    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [November 6, 1997]
    [Pages 1505-1507]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Dedication of the George Bush Presidential Library in
    College Station
    November 6, 1997

        Thank you very much, President and Mrs. Bush, President and Mrs.
    Ford, President and Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Reagan, Mrs. Johnson, David and
    Julie Eisenhower, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Reverend Graham,
    Governor and Mrs. Bush, Vice President and Mrs. Quayle, and to all the
    foreign dignitaries and American officials who are here.
        The sun is shining on Texas A&M today. And the sun is shining on
    America today. You know, we have an interesting country, with a lot of
    religious, racial, and political diversity. Once in a while, we all get
    together. This morning, I think it's fair to say that all Americans are
    united in tribute to President George Bush for his lifetime of service
    to America.

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        I enjoyed immensely listening to the previous speakers. When Mrs.
    Reagan spoke--I hope someday Al Gore will be glad that we had lunch once
    a week. [Laughter] When President Ford spoke, I said, I hope I will look
    that good when I am 25 years younger than he is. [Laughter] When
    President Carter spoke, I thought, thank goodness he just reminded the
    whole world that Presidents have to raise all the money for their
    libraries. [Laughter]
        In 1942, young George Bush heard Secretary of War Henry Stimson
    challenge his generation to be, and I quote, ``be brave without being
    brutal; self-confident without boasting; part of an irresistible might,
    but without losing faith in individual liberty.'' President Bush not
    only heard those words, he has lived them. And he has rallied his fellow
    citizens to serve as well in their communities, for their country, and
    for the cause of democracy around the world.
        There are many things that I, not only as President but as a
    citizen, am grateful to George and Barbara Bush for. I'd like to just
    mention a few today. As President and afterward, he has worked to ensure
    that ``A Thousand Points of Light'' is not merely a striking image but a
    lasting legacy. I thank him for that initiative and for cochairing the
    Presidents' Summit on Service.
        As President, he summoned all the Governors, including me, to the
    University of Virginia for a summit on education, where we stayed up
    more than half the night in a totally bipartisan fashion to write
    national education goals for our country. And when he was President,
    Mrs. Bush espoused the importance of literacy and the importance of
    citizens volunteering to make sure all our children can read. I thought
    of that when we launched our America Reads initiative, which now has
    tens of thousands of college students at hundreds of universities all
    across America, trying to do what Barbara Bush always said we should do,
    to make sure every one of our fellow citizens could read and read well.
    And I thank them both for that.
        As President and afterward, President Bush stood for American
    leadership for peace and prosperity, for freedom and democracy. He was
    the last President of the cold war, but he knew that American
    responsibility could not end with the cold war. And he showed us that in
    Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The vigilance President Bush displayed
    in dealing with Iraq, as we all know, is required again today. And I
    believe the American people support that vigilance, thanks in no small
    measure to your example not so long ago. And I thank you for that, Mr.
    President.
        As President and afterward, President Bush pushed America to embrace
    new alliances of trade as instruments of both economic growth and
    growing democracy. He launched NAFTA and the talks that led to the World
    Trade Organization. I was proud to complete those efforts, and I am very
    grateful for the support he continues to give, along with our other
    former Presidents, to the imperative of American leadership in expanding
    alliances of trade, not only for our economic welfare but to support our
    political ideals.
        Tomorrow the House of Representatives will vote on whether to extend
    fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements. I hope Congress will
    follow the lead that President Bush and the other former Presidents have
    set to expand trade and our vital horizons in the 21st century. I thank
    you, Mr. President, for that.
        For more than 4\1/2\ years now, even though our relationship began
    under somewhat unusual circumstances, I have been very grateful that
    whenever I called on President Bush, he was always there with wise
    counsel and, when he agreed, with public support. It's hard to express
    to someone who hasn't experienced it what it means in a moment of
    difficulty to be able to call someone who, first of all, knows exactly
    what you're up against and, secondly, will tell you the truth. And he
    has done that time and time again. I am persuaded that the country is
    better off because of it. And I thank you, Mr. President, for your
    counsel and your assistance.
        This magnificent library will be a place for scholars who try to
    understand what has happened in some of America's most important years.
    It's a place for citizens who want to know right now what went on in the
    life and career of George Bush. It's also a place from which any person
    would draw enormous inspiration, a place for the reaffirmation of our
    faith in America.
        Benjamin Franklin told our Constitutional Convention, ``The first
    man put at the helm will be a good one, but no one knows what sort will
    come afterward.'' Mr. President, I think if Benjamin Franklin were here
    today, he would say that in George Bush, America has had a good man
    whose decency and devotion have

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    served our country well. And that is the story this library will tell to
    generations to come.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:25 a.m. in front of the library building
    at Texas A&M University. In his remarks, he referred to former First
    Ladies Barbara Bush, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, and Lady
    Bird Johnson; Dwight David Eisenhower II, grandson of former President
    Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his wife, Julie, daughter of former President
    Richard M. Nixon; Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of former
    President John F. Kennedy; Rev. Billy Graham, who gave the invocation;
    Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, son of former President Bush, and his
    wife, Laura; and former Vice President Dan Quayle and his wife, Marilyn.