on this day-George Washington and Abraham
Lincoln-accepted the burdens of their office at moments of great national challenge and set a shining
example for those who were to follow.
As the first President of the United States, Washington played a vital part in defining the role of the
Presidency in America's government and national life. With courage and [p.336] vision, he ensured the
steady course of American democracy and, in relinquishing his office at the appointed time,
established the peaceful transition of power that has become the envy of other nations around the
world.
Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union that Washington helped to create. He guided America through
four years of painful and bloody conflict, and at the end of his Presidency, we were still one nation
under God, and government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" had not perished from
our land.
But Presidents alone cannot ensure America's success or preserve our freedom for future generations.
It falls to each and every citizen to take part in the great experiment of American democracy. As we
face the unknown challenges and exciting possibilities of a new century, let us renew our resolve to
participate actively in the process of government, to stay informed and committed, and to educate our
children about the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship. In this way we will keep faith with the
great men whose service and sacrifice we honor on this day.
BNI Clinton
Source: United States. Executive Office of the President, Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Week Ending Friday, February 23,
1996 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1996), 32:335-336
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4/5/2000 5:24 PM
Search 2 Results atl 1 (Charlie Rose)
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Source: All Sources /.../ : Presidential Documents
Terms: atl 1 (charlie rose) and date(geq (01/21/93) and leq (04/05/00)) (Edit Search)
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
December 22, 1999
CITE: 35 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 2670
LENGTH: 4961 words
HEADLINE: Interview With Charlie Rose of CBS' "60 Minutes II"
BODY:
Terrorism During Millennium Celebrations
Mr. Rose. Mr. President, because of the recent arrest and heightened security concerns at
airports, do you expect, worry, that there will be an incident of terrorism before the first of
the year?
The President. Well, we are on a heightened state of alert, and we're doing a lot of work on
this. But I would say to the American people, they should go on about their business and
celebrate the holidays as they would, but they should be aware. You know, this whole
millennial idea draws out a lot of people who are maybe, by our standards, deranged, and
other people maybe want to use it for their own political ends. So if people see anything
suspicious, they should report it to the authorities as quickly as possible. But otherwise, I
should say, they should go on about their business. We're working very, very hard on this.
Mr. Rose. It worries you?
The President. No, I'm concerned, but I think we have, I think, the best law enforcement
folks we could have, and they are working very hard. And we're doing quite well so far. So I
have every hope that we'll get through it. But I think that what I would ask the American
people to do is not to stay at home and hide but just to keep their eyes open. If they see
something that looks fishy, tell the authorities and we'll get on it. But they should know that
we're working this very hard.
Last Year of President's Term
Mr. Rose. All right, let me I look around this office, and I see a desk over there that
President Kennedy sat at. And I remember the story he said about the Presidency, and one of
the great things about the Presidency was he could walk to work. As you think about leaving
this building, what will you miss the most?
The President. I think what I'll miss the most is the work, the job, the contact with all kinds
of people and all kinds of issues, the ability to make a difference, to solve problems, to open
up opportunities for other people. There's almost no not almost, I suppose there is no job
like it in the world. It's been an unbelievable thrill and a profound honor, and I will miss it
very much.
I'll miss a lot of the other things. I love living in the White House. Hillary, I suppose, has
done more work on the White House than anybody since the Truman administration, redoing
rooms and building a sculpture garden and doing things like that. And we love living here. I
love going to Camp David; I love Air Force One; I love all of the perks of the job. But the
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thing I love most is being President, doing the job every day. It just to me, it's an almost
indescribable honor. I would never grow tired of it, and I feel graced every day.
Term Limits
Mr. Rose. If you could change the 22d amendment, would you?
The President. I don't know. It's probably not fair to ask. On balance, I think the two-term
tradition has served us well. I'm glad President Roosevelt served the third term, because of
the war. But on balance, I think it's served us well.
Now, you know, I'm young, and I'm strong, and I'm, as far I know, in good health. I love the
job. And so if I could serve again, I probably would. But I think that's the reason we have this
limit, so that people like me don't get to make that decision. [Laughter]
Mr. Rose. Are you going to leave a note in that desk over there for your successor, and what
will you say?
The President. I will, and I don't know what I'll say. But probably most of what I'll say will be
predictable. I'll be wishing my successor well and talking a little bit about the job and offering
to be available if I can ever be of any help.
National Economy
Mr. Rose. Prosperity. Economic prosperity and growth has been a hallmark of this Presidency.
How long can it last, and will it be a part of our future, our near future?
The President. Well, it certainly will be part of our future. Now how long it will last the
truth is no one knows. I believed when I got here that there was a chance that we could have
a very long period of economic growth. Now I couldn't have known, when we started and we
started slashing the deficit and investing more in technology, that we would have the longest
economic expansion in history that would even outstrip wartime when we had been fully
mobilized. And in February we will.
But I think that there are some fundamentally different things now. If the Government can
follow good policies and the Federal Reserve will follow smart policies, there is this enormous
power of productivity we're getting out of the revolution in technology and information
technology. It's just now working its way into every sector of the economy, and it's also
continually advancing itself. So I think if we can keep that going and if we can keep our
markets open, that's very important, not just the exports we sell but the imports we buy, the
open market keeps the American economy highly competitive and tends to keep inflation
down. And I think that's one of the things that's been under appreciated about this. I never
will forget, back in '94 I got really alarmed when lumber prices went way up in a hurry, and I
thought homebuilding prices were going to explode. And then all of a sudden, we had this big
infusion of less costly imports.
Now we have to work on fair trade rules; we've got to have we can't be taken advantage
of, as some tried to during the Asian financial crisis, but on balance, these open markets are
very good for us. They give us growth and competition, keeps inflation down. And I think
that's very good.
Globalization and the Technology Gap
Mr. Rose. What we want to do here in this conversation is really focus on the future. You've
done a number of conversations about this century and your term in office. Thinking about
the future and the economic health of the country, there is also this process. In 10 years
10 years ago the wall came down; 5 years ago the web went up. Globalization is part of our
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life.
The President. It is.
Mr. Rose. Some worry and Seattle might be an indication that we're looking at the
possibility of a great gap between a two-tier system, between the haves and the have-nots of
the world, those who get it with technology and those that don't.
The President. Well, first of all, the worry is well-founded, but it's a constant. That is, we
have had a great gap in opportunity, even though it's sometimes closed and sometimes open,
but there has been a hug gap between the haves and have-nots since the dawn of the
industrial revolution and the creation of middle class societies with mass wealth. Some have
had it, and others have not ever created it.
There is a chance that what will happen now is that it will become more pronounced across
countries and within countries because of the advantages that technology-literate people and
entrepreneurs with access to money will have in a rapidly changing world. That is, it's liable
to accelerate.
But I would remind you that in the United States we had an increasing gap between the rich
and the poor for about 20 years, as we moved into this new economic phase. The same thing
happened when we changed from being an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. In
the last 2 or 3 years, we started to see the gap close again. And the answer is not to run
away from globalization. The answer is to make change our friend. The answer is to have
broad access to information and information technology, to have broad-based systems of
education and health care and family supports in every country, and to continue to try to
shape the global economy.
You mentioned Seattle. I think that you had a lot of people out there protesting globalization,
but they can't reverse it, and it's done a lot more good than bad. It's created, over the last 50
years, as the world had become more interconnected, we've moved away from the specter of
war as holocaust, even though there have been a lot of smaller wars, and we've seen millions
-- hundreds of millions of people lifted into the middle class. So the answer is how to make
this globalization more human, more humane, and how to shape it so that everybody has a
chance to be a part of it.
Response to American Hegemony
Mr. Rose. Do you hear around the world now, as I'm sure you've heard from heads of state
and others, this kind of unilateralist America in the future is too strong, too dominant, and
the fear of a backlash against us.
The President. I agree with that. And I think I've tried to be very sensitive to that I think
we have and to make sure that we fulfilled our responsibilities. I think that, on the one
hand, people are glad that we won the cold war, if you will; they're glad that the forces of
freedom won. All over the world people are embracing democracy and market economics. But
if you enjoy the level of military and economic strength we have and the level of political
influence, people are going to resent you.
And I must say and again, I don't mean to be partisan here, but I think the resentment is
deeper when the Congress takes as long as they did to pay our U.N. dues and puts the
conditions on it they did, when we don't ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, when we
basically preach to other people around the world, you ought to do this, that, or the other
thing. But instead of helping them, we continue to have a very large military budget, but we
spend the smallest percentage of our income on assistance to other countries to help them
succeed economically and politically of any advanced country in the world. So we do some
things that breed this resentment.
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Now, a lot of them resented me at Seattle because they think that when the United States
says we ought to have core labor standards and we ought to have good environmental
standards in a world trading system, that I'm trying to keep poor countries down, that I just
want them to open their markets to us, but they won't get rich because I'm going to try to
force them to give up their comparative wage advantage or their ability to grow. That's not
true. So some of the resentments against America are not fair. But it's all perfectly
understandable. I mean, look how fortunate we are compared to most other countries, and
when people get in a tight spot, they want us to come help Bosnia, Kosovo, the Middle
East, you name it.
Prospects for the 21st Century
Mr. Rose. Do you think this century coming up will be America's century, as the 20th century
has been described?
The President. Well, I think it can be. But I think we have to think very carefully about how
we want to define that. I mean, look what we know will happen. We know that, barring some
completely unforeseen event, China, and sometime thereafter, India, will have economies
that look bigger than ours, because they've got so many more people than we do 4 times
as many people in the case of China, even more. We know that Europe will grow more
integrated, I think, in the 21st century. And the European Union will be more and more a
union. And they have 50 percent more people than we do, and they could have a lot more
than that if they continue to bring in other countries.
So I do not believe that we will have the relative economic dominance we have today. We've
got about 4 percent of the world's people and almost 22 percent of the world's income. But I
think we can be still very prosperous. I think we can still be the strongest individual country
in the world in many ways. But I think we will have to build partnerships with some of those
who resent us now. We will have to have an increasingly interdependent world. Because,
whether we like it or not it's like globalization, interdependence is another word for
globalization we will become more interdependent, and we'll have to learn to be adroit at
that. We won't be able to just say, "Well, if we like it, we're here, and if we don't, we'll walk
away." We'll have to really work on our partnership skills.
Future Allies
Mr. Rose. You touched on something that I've thought about. This century was marked by our
friends becoming our enemies France and Germany our enemies becoming our friends.
Is that going to be part of the 21st century, people we now look on as rivals become friends,
friends become
The President. I think it is highly likely that some of the people that have been our most
recent rivals will be our friends.
Mr. Rose. Like?
The President. Well, I know a lot of people are very skeptical about Russia now, because of
the problems they've had. But they just had a genuinely democratic election with a lot of
debate, vigorous opposition, brutal campaign ads, you know, the whole 9 yards.
Mr. Rose. Did the results surprise you?
The President. No. It's about what I thought they'd be. You know, still only 25 percent of
them are voting for the old Communist Party; the rest of them are for something else, in
spite of the economic hardship that they have faced in the last few years. So I still think
there's a chance that if the leaders of Russia define their national greatness in 21st century
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terms that is, in terms of their ability to unleash the creative capacity of their people,
rather than their ability to dominate their neighbors, which was their 19th and 20th century
definition of greatness that they well be we'll have a real partnership there. It's also
possible that we'll have one with China.
Mr. Rose. A partnership?
The President. Absolutely. It just depends on how they view us and their own self-interest.
Future Rivals
Mr. Rose. Do you see, on the other hand, people who we might consider friends, like Western
Europe, becoming more rivals because --
The President. I think the only way that would happen is if it were provoked by greater
protectionism, economic protectionism outside the borders of Europe. That is, Europe could
get so big, and they could integrate the economy of Europe, and they'll have a lot of poor
countries coming in -- just like we have poor States and poor regions. If they close their
economy, rather than open it, that could be a difficult thing. But I think it's far more likely
that our former enemies will become at least friendlier, if we're not friends, and that all of us
together will face the enemies of the nation-state in the 21st century.
Mr. Rose. The enemies of the nation-state?
The President. Yes. The organized enemies of the nation-state that have vast money and vast
access to weapons and technology and travel: the organized crime syndicates; the
narcotraffickers; the terrorists. And I think the likelihood that all these people will be
integrated there may be some rogue states that will support them, but I think you're more
likely to see the nation-states trying to uphold stability in their national lives, increasingly
open and democratic. Even China, I think, will become more open and more democratic.
They're already electing mayors in a million little towns, literally.
Mr. Rose. In democratic elections?
The President. Yes. And so I think -- by their standards. They don't have a Republican or a
Democratic Party like we do, but they are having these elections. I think in the future the
likelihood is that nation-states will be allied against the enemies of the organized society and
the open society.
Chemical and Biological Threats
Mr. Rose. Do you expect in the next 10, 20 years to be a terrorist attack in the United States,
thinking about the recent events, thinking about the potential for germ warfare, the potential
for biological attacks, and the potential --
The President. Oh, absolutely. I think that's a threat.
Mr. Rose. A likelihood?
The President. Well, I think it's highly likely that someone will try. And keep in mind, the
World Trade Center was blown up just a few years ago. We were fortunate to catch the
people who did it. Oklahoma City had the terrible explosion.
What I think will happen let me back up a minute. I have done everything I could as
President to try to organize the permanent Government, the people who will be here when I
am gone, and the Congress to deal with the long-term threat of biological, chemical, and
small scale nuclear war, as well as the increasing sophistication of traditional weapons. And
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we are doing a massive amount of work now in preparation to try to minimize the chances
that it will occur and God forbid if it should occur to try to minimize the impact of it. I
think, parenthetically, one of the benefits of our research into the human genome is that we'll
be able to analyze these viruses much more quickly and come up with antidotes much more
quickly than we used to be able to. Even now, when new strains of diseases whether it's
AIDS or anything else comes up, we can identify them so much more quickly than we used
to be able to.
So what I think will happen let me just make this point the organized forces of
destruction will take maximum advantage of new technologies and new scientific
developments just like democratic societies do. So I think, just like the computers are all
being miniaturized and people carry these little pads around that have and now you've got
these gadgets where you can use as a telephone or a typewriter, do E-mail and all that. Well,
the same miniaturization will apply to biological and chemical weapons. And if people should
get nuclear materials that can be made into a bomb, to nuclear materials which is why
we've worked so hard with Russia to control access to that stuff.
So we've just got to be ready. There will always be bad guys out there in the world who will
try to take advantage of people's vulnerabilities.
Mr. Rose. But aren't the odds against us, when you describe that kind of technological
advantage I mean, and just recently two people trying -- in separate cases trying to get
inside America's borders with explosives it gets more and more easier to conceal, and more
and more the likelihood that an American city --
The President. Well, if you go back through all of human history and you look at conflicts in
weapons systems and that's what we're talking about, biological, chemical weapons
offense always precedes defense; that is, you've got to know what you're defending against.
So my goal in this whole thing, trying to mobilize the country on biological, chemical
weapons, and make sure the Government is doing everything possible, is to close the gap
between offense and defense. And the answer to your question is, we won't be severely
there might be incidences. I mean, the World Trade Center was blown up; Oklahoma City was
blown up. We've got a guy in the laboratory in the Middle West, almost 5 years ago, who was
trying to develop biological agents, political extremist.
Mr. Rose. And there are scary ideas coming out of science, where viruses can attack certain
ethnic groups?
The President. Yes, there are people that
Mr. Rose. The potential of science to do harm is alarming.
The President. But you know, it's always been that way. I mean, it's always been that way.
And I think that I'm actually more optimistic than keep in mind, no one believes that
someone's going to come in and kill everybody in America. That's what we worried about
during the cold war. And we still have to deal with these traditional threats. That's why India
and Pakistan is perhaps the Kashmiri issue is perhaps the most dangerous one in the world
today because you've got two nuclear powers there who are somewhat uncertain about one
another and why we have to work hard to avoid that.
But yes, there will be problems. Yes, there could be terrible incidences. But I would say to the
American people, they should, on balance, be hopeful. But what they should do is to support
the leadership of this country in putting maximum resources into research and development
so that we're prepared. And I think we will grow increasingly sophisticated in picking these
people up, increasingly sophisticated in detecting these weapons, and what we can't afford is
to have a long period of time where these offensive capabilities of the new age are better
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than the defensive capabilities. If we can close the gap between offense and defense, we'll be
fine.
Mr. Rose. What's interesting about a conversation about the future with you is that because
of this office and your curiosity, you see and know more than almost anyone. I mean, you are
aware because you talk to the scientists; you talk to people responsible.
The President. I think about it a lot.
Mr. Rose. You do?
The President. Sure. I have to. See, I think one of the jobs of the President, because of the
unique opportunity of the office you just described it, is to always be thinking about what will
happen 10, 20, 30 years from now, and to allocate some time and effort to make decisions
for which there will be almost no notice.
You know, right now, I mean, hardly anybody reports on or thinks about the work we're doing
in biological warfare or chemical warfare -- the speech I gave at the National Science
Foundation but it's fine. It's what my former national security aide, Tony Lake, used to call
"the dog that doesn't bark." And there is a sense in which there's a bunch of dogs in this old
world you don't want to bark.
Mr. Rose. It's the old notion about if the tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, did the
tree fall? Can you -- are there things that we don't know about that alarm you? This sense of
science and where it's at and what's coming down the pike that gives you great pause?
The President. Well, there are a lot of things that concern me. You know, we've done a lot of
work -- the other thing that, besides the chemical and biological weapons, trying to protect
computer systems.
Year 2000 Problems
Mr. Rose. Speak to Y2K. Where are your concerns, and do you think that most of those --
The President. My concerns well, they're much more traditional in Y2K. I think we've done
a good job here. We've spent a lot of money -- I say we, the American people, not just the
Government, the private sector we've spent a lot of money, tried to be ready. I feel a high
level of confidence. It wouldn't bother me a bit to get on a commercial airline, for example,
on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day and fly around. I think our systems are in order here.
My concerns really are for some of our friends around the world that have more rudimentary
computer networks and capacities and whether they will have a shutdown that they won't be
able to immediately fix or get around.
Mr. Rose. And make them vulnerable to what?
The President. Well, if there were problems in the financial system, what if records
disappeared and people lost money? That would be destabilizing in some countries. If power
systems
Mr. Rose. And make them vulnerable to outside forces, to kinds of elements you mentioned
earlier?
The President. Well, maybe, but I think more internal destabilization. What if a power system
shuts down in a big country with a hard winter? How long will it take to get back up before
anyone would freeze to death? I mean, these are the kinds of practical problems that I'm
concerned about.
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But I think that I'm talking about something far more insidious, though. What we have to
-- this is, again, offense and defense. What we have to do this technology of computers is
changing so fast, and we've got a lot of whizbangs out there, and they can make a ton of
money working for bad guys. So what we've got to do is to continuously work on protecting
the cyber security, the infrastructure of the information economy, just like we're trying to
deal with chemical and biological warfare and the miniaturization of weapons and all this.
But most people are good people. We've got plenty of talented people. We just need to be
imagining the future, thinking about all the problems as well as all the opportunities, and
then prepare. Society always has problems; there are always misfortunes. But basically, I
believe the future is quite promising and far more exciting than any period in history. I wish I
were going to live to be 150; I'd love to see what happens.
Possibilities of the Future
Mr. Rose. Would you like to be cloned?
The President. No. I wouldn't wish that on anybody. [Laughter]
Mr. Rose. There is this thing, too. I mean, think about Chelsea's children, your grandchildren,
say the year 2050, whatever the appropriate time might be. What's this world going to look
like? Is it going to be more interesting, more challenging? How will we travel; what kind of
food will we eat; will we go to other planets?
The President. I think we'll be eating food that's like what we eat now. I think it will be safer.
I think we'll know a lot more about it, even safer than it is now. I think that in big, urban
areas, I think we'll still have our love affairs with cars. I think they will be much more safe.
They'll be made of composite materials that are much more resistant to wrecks. And I think
where there is a lot of heavy traffic, I think that we'll all travel by a computerized plan.
I also think there will be a lot more rapid rail transit. I think it will be safer. It'll be better,
and I think we'll be able to do things while we travel and spend more time. I think we will go
into outer space, and at sometime in the next century, I think there will be large, permanent
platforms sustaining life in outer space that will basically be jumping-off places to distant
planets and maybe even beyond. That's what I think will happen.
Q. Hold on one second. I know you've got to change tape. Okay.
Mr. Rose. You said computerized plan
The President. No, I meant cars. You want me to say it again?
Mr. Rose. How much time do we have?
The President. I just misspoke myself.
Mr. Rose. How much time do we have here?
The President. I don't know, 10 minutes, 5 minutes?
You want to do that again?
Mr. Rose. The last question? All right. Okay.
Think about the future of your grandchildren, Chelsea's children, the year 2050. What will life
be like then? What kind of food; what kind of transportation; will we be living on other
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planets? Will we still be concerned about things that concern us now, like overweight, stuff
like that?
The President. I don't think all of the problems will go away. I think the food will be pretty
much like it is now, but even safer. I think that on Earth, we'll travel in automobiles, still, but
in traffic jams, we'll have automated systems. I think there will be a lot more high speed rail.
I think we'll travel in ways that give us more free time to do things while we travel.
I think that there will be large platforms in outer space that will be jumping-off places to
distant planets, and I think that the bio-medical advances will be stunning. I think a lot of
cancers will be cured. I think there will be a vaccine for AIDS. I think that the research in the
human gene and the revolution, the continuing revolution in microchips will enable people to
probably cure spinal cord injuries by having a programmed chip that goes into the spine and
replicates all the nerves that were damaged.
I think that it'll be a fascinating time. And I think there will be lots and lots of continuous
daily communication with people across national and cultural lines.
Mr. Rose. Would you go to space if you had the opportunity?
The President. I might. I'm real interested in it. I like it a lot. I think it's important.
Post-Presidential Plans
Mr. Rose. What one thing do you most want to accomplish I've got to go when you leave
this office? What's the single most important thing for you to accomplish when you leave?
The President. You mean, after I'm not President anymore?
Mr. Rose. After you're not President.
The President. I think the most important thing is for me to be a useful citizen of this country
and of this world, because I've had opportunities here only my other living predecessors have
had. And I think that for me to be able to continue the work I've done in racial and religious
and ethnic reconciliation and trying to convince people that we can grow the global economy
and still preserve the environment and trying to empower the poor and the dispossessed, in
trying to spread the universal impact of education and use technology to benefit ordinary
people, these kinds of things I think I should continue to do this work and trying - I want
to get young people into public service. I want them to believe this is noble and important
work.
So I think, in a word, I have to be a good citizen now. That's the most important thing I can
do when I leave office is to use the maximum to the maximum extent I can, the knowledge
that I have, the experience that I've gained to be a really good citizen.
Mr. Rose. Thank you, Mr. President.
The President. Thank you.
NOTE: The interview was videotaped at 5:10 p.m. on December 22 in the Oval Office for later
broadcast, and the transcript was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on December
28. A portion of this interview could not be verified because the tape was incomplete. The
text of this interview follows the transcript as released by the Office of the Press Secretary.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: February 28, 2000
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I think that it will show that we helped America to make this major transition into a new
economy and an era of globalization.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
August 4, 1998
.
