[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

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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.