    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [October 27, 1997]
    [Page 1439]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Birthday Party for the First Lady in Chicago, Illinois
    October 27, 1997

        The President. Thank you very much. You can hear I'm a little hoarse
    tonight, but I'll do my best to be heard over the din. Let me say to all
    of you, first of all, thank you, Mr. Mayor; thank you, Mrs. Daley; thank
    you, Lois Weisberg. I thank all the committee, everybody who had
    anything to do with this day today. You have made Hillary and, I might
    say, her mother and her brothers who came with her today--you've made
    their whole family very happy. This has been an unforgettable day in her
    life, and I am profoundly grateful to all of you, and I thank you very
    much.
        You know, before I met Hillary, you could put what I knew about
    Chicago in a thimble and have space left over. [Laughter] About a week
    after I met Hillary, I thought there was no other city on the face of
    the Earth. [Laughter] I'll never forget the first time I came here to
    visit Hillary. I remember only two things: her father would not come
    outside to say hello to me--[laughter]--which I thought showed good
    judgment on his part--[laughter]--and she took me to Chicago and showed
    me the city. And I fell in love with it then--that was a long time ago
    now--and I have been ever since.
        This is a magnificent place. You have done unbelievable things.
    You're in the process of doing other unbelievable things. They may well
    make a larger chapter in the history of this city, but you will never
    have a kinder, better, warmer gesture than the one you've given Hillary
    today, and I will never forget it as long as I live. Thank you very,
    very much.
        Audience member. Four more years!
        The President. It's not constitutional. [Laughter]
        I want to ask Hillary to come up now. You have to remember--this
    birthday--she wore it lightly for a long time, but her staff started
    celebrating it 50 days before the event. They wanted her to recognize
    precisely how old she was by giving her one present a day for 50 days up
    to the blessed event--[laughter]--which occurred yesterday. Now she's
    still celebrating it as if she's going to hold on for dear life.
    [Laughter] Whatever she wants to do, I'm for.
        Ladies and gentlemen, our First Lady.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:25 p.m. in Gar Hall at the Chicago
    Cultural Center. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Richard M. Daley
    of Chicago and his wife, Margaret; Chicago Commissioner of Culture
    Affairs Lois Weisberg; and the First Lady's mother, Dorothy Rodham, and
    brothers Tony Rodham and Hugh Rodham, Jr.