    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [February 4, 2000]
    [Pages 188-189]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Memorial Service for Bob Squier
    February 4, 2000

        Prudy; to the members of your family;
    to all of us who were friends of Bob Squier. The Scripture summons us,
    ``Neglect not the gift that is in thee.'' Today we celebrate a man who
    did not neglect his gift but instead shared it.
        We have heard it in the stories of his
    sons, his partner, his friends, and they have caused us all to flood our
    minds and hearts with memories of Bob Squier's passion for life, for his
    family, his work, for politics. Vice President Gore and I, in
    particular, are the beneficiaries of that passion and of his abundant
    American optimism.
        As has already been said, no matter how dark the night, Bob was
    always sure the Sun would come up in the morning, and if it didn't, he
    would still find a way to get a tan. [Laughter] This sort of optimism
    was in rather short supply right after the elections in 1994, and most
    people thought that there were better investments in American politics
    than the reelection of Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Not Bob Squier. He saw
    it as sort of a minor challenge. He was there for us, and but for him,
    we might not be here today. There is something to be said for boundless
    optimism.
        I think we ought to acknowledge, as has already been done, that this
    was a man whose passion for politics was part of a kaleidoscopic view of
    life and a wide range of interests. In addition to his documentaries
    about our great authors, he was also a pioneer in music television: one
    of the youngest producers of the Boston Pops on PBS, the executive
    producer of the first live global satellite TV show featuring the
    Beatles. He even talked about working years ago with the Rolling Stones,
    which probably makes him the only person in his line of work in the
    entire world who could say that he worked with everyone from Keith
    Richards to Ann Richards. [Laughter]
        Bob Squier was many things. They have all been described today: a
    brilliant strategist, incisive commentator, trusted adviser, loyal
    friend. Above all, though, I think he was a storyteller. He knew how to
    tell a story, and he knew how to see the story that was being told right
    before our eyes.
        He was very proud of his award-winning documentaries. He saw in the
    lives of Faulkner, Melville, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald, and in their
    work, the story of America, just as surely as he saw it in the lives and
    campaigns of all of us in this hallowed cathedral today with whom he
    worked. He dug deep into their lives to tell us the story.
        For all the politicians here who ever agonized through one more take
    of a television ad, one

    [[Page 189]]

    more instruction about how this townhall meeting had to be dealt with,
    we're not surprised at the details of his attention to his
    documentaries. He took F. Scott Fitzgerald's only daughter back to
    places she knew as a child and then interviewed her about her father. He
    took Robert Penn Warren to Shiloh to talk about Melville's Civil War
    poem about that battle. He interviewed Hemingway's son Jack as he cast flies in an Idaho trout stream. He even went
    to Havana and filmed in a boat piloted by Hemingway's former captain,
    who provided the inspiration for ``The Old Man and the Sea.''
        That's the way he did his politics. It was never about the
    manipulation of words and images to put something over on the American
    people. It was always about finding the story and trusting the people to
    get it right.
        He told our story: a couple of farmers in a field holding a sign
    that said ``Hope''; a widow placing a flag on a veteran's grave on a
    lonely hillside; a worker filled with the pride that comes from the
    dignity of a job; and as has been mentioned, the light in little
    Emma's eyes. He used them all to tell our story.
    Nobody did it better. He made policy understandable, politics exciting,
    and politicians human. He made the camera disappear.
        Bob worked in a profession with one of the shortest half-lives in
    the world. But to paraphrase one of his heroes, William Faulkner, here
    in Washington he did not just endure; he prevailed, for over 30 years,
    not just by putting a notch in the campaign victory belt but putting
    into office candidates he knew shared his convictions and would fight
    his fights.
        I have to say this on behalf of all of the elected and former
    elected officials here. There is one thing we all especially found
    endearing about Bob Squier. He actually liked politicians. [Laughter]
    And he wasn't ashamed to admit it, even in this age when sort of
    sanctimonious disapproval of us is the only politically correct
    position. He saw people in politics as basically good people who
    struggled to reconcile personal conviction and popular opinion into a
    combined force that would lift our Nation to higher grounds.
        Bob Squier's work lives on through all of us he lifted, through
    countless others he mentored and trained along the way. And so, the
    story of this great storyteller's life in a sense is still being written
    and will be for a long time to come.
        In years to come, students of American politics will study Bob
    Squier's campaigns, Bob Squier's commercials, Bob Squier's commentaries.
    Students of our literature will study Bob Squier's documentary films.
    Those of us who shared this all-too-brief earthly journey with him,
    we'll be grateful for all that. But I suspect even more, we'll remember
    a dashing and handsome man with a killer smile, an acid wit, and
    goodness at the core, a goodness that made even his adversaries like
    him.
        We'll remember that behind the smile visible in his eyes was a steel
    will, a strong spirit, and a great heart that made our Nation better,
    because it gave him the strength to nurture the gift that was in him and
    to share it with us.
        Well, Bob, we`re giving you a good sendoff today, but not nearly as
    good as what you gave us. The last campaign is over. The polls have
    closed. The votes are counted. And you won--big time. Now you're in a
    place with no talk shows and no term limits. But your spirit will soar
    forever. Godspeed.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:55 a.m. at the National Cathedral. In
    his remarks, he referred to Mr. Squier's widow, Prudence Bergman, sons
    Mark R. Squier and Robert M. Squier, and granddaughter Emma; William
    Knapp, partner, Squier, Knapp & Dunn Communications; musician Keith
    Richards; and former Texas Gov. Ann Richards.