[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 39 (Monday, October 4, 1999)]
[Pages 1847-1853]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Presenting the Arts and Humanities Awards

September 29, 1999

    The President. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, ladies and 
gentlemen. Welcome. I want to welcome all of our honorees here; Bill 
Ivey and all the people from the National Endowment for the Humanities; 
Bill Ferris and all the people from the National Endowment for the Arts; 
the people from Library and Museum Services; Members of Congress. I have 
seen Senator Wellstone and Congressman Houghton, Representative Morella 
and Nadler. There may be others here.
    I want to thank the people of our shared homeland, the Irish band 
and the step dancers, for doing such a wonderful job today. I thought 
they were great. If George Mitchell doesn't get us over the final hump 
in the last steps of the Irish peace process, I may just send them back 
until everybody--[laughter]--is smiling so much they can't think of 
anything other than ending the conflict.
    I'd also like to thank the wonderful strings from the Marine Corps 
for doing such a great job for us here today.
    In one of his final speeches, President Kennedy said he looked 
forward to an America which rewards achievement in the arts as we reward 
achievement in business; an America which commands respect throughout 
the world not only for its strength but for its civilization. Today we 
recognize an extraordinary group of Americans who have strengthened our 
civilization and whose achievements have enriched our lives through the 
songs they sing, the stories they tell, the books they write, the art 
they shape, the gifts they share.
    Eighteen women and men, one educational institution, all having 
defined in their own unique ways a part of who we are as a people and 
what we're about as a nation as we enter a new century in a new 
millennium.
    First I present the National Medal of the Arts winners.
    Irene Diamond, one of America's leading patrons of the arts, has 
dedicated her life to discovery. As an early Hollywood talent scout, she 
discovered Burt Lancaster and Robert Redford. For that alone, some 
people think she should get this award. [Laughter]
    As one of the movie industry's first female story editors, she 
discovered the script that became ``Casablanca.'' I believe when the 
film industry issued its list of 100 greatest films, ``Casablanca'' only 
ranked second, Irene, but some of us voted for it number one. [Laughter]
    As the president of the Aaron Diamond Foundation, she helped fuel 
the pathbreaking research that led to the discovery of protease 
inhibitors, which are now helping people with HIV lead longer and 
healthier lives. As a generous supporter of the arts, she has given more 
than $70 million to help more Americans discover the magic of theater, 
dance, and song.
    It has been said that discovery consists of seeing what everyone has 
seen and thinking what no one has thought. We are all far richer for the 
vision, the insight, and the discoveries of this most precious Diamond.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lt. Col. Carlton D. Everhart, USAF, Air Force Aide to the President, 
read the citation, and the President presented the medal.]

    The President. The Reverend C.L. Franklin, then pastor of Detroit's 
New Bethel Baptist Church, was a powerfully emotional preacher. But one 
Sunday in 1954 it was the heavenly voice of a 12-year-old that brought 
the congregation to its feet. The voice belonged to his own daughter, 
Aretha, the woman now idolized throughout the world as the Queen of 
Soul.

[[Page 1848]]

