[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 19 (Monday, May 13, 2002)]
[Pages 757-759]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Dedication Ceremony To Rename the Dwight D. Eisenhower 
Executive Office Building

May 7, 2002

    Thank you very much. Please be seated. Well, thank you all very 
much. And thank you, Susan, for those kind words, and welcome.
    On behalf of all Americans, I am proud to dedicate this historic 
building to the lasting memory of a great man, Dwight David Eisenhower.
    I want to thank Secretary Powell and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz, 
Administrator Perry, General Hicks, for their kind words. I'm also 
pleased to have so many special guests who are here. I don't see--I do 
see Senator Stevens. I'm so honored that Senator Ted Stevens, who 
actually worked in the Eisenhower administration, is here. And I want to 
welcome all the others who worked in this--in the Eisenhower 
administration to this dedication ceremony. Welcome.
    I also want to welcome General Andrew Goodpaster, Senator Bob Dole, 
and all the other veterans of World War II. We're pleased to have you 
here. It's a pleasure to welcome back former Secretary of State Henry 
Kissinger. I want to thank Members of the United States Congress, 
Senator Inouye, Congressman Amo Houghton, Jerry Moran, Jim Ryun, 
Congressman Steve Horn.
    And I too want to say how much we appreciate the work of former 
Senator John Chafee, who introduced the legislation necessary to rename 
this bill--this building in honor of Dwight Eisenhower.
    And above all, we welcome the Eisenhower family and send our good 
wishes to John Eisenhower, who could not be with us today. As the son of 
a President, myself, I know how proud John must feel, knowing that our 
country's respect for his father has only increased with the years.
    The city of Washington is accustomed to change, but this 
neighborhood looks much as it did in 1929. If you'd walked down 
Pennsylvania Avenue 73 years ago, you would have seen the Renwick 
Building on the corner of 17th Street, looking just as it does now. A 
few doors down were the Blair and Lee Houses, with gas lamps still out 
front.
    In 1929, Lafayette Square was dominated by a great bronze horse, as 
it is today, proudly carrying Andrew Jackson. And standing outside this 
building on a spring morning 73 years ago, you might have seen Dwight 
Eisenhower pull up in a 1927 Buick and walk up the stairs to his office.
    The twenties and thirties were quiet times for our Army and Navy, 
quiet times when he worked here. But it was in this building that Dwight 
Eisenhower's reputation began to grow. His immediate supervisor said of 
him this--said this of him: ``This is the best officer in the Army. When 
the next war comes, he should go right to the top.'' These words carried 
a lot of weight; after all, the man who said them was Douglas MacArthur.
    He also worked here for many years in room 252. There was a time 
when a visitor to this building might pass in the hallway not only 
Eisenhower and MacArthur but the first man commissioned General of the 
Armies of the United States, John J. Pershing. General Pershing occupied 
room 274, a space now used by Vice President Dick Cheney.
    Two doors down is an office that Theodore Roosevelt would still 
recognize as his own from his time as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. 
So would Franklin Roosevelt, who, a generation later, occupied the same 
office and walked these very same halls. And in between, from 1904 to 
1908, William Howard Taft reported to work here as the Secretary of the 
War. In all, as has been mentioned, seven future Presidents have worked 
in this building; 25 Presidents have known it.

[[Page 758]]

