On May 2, President Clinton dedicated the first Presidential memorial
since
FDR dedicated the Jefferson memorial in 1943. President Clinton honored
FDR's
achievements, and challenged America to summon the same sense of
confidence,
hope and purpose to meet today's challenges:
-- FDR opened the doors of opportunity for all: sparking the growth of
the
great American middle class and creating the G.I. bill, the Social
Security and
unemployment systems, mortgage and bank insurance, the minimum wage and
fair
labor standards.
-- FDR made America the world's indispensable nation: leading the crusade
to
free the world from tyranny, turning America into a world power and
paving the
way for the global economy.
-- FDR believed in the American community, writing in the speech he was
working
on when he died: "If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the
science
of human relationships -- the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to
live
together and work together, in the same world, at peace."
-- FDR believed in our national government meeting major national
challenges:
"The country needs...bold, persistent experimentation. It is common
sense to
take a method and try it; if it fails, admit it frankly and try another.
But above all, try something."
-- As we face an age of promise and possibility as great as FDR's,
President
Clinton will reaffirm FDR's legacy. As he said at the Library of
Congress
last night: "Together we will renew our commitment to fight tyranny with
liberty, ignorance with knowledge, fear with hope and confidence."
