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09/12/1996 14:02
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CAWP
PAGE 01
THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
RUTGERS
Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP)
Fagieton institute of Politics
New Brunswick
New Jersey 08901
908/828-2210
FAX 908/932-6778
TELECOPY COVER SHEET
Date: 9/12/96
To: Subrine Corlette
Organization: Office of the First lady
City/State:
Telecopy
Number: 202-456-8 5709
Phone Number:
202-456-5708
Total Number of Pages in Transmission:
c
(including cover sheet)
Comments:
Rudh Mudel will be calling you in du
next helf hour to answer any greshors
Dinnerfowh.ch the First lady will be
about the English Institute Anniversary
taping 2 video greehing - congrahlehous
Sent From: Debbe Walsh 908-828-2210 x227
(on Forms disk: FAXCOVER
)
Ruth Mandel (908)528-0104
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PAGE 02
THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
RUTGERS
Eagleton Institute of Polltics
Wood Lawn
90 Clifton Avenue
New Brunswick
New Jersey 08901
908/932-9384
908/828-2210
FAX: 908/932-6778
Possible Talking Points for the First Lady
Mrs. Clinton may want to start by establishing her personal connections to Ruth Mandel, Eagleton, and
CAWP; if so, see the following page for suggestions
Following any opening comments, make the point that it's important that a first-rate state university is home
to a nationally-respected institute which cares so deeply about public service. The Eagleton Institute has for
the last 40 years placed a high value on public service and sought to provide essential tools for effective
public leadership. Rutgers and New Jersey can be proud to be home to an institute of politics which
demonstrates its concern for strengthening public leadership through its imaginative and innovative
education, research and public service programs. Whether working with state legislators, finding ways to
bring women into politics and government, gathering and sharing unbiased information on public opinion. or
developing public policy directions in education or employment, the Eagleton Institute sends out a message
that reaches well beyond New Jersey a message that our governmental institutions and political processes
deserve our best attention and the involvement of our most talented young people.
Eagleton educates people to participate in public service. Most notably this has happened through its
Master's degree program, which sends superbly trained graduates into key political and policymaking
positions including several Presidental Management Interns, selected in a highly competitive process from
top schools around the country. Eagleton Undergraduate Associates also leave college with invaluable
knowledge about politics and the governing process, as well as practical experience. In addition, Eagleton
educates policymakers and opinion leaders through its research and through its public programs. Eagleton
also recognizes that good government depends on listening to the many different voices of Americans, and
the First Lady knows that Ruth Mandel has a special interest in encouraging diversity in public life.
Mention the two Centers celebrating their anniversaries the Center for Public Interest Polling/Eagleton Poll
and the Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP).
The Eagleton Poll is held in high regard nationally for its survey research that informs state
policymaking, and also for its scholarly work on public opinion research, refining and improving the
processes by which information is gathered from citizens and training future polling specialists to do
high-quality work to inform the public.
CAWP is an unparalleled resource for women around the country, and a model for other countries
where women have undertaken similar efforts, including Korea and Germany; its impact has been
felt among political women as far away as the Phillipines and Mongolia. It provides accurate and
timely information about women's political participation, programs to enhance women's political
participation, and research that bridges the academic and political communities. For those who have
already spent years pushing for wider horizons and new opportunities for women, CAWP's Young
Women's Leadership Initiative is especially appreciated, because its imaginative educational
programs are providing support, encouragement and training for a new generation of women to
become leaders in public life.
Therefore, it's a pleasure to celebrate an institution that celebrates politics, and to congratulate the Eagleton
Institute of Politics on the occasion of its 40th anniversary and the 25th anniversaries of the Center for the
American Woman and Politics (CAWP) and the Center for Public Interest Polling/Eagleton Poll.
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PAGE 03
Background Points: The First Lady's History with
the Eagleton Institute of Politics and Ruth B. Mandel
Ruth Mandel has been director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics since January 1995; before that, she was
director of the Center for the American Woman and Politics for 23 years.
In addition to having mutual close friends -- Betsey Wright and Diane Blair -- the First Lady has had several
connections with Ruth Mandel and the Eagleton Institute over the years. For example:
Mrs. Clinton came to Eagleton as head of the spouses' group for the National Governor's
Assocation. She spent an afternoon in the Eagleton drawing room discussing the role of a political
spouse.
Mrs. Clinton visited Rutgers University twice during the 1992 campaign. During May she visited
the Center for the American Woman and Politics at Eagleton and spoke to a women's conference on
the campus of Douglass College, the women's college at Rutgers. Later that year she spoke at a rally
on the Rutgers College campus, and Ruth introduced her.
Ruth visited Little Rock on two occasions. Once, Mrs. Clinton gave her and her daughter a tour of
the governor's mansion. Another time, she came to hear Ruth speak to a breakfast for Arkansas
political women invited by Betsey Wright.
Ruth was appointed Vice Chair of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council by President Clinton. He
recently reappointed her to the Council.
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Eagleton Highlights
1953
Florence Peshine Eagleton leaves a substantial bequest in her estate to Rutgers
University for:
the advancement of learning in the field of practical political affairs and
government to the end that the study of the actual administration of
governmental processes, especially in the municipality and state, may be
encouraged and the active participation of American citizens therein may be
fostered and stimulated and that a knowledge of the meaning of democracy
may be increased through the education of young women and men in
Democratic government.
1956
Professor Donald Herzberg becomes the first director of the Eagleton Foundation.
which is renamed the Eagleton Institute of Politics in 1959.
1957-58
The first class of Eagleton Fellows enters and graduates from the new program. The
class consists of five students. (Typical classes today have approximately 20
students.)
1961
Eagleton, in affiliation with the National Center for Education in Politics. begins a
summer internship program for undergraduates from 17 colleges and universities
through which positions are developed in political offices at the state or local level
for a period of eight weeks. The program lasts until 1965. Another collaboration with
the National Center for Education in Politics sends high school teachers to the
Democratic and Republican conventions in 1960 and 1964.
1964
A selection of case studies developed by the Eagleton Institute is published under
the title Cases on Political Organization. The Case Studies in Practical Politics are
designed to bring actual political situations into the classroom; many are written by
participants in the events described. The series eventually includes 40 titles and is
edited by Professor Paul Tillett.
1966
The Center for State Legislative Research and Service is established. Between 1966
and 1975 Eagleton sponsors 10 annual conferences attended by 432 outstanding
legislators who want to improve their skills. The Camegie Corporation of New York
funds the program. The Center conducts comprehensive studies on organization,
procedures and staffing of legislatures in several states, later published by Rutgers
University Press in a series entitled Strengthening the State Legislature. In the
1970s, more focused studies examine legislative organization and operations in
several other states, and workshops or presentations are offered in more than 40
state legislatures throughout the country.
1970
The first annual Eagleton Election Day Luncheon Contest is held. Professor Alan
Rosenthal is the first winner of the coveted Eagleton Cup for best predicting the
election outcomes.
1971
The Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP) is established in July
1971 for the purpose of developing research, education and public service programs
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PAGE 05
to increase knowledge about women's participation in US politics and government.
Initial funding comes from the Ford Foundation. Within a few months, Ruth B.
Mandel and Ida F.S. Schmertz are named co-directors of the Center. In 1973,
Professor Mandel becomes director.
The Eagleton Poll is established in September by Professors John Blydenburgh and
Steven Salmore with initial funding from the Wallace-Eljabar Foundation (now the
Fund for New Jersey). Three goals continue to guide the Poll: 1) provide
information about public attitudes toward important statewide issues to the general
public and to elected and appointed officials; 2) provide information to state and
other public agencies to be used in planning, formulation and evaluation of public
policy; and 3) aid research on New Jersey state politics and public affairs
conducted at Rutgers University, and the Eagleton Institute in particular.
The first Eagleton poll, conducted in October 1971, asks about knowledge of state
government, the most important problems in the state, corruption in government,
taxes, the economy, and the governor's job rating.
The Center for State Legislative Research and Service engages in the first of two
demonstration projects with Ford Foundation funding. This project is intended to
help improve legislative policy formulation; a later one is intended to help improve
legislative review and evaluation. The later project is extended and refined in a
subsequent program which focuses on legislative review and evaluation in the
domain of education.
1972
CAWP convenes its first conference for women state legislators - the first national
gathering of elected women with funding from the Camegie Corporation of New
York, launching CAWP's ongoing Program for Women Public Officials.
Commissioned by CAWP, political scientist Jeane Kirkpatrick conducts research at
the conference, resulting in her landmark book, Political Woman. published in 1974.
1973
Professor Alan Rosenthal is named acting director of the Eagleton Institute of
Politics; he becomes director in 1974, holding that position until 1993.
The Eagleton Poll begins to conduct public policy research for state agencies. The
first report in May 1973 is for the New Jersey State Lottery Commission.
State Legislative Innovation, an outgrowth of Eagleton-sponsored research by
political scientists in a number of states, is published. The volume includes analyses
of a variety of developments in different state legislatures. The project is funded by
the Ford Foundation.
1974
The Eagleton Undergraduate Associates Program is cstablished with a class of 13
students. (Present-day classes include 20-25 students.)