I'm very grateful to have had the chance to serve as President at a time of remarkable change
and to try to make sure that this period of change works for all Americans and that, when we get
to the 21st century, the American dream is alive and well for everybody who is responsible
enough to work for it, that our country is strong and visionary enough to continue to lead the
world toward prosperity and peace and freedom, and that we can do that because we have
enough sense to come together, across all the lines that divide us, into one America. That is what
I have worked for.
portraits of those who have come fore
another Key narrative
Csp. as the White House is 200
in 2000
days of heated argument and changing opinions, the fateful
new paintings, and the collection keeps growing. Each pres-
motion carried. Ever since, the presidency, as one commen-
ident since has been surrounded by these portraits. They
tator has put it, has been "at the mercy of the accident of
look down upon his comings and goings as a vivid remain-
personality."
der of the relatively few others who have shared his unique
It is the extraordinary procession of these "accidents of
station. Their power is symbolic as well as historical. Ronald
personality" that inspired this family team to undertake an
Reagan, at the opening of his administration in 1980,
exhilarating study of the presidency, which includes not
ordered the portrait of his hero Calvin Coolidge moved
only this book but also a ten-hour PBS documentary series.
onto a prominent wall in the Cabinet Room. George Bush
In some ways, the presidency is the most exclusive of
said he did his best thinking during the Gulf War while sit-
clubs-by the turn of the twentieth century, just forty-one
ting in the presence of the portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
members, all men, all white, and all Christian. Closer
And Richard Nixon, during the depths of the Watergate cri-
inspection, however, reveals a less static society, one moving
sis, used to wander through the White House halls at night
inexorably toward greater inclusion. Andrew Jackson was
talking to the portraits as if to living presences. This book,
the first to break open the genteel, highly educated ranks
too, is a presidential portrait gallery, made up not only of oil
represented by the first six presidents. A self-made man hail-
paintings and of hundreds of rare photographs, but also of
ing from the frontier in western Tennessee, Jackson opened
words-both ours and of each of the presidents-that open
up whole new possibilities in what kind of American could
up vistas onto those living presences.
reach the White House. He was followed by a host of figures
A significant portion of our research time went into
equally unlikely backgrounds-a longtime tailor
searching out the original words of the presidents, not only
ew Johnson), a fitful tanner (Ulysses S. Grant), a
those existing in widely available published sources, but also
one-time canal boy (James Garfield), and a former rail-split-
those only to be found in manuscript form. And not only
ter (Abraham Lincoln). And though lawyers and career
the distinguished public utterances, but the little-known,
politicians have predominated in the high office, twentieth-
the intensely private, and the humanly revealing, as well as
century Americans elected a professor (Wilson), a newspa-
those words that shed light on our own thematic
perman (Harding), an engineer (Hoover), and a movie star
approaches. Chosen out of thousands upon thousands of
(Reagan). John F. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic to
examples, these words are sprinkled liberally throughout
reach the White House. Inevitably, the country will elect a
our text, as well as being gathered inside special boxes in
woman as president.
each chapter labeled "In His Own Words."
As anyone who has toured the White House knows-
The story of the presidency is, at least in part, a story
and 1.2 million Americans do so each the mansion's
of human personality under pressure. The administration of
walls prominently display important portraits of past presi-
George Washington is not fully intelligible without refer-
dents. It was not always so. Though the famous full-length
ence to his consuming desire for integrity and to be above
painting of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart has been
politics. John Adams is best illumined by an inspection of
a feature of the executive mansion since 1800, there was lit-
his own unique makeup-his learnedness, his irascibility,
tle appetite for any others until the middle of the nineteenth
and most of all his stubborn independence. Again and again
century. It was Andrew Johnson's daughter, Martha, who
a president's personality ends up helping shape his executive
discovered, while rummaging in the White House attic, a
performance. Jefferson's expansiveness, Madison's caution,
set of six presidential portraits commissioned in the 1850s
Jackson's ferociousness, Buchanan's timidity, FDR's self-
but then forgotten. Hanging them in the great transverse
confidence all deeply affected the evolution of the high
hall of the state floor of the White House, she opened what
office. And so questions of character are not only relevant,
essence the first presidential portrait gallery in the
they are essential. Was a president decisive or indecisive?
House. It was immensely popular and soon was
Rash or thoughtful? Tough-skinned or too sensitive to crit-
moved into the East Room. Under President Hayes, the
icism? Kindly or coldhearted? Did he have a vision for the
gallery was brought up to date by the acquisition of eleven
country he wanted to pursue, or did he become lost in the
iii
SKC
A turn-of-the-century view of the White House's north entrance
minutiae of the everyday tasks of the office? Was he profi-
early on put us in touch with Stephen Skowronek, a politi-
cient in working with others and in enlisting political allies,
cal scientist at Yale University who specializes in the history
or was he a loner who withdrew and tried to do everything
of the presidency. His groundbreaking book The Politics
himself? Was he expansive or petty? Was he honest or dis-
Presidents Make compares presidents from different eras
honest? Did he have a basic trust in the American people or
who shared common dilemmas and who inhabited what he
a basic distrust? These questions and others help bring focus
has called similar "political time." Especially qualified to
to the ways in which presidents have affected the history of
analyze our thematic approach, Skowronek helped us
the nation.
arrange our groupings, following our mandate that each
Our most essential early decision as this project took
chapter include an early president, two from the middle
shape was to treat the presidents thematically, rather than
years, and a modern one who was still alive and could be
chronologically. Our senior historical consultant, David
interviewed today, or at least had lived in the era of moving
Herbert Donald, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biography,
pictures and recorded sound. With some slight tinkering
1X
over the next four years, these categories became the intel-
in "Family Ties" all seemed born for the high office, while
lectual framework for this book. Skowronek has served as
those in "Happenstance" reached the presidency only
our chief academic consultant, and his Foreword, which
because of accident and national tragedy. Those grouped in
explains the importance of looking at the presidents trans-
"The American Way" each possessed a burning vision for
historically, appears on pages xii and xiii.
their country, while those juxtaposed in "The World Stage"
Another important alliance that was formed as the
made their contributions principally in foreign affairs. And
project unfolded was with the Harvard scholar Richard E.
finally, those presidents brought together in Chapter 9-all
Neustadt, who has been called by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
of whom deliberately stretched the power of the office-are
"our most brilliant commentator on the presidency.
in contrast to the presidents grouped in Chapter 10, who
Neustadt's specialty is analyzing what makes effective presi-
were constrained, for better or worse, by the balanced pow-
dential leadership; his book Presidential Power has been
ers of our overall government.
dubbed "an operational Bible for presidents." Our decision
As we crisscross the boundaries between presidential
to make Dick the sole on-camera commentator for the PBS
successes and failures, between greatness and mediocrity,
television series that accompanies this book ended up deeply
these categories define our focus and shape our text. By tak-
shaping not only the series but the book as well. He has con-
ing stock of all the presidents, both those familiar and unfa-
tributed his own introduction that begins on page xiv.
miliar, and by juxtaposing modern presidents with earlier
For narrator of the television series, we brought on
incumbents, we hope to have given coherence to the sprawl-
Hugh Sidey, who has been Time magazine's special corre-
ing presidential experience. Indeed, the president we treat
spondent on the presidency for four decades. Sidey con-
first within each of these ten chapters represents an arche-
ducted exclusive interviews for this project with Presidents
type that reemerges later in presidents eerily reminiscent of
Carter, Ford, Bush, and Clinton, and these interviews serve
the original. Theodore Roosevelt appears almost like a new
as the basis for the chapters on these four presidents. Practi-
Andrew Jackson; William Howard Taft seems in some ways
cally a member of the White House himself, as well as a stu-
like a resurgence of James Madison; Jimmy Carter closely
dent of it, Sidey brings a unique perspective to the workings
resembles John Adams and also Rutherford B. Hayes; LBJ
of the Oval Office and the eight presidents he has intimately
echoes Van Buren and also Abraham Lincoln.
known (see page xi).
It is our hope that our efforts will be of assistance to
The New York Life Insurance Company, whose board
the American voter. Since our goal has been to see the pres-
of trustees has included two presidents-Calvin Coolidge
idency afresh and to think about its incumbents in new
and Herbert Hoover-has been the sole sponsor of the tele-
ways, so, too, the process of selection, we believe, can be
vision project. Without their enormous support, this ven-
invigorated by many of these same insights. The search for
ture would not have been undertaken. For five years, as the
personal excellence has many pitfalls and blind alleys; for a
project has been developed and a nationwide school
voter to be able to spot some of them and hold them up to
involvement has materialized around the enterprise, we
the light of history is citizenship of a high order.
have worked together as true partners. New York Life is a
Over the past thirty years, historians have rightly
company ideally suited to present this subject to the nation.
turned away from the old bias of studying history primarily
The ten chapters in this book are presented as five pairs
through the stories of its "great white men." And yet the
of opposites. Those presidents grouped in Chapter 1, "The
American presidents continue to fascinate. The president is
Heroic Posture," were all national heroes before they ever
the only elected officer representing the entire nation, and
were candidates. In contrast are the five men in Chapter 2
thus has a special obligation to the American people. As has
ve have labeled "Compromise Choices"-politicians cho-
been made clear in the closing years of the twentieth cen-
sen in many cases for who they were not, rather than for
tury, the American people still care about the presidency.
who they were. The "Professional Politicians" grouped in
They believe in it, and rightly insist that it belongs to them.
Chapter 3 are contrasted with those political loners of
'Independent Cast of Mind" in Chapter 4. Those profiled
forms, and the modern presidents are seen as a coherent
ciations. George Washington is placed alongside Ulysses S.
group standing apart from the rest, most of presidential his-
Grant in a chapter examining the vicissitudes of "the heroic
tory simply loses its relevance. Nearly three-quarters of
posture." Abraham Lincoln is considered in conjunction
American presidents predate the modern period, but with
with Lyndon Johnson in an exploration of "professional
the possible exception of the experiences of a handful of his-
politicians" whose long dedication to their peculiar vocation
toric "greats," the early record would seem to be relegated by
landed them in America's highest office. Franklin Roosevelt
this perspective to mere historical interest. The outstanding
makes his appearance next to Benjamin Harrison to illus-
question is, What can incumbents like Benjamin Harrison
trate the influence of "family ties" on presidential history.
or Zachary Taylor possibly tell us about the presidential
To make this organizing principle work, special care
office as it appears in our own day?
had to be taken in crafting the exposition. If, in elaborating
The American President answers this question by estab-
these themes, the book had run roughshod over the forty-
lishing a third vantage point from which to view the history
one different personalities who have held the office, or if it
of the office. Though the book draws freely on insights
had failed to take into account institutional developments
made available through more conventional frames of refer-
that have transformed that office over time, the end product
ence, it experiments with a very different temporal arrange-
would be more likely to confuse than enlighten. Several fea-
ment of the material. It does not proceed chronologically
tures of the presentation stand out as especially effective in
though the succession of incumbents, nor does it take up
meeting this challenge. The first is that each of the transhis-
the usual periods of institutional development each in its
torical themes is rendered through a set of individual presi-
turn. Instead, the presentation reaches across the standard
dential vignettes. This means that the office never loses its
demarcations of the subject, joining together early and
human face and that critical institutional developments
modern presidents around general themes that transcend
within it are always kept in view. More striking still is the
the particulars of time and place. Each chapter ranges
extent to which the presentation allows the presidents to
through the whole of presidential history, calling attention
speak for themselves, expressing the major themes in their
to a particular scattering of incumbents that captures some-
own words. Breathing life into the framework of the book,
thing emblematic of the American experience with this
this technique serves to make the history accessible even to
office. In this way, the reader gains a sense of those aspects
those who might not have a detailed prior knowledge of it.
and attitudes of incumbency that constitute the presidency's
Finally, there is the pictorial and photographic support
most enduring qualities.
that instantly contextualizes each story and provides a visual
The thought that breaking up presidential history in
accounting of the passage of time. This skillful integration
this disjointed, out-of-phase fashion might better convey an
of structure, narrative, and imagery provides a powerful syn-
overarching sense of the whole is but the first of many
thesis and makes an important contribution to our under-
intriguing notions contained in The American President. In
standing of the American presidency. But of course The
its ten thematic sweeps through time, the book is continu-
American President is by no means an exhaustive account of
ally juxtaposing presidencies in unexpected ways and shak-
the subject. Perhaps the most attractive feature of this book
ing up familiar images as it does so. Jimmy Carter's fiercely
is that in opening up presidential history to an alternative
independent cast of mind" has always appeared a bit pecu-
way of thinking, it prompts readers to experiment with its
liar among the modern presidents, and yet his apparent dis-
method for themselves. Reshuffling the pieces on our own,
dain for professional politicians and his inclination to go it
we may discover other, as yet hidden connections among the
alone politically have deep historical resonance. When
old stories. I can think of no better way to keep this venera-
Carter's example is joined to those of John Adams, Zachary
ble history vital.
Taylor, and Rutherford Hayes, the independent stance
appears as one of the presidency's most persistent poses.
Similarly, the fabled grouping of "greats" is fruitfully broken
uphere in the service of illuminating less well attended asso-
xiii
INTRODUCTION
ard E. Neustadt
Harvard University
allows for development
Uncertain content
As
Edward Corwin wrote some sixty years ago, the
"executive power"-which is never defined-is vested in the
presidency of the United States has been an office "of uncer-
president, whose duty also is to "take care that the laws be
tain content." So it was in 1787, when the Constitution was
faithfully executed." But it is Congress that creates executive
drafted, and so it remains today.
departments, decides their jurisdictions, spells out their pro-
This uncertainty is due in part to the spare yet general
grammatic duties, adds the funds to perform those duties,
language of the drafting of the Constitution, which has been
and by hallowed practice investigates the performance. So it
subject to reinterpretation in successive generations. For the
becomes clear that Congress has "executive" powers too.
first forty years, to take just one example, the presidential
Or consider this: The president is commander-in-chief
veto over legislation was thought to apply only to bills
of the armed forces, and since Thomas Jefferson's time has
affecting presidential powers. Another source of uncertainty
sometimes sent them into battle overseas on- his own
as to the office of our chief executive is the uncomfortable
motion. But only Congress has the constitutional right to
fact that most of the presidential powers are shared-Con-
declare war, and Congress, every two years, sets the size and
stitutionally and practically-with other institutions inde-
composition of those forces. Also, the president sends and
pendent of a president's command. In that respect, the
receives ambassadors, a duty construed from the start to put
presidency is weaker than it first appears or than its numer-
him in charge of foreign relations. But those he sends must
ous, importunate constituencies expect. And a third source
be confirmed by action of the Senate. Should they negotiate
of certainty is the office's relatively stronger role in foreign
a treaty and he sign it, the Senate has to consent before it
than domestic affairs-a strength, however, that
takes effect. Should he wish to send money abroad, Con-
depends on events abroad, which a president, again, for the
gress must first appropriate it; should he send troops, Con-
most part cannot control.
extemporaneous
gress must agree to pay, as it also must with weapons and
doe
Because the content of the presidency is uncertain, the
munitions. Regarding troops, he has to state his reasons;
person of the president takes on added importance. The
according to the law (though never yet in practice), Con-
manner in which the individual brings his (someday her)
gress can remove them after sixty days, rejecting his ratio-
mind and energies to bear on the events that frame his time
nale. Only if he drops atomic bombs does Congress have no
is crucial to the way the office is conceived and executed in
comeback-save impeachment. But every president since
that time. The incumbent's own experience, enthusiasms,
Truman has learned, in awe, from his experience that
ideas, interests, prejudices, working style, and temperament
nuclear weapons are for show, not use.
will markedly affect what happens in the office and what
Or consider this: While Congress is the legislature in
comes out of it.
our system, the president, in Dwight Eisenhower's phrase, is
The times, of course, can limit or strengthen a presi-
also "part of the legislative process," not only wielding his
dent and often do, but he, in turn, makes use of them-or
veto (which the House of Representatives and Senate both,
doesn't.
by a two-thirds vote, can override), but also having the duty
That is why what follows in this book and in the tele-
to recommend "such measures as he judge necessary and
vision series it accompanies is oriented to the human histo-
expedient."
ries of the forty-one individuals who so far have occupied
These are what we conventionally call "checks and bal-
the office. Were the institution cut-and-dried, required to
ances" in our government. There are others as well, includ-
perform in the same fashion all the time, those histories
ing the sovereign rights of states within their constitutional
would be both less important than they are and less reveal-
limits, which the courts can amend, from time to time, by
f the presidency in our political system. But the insti-
interpretation, but not abolish altogether. In a comparable
is what Corwin said it was.
category are the rights of citizens, and by extension those of
The uncertainty that dogs the office, heightening the
the private sector in our economy, not least the press. And
effect of individuals in it, derives most basically from the
very specifically, in another example of checks and balances,
deliberate competition between president and Congress
senators and members of the House are forbidden to hold
envisaged in the terms of the Constitution. For example, the
executive appointments simultaneously; there cannot be
xiv
A young Richard Neustadt
Senators and members of Congress have limited influ-
working as an adviser to Harry
ence, at best, in primaries for presidential nominations, or
Truman.
in the national conventions that confirm the results, now
shades of their former selves. Presidents are usually at least
as limited in influence upon the state or district bodies that
nominate representatives and senators, even those nomi-
nally of their own party. For in fact the local and state par-
ties are not the same as the quadrennial national party at
presidential elections. Money for campaigns can be a bind-
congressional cabinets at the president's end of Pennsylvania
ing tie (and has been, on occasion, almost from the start).
Avenue.
But by and large, local party affairs remain local, and state
Most of these checks and balances derive directly,
affairs state, in the conduct of nominations. In modern
though not avowedly, from British experience, our founding
times, primary elections for the presidential nomination do
fathers having all been former British subjects. For example,
lessen the influence of statewide party organizations, once
the check that forbids members of Congress from simulta-
supreme at national conventions, but that influence was
neously holding executive appointments keeps American
usually less congressional than gubernatorial, so Congress
presidents from doing what King George III was famous for,
scarcely loses by the change.
his so-called "corruption" of Parliament-building majori-
In short, the constitutional separation of president
ties with rewards in the form of appointments to adminis-
from Congress is reinforced by the separateness of their
trative posts.
respective nominating processes and their electoral con-
Moreover, president and Congress are competitive
stituencies. That is why the separation flourishes, and has
because both represent the American people, and so both
flourished, for the most part, since George Washington took
can claim to represent the source of sovereignty in popular
his oath of office in 1789. And since the separation rests
government. But they do so in different ways, for different
securely on those different political bases, checks and bal-
terms, as they are nominated and elected by different con-
ances assure perpetual competition, because the president
stituencies. Only the president (and, of course, his running
and Congress, each speaking "for" the country, share so
mate) is nominated in primary elections or state conven-
widely in each other's functions.
tions all across the country and then chosen by popular vote
That competition can be muted by concern for dan-
in general elections held state by state on the same day. Just
gers from abroad, as was the case when President Washing-
a third of the senators are chosen at the same time, and then
ton began, and in the two world wars, and from time to
for terms of six years rather than the presidential four. Rep-
time during the Cold War. Or it can be muted by concern
resentatives are chosen from geographic districts within
for truly national crises, as in the secession crisis of 1861 or
states-usually smaller than states-not only when a presi-
the collapse of the U.S. banking system in 1933. And it
dent runs but also every second year. They are nominated in
always can be tempered by comity among those engaged in
party primaries or conventions, as is he, but within their
governing-but of that our party politics offers no guarantee.
state or district, not throughout the country, and then
Given these circumstances, individuals are bound to
elected by the voters in the same jurisdiction, a far smaller
matter in and to the presidency. Underlining this book,
body than the president's fifty-state electorate.
therefore, is the thought that a review of the first forty-one
As aggregates, both the Senate and the House repre-
may help us as we choose the next president.
sent the whole country. But so does the president, one per-
Each individual president exists and works in a specific
son. The House can always claim to be most up-to-date in
social, economic, technological, and environmental frame-
its representation, but every four years the president makes
work, dominated by certain prevailing ideas and trends. All
the superior claim of a nationwide vote. Individually no
these condition politics and thus what given presidents find
House member (or senator, for that matter) can match that.
they can do, or feel they must attempt. Each also exists in a
xv
specific frame of time, defined by modes of communication.
responsive to administrative needs than to those of politics
For James Monroe, six weeks was not too long to wait for
and technology. It reflects fast-rising public expectations of
diplomatic correspondence from across the Atlantic. By
the presidency, which now is supposed to win wars, resist
Lincoln's time the interval had shrunk, with the advent of
terror, keep public order, end recessions, guard against
steamships, to twelve days. After 1867, the laying of the
depressions, keep prices down and jobs up, save the envi-
transatlantic cable made communication almost instanta-
ronment, preserve social security, fight crime and drugs,
neous-but instant pictures did not come for more than
maintain personal honor, serve as an example to the young,
another century.
and with it all show "fiscal responsibility." Such expectations
From 1789 until the eve of World War II, there virtu-
are now fed by electronic media, as well as the print press,
ally was no "institutional environment" for the presidency.
which have been engaged in massive bursts of instant com-
The president had a private secretary or two (Lincoln in the
munication from all quarters simultaneously. What is com-
Civil War had just two!), paid out of his own pocket until
municated has to have a basis in events, but with the world
the twentieth century, and otherwise depended for all
at the disposal of the media, thanks to satellites, events from
things he wanted done on the federal departments, with
somewhere, about something, are a dime a dozen.
their heads in his cabinet, or the military chiefs and their
This naturally complicates the substance of policy and
services, or friendly souls in Congress and out, not least in
its communication to Congress, to agencies, and to the pub-
his hometown.
lic. Recent presidents have wished to have their own aides-
The entire executive establishment consisted only of
not a department head's, not someone else's-to work and
600 civilians when George Washington took charge.
advise on all aspects of all policies. Furthermore, the bur-
By the 1840s the number had risen to some 40,000, and by
geoning press corps, always pressing, consists not just of
1900 to some 100,000. Only in Franklin Roosevelt's time
"working stiffs," as in pre-television times, but also of
did it rise to a million, just before World War II. After the
reporters, whom television has transformed into celebrities.
war it never fell below 2 million until Bill Clinton's time,
They, like all such, want their service fast and hot. In Presi-
when it was reduced by perhaps an eighth.
dent Truman's time, his press secretary had two professional-
The White House was slow to change. As late as the
level assistants. The number nowadays is over forty.
war, FDR had only eleven civilian assistants, along with a
The institutional presidency is not an unmixed bless-
budget-office staff of career civil servants. JFK's assistants
ing for a president. Staffs are too large to be intimate, which
amounted to twenty-two, a doubling in sixteen years,
means they are too remote to serve reliably as interpreters of
mostly because of Truman and Eisenhower innovations.
what "the boss" really wants. They are subject to becoming
Then, very shortly, President Nixon increased the number
"more royalist than the king." They also may attract to
by a factor of five, to well over 100. The Clinton staff is
themselves more business than is useful for him. Worse still,
larger still. Most of the load that was delegated to depart-
they may confuse their own interests with his. And since
ments, or the military, or congressional leaders, or friends
transition funds are now available to bridge the gap between
(and relatives) by presidents from Washington through Her-
election and inaugural, all too many staff assistants may be
bert Hoover and the early Franklin Roosevelt is now done,
young campaigners on their first federal assignment, as
supervised, critiqued, or redone by presidential staff, many
ignorant of Washington as the president-elect might be
at the White House, and more at associated agencies "across
himself, and unprepared to help him master what he needs
the street" in two executive office buildings. Today, 2,000 or
to know.
so people work for the presidency in the Executive Office of
Despite staffs and the problems that go with them,
esident; 500 or so work for the president in the White
recent presidents appear to experience the office in much
(clerical help included); 100 or so serve as top
the way their predecessors did. For the heart of the job is
staffers; and ten to twenty aides have daily personal access to
unchanged. It is the making and communicating of deci-
the president.
sions, most of which do not originate with the president
This enormous growth of staff has actually been less
himself: their long histories are best known to others; their
xvi
Richard E. Neustadt at work
in implementing what it does get done, engender critical
on The American President.
and sometimes despairing pleas for reform of one kind or
another from deeply concerned thinkers-and have done so
ever since the eighteenth century.
