    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [January 10, 2000]
    [Pages 22-23]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at Funeral Services for Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., in Annapolis, Maryland
    January 10, 2000

        Mouza, Ann,
    Mouzetta, Jim, James, Saralee, all the members of this wonderful family, and in the
    words of Ambassador Lader, this extended
    family: Hillary and I are honored to be here today to join in praising,
    remembering, and cherishing the life of a man who was our friend and
    whose love for his family, his Nation, and his Navy were as deep as the
    oceans he sailed.
        Listening to Phil Lader talk about how Bud
    and Mouza first met brought back so many old memories to me and to those
    of us who had the privilege to listen to Bud Zumwalt tell that story. I
    became convinced that it was the reverse of the fish story, that every
    time he's told it, she said yes in a shorter and shorter amount of time.
    [Laughter]
        The last time I was in this magnificent chapel was to say goodbye to
    another great admiral of the 20th century, Arleigh Burke. When our
    historians look back on the century we have just left, they may well
    record that Arleigh Burke was the spirit of the United States Navy; they
    will certainly recall that Bud Zumwalt was its conscience.
        As much as any other leader in our entire history, Americans could
    always count on Bud Zumwalt to do the right thing. The midshipmen here
    learn a lot about honor, commitment, and courage. All his life, he
    exemplified those virtues. His bravery in World War II, in Korea, what
    he did in Vietnam, his physical courage and leadership led him to become
    the youngest Chief of Naval Operations in our history. But beyond his
    physical courage, Bud Zumwalt stood out for his moral courage and for
    saying what he thought was right, regardless of the consequences.
        He sailed through rough waters more than once. We heard Dick
    Schifter so eloquently chronicle his work
    in the 1970's to bring back the Navy's strength. When he issued his
    famous Z-grams, he knew that he was taking on more than 200 years of
    Navy tradition. But because he took the heat, thousands of naval leaders
    like former Secretary John Lehman have said they
    actually made the decision to stay in the Navy because Bud Zumwalt made
    the Navy exciting again.
        When we struggled through the racial tensions of the sixties and
    seventies, he worked in the face of wilting criticism and a highly
    resistant institutional culture to make the Navy do the right thing and
    make the Navy one of the most colorblind institutions in our entire
    Nation. I know it was a special point of pride for him that the very
    first African-American admiral earned his star on Bud Zumwalt's watch.
        At a time when morale and enthusiasm were at an all-time low, he had
    the vision to see a great future for the Navy. And even though he lived
    just to see 2 days of this new century, the changes he brought about
    three decades ago will continue to shape the character and

    [[Page 23]]

    culture of our Navy for a long time in the 21st century.
        Many people have commented on this today, but I want to give you a
    personal example. Of all the things he inspired, perhaps the greatest
    impact he had was on the ordinary men and women who served under him. We
    all know he originally intended to go to West Point, and then a whaling
    captain set his sails straight. The men and women of the Navy always
    knew that Bud Zumwalt had their backs, and that loyalty went both ways.
        This week we have seen an astonishing outpouring of love and
    affection from those who served with Admiral Zumwalt. Many of them are
    here today. This morning, when I was putting on my necktie and getting
    ready to go out for the day, my naval steward, who has been a Navy
    enlisted man for more than 30 years, said, ``Mr. President, today you're
    going to Admiral Zumwalt's service, aren't you?'' I said, ``Yes, I am.''
    He looked at me and smiled, and he said, ``He's the best we ever had. He
    was for us.''
        He also never forgot to live by the consequences of his commitments.
    I know there was a family from South Vietnam that was sent after the end
    of the war to America as refugees, as so many were, and they were sent
    to my home State of Arkansas. To stay, they were told they had to know
    someone from our country. The only name they knew was Admiral Zumwalt.
    When Bud was contacted, to their surprise, the family was actually put
    on a plane, not to the admiral's home in Maryland but to his son's home
    in North Carolina, because the admiral already had other refugee
    families living in his house and he didn't have any more room. When Bud
    Zumwalt made a commitment, he stuck with it. And when it didn't work out
    exactly as planned, he honored the consequences and lived by them.
        Perhaps the most famous consequence of his leadership during the
    Vietnam era was the painful loss of his son, Elmo, from the use of Agent
    Orange, which clearly he ordered because he believed it would save the
    lives of our people in uniform. So he lived with the consequences of
    life's greatest loss. He dedicated himself to fighting for those with
    illnesses caused by Agent Orange.
        Hillary and I were honored to work with him to provide treatment and
    payments to those who survived. He also established the first national
    bone marrow donor program to help cancer patients in need. He worked
    with me to pass the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was truly
    historic in that it outlawed chemical weapons. And for his service to
    our Navy and afterward, it was my great honor to present him with
    America's highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom.
        What I want you to know, Mouza, is that he
    gave me something and Hillary
    something even more valuable: honest, caring, steadfast friendship. His
    letter to our daughter about what her
    parents tried to do for America is one of our family's most cherished
    possessions. It is the symbol of everything he was as a man, a leader,
    and a friend.
        And so today we say goodbye to the sailor who never stopped serving
    his country, never stopped fighting for the men and women in uniform,
    never stopped being the conscience of the Navy. His earthly voyage is
    now done. And now he sails beyond the farthest horizon, out of the home
    port where at last he is safe from all storms.
        Bud, we miss you, we love you still, and we will never, ever forget
    you.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:06 p.m. in the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel.
    In his remarks, he referred to Admiral Zumwalt's wife, Mouza, daughters
    Ann F. Coppola and Mouza C. Zumwalt-Weathers, son James G. Zumwalt II,
    brother James G. Zumwalt, and sister Saralee Crowe; former U.N.
    Ambassador for Human Rights Richard Schifter; and former Secretary of
    the Navy John Lehman.