[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.