    Harry S. Truman held press conferences in an ornate room two stories 
high called the Indian Treaty Room--although no Indian treaty has ever 
been signed there. And it was Truman, himself, who paid a distinctive 
tribute to this building when a committee suggested it be torn down. He 
believed we ought to leave it right here. He said, ``It's the greatest 
monstrosity in America.''
    But it was Eisenhower who decided its fate. He said he rather liked 
it. And over time, a lot of us have come to like it. The architectural 
grace of this building will remain a matter of opinion, but its place in 
history and its place on the skyline of Washington is as safe as can be.
    It seems odd that with all the history it contains, this great 
building went more than a century without a name befitting its dignity. 
We've solved that problem today, and we've solved it once and for all. 
This building now bears the name of Dwight D. Eisenhower, not because it 
was spared from the wrecking ball in his time, not even because he was 
the first President born in Texas. [Laughter] His name fits this 
building because, as a great soldier, a great President, and a good man, 
Dwight D. Eisenhower served his country with distinction.
    People over a certain age will always associate Dwight Eisenhower 
with a time of strength and a time of stability in America. We think of 
the fifties and in the mind's eye we see the President and his fine 
wife, Mamie. They had lived a military life, moving more than 30 times. 
And just as GIs in the fifties across America were settling back home, 
so were the Eisenhowers. As a matter of fact, they would live longer in 
the White House here than at any other address.
    We don't need to idolize the era they represented to see all the 
good things that were there: millions of growing families and industries 
and new cities and the beginnings of the life that we know today.
    Had he never become President, Eisenhower would still be known to 
all as the leader of the forces that liberated a continent from a 
terrible evil. The turning point of the war was the decision to invade 
the coast of France. The decision was made by Roosevelt and Churchill; 
the day and hour were left to General Eisenhower. And a lot of people 
felt a lot better knowing that it was his call to make.
    General Eisenhower understood exactly what risks lay ahead. Had his 
troops failed to take the beaches, he was going to point a finger 
straight at himself. Here's what he wrote, in advance: ``If any blame or 
fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.'' Fifty-seven years ago 
this very day, General Eisenhower reported that the mission of the 
Allied force was fulfilled, and the war in Europe was over.
    In victory, he was the first to share credit. It was not within his 
character to do otherwise. His Vice President, Richard Nixon, said this 
about General Eisenhower--President Eisenhower: ``He always retained a 
saving humility.'' ``It was the humility,'' Nixon said, ``not of fear 
but of confidence. He walked with the great of the world, and he knew 
that the great are human. His was the humility of man before God and 
before the truth. His was the humility of a man too proud to be 
arrogant.''
    In his career, Dwight Eisenhower faced two great crises of the 20th 
century: a world war that came upon America with a sudden attack, 
requiring a global response, and a cold war that tested our patience and 
resolve to wage a struggle of decades.
    In our time, we face elements of both, an enemy that strikes 
suddenly and must be pursued across the years. And in this struggle, we 
know how victory will be gained, because President Eisenhower--and 
General Eisenhower--showed us the way. We will be calm and confident and 
relentless. With the best of America's character, we will defeat 
America's enemies.
    We are proceeding with patience and resolve to overcome this growing 
danger to the civilized world. NATO, the grand alliance first commanded 
by General Eisenhower, is part of a new coalition that is making steady 
progress on every front. Our mission in Afghanistan continues even after 
we have liberated that country from a brutal regime. We continue to 
fight Al Qaida terrorists, and we will prevent them from regrouping 
elsewhere.
    We'll deny terrorists the safe havens they need to operate and choke 
off their sources

[[Page 759]]

of money and supplies. We'll confront dangerous regimes that seek 
weapons of mass destruction. In this war we will depend on the alertness 
of our law enforcement, the diligence of our intelligence operations, 
and on the skill and valor of the American Armed Forces.
    Our military has performed with great daring and courage, and more 
will be asked of them. I have full confidence, complete confidence, in 
the men and women who wear our uniform. They've responded in the finest 
traditions of the American military. Their sense of honor, their 
devotion to duty, their loyal service to America would all be recognized 
by the five-star general and President we remember today. The skill and 
determination and optimism of Dwight Eisenhower are alive in the 
American Armed Forces, and that spirit will bring us to victory.
    The General was one of six sons raised by Ida and David Eisenhower 
in the prairie town of Abilene, Kansas. They raised good men, but 
destiny chose this one. His whole life shows the power of one man's 
goodness and integrity to shape great events. He brought permanent honor 
to his family name, and that name now brings honor to this grand 
building. It's one more mark of this country's respect, and we offer it 
today with great affection and lasting gratitude.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 10:20 a.m. in Presidential Hall at the 
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building, formerly the Old 
Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to Susan 
Eisenhower, granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower; Chaplain Brig. Gen. 
David Hicks, USA, Deputy Chief of Army Chaplains; Brig. Gen. A.J. 
Goodpaster, USA (Ret.), Staff Secretary to President Eisenhower; and 
former Senator Bob Dole.