[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 49 (Monday, December 13, 1999)]
[Pages 2518-2521]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Kennedy Center Honors Reception

December 5, 1999

    The President. Thank you very much. Thank you all, and welcome to 
the White House; to the wonderful array of artists who are in this room 
and members of the Cabinet and others who have come to be part of this 
happy evening.
    We share this evening with honorees who have touched our lives and 
ennobled our Nation. Recently, Hillary and I went to Greece, and I had 
the opportunity early in the morning to go and visit the Parthenon, a 
magnificent, almost unbelievable architectural creation, given what had 
to be done to make it work and the materials and instruments that were 
available at the time. The Parthenon was the brainchild of the great 
statesman Pericles. Pericles said this to his soldiers in the 
Peloponnesian War: ``We shall not be without witness. There are mighty 
monuments to our power which will make us the wonder of this and 
succeeding ages.''
    As the curtain falls on this remarkable century, at the dawn of a 
new millennium, it is fitting that we Americans should ask ourselves, 
what will be the monuments that we offer up to the gaze of succeeding 
ages? Today, we are blessed with unprecedented

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prosperity and military might, but I believe it will be true of us, as 
it was Pericles' Athens, that the monuments of power that truly define, 
sustain us, and last throughout the ages are those that spring from the 
mind and the spirit.
    Just as we remember the great philosophers and playwrights, the 
historians and architects of ancient Greece, so tonight Hillary and I 
are proud to welcome you here to pay tribute to these five remarkable 
artists and creators. They come from many places; their immense talents 
range over a wide creative landscape. In giving the world new ways to 
understand the human experience and celebrate the human spirit, they are 
all leaving their own enduring monuments for succeeding ages.
    And now, to present them, four Americans and one Scotsman--whom 
tonight I declare an honorary American citizen. [Laughter] It seems 
appropriate to do on the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin 
Wall. After all, we couldn't have won the cold war without you. 
[Laughter]
    In 1940 Borge Rosenbaum of Copenhagen sought safe passage to 
America, just ahead of the Nazi advance. The United States consul, who 
had seen his comedy show, granted him a visa on one condition: He had to 
promise to continue his career in America. With just $20 in his pocket, 
he arrived in the United States, changed his name, and began to learn 
English by watching gangster films. [Laughter]
    Soon, Victor Borge landed himself a regular gig on Bing Crosby's 
radio show. Eventually, this led to the longest running one-man show in 
Broadway history and 40 years of travel across America, Europe, and 
Asia, perfecting the fine art of playing brilliant piano in the 
clumsiest possible way. [Laughter]
    Who would ever have thought that one person could be both a virtuoso 
pianist and an ingenious comic, combining the two into one mischievous, 
uproarious show? Perhaps the common link between Victor Borge's music 
and his comedy is his uncanny gift for improvisation. Once, when a pesky 
fly would not leave him alone, he so skillfully incorporated the fly 
into his performance that all the audience were absolutely sure he had 
trained it to cooperate. [Laughter]
    At age 90, Victor Borge continues to share his gifts with the world, 
not only through comedy, piano, and conducting the world's major 
orchestras but also through the generous scholarship fund he created in 
gratitude to those who risked their lives to save Scandinavia's Jews. 
Tonight we are deeply grateful to one long-forgotten United States 
consul and to the ``Great Dane'' who has kept America rolling with 
laughter for so very many years.
    Ladies and gentlemen, Victor Borge.
    Mr. Borge. Who was that gentleman? [Laughter]
    The President. You know, you ought to hang onto that thought; in 
about 14 months people will be asking that question for real. [Laughter]
    Steven Spielberg once said there are only seven genuine movie stars 
in the entire world today. Of course, his list includes Sean Connery, 
one of the most charismatic and commanding actors ever to arch an 
eyebrow on the silver screen.
    He rose from humble beginnings in working class Edinburgh. Even 
today, under the tux he wears better than any man alive, he still sports 
with pride a ``Scotland Forever'' tattoo on his arm. He left school at 
age 13, helped support his family as a concrete mixer, brick layer, 
sailor, steel bender, coffin polisher, and weight lifter. All jobs that 
prepared him for a lifetime of diverse and wonderful roles.
    After making 007 the most famous character in the world, Sean 
Connery went on to broaden his reach with brilliant performances in 
movies such as ``The Man Who Would Be King,'' ``The Name of the Rose,'' 
``The Russia House,'' and ``The Untouchables,'' for which he was hailed 
as another Olivier. Among his numerous honors, he's earned an Academy 
Award, a British Academy Fellowship, the French Legion of Honor, 
Edinburgh's prestigious Freedom of the City Award, and very important to 
me, a fairly low handicap on the golf course. [Laughter]
    To this distinguished list, tonight we add Kennedy Center Honors, 
and we thank him

