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1997 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients
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1997 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients
Awarded by William Jefferson Clinton
January 14, 1997 - William J. Perry
January 17, 1997 - Robert Dole
September 30, 1997 - Gen. John Shalikashvili
Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Secretary of Defense William J. Perry at Fort Myer, Virginia
January 14, 1997
Thank you very much. General Shalikashvili, Mrs. Shalikashvili, distinguished leaders of the United States Armed Forces, Members of Congress, service members in our Armed Forces assembled here today, friends of Secretary and Mrs. Perry, and to Bill and Lee and your children and your grandchildren, your other family members who are here today. Let me say that for Hillary and me this is a bittersweet day, a great privilege for us to be here to honor Bill and Lee, a great regret that our Nation will be losing--as all nations must and we, too, must from time to time--one of the ablest people who ever served the United States in any position. We come to honor Bill Perry, the leader, the statesman, and the friend of America's Armed Forces.
Once he was asked if he had ever aspired to a career in Government service, and he replied, "No. I was a math major.'' Fortunately for the rest of us, he set aside his love of mathematics and engineering to serve in demanding levels of Government where the clarity and precision of his training and insight and ability were highly valued and sorely needed. He did so with remarkable distinction, accomplishment, and integrity. And I agree with Shali: When the history of our time is written, Bill Perry may well be recorded as the most productive, effective Secretary of Defense the United States ever had.
His association with our military dates to his service as an enlisted man at the end of World War II, then as an Army Reserve officer. At Stanford he helped to educate and sharpen some of our Nation's great young minds. As a businessman, he created jobs and prosperity for his home State of California. As Under Secretary of Defense in the late 1970's, it was his vision and drive and leadership that brought from the drawing board to deployment in record time many of the advanced technologies that were vital to our Nation's victory in Operation Desert Storm. Bill Perry was one of the great and, indeed, unsung heroes of the Gulf war.
But we gather today, first and foremost, to honor and thank Bill and Lee for their last 3 years leading the Defense Department. This was a difficult job but the perfect one for Bill Perry. He completed the post- cold-war drawdown of our Armed Forces while increasing their readiness capabilities and technological edge, something no one thought could be done. The simple fact is that this is one of the great managerial achievements in our country's history. Today our troops are the best trained, the best equipped, the best prepared fighting force in the world. And they have proven that again and again on Bill Perry's watch, from Haiti to Bosnia to the Persian Gulf.
Bill Perry downsized without downgrading morale. He always valued and honored the service of people who do the hard work of ensuring our security. And as the Vice President well knows, he brought reinventing Government right into the E wing of the Pentagon with commonsense acquisition and financial reform. He never let the crisis of the moment deter him from meeting the long-term challenges and seizing the long- term opportunities to build a more secure future for the United States.
He led our successful effort to dismantle and de-target thousands of Russian nuclear warheads once aimed at American cities and to eliminate nuclear warheads from Kazakstan, Ukraine, and Belarus. The cooperative threat reduction program he managed has helped keep nuclear materials from falling into the hands of rogue states and terrorists. He helped to build a new security architecture in Europe through NATO's Partnership For Peace program. He reinvigorated our security ties with Japan and established new security relationships with Russia, China, and our neighbors in Latin America.
The Department of Defense is the largest and most complex organization in our Nation's Government. He ran it hands-on. This method would be demanding enough at any Federal agency, but when your headquarters is the Pentagon and your staff numbers 3 million, what Bill calls "management by walking around'' is all the more remarkable. But as has been said today by others who know well, it is his affinity for and his commitment to our Nation's troops, the men and women who serve at home, abroad, and at sea and who are sent into harm's way at a moment's notice, which I most admire.
In many of our private meetings together over the last 3 years, Bill Perry would always--always--bring up the welfare, the morale, the interests, and the future of our men and women in uniform who are enlisted personnel and their families. Secretary Perry's many trips abroad--and as the most traveled Defense Secretary in the history of the United States, there were many trips--were as much about checking in with our troops and their families and checking on their quality of life as they were about meeting with defense ministers and military leaders in other lands.
As a former private, his heart never left the members of the enlisted corps. As a former lieutenant, he understood the leadership demands we place upon our junior officers. But above all, he understood that whether enlisted or officer, military service is the ultimate expression of patriotism by those who choose to wear our uniform.
I will miss Bill Perry for many things, for his thoughtful temperament and manner, for speaking with the mathematician's unadorned clarity, a rarity in Washington. Teddy Roosevelt said that those of us in positions of authority should speak softly and carry a big stick. Bill Perry spoke softly and carried the biggest stick in the world with great care and a great effect. His quiet confidence was always an incredible comfort to me. There were qualities which our allies relied upon, and as long as he was Secretary of Defense, I never went to bed a single night worried about the security of the United States or the welfare of our men and women in uniform. His practice of bipartisanship earned Bill Perry the trust and respect of the Congress and the American people as well as credibility abroad as an American who could speak for the entire country.
Many of you know that Secretary Perry's personal hero is his predecessor General George Marshall. During the crisis days of World War II, Marshall lived right here at Fort Myer and then went on to become a great Secretary of State and the third Secretary of Defense. While Bill Perry is one of just 16 to follow him in that difficult job, I believe he is the successor George Marshall would be most proud of.
The measure of a great Defense Secretary is whether he leaves our military stronger and our Nation safer than on the day he took office. It is, and we are.
And so it is my great privilege as President, as Commander in Chief, and as a grateful American citizen, to present William J. Perry with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation's highest civilian award.
Commander, publish the order.