A discussion of checks and balances seems a fitting way
for this book to close. For complicated reasons bound up in
history-not quite what Madison expected but more or less
consistent with his basic views-the system he created man-
ages to shake off every decade's effort to erase its fundamen-
deadlines are set by fixed dates or events substantially
tals for the sake of theory. Nevertheless, it does continue to
beyond his control; and they reach him late, at the end of
change incrementally at the margins, responding to the
the process, with advisers split on what to do. All presidents,
pulls and tugs of social, economic, and technological devel-
even recent ones, have faced such choices with the help of a
opment. The responses can lag, some are perverse, and all
few trusted persons, perhaps three or four, rarely more, who
have unintended consequences. Injustice often follows. To
constitute an ultimate inner circle. They may be aides, or
rational minds the process is a mess. No one can fail to fume
cabinet members, or close friends, or family members, like
at some of its results. Yet in this country, so far, we have had
Milton Eisenhower and Hillary Rodham Clinton. What is
only one civil war. Of all our presidential thinkers, Madison,
crucial is that they are each of the president's own selec-
I dare say, would have been almost satisfied by that. Most of
tion-someone he turns to repeatedly and who trusts him
the time, I am prepared to join him.
in turn. Those few may be the only people that a modern
But that is a perspective from inside the States. When
president thinks of as his real "staff," the many others nom-
I go overseas, as periodically I do, I cannot help but notice
inally in that category notwithstanding. In this regard, his
how our separated system reinforces tendencies toward con-
subjective situation has a lot in common with that of every
tinental self-absorption, disappointing what our friends
predecessor back to General Washington.
abroad expect from the world's oldest democracy and only
This book proceeds on that premise. It proceeds on
superpower. They forget that even our most generous phase
the further premise that while history does not literally
of genuine concern for our allies-and for endeavors with
repeat itself, the situations of some presidents objectively
them-got kick-started by the threat of Joseph Stalin. Ger-
resemble those of many others in certain characteristic ways.
man submarines precipitated our engagement in World War
In the final chapter of this book the authors turn to
I, Japanese bombers did the same for World War II, and
cardinal features of our constitutional design, its checks and
Stalin played a crucial part in setting off the retrospective
balances. These separated institutions that share powers
Golden Era of the Marshall Plan. Left to our own devices we
engage as they must in endless competition; they tend
incline toward isolation.
toward stalemate in the short run, and are slow to respond
The complicated workings of our separated system,
to slender majorities, though they are capable of registering
with president and Congress independent yet intertwined,
national consensus with rapidity. But consensus is not easily
are a contributory cause of this isolation. Actions are so
reached, save for events so grim and clear-cut that time may
fraught with emotion, and yet so far from final-almost
not allow for proper remedies. And competition can easily
every issue can be and usually is reopened for discussion—
get out of hand, leading toward legislative stasis and admin-
that the energy and interests of our leaders are consumed,
istrative chaos. For a country as extensive and diverse as
with little left for the outside world save when it forcibly
ours, there must be something good about this separated
intrudes. From an eighteenth-century perspective, Madi-
system, since it has endured now for 211 years and plainly
son, I think, would not have minded. From a twenty-first-
has a future. But its potential for failure in the eyes of most
century perspective-oh, how our allies do mind! Sympathy
proponents of all policies much of the time, and its extraor-
tempers my share in his satisfaction.
dinary messiness, not to say expense, both in delaying and
xvii
MERICAN THE RESIDENT
Press Information
"THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT," A TEN-PART SERIES
THAT TELLS THE EPIC TALE OF THE PRESIDENCY
PREMIERES ON PBS SUNDAY, APRIL 9, 2000, 9-11 PM (ET)
Series is Presented by Thirteen/WNET, New York
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, the first documentary series ever to
profile all 41 of America's chief executives, will premiere Sunday, April 9, 2000, 9-11 PM
(ET) (check local listings) on PBS, with "A Matter of Destiny," featuring the
programs entitled "Family Ties" and "Happenstance." The epic series, ten hours in
length, tells the story of the nation from the perspective of the highest office in the
land, and features exclusive interviews with President Clinton and all the living former
presidents except Ronald Reagan. The programs will air in nightly two-hour blocks,
concluding on Thursday, April 13.
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT is a co-production of Kunhardt
Productions, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET New York and is presented on PBS by
Thirteen/WNET. The series was written, produced and directed by Philip B.
Kunhardt, Jr., Philip B. Kunhardt III and Peter W. Kunhardt. The executive producers
are Peter W. Kunhardt and William R. Grant. The series' sole underwriter is New York
Life Insurance Company.
In a unique casting coup, the series' producers have persuaded an extraordinary
group of political, military and media figures to provide voices for the presidents who
held office before the development of sound recording. The list includes General
Colin Powell, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Senator Robert Dole, Walter
Cronkite, radio personality Don Imus, former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee,
Senator John Glenn, James Carville, Andrew Young, and the Reverend Billy Graham.
Made possible by
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THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT is narrated by Time magazine's White House
correspondent for four decades, Hugh Sidey. The series benefitted from an illustrious group of
presidential scholars but only one is seen on the screen: Richard E. Neustadt of Harvard University,
whom Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. has called "our most brilliant commentator on the presidency."
"The story of the presidency is history on a scale that is both heroic and personal," says
producer Philip B. Kunhardt III. "These men achieved the highest office in the land - whether
through personal ambition, the turn of events, or sheer happenstance - and imprinted their
images on a chapter of the American story. Many of them were men of extraordinary character
and many of them were flawed. One of the most interesting things that emerges when you look at
them as individuals is that personal flaws are not necessarily a barrier to greatness, and rigorous
personal virtue does not necessarily protect against failure."
joke w/ G Dubya?
Each of the series' one-hour programs presents the stories of several presidents, linked by a
common theme. The first evening's programs, "Family Ties" and "Happenstance" for example,
are presented under the umbrella title "A Matter of Destiny." "Family Ties" investigates the fact
that power and influence, even in a democracy, are handed down from generation to generation in
a few privileged families. Profiled are John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Harrison, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy. "Happenstance" explores the careers of five presidents - John
Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Alan Arthur, and Harry Truman - who moved
from the vice presidency to the White House upon the death of the president.
The series' underwriter, New York Life Insurance Company, has funded an extensive
educational outreach effort aimed at the nation's secondary schools. The centerpiece of the
outreach is a Web site, www.americanpresident.org, which is one of the most ambitious
education sites ever mounted in support of a television series. More than 1,400 teachers all over
America will have contributed to the site, and New York Life Insurance Company will continue to
support the site's growth through the 2000 election to help teachers place the electoral process into
the broader context of American history.
A companion volume to the series, also called THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, has been
published by Riverhead Books. The volume, authored by Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., Philip B.
Kunhardt III, and Peter W. Kunhardt, has been designated a main selection by the Book-of-the-
Month Club and singled out for praise by many historians.
2
Following the premiere on Sunday, April 9, "Politics and the Presidency," featuring "An
Independent Cast of Mind" and "The Professional Politician" airs April 10. "Executive
Vision," combining "The American Way" and "The World Stage" airs April 11. "The
Candidate," presenting "The Heroic Posture" and "Compromise Choices" airs April 12. The
series concludes with "An Office and Its Powers," featuring "Expanding Power" and "The
Balance of Power" on April 13. "The Balance of Power" includes an exclusive interview with
President Clinton.
CONTACTS:
Timothy Hallinan
Roz Kay
Stone/Hallinan Associates (L.A.)
Thirteen/WNET
310-822-4481
212-560-3016
Kathleen Kaan
Bill Werfelman
Stone/Hallinan Associates (N.Y.)
New York Life Insurance Company
212-489-5590
212-576-5385
3
the most powerful office in the land than because they provided some electoral advantage,
such as geographical balance. What happens when such a man takes office - frequently facing
widespread conviction that he is unworthy of the powers he inherits? The answer can be
surprising, as is made clear by this hour's profiles of John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew
Johnson, Chester Alan Arthur and Harry Truman. (This is the only program to focus on five
presidents.)
independents to
Monday, April 10: POLITICS AND THE PRESIDENCY
consensus
Program One: "An Independent Cast of Mind"
builders
From time to time the American electorate tires of political partisanship and elects a
president who promises to stand above party ties. But is an independent cast of mind the best
approach to the presidency? All four of the men who are the subjects of this hour - John
Adams, Zachary Taylor, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Jimmy Carter - had difficult presidencies,
and neither of the two who sought a second term was granted one.
Program Two: "The Professional Politician"
"In our nation's early years, taking part in political affairs was considered a duty and an
honor," says series narrator Hugh Sidey, "but not a way of life." It was not long, however, before
professional politicians began to find their way to the White House. While a politician's skills can
be helpful to a president, they are not in themselves sufficient to guarantee success in the office.
This hour traces the presidencies of four political professionals - Martin Van Buren, James
Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, and Lyndon B. Johnson - at least one of whom was also a great
statesman.
Tuesday, April 11: EXECUTIVE VISION
Program One: "The American Way"
Like the framers of the Constitution, many American voters are suspicious of "big
government." A smaller, less intrusive government has remained an appealing ideal throughout the
country's history. The four men profiled in this program - Thomas Jefferson, Calvin Coolidge,
Herbert Hoover, and Ronald Reagan - believed, or professed to believe, that the government
that governed best governed least. Their policies, however, did not always square with their
philosophies.
2
Program Two: "The World Stage"
"Foreign affairs activate the strongest elements in the president's powers under the
Constitution," says Harvard presidential scholar Richard Neustadt in this hour. Almost from the
beginning, a president's accomplishments in foreign policy have helped to determine his historical
impact. Each of the four men whose stories are told in this program - James Monroe, William
McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, and George Bush - pursued foreign policies that defined or
expanded America's role on the world stage.
Wednesday, April 12: THE CANDIDATE
Program One: "The Heroic Posture"
The president of the United States is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Understandably, seventeen generals have been elected to the highest office in the land. Are the
habits of military command good preparation for the presidency? Of the four presidents profiled
in this hour, George Washington was the model for all presidents that followed; William Henry
Harrison served only a month; Ulysses S. Grant proved unequal to the office; and Dwight D.
Eisenhower made an exemplary transformation from a man of war to a man of peace.
Program Two: "Compromise Choices"
From time to time political parties select nominees not so much because they are the best
or most obvious candidates for the presidency, but because they are the least likely to lose votes.
Their primary qualification for the office seems not to be their positive qualities but their relative
lack of negative ones. Franklin Pierce and Warren G. Harding found the presidency beyond
their powers, while James A. Garfield and Gerald R. Ford proved themselves worthy of having
been called to the highest office in the land.
Thursday, April 13: EXPANDING POWERS
Program One: "An Office and Its Powers"
People perceive the American president as having more power than any other ruler on earth
but - according to Time magazine's Hugh Sidey - "None of the presidents in my time has
thought he had enough." This hour explores the growth of the presidency from its relatively weak
3
position in the 19th century to its modern, near-imperial state. This segment traces the careers of
four men, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon, who
expanded and - in one case, overstepped - the powers of the office.
Program Two: "The Balance of Power"
The presidency, for all its visibility and trappings, is only one component of an elaborate
Constitutional balance of powers. As narrator Hugh Sidey points out, however, "It is a balance that
has sometimes shifted during the course of our history, bringing at times unexpected results." This
hour focuses on four presidencies during which those balances were challenged and defined -
those of James Madison, James Knox Polk, William Howard Taft, and Bill Clinton. The
program concludes with an exclusive interview with President Clinton.
CONTACTS:
Timothy Hallinan
Roz Kay
Stone/Hallinan Associates (L.A.)
Thirteen/WNET
310-822-4481
212-560-3016
Kathleen Kaan
Bill Werfelman
Stone/Hallinan Associates (N.Y.)
New York Life Insurance Company
212-489-5590
212-576-5385
4
THE
MERICAN TRESIDENT
Press Information
THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST
PROVIDE VOICES FOR
"THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT"
What do General Colin Powell, Senator Bob Dole, the Reverend Billy Graham,
Morley Safer of "60 Minutes," and irascible radio personality Don Imus have in
common?
They - and more than twenty-five other prominent political, military, and
media figures - have all provided voices for America's presidents in the epic ten-part
series THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, premiering Sunday, April 9, 9-11 PM (ET)
(check local listings) on PBS.
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, a co-production of Kunhardt
Productions, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET New York, is the first documentary series ever
to tell the story of all 41 of America's chief executives. Peter W. Kunhardt and William
R. Grant are executive producers. The series, which airs two hours per night through
Thursday, April 13, is underwritten solely by New York Life Insurance Company, which
has also funded an ambitious educational outreach effort.
"We decided at the outset that we didn't want to use actors to voice the words
of the presidents who served before the advent of sound," says producer-writer Philip
B. Kunhardt III, who - with his brother Peter and their father, Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr.
- produced, wrote, and directed the series. "The idea was to find public figures who
shared a kind of kinship with the president they would voice." Some of the match-ups
are evident. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf speaks the words of Ulysses S. Grant.
Tennessee firebrand James Carville voices Tennessee firebrand Andrew Jackson. The
magisterial Walter Cronkite supplies the voice for America's most magisterial president,
Made possible by
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George Washington. Ohio's Senator John Glenn is Ohio's Rutherford B. Hayes. James Roosevelt,
Jr. voices Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and New York aristocrat William F. Buckley speaks for New
York aristocrat Theodore Roosevelt.
"The recording sessions with these people were fascinating," Kunhardt says. "Andrew
Young, the dignified voice of Thomas Jefferson, wondered if an audience would be able to
distinguish between a white voice and that of an African-American, and whether it mattered if they
did. Retired Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee hesitated when first asked to read the words of
Warren G. Harding, then decided, 'If Harding was a newspaperman, he couldn't be all bad."
"Nobody wanted to be associated with Andrew Johnson, the white supremacist successor
of Lincoln who was the first president to be impeached," says Kunhardt. "Only Don Imus would
agree to read Johnson's harsh words, telling us he was delighted to move into territory rejected by
so many others. The Reverend Billy Graham, who provided the voice for the only ordained
minister to serve as president, James Garfield, told us he'd served as a counselor to every president
since Eisenhower, but wasn't sure who had ministered more to whom, he or they. And General
Alexander Haig, while recording the words of Benjamin Harrison, joked with us that he'd been
president three times - once when Nixon resigned, once when Reagan was shot, and now for
PBS."
Kunhardt Productions and Thirteen/WNET also arranged exclusive interviews with all the
living former presidents except Ronald Reagan, and with President Clinton. President Clinton's
interview concludes the series as the final segment of the program called "The Balance of Power."
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, which is presented on PBS by Thirteen/WNET New
York, is narrated by Hugh Sidey, Time magazine's White House reporter for four decades. Scholarly
commentary is provided by Harvard's Richard E. Neustadt, whom Arthur Schlesinger has called
"our most brilliant commentator on the presidency." The series is written, produced, and directed
by Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., Philip B. Kunhardt III, and Peter W. Kunhardt.
A companion volume to the series, also called THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, has been
published by Riverhead Books. The volume has been singled out for praise by many historians and
was a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club.
The centerpiece of the educational outreach effort is a Web site to which more than 1,400
American school teachers have contributed, www.americanpresident.org.
2
CONTACTS:
Timothy Hallinan
Roz Kay
Stone/Hallinan Associates (L.A.)
Thirteen/WNET
310-822-4481
212-560-3016
Kathleen Kaan
Bill Werfelman
Stone/Hallinan Associates (N.Y.)
New York Life Insurance Company
212-489-5590
212-576-5385
3
Series Editor
Kathryn Barnier
Written, Produced and Directed By
Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr.
Philip B. Kunhardt III
Peter W. Kunhardt
Executive Producers
Peter B. Kunhardt Jr. and William R. Grant
Co-Director
Jamie Edgar
Coordinating Producer
Dyllan McGee
Senior Associate Producers
Kathleen Toner
Caroline Waterlow
Chief Academic Consultant
Stephen Skowronek
Senior Historical Consultant
David Herbert Donald
Historical Consultants
Stephen Ambrose, University of New Orleans
Harry Ammon, University of Southern Illinois Donald Cole, Philips Exeter
Academy
Jean Harvey Baker, Goucher College
Lou Cannon
Donald Cole, Philips Exeter Academy
Paolo Coletta, U.S. Naval Academy
John Milton Cooper, University of Wisconsin at Madison
William Cooper, Louisiana State University
Robert Dallek, Boston University
David Donald, Harvard University
Joseph Ellis, Mt. Holyoke College
Robert Ferrell, Indiana University
Larry Gara, Wilmington College
William Gienapp, Harvard University
Lewis Gould, University of Texas at Austin
Robert Gunderson, Indiana University
Alonzo Hamby, Ohio University
2
Joan Hoff, Ohio University
Michael Holt, University of Virginia
Ari Hoogenboom, Brooklyn College
Robert Johannsen, University of Illinois
William McFeely, University of Georgia
Paul Nagel, University of Minnesota
Allan Peskin, Cleveland State University
Thomas Reeves, University of Wisconsin at Parkside
Robert Remini, University of Illinois at Chicago
Robert Rutland, University of Virginia
Allan Spetter, University of Dayton
Ken Stevens, Texas Christian University
Hans Trefousse, Brooklyn College
Gordon Wood, Brown University
Promotion
Stone/Hallinan Associates
Educational Outreach
Hallinan Consulting
Location Filming
Greg Andracke
Allen Moore
Allan Palmer
Buddy Squires
For Thirteen/WNET New York:
Post Production Producer
Jared Lipworth
Production Manager
Julie Schapiro Thorman
A co-production of Kunhardt Productions and Thirteen/WNET New York ©2000
Kunhardt Productions, Inc.
The series' sole underwriter is New York Life Insurance Company.
3
MERICAN THE TRESIDENT
Press Information
THE FAMILY BEHIND "THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT"
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT is the product of a unique family in
documentary television which has been chronicling American history for
decades.
The Kunhardts, a father and two sons, are the grandson and great-
grandsons of Frederick Hill Meserve, America's earliest and foremost collector
and authority on Civil War era photographs. Meserve's collection, which
focused on many of the early presidents, was passed down to the Kunhardts
through his daughter, Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt. For years she continued
the family tradition of intergenerational collaboration, co-authoring two books
with her son, Philip Kunhardt, Jr. While thousands of Mathew Brady glass
negatives in the collection were transferred in the 1980s to the National
Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the
Meserve collection is still in the Kunhardts' hands and forms the basis of THE
AMERICAN PRESIDENT.
Working with a team of researchers, the family has also combed
through literally hundreds of photographic archives across the country to
amass a definitive collection of images and film footage spanning the entire
history of the presidency. In addition, they have done extensive research into
presidential writings, both published and unpublished, in order to bring alive
the presidents "in their own words."
The Kunhardts - Philip, Philip, and Peter - work out of a two-story
brick building in Mt. Kisco, New York which has been described as looking
like "the American Studies department at an Ivy League college." Working
Made possible by
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WNET NEW YORK
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LIFE
with a staff of twelve, they create television series and books from start to finish. THE
AMERICAN PRESIDENT took nearly five years to complete.
Contacts:
Timothy Hallinan
Roz Kay
Stone/Hallinan Associates (L.A.)
Thirteen/WNET
310-822-4481
212-560-3016
Kathleen Kaan
Bill Werfelman
Stone/Hallinan Associates (N.Y.)
New York Life Insurance Company
212-489-5590
212-576-5385
2
MERICAN THE TRESIDENT
Press Information
BILL CLINTON DISCUSSES HIS IMPEACHMENT
IN "THE BALANCE OF POWER,"
AN EPISODE OF "THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT"
AIRING ON PBS, THURSDAY APRIL 13, 2000, 9-11 PM (ET)
General Colin Powell, William F. Buckley, James Carville,
and Senator Howard Baker Provide Presidential Voices
An exclusive and far-ranging interview with President Bill Clinton forms the
finale of "The Balance of Power," the tenth and final episode of the epic PBS series
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, airing as part of a two-hour program Thursday,
April 13, 9-11 PM (ET). (Check local listings.) The ten-hour series, the first
documentary to profile all forty-one of America's chief executives, also features
exclusive interviews with all the living former presidents except Ronald Reagan.
"The Balance of Power" will air as the second episode on the evening of
April 13, presented as part of the program block "An Office and its Powers." The
first episode, airing at 9 PM, is "Expanding Power."
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT is a co-production of Kunhardt
Productions, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET New York and is presented on PBS by
Thirteen/WNET. The series was written, produced and directed by Philip B.
Kunhardt, Jr., Philip B. Kunhardt III, and Peter W. Kunhardt. The executive producers
are Peter W. Kunhardt and William R. Grant. The series' sole underwriter is New York
Life Insurance Company.
Suspicion of executive power goes back to the American Revolution, fought in
part as an assault on the executive power of the king. "The Balance of Power" looks
at presidential leadership as it is constrained, for better or worse, by the balanced
powers of our constitutional system. James Madison was the "Father of the
Constitution," and all his life he supported balanced government. But his system of
Made possible by
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KUNHARDT
NEW
YORK
WNET NEW YORK
PRODUCTIONS
LIFE
separated, yet overlapping powers presumed a basic level of courtesy, or at least cooperation in
government-what Madison called "comity." This comity broke down in the 1820s and '30s, and
was replaced with an intense new era of partisanship. James K. Polk was a tough and thoroughgoing
Democrat, who strove for balance but only within his own party. And the divisiveness left in his
wake would grow unabated until the complete breakdown of American politics that immediately
preceded the Civil War.
In his own day, William Howard Taft seemed like a new James Madison, determined to
recapture a proper balance in government. That meant, among other things, rejecting an overly
strong presidency, and standing up, in particular for the independence of the judiciary. The
momentum of history was against Taft, though, and the 20th century would be dominated by a
series of strong presidents. But in the wake of what Arthur Schlesinger called "the imperial
presidency," Congress seized back much of its authority, ushering in an era of divided government
and increasing partisanship.
Bill Clinton's presidency has contributed to and suffered greatly under the strain of this
partisanship, which at times has seemed to threaten the Madisonian system itself. "Only once
before have our national parties fractured," says commentator Richard Neustadt. "When they did,
we had a civil war. We're not at such a point, but you have dangerous potentials in the country."
In an exclusive interview, Clinton speaks openly of his personal scandal and the intense
partisanship that nearly wrecked his presidency. And he emotionally thanks the American people
for standing by him in his time of trial.
Providing the voices for the presidents in this hour are Senator Dale Bumpers (Madison),
Senator Howard Baker (Polk), and General Colin Powell (Taft). Powell, who possesses the same
quiet strength as did Taft, served in a similar capacity to President George Bush as Taft served to
President Theodore Roosevelt.
The first program of the evening, "Expanding Power," looks at four dynamic presidents
who deliberately stretched the power of the office: the immensely popular, hugely aggressive
Andrew Jackson; the iron-willed Grover Cleveland (the only chief executive to serve two non-
consecutive terms); the expansive reign of Theodore Roosevelt; and the far-reaching, finally self-
destructing presidency of Richard Nixon.
The voices for "Expanding Power" are James Carville (Jackson), Governor Lowell
Weicker (Cleveland), and William F. Buckley (Theodore Roosevelt).
2
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT is narrated by Hugh Sidey, Time magazine's White
House reporter for four decades. Scholarly commentary is provided by Harvard's Richard E.
Neustadt, whom Arthur Schlesinger has called "our most brilliant commentator on the presidency."
A companion volume to the series, also called THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, has
been published by Riverhead Books. The volume has been singled out for praise by many historians
and was a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club.
The centerpiece of the accompanying educational outreach effort, also funded by New
York Life Insurance, is a Web site to which more than 1,400 American school teachers have
contributed, www.americanpresident.org
CONTACTS:
Timothy Hallinan
Roz Kay
Stone/Hallinan Associates (L.A.)
Thirteen/WNET
310-822-4481
212-560-3016
Kathleen Kaan
Bill Werfelman
Stone/Hallinan Associates (N.Y.)
New York Life Insurance Company
212-489-5590
212-576-5385
3
1/11/00 - Taft
to you
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT
EPISODE TEN: The Balance of Power
Bill Clinton
Narrator:
After Taft, the balance of power shifted
43.76
again under the force of Franklin
Roosevelt, leading to an era when the
executive branch dominated like it never
had before. It wasn't until after Watergate
that Congress seized back its powers and
restored an earlier sense of balance. But by
the 1990s that balance had been upset
once again, this time by an intense new
level of partisanship. No president in
modern times was more impacted by
political divisiveness than was the 42nd
president, Bill Clinton.
1/11/00 - Clinton
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
Second Chances
Neustadt:
Our system of government, those
146:11:02:30
separated institutions sharing and
71.74
competing for powers are if anything, too
separated today.
145; 10:26:10
By the time of Bill Clinton, the glue that had
71.58
held Congress together in a tight,
hierarchical relationship had been
dissolved.
127; 13:37:20
Only once has polarization got so great,
69.89
only once have our national parties
127; 13:35:25
fractured. When they did we had a Civil
69.88
War. We're not at such a point, but you
have dangerous potentials in the country.
Truly dangerous.
15a
Clinton:
The presidency can still be a place of great
157; 18:32:10
influence and power, it's still the central
74.70
office in the country particularly in times of
adversity or crisis, but it can be in good
centrality
times as well but it requires a greater level
of energy. There's not an automatic
Symbolie importance
deference to the presidency. But I still think
of the poation
it's the greatest job in the world and I still
think its very, very important to the
American people.