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PAGE 06
1975
CAWP conducts its first census and survey of women elected officials and
establishes the National Information Bank on Women in Public Office to serve as a
clearinghouse for information about women officeholders. The survey provides the
basis for the first in a series of national directories of women public officials. The
National Information Bank also becomes the source of data for CAWP fact sheets
providing current and historical information about women candidates and
officeholders.
1976
The Eagleton Poll conducts the first New Brunswick Tomorrow Survey to track the
revitalization of the city. This survey, which has been conducted every other year
since 1976, is believed to be the longest ongoing tracking survey of a community.
1977
The 1977 gubernatorial election between incumbent Governor Brendan Byrne and
challenger Ray Bateman is the Eagleton Poll's first attempt at projecting election
results. Contrary to widespread expectations at the time, the final poll shows
Byrne likely to be a clear winner with about a 10 percent lead over Bateman. ^
journalist at the press conference announcing the results mumbles that "Eagleton
has set polling back to the time of the Truman-Dewey race." (Byrne did in fact win
by a substantial margin.)
The Eagleton Poll conducts the first of three Image of New Jersey surveys, which
provides extensive information about New Jerseyans, including the finding that
62% of respondents like living in the Garden State. The New York Times, surprised
by this finding, puts it on the front page of its national edition.
1978
CAWP, in collaboration with Wells College and the National Women's Education
Fund, establishes the Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN), a consortium
of women's colleges interested in educating women for and about politics and
public leadership.
1979
Professor Cliff Zukin, a member of Eagleton's faculty and the Eagleton Poll's
associate director, becomes director of the Poll.
1980
Harold Martin, a Rutgers alumnus and former New Jersey State Legislator, made a
generous gift to the University endowing the Harold Martin Fellowships at the
Eagleton Institute of Politics for students in the Eagleton Fellows Master's degree
program.
The Eagleton Fellows program is redesigned to emphasize politics and public
policy. Required courses are added to the curriculum, including policy analysis and
a policy research practicum. The first practicum produces a report for the New
Jersey Department of Transportation on "Improving Local Transportation Planning
and Implementation in New Jersey."
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PAGE 07
The Eagleton Poll is instrumental in founding the National Network of State Polls
(NNSP) a consortium of University-based state polling organizations. Poll director
Cliff Zukin serves as the first chair of its executive council. Representatives from
six universities are invited to an initial meeting to plan comparative research.
Today 56 organizations from 40 states belong to NNSP.
An Eagleton Poll survey, one of many designed to inform state policy, finds that
78% of state residents support teaching sex education in the public schools. This
information helps the State Board of Education to developing the state's policy on
family life education.
1981
Eagleton forms a partnership with the Star Ledger, establishing the Star
Ledger/Eagleton Poll. At the same time, the survey research unit of Eagleton is also
named the Center for Public Interest Polling (CPIP) to indicate its broader role in
public opinion research.
The Eagleton Poll, testing a new polling methodology called "panel callbacks,"
deems the gubernatorial race "too close to call" at a time when other polls are
predicting that Jim Florio will defeat Thomas Kean. When the race proves extremely
close, with Kean the ultimate victor, some newspapers declare the Poll the true
winner of the election for its accurate call.
CAWP conducts a major study comparing the routes taken by women and men to
elective and appointive offices, resulting in a series of reports on "Bringing More
Women Into Public Office." This research and subsequent studies on the impact of
women in public office are funded by the Charles H. Revson Foundation.
1982
CAWP convenes a tenth anniversary Conference for Women State Legislators.
focusing on legislative caucuses and the impact of public policies on women.
1983
Former President Gerald R. Ford inaugurates the Clifford Case Professorship in
honor of Senator Case, a loyal alumnus of Rutgers, a distinguished leader in New
Jersey, and an outstanding member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the
U.S. Senate. (Subsequent Case Professors include: Former Vice President Walter F.
Mondale: Senators Edmund S. Muskie, Charles McC. Mathias Jr., J. William
Fulbright and Nancy Landon Kassebaum; Governor Lowell P. Weicker Jr.: House
Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill; and Congressman Barber Conable Jr.)
The Eagleton Institute holds a "Conference for New Jersey Legislative Leaders." the
first of four conferences addressing aspects of the New Jersey Legislature held
between 1983 and 1988. The series of programs honors retired New Jersey
Assemblyman Albert Burstein and is organized by Eagleton in cooperation with the
legislature. Topics of subsequent conferences include "The New Jersey Legislature
and its Publics,"" The New Jersey Legislature and the Court." and "The New Jersey
Legislature and the Press."
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PAGE 08
At the urging of elected women, CAWP convenes a national Forum for Women
State Legislators, to which all women state legislators in the country are invited.
More than one-third of the nation's women lawmakers are among the almost 900
people who attend the Forum. The meeting is held at the Hotel del Coronado in San
Diego in 1983; subsequent national Forums take place at four year intervals, in
1987, 1991 and 1995.
A series of programs for state and local parties, including a workshop on
inexpensive public opinion polling, is conducted under the leadership of Professor
Gerald Pomper.
1984
CAWP produces a 60-minute documentary film, Not One of the Boys, which places
the 1984 election experiences of women candidates in historical context. The film
airs on the PBS series Frontline, with an estimated audience of six million.
1985
The Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) is established at Eagleton
with a major five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education. It brings
together researchers from Rutgers, Michigan State University, Stanford University,
and the University of Wisconsin to conduct research on the implementation and
effects of state and local education policies. CPRE publishes reports on a variety of
issues including choice in public schools, early childhood education, education
indicators, measuring school dropout rates, and teacher policies.
CAWP convenes a national conference for Women in Legislative Leadership, at
which lawmakers from 29 states discuss how women in leadership affect the
legislative institution and the public policy agenda.
1986
CAWP conducts the first major national studies of the impact of women in public
office. The Center carries out its own research and also funds other researchers to
look at different aspects of the impact question. The research, like later CAWP
research on women's impact in politics, is directed by Professors Susan Carroll.
Debra Dodson, and Ruth B. Mandel.
CAWP joins the Women's Election Central project, working with major women's
political organizations in Washington to collect and disseminate information about
women candidates for state and federal offices.
1987
The Eagleton Institute undertakes a new project, The State of the States, to assess
political institutions and processes in the states. The first in the series of six
symposia convened for the project focuses on "The Office of Governor and the
Legislature as an Institution"; later sessions address "The Courts: Sharing and
Separating Powers," "Public Financing of Political Campaigns," "Women, Black and
Hispanic State Elected Leaders," "The Budget: Policy, Process and Politics," and
"Hard Lessons in Ethics." As part of the project, Eagleton publishes three edited
volumes on trends and performance in state government, edited by Professor Carl
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PAGE 09
Van Hom. The Institute uses funds from a bequest from Charles and Inez Howell to
support this project.
The first of five summer institutes for public school teachers is organized by
Professor Gerald Pomper. One of the institutes, funded by the U.S. Commission on
the Bicentennial of the Constitution, results in the publication of Teaching the
Constitution, a series of model lessons on the Constitution distributed free to all
schools in New Jersey and to some schools in other states.
1989
In cooperation with the State Governmental Affairs Council, Eagleton sponsors the
first of four State Government Relations Institutes, week-long courses to broaden
and sharpen the knowledge and skills of state government relations professionals.
In the wake of the Supreme Court's Webster decision, CAWP examines the impact
of the abortion issue on gubernatorial and state legislative elections in New Jersey
and Virginia, the first of several studies on abortion and politics.
Janice Ballou, an Eagleton alumna and one of the original telephone interviewers at
the Eagleton Poll, is appointed its director. The Poll's methodology expands to
include qualitative research such as focus groups and individual interviews.
CAWP convenes a Forum for Newly Elected Women State Legislators, where first
term lawmakers from around the country learn from experienced women
legislators.
1990
Eagleton hosts the Symposium on the Legislature in the Twenty-first Century at
Colonial Williamsburg, cosponsored with the National Conference of State
Legislatures. Funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the two-day
meeting explores a variety of institutional issues.
Professor Sebastian de Grazia, a professor at Eagleton from 1962 until his
retirement in 1988, receives the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for his book
Machiavelli in Hell.
1991
CAWP offers the first in a series of National Education for Women's Leadership
(NEW Leadership) summer institutes about politics and public leadership for young
women in college and their faculty/staff advisors; the purpose is to encourage a new
generation of women leaders. Funding is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
1992
CAWP initiates research on women's roles in the United States Congress. The
resulting publication, Voices, Views Votes: The Impact of Women in the 103rd
Congress. is released at the 1995 Forum for Women State Legislators.
1993
The Eagleton Poll completes 35 different survey research projects, the largest
number in one year since its founding.
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1994
CAWP convenes a working meeting, funded by the Ford Foundation, to develop a
research agenda for women and politics, bringing together scholars and political
practitioners. The report from the meeting, Women and American Politics: A
Research Agenda for the 21st Century, is issued in 1996.
Equality Deferred: Women Candidates for the New Jersey Assembly, a monograph
by Richard P. McCormick and Katheryne C. McCormick, is issued by CAWP.
1995
Professor Ruth B. Mandel, director of CAWP since 1971, becomes director of the
Eagleton Institute of Politics.