Note: The President spoke at 10:40 a.m. in Conmy Hall. In his remarks, he referred to General Shalikashvili's wife, Joan, and Secretary Perry's wife, Leonilla. Following the President's remarks, Spec. John Christ, USA, 3d U.S. Infantry (the Old Guard), read the citation.
Remarks on the World War II Memorial and on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Former Senator Bob Dole
January 17, 1997
Thank you very much, General Woerner, for your kind words and for your fine work. I thank you on behalf of all Americans for all the American Battle Monuments Commission does all around the world to ensure that our fallen heroes receive the honor they deserve.
Mr. Vice President, to the members of the Cabinet, Senator and Mrs. Dole and Robin, Majority Leader Lott and many Members of Congress who are here today, to the representatives of the veterans service organizations, the members of the American Battle Monuments Commission, my fellow Americans. Let me begin by thanking Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Governor Hugh Carey, Commissioner Wheeler, Dr. Williams, my good friend Jess Hay, and all the members of the American Battle Monuments Commission and the World War II Memorial Advisory Board for their efforts to create the first national memorial to all who served in World War II. I want to congratulate also Professor St. Florian and his team on their design. I have reviewed it, and it is very impressive.
The World War II Memorial will commemorate one of the great defining passages in our Nation's history. Fittingly, it will be flanked by the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. For if the Revolutionary War marks the birth of our Republic and the Civil War its greatest trial, then surely America's triumph in World War II will forever signal our coming of age. Roused by the threat of tyranny and fascism, provoked by an infamous attack, millions of Americans fought under freedom's flag, carrying it to far-off places whose names still stir our souls.
At home, our Nation turned as one to the task of building a mighty arsenal for our democratic warriors. Out of the crucible of global conflict and total war, the greatest struggle humankind has ever known, America emerged as the world's most powerful force for peace and freedom and prosperity. With this memorial we pay lasting homage to the 16 million men and women who took up arms in that battle.
Some of the bravest among them were those who fought for freedom themselves were denied. Earlier this week, I had the chance to recognize the extraordinary courage of seven African-American soldiers with the Nation's highest military honor, an award that was richly deserved as long as it was overdue. But I say today that we owe them and all the veterans of World War II a debt that can never be fully repaid. As I said, and had the honor to say in Normandy: When they were young, they saved the world.
This memorial also quite rightly remembers the heroics and hardships of those on the homefront. Many of the families who started the war with a star in the window ended it with sorrow in their hearts, their loved ones lost forever. But our Americans scrimped and saved, making do with 3 gallons of gas a week and two pairs of shoes a year. With the American Red Cross they worked to tend the wounded and send millions of care packages overseas. They ran the factories, manned in many cases by women, that churned out the planes, the tanks, the ships that enabled the allies to control the land, the air, and the sea.
In war, this generation of heroes summoned the collective resolve to defend our most cherished values, to defeat the most fearsome enemies. In peace, they came home and drew on that strength and unity to meet the challenges of a new era. Their leaders did not seek to withdraw from the world but to build alliances and institutions, to promote our prosperity, and to secure our victory in the long cold war. This memorial will stand as a lasting tribute to what Americans can achieve when they work together.
It is especially appropriate at this time that we also honor the remarkable service of one of our Nation's most distinguished World War II veterans who has spent the last 50 years of his life building America and a better world, Senator Bob Dole.
Fifty-one years ago, during a fierce fight in Italy's Po Valley, Second Lieutenant Bob Dole was going to the aid of a fallen comrade when a shell struck him down. He would bear the burden of that terrible injury from that day forward. His recuperation was long and uncertain. Yet Senator Dole turned adversity to advantage and pain to public service, embodying the motto of the State that he loved and went on to serve so well: Ad astra per aspera, to the stars through difficulties.
Son of the soil, citizen, soldier, and legislator, Bob Dole understands the American people, their struggles, their triumphs, and their dreams. Through five decades of public service that took him from county attorney to Senate majority leader and the longest serving leader of his party in history, he never forgot his roots in Russell, Kansas. He has stood up for what he believed, championing the interests of his State's hard-working farmers, helping the disabled through leading the way to the Americans with Disabilities Act, extending the Voting Rights Act, playing a key role in the National Commission on Social Security Reform, and always, always supporting the leadership of our country: first, throughout that long twilight struggle of the cold war and, now in this new era, reasserting America's indispensable role for peace and freedom, security and prosperity.
In times of conflict and crisis, he has worked to keep America united and strong. In this city often known for taking itself too seriously, we are all better for his fine sense of humor. But our country is better for his courage, his determination, and his willingness to go the long course to lead America.
I am pleased to be able to recognize Bob Dole's record of achievement with the highest honor our Nation can bestow on a citizen, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Through it, we honor not just his individual achievement but his clear embodiment of the common values and beliefs that join us as a people, values and beliefs that he has spent his life advancing.
Senator Dole, a grateful nation presents this award with respect for the example you have set for Americans today and for Americans in generations yet to come.
I now ask the military aide to read the citation. Major, post the orders.
Note: The President spoke at 10:33 a.m. in the East Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. Fred F. Woerner, USA (ret.), Chairman, and Hugh Carey and F. Haydn Williams, Commissioners, American Battle Monuments Commission; Senator Dole's daughter, Robin; Pete Wheeler and Jess Hay, members, World War II Memorial Advisory Board; and architect Friedrich St. Florian, winner of the World War II Memorial design competition. Following the President's remarks, Maj. Charles Raderstorf, USMC, read the medal citation.
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Medal History
