[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 17 (Monday, May 2, 1994)]
[Pages 933-935]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Telephone Interview With Larry King

April 28, 1994

Virginia Clinton Kelley

    Larry King. We're with Dick Kelley and James Morgan. And joining us 
now by phone from Washington is the son of Virginia Kelley, the 
President of the United States, Bill Clinton.
    Are you there, Mr. President?
    The President. Hi, Larry.
    Larry King. How are you?
    The President. I'll tell you what, are those two guys telling you 
the truth tonight?
    Larry King. They are telling the truth----
    Mr. Kelley. You know if I didn't, I'd really get hell from you. 
[Laughter]
    Larry King. Have you read the full book, Mr. President?
    The President. I have read it. I read it twice as a matter of fact.
    Larry King. And?
    The President. I think she did a terrific job. I want to thank Jim 
for all the work he did on it. And after Mother died, I had to do a 
little work just checking some of the facts, but I was amazed at how 
candid and forthright she was. And she turned out to be a right good 
storyteller. It's a terrific book. I think a lot of folks will really 
enjoy reading it, and we'll see a portrait of a remarkable person during 
an important time in our country's life. I was really proud of her for 
doing it.
    Larry King. Last time we were together, we spoke about your loss. 
Wasn't it difficult to read it?
    The President. It was. Or the first time, before it was actually 
published in book form, it kind of helped me deal with the loss. But I 
tell you, it still makes me a little sad. Last week when I finished 
reading it the second time, I found myself fighting back the tears a 
little bit, but that's one of the things that makes the book so 
wonderful. I've even had total strangers come up to me and say that they 
cried when they read it, too.
    Mr. Morgan. The lawyer at Simon and Schuster, who's going over the 
legal checking with me, told me that she cried. And I figured if you can 
make a New Yorker cry, it's some book.
    Larry King. What was her most, Mr. President, remarkable aspect to 
you?
    The President. I think her resilience. You know, she was just a 
person driven by love and loyalty and an incredible desire to keep 
living. And she couldn't be beaten down. I mean, she was widowed three 
times. When Dick asked her to marry him, she reminded him that she'd 
been widowed three times and asked him if he had considered odds of what 
he was trying to get into.
    But no matter what happened to her, she just bounced back. And I 
think that's probably the most important lesson she imparted to me and 
to my brother, just don't give up.
    Larry King. They've discussed the difficulty of when Roger had his 
troubles and how she held up during that time, during your only defeat--
how she held up during that time. Was she a strength source, was she a 
place--most people figure their mothers as a safe place to go.
    The President. Well, I think she really plainly was not only a safe 
place to go, but she really did always convince us that we could do 
better tomorrow. When I lost that race in 1980, I had the distinguished 
record

[[Page 934]]

of being at that time the youngest former Governor in the history of the 
entire United States. I was out of a job; I didn't know where my next 
nickel was coming from. And within 3 or 4 days she decided that I could 
be reelected Governor. And when my brother had his drug problem, it was 
awful for her, much tougher, of course, than any election loss. And she, 
as she says in the book, had a lot to learn about drug addiction, about 
what those of us who were in the same family had done by not confronting 
my brother. And she finally came to understand, as Dick said earlier, 
that getting arrested and actually being forced to go to prison may well 
have saved my brother's life. And he's come back; he's made a good life; 
he's made a wonderful marriage; he's about to become a father. And I 
think a lot that happened because my mother never quit believing in him 
and was brave enough to face the truth about what happened and then, at 
her age, was willing to learn whatever it took to learn to help get him 
over it and working him through it and do her part.
    Larry King. And she sure would have had a good time touring for this 
book, wouldn't she?
    The President. Yes. I was thinking about that today. This thing 
would be a stomp-down best-seller if she'd lived, because she'd have had 
so much fun promoting it. She had a good time doing everything she did. 
She learned to be a politician rather late in life. You know, before I 
got in politics, she voted, but that was about it. And then by the time 
I'd been through a campaign or two, she was the best organized person I 
knew. She had 300 to 400 names on a file card in our hometown, and all 
the local politicians were half afraid of her. She just got into things, 
and her enthusiasm took over. I really regret that she's not stomping 
around the country selling this book and not on your program and not 
answering questions.
    Larry King. Do you remember the night when you were running for 
office and you and Al Gore were on, and she called in from Vegas?
    The President. Yes, I do.
    Larry King. You asked her, ``Where are you?'' ``Vegas.''
    The President. Where she belonged. She loved Las Vegas, and she 
loved those race tracks.

Richard Nixon's Funeral

    Larry King. I know. One other thing, Mr. President. Everyone is 
complimenting you today on the eloquence yesterday at--another tragic 
day in the lives of all Americans, the death of a President. Was that a 
difficult moment for you? Funerals are never easy. Was that particularly 
difficult?
    The President. It was in some sense because, you know, the other 
people who were speaking, Secretary Kissinger and Senator Dole and 
Governor Wilson, they'd all played an important role in President 
Nixon's life. They'd been a part of his successes; they'd been part of 
his difficult times. And funerals are really a time for family and 
friends. But he was, after all, the President of this country. I am 
now--and it was an appropriate thing, I think, for me to do my best at 
his funeral. And I was deeply honored that his family asked me to speak. 
And it was difficult, but I hope I did right by him. I'm very grateful 
to him for the incredibly wise counsel he gave me in the last 16 months. 
And frankly, just today I had a problem, and I said to the person who 
was working with me: I wish I could pick up the phone and call Richard 
Nixon and ask him what he thinks we ought to do about this.
    Larry King. I bet there are times you wish you could call Virginia 
Kelley, too.
    The President. Amazing number of times. When I came in from the trip 
I took to Europe and to Russia, right after she died, it was a Sunday 
evening, and almost without thinking I went right into the kitchen and 
got halfway to the phone before I realized that I couldn't call her on 
Sunday night. That's when I used to call and check in with Mother and 
Dick, see how they were doing. And it was almost like a shock. And a lot 
of people who lose a mother or a father or a husband or a wife will tell 
you that they find themselves almost talking out loud. I do that a lot. 
Just looking at your films here of Mother mean a lot to me.
    Larry King. Thanks, Mr. President. Thanks for joining us.

[[Page 935]]

    The President. You guys have a good night. Thanks again, Jim, for 
all the wonderful work you did on this book. And tell the truth, Dick. 
[Laughter]

Note: The interview began at 9:20 p.m. The President spoke from the 
Residence at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Virginia 
Kelley's husband, Dick Kelley, and James Morgan, coauthor of Virginia 
Kelley's autobiography, ``Leading With My Heart.''