Debbie Walsh, longtime director of CAWP's Program for Women Public Officials.
is named acting director of CAWP.
CAWP initiates NEW Leadership New Jersey, a state-based program modeled on
the successful national program to teach young women about politics and public
leadership. It is the first of several planned regional and state NEW Leadership
programs.
1996
The 40th anniversary of the Eagleton Institute of Politics and the 25th anniversaries
of the Center for the American Woman and Politics and the Center for Public
Interest Polling/Eagleton Poll are celebrated with a gala dinner to raise funds for
education programs at the Institute.
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PAGE 02
Eagleton Institute of Politics
The Eagleton Institute of Politics was established in 1956 when Florence Peshine Eagleton, a founder of New
Jersey's League of Women Voters, made a bequest to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey:
It is my settled conviction that the cultivation of civic responsibility and leadership among the American
people in the field of practical political affairs is of vital and increasing importance to our state and
nation I make this gift especially for the development of and education for responsible leadership in
civic and governmental affairs and the solution of their political problems.
Today the Eagleton Institute of Politics, a respected education, research and public service unit of Rutgers
University, is nationally recognized for its activities in the field of American politics. Located in Wood Lawn,
an historic mansion on the Douglass College campus, the Eagleton Institute of Politics includes both graduate
and undergraduate education programs, specialized research centers, and a variety of programs about
American politics and the political process.
The Institute develops new knowledge and understanding of emerging topics and themes in American politics
and government in order to encourage more responsive and effective leadership. Eagleton conducts innovative
and practical research, educates students, and informs policymakers and the public.
The Eagleton Fellowship Program, which leads to a Master of Science degree in public policy, is designed
to prepare students for careers in government, politics and public affairs. The program has several distinctive
features:
a curriculum with a primary focus on public policy and the policymaking process, emphasizing the
interrelationship of politics and public policy
one year of concentrated study stressing practical applications
professional education
co-curricular offerings including speakers and workshops which complement classroom studies
close interaction between students and the Eagleton faculty
career and placement counseling
a small group of 20-25 excellent students each year
a distinguished faculty combining academic and political experience.
The program of study is designed to help students develop competencies in both analytic and quantitative
skills and in understanding the political processes and institutions that shape public policy formulation and
implementation.
The Undergraduate Associates Program offers a selected group of juniors and seniors from the
undergraduate colleges of Rutgers University opportunities to share in the activities and resources of the
Eagleton Institute. Undergraduate associates study the practical applications of political science by:
taking specially designed seminars
enrolling in graduate and undergraduate courses on American politics and public policy
undertaking a supervised internship
attending programs at Eagleton with government officials and political practitioners.
Research is integral to the mission of the Eagleton Institute. Undergraduate and graduate students receive
training in research skills and practices at Eagleton's centers and engage in supervised research activities under
the direction of Eagleton faculty. Areas of special interest to individual faculty members at the Institute have
included:
political parties. campaigns and elections
women and politics
state legislatures
education policy
state politics and policymaking
employment and job training policy
public opinion polling
abortion politics
mass media and politics
public economics
ethics in government
environmental policy.
over
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PAGE 03
The Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP) was founded in 1971. Its mission is to promote
greater understanding and knowledge about women's changing relationship to politics and government and to
enhance women's influence and leadership in public life. The Center is a widely-respected bridge between the
academic and political worlds. CAWP's major programs and activities include:
pathbreaking research on emerging issues and questions about the roles and impact of political women
a Young Women's Leadership Initiative, with education programs aimed at preparing the next
generation of women leaders
the Program for Women Public Officials, offering programs to increase the impact of women in
politics and to make political women's leadership more effective
information services. providing up-to-the-minute information and analysis on the history, numbers
and status of women in politics.
The Center for Public Interest Polling/Eagieton Poll (CPIP), founded in 1971, established and continues to
operate a statewide public opinion poll which has become a significant feature of the New Jersey political
landscape. CPIP contributes to the public dialogue by surveying and interpreting the opinions of citizens on
major policy concerns and key state issues and political races. CPIP engages in research and provides public
service by:
conducting the highly respected Star Ledger/Eagleton Poll, designed to acquire information about the
attitudes, behaviors and characteristics of New Jersey citizens
offering contract survey research services to state agencies, non-profit organizations, and academic
administrators and researchers
undertaking research on survey methodology.
State Legislatures and State Politics have long been a central concern at Eagleton. Research and public
service programs have focused on legislative reform, professionalization of legislatures, and lobbyists and
legislators. The Institute has conducted many seminars and conferences for legislators, state legislative
leaders, and legislative staff. The Institute has also convened a series of symposia to examine and assess the
"state of the states." These programs and related publications have focused on: the governor and the
legislature; the courts; campaigns and elections; women, Black and Hispanic state elected leaders; state budget
policy. Eagleton faculty have published widely on a variety of themes related to state legislatures, state politics
and policymaking.
The Eagleton Speaker Series brings to the Institute a wide range of speakers. National, state and local
political leaders, journalists and observers offer their analyses on timely topics to an audience of students,
faculty, and friends of the Institute.
New Initiatives
The Eagleton New Jersey Project, initiated in 1995, aims to coordinate, strengthen and expand Eagleton's
varied efforts to assist individuals, governments and organizations in shaping New Jersey's political agenda.
The project provides focus for Eagleton's presence in the state and increases awareness and understanding of
New Jersey's politics. The project is designed to reinforce and extend the Institute's long record of
contributing to the politics and governance of its home state.
Practicing Politics in a Nation of Differences is a new initiative begun in 1995 to explore the many ways in
which our national diversity both enhances and complicates our public life and political processes. Programs
offered to date include a series of speakers who bring fresh insights to complex topics, as well as a graduate
course on "Race, Politics and the News Media 1964-1994." The initiative aims to open opportunities for
dialogue on critical public and political concerns, encouraging perspectives that may be new, previously
unrecognized. or even excluded.
THE STATE UNIVERSITY or - -
RUTGERS
Eagleton Institute of Politics = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey # New Brunswick, NJ 08901 # 908/828-2210 * fax 908/932-6778
draft/db
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
EAGLETON INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
VIDEOTAPED REMARKS FOR 40TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER
SEPTEMBER 13, 1996
with you
The President and I deeply regret that we cannot be present
to celebrate this wonderful Eagleton Institute milestone with
you. No other American institution has been more steadfast or
more creative in promoting a positive vision of public service,
and nobody could appreciate that work more than my husband and
Re latest)
me. In a time when government-bashing has become fashionable, and
politics all too often the object or ridicule and contempt, the
Eagleton Institute continues to recruit talented young people
into public service, to train men and women for productive public
s{?)
careers, to provide facts rather than polemic on important
questions of public policy, and always to act on and promote the
assumption belief that public service is an honorable endeavor.
Whenever I hear people here at home complain about
government, I am reminded of those I have met in my travels
overseas who have endured torture and exile and jail, who have
seen family members assassinated because they fought for the
demonatic system demossion/
freedom and system we take for granted. It is so important that,
through both scholarship and service, the Eagleton Institute
Q
definition
continues to exemplify the original and still best meaning of
politics, government and democracy: people, working together to solve
problems and make progress.
Max Weber once said that politics is a "strong and slow
boring of hard boards." I sometimes think it's just a boring
boring of hard boards, because the progress can seem so little in
comparison to the immense issues we face. But our founders
That, however slow or tedious The
devised a system so that it would be boring, forcing people to
process,
make
think and rethink the choices that they faced, and we are a
better country today because generations before us did that.
On a personal note, my staff and I have frequently made use
of the superb research and publications of the Center for
American Women and Politics, a truly unique and invaluable
appreciate re dedication
service. And the President and I have immense admiration for your
commitment 6 your
always can be rediedn to provide
director, Ruth Mandel, who we have learned can be relied upon for
wise and objective counsel.
Thank you for all you have done to elevate the tenor of our
public discourse ia our country
national debates, and thank you for letting us be part of your
celebration.
###
SEP-10 96 04:19 FROM:
202-594-5034
TO: 94565709
PAGE: 01
To Sabriva
From: Diane Blair
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202-594-5034
TO: 94565709
PAGE 02
The President and I deeply regret that we cannot be present to celebrate this
wonderful Eagleton Institute milestone with you. No other American institution has been more
steadfast or more creative in promoting a positive vision of public service, and nobody could
appreciate that work more than my husband and me. In a time when government-bashing has
become fashionable, and politics all too often the object of ridicule and contempt, the Eagleton
Institute continues to recruit talented young people into public service, to train men and women
for productive public careers, to provide facts rather than polemic on important questions of
public policy, and always to act on and promote the assumption that public service is an
honorable endeavor.
Whenever I hear people here at home complain about government, I am reminded of
those I have met in my travels overseas who have endured torture and exile and jail, who have
seen family members assassinated because they fought for the freedom and system we take for
granted. It is so important that, through both scholarship and service, the Eagleton Institute
continues to exemplify the original and still best meanings of politics, government and
democracy: working together to solve problems and make progress.