    No matter where she has traveled, she has never left behind the 
sound of those Sundays in church. You could hear it ranging over four 
full octaves when she sang Dr. King to heaven and in electrifying 
performances at our Inaugural celebrations. You can hear it in every one 
of her nearly 50 albums, and I am so grateful that she has allowed me to 
hear it time after time here at the White House.
    Aretha's voice once was designated a natural resource of the State 
of Michigan. [Laughter] She will probably never know how many people 
whose lives she has enriched, whose hearts she has lifted, how many 
people she gave a spring in the step that would not have been there, and 
brought sunshine to a rainy day and tenderness to a hardened heart.
    Today we honor her for all she has given with the magnificent talent 
God gave her.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President.  Michael Graves is a rare individual who finds equal 
wonder in things both large and small. As one of our century's most 
important designers and architects, he has said he gets as much pleasure 
planning a large building as he does designing a spatula. [Laughter]
    So it's little wonder that Michael Graves' work can be found from 
our shopping malls to our National Mall, from an award-
winning office building to a tea kettle, to the creative scaffolding 
around the Washington Monument--which, I might say, has enriched the 
lives of every person in Washington, DC--[laughter]--and made those 
often stuck in what is now America's most crowded traffic patterned city 
have their time pass a little better; Michael Graves has created art 
that surrounds our lives.
    He calls himself a great practitioner, but in some ways his 
challenge is more daunting than that of a physician. As Frank Lloyd 
Wright once said, ``After all, the doctor can bury his mistake,''--
[laughter]--``but the architect can only advise his client to plant 
vines.'' [Laughter] The only thing that grows and covers Michael Graves' 
work is our admiration, appreciation, and respect.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. When it comes to training in the performing arts, the 
Juilliard School stands alone. Juilliard has cultivated the genius of 
artists of world renown. We hear it in the flawless voice of Leontyne 
Price, in the virtuoso violin of Itzhak Perlman, the narrative jazz of 
Wynton Marsalis, the uninhibited humor of Robin Williams.
    But Juilliard does more than develop the skills of gifted artists. 
It instills in every student the obligation to share that talent with 
others through performances in hospitals, nursing homes, hundreds of 
free shows every year at the Lincoln Center.
    In honoring the artist in society, Juilliard opens the doors of art 
to the world. We honor it today for all it has done and all it will do 
in taking the best and making them even better.
    I'd like to ask Dr. Joe Polisi, the president of the Juilliard 
School, to come forward, and I'd like to ask the Colonel to read the 
citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. Norman Lear has held up a mirror to American society 
and changed the way we look at it. From Archie Bunker's living room in 
Queens to Fred Sanford's junkyard in Watts, he has employed the power of 
humor in the service of human understanding. His departure from 
traditional, two-dimensional television characters was risky. It showed 
the enormous respect he has for the judgment, the sense, and the heart 
of the American people.
    He gave us something real. He tackled issues head on. Archie Bunker, 
after all, was the best argument against his own bigotry. By laying it 
out unvarnished, Norman Lear took it apart and, in the process, made us 
laugh out loud. His commitment to promoting understanding and tolerance 
extends far beyond the screen. As founder of People For the American Way 
and the Business Enterprise Trust, he continues his work to deepen 
freedom, defend liberties, and reward social responsibility.
    The first time I ever met Norman Lear was in early 1981, shortly 
after the Presidential election of 1980, in which I became

[[Page 1849]]

the youngest former Governor in American history. [Laughter] Norman Lear 
invited me to come talk about a project with him in New York, and he 
took me to a play on Broadway that he produced. We went to opening 
night. It closed 3 days later. [Laughter] We are here today because the 
intervening years have been kinder to both of us. [Laughter] I'm not 
sure Archie Bunker would approve, but Meathead would be proud and so are 
we.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. When she was 7, Rosetta LeNoire broke both her legs, 
actually, doctors broke them for her. She was born with rickets; it was 
the only way the bones could grow in place. Her godfather Bill 
``Bojangles'' Robinson, said that dancing could strengthen her legs and 
took her on the road.
    She moved on to success--Broadway, film and, of course, television, 
where we remember her as Mother Winslow on ``Family Matters'' and Nell 
Carter's mother on ``Gimme a Break.'' But with all her talent and drive 
through the years, discrimination was never far behind. So Rosetta did 
more than dream of a theater with no color bar, she actually built one.
    For more than 30 years, the AMAS Musical Theatre in New York City 
has been a place where performers are judged by the caliber of their 
skills, not the color of their skin. As a courageous child, Rosetta 
learned that sometimes you have to break things to put them in the right 
place. Today America thanks her for breaking barriers to set our Nation 
right.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. In 1967 Harvey Lichtenstein was given an impossible 
task, to breathe life into the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a neighborhood 
relic on the verge of being razed for tennis courts. Not only did he 
save the academy, he turned it into one of the most important avant-
garde institutions in the entire world.
    In his 32 years as a charismatic impresario, visionary, and father 
of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, he sparked the stunning careers of 
Twyla Tharp, Philip Glass, Mark Morris, so many other artists Manhattan 
had overlooked. He launched the wonderful new Next Wave festival and the 
BAM Opera. He proved that art challenges can also be wildly popular.
    He truly changed the way we think. Although he just made his curtain 
call at the Brooklyn Academy, we know he will continue to be New York's 
stellar steward of the arts.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. Lydia Mendoza's unique musical career spans most of 
the entire course of the 20th century. She recorded her first song in a 
San Antonio hotel room in 1928. More than 70 years and a thousand songs 
later, her legacy is as wide and deep as the Rio Grande valley.
    Lydia learned much from the oral tradition of Mexican music that her 
mother and grandmother shared with her. In turn, she shared it with the 
world, becoming the first rural American woman performer to garner a 
large following throughout Latin America.
    With the artistry of her voice and the gift of her songs, she 
bridged the gap between generations and cultures. Lydia Mendoza is a 
true American pioneer, and she paved the way for a whole new generation 
of Latino performers, who today are making all Americans sing.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. In late 1949, in the coffeehouses of San Francisco, a 
young classically trained singer named Odetta fell in love with folk 
music and found her true voice. Soon she began recording unforgettably 
soulful albums and touring the world's great stages. In the words of one 
early admirer, ``She has such a strong voice and presence that I am left 
with the irreverent but irresistible feeling that if she had been the 
captain of the Titanic, the ship would not have sunk.'' [Laughter]
    For 50 years now Odetta has used her commanding power and amazing 
grace not

