[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
[July 18, 1997]
[Pages 981-982]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Funeral Service for Hilary Jones in Jasper, Arkansas
July 18, 1997

    Pastor, to the members of Hilary's family, and to the legion of 
friends who are here today, let me say, first of all, that I feel 
profoundly honored to have been asked by the family to speak for a 
moment or two about my friend. There's not a person here today who 
couldn't stand up here and entertain us and relieve our grief for a few 
moments with Hilary Jones stories. So as we come here to mourn the death 
of our friend, let us remember, as the pastor said, that death is a part 
of life for all of us. And let us take a few moments to celebrate his 
life, for he would have wanted that very much.
    I first met Hilary Jones over 23 years ago now, when I first came to 
Newton County. And I can't exactly describe it, but after the first time 
I met him, I knew that my life would never quite be the same. He wasn't 
like anybody I had ever met before, and I have seen a little bit more of 
the world since then, and I never have met anybody like him since. 
[Laughter]
    He introduced me to the beauty, to the history, and the fantastic 
characters of the Arkansas Ozarks. Some of them are in this church 
building today. He took me into his home and his heart. I learned a lot 
about politics and people. I learned that he was quite a disarming human 
being. The language he spoke was pure Arkansas hillbilly, and I think he 
enjoyed it if you underestimated his intelligence, which could be a 
fatal error, for he was a very smart man.
    He was deeply interested in people who were different from him and 
deeply compassionate with people who were in trouble if he thought they 
were basically good-hearted. And he was so passionate about what he 
cared about. He cared about his family, and he was so passionate, he had 
a very big one. [Laughter] And he was very proud of them.

[[Page 982]]

    He was so passionate about politics that, when I first him, he could 
actually look at the vote totals in Newton County, precinct by precinct, 
and tell you whether a family had told him the truth or not about how 
they were going to vote. [Laughter]
    He was so passionate about being a Democrat that 22 years ago, when 
I spoke at the Jasper High School commencement and commended to the 
seniors the example of Abraham Lincoln as a person who could overcome 
adversity time and again and keep going in his life, Hilary and a few 
others--some of whom are in this church today--took me outside and said, 
``Bill, that is a wonderful speech. And you can give that speech in 
Little Rock any day. Don't you ever come up here and brag on that 
Republican President again.'' [Laughter]
    I must say that years later I was amused when I finally talked him 
into coming to visit me at the White House. I persuaded him to spend the 
night in the Lincoln Bedroom--[laughter]--something I failed to do with 
Bo Forney, sitting back there. [Laughter] And afterward, as we kidded 
him about spending the night at the Lincoln Bedroom, he said, ``I did 
that for the President, but I stepped on the side of the bed that was 
under Andrew Jackson's picture.'' [Laughter]
    He was passionate about fish and wildlife. He loved his service on 
the Game and Fish Commission, and I was honored to appoint him. I think 
Steve Wilson, whom I see here today, will tell you that they never had a 
commissioner like him either. He was absolutely fool enough to believe 
we could bring the elk back to Arkansas. No one else in the State 
believed it, but he kept doing it. And sure enough, somehow we had the 
elk come back to Arkansas.
    If you were his friend, he was your friend, through thick and thin, 
in lightness and dark, no matter what happened. If you were his 
political friend, he was your friend whether you won or you lost. But he 
believed that people were basically good. And he believed that the 
purpose of politics was to help ordinary people live their lives better.
    And I learned a lot from him about going to the sale barns and the 
country stores and remote places where most people never went, just to 
listen to people's hopes and dreams and hurts and fears. And I learned 
what ferocious power can beat in the heart of any ordinary citizen who 
believes that he or she can make a difference. Hilary Jones always 
believed he could make a difference. And he always believed he had an 
obligation to try, whether it was in the lives of his children or his 
grandchildren or his friends.
    I always felt that somehow, some way, he had adopted me into his 
family. And I believe he would want me here today if I had never been 
reelected Governor and had gone out in life as one of history's losers, 
because Hilary didn't judge people by whether they were on top or on the 
bottom, he judged them by what they thought was in their hearts.
    I loved this man. He was my friend, my brother, my surrogate uncle 
or father. But what he was to me he was to literally hundreds of other 
people. Look around this church today. God gave Hilary Jones a great 
gift, a unique blend of heart and mind and energy and passion that very 
few people in this life in any position ever have. And he used it well.
    We will miss him. We may not ever see anybody like him again. But I 
ask his family to remember as their hearts are broken that this, too, is 
part of God's plan and how blessed they were that he was their father 
and our friend.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 10 a.m. in the Jasper First 
Baptist Church. In his remarks, he referred to Rev. Manual Macks, 
pastor, Jasper First Baptist Church; Bo Forney, longtime friend of the 
President and Mr. Jones; and Steve N. Wilson, director, Arkansas Game 
and Fish Commission.