Max Weber once said that politics is a "strong and slow boring of hard boards." I
sometimes think it's just a boring boring of hard boards, because the progress can seem so little
in comparison to the immense issues we face. But our founders devised a system so that
sometimes it would be boring, forcing people to think and rethink the choices that they faced,
and we are a better country today because generations before us did that.
On a personal note, my staff and I have frequently made use of the superb research and
publications of the Center for the American Woman and Politics, a truly unique and invaluable
service. And the President and I have immense admiration for your Director, Ruth Mandel, who
SEP-10 96 04:20 FROM:
202-594-5034
TO: 94565709
PAGE: 03
we have learned can be relied upon for wise and objective counsel.
Thank you for all you have done to elevate the tenor of our national debates, and thank
you for letting us be part of your celebration.
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND AT COLLEGE PARK
MAY 23, 1996
Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much, President Kirwan, for
that introduction. It is a great honor and pleasure for me to be
here at this great university. I want to thank the members of the
Board of Regents who helped guide this system. I want to
congratulate the other honorary degree recipients, and thank the
administrators, faculty, and all who are gathered here at this
celebration.
But mostly, I want to recognize two groups: first, the parents
and other relatives and friends of all those who are graduating
today (applause). Because of the diversity of this great
university, I know that in this arena today are many proud
mothers and fathers and husbands and wives and others who are
seeing their graduates and knowing of the sacrifices that it took
to bring them to this day.
I also particularly want to thank the class of 1996, Thank you
(applause). Thank you for welcoming me to your campus. This is a
place I have long associated with academic excellence and public
service, not to mention basketball and women's lacrosse.
(applause) Because it happened so recently I feel compelled to
congratulate the lacrosse team for lifting Maryland again to the
national championship. (applause) Now I don't know how many team
members or how many graduates have touched the Testudo the
Terrapin's nose in the last year or two, but I must say that
having heard of his rather miraculous effects, I intend to seek
him out myself for some good luck someday. (applause)
I also want to thank my friend, Bill Galston, who brought his
considerable talent from this university to the White House to
help the President formulate domestic policy. He worked
particularly on the issue of national service.
And I am grateful, as is the President, for the role this
university has played in promoting national service, both by
hosting the first National Service Summit, and by serving as a
site for the National Demonstration Program for National Service,
and through the programs offered by the Center for Political
Leadership and Participation. This campus truly deserves the
title as a place of scholarship and service, and I commend all of
you who have participated in programs of service during your time
here.
You are graduating in a time of great transition and yet enormous
opportunity and possibility for our country and out world. My
husband often calls this the "Age of Possibility." The
possibilities for progress that accompany any period of momentous
change -- just look at the world around us: a new global economy
is taking shape that offers Americans the potential of greater
prosperity but also the risks and challenges of stiffer
competition. New technology is bringing the world closer
together, changing the way we communicate and do business. But
also we have to be reminded that virtual reality will never
substitute for human connections and relationships (applause).
Many of us in this arena have lived through the changes in
families, as families are transformed, often sending both
parents, mothers and fathers alike, outside the home to find a
job and earn a living. Posing the critical question of "who is
minding our children and who is supposed to do what within our
most intimate relationships?"
Yes, the world around us is changing from the most intimate of
our homes to the world far beyond our borders. Communism has
given way to capitalism, tyranny to democracy, closed markets to
free trade. All of which is forcing us to redefine how we think
about ourselves, and how we intend to meet the challenges that
come to all of us in our lives.
Now it is no surprise that during a time of great change, many of
us yearn for simple answers. We find it easier to slap labels or
retreat into ideology in a way of thinking about and framing our
responsibilities and responses. We know that sifting out and
sorting our competing ideas and values is a very difficult task.
As the forces of his history and technology literally change the
face of human civilization, one of the greatest dangers we see
around the world is that yearning, that seizing upon the answers,
pat generalizations, and stereotypes.
Now sometimes it can be difficult for us to come to grips with
the very many conflicting values we are called upon to sort out.
But falling back on labels is the easy way out. You know the
kinds of stereotypes that I'm talking about:
--- If you are under 25, you're an apathetic Generation Xer.
-- If you're over 40, you're a self-indulgent baby-boomer,
-- If you're a liberal, you're a bleeding heart,
-- And if you're a conservative, you have no heart.
-- And if you're the current sitting President, you're all of the
above, depending on what day it is. (applause)
-- And if you're the wife of the current sitting President, well,
you just better make sure your hair is in place. (laughter,
applause)
Yet the truth is that one of the greatest gifts your education
has given you is to see that there is no single label that
applies to any of us. Our world is too complicated for that. So
now is no time to go back on America's historic commitment to
public education. (applause)
I have learned that more than 60 percent of this campus' students
receive some form of scholarship or financial aid. That is the
best investment any state or country can make. (applause) It is
not only an investment in each of you, it is an investment in
your ability to learn to solve problems and adapt to new
circumstances, to enlarge your understanding of the world and
your sense of responsibility toward others.
Yes, we do have to reform and change. We have to always make it
better. But let us never close the doors on access to college
education to any student who wishes to work hard and take
responsibilities solely for financial reasons (applause).
For more than two centuries here in America we have faced the
challenges each generation does, in order to build a more perfect
union. And today we are doing the same, whether it is expanding
opportunities for education or protecting our environment, or
making our streets safe for our children.
The debate in our political system between liberals and
conservatives, progressives and populists, Democrats and
Republicans, should not be about whether we govern ourselves, but
how. Not whether we need public programs, but what kind. Not
whether we should pursue national goals, but by what means we
should employ to build the kind of future that will offer
opportunity to all.
Now much of what will determine our future happens out of the
political arena of electoral politics. It happens in our families
and our workplaces and our schools and our religious communities.
But that does not mean that we can do without politics and
government. Politics is about more than pundits and pollsters,
just as government is about more than buildings and bureaucrats.
Whenever anybody asks me, as they frequently do, "How can you
stand being involved in politics?" I always ask, "Are you
married? Do you have a family? Do you belong to a church, a
school, a sports team or a civic group?
Politics with a small "P" is the process that brings us together
peaceably to work toward common ends. We do not always get our
way. We do not always see the decision we would have made alone
being the one that is chosen. But the process itself is valuable.
Because we have found through all of our differences throughout
history that by working through politics with a small "P" as well
as our electoral arena, that far more often than not, Americans
do make the right choices. Yes, we can bash, as we do in America,
those who believe government is the solution to every social ill.
And we can bash those who believe that every government power
should be curbed. We can reject political extremes, and in fact
should. But I ask just one thing: don't reject politics and
government in the process. In a democracy, that is us. And to
turn our backs on how we do solve our problems because we get
turned off by what we see as politics, or we get discouraged
because government does not do all that it should right, that is
a cop-out.
Government and politics are not perfect. They consist, after all,
of human beings. They may even be boring. Max Weber once said
that politics is "a strong and slow boring of hard boards. " I
often say that it's just a boring boring of hard boards. Because
sometimes the progress seems so little in comparison to the
issues we face. But our founders understood that. The system was
devised so that sometimes it would be boring. It would force
people to think and rethink the choices that they faced.
We are a better country today because generations before us did
that. They paid the price to establish a stable, democratic
government that protects our rights and expands opportunities
like education. We are grateful for those generations who
through our political process and system of government devised
the GI Bill and social security and Medicare and other tools of
responsibility for those willing to work hard and be responsible
themselves in pursuit of the American dream.
Whenever I hear people here at home complain about government, I
am reminded of those I have met in my travels overseas. I've met
people who have endured torture and exile and jail, who have seen
family members assassinated because they fought for the freedom
and system we take for granted. Some of us here cannot imagine
how grateful others are today around the world for the leadership
this country has given and the example we set.
I remember meeting a young Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal who had
walked ten hours from a remote village to catch a bus so she
could meet me in Katmandu. She told me she loved her experience
in the Peace Corps. She had been living in a house with no
running water or electricity, working at a school where nearly
all the students were boys, since most girls were still denied
schooling and often married by the age of twelve or thirteen.
But she missed he family and her friends. And she also missed
those blessings of daily life we take for granted. Things like
safe drinking water and food that we can eat all year round, that
you can not worry about eating and getting sick. Free public
schools for both boys and girls. Warm baths and electricity,
during the day or the night. Paved roads, cars, and phones that
work.
Now these may seem like trivial examples of what our government
and our people have accomplished together. But they represent the
larger spirit of politics, government, and democracy that have
enabled us to solve problems and make progress together.
I thought of that again when I was recently in Bosnia with my
daughter. I met with civilians -- Serbs, Croatians, and Muslims,
in Tuzla. And they sat in a circle and told me about what their
lives had been like during four years of war and ethnic violence.
Doctors and nurses related how they had kept rudimentary
facilities open despite being bombed daily. I heard from mothers
and fathers who had lost children and wives who had not seen
their husbands since they had been dragged away.
There was bewilderment in their voices and pain in their eyes as
they tried to explain how such horror and tragedy could have
occurred, how politics and government had broken down. How they
were moved to hate neighbors with whom they had lived peacefully
for generations. And yet they also expressed great hope that the
United States and the world was at least giving them a chance to
establish a lasting peace and resume some semblance of normal
life.