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for four decades of unforgettable, masterful contributions to the world 
of film.
    Ladies and gentlemen, Sean Connery.
    On May 4, 1971, in a 16-minute solo of indescribable beauty and 
emotional force, Judith Jamison vaulted into the realm of legend. The 
solo was called, ``Cry,'' and Alvin Ailey created it just for her. 
Rarely, if ever, had the artistry of choreographer and dancer come 
together in such an elemental, spiritual way. In the chronicle of her 
career, that night was just one in a long list of soaring triumphs for 
Judith Jamison.
    After a childhood filled with patient and exacting study of dance, 
her big break came in 1964. ``I taught a class of ordinary students,'' 
the famed choreographer Agnes de Mille reported. ``But there was this 
one astonishing girl.'' Miss de Mille brought Judith Jamison to New York 
to perform with the American Ballet Theatre. A year later Alvin Ailey 
asked her to dance with his company. For the next 15 years, she 
premiered new roles, set new standards of excellence, and earned 
unprecedented global acclaim.
    Her achievements as an Ailey dancer would be enough to earn Judith 
Jamison a place here tonight. But she has always sought new ways to 
stretch and extend herself and those around her. From the Ailey Company, 
she went on to star on Broadway, choreograph modern dance and opera, and 
found her own dance company.
    In 1989 she returned to the Ailey Company to take over as artistic 
director and fulfill her mentor's dying wish. In this role, she has 
preserved Ailey's legacy while creating transcendent new works, 
cultivating a new generation of stars, bringing dance ``back to the 
people,'' in her words, and I might add, greatly inspiring many of our 
daughters.
    Tonight we thank her for a lifetime of breaking down barriers and 
forever lifting up the grace and beauty of American dance.
    Ladies and gentlemen, Judith Jamison.
    After 6 years in the Navy during World War II, a sailor named Jason 
Robards, Jr., used the GI bill to enroll in the American Academy of 
Dramatic Arts. He got some parts and drove a cab to support his family. 
Then, at the age of 33, he auditioned for the lead in ``The Iceman 
Cometh,'' with the esteemed director Jose Quintero. From the moment 
Robards began to read, the part simply belonged to him. As Quintero 
later remarked, ``I came to see that Jason was the greatest young actor 
in the world.''
    Jason Robards' authority as an artist only grew with age. After his 
chilling performance in ``Iceman,'' he starred in the Broadway premier 
of O'Neill's ``Long Day's Journey Into Night,'' securing his standing as 
the finest interpreter of our finest playwright.
    He went on to earn the highest honors on the world's great stages, 
including, of course, the Kennedy Center, where he presided at the 
groundbreaking and shined in the very first play the center produced. Of 
course, he has also enjoyed remarkable success as a screen actor and won 
back-to-back Academy Awards.
    But performing under the stagelights of the theater, drawing us into 
the shadows and, occasionally, even into the sunshine, has always been 
his first love. He took possession of the American theater in 1956, and 
he has worked and reigned there, magnificent and vulnerable, ever since.
    Ladies and gentlemen, Jason Robards, Jr.
    When Stevie Wonder was a baby in inner-city Detroit, his mother 
dreamed of carrying her son to the Holy City of Jerusalem in hopes that 
he would gain his sight. What she could not yet know was that her child 
had already been profoundly blessed--blessed with prodigious, awe-
inspiring inner vision, and musical talents that must have come from the 
Almighty Himself.
    By the age of 8, Stevie was composing for piano and mastering the 
harmonica and drums. At age 13, he got the world clapping and stomping 
with his breakout single, ``Fingertips Part 2.'' His very first record 
went gold. At the ripe old age of 18, he came out with his first album 
of greatest hits. [Laughter]
    We all know Stevie's songs, and we all try to sing them. [Laughter] 
Even for those of us who sing off key, they're all in the ``Key of 
Life.'' At times, his songs seem to be in the very air we breathe, 
always part of the sunshine of our lives.
    Over these past 30 years, as he has composed and performed these 
songs, Stevie has also helped to make Dr. King's birthday into a 
national holiday, to tear down the walls of

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apartheid, to alleviate hunger, to stem youth violence, and, in so many 
other ways, to compose the remaining passages of Dr. King's unfinished 
symphony. Along the way, I might add, he has also been a perfectly 
wonderful friend to Hillary and to me and to Vice President and Mrs. 
Gore, for which we are very grateful.
    So tonight we honor the prodigy who became a prophet, for using his 
divine gifts to move the world to sing and to act.
    Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Stevie Wonder.
    Well, there they are, ladies and gentlemen, Victor Borge, Sean 
Connery, Judith Jamison, Jason Robards, and Stevie Wonder. In them we 
find comic invention, rugged strength, towering grace, inner fire, and 
music that flows down like a mighty stream. Tonight the United States 
salutes them all.
    God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 5:50 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to movie director/producer Steven 
Spielberg. The transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
also included the remarks of the First Lady.