    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [February 5, 1999]
    [Pages 175-176]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Gala Honoring Hank Aaron in
    Atlanta, Georgia
    February 5, 1999

        Thank you very much, Tom. I want to
    thank Ted and Jane and
    you, Tom, and Gerry Levin and all the people
    from CNN and Time Warner for your role in this magnificent evening--all
    the sponsors, all the previous speakers.
        You know, the truth is, I wanted to come down yesterday just to get
    ready for this. [Laughter] I saw the list of the baseball players who
    were going to be here. You know, my job is not always the most fun in
    the world. [Laughter] I was interested in this.
        Governor Barnes told a story about Hank
    Aaron appearing with him. I want to tell you a story that's even more
    compelling. In 1992, on the weekend before the Presidential election, I
    was struggling to prevail in Georgia and Governor Miller said, ``You have to come one more time. And if you come,
    I think Hank Aaron will appear with you.'' I forgot about how many
    electoral votes we had--I forgot, you know, I just--so I came. And we
    went out to this high

    [[Page 176]]

    school football stadium, which held 25,000 people; it was completely
    full. Way over half of them came to see him. [Laughter] Three days
    later, after Hank Aaron blessed me in front of 25,000 people, we carried
    Georgia by 13,000 votes. [Laughter] I have never forgotten it, and I
    never will.
        Ladies and gentlemen, the essayist Jacques Barzun once wrote,
    ``Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn
    baseball.'' Well, probably more than any other sport, baseball revels in
    statistics. I wish we could have a contest tonight. We'd all know that
    Ty Cobb has the highest lifetime batting average and Cy Young the most
    wins; Mark McGwire, closely followed by Sammy Sosa, the most home runs
    in a single season. Most all of us here know that Henry Aaron has more
    baseball records than any other single player: most RBI's, most extra
    base hits, the only player to hit at least 30 home runs in 15 seasons,
    at least 20 homers in 20 seasons. First, as you heard on the film, to
    reach 300 hits--3,000 hits and 500 home runs.
        He also had an exquisite sense of timing. When he broke what
    appeared to be the most unbreakable record of all, he had the presence
    of mind to do it on opening night so all of us could plan to watch.
    Because Henry Aaron's story is so much the story of baseball and because
    it is the story of a changing America being manifest in baseball,
    knowing it is necessary to know the mind and heart of modern America.
        All of us honor him tonight not only for the power of his swing but
    for the power of his spirit; not only for breaking records but for
    breaking barriers; not only for chasing his dream but even more for
    giving children, like those we saw tonight, the chance to chase theirs.
    From Mobile to Milwaukee to Atlanta, through a segregated South in the
    old Sally League where he was the only member of the team that didn't
    stay in the same motel, the only one who couldn't get served at the
    dinner counter, he moved through a changing America. And he changed the
    mind and heart of America.
        When he came here, he had an interesting experience. Many of you
    have referenced tonight that when Hank Aaron approached Babe Ruth's
    record there was a dark, deep undercurrent which led him to get lots of
    hate letters and death threats so serious the FBI had to watch his home
    and the pall of violence began to hang over the games. But he said that
    very little of this mail came from Atlanta. And so as President of this
    whole country, I'd like to also take my hat off to Atlanta tonight.
        When Andy Young was up here talking, and
    then I saw the reference on the film by Mayor Allen--I remember as a boy growing up, burdened with the
    awful stain that the crisis in the high school in my State's capital
    caused us, that every one of us who felt as I did envied Atlanta because
    it had a mayor and business leaders who said they were determined to be
    known as the city too busy to hate. And they gave us, all of us, Martin
    Luther King and John Lewis, and leaders like Andy Young and Maynard
    Jackson and so many more, too many to mention. It was fitting that a son
    of the South who braved the storms of segregation would come home to the
    most important baseball record of all and go indelibly into the mind and
    heart of America.
        I came here tonight as a baseball fan, to remember a golden moment.
    I came as a friend, to thank a person who was there for me when I needed
    him in the worst way. I came here as President, to honor a great
    American--for courage and decency and dignity, for caring about all the
    kids coming along behind him, for giving them a chance to chase those
    dreams. America is a land of dreamers. Hank Aaron has made it even more
    so.
        So Hank and Billye, we thank you for the
    path you blazed, for the voices you raised, for the helping hands you
    gave. We thank you. God bless you. [Applause] Thank you.
        Now, don't sit down. I almost forgot my exit line. [Laughter] Ladies
    and gentlemen, our honoree, on the 25th anniversary of his 40th birthday
    and his 715th home run, Henry Aaron.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:40 p.m. in the Centennial Ballroom at
    the Hyatt Regency Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to W. Thomas
    Johnson, chairman, president, and chief executive officer, Cable News
    Network; Ted Turner, vice chairman, and Gerald M. Levin, chairman and
    chief executive officer, Time Warner, Inc.; Gov. Roy E. Barnes and
    former Gov. Zell Miller of Georgia; former Mayors Andrew Young, Ivan
    Allen Jr., and Maynard Jackson of Atlanta; Mr. Aaron's wife, Billye; and
    Mr. Turner's wife, actress Jane Fonda. The President also referred to
    the South Atlantic (Sally) League.