[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[July 21, 1993]
[Page 1149]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on the Death of Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster, Jr.
July 21, 1993

    The President. Good afternoon. I have just met with the White House 
staff to basically talk with them a little bit about the death of my 
friend of 42 years, Vince Foster. It is an immense personal loss to me 
and to Hillary and to many of his close friends here and a great loss to 
the White House and to the country.
    As I tried to explain, especially to the young people on the staff, 
there is really no way to know why these things happen, and it is very 
important that his life not be judged simply by how it ended, because 
Vince Foster was a wonderful man in every way and because no one can 
know why things like this happen.
    I also encouraged the staff to remember that we're all people and 
that we have to pay maybe a little more attention to our friends and our 
families and our coworkers and try to remember that work can never be 
the only thing in life and a little humility in the face of this is 
very, very important.
    I also pointed out that we have to go on. We have the country's 
business to do. I am keeping my schedule today except for the public 
events. I'm keeping all my appointments, and I expect to resume my 
normal schedule tomorrow. And then, of course, when the funeral is held, 
Hillary and I will go home and be a part of that. But otherwise, we will 
go on with our schedule and keep doing our work.
    Q. Mr. President, do you have any idea why he might have taken his 
life? There's no indication----
    The President. No. I really don't. And frankly, none of us do. His 
closest friends sat around discussing it last night at some length. None 
of us do. For more years than most of us would like to admit, in times 
of difficulty he was normally the Rock of Gibraltar while other people 
were having trouble. No one could ever remember the reverse being the 
case. So I don't know that we'll ever know. But for me, it's just 
important that that not be the only measure of his life. He did too much 
good as a father, as a husband, as a friend, as a lawyer, as a citizen. 
And we'll just have to live with something else we can't understand, I 
think.
    Q. There's some feeling that he might have felt the guilt or blame 
for things that went wrong in the White House during the first 6 months.
    The President. I don't think so. I certainly don't think that can 
explain it, and I certainly don't think it's accurate.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 12:50 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.