    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [March 3, 1998]
    [Pages 322-324]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Time Magazine 75th Anniversary Celebration in
    New York City
    March 3, 1998

        Thank you very much. Thank you Walter,
    Jerry Levin, and all the people at Time.
    Tonight Time has paid tribute to the time it not only observed but
    helped to create, the stunning years your founder, Henry Luce, so
    unforgettably called the American Century.
        To me, one man above all others is the personification of our
    American Century: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Now, that choice might have
    pained Henry Luce--[laughter]--but surely he would not be surprised.
        The story of this century we're about to leave is really many
    stories: the ascendance of science and technology, the rise of big
    Government and mass media, the movements for equality for women and
    racial minorities, the dynamic growth and disruptive force of the
    industrial age. But when our children's children look back, they will
    see that above all else, the story of the 20th century is the story of
    the triumph of freedom.
        Freedom: the victory of democracy over totalitarianism, of free
    enterprise over state socialism, of tolerance over bigotry and
    ignorance. The advance of freedom has made this the American Century,
    for in this century America has made freedom ring. The embodiment of the
    triumph, the driving force behind it, was Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
        Today, with the happy outcome known to all, it is tempting to look
    back and say the victory was assured, inevitable. But it wasn't. In the
    face of the 20th century's greatest crisis, decisively, irrevocably,
    President Roosevelt committed America to freedom's fight. Because of
    that commitment and its embrace by every American leader since, today we
    can say, for the very first time in all of human history, a majority of
    the world's people live under governments of their own choosing, in
    freedom.
        Winston Churchill said that Franklin Roosevelt's life was one of the
    commanding events in human history. He was born to privilege, but he
    understood the aspirations of farmers and factory workers and forgotten
    Americans. My grandfather came from a little town of about 50 people. He
    had a fourth grade education. He believed that Franklin Roosevelt was
    his friend, a man who cared about him and his family and his child's
    future. Polio put him in a wheelchair, but he lifted our troubled Nation
    to its feet, and he got us moving again.
        He was a patrician who happily addressed the Daughters of the
    American Revolution as ``my fellow immigrants.'' He was a master
    politician, a magnificent Commander in Chief. Yes, his life had its fair
    share of disappointments and failures, but they never broke his spirit
    or his faith in God or his people. Because he always rose to the
    occasion, so did we. FDR was guided not by the iron dictates of ideology
    but by the pragmatism of what he called bold, persistent
    experimentation. ``If one thing doesn't work,'' he said, ``try another
    thing, but above all, try something.'' It drove his critics crazy, but
    it worked.
        He brought joy and nobility to public service as he completed the
    mission of his kinsman

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    Theodore Roosevelt, forging a progressive Government for the industrial
    age, taming the savage cycle of boom and bust, giving our citizens the
    economic security and the skills they needed to build the great American
    middle class.
        In our century's struggle for freedom, President Roosevelt won two
    great victories. By confronting the gravest threat capitalism had ever
    faced, the Great Depression, he strengthened economic liberty for all
    time, teaching us that free markets require effective Government, one in
    which individual initiative and the call of community are not at odds,
    but instead are woven together in one seamless social fabric.
        By confronting and defeating the gravest threat to personal and
    political liberty the world has ever faced, he forever committed America
    to the frontlines of the struggle for freedom. He taught us that even
    the expanses of two great oceans could not shield America from danger or
    absolve America from responsibility. He taught us that our destiny,
    forever, is linked to the destiny of the world, that our freedom
    requires us to support freedom for all others, that humanity's cause
    must be America's cause.
        Now we know what came of Roosevelt and his generation's rendezvous
    with destiny. What will come of ours? To this generation of the
    millennium, in President Roosevelt's words, ``much has been given and
    much is asked.'' When Roosevelt ran for President in 1932, he said new
    times demand new responses from Government. He saved capitalism from its
    own excesses, so it could again be a force for progress and freedom. Now
    we work to modernize Government, saving it from its excess of debt, so
    that again it is a force for progress and freedom in a new era.
        As Roosevelt gave Americans security in the industrial age, now we
    work to give Americans opportunity in the information age. As Roosevelt
    asked us to meet the crushing burden of the Depression with bold,
    persistent experimentation, now we must bring the same attitude to the
    challenges and unrivaled opportunities of this era to our schools, our
    streets, our poorest neighborhoods, to the fight against disease, the
    exploration of space, the preservation of the environment.
        As Roosevelt established that security and opportunity for ordinary
    Americans required our leadership and cooperation with like-minded
    people throughout the world, now we must commit ourselves to the common
    struggle against new threats to the security and prosperity of ordinary
    people everywhere. For even more than in President Roosevelt's time, our
    prospects are bound to the world's progress. Like FDR, we look around us
    and see a world that is not yet fully free. The advance of democracy has
    been steady, but it isn't irreversible.
        For our generation, what does freedom mean? Well, at least, the
    long-delayed achievement of President Roosevelt's dream of a Europe
    undivided, democratic, and at peace for the first time in history. What
    does freedom from fear mean? Well, at least, freedom for our children
    from the worry of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. What does
    freedom from fear or freedom from want mean? Well, at least, for the
    world, a fair chance for people in every land to develop their minds,
    find reward in honest labor, and raise their children in peace according
    to the dictates of their conscience.
        America must work to secure this kind of freedom with our allies and
    friends whenever possible, alone if absolutely necessary. We work today
    through the United Nations, which FDR helped to create and which he
    named. I salute Secretary-General Kofi Annan
    tonight for what he has done. Bearing an unequivocal message from the
    international community, backed by the credible threat of force, the
    Secretary-General obtained Iraq's commitment to honor United Nations
    resolutions on weapons inspection. Now the Security Council clearly and
    unanimously has supported the agreement. Iraq must match its words and
    its deeds, its commitment with compliance.
        In the tradition of FDR, America and its partners must make sure
    that happens. And in the tradition of FDR, America must support the
    United Nations and other institutions for global security and
    prosperity, and that means we ought to pay our fair share.
        In the darkest hours of the Second World War, Franklin Roosevelt
    proclaimed, ``We have faith that future generations will know that here
    in the middle of the 20th century, there came a time when men of good
    will found a way to unite and produce and fight to destroy the forces of
    ignorance and intolerance and slavery and war.''
        More than any other 20th century American, Franklin Roosevelt
    fulfilled the mandate of America's Founders. When everything was on the
    line, he pledged our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor to the
    preservation of liberty, the

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    pursuit of happiness, the creation of a more perfect Union. The next
    century is now barely 700 days away. It will be many things new: a time
    of stunning leaps of science; a century of dizzying technology; a
    digital century; an era in which the very face of our Nation will
    change.
        Yet in all the newness, what is required of us still is to follow
    President Roosevelt's lead, to strengthen the bonds of our Union, widen
    the circle of opportunity, and deepen the reach of freedom. That is the
    tribute we ought to pay to him. God willing, we will. And if we do, we
    will make the 21st century the next American Century, and a Happy
    Warrior will be smiling down on us.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:59 p.m. at Radio City Music Hall. In his
    remarks, he referred to Walter Isaacson, managing editor, Time magazine;
    and Gerald Levin, chief executive officer, Time/Warner.