    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [December 9, 1997]
    [Page 1728]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on the Death of Jeanette E. Rockefeller
    December 9, 1997

        Hillary joins me in extending our condolences to the family of the
    late Jeanette E. Rockefeller, who died yesterday at the age of 79. As
    the wife of former Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, she was a pioneering
    First Lady of Arkansas, helping her former husband bring the ``New
    South'' to our State and leading women into the mainstream of political
    and public life. She spearheaded education and cultural outreach across
    the State through the Arkansas Arts Center. As a tireless campaigner,
    Mrs. Rockefeller was a strong voice against discrimination, with an
    uncanny ability to relate to the common man and woman. And, at a
    particularly tense time in the wake of Martin Luther King's
    assassination, she organized a memorial service in his honor on the
    steps of the State Capitol.
        The people of Arkansas have lost a true and valued friend.