[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[July 18, 1996]
[Page 1155]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Retirement Dinner for Senator Mark Hatfield
 July 18, 1996

    Thank you very much. Senator, Antoinette, members of the Hatfield 
family, the remarkable array of Congressmen here and your fellow 
Oregonians. I know the Chaplain of the Senate, Reverend Ogilvie, was 
here, and I think that's good, Mark. I was afraid the last time we had a 
vacancy, people would think with you in the Senate they didn't need a 
Chaplain. [Laughter]
    I do have some news for all of you, and for our Republican friends 
it's good news and bad news. And it is that the founding of Willamette 
was one of two significant things that happened during President Tyler's 
administration. The bad news for the Republicans is that I am the first 
President since John Tyler where the deficit went down in all 4 years. 
[Laughter] The good news is that John Tyler was not reelected. 
[Laughter]
    I'm honored to be here tonight. This is the biggest crowd of 
Republicans and Democrats sitting together in a generation. I was 
looking at them thinking I was also glad Mark Hatfield didn't run for 
President this year. [Laughter]
    I came here to pay tribute to a remarkable man, his wonderful wife, 
and his career in public life, a man who was, like me, as he said, a 
Governor at a young age; unlike me, he didn't mess it up the first time 
and get defeated, a man who has served with distinction in the United 
States Senate and who has lived his convictions as well as any person I 
have ever known in public life. He has consistently opposed violence, he 
has consistently worked for every chance to eradicate the remotest 
chance of nuclear war, and he has consistently stood for the interests 
of his native State as he saw them. He has done so many remarkable 
things in Oregon that bear his stamp, and he will be able to see them 
for the rest of his life and always, I hope, have a deep and profound 
sense of pride.
    But the most important thing to me about Mark Hatfield is the way 
he's done all this and the kind of person he's been and that he always 
seems to be becoming, for it seems to me he's always growing. His idol 
Abraham Lincoln said, ``You can't fool all the people all the time.'' I 
think we should all say of Mark Hatfield he never tried to fool anybody 
any of the time.
    I think every one of us here will say there has been at least one 
occasion, if not more, on which we have disagreed with him, sometimes 
deeply. But we always knew he was doing what he thought was right.
    He embodies the humanitarian spirit that we all need a little more 
of in America and that gives public service its meaning and makes it 
worth the vicissitudes of public life. He is I think also, in the best 
sense, a committed Christian. He has followed the commandment to love 
the Lord and also to love his neighbor as himself.
    Because he has tried to love his enemies, he has no enemies. And I 
think this town is the poorer for his leaving but the richer for his 
legacy. And I can only say, Senator, in the darkest hours of my life in 
the years ahead, I hope I can always remember the twinkle in your eye 
and the calmness of your demeanor and the generosity of your spirit and 
the honesty and openness and genuine charity with which you attempted to 
treat everyone and every issue. If all of us would be more like you, 
America would be an even greater nation.
    Good luck, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 7:57 p.m. at the Sheraton Washington Hotel.