Then I visited with our soldiers in Tuzla and at two outpost,
Camp Alisha and Camp Bedrock. And I wish every American could
have been with me. After hearing hoe politics and propaganda had
turned people against one another, I saw before me a real model
of what we value and have built here at home. I saw American
democracy in action. There they were, men and women, black white
and brown, Christian, Muslim, and Jew, kids from farm and cities
and suburbs. All there representing us, serving in the cause of
peace.
But maybe as important as separating the combatants was the
example they gave as to how we have worked out our differences.
How people of different backgrounds and beliefs can work together
for a common enterprise.
It reminded me so forcefully that despite our imperfections and
flaws, we have a system of government and politics that has
endured. It is rooted in values and understands the imperfections
of human beings. It believes in the ideals of education of
service to our fellow man.
So my hope and my challenge is that as you go forth from this
campus, you do so as active, committed citizens, who understand
that you too have a stake in our government and in our political
system.
Now I can just imagine some of you saying to yourselves, "Oh,
come on, Mrs. Clinton. Really I've got to pay off those student
loans. I've got to find a job. I want to fall in love. I want to
start a family. How can I add any more obligations?"
what we must do is look back at the values, and the ideals, and
the traditions that have gotten us this far and develop a
coherent vision of what our common destiny requires of all of us.
Anytime there is a period of transition and change as volatile as
this one, many people believe that the world is coming to an end,
that civilization has reached rock bottom. A thousand years ago,
at the turn of another millennium, many people thought that the
world as they knew it was over. And yet look at what has happened
in the last thousand years, with advances in medicine, and
science, and industry, and great strides toward peace and
prosperity and progress in basic human understanding.
Thinking back just a century we can see that many pundits and
scholars at that time were noting that there were so many
divisions and so many vast dislocations that we weren't sure what
would happen. We have the beginning of industrialization and
immigration and the movement from farm to city.
And again, three uncertainties were unleashed, not dissimilar
from what we feel today: fear of rapid change fueled a
sentimental fervor for simpler times, just like today. Populist
politics raised valuable concerns about economic exploitation and
political corruption, but also unleashed extreme reaction that
gave rise to racism and ethnocentrism and isolationism.
But then look at what happened next: reactionaries and extremists
did not triumph. Instead a progressive political consensus was
achieved that addressed genuine concerns about economic and
political equality. A new spirit of progress won out over hate
and intolerance, and fostered a new politics of inclusion. The
result was that Americans of all political stripes, Democrats and
Republicans, liberals and conservatives, whatever they called
themselves, began to think differently about what politics and
government could do.
Progressive politics at the turn of the century, under the
leadership of people like Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson
and others who followed, they were able to see a vision of the
future and what it would take to overcome a great depression and
to sustain economic growth.
Franklin Roosevelt, many historians argued, saved capitalism,
because of his vision about what it would take for people to feel
part of the economy and our political system. Opportunities were
extended to women and minorities. Our environment was seen as a
great resource. We saw much occurring that went beyond ideology
or political description.
And of course we know that one of the great accomplishments has
been the investments we've made in education. Our public
education system, from kindergarten to the university, is one of
the greatest reasons we have the democracy we have today.
(applause) And all of us have a stake in supporting this system;
But I think being a citizen is just part of the price we pay for
living here in this democracy. You have to give it your best
shot. Yes, work hard. Love your family. Cherish your children.
Make time for your neighbors, your communities. But know that you
are a steward of democracy.
Each of us has a role to play. We cannot dismiss it as someone
else's responsibility. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said,
"Human progress never rolls on the wheels of inevitability. The
time is always ripe to do right."
You may never run for office. You may never marry someone who
runs for office. But I hope whatever you choose to do, you will
take the time and put for the effort to make it clear to all of
us who love this country that America's best years are ahead.
That just as every other generation met its challenges, we will
do the same.
I know that if we do that and enter into this new century and
millennium with that American spirit of confidence and optimism,
that a hundred years from now, someone will be standing on this
campus, probably in a new arena, talking about the challenges
that we confront then as well. And they will look back and say,
"Once again, in a time of great change and turmoil, Americans who
value what we inherited made the right choices for themselves and
their future."
Thank you and God speed as you go forth into the world.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 18, 1996
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT CEREMONY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS NATION
The East Room
1:33 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very, very much. I want to welcome all of you here.
And before I begin the program let me say I'm sorry I'm little late today, but we have been
working, as I'm sure you understand, all day long on the plane crash last night. I want to talk
to you about your future, but before I do I'd like to say just a word about the people that were
on that plane.
I'm determined that we will find out what happened, but I want to urge all the American
people not to jump to any unwarranted conclusions about the tragedy. We should focus today,
our thoughts and our prayers, on the families of the victims of that terrible, terrible tragedy last
night. And you should know that everybody in our country that we believe can make a
contribution to finding out what happened is on the job, working overtime.
I want you to know if you if you haven't heard that there were 16 high school students
from Pennsylvania on that flight. Any tragedy like this is made deeper if young people's lives
are lost, people who haven't yet had their chance to live up to their God-given promise. These
young people were from the Montoursville High School French Club in Pennsylvania. They
were young, committed, filled with excitement about the prospect of visiting France. Our
country will be poorer for their absence. And the rest of you will have to work a little harder
to live up to your promise and to theirs, as well.
The Mayor of that small community was just on television, and I had a visit with him
a few moments ago. And he said, you know, this is a big hurt that's going to last a while. I'm
sure that's true. So I'd like to ask you before we begin the formal program today to join me
in a moment of silent prayer for those students, for the other victims and for their families. (A
moment of silence is observed.) Amen.
I would like to welcome our leaders here from the American Legion -- Joe Caouette,
Lawrence Sperry, Judge Pete Johnson, a member of my Boys Nation class back in the Dark
Ages. (Laughter.) I welcome Peggy Sappenfield; Katherine Morris, the Director of Girls
nation; Ron Engel, the Director of Boys Nation; Jack Mercier, the Director of Activities who
was also there and was a counselor to my class; George Blume, the Legislative Director.
I'm sure all of you know this is always a special day for me. It's the 50th anniversary
of Boys Nation, almost my 50th anniversary on Earth here in a few weeks. (Laughter.) This
is only the second time ever, the first being the Bicentennial when Boys Nation and Girls Nation
have come to the White House together.
I remember a lot of things about my visit here in 1963, not only my much-heralded shake
of hands with President Kennedy and the meetings we had with other leaders, but I remember
very vividly the young men I was with from other states, the conversations that we had about
the kind of world we would inherit and about what we had to do about it. Our obligations were
focused, I think, especially on the issues that dominated our nation more than 30 years ago now.
We talked a lot about the struggle for civil rights and equal opportunities for all Americans. We
talked a lot about the struggle against communism and the Cold War.
To be sure, we wanted the first generation of Americans to have those conversations.
They have been constant in our history. And we know that many of those who founded our
nation more than 200 years ago were themselves very young.
I'd like to ask you think, because we are now on the verge of a new century, about what
it was like the last time we stood on the edge of a new century. There's a magnificent portrait
right over there in the corner of Theodore Roosevelt by the great American artist, John Singer
Sargent. Teddy Roosevelt became Vice President in the election of 1900 and was soon elevated
to the presidency when President McKinley was assassinated. He was our President for seven
years, in the beginning of what became known as the Progressive Era. He was the youngest
person ever to become President of the United States. And as we stood at the dawn of a new
century, he was infectious with his optimism and absolutely contagious in his determination to
take on the problems of America and to make the new era we were then entering work for all
Americans.
That was a time, like this, of enormous change. We were around the turn of the century
moving from being primarily an agricultural country to being primarily an industrial country.
We were moving from being primarily a people who lived on farms, in small, isolated areas or
in small communities, to being a people who lived primarily in towns and in cities. And it
changed dramatically the way we work, the way we live, the way we related to each other.
There were enormously good things happening, but a lot of things that weren't so good, that
required a vigorous response by our nation. And so Teddy Roosevelt led our nation in that
response and started, as I said, what became known as the Progressive Era.
He and Woodrow Wilson -- one a Republican, one a Democrat, both former governors
-- were instrumental in kind of breaking out of the pattern of past thinking that had dominated
2
our political life and taking America in a new direction.
It falls to your generation to do something like that now, because we are changing in
ways that are, to some extent, more profound than we changed a hundred years ago. Instead
of moving from the agricultural to the industrial age, we're now moving into an information age
where every form of human endeavor will be dominated by the profound computer chip.
Bill Gates said in his book, The Road From Here, that the digital chip was the most
profound revolution in the way human beings communicate with each other since Gutenberg
printed the first Bible in Europe 500 years ago. It won't be very long, especially if we succeed
in hooking up every classroom and library to the Information Superhighway, before people in
remote mountain communities or the poorest urban neighborhoods of America can go to school,
hook into a computer, and do research on volcanoes in Australian libraries, for example. This
is going to have enormous implications for the whole nature of work, how we learn, how we
relate to each other. And it is a fascinating thing.
We're also moving -- as people then moved from rural ares into the cities, we now are
primarily an urban and suburban people. But people will be able to live in rural areas more
easily than they used to because of the computer, and to do different things. And no matter
whether we live in rural or urban areas, we will have to identify ourselves more and more as
citizens of the world, as well as Americans.