[[Page 1850]]

just to entertain but to inspire. She has sung for freedom with Dr. 
King, lifted the pride of millions of children, shaped the careers of 
young performers like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Tracy Chapman. She is the 
reigning queen of American folk music, reminding us all that songs have 
the power to change the heart and change the world.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart, read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. It started out as just another odd job for this 
aspiring artist, researching the artistic possibilities of plaster used 
to cast broken bones. ``I had my wife cover me head to foot in the 
stuff,'' he said. ``Once it dried, I broke out of it, breaking the mold 
in the process; then I put it back together. It was white, spectral, 
full of elusive potential, just what I had been after.''
    George Segal's art may be inanimate, but more that a few of us have 
had to look twice just to be sure. [Laughter] His silent creations speak 
volumes about the human condition and give life to the spaces where they 
are displayed. His sculptures at the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial of the 
Depression breadline and the fireside chat transport us back to that 
time and place.
    Through all of his work, George Segal has brought elegance to the 
everyday and mystery to the commonplace. Decades after his first 
experiments with plaster, he continues to break the mold.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. George Balanchine once told audiences not to analyze 
ballet. ``Words cannot describe it,'' he said. ``You cannot explain a 
flower.'' So it's impossible to explain the radiance and grace of Maria 
Tallchief.
    She leapt from Oklahoma's Osage Indian territory to the center 
stages of the world. Her partnership with Balanchine transformed the 
ballet world for the ages. She was his inspiration for the title role in 
the ``Firebird.'' She was the first Sugarplum Fairy.
    A reviewer once said that hers will always be the story of ballet 
conquering America, but also, I would add, the story of America 
conquering ballet.
    Maria Tallchief took what had been a European art form and made it 
America's own. How fitting that a Native American woman would do that. 
With magic, mystery, and style, she soared above all.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. And now, ladies and gentlemen, for the National 
Humanities Medals.
    Patricia Battin is saving history. The high acidic content of paper 
threatens to destroy millions of old books, but she has led the national 
campaign to raise awareness about this challenge and preserve the genius 
of the past.
    As the first president of the Commission on Preservation and Access, 
she has helped to spur America's libraries and archives to transfer 
information from so-called brittle books to microfilm and optical disks. 
As a result, more than 770,000 books have already been preserved. She's 
also one of our Nation's leading authorities on changing learning 
patterns of the digital age. From 19th century books to 21st century 
technology,
Patricia Battin is strengthening our storehouse of knowledge for the 
future.
    Thank you for saving the knowledge of the past for the children of 
tomorrow.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. When it comes to the struggle for peace, justice, and 
freedom,
Taylor Branch literally has written the book. With vivid prose and 
clear-eyed detail, his two volumes on the Martin Luther King years 
recount a man and a movement that changed America for good. As Taylor 
has said, ``It is really the story of ordinary people who took risks to 
enlarge freedom. And we have a much better country for it.''
    Those aren't just Taylor Branch's words; they also reflect his life. 
Growing up in segregated Atlanta, Taylor Branch saw discrimination 
everywhere he looked. But through it all, he also saw something else, an 
America