1/11/00 - Clinton
Narrator:
William Jefferson Clinton was born in 1946
43.77
as William Blythe III in the small town of
43.78
Hope, Arkansas. By grade school he was
so outgoing, he was already recognized as
a young man with a future in politics.
Clinton:
I think what shaped my early interest in
156; 17:56:30
politics were a couple of things. First of all I
74.08
was always, always interested in civil rights
and it was the defining political issue of my
childhood. And I think the other thing that
what got him
really had a lot to do with it was the fact
into politics
that we got a televison when I was nine
years old. And I got to watch in 1956 the
public senice
Republican and Democratic Conventions
on television-I watched the whole thing
and I was utterly fascinated by it.
Narrator:
Bill Clinton was the son of a salesman who
43.79A
died before he was born, and a nurse,
Virginia Dell, who was his greatest
influence.
Clinton:
She taught me these things: never give up;
156; 17:59:57
never forget where you came from; and
74.18
never lose your compassion for people who
are less fortunate that you are.
Narrator:
From early on, he always attracted
overarching expostation of White House?
begin 4 rema rks 1/1/1/00 on Clinton white
-
43.79B
attention. He was musical, immensely
Jefferson
Kennedy
House
Clinton
popular, easygoing and ambitious.
hodey
It was here when Merriworth
43.79
themes of access,
In 1963, at age 17, he went to experience analogy
Washington D.C. firsthand. There, he got to
precedence
shake hands with his political hero, John F.
Change
Kennedy. The encounter changed Bill
Clinton's life forever.
It was here Kennedy began space
Clinton:
Thankfully we were lined up in alphabetical program
156; 17:57:36
order by state so I was from Arkansas. And
How much want to talk
74.14
I also was bigger than most of the people
about own accomplashments?
around me, so I sort of elbowed my way up
to make sure that if he didn't shake hands
Kennedy's
with everyone I'd get to shake hands with
politicarization
him.
156; 17:58:51
When I went home I had the feeling that if I
country come a long way
74.16
worked hard and prepared myself, that I
Crormal rhetoic on low
could have an impact. And that was a gift
that I got out of that week.
employment rate, etc. )
Narrator:
The following year Clinton entered
43.80
Georgetown University, where he became
43.81
known for his self-confidence, his
intelligence, and as a man in a hurry. After
spending two years at Oxford on a Rhodes
Scholarship, he attended Yale Law School.
There he met Hillary Rodham, an active
1/11/00 - Clinton
idealist whose no-nonsense ways were the
perfect complement to his freewheeling
charm.
43.82
Accepting a position on the faculty of the
University of Arkansas Law School in 1972,
Clinton used it as a springboard into
Arkansas politics.
Clinton:
I ran for Congress in 1974 and was
156; 18:00:33
defeated and then in '76 I was attorney
74.22
general and I loved that job but a vacancy
occurred in the governor's race and so I ran
and I won and it was exhilarating and I
loved it.
Sidey:
Now you were a governor at age thirty-two,
156; 18:00:19
74.19
that's awfully young.
Clinton:
Very young! Maybe too young
156; 18:00:26
74.20
Narrator:
As Governor, Bill Clinton bristled with ideas
43.83
and energy. But he also made a series of
political miscalculations, causing him to
lose his bid for reelection.
Clinton:
The people of my state had the opinion that
156; 18:01:31
I was a smart person who cared about
74.24
them but I was too bull-headed, and I didn't
1/11/00 - Clinton
listen to them enough.
156; 18:02:34
They told me what I had done wrong, they
74.25
then gave me a second chance to serve.
And I think the service was I know it was
good for me and my family, I believe it was
good for my state.
Narrator:
Just ten years later, at age 46, Bill Clinton
43.86
was running for president.
Sidey:
When you ran in 1992, you said, "You may
156; 18:06:42
only be fit to be president when you are not
74.32
obsessed with it."
Clinton:
I really did feel that by 1992 because of
156; 18:06:51
various things that happened in my
74.33
personal and work life I was able to run with
great passion but with less obsession than
would have been the case, for example, if I
had been the candidate in 1988.
Narrator:
Early in his campaign his candidacy was
43.86B
threatened by rumors regarding infidelity in
his personal life. With the strong support of
his wife Hillary, Bill Clinton became the first
presidential candidate ever to publicly admit
to marital problems. But it was behind them
1/11/00 - Clinton
now, he said, and entirely a private matter.
The candidate insisted that he be judged
not on his private life but by his
performance and his political record.
43.86A
His words made sense to a public that
seemed to be growing more tolerant, and
from a position low in the polls Bill Clinton
soared to second place in the New
Hampshire primary, earning the nickname
"The Comeback Kid."
Neustadt:
He's a man who loves people, loves to talk,
127; 13:15:50
loves to circulate is thus a natural
69.67
politician. And the naturalness of his
political qualities extends to a very sharp
instinct for campaigning, for feeling the
moods of his audience and responding to
them, and it has served him well.
Narrator:
By sticking to the issues, and promising the
43.87
kind of change that only a young man of a
new generation could bring about, Clinton
won a resounding victory in a three-way
presidential race in November.
Clinton:
I felt a profound gratitude to the American
156; 18:08:21
people. But there was a little bit of me that
1/11/00 - Clinton
74.35
felt like the dog that was chasing the pickup
you know and finally caught it. So now what
do I do, you know? But I was also humbled
by it. I think you know any person who is
not a little humbled by being given this
responsibility, doesn't understand what he
or she has got a hold of.
Clinton:
And I think that when a person gets this
156; 18:06:08
office, you feel always never quite
74.31
adequate to do the work. No one is smart
enough or wise enough, or strong enough.
Narrator:
Determined to make his mark as a
43.88
Democratic reformer, Clinton appointed
minorities to his administration and initiated
a national dialogue on race. He appointed
women to some of the highest positions in
national government. And he set in motion
an ambitious agenda to reshape numerous
social programs, including a bold initiative
to create universal healthcare coverage.
Republicans criticized it as an over-
ambitious, liberal experiment, and health
care became the rallying cry for a strong
political opposition. It led to sweeping
congressional victories in 1994, with the
Republicans gaining control of both houses
of Congress for the first time in forty years.
1/11/00 - Clinton
Clinton:
There's always been periods of more
156; 18:16:03
intense partisanship followed by periods of
74.49
lesser intensity. And it was something I'm
not used to, didn't cultivate, don't believe in
and would like to see diminished.
Narrator:
Partisanship in the government reached
43.89
epidemic proportions by the end of Bill
Clinton's first term. Twice in 1995 the
government was forced to shut down, with
Clinton and the Republican-controlled
Congress at loggerheads over the budget.
The spirit of compromise-key to the
workings of the Madisonian system of
government-was degenerating into a
system of mutual antagonisms.
43.90
Shortly after Bill Clinton was soundly re-
elected to a second term the Madisonian
system was put to a further test. When the
Supreme Court ruled in the civil case of
Jones versus Clinton that a sitting president
could be sued for actions taken prior to his
term, Clinton was forced to testify in a
sexual harassment lawsuit against him. It
was in this politically charged atmosphere
that an independent counsel, with virtually
unlimited investigative powers, intensified
1/11/00 - Clinton
his scrutiny. The presidency was now under
siege on all fronts.
43.91
Failing to uncover incriminating evidence in
what became known as Whitewater,
Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr shifted
his focus from Clinton's business dealings
to his personal life. And in 1998 he exposed
an affair between the president and a White
House intern named Monica Lewinsky,
claiming that Clinton had perjured himself
when he denied it under oath in the Paula
Jones civil case. On December 19, the
Republican-controlled House of
Representatives voted to impeach. The
official charges were perjury and
obstruction of justice, but throughout the
trial the underlying dynamic was political.
Sidey:
1998 was a difficult year for you, Mr.
157; 18:20:52
President, both professionally and
74.52
personally. During the impeachment
process the issue of character was raised-
a hard one to define by anybody's
measure. But from your own experience
how important is that issue of character for
a president?
Clinton:
I think it's very important. But I think a lot of
1/11/00 Clinton
157; 18:21:11
the people who talk about it do so in ways
74.53
that give it a very limited definition, normally
for purposes that are quite self-serving.
That is, most of the people I've known have
demonstrated great character didn't go
around talking about it.
157; 18:21:35
Now I made a personal mistake which
74.54
became a matter of public debate. I've tried
to acknowledge my wrongdoing and say
that I was sorry about it. But I also have
tried to demonstrate presidential character
by standing up for the interests of the
country and doing what I told the American
people I would do when I ran for office.
157; 18:23:23
But I think that it is important for us to
74.56
remember that there is also a difference
between character and reputation and that
under the guise of elevating character,
there are a large number of people in our
country today that believe the way they can
get what they want in life is from destroying
someone else's reputation. None us is ever
a complete judge of another's character,
only God can fully judge that.
Narrator:
Throughout the Senate trial there loomed a
43.92
major constitutional issue-of exactly what
1/11/00 - Clinton
constituted an "impeachable offense," and
whether the president's misleading
testimony in the Jones case and before the
Starr Grand Jury, rose to the level of "high
crimes and misdemeanors." If an elected
president could be removed, scholars
warned, on the basis of his personal
relationships and an effort to cover them
up, the Madisonian system itself could be in
danger of collapse.
Neustadt:
While some people hated Clinton to an
127; 13:18:52
extraordinary degree-a hatred which says
69.70
more about the country and its times, than
127; 13:19:48
it does about him-many others have had a
69.71
fondness for him that owes nothing to
ignorance about defects in his private life.
He's had the good fortune to have a
personality which encourages
discrimination between himself as president
and himself as a private individual and his
personality has conquered all kinds of
doubts about him.
Narrator:
Over time, Bill Clinton reoriented the
43.92A
Democratic party toward mainstream
issues, including balancing the budget and
reforming welfare. And he presided over
one of the strongest economies in the 20th
1/11/00 Clinton
century. Despite impassioned calls for his
resignation, throughout the trial Clinton's
approval ratings remained extremely high.
And in the end, the Senate listened to the
people. As a body it could not muster the
required two-thirds vote, or even a simple
majority, to convict Bill Clinton of any
charges.
Sidey:
The American people spoke out loud and
157; 18:23:54
clear throughout 1998-you know that
74.57
better than anybody.
Clinton:
They were very good to me.
157; 18:24:??
Sidey:
What did you learn about the power of the
157: 18:24:??
people and the role the public plays in
exercising political power from here?
Clinton:
I learned all over again the same lesson I
157; 18:24:15
learned as a child-that there are certain
74.58
rules of human conduct that apply to all of
us and when we make a mistake you have
to live with the consequences of your
actions whether they are public or not, we
always pay, nobody gets out for free. And
second thing I learned is that the Framers
were smart-they designed the Constitution
1/11/00 - Clinton
to prevent partisan passions from
overriding common sense. But the third
thing was that the American people almost
always get it right.
156; 18:04:41
They gave me a second chance. And I
74.28
think if we think about life as getting second
chances as long as you learn from your
mistakes, I think it's a helpful way to look at
life, and so I do believe in a God of second
chances.
jex much talkon the scandal
Sidey:
How's the presidency changed you?
Clinton:
You know I've had to ask for forgiveness in
157; 18:38:29
a way that most people never do in public
74.79
although nearly everybody does in private
157; 18:40:28
at some point during a lifetime. I've learned
74.80
a lot about giving up the little things in life
so you can focus on the big things. And if I
had only felt I was doing it for myself, I'm
not sure I would have had the strength. But
knowing that I was doing it for the American
people helped me, and I'm very grateful for
that because I think its something that I can
carry with me for the rest of my life.
Narrator:
The only Democrat to be reelected
43.93B
president since FDR, Bill Clinton both
1/11/00 - Clinton
reflected and benefitted from an
increasingly tolerant America. And while
most Americans deplored his personal acts
in the Lewinsky case, they refused to judge
his public role by his private behavior.
Neustadt:
From Nixon's time on, though we weren't
145; 10:39:37
very conscious of it to begin with, it is now
71.67
plain that every President immediately upon
election, attracts the serious intent of
political opponents and the professional
interest of the media in tearing him down
and pushing him toward resignation.
145; 10:40:11
It used to be that one of the most
71.68
fundamental powers underlying a
president's position was a fixed term. We
now see that the Nixon precedent has
unfixed the term and has created both for
media and for politicians incentives to try to
shorten the term. I find that sad in a way
that goes far beyond Bill Clinton, it affects
all successive presidents as far as we can
see.
Narrator:
The presidency, now well into its third
43.95
century, is in many ways not the same
institution it once was. Our early presidents
worked virtually alone, with a single
1/11/00 - Clinton
secretary, or two, paid out of their own
pocket. Today the White House staff
numbers more than 500; all together, the
executive branch consists of nearly two
million civilians. From humble beginnings
an almost baffling complexity has arisen.
And yet through it all there remains a single
person at the center who must shoulder the
office. However he (some day she) has
arrived at the White House-whether
through heroism or compromise, through
family ties or through happenstance,
through political savvy or passionate vision
or lonely integrity, each inherits and builds
upon the work of his predecessors.
Bringing to bear talents, and also human
flaws, and sometimes a rare capacity to
rise to greatness these individuals together
embody The American President.
how all these men have worked to form
a single idea ~ the presidency as an idea
Clinton Presidential Records
Digital Records Marker
This is not a presidential record. This is used as an administrative
marker by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a tabbed divider. Given our
digitization capabilities, we are sometimes unable to adequately
scan such dividers. The title from the original document is
indicated below.
White House
Divider Title:
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two Originally
x3x
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Office of the Curator
4 own exparein <
Johnson the Une opame Ploting Merriwe time the the
September 1998
EAST ROOM
-symbol, insprational?
Stery was designated by the architect, James Hoban, as the "Public
The East Room, scene of may historic White House events,
Audience Room. " It normally contains little furniture and
traditionally is used for large gatherings, such as after-dinner
entertaining, concerts, weddings, funerals, award presentations,
press conferences, and bill-signing ceremonies.
History:
1800 - When John and Abigail Adams moved into the White
House, this room was incomplete. The laundry
5
was hung in this room.
1801 - Thomas Jefferson had the south end of the room
This
roan
partitioned into two rooms to create a bedroom
UK
and an office for his secretary, Meriwether
Lewis, later co-leader of the Lewis and Clark
expedition.
1829 - Room first fully decorated under Andrew Jackson.
1861 - During the Civil War, Union troops quartered in
The 1167 mn
this room for a time.
1873 - Under Ulysses S. Grant, room decorated in Victorian
style referred to as "Steamboat Gothic.'
1902 - Under Theodore Roosevelt, room redecorated by McKim,
Mead and White in classical revival style.
1952 - Paneling and ceiling modified during the Truman
Renovation.
Lying in State:
Seven of eight presidents who died in office have lain in
state in the East Room. President James A. Garfield, 1881,
was the exception.
- William Henry Harrison, 1841
- Zachary Taylor, 1850
- Abraham Lincoln, 1865
- William McKinley, 1901
- Warren G. Harding, 1923
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1945
- John F. Kennedy, 1963
Other funerals included three first ladies -
- Letitia Christian Tyler, 1842
- Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison, 1892
- Ellen Louise Axson Wilson, 1914
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Weddings:
Presidential daughters -
- Elizabeth Tyler, 1842
- Nellie Grant, 1874
- Alice Roosevelt, 1906
- Jessie Wilson, 1913
- Lynda Johnson, 1967
State Occasions:
Theodore Roosevelt - Dinner honoring Prince Henry of
Prussia (February 24, 1902)
Carter - Luncheon honoring King Baudouin and
Queen Fabiola of Belgium (April 22, 1980)
Clinton - Dinners honoring
President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian
Federation (September 27, 1994),
President Nelson Mandela of South Africa
appropriate b/c East wing
(October 4, 1994)
President Kim Young Sam of the Republic of
serves as gate to world
Jefferson, Clinton, etc.
Was has come through
Korea (July 27, 1995)
President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico
(October 10, 1995)
President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro of Italy
(April 2, 1996)
President Constantinos Stephanopoulos of
Greece (May 9, 1996)
these doors
President Jiang Zemin of the People's
Republic of China (October 29, 1997)
Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United
Kingdom (February 5, 1998)
Prime Minister Romano Prodi of Italy
(May 6, 1998)
President Kim Dae-jung of the Republic of
Korea (June 9, 1998)
President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic
(September 16, 1998)
4-06-2000 12:51PM
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-3-
up! I lostd u/d water
[ealor
Also of Interest:
sur our
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower takes oath of office to
lealer
begin his second term on Sunday, January 20, 1957.
Inauguration at U.S. Capitol held on Monday,
January 21.
from
- President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act,
July 2, 1964
- Gerald R. Ford is sworn in as President, August 9, 1974.
- Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President
Anwar Sadat of Egypt signed the Camp David accords,
establishing a framework for peace in the Middle East,
September 17, 1978.
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-4-
ARTWORK
William McKinley by Harriet Anderson Stubbs Murphy (1852-1935)
oil on canvas, 1902. One of the few portraits in the White
House Collection painted by a woman. The artist signed it,
however, with her husband's name.
U.S. Government purchase.
903.1413.1
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (Mrs. George Washington)
by Eliphalet F. Andrews (1835-1915)
oil on canvas, 1878. Head is believed to be modeled after a
Gilbert Stuart portrait painted in 1796. President Hayes'
niece, Emily Hastings, posed for the hands.
U.S. Government purchase.
878.1289.1
George Washington by Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828)
oil on canvas, 1797. One of several replicas painted by the
artist of his original commissioned by Senator William
Bingham in 1796 (the second replica, the "Lansdowne"
portrait now on exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery)
It is the only object known to have remained in the White
House since 1800. On August 24, 1814, during the War of
1812, while preparing to flee the White House before British
troops approached Washington, Dolley Madison ordered the
portrait taken away for safekeeping. The frame was broken,
as it was bolted to the wall, and the painting was removed
intact. The canvas was not cut from the stretcher and
rolled up. The painting was returned to the White House in
1817.
U.S. Government purchase.
800,1290.1
Theodore Roosevelt by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
oil on canvas, 1903. Painted from life in the White House
in the year after the Theodore Roosevelt Renovation
introduced the Georgian style to the East Room.
President Roosevelt is depicted, having just descended the
stairs, by one of the foremost portraitists of his day.
In a letter written to his son, Kermit, Roosevelt indicated
that the landing of the "big stairs" was selected as the
painting site because the artist felt the light was best
there.
U.S. Government purchase.
903.1328.1
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-5-
FURNISHINGS
North Wall
CORNICES, set of seven (three each on north and south walls,
elongated single on east wall), gilded cherry, 1902,
purchased from L. Marcotte & Company, New York.
Tied oak branches on arched center.
Among the furnishings ordered by McKim, Mead & White for the
Theodore Roosevelt Renovation, 1902.
902.3041.1-6
902.3042.1
TORCHERES, set of four (two each on north and south walls),
gilded metal and cut glass, c.1902, purchased from
L. Marcotte & Company, New York.
Elaborate classical motifs on shaft; fruit and shell
pendants; glasswork simplified during the Kennedy
administration.
Among the furnishings ordered by McKim, Mead & White for the
Theodore Roosevelt Renovation, 1902.
902.1297-1300
BENCHES, eight from a set of thirteen, gilded mahogany, c.1902,
purchased from L. Marcotte & Company, New York.
Louis XVI revival style; spiral-turned legs; saltire
stretcher.
Among the furnishings ordered by McKim, Mead & White
for the Theodore Roosevelt Renovation, 1902; made for the
East Room in two sizes - two small each on north and south
walls (903.553, 559, 562-3), two medium (903.555, 560) on
east wall. The two large on east wall (903.557-558) were
medium benches extended during the Truman Renovation.
East Wall
MANTELS, set of four (two each on east and west walls),
red marble, 1951, designed by Lorenzo Winslow, carved by
Standard Art Marble & Tile Co.
Vermont "Rouge antique" marble (marbleized white 1961-1979;
white, siena, black 1979-1995; marbleizing removed 1995).
Made for the Truman Renovation.
P51.B02260.1-4
ANDIRONS, four pairs, gilded brass, c.1902,
purchased from L. Marcotte & Company, New York.
Louis XVI style; urn with ram's head handles.
Among the furnishings ordered by McKim, Mead & White for
the Theodore Roosevelt Renovation, 1902.
903.1313, 1316, 1319, 1326
WINE COOLERS, four from a set of six, gilded silver, 1809-10,
London, made by Paul Storr.
Medici shape; classical bacchanalian procession;
satyr masque handle mounts.
Bequest of Mrs. Margaret Thompson Biddle.
958.4147.1-6
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-6-
East Wall (continued)
CANDELABRA, pair, cut glass and brass,
late 18th-early 19th century, England.
Gift of White House Furnishings Committee
929.1352.1
and Mrs. Harriet B. Pratt.
929.1373.1
MIRRORS, set of four (two each on east and west walls), gilded
wood and glass, 1952, made by Knipp & Company, Baltimore.
Wrapped reeds; surmounting spread-winged eagle.
Installed during the Truman Renovation.
P52.H02259.1-4
SCONCES, pair, gilded bronze, c.1835, France.
Griffin torso; set with two partially gilded pairs in the
Blue Room; bear stamp of King Louis-Philippe's Chateau de
Neuilly.
Anonymous donation.
962.245.7-8
West Wall
CANDELABRA, pair, gilded bronze, c.1817, Paris.
Classical woman on plinth.
Among the French furnishings purchased by President James
Monroe in 1817; designated for the "Sitting room or Parlor"
(Red Room).
817.1503-1504
CANDELABRA, pair, gilded bronze, c.1817, Paris,
attributed to (Pierre-Philippe) Thomire & Company.
Classical woman on globe atop plinth with martial mounts.
Among the French furnishings purchased by President James
Monroe in 1817; designated for the "large oval room"
(Blue Room).
817.1423-1424
WINE COOLERS, two of four, gilded silver, 1806-07, London,
made by William Pitts.
Classical bacchanalian procession; horsehead handle mounts.
Bequest of Mrs. Margaret Thompson Biddle.
958.4148.1-4
CHANDELIERS, set of three, cut glass and gilded brass, c.1902,
made by Christoph Palme & Co., Parchen, Bohemia (Austria-
Hungary), purchased from E.F. Caldwell & Company, New York.
Twenty-four electric candle arms, twenty-nine interior
lights; shortened and modified during the Truman Renovation.
Among the furnishings ordered by McKim, Mead & White for the
Theodore Roosevelt Renovation, 1902.
902.3055-3057
RUGS, wool, 1994, New York, made by Edward Fields, Inc.
Center - 23'4 X 30'7 1/2; ends - 15'10-16' X 23'4.
Three pieces in Adamesque style, largely derived from the
1951 plasterwork of the East Room ceiling; colors derived
from Robert Adam rug designs, 1769-1775.
Gift of The White House Endowment Fund
Search 10 Results - atl 1 (tour of the White House)
Page 1 of 29
Mn
Source: All Sources / / : Presidential Documents
Terms: atl 1 (tour of the white house) and date(geq (01/21/93) and leq (04/05/00)) (Edit Search)
Public Papers of the Presidents, February 20, 1993
Public Papers of the Presidents
February 20, 1993
CITE: 29 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 254
LENGTH: 14083 words
HEADLINE: Remarks at the Children's Town Meeting
BODY:
Peter Jennings. Mr. President, one of my first impressions here is that this is an awful lot
bigger than what you were used to living in Arkansas.
The President. It's bigger than almost anybody in America lives in, but it's a beautiful house.
You know it was started in 1792. President Washington authorized it to be built, and then
before it was finished, actually, President Adams and his wife moved in here. So it's been
here a long time.
Mr. Jennings. Right behind us here, of course, we can't go in this morning, but it's really one
of the most beautiful rooms, the Blue Room, looking out onto the Jefferson Memorial.
The President. It's very beautiful. And upstairs, just above it, there's another big oval room
which President Franklin Roosevelt used as his office during World War II. And now we use it
for formal receiving of foreign dignitaries. And it also looks directly out on the Jefferson
Memorial. And there's a porch there that President Harry Truman put on, so I can go out at
night now and look at the lights shining down on Thomas Jefferson's head. It's a wonderful
sight.
what B location of the spuch
Mr. Jennings. You know the White House staff is very discreet. When I asked them if you
sneaked around, sticking your heads in various rooms at night, they said, "Ask him." Do you
wander around at night?