We're not dominated by a Cold War world anymore where every country is either in the
camp of democracy or the camp of communism, where we worry about the imminence of a
nuclear war that could take the lives of the whole country away. But we do have a whole set
of new problems in the world that directly relate to the fact that the Cold War is over and things
are more open now, and it's easier for people and ideas and money and technology to move
around and cross national boundaries.
And when people become more open to new ideas and new information it means that
there are also more opportunities for the organized forces of destruction to take advantage of that
openness. That's why terrorists can put poison gas on a subway in Tokyo, or blow the World
Trade Center up or the Federal Building in Oklahoma city, or set bombs in London or the Holy
Land, or do all the other things that you've read about in the last few years. The more open
we are to moving around and working with each other, the more we'll have to be vigilant in
dealing with these problems.
It's why we're all more vulnerable to organized crime and drug running that crosses
national lines. It's why we have to be more vigilant in dealing with the problems of the
proliferation of small-scale nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons.
All of these things are the new security threats. And interestingly enough, there's also
a very old problem that's rearing its head all over the world as the big threat of communism
recedes. And that is the tendency of people everywhere to look down on each other, ultimately
3
hate each other, and maybe even kill each other because of their racial, ethnic or religious
differences. That is at the heart of what is going on in the Middle East. That is at the heart of
what is going on in Northern Ireland. That is at the heart of what is going on in Bosnia.
We have the most vigorous, vibrant, multiethnic democracy in human history, but that
is at the heart of what is going on in these church burnings and that is at the heart of what led
some mean-spirited people to paint swastikas on the doors of African American Special Forces
personnel at Ft. Bragg in the last couple of days. The most patriotic members of a minority you
could imagine still being subject to that.
Why is that? Because all throughout human history you see people being told that they
should evaluate themselves not based on who they are, what they stand for and what their values
are, what's in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, but on who
they're not, what color they're not, what religion they aren't.
So you have to fight all that. Your generation will have more opportunities than any
generation in human history. You will have more chances to live out your dreams in more
different ways than any group of people who have ever lived. We have a chance to extend
opportunities to people who would have automatically been left in the backwater of history
without a second thought, just a few decades ago, because of their gender or their race or
because of their disabilities. Things that now we wouldn't think of doing used to be the ordinary
run-of-the-mill thing just a few decades ago.
So, on balance, as I look to the 21st century, I think this is going to be a great time for
you. It is going to be a great time for America if we meet our challenges and protect our basic
values. No country in history has ever lasted so long as a free country, a free people, with so
many different kinds of people in it. And the world is coming our way. But there are still these
dark forces of destruction that we have to stand against. And you have to speak against it when
you see it in a big horrible way, in a manifestation of terrorism. But you also have to stand and
speak against it when you see it in subtle ways -- in your neighborhoods, on your street, in your
schools. We've got to be able to treat each other with respect based on our shared values, not
our essentially superficial differences.
Very interesting, don't you think, that this movie, Independence Day, is becoming the
most successful movie ever? Some say it's because they blew up the White House and the
Congress -- (laughter) and that may be. But, you know, you see story after story after story
about how the movie audiences leap up and cheer at the end of the movie when we vanquish the
alien invaders, right? I mean, what happened? The country was flat on its back, the rest of the
world was threatened, and you see all over the world all these people have all of a sudden put
aside the differences that seem so trivial once their existence was threatened, and they're
working together all over the world to defeat a common adversary.
Why can't we work together to achieve common dreams? What is it about people that
they need to adopt creeds that will enable them to demean other people and look on them as
4
subhuman and take their lives away? We have to fight that. You're living in a time where,
literally, you're going to be able to do things that have not been invented yet. A lot of you will
be in jobs within a decade that have not been invented yet. The patterns of work and life, of
travel and learning will be unbelievable. And no nation is as well-positioned as the United
States if we seize our opportunities, meet our challenges and protect our values.
You have to ask yourself and I hope you'll take the time before you leave here, before
you leave the White House, before you leave the Capital City -- the whole history of your
country is here -- and say, what kind of country do I want to live in? What do I want America
to look like when my children are my age ? And what should I do to help America look like
that? A simple question. Those are the questions I asked myself before I ran for President,
because I knew that it's a rather rigorous enterprise and you have to have a high pain threshold
today to do this sort of thing. (Laughter.)
And, to me, there are three simple answers. When my daughter is my age and I have
grandchildren, I want America to be a place where the American Dream is alive for every
person who's willing to work for it, no matter where they start out in life. I want America to
be a place that is coming together, not being split apart; that really appreciates all the differences
that are in this country and binds us together by the things that have held us together all this
time. Just go back and read the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of
Rights.
And I want this country to continue to be the world's strongest force for peace and
freedom and prosperity, because we are doing something in this country that needs to be done
in the rest of the world. People have to be able to be bridge their differences and find a way
to work together.
Now, that's what I want -- fairly simple things; three things. And I work for it up here
every day with a simple strategy: I think we have to create more opportunity for everybody,
demand more responsibility from everybody, and do everything we can to build a community
and make America stronger, and our families, our towns and our national community as well.
There are some very specific things that we've tried to do. Four years ago, our
economic house was out of order. We quadrupled our debt in four years. We had a $290
billion deficit. We had the slowest job growth rate since the Great Depression so we had to do
some basic things just to put the house back in order.
And we had a very simple strategy: Drive down the deficit to reduce the burden of debt
on future generations; lower interest rates and get investment back to put people to work; expand
the trade in American products and services around the world because that creates more
high-wage jobs here at home; and invest in education, technology, research and the preservation
of the environment.
5
Four years later, it's obvious to me that that strategy is working. Our deficit is less than
half of what it was. It was $290 billion, it's going to be $117 billion this year. This is the first
time in every year of a President's term that the deficit has been reduced since the 1840s. But
we had to do it because we have never had a time in history when we built up so much debt
so quickly. And the American people have responded -- our economy's created over 10 million
jobs. So we're moving in the right direction. But that had to be done. It is not enough, but
it's an important first step.
In terms of our leadership for peace and freedom, in many parts of the world we're better
off today than we were four years ago and there are no nuclear weapons pointed at any one of
the United States for the first time since nuclear weapons were developed. So we're moving in
the right direction. We're finally beginning to build compacts and partnerships all around the
world to combat terrorism and the other problems that I mentioned.
We've worked hard to give you cleaner air and cleaner water and to preserve the natural
resources of the land. I think one of the essential ideas that has to dominate the thinking of both
parties and all Americans as we move into the 21st century is that you can develop the economy
without destroying the environment. In fact, you can enhance the development of the economy
with the right sort of environmental strategy. And if we continue to believe that the only way
we can grow our economy is by destroying our environment, some day there won't be any
economy to develop. And we have got to do that now. We have to make that commitment
now.
You know, it's amazing how many science fiction books and movies are all predicated
on the fact that one day we won't have any environment left in America, we won't have any
trees left, the air won't be fit to breathe. I'm amazed -- we've now got with this new sci-fi
channel on one of our cables here -- it's amazing the percentage of movies that come on that
thing that are predicated on the fact the we are determined to destroy our environment. We
must not do it.
I also believe that we must now continue to tolerate the levels of crime and violence we
have in our country. We have a crime rate coming down four years in a row now. We've got
100,000 police we're putting on the street in community policing. We've finally done something
about putting guns into the hands of young people we have a zero tolerance strategy for guns
in schools. We've abolished a few assault weapons -- 19 kinds -- and passed the Brady Bill.
And I want to point out that a lot of people said some bad things when we did it. There's not
a single hunter that's lost a rifle since we abolished the assault weapons and passed the Brady
Bill. But there are 60,000 felons, fugitives and stalkers who could not get handguns because
they were checked and their criminal record was found out and they did not get the guns. And
America is safer as a result of that.
So we have to continue to work on the crime problem. And I want to make a personal
plea to you. Citizens have a role to play in this. Yesterday, the Vice President and I had
representatives from citizens patrol groups all over America here at the White House, and we
6
announced that the Cellular Telephone Association is going to give 50,000 phones to these
citizens patrol groups, so that when people are out here walking the streets and they find
something wrong, they can immediately call the police department or the hospital, to the
emergency room, or the fire department.
But in spite of all of our progress, the crime rate among people under 18 and the violence
rate among people under 18 is still going up in most communities in America. That's because
there are too many young people out there on the street that are raising themselves, that are
joining gangs doing bad things because they're not in good gangs doing good things. We all
want to be part of something. I mean, look, you've got the same shirt on -- you're in a good
gang today. (Laughter.) It's an important thing to know. And you do that. You can have
more influence on a lot of young people than I can. So I urge you to deal with that issue.
And finally, and most importantly, if we want to see everybody do well in the 21st
century, we've got to give everybody the tools to do well. And more important, more than ever
before, that means education. We've worked hard to improve educational opportunities here,
but we have more to do. And I want to encourage all of you to do what you can to support
increasing access to high-quality education, from our initiatives to hook up all the classrooms
to the Internet, to help the school districts that are hardest pressed in the country get some
money to do rebuilding and repairs, to opening the doors of college education to everyone.