[[Page 1851]]

where we heal our racial wounds, celebrate our differences, and move 
forward together.
    We grew up in the same sort of South, affected by the limits, the 
longing, and the language of race, in all of its myriad manifestations. 
I met Taylor Branch 30 years ago this month. I knew then he was a 
remarkable young man. And I must tell you, I am very proud of the gifts 
he has given America in the years since.
    In an early sermon, Dr. King said, ``After one has discovered what 
he is made for, he should seek to do it so well that no one could do it 
better.'' Anyone who has read the work of Taylor Branch knows, no one 
does it better.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. More than two decades ago, Jacquelyn Dowd Hall 
explained to an elderly woman why she wanted to tape her memories. After 
listening closely to all of Professor Hall's words, the senior citizen 
looked up and said, ``I understand. You don't have to be famous for your 
life to be history.'' That became the motto of the Southern Oral History 
Program directed by Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, and the rest is truly history.
    The program, centered at the University of North Carolina, rings 
with the voices of millworkers who have lost their jobs, civil rights 
leaders marching for freedom, ordinary folks building their communities. 
And I might add, there is a young person from Arkansas by the name of 
Clinton whose voice is on one of those tapes who was on the verge of 
something really big, losing his first election. [Laughter]
    Anyone who grew up in the South knows that no book can capture the 
color and the vibrancy that you hear in the everyday conversations on 
Main Street, in general stores, on the front porches, and the backyards. 
So all of us, whether we are from the South or not, can say thank you, 
Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, for capturing that unique and wonderful voice, for 
recording history through the lives of ordinary people, and, in so 
doing, for making history.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. He was born in Anoka, Minnesota, but we know him as 
the man from Lake Wobegon. A town with a name derived, he tells us, from 
the Native American phrase meaning, ``We sat in the rain all day waiting 
for you,''--[laughter]--a place he confesses, settled by pioneers who 
had stopped a little short, having misread their map but refused to 
admit it. [Laughter] Well, Garrison Keillor has never stopped short. 
Just ask the Governor of Minnesota. [Laughter]
    Millions of listeners plan their weekends around his ``Prairie Home 
Companion.'' It's always blaring on the radio in the White House. No one 
wants to miss a minute of his homespun humor, homegrown music, and 
stories of hometown America. And he never leaves it behind.
    Today when I shook hands with Garrison he said, ``Well, I understand 
that you had a cancellation and had to put me in at the last minute.'' 
[Laughter] I didn't have the heart to tell him how sorry I was that Rush 
Limbaugh couldn't make it today. [Laughter]
    With imagination and wit, but also with a steel-trap mind and deep 
conviction,
Garrison Keillor has brought us together and constantly reminds us how 
we're all connected and how it ought to keep us a little humble.
    We all have a little Lake Wobegon in us, and our homes will always 
have a place for Garrison Keillor, our modern-day Mark Twain.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. While studying to be a newspaperman in a small Texas 
town, Jim Lehrer worked nights at a bus depot calling out departures and 
arrivals over a microphone. You might say that's what he had to do for 
politicians after he assumed his position on television. [Laughter] He 
learned to speak clearly, be polite, stick to the facts, traits that 
would become his signature style as one of the most respected and 
beloved figures in American broadcast journalism.