The President. I do a little, not so much down here but up on the second and third floor. And
I spent a lot of time working, in this last month, over around the Oval Office, so I'm in the
Cabinet Room a lot and in the Roosevelt Room, which is the President's big staff room. And
I'm just trying to learn what all the pictures are and where all the things are and learn the
history of the place. I'm very interested in it.
Mr. Jennings. I just have one question before we go and actually meet the children. There's
the President's seal up there, the President of the United States, just above the door of the
Blue Room. And it reminds me of Teddy White, the political writer, who said there is a
moment when the man stops being the man and becomes the President. Was there such a
moment for you, do you remember?
The President. I think there was a moment when I realized I was going to be President, and it
was different after that. And it was not at the election. It was a couple of weeks after the
election when I was planning the Inaugural and they asked me what I wanted to do. And we
decided that I would start at Thomas Jefferson's home at Monticello and then go the Lincoln
Memorial, and then the next morning I would go to the graves of President Kennedy and his
brother, Senator Robert Kennedy. And I realized, in describing that that's what I would do,
that I was becoming a part of our history.
/retrieve?_n=47ee0e0ed6ba20f3d873fbed4446476b&_docnum=104_fmtstr=FULL&_startdo4/5/2006
Search 10 Results - atl 1 (tour of the White House)
Page 5 of 29
Q. I just wanted to know - I mean, you were just coming down the hall in the Oval Office
showing us how nice, you know, everything around here is, just look around the room and --
I don't know, personally if I lived here I would feel constrained to actually live, you know? I
mean, it's just so nice, everything is so perfect, I would not I mean, I don't know. So how
do you feel about --
The President. I feel a little that way, too, sometimes. But let me say that upstairs, on the
second floor, there are some nice formal guestrooms but there also is Chelsea has a
bedroom and a little room where she can study and do her work. And Hillary and I have a
bedroom and a little family room, and they're not quite so formal. So the rooms that we have
are much more like regular rooms in a house, and you don't have to worry so much about
breaking an expensive piece of china or something like that.
Mr. Jennings. But it wasn't always so formal here, was it, Mr. President? The East Room, they
used to hang laundry in the East Room.
The President. Oh, absolutely. It wasn't always so formal at all. It's probably as formal now
as it's ever been, but there are some more informal rooms. And then there's a third floor, a
floor two floors up from here, which has some other rooms and a little hallway where we have
our rocking chairs and our family books and all kinds of stuff like that, which is really much
more homey. so we spend a lot of our time in places where we don't have to go on tiptoes all
around.
Mr. Jennings. We said we were going to test you on some of the questions, here. Do you know
the children of which President roller-skated in here, in the East Room? Who remembers
that?
Q. Roosevelt.
Mr. Jennings. Which Roosevelt?
Q. Teddy.
*
Mr. Jennings. Exactly. President Theodore Roosevelt's children used to roller-skate here in the
East Room. And of course, maybe H you'd like to point out to the kids the famous painting.
The President. Yes. That's a picture of who? Who is that?
The Children. George Washington.
The President. That's right. that's President Washington, painted by Gilbert Stuart. And it is
an absolutely invaluable piece of art. Gilbert Stuart was a very famous artist. I think it was
offered to the United States first for about $ 500. He painted it in 1797. That was a lot of
money back then. It's worth millions of dollars today. It's a priceless picture.
Mr. Jennings. And who saved it?
The President. Excuse me?
Mr. Jennings. Who saved it?
The President. Who saved it?
Mr. Jennings. Dolley Madison, right?
The President. Yes, Dolley Madison saved it.
./retrieve?_m=47ee0e0ed6ba20f3d873fbed4446476b8_docnum=10&_fmtstr=FULL&_startdo4/5/2000
Search - 10 Results - atl 1 (tour of the White House)
Page 6 of 29
Mr. Jennings. When there was
The President. from the fire.
Mr. Jennings. She wouldn't leave the White House until the
informate examples of
The President. Yes, * during the War of 1812 the British marched on Washington and tried to
life in While House
burn the city, and the White House caught fire. There's still some char marks actually out on
the front of the White House. And Dolley Madison would not leave the White House until the
precious treasures were preserve including that.
little known
thrialities
There's also a picture back there of President Theodore Roosevelt, painted when he was a
year younger than I am now. Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest person ever to become
President. He was elected President at the age well, he became President when President
McKinley died; he was 42. And President Kennedy was elected when he was 43, and I was
elected when I had just turned 46. So I'm the third youngest person to be President.
Mr. Jennings. But not [audible]. You probably need a bit of rest for the moment, though,
sir, as you're the third youngest, sowe'll go away for a commercial and be right back.
The President. I feel like the oldest some days. [Laughter]
[At this point, the television stations took a commercial break.]
The President's Pastimes
Mr. Jennings. Welcome back to the East Room of the White House. Let's go straight to you,
Jared, you have a question.
Q. What do you do for fun around here? [Laughter]
The President. I like to play golf. I've only gotten to do it one time since I've been President,
but I like to do that. And I like to play cards and games with Hillary and Chelsea. We play
pinochle; we play a game that Chelsea taught me called Hungarian rummy. I like to play
Trivial Pursuit. That's pretty much what I do.
Q. Are you a good Trivial Pursuit player?
The President. Sometimes. I'm better on some subjects than others, but I like it a lot.
Somalia
Mr. Jennings. Way over there in the corner.
Q. About Somalia and the United States, are we going to help the United States or Somalia
first? Because Somalia has been in trouble for years, but we haven't done anything. We've
done something, but not that much. So re you going to start helping Somalia first or getting
the United States their jobs back first?
The President. Well, my most important job is to try to help people in the United States get
their jobs back, because I was elected first and most importantly to help the people here with
jobs and education and health care.
But I think the United States has a responsibility in Somalia. And I supported it when we sent
our troops over there to try to stop the fighting and to try to bring some safety and food and
medicine and education back to the children there. And I think that what we will be doing in
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Clinton Presidential Records
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This is not a presidential record. This is used as an administrative
marker by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a tabbed divider. Given our
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Kennedy
Divider Title:
John F. Kennedy
Page 1 of 3
John F.
THE
Kennedy
AMERICAN PRESIDENT
35ᵗʰ President (1961-1963)
The Series Presidential History Resources Election 2000 The War Room" Came
Student Magazine
THE CHARISMATIC PRESIDENT
Fast Facts
Born: May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts
Biography
Died: November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas
In brief
Life Before the Presidency
Nickname: "JFK"
Campaigns and Elections
Damestic Affairs
Married: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier (1929-1994), on September 12, 1953
Foreign Affairs
Death of the President
the Brst Lady
Religion: Roman Catholic
Family tife
The American Fran lise
Education: Graduated from Harvard College (1940)
Empact and Fegacy
Supplemental
Political Party: Democrat
Resources
Issues I. Prander
Career: Author; officer, U.S. Navy, 1941-45; newspaper correspondent; member
Reading Mor
of U.S. House of Representatives, 1947-53; United States Senator, 1953-61;
Presidential Maments
President of the United States, 1961-63
lattis Own Words
Web Rescurres
Lesson Plans
Domestic Policy Highlights: Enforcement of civil rights laws, space program,
Gallery
aid to Appalachia, investment tax credit
Site Navigation
Return 11: Biography Index
Foreign Policy Highlights: Peace Corps, Bay of Pigs, Cuban missile crisis,
nuclear weapon test ban treaty, escalation in Vietnam, trade expansion treaty
A Life in Brief
John F. Kennedy was the youngest person ever elected president and the first
Roman Catholic to serve in the office. "JFK" represented the ascendancy of
youthful idealism in the aftermath of World War II. The promise of this energetic
and telegenic leader was not to be fulfilled, as he was assassinated near the end
of his third year in office. For many Americans, the murder of President John F.
Kennedy remains one of the most traumatic events in memory-countless
Americans can remember exactly where they were when they heard that
President Kennedy was shot. His shocking assassination began a period of
political and social instability in the country and the world.
JFK was born into a rich, politically connected Boston family of Irish-Catholics.
He and his eight siblings enjoyed a privileged childhood of elite private schools,
sailboats, servants, and summer homes. Nevertheless, "Jack" Kennedy strove
to make his own way, writing a best selling book while still in college at Harvard,
and volunteering for hazardous combat duty in the Pacific during World War II.
Kennedy's wartime service made him a hero. When his PT boat was rammed in
two during a night action, Kennedy rescued his entire crew, including a badly
burned man whom Kennedy dragged to safety by pulling him by a strap in his
teeth through the icy water. The crew hid from the enemy on a tiny island until
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they were able to summon help. Jack Kennedy's older brother, Joe, who had
dreamed of becoming president one day, was killed in action. When he returned
from the war, Jack inherited his father's aspirations for Joe.
Crafting a Political Image
Young Jack Kennedy served first in the House of Representatives and then in
the Senate, earning a reputation as a rather conservative Democrat. In 1952 he
met the beautiful and graceful Jacqueline Bouvier at a dinner party, and, as he
later put it, "leaned across the asparagus and asked her for a date." The two
were married a year later.
To continue his climb up the political ladder, JFK had to disguise his many
health problems. As a child he had scarlet fever, bronchitis, whooping cough,
diptheria, and allergies. Later he had a duodenal ulcer and loss of hearing in one
ear. He suffered from a bad back, and was unable to lift anything, even his little
children. He used cortisone to reduce inflammation and he also suffered from
Addison's disease. Kennedy may not have been healthy, but he realized that a
youthful, vigorous image contributed to his appeal. While recovering from back
surgery, he wrote Profiles in Courage, about Americans who had taken
unpopular but moral stands. The book won a Pulitzer Prize and made Kennedy
a national name. Ambitious to win the presidency in 1960, young Senator
Kennedy sought a head start on his rivals, making speeches and television
appearances constantly and wooing key Democratic players long before his
rivals did.
The most formidable obstacles facing Kennedy in the election were his religion
and his youth. No Catholic had ever been elected to the highest office in the
nation, and many feared that somehow Kennedy would be controlled by the
Pope in Rome! He was also only forty-three years old. He was running against
Richard Nixon, who had served as vice president for two terms under the
popular President Eisenhower.
Kennedy's decision to challenge Nixon to a series of nationally televised debates
played a key role in Kennedy's victory. On TV, Nixon wore a light colored suit,
refused make-up, and looked tired and tense, due to a fever. Kennedy, who had
been campaigning in an open convertible in California, looked relaxed,
confident, and handsome. Those who listened to the debate on the radio
thought that Nixon had won. But the vast majority saw the election on TV, and
declared Kennedy the winner. Among the first to master the dominant medium
of the era, Kennedy won the election by the narrowest of margins.
After a long succession of presidents in their fifties and sixties, much of the
nation was charmed by images of a fortyish incumbent with small children
running about the White House. The president's large extended family was a
constant presence there, and the Kennedy public image was of a boisterous,
energetic clan. The public was also in love with Jackie. The First Lady became
known for her fashionable clothing and impeccable taste. She oversaw
restorations in the White House and she invited premier musicians, writers, and
artists to appear there-a tradition which later first families enthusiastically
carried on. Additionally, Kennedy's call for idealism and a fresh agenda known
as the "New Frontier" seemed to be like a breath of fresh air for the American
people.
Confronting Political Challenges
Many thought the young president too inexperienced to confront the Soviet
Union and Cuba. In an attempt to carry on Eisenhower's battle to overthrow
Fidel Castro in Cuba, Kennedy sanctioned an attack by Cuban exiles at the Bay
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of Pigs, which ended in failure. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, after meeting
Kennedy in Berlin, considered the young president weak, and decided to press
his advantage by placing nuclear missiles in Cuba, well within striking distance
of U.S. soil. This proved to be a mistake. Kennedy responded with a swift and
measured response-a full naval blockade, preventing Soviet or any other
warships, or any ships with oil, from reaching the island. This action took the two
super-powers to the very brink of nuclear war. Kennedy skillfully took care not to
humiliate the Soviet premier, promising Khrushchev that America would not to
invade Cuba. The Russians removed the missiles after Kennedy secretly agreed
to dismantle American missiles in Turkey. His careful diplomacy greatly
enhanced his credibility abroad and his popularity at home, though for political
reasons, the trade of missiles was kept secret by both the Russians and the
Americans.
Kennedy is also remembered as the founder of the Peace Corps, an
international aid organization, and as a strong proponent of the space program.
He set the goal of putting an astronaut on the moon, which was reached five
years after his death. Kennedy's record on civil rights, however, is less
encouraging. Considering his support in the South to be weak, he focused on
enforcing existing civil rights laws, rather than passing new ones. Privately, he
told his supporters that real civil rights legislation would have to wait for his
reelection.
Kennedy never got the chance to show what he would do with a second term in
office. In November 1963, he was shot to death while riding in an open
convertible through Dallas. He died in the arms of his wife. Jacqueline
Kennedy's dignified mourning did much to soothe America's grief in the
aftermath of the murder.
Hours after the president's death in Dallas, police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald,
who was himself slain two days later while being transferred to another jail. For
years, Americans have wondered whether his death really was the work of just
one man, and speculation continues to abound, although a national commission
headed by Earl Warren concluded that Oswald had acted alone.
Though his time in office was brief, JFK's charisma, popular appeal, and tragic
assassination have established him as a compelling figure in 20th century
American history.
Life Before The Presidency
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PRESIDENT KENNEDY
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
February 16, 2000
This month when we celebrated the longest economic expansion in history, I did a little looking
into, and thinking about, what was the longest economic expansion until this one. You know
when it was? Nineteen sixty-one to 1968. Now, I remember what that was like. I remember in
the beginning how full of hope we were when President Kennedy was elected. I remember
when President Kennedy was assassinated, how heartbroken we were, but how we rallied as a
country behind President Johnson.
All these people that look back at the sixties and say American cynicism started when President
Kennedy was assassinated are just wrong. That's not true. This country was heartbroken, but we
stood up together, and we joined hands. And Lyndon Johnson provided great leadership, and he
pulled us together. So in 1964, I'm graduating from high school into an America that was the
nearest like this America: we had low unemployment, low inflation, high growth. And
everybody thought as difficult as the civil rights problems were, they were going to be resolved
in a peaceable manner, with this wizard in the White House and the votes in Congress, to
lawfully give African-Americans what they were constitutionally entitled to. And all the while
we would win the cold war against communism, and we would create the greatest society
America had ever known. That's what I believed the night graduated from high school.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
July 24, 1998
As some of you may know, a few days ago we had a reunion here at the White House for our
35th anniversary of our Boys Nation summer, and "Nightline" ran 2 nights on our reunion. I
asked your president if he'd seen either one of them; he said he saw the first one, the second one
he was here on duty. But I had an opportunity to meet with about half the men who were with me
35 years ago, and we were reminiscing. It was exactly 33 years ago on this day, July 24, 1963,
that President Kennedy spoke to us right here in the Rose Garden about our future. He made us
believe that together we could change the world. I still believe that, and I think it is no less true
for your generation. Indeed, I believe you will live in the time of greatest possibility in all human
history Fast far Em Mirum nore tods, which nine nor 35 youngo,
When I was here, President Kennedy complimented us for supporting civil rights legislation
which the Nation's Governors had declined to do. I was very proud of that because two delegates
from Louisiana and I and one from Mississippi were four Southerners who broke from the pack
and ensured that the legislation would pass. But I have to say that, looking back over the years,
we knew then that our school systems were separate and unequal and that we never could make
them what we ought to until we integrated our schools so that we could integrate our country.
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Public Papers of the Presidents
March 2, 1998
CITE: 34 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 363
HEADLINE: Remarks at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation Dinner
HIGHLIGHT:
NOTE: The President spoke at 9:10 p.m. in the Hall of the Americas at the Organization of
American States. In his remarks, he referred to Victoria Kennedy, wife of Senator Edward
Kennedy; Caroline Kennedy and her husband, Edward Schlossberg; John F. Kennedy, Jr.;
Paul Kirk, chair, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation Dinner; and Secretary
General Cesar Gaviria of the Organization of American States.
BODY:
Thank you very much, Senator, Vicki, Caroline and Ed, other members of the Kennedy
family, Paul Kirk. And I say a special word of thanks to all of you who have made this evening
possible. I thank Senator Jeffords and Senator Thurmond and Senator Hatch for being here
tonight to restrain the partisan impulses that might otherwise overtake Senator Kennedy and
me. [Laughter] I thank Yo Yo Ma and Jill and all the other musicians who have come here.
Mr. Secretary General, thank you for the wonderful job you do here at the OAS.
I think I should begin by saying that for me this is not an obligation, it is an honor, not only
because like every other member of my generation I was inspired by President Kennedy
but because Hillary and Chelsea and I have been profoundly moved by the uncommon
kindnesses of this family to ours.
In 1991 I had an event in New York when no one in New York knew my name, and I looked
up and John Kennedy was there. I think it would be fair to say that his name recognition was
5 times higher than mine among all in attendance. [Laughter] Early in 1992 Mrs. Kennedy
came to an event for me and later went out of her way to be helpful and kind to Hillary and
to Chelsea in ways that are difficult to relate but impossible to overestimate.
The other day we were spending a weekend in Camp David, and I went out with a couple of
Members of Congress, cavorting around in the lousy weather. Hillary stayed home with her
friends and watched Jackie Kennedy's White House special, marveling again about the
incredible work that was done to preserve America's house by Mrs. Kennedy.
And I do believe that, no matter who writes the history books, when people look back on this
century, they will say that Edward Kennedy was one of the ablest and most productive, most
compassionate, and most effective men who served in the United States Senate in the entire
history of the country.
The JFK Library and its museum are national treasures, but I would like to talk about three
things that are to some extent both more intangible and more tangible in the legacy of
President Kennedy that will be enshrined forever if all of us do our job and keep this great
enterprise going.
First, the spirit of citizen service, most clearly embodied in the Peace Corps. President
Kennedy said that he wanted to speak to those peoples in the huts and villages of half the
globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery. We pledged to them our best efforts to
help them help themselves. Five weeks later, 37 years ago yesterday, the Peace Corps was
born. In 3 weeks, when I travel to Africa, my first stop will be Ghana, the first place
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President Kennedy's Peace Corps volunteers went to serve. Now they have gone, over the
years, to 132 nations.
Tomorrow America will celebrate these accomplishments during the first ever Peace Corps
Day, when thousands of former Peace Corps volunteers, including Secretary Shalala, who was
a volunteer in Iran, and I might add has volunteered to go back if it will help our new efforts.
[Laughter] Thousands of Peace Corps volunteers have agreed to talk with students around
our country about their life-changing experiences.
The JFK Library also has a Library Corps, perhaps not as well known as the building itself,
started by this foundation, which is inspiring young people in Roxbury, Dorchester, South
Boston to work after school on community service projects.
Inspired by President Kennedy's example, I have done what I could to advance the cause
of citizen service. I just asked for the largest funding increase for the Peace Corps in history,
in the hope that we can put 10,000 volunteers overseas by the turn of the century.
Our national service project, AmeriCorps, has already given 100,000 young people a chance
to earn some money for college while they serve in their communities. One of my happiest
days as President was when we walked up the South Lawn of the White House with all the
first group of young people, and I met Senator Kennedy, and we signed the bill.
Soon, tens of thousands of those young people will be working with elementary school
students, to teach them to read, and middle school students, promising to stay with them
throughout their careers to make sure they get a chance to go to college, too.
So we thank President Kennedy and all of you for the spirit of citizen service.
The second thing that I would like to say in appreciation to the legacy of President Kennedy
is that he did a lot to remind us all that we owe it to ourselves, to our children, and to our
future to cherish and proliferate exposure to the arts. The First Lady and I have tried to do
that in our celebration of the millennium. We have been having these Millennium Evenings.
We had the great Harvard historian Bernard Bailyn the other night, and this Friday night we
will have the brilliant cosmologist Stephen Hawking. A week from tonight we will also
highlight four vernacular dances that have entered our unique dance: tap, Lindy-hopping,
jazz, and so help me, I didn't organize this -- Irish step dancing. [Laughter]
I want to thank Yo Yo Ma for the work that he has done to try to bring the arts, and music in
particular, to so many Americans who might otherwise have never had a firsthand experience
with what can lead us all to a higher level of understanding and enjoyment of life.
Finally, and most personally, I am here because lowel President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, their
invoied
e
generation, made me admire and believe in public service and made me understand that it
could be fun but that it also carried with it certain responsibilities. They made me believe that
it was not a bad thing but a noble thing to want to exercise power but only if it were
exercised for some larger purpose. There are many people in this room tonight who could be
standing here making exactly the same statement.
Just before I came over here, I finished a magnificent new biography of Theodore Roosevelt
by H. W. Brands called "The Last Romantic." It's a terrific book, and it's only 820 pages long.
[Laughter] But I was thinking because President Roosevelt died right after the close of the
First World War, I was thinking about the whole sweep of the century that President
Kennedy's life marked and that his service marked in such a profound way.
This century we are about to leave was dominated by the consequences of the industrial
revolution, the growth of very big organizations economic organizations, governmental
organizations and the attendant wealth and power and possibility and threat that
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revolution spawned. So that for most of this century, Americans in positions of responsibility
and ordinary American citizens have both had an incredible opportunity to find wealth and
personal fulfillment and greater expression of freedom because of the organized development
of this time. But they have also had an enormous responsibility to stand up against the new
horrors that vast organized power presented to them, whether in greed or bigotry or outright
totalitarian oppression.
Jack? (more personal -nickname)
John Kennedy made us believe that in public service you could fight for the things that ought
to be fought for; you could fight against the things that ought to be fought against, and that
the sole purpose of power, fleeting though it is, was to be applied to the best of your God-
given ability to those worthy goals.
Now, we're about to enter a new century with problems and opportunities unparalleled in
history, speeding along at a pace and with a complexity that would have been unimaginable
just a few years ago. There is a lot of good in the fact that the knowledge of the world is now
doubling - sheer facts are doubling every 5 years. We see in the human genome project
miraculous health discoveries being made almost weekly now.
But we also know that in this new world, where the Internet is exploding and 65,000 new
sites are being added every hour of every day, that there will be new ways that people who
are organized for the abuse of their power will present new threats, perhaps terrorists or
organized criminals or narcotraffickers, perhaps in the forms of chemical or biological or
small-scale nuclear weapons, perhaps unwise leaders being too greedy in the short run,
forcing poor people off their land into the teeming cities of poor countries, devastating the
environment, leading to the spread of disease.
So we will now live in a new area where humankind will have all kinds of new possibilities for
good and all manner of new things that need to be fought against. I hope that the children of
this age will find a way to believe in America the way President Kennedy helped me to
believe in America and to believe that the political process leaves the ultimate power in the
people and gives its elected Representatives a precious chance just to bring out the good and
stand against the bad. It is the eternal human obligation. He made it seem fun and noble and
good. The least we can do is to keep the torch burning.
Thank you, and God bless you.
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From his creation of the Peace Corps to the creation of the National Service Corps, which
drew inspiration from City Year here in his own hometown of Boston, we see a common
thread of challenging our young people to a higher calling. From his launching of the space
program to the preservation and pursuit of the space station this year, we see a continued
willingness of Americans, even in difficult economic time, to explore the outer reaches of our
universe. From his quest for health care security for our elderly Americans to the quest for
health security for all Americans embodied in the bill that the First Lady and I presented to
Congress this week, we see a seamless thread of determination to finally dissolve one of the
most persistent domestic problems in the history of the United States. From his pursuit of a
nuclear test ban treaty to our efforts to stem the proliferation of all weapons of mass
destruction, to actually dismantle much of the world's nuclear arsenal, we see a common
effort for America to be leading the cause of human preservation against nuclear annihilation.
John Kennedy embodied an expansive, can-do outlook toward events beyond our shores as
well as the challenges at home. He believed that billions of lives depend upon our leadership
and our ideals, and in turn that our own security and prosperity are tied to reaching out to
the rest of the world. That is why his picture still hangs today in homes not only in the Irish
wards of Boston and Chicago but also in villages and towns from Africa to latin America.