I hope that Congress will agree with me to give a tax deduction for the cost of tuition for
college. I hope the Congress will agree with me to give a tax credit that will enable everybody
to at least get a community college diploma, because we need to make at least two years after
high school as universal for education as high school is today.
If you look at the economy, if you look at the census figures, if you look at the people
that are doing well and the people that aren't, it is absolutely clear that in the information age
the gains to education are far more profound than at any time in our history. And we have
simply got to do more to make it universal, if we want America to grow together instead of drift
apart. We can do it -- you can do it if you demand that it be done.
Finally, let me say that I believe we've got to do something more than we have done --
many things more -- to help strengthen the American family. And we have to recognize that
families are in a different position than they used to be. I heard -- someone made a funny joke
last night, making fun of, to some extent, the Congress, to some extent, me saying, you listen
to people talk in Washington and they say the problem with people on welfare is that they want
to stay home with their kids instead of going to work. And then they give a speech and say the
problem with middle-class families is the mothers want to go to work instead of staying home
with their kids. You know, and it's funny -- you think about it. (Laughter.)
What's the real issue? What's the real issue? The real issue is most people who are
parents work; most people who are parents who work have to work. So what should our goal
be? Our goal should be to help Americans succeed at home and at work.
7
I look at all of you and if you want to make a contribution to our future, I want you
to be able to make it. But I also think the most important contribution you can ever make is to
have children and raise them right and make them good and strong and good citizens and good
people, like you are. So what we should be doing is to think about instead of making it an
either-or, we ought to ask ourselves over and over and over again, what can we do to help
people succeed at home and at work.
That's what the Family Leave law was all about. That's what my efforts, which have
been very controversial, to try to help schools with experiments that they want to adopt,
including curfews, or even in some school districts, school uniform policy -- that's what that was
all about. You may think it sounds bad but you're all here in one. (Laughter.) And we haven't
sought to impose them, we just sought to give schools the opportunity to adopt them if they
wanted. That's what our controversial efforts to prevent the advertising and distribution and
sales illegally of tobacco to teenagers is all about, trying to help parents deal with the
implications of being away from their kids a lot, working, but also trying to do a good job
raising their children.
It's also a large part of what the Vice President and I have worked on in the area of
television. You know, we passed a law, the telecommunications law, which will create hundreds
of thousands of jobs, but it also required in new television sets that a V-chip be placed that
would give parents more control over the programming their young children watch. And all the
entertainment industry agreed to set up a ratings system for television, which we thought was
a very, very good thing. And we're working on that, they're working on it.
The television today is very different than it was when I was 10 or 11 years old, or six
or seven. We have hundreds of studies, literally hundreds of studies showing the staggering
number of hours that young people have spent watching people get killed by the time they're
16 or 17, and showing clearly that it makes people more numb to violence, less sensitive to the
impact of their behavior on others.
So we've worked hard on that. But I don't think that is enough. And I just want to
mention this issue, because I think it's very important. We have been working very hard not
only to have a ratings system and a V-chip, which is sort of a negative thing, but also to try to
bring more positive educational programming for children to television. This month we're
challenging members of the entertainment industry who have done a great job on this rating to
come to the White House to talk about improving the quality and quantity of children's
programming. So the industry is doing it's part.
The truth is that what we need now is for the government to do it's part. The Federal
Communications Commission has had before it for a long time now a measure that would
require broadcasters to put a minimum of three hours a week of quality educational children's
programming on. If you think about all the hours the television is on a week, three hours a
week doesn't seem like too much, at least doesn't seem to me. It's less than two percent of the
8
nation's air time.
The initiative is stalled, and some people have opposed it. But the airwaves clearly,
under our law, are designed to promote the public interest. I can't imagine anything we could
do that would better promote it than to put more quality educational programming for children
on television. So I'd like to ask all of you to support that. And I hope very much that the
Federal Communications Commission will finally act on it.
Well, these are some of the things that I think we're facing as we move into the 21st
century. We've got a responsibility, those of us in my generation particularly those of us like
me that had extraordinary opportunities to be in places like where you are over 30 years ago,
to try to create opportunity -- to try to create a framework within which everybody will be
expected to be responsible, and to try to bring this country together as a community.
But most of your lives are still ahead of you. And every one of you, if for no other
reason than you're a part of this program, will have a disproportionate opportunity -- a
disproportionate opportunity to exercise leadership. And, therefore you have a disproportionate
responsibility to do a good job with it -- every one of you.
When you go back home, your friends will look at you a little differently. They'll listen
to you a little more closely. They'll want to know what you saw up here. They'll want to know
what your opinion is. And I am telling you, you have got to be thinking now in this rapidly
changing world, what do you want the country to look like when your kids are your age. What
do you want your work years to be like? How do you want to feel about your country? And
what do you have to do to get there?
And I leave you with this. It's very fashionable for people today to say, well, it doesn't
really matter what's going on in Washington, nobody can made a difference, why should I vote,
it's all a bunch of bull. I'm telling you, in the four years I have been President, I now am more
optimistic than I was the day I got here. I believe more strongly than I did the day I got here
about the potential of all of us working together to make good things happen.
And this country is a very great country. There are 10 million more people working than
there were four years ago; 8 million people have refinanced their homes; 3.7 million people
have homes who didn't have them; hundreds of thousands of people have better college loans
than they did; 45,000 young people are working to rescue their communities in our national
service programs and earning money to go to college. Don't let anybody ever tell you that you
can't make a difference in a democracy, that you can't change the course of the country, that
you can't live people up, or pull people together. That is not true.
And the most important thing maybe you can do in the short run when you go home is
tell people, this country works. That's why we have been around for 220 years. This country
works. This is a great country. And you have to pull your weight and challenge your friends
and family members to do the same. But I will say that if you do it, the best days of this
9
country are still ahead.
Thank you and God bless you all. (Applause.)
END
2:02 P.M. EDT
THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
RUTGERS
Eagleton Institute of Politics
Wood Lawn
90 Clifton Avenue
New Brunswick
New Jersey 08901
908/932-9384
908/828-2210
FAX: 908/932-6778
July 19, 1996
The President and Mrs. Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President and Mrs. Clinton:
Over the years our paths have crossed on a number of happy occasions, both in Little Rock and New Jersey. I
think about them often, and I treasure the memories.
Now I am hoping that I can entice you to share in another happy event with me. This year, we are celebrating
important anniversaries here at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. On Friday, September 20, the Institute will "Celebrate
Politics," highlighting the best of politics, the idea that politics is a noble calling for those who want to make a
difference to their communities, their nation and the world. At a gala banquet, we will mark Eagleton's 40th
anniversary and the 25th anniversaries of the two research centers at the Institute, the Center for the American Woman
and Politics and the Center for Public Interest Polling/Eagleton Poll.
Because your lives have, both separately and together, exemplified this theme, all of us at Eagleton would be
thrilled and deeply honored if you could join us for this event. Realistically, understanding that your schedules may not
permit such a visit, we would be enormously grateful and proud if you could send greetings and remarks on videotape.
We're very pleased that Cokie Roberts of ABC News and National Public Radio, and her husband, Steve
Roberts of U.S. News and World Report. will lead the celebration as our masters of ceremonies. We have asked
Governor Christine Todd Whitman to speak, and we expect to invite others to speak or give testimonials.
The event will take place at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, New Jersey on September 20, with a
reception at 6:00 and dinner at 7:00. We anticipate several hundred guests, including friends of the Institute and its
Centers from around and beyond the state. Honorary co-chairs for the celebration include Governor Whitman, Senators
Bradley and Lautenberg, State Senate President Di Francesco and Senate Minority Leader Lynch, Assembly Speaker
Collins and Assembly Minority Leader Doria.
I can think of no higher testimonial to our celebration and to our commitment to educating new generations of
young women and men for leadership than to include your vision of service and your words of inspiration as part of the
event. I look forward to hearing from someone on your staff as soon as possible.
Please accept my warmest personal regards. I can say honestly that a day does not go by that I don't think of
both of you with admiration, high nopes and the best of good wishes.
Sincerely your
Ruth B. Mandel
Director and Professor
THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
RUTGERS
Eagleton Institute of Politics
Wood Lawn
Neilson Campus
New Brunswick
New Jersey 08901
908/828-2210
FAX: 908/932-6778
EAGLETON INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
40TH ANNIVERSARY
DINNER COMMITTEE
(as of August 19)
Honorary Co-Chairs
The Honorable Christine Todd Whitman
U.S. Senator Bill Bradley
U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg
Senate President Donald DiFrancesco
Senate Minority Leader John Lynch
Speaker of the Assembly Jack Collins
Assembly Minority Leader Joseph Doria
Leadership League
American Express Company
Bell Atlantic
Public Service Electric & Gas Company
Patrons of Politics
Beneficial Management Corporation
Ciba Pharmaceuticals
The CIT Group
Princeton Public Affairs Group, Inc.
Underwriters Union
EXXON Company, U.S.A.
Johnson & Johnson
Raymond M. Pocino
Edna Runnels Ranck
Mark Schulman
Marcy Syms
Federation of Friends
Steve Adubato, Jr.
American Physical Therapy Association
Avon Products, Inc.
