[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 5 (Monday, February 7, 2000)]
[Pages 227-229]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Memorial Service for Bob Squier

February 4, 2000

    Prudy; to the members of your family; to all of us who were friends 
of Bob Squier. The Scripture summons us, ``neglect not the gift that is 
in thee.'' Today we celebrate a man who did not neglect his gift but 
instead shared it.
    We have heard it in the stories of his sons, his partner, his 
friends, and they have caused us all to flood our minds and hearts with 
memories of Bob Squier's passion for life, for his family, his work, for 
politics. Vice President Gore and I, in particular, are the 
beneficiaries of that passion and of his abundant American optimism.
    As has already been said, no matter how dark the night, Bob was 
always sure the Sun would come up in the morning, and if it didn't, he 
would still find a way to get a tan. [Laughter] This sort of optimism 
was in rather short supply right after the elections in 1994, and most 
people thought that there were better investments in American politics 
than the reelection of Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Not Bob Squier. He saw 
it as sort of a minor challenge. He was there for us, and but for him, 
we might not be here today. There is something to be said for boundless 
optimism.
    I think we ought to acknowledge, as has already been done, that this 
was a man whose passion for politics was part of a kaleidoscopic view of 
life and a wide range of interests. In addition to his documentaries 
about our great authors, he was also a pioneer in music television: one 
of the youngest producers of the Boston Pops on PBS; the executive 
producer of the first live global satellite TV show featuring the 
Beatles. He even talked about working years ago with the Rolling Stones, 
which probably makes him the only person in his line of work in the 
entire world who could say that he worked with everyone from Keith 
Richards to Ann Richards. [Laughter]
    Bob Squier was many things. They have all been described today: a 
brilliant strategist, incisive commentator, trusted adviser, loyal 
friend. Above all, though, I think he was a storyteller. He knew how to 
tell a story, and

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he knew how to see the story that was being told right before our eyes.
    He was very proud of his award-winning documentaries. He saw in the 
lives of Faulkner, Melville, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald, and in their 
work, the story of America, just as surely as he saw it in the lives and 
campaigns of all of us in this hallowed cathedral today with whom he 
worked. He dug deep into their lives to tell us the story.
    For all the politicians here, whoever agonized through one more take 
of a television ad, one more instruction about how this town hall 
meeting had to be dealt with, we're not surprised at the details of his 
attention to his documentaries. He took F. Scott Fitzgerald's only 
daughter back to places she knew as a child and then interviewed her 
about her father. He took Robert Penn Warren to Shiloh to talk about 
Melville's Civil War poem about that battle. He interviewed Hemingway's 
son Jack as he cast flies in an Idaho trout stream. He even went to 
Havana and filmed in a boat piloted by Hemingway's former captain, who 
provided the inspiration for ``The Old Man and the Sea.''
    That's the way he did his politics. It was never about the 
manipulation of words and images to put something over on the American 
people. It was always about finding the story and trusting the people to 
get it right.
    He told our story: a couple of farmers in a field holding a sign 
that said, ``Hope''; a widow placing a flag on a veteran's grave on a 
lonely hillside; a worker filled with the pride that comes from the 
dignity of a job; and as has been mentioned, the light in little Emma's 
eyes. He used them all to tell our story. Nobody did it better. He made 
policy understandable, politics exciting, and politicians human. He made 
the camera disappear.
    Bob worked in a profession with one of the shortest half-lives in 
the world. But to paraphrase one of his heroes, William Faulkner, here 
in Washington he did not just endure; he prevailed, for over 30 years, 
not just by putting a notch in the campaign victory belt but putting 
into office candidates he knew shared his convictions and would fight 
his fights.
    I have to say this on behalf of all of the elected and former 
elected officials here. There is one thing we all especially found 
endearing about Bob Squier. He actually liked politicians. [Laughter] 
And he wasn't ashamed to admit it, even in this age when sort of 
sanctimonious disapproval of us is the only politically correct 
position. He saw people in politics as basically good people who 
struggled to reconcile personal conviction and popular opinion into a 
combined force that would lift our Nation to higher grounds.
    Bob Squier's work lives on through all of us he lifted, through 
countless others he mentored and trained along the way. And so, the 
story of this great storyteller's life in a sense is still being written 
and will be for a long time to come.
    In years to come, students of American politics will study Bob 
Squier's campaigns, Bob Squier's commercials, Bob Squier's commentaries. 
Students of our literature will study Bob Squier's documentary films. 
Those of us who shared this all-too-brief earthly journey with him, 
we'll be grateful for all that. But I suspect even more, we'll remember 
a dashing and handsome man with a killer smile, an acid wit, and 
goodness at the core, a goodness that made even his adversaries like 
him.
    We'll remember that behind the smile visible in his eyes was a steel 
will, a strong spirit, and a great heart that made our Nation better, 
because it gave him the strength to nurture the gift that was in him and 
to share it with us.
    Well, Bob, we`re giving you a good sendoff today. But not nearly as 
good as what you gave us. The last campaign is over. The polls have 
closed. The votes are counted. And you won--big time. Now you're in a 
place with no talk shows and no term limits. But your spirit will soar 
forever. Godspeed.

Note: The President spoke at 11:55 a.m. at the National Cathedral. In 
his remarks, he referred to Mr. Squier's widow, Prudence Bergman, and 
sons Mark R. Squier and Robert M. Squier, and granddaughter Emma; 
William Knapp, partner, Squier, Knapp & Dunn Communications; musician 
Keith Richards; and former Texas Governor Ann Richards.

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