    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [June 3, 1993]
    [Pages 808-810]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Withdrawal of the Nomination of Lani Guinier To Be an
    Assistant Attorney General and an Exchange With Reporters
    June 3, 1993

        The President. Good evening. It is with deep regret that I am
    announcing tonight the withdrawal of the nomination of Lani Guinier to
    be Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.
        Earlier this evening I met with Ms. Guinier to talk through the
    issues that prompted my decision. I told her that had I known all along
    the intense controversy this nomination would inspire I would not have
    asked her to undergo the ordeal, and I am sorry that she has suffered as
    much as she has.
        At the time of the nomination I had not read her writings. In
    retrospect, I wish I had. Today, as a matter of fairness to her, I read
    some of them again in good detail. They clearly lend themselves to
    interpretations that do not represent the views that I expressed on
    civil rights during my campaign and views that I hold very dearly, even
    though there is much in them with which I agree. I have to tell you that
    had I read them before I nominated her, I would not have done so.
        Now, I want to make it clear that that is not to say that I agree
    with all the attacks on her. She has been subject to a vicious series of
    willful distortions on many issues, including the quota issue. And that
    has made this decision all the more difficult.
        The Lani Guinier I know is a person of high integrity, great
    intellect, strong character, and a superb civil rights record. That's
    why I nominated her. I agree with civil rights leaders and members of
    the Congressional Black Caucus that she is a wonderful lawyer. And I
    want all of you to know that if this nomination could be fought out on
    her character or her record as a civil rights lawyer, I would stay with
    it to the end, if we didn't get but one or two votes in the Senate.
        It is not the fear of defeat that has prompted this decision. It is
    the certainty that the battle would be carried on a ground that I could
    not defend. The dilemma with which I have struggled basically comes down
    to this: Should we

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    have proceeded with a confirmation battle that would give her more ample
    opportunity to clarify her views but would guarantee a bloody and
    divisive conflict over civil rights based on ideas that I, as President,
    could not defend.
        Because the controversy over her academic writings includes
    mischaracterizations, this battle, unfortunately, has already polarized
    our country. My campaign for the Presidency was based on trying to unite
    Americans on the basis of race, opportunity, and responsibility, the
    idea that we could all work together to reach common solutions. And I
    regret very much the bitterness and the divisiveness which has occurred
    already.
        I am well aware that this withdrawal will upset many people in this
    country who believe in Lani and had hoped that she might be confirmed. I
    can only pledge to them that I will continue to work, as I have for
    nearly 20 years, for the cause of civil rights and that I want an
    administration second to none in its dedication to civil rights.
        I will be consulting promptly with the Attorney General and with
    other Members of the Senate and House committees and with civil rights
    leaders about a replacement for Lani. I hope to have an announcement in
    the next few days. In the meantime, I want to again say I take full
    responsibility for what has happened here. I want to express my sorrow
    about what has happened to Lani Guinier and to say again I think that
    she is one of the ablest civil rights lawyers I have ever known, and I
    wish this battle could be fought over that rather than ideas that I
    myself cannot embrace.
        Q. Mr. President, Attorney General Reno has been a staunch defender
    of Ms. Guinier. Did she urge you to keep her on, or is she fully on
    board with your decision to abandon this nomination?
        The President. I believe she is. I would urge you to talk to her
    about that.
        Q. Mr. President, could you just give us an idea of what part of her
    writings you really had trouble with?
        The President. Yes, I can give you an idea. In the Michigan Law
    Review there was an article. Lani analyzed the weaknesses of the present
    remedies available under the Voting Rights Act--and many of her analyses
    I agree with--but seemed to be arguing for principles of proportional
    representation in minority veto as general remedies that I think are
    inappropriate as general remedies and antidemocratic, very difficult to
    defend.
        Now, the Supreme Court has obviously changed the law on that, but
    the whole thrust of that kind of argument, it seems to me, is
    inconsistent with the arguments that I tried to make to members of all
    races all during my campaign.
        Q. Mr. President, what part did your friendship, yours and Mrs.
    Clinton's, with Guinier play in your decision to nominate her and
    perhaps in your decision--or your neglect of her record at the time that
    you did nominate her?
        The President. Well, Hillary played no role in this nomination or
    this decision and so deserves no blame or credit for it. But the fact
    that I have known her since law school and had actually seen her in
    action as a civil rights practitioner played a very large role in my
    desire to nominate her. That is, I thought it would be not only
    interesting, but positive to have, for the first time, someone who had
    been a career civil rights lawyer head that division.
        And frankly, I think the fact that I had known her and cared about
    her and admired her probably contributed to the way this thing has been
    handled in a kind of a drawn-out fashion. And it may be the adequacy or
    inadequacy of the briefings I received about this issue is partly based
    on the assumption that I must have known everything she'd written about
    since I knew her as a lawyer. I think that's probably true.
        Q. Mr. President, there's a perception among some of your critics
    among the Black Caucus that your move to the center and your desire to
    have conservative Democratic votes in the Senate for your economic plan,
    and your health plan to come, played a large role in this. And they are
    saying--Craig Washington said, for instance, today, that he was with you
    in the House vote on the economic plan but won't be with you because of
    your decision to, in his view, cut and run on Lani Guinier. What do you
    say to those people and how----
        The President. I would say two things. Number one, this is about my
    center, not about the political center. I will say again, I would gladly
    fight this nomination to the last moment, if nobody wanted to vote her,
    nobody, if it were on the grounds that I could defend. If somebody said,
    ``You know, she sued the State of Arkansas, and she sued all these other
    people, and she came out for remedies in her law practice that

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    weren't right, and she ran over this group and that group,'' I would
    say, ``Fine, let's fight this thing out. You know, I know that. I have
    personal knowledge of that. You are wrong.'' And if everybody in the
    Senate disagreed with me, I would stay with it to the bitter end.
        The problem is that this battle will be waged based on her academic
    writings. And I cannot fight a battle that I know is divisive, that is
    an uphill battle, that is distracting to the country, if I do not
    believe in the ground of the battle. That is the only problem. This has
    nothing to do with a political center. This has to do with my center.
        Now, let me say about Craig Washington, whatever he does for the
    rest of his life, I'll be grateful to him for what he did and what he
    said in fighting that economic problem through. I know how strongly he
    feels about it. I can tell you, I received--if any--there's pressure
    over the issue. I got more pressure to stay with this than to drop it.
    But in the end, I had to do what I thought was right. Whether I am right
    or wrong, I tell you tonight, I have done what I think is right.
        Q. Mr. President, did she agree with you?
        Q. Did she agree with you?
        Q. Has she withdrawn or are you withdrawing her?
        The President. I am--I think you'd better ask her what she said.
        Q. Well, if she comes--have you withdrawn her name?
        The President. Well, she's in town and we've--I think she'll
    probably have a statement later tonight. I have no idea what she will
    say.
        Q. Did she ask you not to withdraw her name, sir?
        The President. Well, you know what she wanted. She wanted her
    hearing. But she was surprised that I felt the way I did. You know, this
    is the first long, detailed conversation we've had about it. It was a
    very painful thing between two people who have liked and admired each
    other a long time. This was one of the most difficult meetings I've ever
    had in my life. But I did what I thought was right.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:05 p.m. in the Briefing Room at the White
    House.