[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[July 23, 2003]
[Pages 910-913]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom
July 23, 2003

    The President. Good afternoon, and welcome to the White House. 
Laura and I are really glad you all are here. 
We're especially pleased to welcome the distinguished guests we honor 
today and their proud families and friends.
    I appreciate former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for joining us today. Madam Secretary, thank you 
for coming.
    I'm honored that Kay Bailey Hutchison from the great State of Texas is here with us today. I 
appreciate the ambassadors who have joined us. I appreciate former 
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients and their families who are 
here: Zbigniew Brzezinski is 
with us today; Liz Moynihan is 
the widow of Senator Moynihan; and Irving Kristol. I thank you all for coming.
    The Presidential Medal of Freedom is America's highest civil award. 
It is conferred upon men and women of high achievement in the arts and 
entertainment, public service, science, education, athletics, business, 
and other fields. For most recipients, this award is a special 
distinction added to many prior honors.
    Some recipients are no longer with us but are still highly regarded 
and fondly remembered. All who receive the Presidential

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Medal of Freedom have the continued respect of their peers and the 
lasting admiration of the American people.
    Julia Child already holds the highest 
distinction of the French Government. She was awarded the Legion of 
Honor for sharing with millions of Americans the appreciation and 
artistry of French cooking.
    Before Julia Child came along, no one 
imagined it could be so interesting to watch a meal being prepared. 
[Laughter] The reason, of course, is Julia herself, her friendly way, 
her engaging conversation, and her eagerness to teach. American cuisine 
and American culture have been enriched for decades by the unmistakable 
voice and the presence of Julia Child.
    Americans are not always in the mood for exquisite meals. Sometimes 
all we want is a hamburger at the drive-up window. [Laughter] And a lot 
of those windows are at places named for the daughter of Dave Thomas. 
The late founder of Wendy's left school without a diploma to begin 
working at a very young age.
    His great success as a restauranteur allowed Dave to fulfill other 
ambitions in his life. He became a benefactor of good causes, especially 
the cause of adoption. Dave himself was orphaned at an early age, and 
many young men and women today can thank Dave Thomas for helping to join 
them with loving parents.
    At the height of his career, Dave Thomas went back to school and 
earned a GED. His classmates voted him ``most likely to succeed.'' 
[Laughter] And today his country honors the hard work behind his success 
and the great generosity Dave Thomas showed others.
    Van Cliburn was last here 
in 2001 as one of the Kennedy Center honorees. His life of honor started 
early, as the 23-year-old winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition in 
Moscow. In the years since, he has even further refined the gifts of a 
prodigy with the discipline and consistency of a true master. He has 
lived up to the high standards of the music teacher who first inspired 
him, his mother, Rildia Bee Cliburn. Today, throughout America and 
across the world, musicians find inspiration in his example, and all of 
us associate the name Van Cliburn with grace and the perfect touch at 
the piano.
    Like Van, the scholar Jacques Barzun now 
lives in Texas. He began his life 95 years ago in France. He became an 
American citizen in 1933 and joined the faculty at Columbia University 
and gained a reputation as a thinker of great discernment and integrity. 
From his first book, published 71 years ago, to his latest, a bestseller 
published in 2000, Jacques Barzun has influenced generations of serious 
readers. Few academics of the last century have equaled his output and 
his influence, and today he has the profound gratitude of his adopted 
country.
    Charlton Heston is known for his 
portrayals of the most compelling dramatic figures: Moses, Judah Ben-
Hur, Michelangelo, General Andrew Jackson, and Captain George Taylor. In 
the process, Charlton Heston himself has become one of the great names 
in film history. Over more than half a century, his talent and intensity 
have proven big enough to fill any role.
    The largeness of character that comes across the screen has also 
been seen throughout his life, during Charlton Heston's service in World War II, his leadership of a labor 
union, his activism on behalf of civil rights, and his principled 
defense of the Bill of Rights. Charlton Heston has left his mark on our 
country as an artist, as a citizen, and as a patriot, and we're honored 
he is with us today.
    We're also honored as well by the presence of an artist whose life 
brought two experiences he never could have expected, that of a prisoner 
and that of a President. In the days of Communist rule over 
Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel ridiculed the 
pretensions of an oppressive government and was viewed as an enemy of 
the state. The most subversive act of this playwright was telling the 
truth about tyranny, and

