Administration of William J. Clinton, 1995 / Feb. 19 Mr. Alexander. Now I'd like to introduce one it very clear: We have made no decision about of the great coaches in the world, Rudy the May schedule. And there are lots of issues Tomjanovich, and of course the greatest player involved, because there are lots of 50th anniver- in the world, Hakeem Olajuwon. sary events on celebrating the end of World Mr. Tomjanovich. Thank you, Mr. President, War II. And we literally have not had a meeting for taking time and making this a very special on that. So it would be wrong to draw any day for us. It's a day we'll always remember. inference one way or the other. There has lit- And I would like to present to you a Rocket erally beenÐI've gotten no recommendations jersey with your name on the back and the from my staff on it. We've had no meeting. number one. Tony Lake and I had our first passing conversa- The President. That's great. tion about it last night about 6 p.m. So we'll Mr. Tomjanovich. You're the number one make a decision quite soon and announce it, man on the number one team in the world. but there has been no decision made. The President. You know, I've got a basketball Q. Well, you wouldn't go, would you, if court down here in the backyard. Do you think there's a war on in Chechnya? I should wear this? [Laughter] Good length, too, The President. I have said, there is no deci- don't you think? [Laughter] sion made. I have made no decision. I've had Mr. Olajuwon. Well, I would just like to thank no meeting. And when I do, I'll let you know. Mr. President for this, an honor for us as a Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown team and also to have this opportunity to visit the White House. And we're so glad you're the Q. Mr. President, does Ron Brown still have President. And thank you so much for inviting your support? us. And we would like to come back next year The President. He's the best Commerce Sec- as the champion. [Laughter] retary we've ever had. And he's gotten more The President. Will you come back next year? results. That ought to be the test. He's a good Thank you very much. Commerce Secretary. The questions that have It's all aired up. I may go down andÐÐ been raised about what happened before he be- Q. All you need is trunks. [Laughter] came Commerce Secretary are being looked into The President. Yes. A shot might helpÐif I in an appropriate fashion. And meanwhile, he's had a shot. [Laughter] I still need a shot. on the job, and I'm supporting him in that. Thank you very much. It's good to see you. No Commerce Secretary has ever done more It's great. than he has to create jobs for Americans and to support the interest of American business. Meeting With President Boris Yeltsin of Russia And that is the test. And he should go forward Q. Mr. President, have you put off a summit and do his job. That's what I want him to do. with Yeltsin in May? Thank you all. The President. No. I don't know what theÐ let me just say this. I don't know what the NOTE: The President spoke at 10:47 a.m. in the source of that story is, but I want to make Roosevelt Room at the White House. Interview With Brian Lamb of C-Span February 19, 1995 Former U.S. Presidents The President. Well, of course, that's the fa- Mr. Lamb. Mr. President, we're talking in mous headline from the Chicago Tribune. I got and around President's Day, so I want to see it when I was in Independence, Missouri, at if you could tell us the purpose of having this the Truman Library. And I'm a big admirer little thing on your desk that involves another of President Truman. He was my neighborÐ President, ``Dewey Defeats Truman.'' you know, Arkansas and Missouri border each otherÐand I alwaysÐI like having that on my 225 VerDate 27-APR-2000 12:22 May 04, 2000 Jkt 010199 PO 00001 Frm 00225 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 C:\95PAP1\95PAP1.034 txed01 PsN: txed01 Feb. 19 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1995 desk. It reminds me that things are not always biography of Jefferson, the Randall biography what they seem and that it's important to keep of Jefferson I'm about to get into. I just read fighting. I look at it every day; I have it right Doris Kearns Goodwin's magnificent biography there on the desk. of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during the Mr. Lamb. If you could talk to any past Presi- war, ``No Ordinary Time.'' It's a terrific book. dentÐand I know you just got off the golf links So I read quite a bit about it. I read August with a couple of themÐwho would it be, and Heckscher's biography of Woodrow Wilson last what would you want to talk to him about? year, something which I should have read be- The President. Well, it's difficult to say which fore, I guess, but I had never gotten around one President I would talk to. For myself, per- to reading. sonally, I would talk to Lincoln because I ad- Mr. Lamb. As you're reading, do you delve mired him so much, personally, and because in and see yourself in any of those positions I believe he grew so much in the job. His per- and learn anything that you can change, or is sonal growth in the job was extraordinary, and that another period? his ability to distill all the forces at work into The President. Of course you do. You can't clear and powerful language was so great. help imagining how you would have done in But there are others. Jefferson, I would like their time, how they would do in your time, to speak with because he carried around in his what strengths did they have that you could very soul the ideals of the Founders. And he perhaps develop, what errors did they make that found himself in the same position to some ex- you could perhaps avoid, how different is it? tent I find myself in, in a very different histor- Mr. Lamb. What's the first thing you'd ask ical context, in that he believed deeply in limited Jack Kennedy if you could talk to him today? Government, he didn't want Government to op- press people, but he felt that there were occa- The President. I would ask for his advice sions in which the national interest demanded about what we could do to restore at least a a level of activism. In Jefferson's case, he pur- measure of the optimism and the sense of trust chased Louisiana, for example, which cost the that existed when he became President, because equivalent of one year's Federal budget. So I he had more space, in some ways, to govern think Jefferson understood the kind of com- and to be President, even though there were plexity that we're facing today. He had a fertile, terrific conflicts. In fact, he had much more complex mind, and he understood how to rec- difficulty with the Congress than I did in the oncile the bedrock principles and apply them 2 previous years. But there was a sense of con- to the facts of the case at hand, and I like fidence in the American people and a sense that. of trust in their elected leaders and a willingness I wish I could have a long conversation with to look at things in a more balanced way, I Truman, because the time we're living in today think, than exists today. And I would ask for somewhat parallels the period after the Second his advice about how we could get some of World War in the sense that we're going that back. through a period of transition, things are being Mr. Lamb. Did you change your mind at all redefined. The size of the Government is being about F.D.R. after you read Doris Kearns Good- reduced, but there's still a mission for the Fed- win's book? eral Government to advance the cause of ordi- The President. No, I just appreciated him nary citizens in America. There is a new security more. I was sad for him in a way, personally. reality in the world, and we have to adapt to I was sadÐI knew that his life was somewhat that. So the times that we live in now are quite difficult and that Mrs. Roosevelt's was. But they a lot like those times. had a remarkable positive impact on this coun- Mr. Lamb. Do you read the Presidents now, try, and I'm grateful for that. But I didn't since you've been in the White House, their change my opinion of him. He was, in many words? ways, the most adroit politician who ever occu- The President. Yes, I just readÐinterestingly pied this office. And he was a person who was enough, I just read Benjamin Thomas' biography fortunate enough to be there at the right time of Lincoln, which was written in the fifties, I for him.