[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[December 16, 1999]
[Pages 2321-2322]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Excerpts of an Interview With Peter Jennings 
of ABC News
December 16, 1999

Franklin D. Roosevelt

    Mr. Jennings. This room, sir, this fireplace and others in the White 
House obviously remind me of President Roosevelt. His relationship with 
the public was of such a magnitude that people, in many cases, thought 
he was a god, placed absolute faith in him. Do you think there will ever 
be a time when another American President gets that kind of commitment?
    The President. If the country is under that kind of threat. It was 
in this room that President Roosevelt gave his fireside chats. And keep 
in mind, he took our Nation through two huge threats: first, the 
Depression, where 25 percent of our people were out of work, for the 
only time in our history; and second, in the Second World War, with 
Hitler and the Axis powers.
    I think the people in this country are--they nearly always get it 
right if they have enough information and enough time. They're very hard 
to stampede. And I think they would follow a good leader in a tough time 
like that.
                    

Cynicism

    The President. When I leave the White House, I will be more 
idealistic about the American people and the American system of 
government than I was when I showed up here. And I think cynicism is a 
cop-out and a refuge now. I think skepticism is good. I think 
demythologizing is good. I think cynicism, because it's fundamentally a 
negative and self-defeating emotion and it gives you an excuse not to 
think, is stupid.
                    
    Mr. Jennings. I don't mean to belabor the point, nor will I, but I 
think many Americans believe that you contributed to cynicism about 
politics. And I assume if there's anything you could take back over the 
last several years it would be the Lewinski affair.
    The President. Why should you be cynical? If someone makes a 
mistake, and they say they make a mistake, and they do their best to 
atone for it, then you can say, ``Well, people aren't perfect, and I'm 
disappointed.'' But that shouldn't make you cynical about the American 
political system, the American system of government.
                    

Berlin Wall

    Mr. Jennings. I'd just like to pick a couple things that the century 
will always be remembered for and get your take on them. What did the 
Berlin Wall mean to you?
    The President. It was the symbol of what was wrong with communism. 
It was about control and keeping people back and keeping people in. You 
know, John Kennedy had that wonderful line in his speech, ``Freedom has 
many difficulties, and our democracy is far from perfect. But we never 
had to put up a wall to keep our people in.''

Atomic Bomb

    Mr. Jennings. What difference did the atomic bomb make?
    The President. It reminded us that we had the capacity to destroy 
ourselves completely, and it humbled people. And I think that's very 
important, because people with power--and I include myself--you give 
anybody a lot of power,

[[Page 2322]]

and if they're not careful, they will make arrogant decisions, unheedful 
of the most fundamental desire of people: to have life and liberty and 
to enjoy the blessings of normal life.
                    
    The President. We will look back at the development of the atomic 
bomb in some ways as one of the most humbling events in all of human 
history, because we finally had to come face-to-face with the fact that 
we could take it all away. You know? Beyond the gas chambers, beyond the 
pogroms, beyond the killing fields of the Somme and the Marne in World 
War I, we could actually make it all go away. And I think it sobered the 
world up in a way that was oddly reassuring.

Note: The interview began at approximately 10 a.m. in the Diplomatic 
Reception Room at the White House. The transcript was released by the 
Office of the Press Secretary on December 18. A tape was not available 
for verification of the content of these excerpts.