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when the truth finally triumphed in a ``kindhearted revolution,'' the 
people elected this dignified, charming, humble, determined man to lead 
their country. Unintimidated by threats, unchanged by political power, 
this good man has suffered much in the cause of liberty, and he has 
become one of liberty's great heroes.
    When liberty was threatened by nazism, a young Hungarian scientist 
named Edward Teller left Europe and found his way to the United States. 
Within a decade, the German Reich was at war with America and in search 
of the most terrible weapons. Dr. Teller 
joined the Manhattan Project and applied his disciplined mind to the 
most urgent task America had ever faced, to develop the atom bomb before 
Hitler.
    Dr. Teller contributed to the success of 
that mission and helped us to meet other great national security 
challenges during the cold war. In recent decades, he has turned his 
efforts to the great scientific and moral task of building a defense 
against ballistic missiles. For a long life of brilliant achievement and 
patriotic service, America is in debt to Dr. Edward Teller.
    Professor James Q. Wilson may be the 
most influential political scientist in America since the White House 
was home to Professor Woodrow Wilson. Throughout his career, he has 
demonstrated the best virtues of the academic profession. His theories 
and ideas are drawn from actual human experience and therefore have 
great practical value in addressing social problems. He writes with 
authority on a range of subjects, from the workings of government to the 
causes and prevention of crime. Whatever his subject, James Q. Wilson 
writes with intellectual rigor, with moral clarity, to the appreciation 
of a wide and growing audience. And it is my honor to congratulate 
Professor James Q. Wilson.
    Of the 108 Americans who have served on the Supreme Court of the 
United States, only one is also in the College Football Hall of Fame. 
Justice Byron White was a rare kind of person who seemed to excel at 
everything he attempted. Whether playing football or earning a Bronze 
Star in World War II or enforcing civil rights as Deputy Attorney 
General, Byron White was tough, and he was determined.
    When he was nominated, his close friend at the Supreme Court, 
President John F. Kennedy, called Byron White a man of ``character, 
experience, and intellectual force.'' Over the next three decades, 
Justice White showed those qualities in majority opinions of great depth 
and in dissenting opinions of great wisdom and courage. When he passed 
away last year, people across our country felt that loss of a superb 
judge and a great American.
    John Wooden is also a Hall of Famer, one of 
the only two enshrined both as basketball player and basketball coach. 
In a legendary career, Coach Wooden led his teams to 885 victories with 
only 203 losses. His players included some of the alltime greats: Kareem 
Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton and Gail Goodrich, to name a 
few.
    But all his players will tell you the most important man on their 
team was not on the court. He was the man who taught generations of 
basketball players the fundamentals of hard work and discipline, 
patience, and teamwork. Coach Wooden remains a part of their lives as a 
teacher of the game and as an example of what a good man should be. Nell 
Wooden, the coach's wife of 53 years, would be incredibly proud of him 
again. Coach Wooden, it's wonderful to see you 
with us today.
    Another recipient this afternoon would have been 69 years old next 
month. Millions of Americans remember hearing the news that Roberto 
Clemente had been lost on a mission to help the people of Nicaragua 
after an earthquake. His full name was Roberto Clemente Walker, and in 
an era of Mays and Mantle and Aaron, he ranked as one of the greats.
    He was a young man with a quick bat, a rifle arm, and a gentle 
heart. In the words of one baseball executive, ``I never

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saw any ballplayer like him. No, sir. Whenever anybody signs a big 
contract these days, we always wonder how many millions Clemente would 
be worth.'' As a former team owner, it would be a lot. [Laughter] Yet 
the true worth of this man, seen in how he lived his life and how he 
lost his life, cannot be measured in money. And all these years later, 
his family can know that America cherishes the memory of Roberto 
Clemente.
    Our country and our world have been improved by the lives of the men 
and women we honor today. And now it is my honor to present the awards, 
and I ask the military aide to read the citations.

[At this point, Lt. Col. John Newell, USAF, Air 
Force Aide to the President, read the citations, and the President 
presented the medals.]

    The President. Thank you all for coming. And Laura and I would now like to invite you to join us for a 
reception to honor these great Americans and great member of the Czech 
Republic, our great friend.
    Thank you all for coming. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 3:05 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of 
Texas.