Remarks on Presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to Former President Gerald R. Ford and Former First Lady Betty Ford

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Gephardt, Mr. Armey, Mr. Ehlers, Senator Lott, Senator Daschel, Senator Thurmond, Senator Abraham, Governor, Chaplain Ford, Chaplain Ogilvie; to the members of the Ford family and the Members of the Congress who are here; Secretary Albright, Secretary Cohen, Ambassador Holbrooke; Senator and Mrs. Dole, good to see you; and Mr. Michel, Secretary Laird, so many other great Americans who are here.

You know, so many wonderful things have been said here today, I wouldn't be surprised if President Ford didn't leave here and check to see whether the filing is closed in the New Hampshire primary. [Laughter]

I would like to say that I think every Member of Congress and every former colleague you have here is proud to be here, without regard to his or her party. There is one person who is not here I would like to take just 15 seconds to acknowledge because he embodied so many of the qualities that we now revere you for, and that's Senator John Chafee from Rhode Island. We miss him, and we are grateful, too, for his contributions to our Nation.

It was just a couple of months ago that I had the honor of welcoming President and Mrs. Ford back to the White House to award Gerald Ford the Presidential Medal of Freedom, so he wouldn't be the only person in his house without one. [Laughter] It is fitting now that both the White House and the Congress have bestowed their highest awards on the Fords because they served both the Congress and the White House so nobly.

In these hallowed halls, President Ford, as Congressman Ford, worked for 25 years. On the House floor, he was a forceful leader. In the caucus room, he was a loyal party leader. In the cloakroom and the committee room, he knew when to put politics aside for the sake of the people.

As has been said, he never sought the Presidency. But thank goodness for the rest of us he did not shrink from it, either. He steered us through stormy seas to new and brighter beginnings for human rights, for the reduction of nuclear arms, for America's role in the world.

And so many of the issues that occupied him then continue to be on his agenda today, whether he's advising his successors in the Oval Office or defending affirmative action or making the case for free trade. I am immensely grateful for all the times we have spent together, for his counsel, for his support, for his always constructive criticism, and for the occasional golf game.

I also want to say, as so many have, a personal word of thanks to Betty Ford. Perhaps no First Lady in our history, with the possible exception of Eleanor Roosevelt, has touched so many of us in such a personal way. Because I lost my mother to breast cancer, Betty Ford is a heroine to me. Because my family has been victimized by alcoholism, and I know what it's like to see good, fine people stare into the abyss of their own personal despair, I will be forever grateful to the Betty Ford Clinic—and for the millions of other people whose lives have literally been turned around and often saved. They may not have gone to that clinic but went somewhere because she showed them it was not wrong for a good person and a strong person to be imperfect and ask for help. You gave us a gift, and we thank you.

I also want to say that there's something special about them together. Their children are here, still rooting for them, and that's something, because kids go through hell if their folks are in politics. They get all the burdens and none of the benefits.

I'll tell you a little story. On September 19, 1993, for what I understand was the only time in the history of America, four Presidents had dinner in the White House. President and Mrs. Ford were there; President and Mrs. Carter was there; and President Bush joined Hillary and me in the White House. It was a magnificent night. It was the night after the Middle East peace signing between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, and it was the night before we kicked off the campaign to ratify the North American Free Trade Agreement. And we were all sort of carried away by the moment.

I invited all the Presidents to spend the night in the White House. I thought that would be a neat thing, kind of a bunking party, you know. And President Bush stayed, and President and Mrs. Carter stayed. But President and Mrs. Ford said that they were going to spend the night in the hotel room where they had spent their first night as a married couple nearly 50 years before. They did not have time to come to the White House. They were seeing to their own business, and I love that. [Laughter] I've told that story a hundred times ever since, and I never get tired of it. It think they made the right decision. [Laughter]

Gerald Ford had the great honor of being President on our Bicentennial. And on that July 4th, 23 years ago, he stood in Valley Forge and spoke these words: "A nation survives only so long as the spirit of sacrifice and self-discipline is strong within its people." We are here today in no small measure because that spirit was so strong within Gerald and Betty Ford.

Mr. President, there's one other personal thing I want to say. Every American remembers where he or she was when you became President. We're all up here talking now about how great your were in healing the country and the wonderful words you said. But you made some tough decisions, too. And when you made your healing decisions, you made the Democrats and the liberals mad one day, and then you made the conservatives mad the next day. You made everybody mad at you.

I was a young politician trying to get elected to Congress. Thank God I failed. [Laughter] Otherwise I would have never become President, probably. But I want you to know something personal. It was easy for us to criticize you, because we were caught up in the moment. You didn't get caught up in the moment, and you were right. You were right for the controversial decisions you made to keep the country together, and I thank you for that.

So it is our common honor to thank these people for their contributions for America and my pleasure now to ask the Speaker and Senator Thurmond to join me as we present them the Congressional Gold Medal.