[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book II)]
[July 25, 2000]
[Pages 1462-1463]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at a Memorial Service for Diane Blair in Fayetteville, Arkansas
July 25, 2000
I think my friend would get a big kick out of knowing today that I
am virtually at a loss for words. [Laughter] Every friendship has a
chronology. Ours started in 1972 when I came up here to Fayetteville to
see Diane because she was a delegate to the Democratic National
Convention. And we two comprised, along with Jim,
some 50 percent of the white Arkansans who wanted to vote for George
McGovern. [Laughter]
So we're drinking a cup of coffee or drinking a Coke or something at
the union, and I'd met this woman like 10 minutes ago, and I was
supposed to be talking politics with her, and all of a sudden, I started
talking about Hillary, and I was talking about how much she had reminded
me of Hillary. And all of a sudden, I felt that, somehow, she had
totally captured me, and in some fundamental way, I would somehow belong
to her for the rest of my life. [Laughter] And that's exactly what
happened.
And in 1973 when I came home to Arkansas, and then Hillary came here, and I made sure they got together,
and Diane and Jim and I--we'd meet her, one of us--we weren't married
then, and it's been kind of the most interesting thing in my friendship
life that Hillary and I always considered Diane and Jim our best ``couple friend.'' But we were both privileged
to have individual friendships with both of them, and it has been a true
blessing.
It does tickle me that she worked in all my campaigns, and after
Jim made her a rich lady, she still lived in that
lousy apartment in Little Rock in '92--[laughter]--still working the
campaign. [Laughter] It tickles me that when I married them in 1979--
that's one way a Governor has more power than a President; I can't do
that anymore--[laughter]--they wanted me to wear a top hat, tails. I
even had a cane. And I never get tired of looking at that wedding
picture. It's in the program.
Then, this was not a woman to let you wallow in self-pity. In 1980 I
became the youngest former Governor in the history of America.
[Laughter] So after giving me a couple of months to lick my wounds and
feel sorry for myself, she made me show up at her political science
class to explain how I got my brains beat out. [Laughter]
So many times over the last several years, she gave me a home away
from home, and then since we've been in the White House, as you heard
Hillary say, even in the Governor's mansion, we tried to give them the
same.
It was just a little over 5 months ago, and probably 2 or 3 days
before we learned that Diane was ill, that Jim
came up and spent 3 nights--3 days and 3 nights--in Washington, and we
were thinking about all the trips that we would take together when,
finally, Hillary and I were liberated from our present responsibilities.
It doesn't take long to live a life. And I guess what I would like
to say today is that somehow, I felt about her as I have rarely felt
about any human being, that she had this peculiar blend. She was
beautiful and good. She was serious and funny. She was completely
ambitious to do good and be good but fundamentally selfless.
Sometime in our mid-thirties when Hillary and I were living in the
Governor's mansion, we woke up one day and realized we might not live
forever and that something could happen to us, and we actually made out
a will. And I called Diane and Jim and said, ``You
know, we're making out this will. Would you raise Chelsea if anything
happens to us?''
Thankfully, we were able to watch our children grow up together.
Diane had great kids and great stepchildren. Bill and Missy both
work for Hillary and me now, and we're very grateful for that.
There are just three other points I would like to make. Diane had an
interesting life--came to Arkansas because she married Hugh Kincaid, and
she stayed. Jim Blair would be the first person to
tell you she made a lot better man out of him than he was before he
married her. [Laughter] And most of us would tell you that she somehow
made better people of us as well.
But I want to say this, because somebody needs to. I've never seen a
more beautiful, complete expression of love in my life than you, Jim,
when you fought to save her, and you took care of her when you realized
you couldn't.
[[Page 1463]]
The second thing I want to tell you is Diane Blair lived to the very
end. I mean, really lived. She and I were still doing the New York Times
Sunday crossword puzzle together. All these times, you know, we got all
these--Hillary and I would get good publicity for flying down here to
see Diane, and people wanted to know what we did. We sat on a couch, and
we worked the crossword puzzle. And she was exceedingly jealous of me
because I would get the copy 3 or 4 days before Sunday, and she got it a
couple days later. [Laughter]
So I used to taunt her. I would do it--I would do the crossword
puzzle, and I was faithful in doing it. Once she got sick, I did it the
first day I got it. I would send it to her, and I would taunt her,
because she prided herself so much in being too noble to sneak and see
whether I had gotten the answer right if she was having trouble.
[Laughter]
The second thing I want you to know is, she was still writing me
letters to the end. ``Dear President Bill: You should give a farewell
address. Only a few Presidents have. You should do it. And here is
exactly what you should say.'' [Laughter]
I was looking at all of these pictures up here. And I thought about
how many times over the years I would just--we'd be up at the lake doing
something, just grungy as we could be, all four of us, and Diane would
turn a certain way, and I would think: My God, she's beautiful--in a
totally unique way. And I was seeing all these pictures, thinking about
that again.
The last time Hillary and I saw her, I think it was the day before
she essentially lost consciousness. And she was there with her little
grandchildren on the bed, and she had lost all her hair, and she wasn't
going to the trouble to wear a wig anymore. But her eyes were still
burning, and she was so beautiful.
And the last thing she ever said was the thing I'd like to say to
you. Hillary and Chelsea and I were standing there, and Hillary and I
were holding her hands, and she said, ``Before I go''--because we were
leaving; we had to leave--she didn't say before you go, she said,
``Before I go, I want to tell you: Remember.'' And Hillary said,
``Remember what, Diane?'' And she smiled and said, ``Just remember.'' So
that's what I say to you. And every dark and difficult moment of your
life, whenever you need to remember something profoundly good, get a
little more energy to redouble your efforts, feel less sorry for
yourself, be more grateful, just remember.
Thank you.
Note: The President spoke at 7 p.m. in the Baum/Walker Hall at the
Walton Arts Center. In his remarks, he referred to Ms. Blair's son,
William Reid Kincaid, and daughter, Katherine (Missy) Kincaid.