[[Page 1852]]

    When sound bites and sensationalism began taking over TV news in the 
early 1970's, he teamed up with broadcaster Robin MacNeil to start a 
nightly newscast that offered the opposite: long, in-depth stories and 
interviews on the serious topics of the day; a show where guests are 
treated as guests; viewers are treated as intelligent; viewpoints are 
treated with respect.
    Novelist, playwright, journalist, moderator of Presidential debates, 
asker of hard and probing questions--[laughter]--in a deceptively 
civilized way--[laughter]--Jim Lehrer is a modern man of letters who has 
left us a gift of professionalism and civility, of true learning and the 
enlargement of our citizenship by his work.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. John Rawls is perhaps the greatest political 
philosopher of the 20th century. In 1971, when Hillary and I were in law 
school, we were among the millions moved by a remarkable book he wrote, 
``A Theory of Justice,'' that placed our rights to liberty and justice 
upon a strong and brilliant new foundation of reason.
    Almost singlehandedly, John Rawls revived the disciplines of 
political and ethical philosophy with his argument that a society in 
which the most fortunate helped the least fortunate is not only a moral 
society but a logical one. Just as impressively, he has helped a whole 
generation of learned Americans revive their faith in democracy itself.
    Ladies and gentlemen, Margaret Rawls will accept the medal on behalf 
of her husband.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. Any time we look at all that Steven Spielberg has 
managed to create on film, we know that that is what God put him here to 
do. Like Orson Wells, he was a true cinematic prodigy. He shot his first 
movies at the age of 12. By the ripe old age of 35, he was already one 
of our most gifted storytellers, with ``Close Encounters,'' ``Raiders of 
the Lost Ark'', and ``E.T.'' But when his insatiable moral and 
imaginative hunger drove him to create such resident masterpieces as 
``Schindler's List,'' one of the most important movies of the 20th 
century, and the remarkable, ``Saving Private Ryan,'' we saw that he was 
an astonishing historian, as well.
    On top of his creative mastery, Steven has devoted enormous time and 
resources to preserving Holocaust testimonies, supporting righteous 
causes, unleashing the power of entertainment and technology to help 
seriously ill children to heal.
    Steven Spielberg could have gotten the National Medal of the Arts, 
but I think he would want most to be remembered for his contributions to 
humanity. I also want to thank him for all the many times that he and 
Kate and their wonderful children have enriched our lives and all the 
things he tells me that keep me thinking.
    Today I was talking to Steven and he said, ``How are you,'' and I 
said, ``I'm doing pretty good for an older guy.'' He said, ``Yes, but 
did you see that article that says that our children, certainly our 
grandchildren, will live to be 150?'' And I got to thinking that--
Hillary talked Steven into making the movie that we will show at the 
American Millennial Celebration on The Mall on New Year's Eve, as we see 
the turning of the millennium. And Steven has agreed to create this 18-
minute movie of the century--100 years in 18 minutes, so we'll feel like 
we're 150. [Laughter] He always finds a way to make it work.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. Long before ``Fences,'' before ``Seven Guitars,'' 
before ``Two Trains Running,'' before his two Pulitzers, August Wilson 
wrote an essay. He was in high school, and his teacher refused to 
believe that a black student could have produced something that good. 
Disgusted by the low expectations of his teacher, August Wilson took 
refuge in the library. This is what he said: ``I found books by black 
writers and realized I could do that. I could have a book on a shelf.''
    From the dimly lit library stacks to the bright lights of the stage, 
he has chronicled the African-American experience throughout

[[Page 1853]]

the 20th century, decade by decade, with epic plays of dreams and 
doubts, humor and heartbreak, mystery and music.
    Years ago, August Wilson asked a friend and fellow writer, ``How do 
you make your characters talk?'' His friend replied, ``You don't; you 
listen to them.'' America is richer for the listening voice, and the 
landmark drama of August Wilson.
    Colonel, read the citation.

[Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President 
presented the medal.]

    The President. Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for sharing in 
this celebration and being a part of this last arts and humanities 
awards ceremony of the 20th century. On behalf of our Nation, I thank 
our honorees for all they have done for us, and I thank you all for 
supporting their work, for helping to shape our society, lift our 
spirits, expand our boundaries, and share our gifts with the world.
    Thank you, and goodbye. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 12:55 p.m. at Constitution Hall. In his 
remarks, he referred to former Senator George J. Mitchell, who chaired 
the multiparty talks in Northern Ireland.