Nancy H. Becker Associates, Inc.
Mary W. Blanchard
Burgdorff, Realtors
Coca-Cola
Patricia Finnen
John J. Henning
Ellen M. Karcher
Harriet Keyserling
The Honorable Susan Bass Levin
Ellen R. Malcolm
Ruth B. Mandel and Jeff Lucker
Tanya Melich
Merck-Medco Managed Care, Inc.
Susan Nemeth and Michael Finnen
New Jersey Education Association
Parsons Brinckerhoff-FG, Inc.
Pfizer Inc
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
Diane R. Quinton
The Honorable Marge Roukema
Ellen Samuel
Schering-Plough Corporation
Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc.
USAir
The Honorable Barbara Wright
Betsey Wright
Neil Zimmerman
Dinner Committee in formation
This page
give a
brief overview
of of the
Eagleton Institute.
Eagleton Institute of Politics
The Eagleton Institute of Politics was established in 1956 when Florence Peshine Eagleton, a founder of New
Jersey's League of Women Voters, made a bequest to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey:
It is my settled conviction that the cultivation of civic responsibility and leadership among the American
people in the field of practical political affairs is of vital and increasing importance to our state and
nation I make this gift especially for the development of and education for responsible leadership in
civic and governmental affairs and the solution of their political problems.
Today the Eagleton Institute of Politics, a respected education, research and public service unit of Rutgers
University, is nationally recognized for its activities in the field of American politics. Located in Wood Lawn,
an historic mansion on the Douglass College campus, the Eagleton Institute of Politics includes both graduate
and undergraduate education programs, specialized research centers, and a variety of programs about
American politics and the political process.
The Institute develops new knowledge and understanding of emerging topics and themes in American politics
and government in order to encourage more responsive and effective leadership. Eagleton conducts innovative
and practical research, educates students, and informs policymakers and the public.
The Eagleton Fellowship Program, which leads to a Master of Science degree in public policy, is designed
to prepare students for careers in government, politics and public affairs. The program has several distinctive
features:
a curriculum with a primary focus on public policy and the policymaking process, emphasizing the
interrelationship of politics and public policy
one year of concentrated study stressing practical applications
professional education
co-curricular offerings including speakers and workshops which complement classroom studies
close interaction between students and the Eagleton faculty
career and placement counseling
a small group of 20-25 excellent students each year
a distinguished faculty combining academic and political experience.
The program of study is designed to help students develop competencies in both analytic and quantitative
skills and in understanding the political processes and institutions that shape public policy formulation and
implementation.
The Undergraduate Associates Program offers a selected group of juniors and seniors from the
undergraduate colleges of Rutgers University opportunities to share in the activities and resources of the
Eagleton Institute. Undergraduate associates study the practical applications of political science by:
taking specially designed seminars
enrolling in graduate and undergraduate courses on American politics and public policy
undertaking a supervised internship
attending programs at Eagleton with government officials and political practitioners.
Research is integral to the mission of the Eagleton Institute. Undergraduate and graduate students receive
training in research skills and practices at Eagleton's centers and engage in supervised research activities under
the direction of Eagleton faculty. Areas of special interest to individual faculty members at the Institute have
included:
political parties, campaigns and elections
women and politics
state legislatures
education policy
state politics and policymaking
employment and job training policy
public opinion polling
abortion politics
mass media and politics
public economics
ethics in government
environmental policy.
over
The Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP) was founded in 1971. Its mission is to promote
greater understanding and knowledge about women's changing relationship to politics and government and to
enhance women's influence and leadership in public life. The Center is a widely-respected bridge between the
academic and political worlds. CAWP's major programs and activities include:
pathbreaking research on emerging issues and questions about the roles and impact of political women
a Young Women's Leadership Initiative, with education programs aimed at preparing the next
generation of women leaders
the Program for Women Public Officials, offering programs to increase the impact of women in
politics and to make political women's leadership more effective
information services, providing up-to-the-minute information and analysis on the history, numbers
and status of women in politics.
The Center for Public Interest Polling/Eagleton Poll (CPIP), founded in 1971, established and continues to
operate a statewide public opinion poll which has become a significant feature of the New Jersey political
landscape. CPIP contributes to the public dialogue by surveying and interpreting the opinions of citizens on
major policy concerns and key state issues and political races. CPIP engages in research and provides public
service by:
conducting the highly respected Star Ledger/Eagleton Poll, designed to acquire information about the
attitudes, behaviors and characteristics of New Jersey citizens
offering contract survey research services to state agencies, non-profit organizations, and academic
administrators and researchers
undertaking research on survey methodology.
State Legislatures and State Politics have long been a central concern at Eagleton. Research and public
service programs have focused on legislative reform, professionalization of legislatures, and lobbyists and
legislators. The Institute has conducted many seminars and conferences for legislators, state legislative
leaders, and legislative staff. The Institute has also convened a series of symposia to examine and assess the
"state of the states." These programs and related publications have focused on: the governor and the
legislature; the courts; campaigns and elections; women, Black and Hispanic state elected leaders; state budget
policy. Eagleton faculty have published widely on a variety of themes related to state legislatures, state politics
and policymaking.
The Eagleton Speaker Series brings to the Institute a wide range of speakers. National, state and local
political leaders, journalists and observers offer their analyses on timely topics to an audience of students,
faculty, and friends of the Institute.
New Initiatives
The Eagleton New Jersey Project, initiated in 1995, aims to coordinate, strengthen and expand Eagleton's
varied efforts to assist individuals, governments and organizations in shaping New Jersey's political agenda.
The project provides focus for Eagleton's presence in the state and increases awareness and understanding of
New Jersey's politics. The project is designed to reinforce and extend the Institute's long record of
contributing to the politics and governance of its home state.
Practicing Politics in a Nation of Differences is a new initiative begun in 1995 to explore the many ways in
which our national diversity both enhances and complicates our public life and political processes. Programs
offered to date include a series of speakers who bring fresh insights to complex topics, as well as a graduate
course on "Race, Politics and the News Media 1964-1994." The initiative aims to open opportunities for
dialogue on critical public and political concerns, encouraging perspectives that may be new, previously
unrecognized, or even excluded.
THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
RUTGERS
Eagleton Institute of Politics * Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey * New Brunswick, NJ 08901 # 908/828-2210 # fax 908/932-6778
HRC VIDEO REQUEST FORM
YES
NO
APPROVED BY: HRCPS MW MV /CONFIRMED yes
DATE TO BE RECORDED 9/13
ORGANIZATION
State Univ. of NJ. RUTGERS
Eagleton Institute of Politics
DATE OF EVENT
Sept 20
LOCATION
New BruNswick, NJ
EVENT
40th anniversary of Eagleton Inst. 8 Politics
+
25th anniv. of 2 Research centers Gala
WHITE HOUSE
STAFF CONTACT
will out of
CONTACTS
Brendat SaB contact - Ruth Mandel 908.828.2210*228
town
Debra Walsh 908.828.2210 K 227
wed 9/12
BILL TO
same
SEND TO
Eagleton Instituteof Palics
ATTN:
Rutgers University
90 Clifton tve
Debra walsh
New Brunswick NJ 08091
SEND VIA
REGULAR MAIL
FED EX
ACCT # 1112-6684-0 (MON
SATURDAY DELIVERY
AIRBORNE EX
ACCT #
PICK UP
CONTACT
PHONE #
FORMAT
VHS
BETA
BETA CAM
BETA CAM SP
3/4"
OTHER
NOTES
Gov. whitman is sending a video
yes
September 5, 1996
per
To:
Mrs. Jim Doyle (aka Patti!)
Sd
From: Diane Blair (496-4894)
Re: Two Inquiries
As you know many people call me about getting HRC to their events, and most
I just advise re accessing the regular channels. However, I've had calls today from two
women re pending requests and I know, in both instances, Hillary would want them
treated properly. So, could you please check on and advise me re:
--A July 19 request from Ruth Mandel, Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics (and
longtime Director of the Center for the American Woman and Politics, and very good friend of
ours) at Rutgers, addressed to The President and Mrs. Clinton, requesting their appearance at the
September 20 dinner celebrating the 40th anniversary of Eagleton, the 25th Anniversary of the
Center, Invitation letter is attached. Note that it acknowledged the campaign timing might
make an appearance impossible, but they heartily hoped for a Video greeting. Apparently a
Sabrina Corlett called from the White house and asked lots of questions, but nothing has been
heard since. Could you please make certain that these folks get an appropriate response? The
person to call is Debra Walsh, now Director of the Center, at 908-828-2210, ext. 227. (Debra
told me Gov. Whitman is sending a video message).
--A longstanding request from Pat Lichtenberg, Director of Valkill, for HRC , as Honorary
Chair, to preside at this year's October 13 Valkill Medal Ceremony honoring Leah Rabin, Queen
Noor, and others. Pat also understands the constraints of an election year, but thought this
would be a wonderful energizing occasion for HRC. She awaits your call at 914-471-1386
or 914-229-5302. (Pat and Molly Shanley of Vassar, another FOH, are writing some great
op-ed pieces for us that are being printed in the Poughkeepsie Journal).
Thank you, Patti.
Diana
/16811-961