Remarks at a Birthday Tribute to Hillary Clinton in New York City

Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

The President. Wait, wait, wait, wait. You're off message. [Laughter]

Look at this guy. This is why I don't have birthdays anymore. [Laughter] Has Tom Cruise had a great career, or not? Let's give him a hand. Isn't he wonderful? Thank you. Bless you. [Applause]

Now look, before I say anything else, I just want you to know, if anybody has the remotest doubt that in about 90 days I'm going to be perfectly happy to leave the White House and come to New York and be a real, honest-togoodness New Yorker—[laughter]—wait a minute—if you have any doubt about that, here's what I have to say. Forget about it. [Laughter] Why are you laughing? Why are they laughing?

Actor Robert De Niro. Well, I told you. I told you, if you want to make it in this town, let's work on this.

Fuggeddaboudit. [Laughter]

The President. Forget about it. [Laughter]

Mr. De Niro. Fuggeddaboudit.

The President. Forget about it!

Mr. De Niro. No, no. Fuggeddaboudit. Whatsamaddawityou? [Laughter] Fuggeddaboudit.

The President. You talkindame? [Laughter]

Mr. De Niro. Fuggeddaboudit.

The President. Hey, I know I just got here, but who was that guy, anyway? [Laughter] Fuggeddaboudit. [Laughter]

I want to thank Robert De Niro. He has been a wonderful friend to me and to Hillary. And I just appeared between two guys that make more money in 8 minutes than I made in 8 years. [Laughter] Maybe they can get me into that apartment we talked about earlier tonight. [Laughter]

I have a role tonight. I'm going to play my role. I am campaigning hard out here for Spouse in Chief. And I want to tell you that I met Hillary when she was 23 and I was 24, and we were in law school. And I saw her kind of moseying around the law school, you know. And I'm embarrassed to say, for all you young people who are still students, I hate to admit this, but I was not totally absorbed by my studies at that point in my life. [Laughter]

And so I saw Hillary kind of floating around the law school. And she was sort of a presence there and a rather famous figure. I was a scruffy guy who was stylistically challenged. [Laughter] And so anyway, I had a lot of sense not to speak to her. I knew; I said, "If I talk to this woman, this is going to be nothing but trouble. I am not going to talk to her." True story.

So one night I was in the library at Yale Law School, and this guy is trying to talk me into joining the Yale Law Review. And I said, "I don't want to be on the Law Review." He said, "But you get to clerk for the Supreme Court." I said, "I don't want to clerk for the Supreme Court." He said, "You'll make more money." I said, "I don't give a damn about that. I want to go home." So he's giving his best pitch, and I see Hillary all the way across the library, and she sees me staring at her. And she put her book down, walked across the library, and she said, "Look, if you're going to keep looking at me, and I'm going to keep looking back, at least we ought to know each other's names. I'm Hillary Rodham. What's your name?"

I couldn't remember my name. [Laughter] Now, that's how we met. I say that to remove any doubt that she has the requisite aggression to be a good New Yorker. [Laughter]

I want to tell you that, for me, this is a birthday for Hillary that is filled with gratitude. The people of New York have been so wonderful to me in two Presidential elections and all the years in between. You have, for the last 16 months, opened your hearts to her and given her a chance to make her case. And I am so grateful to you.

You know, we've had a lot of fun here, making fun of politicians, including me. And it's all been in fun. But I'd like to tell you something seriously. When I leave office, after 26 years of running for office or serving in public life, I will be more idealistic about this country than I was the day I took the oath of office as President, the day I took my first public office.

And I've known a lot of people in politics, thousands of them, Republicans and Democrats and the occasional independent. And on balance, I've found them to be good, honest, hard-working people who love our country and do what they think is right. And they're better, on balance, than they get played out in the popular press. But in all these years, I have never, ever, ever known anybody that had the combination of intelligence and heart and consistent caring and persistence and ability to organize and energize other people and get things done that Hillary has. She's the best I have ever known.

And I am quite sure that if she hadn't spent the last 30 years helping me and helping children and families' causes, starting organizations and heading others, and always doing things for other people and never asking anybody until this election to do anything for her, that she would have been doing this years ago. When we met and fell in love, I actually—I told her forthrightly that I almost hated for her to come home to Arkansas and start our life together because I thought she had immense talent, and I felt that I somehow would be depriving her of a public career. So for me, the feelings I have for all of you for lifting her up and supporting her and giving her a chance to serve this State and serve this Nation are almost inexpressible.

It's worth noting that this seat was held not only by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, one of the great intellects and public servants of the last 50 years, but also by Senator Robert Kennedy, who inspired me and so many people of my generation to believe that we could make a better country. And I want you to know that if you just keep working for 13 more days, she is going to make you profoundly proud that you have helped her in this.

And on top of that, she looks pretty good to be 53 years old, wouldn't you say? [Applause] So I want you to stand up with me and offer a toast to the next United States Senator from New York.