[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 1 (Monday, January 8, 2001)]
[Pages 7-8]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Memorial Service for Jack McAuliffe in Syracuse, New York

January 4, 2001

    Millie; John, Joe, Tom, Terry; all the family and the grandchildren; 
reverend clergy. I want to thank the people who came with us today: our 
leader, Dick Gephardt, and his wife, Jane, and Senator Dodd and 
Congressman Coelho.
    Hillary and I are here because we really liked Jack McAuliffe. And I 
know most people will say, ``Well, the President came because Terry did 
so much for him.'' Truth is, I came for Joe. I thought we ought to have 
an Irish-Protestant support group here in this church. [Laughter]
    One wonderful nun reached over to me during communion and said, 
``Thank you so much for what you did for Ireland.'' I said, ``I had to 
do it. It's about time we started getting along.''
    I want to say just a few things. I spent quite a bit of time 
thinking about what I would say in my couple of minutes. Most of what I 
wanted to say has been said. But you know, when a great human being 
passes away, people search around in their minds for some part of the 
Scripture that captures that person. We talked about it a lot already 
today. Proverbs says, ``A happy heart doeth good like medicine, but a 
broken spirit drieth the bone''--that God loves a cheerful giver. That's 
what Jack McAuliffe was. He knew it was more blessed to give than to 
receive. But nothing is more distasteful than someone who's out there 
doing good and wants you to know it every minute of the day.
    Jack McAuliffe was a cheerful giver. Whether it was in risking his 
life in the Pacific or leading campaigns here to build a church for his 
neighbors or schools for the kids or cheering and giving to Notre Dame 
or the Democratic Party or spending time imparting all the lessons to 
his children that you heard about or just buying a round at the local 
bar, he was a cheerful giver.
    And every time I was around him, I felt better. And so did you, and 
that's why you're here today. He gave more to us than any of us outside 
his family gave to him. And we showed up to say, ``You gave us a lesson 
in life. We loved you for it, and we're grateful.''
    I have to say a little something about his ties to the Democratic 
Party. He was the county Democratic treasurer here for decades. And he 
started Terry out as a political fundraiser when he was 6 years old. 
I've heard this story--no matter how many times, I never get tired of 
it.
    When Terry was 6, on the night of the Onondaga County Democratic 
dinner, his dad sat him down at a card table outside the ballroom at the 
Hotel Syracuse and said, ``Don't let anybody in who hasn't paid.'' 
[Laughter] Terry immediately found his true calling in life. [Laughter] 
And you know, when he got up here, the first words out of his mouth were 
that his Republican brother paid. [Laughter] So thanks, Jack, you did 
good.
    I'll always be grateful because Jack showed me something about going 
through life and staying young by never losing your enthusiasm. You 
know, he didn't take--he was very proud of Terry's role in politics, but 
he didn't think it meant that he was now too good to do the basic work 
of politics. He was out there putting up yard signs for Hillary in this 
campaign when he was 83 years old. And I think he was pretty pleased at 
the way things came out.
    I also like the fact that he didn't lose his spirit when it didn't 
all work the way he thought it should. I mean, he thought Notre Dame 
should never lose, and he had what in this year turned out to be a 
bizarre idea: He thought all votes should actually be counted. 
[Laughter]

[[Page 8]]

    But he just kept chugging along, you know? And he made me even feel 
better about all of that.
    Terry, of all the things you've done for me, turns out none of them 
was better than the chance you gave me to be your father's friend. His 
memory will always bring a smile to the face of all of us who knew him, 
and we'll always miss him. But I rejoice in the fact that Jack, the 
cheerful giver, is in his rightful place, where the road is always 
rising and the wind is always at his back, and he is always in the 
hollow of God's hand.
    Thank you, Jack.

Note: The President spoke at 11:45 a.m. at the Cathedral of the 
Immaculate Conception. In his remarks, he referred to Jack McAuliffe's 
widow, Millie, and their children, John E., Jr., Joseph R., Thomas J., 
and Terence McAuliffe; and former Congressman Tony Coelho.