    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [March 23, 1991]
    [Pages 307-308]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Gridiron Dinner
    March 23, 1991

        Thank you very much: Mr. Vice President and members of the Cabinet,
    members of the congressional leadership, diplomatic corps, special
    guests. And on this special Gridiron evening, may I single out the
    members of the Joint Chiefs and the other members of the military that
    are with us tonight. May I also single out Messrs. Baker and Strauss.
    [Laughter] After sitting through their parts in the program, I'll say
    this: If I'd had a white flag, I'd have waved it. [Laughter] No, I
    thought they had some very good material. The ground war only took 100
    hours. [Laughter]
        I'm very happy to see Kuwait's Ambassador here--Al-Sabah, the
    Ambassador from Kuwait. I understand that during his recent travels with
    Jim Baker, Jim tried out some of tonight's jokes on him. And after
    hearing them, the Ambassador said, ``Don't you think we've suffered
    enough?'' [Laughter] No, but Jim put it well. We have been friends. And
    I have total confidence in him. Remember 1980? He's the guy who told me
    in New Hampshire, ``Don't worry; let the guy from California pay for the
    mike.'' [Laughter]
        And I understand Eppie Lederer is with us tonight over here at table
    12. We all know her as Ann Landers. Apparently, Bob Strauss wrote to her
    recently, and she asked me to read her response: ``Dear Washington
    Wheeler-Dealer,'' it says--[laughter]--``yes,

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    take the money from both sides.'' [Laughter]
        But this has been a very special evening with emphasis
    understandably on the Gulf. And it's great to have so many members of
    the press back from the Gulf in time for this Gridiron. I know many of
    the reporters out there were roughing it lately. Sam Donaldson, though,
    said it wasn't so bad staying at the Sheraton Riyadh. In fact, he said
    the towels were so fluffy that he could barely get his suitcase shut.
    [Laughter]
        Some air war, wasn't it? I've just learned the three words every
    Iraqi pilot dreaded the most: Cleared for takeoff. [Laughter]
        What a crowd. I haven't gotten so many laughs since my last speech
    on domestic policy. [Laughter] Thank you.
        Now the attention is turned back to the homefront, maybe Wolf
    Blitzer can go back to his real name. [Laughter]
        I'm glad that politics '92 didn't rear its ugly head too much
    tonight. Well, it did a little bit. And I understand that there is
    speculation already about the '92 race. In fact, just the other day, Jim
    Palmer sent a telegram to George McGovern. It read: ``Heard you were
    considering a comeback. Stop.'' [Laughter]
        No, but it has been a special evening. I notice that Bernie Shaw was
    sitting at the table instead of under it. [Laughter]
        All kidding aside, though, really it has been, I think, the most
    enjoyable Gridiron in many, many years. Barbara and I enjoy ourselves
    always. I must say that, with all respect to the two skits and to
    Ambassador Strauss and to Secretary Baker, I think that the most moving
    part, the most wonderful part of the evening, was the tribute to the
    troops. And there was a special line in it, you may have heard in the
    beginning: ``Through the fog of distant war shines the strength of their
    devotion.'' And as I've said before, our soldiers and our sailors and
    our airmen and our marines and our coastguardmen embodied the ideals of
    honor and bravery and duty and country, and were willing to sacrifice
    for the sake of those simple words. And they liberated a nation abroad
    and helped transform a nation at home.
        So, once again, Budge, my congratulations to you, sir. Thank you for
    a very special, enjoyable Gridiron evening. And may God bless the
    families of all those soldiers that we lost in action.
        Thank you all very, very much.

                        Note: The President spoke at 7:08 p.m. in the
                            Presidential Ballroom at the Capital Hilton
                            Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary
                            of State James A. Baker III; Robert Strauss,
                            former chairman of the Democratic Party and
                            former Special Representative for Trade
                            Negotiations; Saud Nasir al-Sabah, Iraqi
                            Ambassador to the United States; advice
                            columnist Ann Landers; reporters Sam Donaldson
                            of ABC News and Wolf Blitzer of Cable News
                            Network; retired baseball player Jim Palmer, who
                            had recently attempted a comeback; former
                            Senator George McGovern, a former Democratic
                            Presidential candidate; Bernard Shaw, one of
                            CNN's reporters in Baghdad, Iraq, during the
                            early stages of the Persian Gulf conflict; and
                            Godfrey ``Budge'' Sperling, Jr., president of
                            the Gridiron Club. A tape was not available for
                            verification of the content of these remarks.