John Kennedy's early years were a time when most Americans did not believe we should be
much engaged in the world. America turned inward after World War I, unwilling to assume
the new burdens of the peace. "A return to normalcy," it was called, but in truth it was a
retreat from the hard-won fields of victory. No fireman in Boston would dare turn off the hose
prematurely and leave a smoldering house. But that is exactly what America did in the 1920's
and the 1930's. And we paid the price in a Draconian peace and restricted trade and higher
tariffs and a Great Depression and lost jobs, ruined lives, the rise of fascism abroad, and a
terrible Second World War that took the lives of more American young people than any war
except for our own Civil War.
Jack Kennedy came home from that Second World War with a lifelong lesson: America could
not withdraw from the world. Unless we work to shape events, we will be shaped by them,
often in ways that put us at great risk.
A new generation of Americans after the Second World War learned that lesson with him.
Together they rebuilt Japan and Europe and contained Soviet expansionism. They founded
the institutions of post-war security and prosperity. And by choosing to reach out rather than
turn inward, they brought the American people a period of economic growth and security
unparalleled in our history. The great middle class was built, and the American dream was
born in the lives of Americans, not merely in the eyes of their parents.
Today, we stand at a similar moment of high decision. The end of the cold war has left a
world of change in its wake. The Soviet empire and the Soviet Union itself are no more.
Russia, once our nuclear adversary, is now our partner in reducing the nuclear threat and in
expanding democracy. Ancient animosities in the Middle East are yielding to the promise of
peace, a transformation made tangible to billions of people last month in a simple stunning
handshake. After decades of apartheid, the Nobel Prize for Peace has gone to two leaders of
different colors working for one nonracial democracy in South Africa.
These shifts have been accompanied, and in many cases pushed, by other great changes in
the world, those brought about by the communications revolution and the new global
marketplace, entrepreneurial in spirit, intensely competitive and as fast moving as light itself.
We see the consequences all around us here in America, in our workplaces, our families, our
cities and towns. Some of the those consequences are not at all promising. The promise of
peace, freedom, and democracy is still thwarted in many places in the world. The promise of
prosperity is an illusion to millions of people, not only in poor countries but increasingly in
wealthy countries.
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Here at home as in all other rich countries, we have had our difficulties in creating jobs and
raising incomes. Technology in the moment is not leading to growth and prosperity for
millions of our people. We see that in rising sets of insecurities all across America, people
more insecure about their jobs, their health care, their communities, their children's
education, and their very safety.
The new global economy is dominated by democracy but marred by wars and oppressions. It
is expanded by new technologies and vast new horizons but limited by slow growth and
stagnant jobs and incomes. Nonetheless, this new global economy is our new frontier.
Our generation must now decide, just as John Kennedy and his generation had to decide at
the end of World War II, whether we will harness the galloping changes of our time in the
best tradition of John Kennedy and the post-war generation, to the well-being of the
American people, or withdraw from the world and recoil from our own problems as we did
after World War I. Will we be the Americans of the 1920's, or will we be the Americans of the
late forties and early fifties? Will we be the Americans who lifted John Kennedy to the
Presidency or the Americans who turned away from the world and paid the price?
President Kennedy understood these challenges of change. He believed in opening the
world's trading system. But he also believed we needed to help America's workers who did
not win from the expansion of trade to adjust to the rigors of that trade and international
competition.
In 1962, to help workers adjust when they lost their jobs because of trade so that they could
then get jobs that would be created by an expanded global economy, John Kennedy proposed
and the Congress created the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. And he said -- listen to
this - in 1962, "Economic isolation and political leadership are wholly incompatible. The
United States has encouraged sweeping changes in free world economic patterns in order to
strengthen the forces of freedom. But we cannot ourselves stand still. We must adapt our
own economy to the imperatives of a changing world and once more assert our leadership."
Once again, we must make clear to the American people that our success at home relies on
our engagement abroad, that we must face our problems at home and reach out to the world
at the same time. Even more than in President Kennedy's day, the line between foreign
and domestic interests is rapidly disappearing. Millions of our best jobs are tied to our ability
to trade and sell our products around the world. And our ability to create millions more
depends clearly on our ability to work with our friends and neighbors and partners to expand
global economic opportunities. That is why we must compete and not retreat, why more than
ever before a concern for what happens within our borders, down to the smallest rural town
or the most thriving neighborhood in any city, depends upon a concern for what we do
beyond our borders.
Over recent months, that imperative has been at the core of this administration's agenda.
We've worked to support reform in Russia and the other states of the former Soviet Union.
We've put our relations with Japan on a new foundation that pays more attention to the
economic dynamics of the relationship between our two nations. We've pushed for a new
worldwide trade accord through the GATT talks. But there is no better example of what we
have tried to do to reach out to the world than our attempt to secure an agreement for a
North American free trade zone with Canada and Mexico, one that can create 200,000 new
jobs for this country by 1995, open a vast new market, make 90 million friends, and set a
stage for moving to embrace all of Latin America, 700 million people strong, in a trading unit
that will bring prosperity to them and to us.
Last night in New York I told an audience of corporate executives that if they want Americans
to support free trade instead of oppose it at a time of great insecurity, they should support
the Americans who will not only win but who will be temporarily dislocated; that they should
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support a new, more modern version of trade adjustment assistance that will work for this
time; that they had no right to ask the American people, any of them, even one of them, to
sacrifice unless we were going to make a common investment so that we could grow in the
spirit of common community interest in this country and with Latin America.
But today I say to you that our choice is about even more than dollars; that just as business
people must take care of workers and invest in their future, Americans as a whole, without
regard to their economic standing, must understand that our national destiny depends upon
our continuing to reach out. That's why here in Boston, Congressman Kennedy, his
predecessor Speaker O'Neill, from the congressional seat that John Kennedy once occupied,
have endorsed this new expansion of America's interest. And I believe if President Kennedy
were still representing that seat in Congress, he would endorse it as well.
If you remember when President Kennedy endorsed the Alliance for Progress, the Latin
American countries were moving toward more accountable government and more open
economies. And then a lot of reversals took place and Latin America went into a period of real
upheaval, political oppression, economic devastation. It is all changing again now. Their
efforts are being rewarded: more and more democracies, the second fastest growing region
of the world, and a real desire to be our close friends.
President Roosevelt advocated a good neighbor policy toward Latin America. President
Kennedy called it the Alliance for Progress. We know that we cannot have a bad neighbor
policy. We know that we cannot have an alliance to protect ourselves at their expense. We
know that the people who want to buy our products and share our future ought to have a
chance to help us to solve our problems at home, even as we help them to pursue their own
destiny.
Let us not send a signal by defeating this agreement that we are turning our backs on our
neighbors and the rest of the world. Let us reach out to the people here in our home,
throughout America, who do not support these endeavors because they have been ravaged
by the economic changes of the last 15 years and they have not had their cries, their pains,
their frustrations heeded by their National Government. Let us heed them. But let us not
adopt a remedy for their just complaints that makes their problems worse. Let us extend
ourselves in the world and invest in their future here at home. We can do that. That is the
right answer.
Mr. Justice Holmes was quoted by Senator Kennedy. He once said that we must all be
involved in the action and passion of our time for fear of being judged not to have lived. No
one would ever level that indictment against John Kennedy.
This is our decisive moment. This is the end of the cold war. This is the dawn of the 21st
century. There are many complex, frustrating problems which have very simple and profound
and often painful impacts in the lives of the people that we have all struggled to serve. But in
these moments, we have to reach deep into ourselves, to our deepest values, to our
strongest spirit, and reach out, not shrink back. In these moments our character is tested as
individuals and as a nation. The problems we share today are widely shared by other
advanced nations. No one has all the answers, but we do know one thing: We will never find
the answer if we don't continue on the journey. If we turn back to a proven path of failure,
we will never know what we might have become in a new and different age where thankfully,
hopefully, my daughter, our children, and our grandchildren will at least be free of the fear of
nuclear destruction and where at least most of the competition we face will be based on what
is in our minds, not what is in our hands in the forms of weapons.
I tell you, my fellow Americans, for all the difficulties at this age, this is an age many
generations of our predecessors would have prayed to live in. These are the challenges so
many of our predecessors would have longed to embrace. How can we turn away from them?
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What we owe John kennedy today at this museum is to make the museum come alive not
only in our memories but in our actions. Let us embrace the future with vigor. Let us say we
can never expect too little of ourselves. Let us never demand too little of each other. Let us
never walk away from the legacy of generations of Americans who themselves have paved
the way. Let us be more like those Americans who came home after the Second World War
and less like those who withdrew after the First World War.
The 21st century can be our century if we approach it with the vigor, the determination, the
wisdom, and the sheer confidence and joy of life that John Kennedy brought to America in
1960.
Thank you, and God bless you all.
NOTE: The President spoke at 11:41 a.m. in the Steven E. Smith Center.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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PRESIDENT KENNEDY
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
February 16, 2000
This month when we celebrated the longest economic expansion in history, I did a little looking
into, and thinking about, what was the longest economic expansion until this one. You know
when it was? Nineteen sixty-one to 1968. Now, I remember what that was like. I remember in
the beginning how full of hope we were when President Kennedy was elected. I remember
when President Kennedy was assassinated, how heartbroken we were, but how we rallied as a
country behind President Johnson.
All these people that look back at the sixties and say American cynicism started when President
Kennedy was assassinated are just wrong. That's not true. This country was heartbroken, but we
stood up together, and we joined hands. And Lyndon Johnson provided great leadership, and he
pulled us together. So in 1964, I'm graduating from high school into an America that was the
nearest like this America: we had low unemployment, low inflation, high growth. And
everybody thought as difficult as the civil rights problems were, they were going to be resolved
in a peaceable manner, with this wizard in the White House and the votes in Congress, to
lawfully give African-Americans what they were constitutionally entitled to. And all the while
we would win the cold war against communism, and we would create the greatest society
America had ever known. That's what I believed the night I graduated from high school.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
July 24, 1998
As some of you may know, a few days ago we had a reunion here at the White House for our
35th anniversary of our Boys Nation summer, and "Nightline" ran 2 nights on our reunion. I
asked your president if he'd seen either one of them; he said he saw the first one, the second one
he was here on duty. But I had an opportunity to meet with about half the men who were with me
35 years ago, and we were reminiscing. It was exactly 35 years ago on this day, July 24, 1963,
that President Kennedy spoke to us right here in the Rose Garden about our future. He made us
believe that together we could change the world. I still believe that, and I think it is no less true
for your generation. Indeed, I believe you will live in the time of greatest possibility in all human
history.
When I was here, President Kennedy complimented us for supporting civil rights legislation
which the Nation's Governors had declined to do. I was very proud of that because two delegates
from Louisiana and I and one from Mississippi were four Southerners who broke from the pack
and ensured that the legislation would pass. But I have to say that, looking back over the years,
we knew then that our school systems were separate and unequal and that we never could make
them what we ought to until we integrated our schools so that we could integrate our country.
What we did not see then and what we know now is that equal access to public schools does not
guarantee the educational excellence that should be the birthright of every American on the edge
of the 21st century.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
September 24, 1996
President Kennedy's vision exceeded the possibilities of his time, but his words speak to us
still.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
September 5, 1995
And I really wanted to meet President Kennedy because I admired him and I liked him and I
agreed with what he was trying to do. And I liked him because he was highly controversial in my
home State and throughout the South because be was trying to finish the work of the Civil War.
He was trying to pass all of the civil rights legislation. He was trying to eliminate racial
discrimination. And he was taking a lot of heat for it. And a lot of people in my part of the
country weren't for him because of it. But I was for him because of it, because I believed in what
he was doing. So it was not only a great thing for me to meet the President, but I thought that he
was really looking out for our future, and I thought I would live in a better America because he
was President. So I was very excited about it.
And I remember the day it occurred. I didn't know if the President was going to shake hands with
all of the 100 boys, but because I was from Arkansas, I was at the top of the alphabet --
[laughter] -- and because I was above average in size, I could sort of elbow my way up to the
front of the line. [Laughter] So I made sure I got to shake his hand. Although he was quite nice,
he stayed around. I think he shook most people's hands that day.
But it was a wonderful thing, you know. That's a great thing about this country. I mean, I just --
here I was coming from a modest-sized town, and one day I was shaking hands with the
President, kind of like this. That's one of the great things about democracy. You know, your
families" votes count just as much as mine does.
Public Papers of the Presidents, March 16, 1993
Public Papers of the Presidents
March 16, 1993
I thought I would tell you this, for those of you who don't know, since President Kennedy once
said at a dinner of Nobel laureates that it was the most distinguished array of brainpower ever
gathered in the White House since Thomas Jefferson dined there alone. [Laughter] James Hoban
defeated Thomas Jefferson submitted anonymously a design for the White House, and the people
making the decision, basically George Washington and a few of his friends, concluded that
Hoban was superior to Jefferson. [Laughter]
Clinton Presidential Records
Digital Records Marker
This is not a presidential record. This is used as an administrative
marker by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a tabbed divider. Given our
digitization capabilities, we are sometimes unable to adequately
scan such dividers. The title from the original document is
indicated below.
Jefferson
Divider Title:
Thomas Jefferson
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Thomas
THE
Jefferson
AMERICAN RESIDENT
3ʳᵈ President (1801-1809)
The Series Presidential History Resources Election 2000 The War Room" Came
Student Magazine
THE PHILOSOPHER PRESIDENT
Fast Facts
Born: April 13, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia
Biography
Died: July 4, 1826, at Monticello (near Charlottesville, Virginia)
In Brief
Ele Before the Presidency
Nicknames: "Man of the People", "Sage of Monticello"
Compaigns and Elections
Dirmestic Affairs
Married: Martha Wayles Skelton (1748-1782), on January 1, 1772
Foreign Affairs
The After the Presidency
The First Lady
Religion: No formal affiliation
Family Life
the American Franchise
Education: Graduated from College of William and Mary (1762)
Supplemental
Resources
Political Party: Democratic-Republican
Issues 10 Pouder
Reading More
Career: Lawyer; Farmer; Member of Virginia House of Burgesses, 1769-74;
Presidential Manients
Member of Second Continental Congress, 1775-76; Governor of Virginia, 1779-
In His Over Words
81; Member of Third Continental Congress, 1783-85; Minister to France, 1785-
Web Rescurres
89; secretary of state, 1790-93 (under Washington); Vice President, 1797-1801
Lesson Plans
(under J. Adams); President of the United States (1801-9)
Gallery
Site Navigation
Domestic Policy Highlights: Limiting government size and power, Marbury V.
Return II; Biography Index
Madison, impeachment of Supreme Court justices
Foreign Policy Highlights: Barbary pirates, Louisiana Purchase, Embargo Acts
A Life in Brief
Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, spent his
childhood roaming the woods and studying his books on a remote plantation in
the Virginia wilderness. Thanks to the prosperity of his father, Jefferson had an
excellent education. After years in boarding school where he excelled in
classical languages, Jefferson enrolled in William and Mary College in his home
state of Virginia, taking classes in science, mathematics, rhetoric, philosophy,
and literature. He also studied law and by the time he was admitted to the
Virginia bar in April 1767, many considered him to have one of the nation's best
legal minds.
Shaping America's Political Philosophy
Jefferson was shy in person, but his pen proved to be a mighty weapon. His
pamphlet entitled "A Summary View of the Rights of British America," written in
1774, articulated the colonial position for independence and foreshadowed many
of the ideas in the Declaration for which he is most famous. By 1774, Jefferson
was actively involved in organizing opposition to British rule, and in 1776, he was
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Thomas Jefferson
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appointed to the Second Continental Congress. As a powerful prose stylist and
an influential Virginia representative, Jefferson was chosen to write the
Declaration of Independence. This document is a brilliant assertion of
fundamental human rights and America's most succinct statement of its
philosophy of government.
Before becoming the nation's third president, Jefferson served as delegate to
the Virginia House of Delegates, where he abolished primogeniture, the law that
made the eldest son the sole inheritor of his father's property. He promoted
religious freedom, helping to establish the country's separation between church
and state, and he advocated free public education, an idea considered radical by
his contemporaries.
During the Revolution, Jefferson served two years as governor of Virginia, barely
escaping capture by British forces by fleeing to Monticello, his home. He was
later charged with being a coward for not confronting the enemy. After the war,
Jefferson served as America's minister to France, where he witnessed firsthand
the dramatic events leading up to the French Revolution.
While abroad, Jefferson corresponded with members of the Constitutional
Convention, particularly his close associate from Virginia, James Madison. He
agreed to support the Constitution, and the strong federal government it created.
Jefferson's support however, hinged upon on the condition that Madison add a
Bill of Rights to the document in the form of ten amendments. The rights that
Jefferson insisted upon-among them freedom of speech, assembly, and
practice of religion-have become fundamental and synonymous with American
life ever since.
Presidential Politics
Jefferson served as secretary of state under Washington, but quarrels with
Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton's vision of a centralized national bank
caused him to resign his post in 1793. In the election of 1796, Jefferson ran as
the leader of the new Democratic-Republican Party opposite John Adams.
Jefferson came in second to Adams (in electoral college votes), and became
Adams's vice president.
In 1800, however, the political tide had turned against the Federalist Party of
Adams and Hamilton. After winning the election, Jefferson pled for national unity
in an attempt to heal the wounds of a vicious campaign, and gain support from
the Federalist-controlled Congress. Due to a relatively placid first term,
prosperity, lower taxes, and a reduction of the national debt, Jefferson won a
landslide victory in 1804.
Defining the Powers of the Government
Jefferson believed in a "wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men
from injuring one another," but which otherwise left them free to regulate their
own affairs. In an effort to minimize the influence of the central government, he
reduced the number of government employees, slashed army enrollments, and
cut the national debt. Similar to his predecessor, John Adams, Jefferson had to
deal with the political war waged between his Republican Party and the
Federalists. The battles were focused on the nation's judiciary branch. The
landmark ruling in Marbury V. Madison, which established the independent
power of the Supreme Court, was handed down during Jefferson's presidency.
Foreign affairs dominated his day-to-day attentions while president, often
pushing him toward Federalist policies that contrasted with his political
philosophy. To ensure the safety of American ships on the high seas, Jefferson
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Thomas Jefferson
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attempted to put an end to the bribes that the U.S. had been paying to the
Barbary states for the past fifty years. This resulted in a war with Tripoli, in which
Jefferson was forced to use his navy and to rethink his policy of reducing the
U.S. military. While the U.S. at first enjoyed an economic boom due to the war
between England and France, the British navy's practice of forcing American
sailors into British service led to Jefferson's disastrous suspension of trade with
both France and England. This trade war devastated the economy, alienated the
hard-hit mercantile Northeast, and propelled America into war with England.
His brilliant negotiation and ties to France led to the Louisiana Purchase for $15
million, doubling the size of the nation. Nonetheless, the deal troubled Jefferson,
who did not wish to overstep the central government's powers as outlined by the
Constitution, which made no mention the power to acquire new territory. It was
Jefferson who authorized the famous Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-6), led
by Meriwether Lewis, a military officer who was Jefferson's clerk at the White
House.
A Private Portrait of Contradictions
Jefferson preferred to live a simple lifestyle during his time in office, often
greeting his dinner guests in old homespun clothes and a pair of worn bedroom
slippers. Having lost his beloved wife, Martha Wayles Skelton, in 1782 to
childbirth, Jefferson relied on his two married daughters, and the wife of his
secretary of state, Dolly Madison, as his official hostesses. Although he disliked
pomp and circumstance, Jefferson knew how to live well; his wine bill upon
leaving the presidency exceeded $10,000! In 1808, Jefferson retired to his
Virginia plantation home, Monticello, where he continued pursuing his widely
diverse interests in science, natural history, philosophy, and the classics.
Jefferson also devoted himself to founding the University of Virginia.
Contemporary debates continue to rage (as they did during Jefferson's own
lifetime) concerning his relationship with Sally Hemings, one of Jefferson's
slaves, after Martha's death. Although Jefferson denied their affair and the
stories that he fathered two of Hemings's children, recent DNA evidence
presents a convincing case that Jefferson was indeed the biological father. Most
historians now believe that Jefferson and Hemings had a sexual relationship.
Jefferson was ambivalent about slavery throughout his career-as a young
politician he had argued for the prohibition of slavery in new American territories.
Yet he never freed his own slaves. How could a man responsible for writing the
sacred words "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created
equal," have been a slave owner? He never resolved the internal conflict on this
issue.
After carrying on a long and fascinating correspondence with John Adams while
both men were in the twilight of their lives, death took Jefferson on July 4,
1826-exactly fifty years to the day from the signing of the Declaration of
Independence. All presidents after him, historians tell us, have lived in
Jefferson's shadow and are measured against his mark.
Life Before The Presidency
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Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
April 30, 1997
CITE: 33 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 618
LENGTH: 1457 words
HEADLINE: Remarks Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Thomas Jefferson
Building at the Library of Congress
BODY:
I ask you tonight to listen to these words as if you had never heard them before and try to
imagine what it was like when they broke across the landscape of America and the world,
arguably the most important words ever written by an American because out of them all the
rest flowed.
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the
political bonds which have connected them to another, and to assume among the powers of
the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God
entitled them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare
the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That
to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed,
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations,
pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new
Guards for their future security.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States
of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for
the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of
these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right
ought to be, Free and Independent States;
And for the support of this Declaration, with a
firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Speaker, Senator Daschle, Congressman Thomas, and other Members
of Congress, the Joint Commission on the Library, Mr. Kluge, and the James Madison Council.
Mr. Allaire, thank you all for what you have done to make this night come to pass. I thank
Michael Ryan for singing the national anthem and making us feel so patriotic. He has served
our country, as many of you know, for many years. I thank Jim Billington for his brilliant job
and all the staff here for what they have done.
Those words were Thomas Jefferson's words with edits by John Adams and Benjamin
Franklin. I learned something tonight looking at the Thomas Jefferson draft: Ben Franklin
gets credit for saying that these truths are self-evident. And that's a pretty good edit.
[Laughter] Would that we all had such an editor.
As the Speaker said, now every American will be able to have access to these treasures, not
wh
only in this magnificent building with its glorious reading room and its American treasures
House
exhibition but also through the Internet. Think of it, everything from the rough draft of the
important to mention access of all Americans the nations to
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Declaration of Independence, from which I just read, to George Washington's letter on the
importance of religious freedom, to the first known autobiography of a slave, to the first kiss
captured in a movie, to Groucho Marx talking to Johnny Carson, to the magical music of
Washington's Duke Ellington.
But it is fitting that the books from Mr. Jefferson's library are at the core of the American
Treasures Collection, for he above all understood that democracy and liberty depend upon the
free flow of ideas and the expansion of knowledge, upon the remembrance of history and the
imagining of the future.
To pursue those objectives, our young Nation, at great cost, established this Library. From
those first volumes, the Library of Congress has become the world's largest library, visited by
2 million people every year in person and millions more every week on the Internet Web site,
with more to come as we work together to enable every school and library in the United
States to connect to the Internet. In the most modern way, children in the most isolated rural
districts, the poorest inner-city districts, the most comfortable suburbs, now will be able to
share that rough draft of the Declaration of Independence and all the other wonderful
resources of the Library.
Mr. Jefferson, who looked to the future more than the past, even at the end of his days,
would surely be very proud, Mr. Billington, of what his library has become.
As we walk through these beautifully restored rooms and hallways on this 100th anniversary,
you can almost feel the exuberance and optimism of the United States at the turn of the
century. And now, at the dawn of a new century, we face yet a new age of possibilities, full of
new challenge and hope. Yet in a sense, we are back where we were in the beginning. For of
all our challenges, ignorance is the most threatening, and of all our riches, knowledge is the
most enduring, except this will be even more true in the years ahead.
That is why the opening of this exhibit and the restoration of this building is so significant. By
renewing the Founders' commitment to the Library of Congress, we ensure that future
generations will continue to be inspired and guided by the ideals, the values, and the thirst
for knowledge that are at our beginning core. We are giving all of our people, especially our
children, what they will need to realize their dreams and our ever-unfolding destiny as a
nation.
As these exhibits show, we are, and have ever been, a nation of creators and innovators. We
are all Jefferson's heirs, and we are doomed sometimes to succeed and sometimes to fail. I
was amused at the picture of the massive double circular kite that Alexander Graham Bell
thought might compete with the Wright brothers. He would do very well on the Frisbee circuit
today, I think, but it wasn't much of an airplane. But if he hadn't had the courage to try that,
well, we might not have had the telephone. We must always maintain that spirit, and we
must remember the words of Jefferson.
President Lincoln invoked the Jeffersonian ideal, to heal a wounded nation, as he stood at
Gettysburg. President Roosevelt looked toward the world that would follow World War II, and
he too called upon Jefferson for inspiration and courage. The words that he wrote then are as
relevant today as they were in 1945, and I would like to close with them.
"We must do all in our power to conquer the doubts and the fear, the ignorance and the
greed, for today science has brought all the different quarters of the globe so close together
that it is impossible to isolate them one from another. Today we are faced with the
preeminent fact that if civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human
relationships, the ability of all peoples of all kinds to live together and work together in the
same world at peace. And to you and to all Americans who dedicate themselves with us to
the making of an abiding peace, I say the only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our
doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith."
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That was the speech Franklin Roosevelt was working on in this month, 52 years ago, when he
died in Warm Springs. Though unspoken, his words, like those of Jefferson, come down to us
today with a freshness, a vitality, and a fundamental truth that must forever guide us as a
nation.
On Friday, we will gather to dedicate the memorial to President Roosevelt, the very first
Presidential memorial since President Roosevelt dedicated the one to Thomas Jefferson in
1943. Together we will renew our commitment to fight tyranny with liberty, ignorance with
knowledge, fear with hope and confidence.
Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Roosevelt, I believe, would be quite proud of America today
-- still eager to right its wrongs and seize its new opportunities. And I might say, I think
they'd be a little impatient with those among us who, finding America at the pinnacle of its
power, influence, and success, and therefore at the pinnacle of the responsibility outlined by
President Roosevelt so long ago, would seek to walk away from what are our plain obligations
to engage the rest of the world. For in the course of human events, it has fallen to us, for our
own benefit and because it is right, to extend to a waiting world the ideals to which Thomas
Jefferson and his friends pledged their Lives, their Fortunes, and their sacred Honor.
Thank you, and God bless America.
NOTE: The President spoke at 8:10 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to John Kluge, chairman,
James Madison Council; Paul Allaire, chairman and chief executive officer, Xerox Corp.;
MGySgt. Michael Ryan, USMC, United States Marine Band; Jim Billington, Librarian of
Congress.
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Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
June 21, 1999
CITE: 35 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1166
LENGTH: 509 words
HEADLINE: Remarks at a Dinner Hosted by President Milan Kucan of Slovenia in Ljubljana
BODY:
Mr. President, Mrs. Kucan, Mr. Prime Minister, distinguished government officials, and
citizens of Slovenia: It is a great honor for me, for Hillary, for Secretary Albright, indeed, for
our entire American delegation to share this historic day with you.
Today we added a new chapter to the long story of our friendship. As you heard from the
President, it is a friendship that goes back even before the history of the United States, when
President Thomas Jefferson, the author of our Declaration of Independence, was looking for
examples of democracy around the world, places where the people ruled.
The President gave you a -- what I would call a delicate version of the example provided by
the Corinthians to Thomas Jefferson. You see, Thomas Jefferson loved the fact that
before assuming their titles, the old dukes of Corinthia were ceremoniously slapped by a local
present to symbolize the right of the people to rebuff their leaders. Thomas Jefferson liked
that. So did all future generations of Americans. [Laughter] Except they wait until after you're
in office to do it. [Laughter]
Well, democracy is going strong again in Slovenia, and still your efforts inspire Americans,
We are grateful for the many contributions of Slovenians to the strength and texture of our
country, and we are grateful for the partnership that unites us today.
This spring, as both the President and the Prime Minister have said, that partnership met a
great test. For the fourth time in this decade, Mr. Milosevic and Serbia launched a brutal
campaign of violence, threatening the progress the people of this region have worked so hard
to achieve. As you know from the daily television reports, the full horror of that campaign is
only now becoming clear.
I would like to thank the President and the Prime Minister for all that you have done to
protect democracy and the tolerance it needs to thrive. Now that ethnic cleansing has been
defeated in Kosovo, we must build something better in its place throughout Europe, and
especially in southeastern Europe.
You know, every leader likes to talk of the future, but today in your Congress Square I saw
the future in the faces of the young people who braved the rains to express their support for
our shared dreams. I saw those who will lead a free Slovenia into the new millennium.
Your history is enshrined in this magnificent castle we enjoy this evening, but your future is
in those young people. And it is in good hands.
So I ask you now to rededicate yourselves to the dreams which brought the people out in the
rain today. We owe it to them, to our forebears, and to generations yet unborn.
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Please join me in a toast to the President, to the Prime Minister, and the people of this
wonderful country.
NOTE: The President spoke at 9:40 p.m. in the Dining Hall at Brdo Castle. In his remarks, he
referred to Stefka Kucan, wife of President Kucan; and Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek of
Slovenia. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.
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Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
February 11, 1997
CITE: 33 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 179
LENGTH: 406 words
HEADLINE: Remarks Following a Screening of the Film "Thomas Jefferson"
BODY:
Thank you. First of all, I know I speak for all of us when I thank Ken Burns and all of those
who made this magnificent film possible. Thank you, especially, Jack Smith, for your work in
making it possible and sponsoring it.
If you think about what Ken Burns has given to America with "The Civil War," "The West,"
"Baseball," and "Thomas Jefferson," I think Mr. Jefferson would be very proud of you, Mr.
Burns. And I know we all are, and we thank you so much.
I think every American President has been inspired by Jefferson's ideals, affected by his
decisions, fascinated by his character. Two of my most prized personal possessions are an
original printing of the "Notes on Virginia" and a printing of Daniel Webster's marvelous
eulogy to John Adams and Thomas Jefferson delivered in Faneuil Hall in August of 1826.
And from time to time when I feel some sense of despair, just for the heck of it, I take them
down and open the pages and start reading.
I always thought that the fact that both of them died on the 50th anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence was the best evidence the modern world has on the question of
whether God is. It is impossible to believe this happened by accident.
And so, I ask all of you to leave here tonight with a sense of gratitude to Thomas Jefferson
4.m
but also with the firm conviction that the thing he was most right about was in leaving us a
the ever possible expending have sense inspires of
system that would always be in the act of becoming, that his unshakable belief that the
future could be better than the present extended even to himself and to his contemporaries,
to their failures and to their successes.
And that is what we must always believe. You make a better present if you think about the
future being brighter and if you really believe in the potential of every single human spirit.
Thomas Jefferson did, and so should we.
I hope you'll now join us in the State Dining Room, and you'll all be able to talk about what
you liked most about the movie But let me say again, we're gratified to have you all here.
Hillary and I have looked forward to this evening for a long time, and we are especially
grateful for all of you who had any part in this magnificent gift to the people of the United
States.
Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 8:45 p.m. in the East Room at the White House. In his
remarks, he referred to Ken Burns, producer of the film, and Jack Smith, president, General
Motors Corp.
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161
Remarks at a Dinner Honoring Nobel Prize Winners of the
Western Hemisphere.
April 29, 1962
Ladies and gentlemen:
I want to welcome you to the White House. Mr. Lester Pearson informed me that a Canadian
newspaperman said yesterday that this is the President's "Easter egghead roll on the White
House lawn." I want to deny that!
I want to tell you how welcome you are to the White House. I think this is the most
extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at
the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.
Someone once said that Thomas Jefferson was a gentleman of 32 who could calculate an
eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, and dance the
minuet. Whatever he may have lacked, if he could have had his former colleague, Mr. Franklin,
here we all would have been impressed.
In any case, I am delighted to welcome you here. We are delighted to have the Norwegian
Ambassador and the Swedish Minister to represent their governments, and we are delighted to
have the Nobel prize winners of the Western Hemisphere here at this dinner.
I know that the Nobel prize does not have any geographic or national implications. Mr. Nobel in
his will, in fact, made it very clear when he said that he hoped that in the giving of the prize
that no attention would be paid to nationality. He declared it to be "my express desire that in
awarding the prize, no consideration whatsoever be paid to the nationality of the candidates;
that is to say, the most deserving be awarded the prize, whether he or she be Scandinavian or
not."
In any case, there is no nationality in the Nobel prize, just as there is no nationality in the
acquisition of knowledge. I know that every man here who has won the Nobel prize, not only
does he build on the past, which goes back hundreds and thousands of years, on the efforts of
other men and women, but he also builds on the efforts of those in other countries; and therefore,
quite rightly, the Nobel prize has no national significance.
But I think we can take some satisfaction that this hemisphere has been able to develop an
atmosphere which has permitted the happy pursuit of knowledge, and of peace; and that over 40
percent of the Nobel prizes in the last 30 years have gone to men and women in this hemisphere.
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And of particular pleasure today is the fact that 13 Nobel prizes for peace have gone to those
who live in this hemisphere. I think the pursuit of knowledge, the pursuit of peace, are very basic
drives and pressures in this life of ours-and this dinner is an attempt, in a sense, to recognize
those great efforts, to encourage young Americans and young people in this hemisphere to
develop the same drive and deep desire for knowledge and peace.
So I want you to know that you are most welcome here. I regard this as the most distinguished
and significant dinner that we have had in the White House since I have been here, and I think
in many, many years.
And I hope that it will stimulate among all people, in this hemisphere and far beyond, the
recognition of the close ties that bind all who labor to provide a better life for their people.
So I hope that you will join me in drinking to the Nobel prize winners of this year and other
years-and perhaps more widely, to all those people everywhere whom they serve.
NOTE: The dinner was held in the State Dining Room and the Blue Room at the White
House. Early in his remarks the President referred to Lester B. Pearson, Canada's Liberal Party
leader, a Nobel 5.348] Peace Prize winner in 1957. Later he referred to Ambassador Paul Koht of
Norway and to Ambassador Gunnar Jarring of Sweden who was represented by his wife.
The White House announced, on April 28, that the roster of Nobel guests included 46 United
States citizens; one Canadian, Lester Pearson; one Frenchman, long resident in Washington,
Alexis Leger; and one German who was working in the United States, Rudolf Mossbauer. In
addition, other prominent men and women from the arts, education, and science had been
invited, among them several university presidents.
Before the dinner, the release stated, the President and Mrs. Kennedy would receive in their
private quarters the 1961 Nobel winners: Dr. Melvin Calvin of the University of California, who
was cited for work in photosynthesis; Dr. Robert Hofstadter of Stanford and Dr. Rudolf
Mossbauer, of the California Institute of Technology, cited for work in atomic physics; and Dr.
George von Bekesy of Harvard, cited for discoveries on the mechanism of the inner ear.
following the dinner, it was also announced, Mr. Fredtic March, a two-time winner of the acting
award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, would read excerpts from the works
of Sinclair Lewis (Nobel Prize for Literature, 1930); George C. Marshall (Nobel Prize for Peace,
1953); and Ernest Hemingway (Nobel Prize for Literature, 1954).
Source: Federal Register Division. National Archives and Records Service, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, John F.
Kennedy, 1962 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1956-), pp.347-348
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THOMAS JEFFERSON
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
July 28, 1999
It was in this room that Thomas Jefferson met with his secretary, Merriwether Lewis, to plan the
Lewis and Clark expedition -- right where you're all sitting. The place was covered with
bearskins and ancient maps, and they were -- President Jefferson was in love with the
geography and science, and he saw this whole thing as not only a geographical expedition, but he
thought that all kinds of scientific information would be gathered along the way. So a lot of very
important things have happened where you are sitting today that remind us that America is a
place with great opportunities and great responsibilities.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
March 9, 2000
The President. Thank you. Well, first of all, welcome to the White House. Welcome to this
wonderful East Room, where Thomas Jefferson and Meriwether Lewis planned the Lewis and
Clark expedition to explore parts of America no one had ever seen, to try to find an ocean that no
one thought could be reached by land. In a way, we are here on an even grander expedition, to
try to find a place in the human heart no one has ever seen, that many believe we cannot reach in
this life.
Otline of President's Spuch
-
Acknonledgements
- Speak about importance of the American Presselent
series profound
create sense of nation coherency
show depictions of all president's esp. relevent
in light of the national growth. As we look around
in an economy of lawest unemployment
we have a national growing sense of who all that
may L> be accomplished
depictions of these presidents ~ as we
se track each one's ascent to leade political
theore of
leadership - help contribute to B the ever
expension
growing sense of what is possible
knowledge
appropriate that we have introduce this national
national
discussion of the American presidency here in
the east room
EAST ROOM
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EAST ROOM intimate (History, IMPORTANCE s fie in m/ themes of the evening)
In many ways
border's at 19th $ Ele 214-906-4914
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6: 25 - -NW oate -Nwoate
THE USHERS OFFICE
202 456 6255
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JOSH CONNERNER 50
62505
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS:
Mr. Seymour "Sy" Sternberg; Chairman, President and CEO of New York Life Insurance Company (funded project)
Mr. Philip B. Kunhardt, III and Margaret (spouse); Co-Producer, Co-Writer, Co-Director
OTHER CREATORS OF THE SERIES:
Dr. William Baker; President and CEO, WNET Channel 13
Mr. Peter W. Kunhardt; Executive Producer and Co-Producer, Co-Writer, Co-Director
Mr. Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr.; Co-Producer, Co-Writer, Co-Director
Mr. Hugh Sidey, commentator
Professor Richard Neustadt, on camera historian
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS:
Sen. Charles S. Robb (D/VA)
Sen. Dale Bumpers (James Madison)
VOICES FROM THE SERIES WHO ARE IN THE AUDIENCE:
Mr. Ben Bradlee (Warren Harding)
Mr. Walter Cronkite (George Washington)
Mr. David Gergen (James Buchanon)
Senator John Glenn (Rutherford B. Hayes)
Mr. James Roosevelt (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
Mr. Charlie Rose (John Tyler)
Mr. Danlel Rostenkowski (Chester Arthur)
Mr. Tim Russert (Millard Fillmore)
Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver (Sargeant was the voices of Franklin Pierce)
Sen. Paul Simon (Abraham Lincoln)
Gov. Lowell Weiker (Grover Cleveland)
Gov. William Weld (Calvin Coolidge)
OTHER NOTEABLES IN THE AUDIENCE:
Dr. William Ferris, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
OFFICE
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Kunhardtp.2
It's been important to us that the series has been supported by a
national educational effort, anchored by a web site that represents a
collaboration among several thousand social studies teachers around
the country. One of the highlights of the web site is a student
magazine about politics. And we are pleased to have with us tonight
Candice Pine, an eighth grade student from New York who is
covering this event for our online magazine
I'd also like to tip my hat to two special people whom it has been our
great pleasure to work closely with over the course of this project:
Hugh Sidey our wonderful and learned narrator whom we count as a
close friend; and Dick Neustadt, our extraordinary on-camera
commentator who has illuminated US and endeared himself to us all.
Tonight, we are going to show you two short pieces from The
American President. The first is the opening segment of an hour-long
episode entitled "The American Way" and focuses on the
extraordinary figure of Thomas Jefferson. It features the voice of the
Honorable Andrew Young, whose rendition still gives me thrills
whenever 1 hear it. 1 hope you like it.
{Jefferson episode shown here}
The second piece you will see tonight from The American President
forms the finale of an episode entitled "Family Ties" - a look at four
American political dynasties and their hold on the high office. Though
most of our presidents have come from humble origins, there has
been a handful of men seemingly born for the White House.
Following our profiles of John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Harrison, and
Franklin D. Roosevelt comes this - - our treatment of John F.
Kennedy. We hope you enjoy it.
APR 87 2008 12:04
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Gottheimer
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS FOR THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT SERIES
Welcomente
THE WHITE HOUSE
April 7, 2000
this,
Good evening. Tonight I have the privilege of opening the first in a series of events
celebrating the 200th anniversary of the people's house. Of course, it's befitting that our first
event honors the lives of the individuals who have roamed its halls and carried the awesome
burden that ecompanics.it. within its walls.
This room - like the White House - has not only witnessed historical events - it has
played a role in shaping them. It has played host to forty-one administrations - and forty-one
different personalities. The East Room began as a laundry room for Abigail Adams. Thomas
Jefferson and his personal aide Meriwether Lewis laid maps upon the floor and charted the
Lewis and Clark expedition. It later served as quarters for battle-worn Union troops during the
Civil War. President Roosevelt's children even roller-skated on its floors. Over the years, it has
survived a fires, two wars, a plane crash -- even five weddings. And, of course, it has been a
gallery for priceless artwork.
Each portrait on these walls tells the story of the promise of one American life and, in
doing so, the promise of all American life. They offer a fesson, an example, a challenge for
every American to live up to the responsibilities of citizenship. While this series recounts the
lives of forty one individuals, as a whole, it too captures the promise of American life
Each President in his own time has faced unique challenges in striving to fulfill the
purpose of our Constitution "to form a more perfect Union." Tonight we will have the
opportunity to view two selections from the American President series - the first documentary
series ever to profile all of America's chief executives. The first viewing is on the life of one of
our Founding Fathers, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and our third President,
Thomas Jefferson. Every American President has been inspired by Jefferson's ideals - affected
by his decisions, fascinated by his character. Jefferson spent a lifetime shaping a new and ever-
evolving democracy, that would become, as he said. "more developed, more enlightened as new
discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change."
One hundred and fifty years later, our thirty-fifth President, John F. Kennedy, brought
that same spirit of innovation and progress to the White House. John Kennedy's fleeting time here
among us remains a singular story in the history of our great nation. He was our President for
this
only a thousand days, but he changed the way we think about our country, our world, and our
House
own obligations to the future. With his New Frontier, he inspired million of Americans -
including me - to take a personal responsibility for moving our country forward, and for
advancing the cause of freedom throughout the world. As Kennedy said, "The new frontier
is
not a set of promises. It is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the
American people, but what I intend to ask of them."
1
creat men have call this house home. will too But
And Mary up resident the not Kennedy's too ideas distant inspired my own future career in -- public a woman service - and It by one
a model for my own presidency But But the presidency, like this House, was not built by one THEIR person
It is It truly a embodies callective the work of work all for the esidents cullective work of cell who
Now I'd like to introduce Sy Sternberg [Chairman of New York Life Insurance Program]
who made this evening and this project possible.
THE USHERS OFFICE
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FROM INY LIFE INS CO
White House Reception . 4/7/00
Sy Sternberg's Comments
It's a great pleasure and a privilege to be here tonight representing
New York Life. I want to especially thank President Clinton for
hosting this evening's event. I can't think of a better place than the
White House to preview this truly groundbreaking documentary.
Five years ago, New York Life was most fortunate that the
Kunhardt family approached us to be sole sponsor of The American
President. The Kunhardts' vision immediately resonated with
what's important to our company - we have a long and proud
history intertwined with the Nation's and a longstanding
commitment to children their welfare and education.
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FROM :NY LIFE INS LU
Sternberg, Stern p.2
Abraham Lincoln was a country lawyer when New York Life first
opened for business. During the Civil War, We insured both
Northerners and Southerners, sometimes crossing battle lines under
a flag of truce to pay claims. We were there for our policyholders
during the San Francisco earthquake and the Great Depression.
Ten U.S. Presidents were policyholders and two Presidents served
on our Board. Our company loves America and everything it stands
for.
We also gravitated to The American President series because of its
focus on the education of our youth. Over the years, New York Life
and the New York Life Foundation have committed considerable
resources to children's causes, particularly education. At a time
when our education system in many parts of the country shows signs
of serious weakness, we believe we have an obligation to do our part
in opening the marvelous world of American history to our students.
APR 07 2000 11:54
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Sternberg. p.3
The American President series and its web-based Outreach Program
for students represent a return to teaching children about history in
a lively and entertaining fashion -- without sacrificing any of the
vital research and scholarship. Thanks to the Kunhardts,
Thirteen/WNET and PBS, the results are even better than we had
expected.
I want to cite the Kunhardts in particular -- Philip Jr., Philip III and
Peter. The American President series was a five-year labor of love
for them. They created it with a combination of thorough research,
vast knowledge of the presidency, unmatched production skills and
just plain hard work. At the heart of the production is their own
family collection of presidential photographs. They have given us a
precious historical legacy.
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2124477998 22444 , 1930
Stersberg p.4
Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our
next guest - one of the driving, and creative, forces behind the
American President - Philip Kunhardt III.
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White House Remarks--Philip B. Kunhardt III
Thank you, Sy. It takes a company and a person of long-range vision
to stand behind so vast and long-term a project as this. We found that
person in Sy Sternberg, Chairman and CEO of New York Life, who
has shown us in a very personal way the signature trademarks of his
company: leadership, strength, and integrity.
And thank you very much, Mr. President. On behalf of my father, and
my brother, and all of us at Kunhardt Productions, I'd like to say what
a privilege it is to be here in this great historic house to celebrate the
history of the American presidency.
We began this project, Mr. President, during the second year of your
first term in office. The young adults you see gathered with US here
tonight-mostly belonging to my brother Peter and myself-were all
young children when this project began. And what 3 room to be
gathered in! Here, Meriwether Lewis set up a make-shift office before
being sent west by Thomas Jefferson to explore our vast frontiers.
Here, under Abraham Lincoln, northern troops literally camped out
during the early days of the Civil War when the future of the Union
was in such peril. This room has hosted the festive weddings of our
first families, and also, all too often, unbelievably sad state funerals. If
there is one thing 1 have learned over the course of this project, it is
how much the presidency has meant, and still means, to us as a
people.
This is a project that could only have been made for public television.
And all of us here anticipate great things for PBS under the exciting
new leadership of Pat Mitchell.
Many, many people worked on this series. I'd like to thank our CO-
producer, WNET/Thirteen. Bill Baker ad Ward Chamberlin's
wonderful staff, headed by Tammy Robinson and Bill Grant. has been
there with us as our partner, and friend, throughout. And Bill's faith in
the project and keen editorial eye has benefited the series all along
the way. They, along with Cindy Spiegel, our brilliant editor at
Riverhead Books, have helped us immensely in steering this often
difficult course.
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Message on the Observance of Presidents' Day, 1998,
February 12, 1998
Warm greetings to all Americans as we observe Presidents' Day, 1998.
On this day we remember with pride the history of the American Presidency and the achievements of
the many extraordinary leaders who have guided our nation's course over the past two centuries. Each
President in his own time has faced unique challenges in striving to fulfill the purpose of our
Constitution "to form a more perfect Union."
For George Washington, that challenge meant sustaining and strengthening the fragile Union he had
helped to establish. During the eight years of his Presidency, he carried out the awesome
responsibilities of his office with such care and wisdom that he confirmed the trust of his fellow
Americans and proved to a watching world that our new republic would survive and flourish. [p.252]
Abraham Lincoln's great challenge was to preserve the Union. Taking the oath of office after seven
states had already seceded, President Lincoln resolved to keep our country united, even at the cost of
civil war. With courage and tenacity, he led America through four years of bloody conflict and, in
victory, reached out to begin the healing that would bring us together again as one nation. "With
malice toward none," he said less than two months before his death, "with charity for all
let us
strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds
to do all which may achieve
and cherish a just and lasting peace
"
kor
Your
¥
for
Today we face our own challenge to build a more perfect Union, a Union that must now be forged
from one of history's most racially and culturally diverse societies 1 We can do so by widening the
--le of opportunity for all our people: opportunity for a good education, opportunity for good jobs,
opportunity to reach our own great potential. If we do so, we will keep faith with these great leaders
whose memory we honor today and enter the 21st century with our Union stronger than ever.
Best wishes for a memorable observance.
Bill Clinton
Reft
Source: United States. Executive Office of the President, Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Week Ending Friday, February 13,
1998 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1998). 34:251-252
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Proclamation 6669-25 st Anniversary of the Birth of Thomas Jefferson,
April 13, 1994
By the President of the United States
of America
A Proclamation
"I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions,"
Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the
TOWN
progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new
discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change institutions must
advance also, and keep paee with the times.'
These words have challenged and inspired the countless millions who have come to America's
capital and have seen them inscribed on the marble wall of the Jefferson Memorial. Jefferson's
statue presides nobly over America's capital city, a steadfast and enduring reminder of the
democratic government that he helped to found. Yet unlike his unchanging visage, our democracy's
institutions have proved to be remarkably agile in governing, maturing as society has progressed,
evolving as human knowledge and technology have advanced-far beyond Jefferson's imagining.
Of all the truths Jefferson knew to be self-evident, of all the freedoms he held dear, this
understanding of the need for political and social innovation is perhaps his most lasting gift. He
helped to endow us with the freedom to embrace change.
As we complete the year celebrating the 250th anniversary of his birth, it is entirely fitting that we
again pause to reflect upon both the contradictions of Jefferson's life and the meaning of his legacy.
Far from the sculpted perfection of his statue, Jefferson acknowledged, even anguished about, his
failings as a leader. In expressing his fervent hope that we would one day purge the evil of slavery
from our land, he wrote, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice
cannot sleep forever." Despite his flaws, Jefferson imbued us with his powerful faith that justice
would ultimately transcend our seeming inability to do what we know is right. And I believe he
would rejoice to know how far America has come toward winning equal justice under law.
In the United States, we must constantly relearn his teaching that change is both an inevitable and
essential part of safeguarding our precious freedoms. We recognize, as he did in his day, that our
democracy must continue to develop, that we must shape our politics and policies to meet the
rapidly shifting needs of our people and to embrace the better angels of our nature. On this day, we
remember that our Nation is an ongoing experiment, a new and fragile spirit, requiring our eternal
care and vigilance if it is to continue to grow and prosper and shine.
Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim
Wednesday, April 13, 1994, as the 25 1st Anniversary of the Birth of Thomas Jefferson. I
encourage all Americans to reflect upon his words and deeds and to rededicate themselves to
making our Nation one of which he would be proud. Additionally, I call upon the people of the
United States to observe this occasion with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America
the two hundred and eighteenth.
William J. Clinton
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:11 a.m., April 14, 1994]
1 of 2
4/7/2000 6:13 PM
THE PRESIDENCY
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
April 2, 1998
Well, let me say, I've done my best to do what every President who has commented on this, from
George Washington forward, has said the President should do, which is that for the period of
your service, insofar as possible, you should cease to be an individual citizen and spend all your
time and energy on the country. And that's what I've tried to do And I've done my best at it, and
the results have been satisfactory, I think, for the American people. And that's what I intend to
continue to do. Others should evaluate that question, but I need to keep working on the people's
business, and that's what I intend to do.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
February 16, 2000
I feel like the luckiest person alive; that at this moment in history, I was fortunate enough to be
given a chance to serve as President and to focus the attention of the Nation on the future on
some old-fashioned ideas: everybody counts, everybody ought to have a chance, everybody's got
a role to play, we all do better when we help each other.
The work I have done to build one America for a new century was a joy every day.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
January 26, 2000
...
people who do serious histories of this administration will be amazed at the amount of energy
and effort that went into the wide variety of areas that we worked in. And I think that it will
show that in virtually every area we had progress, from helping to reduce poverty to improving
the plight of our children, to creating an environment with the reform of telecommunications, the
reform of banking, and getting rid of the deficit and major investments in science and
technology, to this exploding new economy.
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Quote.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
November 6, 1997
CITE: 33 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1741
# proper
LENGTH: 1030 words
HEADLINE: Remarks at the Dedication of the George Bush Presidential Library in College
Station
BODY:
Thank you very much President and Mrs. Bush, President and Mrs. Ford, President and Mrs.
Carter, Mrs. Reagan, Mrs. Johnson, David and Julie Eisenhower, Caroline Kennedy
Schlossberg, Reverend Graham, Governor and Mrs. Bush, Vice President and Mrs. Quayle,
and to all the foreign dignitaries and American officials who are here.
The sun is shining on Texas A&M today. And the sun is shining on America today. You know,
we have an interesting country, with a lot of religious, racial, and political diversity. Once in a
while, we all get together. This morning, I think it's fair to say that all Americans are united
in tribute to President George Bush for his lifetime of service to America.
I enjoyed immensely listening to the previous speakers. When Mrs. Reagan spoke -- I hope
someday Al Gore will be glad that we had lunch once a week. [Laughter] When President Ford
spoke, I said, I hope I will look that good when I am 25 years younger than he is. [Laughter]
When President Carter spoke, I thought, thank goodness he just reminded the whole world
that Presidents have to raise all the money for their libraries. [Laughter]
In 1942, young George Bush heard Secretary of War Henry Stimson challenge his generation
to be, and I quote, "be brave without being brutal; self-confident without boasting; part of an
irresistible might, but without losing faith in individual liberty." President Bush not only heard
those words, he has lived them. And he has rallied his fellow citizens to serve as well in their
communities, for their country, and for the cause of democracy around the world.
There are many things that I, not only as President but as a citizen, am grateful to George
and Barbara Bush for. I'd like to just mention a few today. As President and afterward, he has
worked to ensure that "A Thousand Points of Light" is not merely a striking image but a
lasting legacy. I thank him for that initiative and for cochairing the Presidents' Summit on
Service.
As President, he summoned all the Governors, including me, to the University of Virginia for a
summit on education, where we stayed up more than half the night in a totally bipartisan
fashion to write national education goals for our country. And when he was President, Mrs.
Bush espoused the importance of literacy and the importance of citizens volunteering to
make sure all our children can read. I thought of that when we launched our America Reads
initiative, which now has tens of thousands of college students at hundreds of universities all
across America, trying to do what Barbara Bush always said we should do, to make sure
every one of our fellow citizens could read and read well. And I thank them both for that.
As President and afterward, President Bush stood for American leadership for peace and
prosperity, for freedom and democracy. He was the last President of the cold war, but he
knew that American responsibility could not end with the cold war. And he showed us that in
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Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The vigilance President Bush displayed in dealing with Iraq,
as we all know, is required again today. And I believe the American people support that
vigilance, thanks in no small measure to your example not so long ago. And I thank you for
that, Mr. President.
As President and afterward, President Bush pushed America to embrace new alliances of
trade as instruments of both economic growth and growing democracy. He launched NAFTA
and the talks that led to the World Trade Organization. I was proud to complete those efforts,
and I am very grateful for the support he continues to give, along with our other former
Presidents, to the imperative of American leadership in expanding alliances of trade, not only
for our economic welfare but to support our political ideals.
Tomorrow the House of Representatives will vote on whether to extend fast-track authority to
negotiate trade agreements. I hope Congress will follow the lead that President Bush and the
other former Presidents have set to expand trade and our vital horizons in the 21st century. I
thank you, Mr. President, for that.
For more than 4 1/2 years now, even though our relationship began under somewhat unusual
circumstances, I have been very grateful that whenever I called on President Bush, he was
always there with wise counsel and, when he agreed, with public support. It's hard to express
to someone who hasn't experienced it what it means in a moment of difficulty to be able to
call someone who, first of all, knows exactly what you're up against and, secondly, will tell
you the truth. And he has done that time and time again. I am persuaded that the country is
better off because of it. And I thank you, Mr. President, for your counsel and your assistance.
This magnificent library will be a place for scholars who try to understand what has happened
in some of America's most important years. It's a place for citizens who want to know right
now what went on in the life and career of George Bush. It's also a place from which any
person would draw enormous inspiration, a place for the reaffirmation of our faith in America.
Benjamin Franklin told our Constitutional Convention, "The first man put at the helm will be a
good one, but no one knows what sort will come afterward." Mr. President, I think if
Benjamin Franklin were here today, he would say that in George Bush, America has had a
good man whose decency and devotion have served our country well. And that is the story
this library will tell to generations to come.
wuld
groud
Thank you, and God bless you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 11:25 a.m. in front of the library building at Texas A&M
University. In his remarks, he referred to former First Ladies Barbara Bush, Betty Ford,
Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, and Lady Bird Johnson; David Eisenhower, grandson of
former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his wife, Julie, daughter of former President
Richard M. Nixon; Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of former President John F.
Kennedy; Rev. Billy Graham, who gave the invocation; Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, and
his wife, Laura; and former Vice President Dan Quayle and his wife, Marilyn.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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not
%
to the ESA
What we did not see then and what we know now is that equal access to public schools does not
guarantee the educational excellence that should be the birthright of every American on the edge
TJ or 5 print
of the 21st century.
vewal
voe
Jenson tagt us
lept
Public Papers of the Presidents
ne tost us on me
Public Papers of the Presidents
September 24, 1996
President Kennedy's vision exceeded the possibilities of his time, but his words speak to us
still.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
September 5, 1995
And I really wanted to meet President Kennedy because I admired him and I liked him and I
agreed with what he was trying to do. And I liked him because he was highly controversial in my
home State and throughout the South because be was trying to finish the work of the Civil War.
He was trying to pass all of the civil rights legislation. He was trying to eliminate racial
discrimination. And he was taking a lot of heat for it. And a lot of people in my part of the
country weren't for him because of it. But I was for him because of it, because I believed in what
he was doing. So it was not only a great thing for me to meet the President, but I thought that he
was really looking out for our future, and I thought I would live in a better America because he
was President. So I was very excited about it.
And I remember the day it occurred. I didn't know if the President was going to shake hands with
all of the 100 boys, but because I was from Arkansas, I was at the top of the alphabet --
[laughter] -- and because I was above average in size, I could sort of elbow my way up to the
front of the line. [Laughter] So I made sure I got to shake his hand. Although he was quite nice,
he stayed around. I think he shook most people's hands that day.
But it was a wonderful thing, you know. That's a great thing about this country. I mean, I just --
here I was coming from a modest-sized town, and one day I was shaking hands with the
President, kind of like this. That's one of the great things about democracy. You know, your
families" votes count just as much as mine does.
Public Papers of the Presidents, March 16, 1993
Public Papers of the Presidents
March 16, 1993
I thought I would tell you this, for those of you who don't know, since President Kennedy once
said at a dinner of Nobel laureates that it was the most distinguished array of brainpower ever
gathered in the White House since Thomas Jefferson dined there alone. [Laughter] James Hoban
Was of 1812 key event
PREFACE
L)
try but fail to bring house down but up
famous people who have passed through its
the more pieces House white
dars as rep of the times
how while House the literal location has
Wit
changed along w/ our symbolic notions of America
ith its clutter of signs and ordinary lampposts, it looks
the executive of the United States consist of a single indi-
like streets all across the country, but just down Pennsylva-
vidual. James Madison, taking notes, recorded the impact of
nia Avenue in Washington, D.C., is the most important
the proposal, which thrust the roomful of buzzing delegates
address in the world. In a monumental house conceived and
into a sudden and total silence. All knew it was a moment
built by George Washington, who almost lived to see it fin-
of fateful significance. Wilson believed that a single presi-
ished, every president since has carried his own burden
dent could give energy and dispatch to the office, allowing
through its halls, has stood in awe of the gigantic East
for decisiveness during critical moments in history. But for
Room, has thrilled to its great pillars and stately façades, has
others the idea seemed fraught with danger, though no one
spent sleepless nights tossing in its beds The grand house,
wanted to insult the man sitting in their midst who would
like the presidency itself has both remained very much a
almost certainly be named to the job should such an office
constant and changed tremendously over the two centuries
be created-General George Washington. After "a consider-
200y
since John Adams made the mansion his own on November
able pause," in Madison's words, Edmund Randolph of Vir-
1, 1800, with the very first night's sleep of a chief executive.
ginia spoke out on behalf of those opposed, calling a solitary
Thirteen years earlier, at the Constitutional Conven-
executive "the foetus of monarchy," and urging that the
tion in Philadelphia, the idea for the presidency was born.
office be shared by an executive committee. And so Wilson's
On June 1, 1787, James Wilson of Pennsylvania moved that
proposal was debated on that first Friday in June, and after
OOK OUT
STREET CARS
TURNING
ON THIS
2.0und
REDLIGHT
vi
all monumental events in our history - the residue of that
event remains
"The spirit of our citizens, rising with a strength and majesty which show the
loveliness of freedom, will make this government in practice what it is in
principle, a model for the protection of man in a state of freedom and order."
--Thomas Jefferson to Thaddeus Kosciusko, 1799. ME 10:116
to William Johnson, 1823. ME 15:440
"We of the United States are constitutionally and conscientiously democrats.
We consider society as one of the natural wants with which man has been
created; that he has been endowed with faculties and qualities to effect its
satisfaction by concurrence of others having the same want; that when, by the
exercise of these faculties, he has procured a state of society, it is one of his
acquisitions which he has a right to regulate and control, jointly indeed with all
those who have concurred in the procurement, whom he cannot exclude from its
use or direction more than they him." --Thomas Jefferson to Pierre Samuel
Dupont de Nemours, 1816. ME 14:487
"We exist, and are quoted as standing proofs that a government, so modeled as
to rest continually on the will of the whole society, is a practicable government."
-- -Thomas Jefferson to Richard Rush, 1820. ME 15:284
Though President Kennedy famously said this in reference to the space program, its relevance
extends to all areas of our national endeavors
"We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be
won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people" Pres. John F. Kennedy, Sept.
12, 1962, Rice University, Houston
Hugh Sidey records the narration
for the companion PBS docu-
With
mentary series "The American
President." Below, he reflects on
more than four decades covering
the White House for Time
magazine, including the presi-
dencies of Truman, Eisenhower
and the eight chief executives
pictured with him to the right.
With
A Personal Journey by Hugh Sidey
John Kennedy sat forward to listen closely to his space experts. They told him
it would cost $40 billion (a huge sum then) and take ten years, and they
could not guarantee that the United States would beat the Soviet Union to
the moon. Kennedy grimaced, ran his fingers through his hair, then leaned
With
back in his chair in the Cabinet Room. He wanted Americans on the moon-
and first. "I want some answers," he told the small group of aides. "Ask the
janitor over there if you have to. But I want to know how and when we can
get to the moon."
I thought to myself, as I watched and listened to this restless young man
of privilege and daring on that April evening in 1961, that with a few words
he had launched the nation on a great adventure. And it must have been the
With
same with the visionary Thomas Jefferson, who doubled the size of the United
States with the Louisiana Purchase; and the prairie lawyer Abraham Lincoln,
who marshaled the most powerful army the world had known to abolish slav-
ery; and T heodore Roosevelt, who sent his engineers to build the Panama
Canal. With,vision and a free people behind them, these presidents- and the
others profoundly transformed civilization. In our time there is no more
With
effective and powerful political office on the face of the earth.
(Every one of the forty-one men who have been president has left his
mark, some-more positive than others. No president wants to fail, *Lyndon
ohnson once protested when he was criticized about the Vietnam War. You
do the best you know how. In the midst of that tragic conflict he had won
battles for better education and health care And Richard Nixon, who would
be driven'from office by the Watergate scandal, had journeyed triumphantly
With
through China, offering American friendship for the first time after twenty-
five years of Chinese isolation.
1 he presidency, like democracy, is not an easy journey. I'm going to
give the job to Nixon, JFK once grumped when things were going badly. He
knew better. He gloried in the great chess game; as he called it. I hat is why
o many people now fight for the right to be president I ve ridden along on
this historicicaravan for more than forty years now J here is no more fascinat-
Witl
ing and thrilling-and often entertaining drama that we can witness.
It is my/great hope that this book and the public television series it
accompanies will allow every reader and viewer to hear the voices and the
bugle calls and the church bells, and then feel the excitement of these men
calling their nation to the most magnificent efforts in war and peace that
humankind has known.
Wit
FOREWORD
phen Skowronek
University
T
he American President invites readers to rethink presi-
government. The natural inclination to identify the travails
dential history and reconsider the men who have held
of the sitting president with problems in the governmental
America's top leadership position. The book draws us into
system itself is tempered by this perspective on the past, as
the history with an extraordinary collection of photographic
is the yearning for a leader who will "make the system
and pictorial images, the most comprehensive visual
work." And yet, important as it is to understand the frus-
accounting of the principal characters and their environs
tration of presidents as part and parcel of the way our sys-
ever assembled in a single volume. But I would like to draw
tem works, this insight will take us only so far. Indeed, for
particular attention to the narrative supported by this art-
anyone interested in general attributes of the presidential
work. These stunning images are arrayed in the service of an
office, a chronological analysis of the struggles of individual
innovative approach to the subject matter. The arrangement
characters in particular contexts will prove quite limited.
and presentation of the material allow us to see familiar fig-
Even those paragons who reached the commanding heights
ures afresh and to gain new insight into this most enigmatic
of authority and accomplishment appear fixed in place by
of institutions.
this perspective, limited in what they can teach others by the
Familiar as it is, the American presidency has never
idiosyncrasies of personality and circumstance.
been easy to understand. The institution has a protean char-
In recent years, an alternative perspective has taken
acter that defies fixed descriptions and settled explanations.
hold that directs our attention more specifically to the insti-
At one moment, it disappoints; at the next, it astonishes. Its
tutional development of the presidential office. Studies writ-
ry is riddled with eminence and embarrassment, profi-
ten from this point of view remind us that though each of
and paralysis. As each incumbent brings something
our presidents has held the same constitutional position, the
different to the jobyeach administration reveals some, fea-
governing norms and practical operations of that office have
ture of the position scarcely intimated in the experience of
changed over time in rather dramatic ways. Instead of dis-
his immediate predecessors
cussing presidential history administration by administra-
Writing about an office so mutable and unpredictable
tion, works on the development of the office typically
is one of the great challenges of political analysis, and no sin-
consider several administrations together in broadly defined
gle response has proved entirely satisfactory. But if the pres-
eras: the early national period of the founding generation of
idency does not admit of a definitive history, it does
presidents, the "party period" of the nineteenth-century
encourage experimentation with different perspectives that
presidency, and the period of the "modern presidency," ush-
might capture one or another of its many aspects. Consider
ered in by the New Deal and World War II. Within each of
the two most prominently displayed in the literature.
these periods we see a group of presidents who shared simi-
The first approach, "the men and their times," has
lar political resources, technological capacities, and institu-
long been the perspective of choice among biographers and
tional supports, and the coherence of the office can be
historians. Studies of this sort show us the unique ways in
discerned in reference to common assumptions and expec-
which personality and circumstance interact within the
tations about the exercise of power. From this perspective,
presidential office to determine the fate of particular admin-
the key distinctions to be drawn among presidents are not
istrations. Chronological histories of the presidents written
between the "greats" and the lesser lights but between those
from this point of view indicate as well how rare it is for the
of one period and the next, as each group is seen to inhabit
critical elements to combine in just the right way. The great
a very different institution.
success stories-George Washington, Abraham Lincoln,
This more schematic rendering of presidential history
Franklin Roosevelt-are few and far between, and they
facilitates generalizations about the office, but note that
out starkly against the long progression of lesser lights.
these are generalizations of a particular kind. While similar-
For those attuned to the frustrations and shortfalls of
ities among presidents within each period are fairly easy to
recent incumbents, these chronological histories are espe-
spot, similarities among presidents in different periods tend
cially instructive. They suggest that our contemporary expe-
to get filtered out. Indeed, when the "modern presidency" is
rience is very much the normal state of affairs in American
understood as an institution different in kind from all prior
xii
WHITE HOUSE
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
October 12, 1999
This is a fitting thing for us to do in the White House, because innovations in communication
and technology are a very important part of the history of this old place. In 1858 the first
transatlantic telegraph transmission was received here in a message that Queen Victoria sent to
President Buchanan. Later, the first telephone in Washington, DC, was located in a room
upstairs, and we now have a replica of that telephone in the same room upstairs. The first mobile
phone call to the Moon was made here by President Nixon 30 years ago. Even these Millennium
Evenings have made their own history. This is where we held the first-ever cybercast at the
White House.
Public Papers of the Presidents
Public Papers of the Presidents
July 7, 1995
want to say, too, that we thought that we ought to have this ceremony in the East Room. This
has always been the people's room
Many of you know that it was in this room that Abigail Adams used to dry the family laundry
when the room was nothing more than a brick shell. You may not know that the great explorer
Meriwether Lewis set up camp here, surrounded by canvas tarps, books, and hunting rifles in the
day when he was Thomas Jefferson's secretary. John Quincy Adams frequently would come here
to watch the Sun rise after he finished his early morning swim in the Potomac.
These portraits, as has already been said, will be seen by millions of Americans who visit here,
reminding them of what these
great Americans stood for and for what they have done to
strengthen our country. The portraits in the White House are more than likenesses. They tell the
story of the promise of one American life and, in so doing, the promise of all American life.
They offer a lesson, an example, a challenge for every American to live up to the responsibilities
of citizenship.
seir
dues
Public Papers of the Presidents
what
Public Papers of the Presidents
July 28, 1999
This country has been around a long time because we have remained faithful to our ideals, but
forever young and open to change, I don't want to conduct a tour of the White House today, but
the old house was finished in 1800. So, on our millennial year, we will celebrate the 200th
birthday of the White House. The painting of George Washington to my left, to your right, was
painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1797 and purchased for the then enormous sum of $ 500, for the
White House. It is priceless today.
But it's worth remembering how important it is to keep democracy alive, that in 1814, when we
were in the last throes of the War of 1812 and the British were coming up the Potomac, the
President of the United States, James Madison -- who was the last President to be the active
Commander in Chief for the Armed Forces, and so was up in Maryland, where he mistakenly
thought the British would be -- at the head of an army, sent word back to his wife, Dolley, who
was preparing this vast banquet -- the White House was full of food; this room was full of food --
that the British were on the way and she should get out, but no matter what, she had to take the
picture of George Washington.
So Dolley Madison cut that picture out of its frame, rolled it up, and got out of the White House.
The British arrived to find the empty frame, ate the food, and burned the house. [Laughter] But
we rebuilt the house, and the picture still lives. And every time I see that picture, I think about it.
It was in this room that Thomas Jefferson met with his secretary, Merriwether Lewis, to plan the
Lewis and Clark expedition -- right where you're all sitting. The place was covered with
bearskins and ancient maps, and they were -- President Jefferson was in love with the geography
and science, and he saw this whole thing as not only a geographical expedition, but he thought
that all kinds of scientific information would be gathered along the way. So a lot of very
important things have happened where you are sitting today that remind us that America is a
place with great opportunities and great responsibilities.
"The equal rights of man, and the happiness of every individual, are now
acknowledged to be the only legitimate objects of government. Modern times
have the signal advantage, too, of having discovered the only device by which
these rights can be secured, to wit: government by the people, acting not in
person, but by representatives chosen by themselves, that is to say, by every
man of ripe years and sane mind, who contributes either by his purse or person
to the support of his country." -Thomas Jefferson to A. Coray, 1823. ME
15:482
"Every man, and every body of men on earth, possesses the right of
self-government." -Thomas Jefferson: Opinion on Residence Bill, 1790. ME
3:60
"Every nation has a right to govern itself internally under what forms it pleases,
and to change these forms at its own will." Thomas Jefferson to Thomas
Pinckney, 1792. ME 9:7
"When forced to assume [self-government], we were novices in its science. Its
principles and forms had entered little into our former education. We
established, however, some, although not all its important principles." -- Thomas
Jefferson to John Cartwright, 1824. ME 16:44
The Foundation of Self-Government
"Man [is] a rational animal, endowed by nature with rights, and with an innate
sense of justice; and he [can] be restrained from wrong and protected in right,
by moderate powers, confided to persons of his own choice, and held to their
duties by dependence on his own will." Thomas Jefferson to William Johnson,
1823. ME 15:441
socich
"Man is capable of living in society, governing itself by laws self-imposed, and
securing to its members the enjoyment of life, liberty, property, and peace."
--Thomas Jefferson: Declaration and Protest of Virginia, 1825. ME 17:446
"Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of
himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we
found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this
question." Thomas Jefferson: 1st Inaugural, 1801. ME 3:320
"At the formation of our government, many had formed their political opinions
on European writings and practices, believing the experience of old countries,
and especially of England, abusive as it was, to be a safer guide than mere
theory. The doctrines of Europe were, that men in numerous associations
cannot be restrained within the limits of order and justice, but by forces physical
and moral, wielded over them by authorities independent of their will. Hence
their organization of kings, hereditary nobles, and priests." -Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
14. The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper.
15. When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.
16. No man will ever bring out of the Presidency the reputation which carries him into
it To myself, personally, it brings nothing but increasing drudgery and daily loss of
friends.
17. It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness.
18. The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object
should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a
government without newspapers, or newspapers wthout government, I should not
hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive
those papers, and be capable of reading them.
19. Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own
government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may
be relied on to set them to rights.
20. The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it
to be always kept alive.
21. Information is the currency of democracy.
22. Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press and that cannot be limited without
being lost.
23.1 like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
24. This institution will be based upon the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here
we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long
as reason is left free to combat it. - on the University of Virginia
25. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. -
from the US Declaration of Independence
26. We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and
independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable,
among which are the preservation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. - from
the first draft of the US Declaration of Independence