President Nixon's Farewell to the White House Staff

I just dr. and mrs. in the kitchen for just wanted to go then with a fear in the president I yes for the first time during this week over there we build here then last night at the right now the leadership of the Congress after a rather emotional talk to them he broke down and cried and that the senators all been fried we were told that sucked at the moment ago febris are to another of the president's lawyers there's a marvelous picture defense secretary Scott's in June as usual steaming on his pipe husband and his family standing between footage George and Martha Washington this lengthy standing ovation from members of the White House staff for sure the president's elder daughter standing out her mother's left members of the cabinet members of the White House staff all of our friends here I think the record should show that this is one of those spontaneous things that we always arrange whenever the president comes in to speak and it will be so reported in the press and we don't mind because they've got to call it as they see it but in our part believe me it is spontaneous you are here to say goodbye to us and we don't have a good word for it in English the bestest or revoir we'll see you again I just met with the members of the White House staff you know those that serve here in the White House day in and day out and I asked them to do what I asked all of you to do to the extent that you can and our of course are requested to do so to serve our next president as you have served me and previous presidents because many of you have been here for many years with devotion and dedication because this office great as it is can only be as great as the men and women who work for and with the president this house for example I was thinking of it as we walked down his hall and I was comparing it to some of the great houses of the world that have been in this isn't the biggest house Menier and most and even smaller countries are much bigger this isn't the finest house many in Europe particularly in China Asia have paitings a great great value things that we just don't have here and probably will never have until we are a thousand years old or older but this is the best house it's the best house because it has something far more important than numbers of people who serve far more important than numbers of rooms or how big it is far more important than numbers of magnificent pieces of hard this house has a great heart and that heart comes from those who serve I was rather sorry they didn't come down we said goodbye to them upstairs but they're really great and I recall after so many times I've made speeches then some of them pretty tough you'd always come back or after a hard day and my days usually have run rather long I'd always get a lift from them because I might be a little down but they always smiled and so it is with you I look around here and I see so many in this staff that you know I should have been by your office's and shaking hands and I'd loved to have talked to you and found out how to run the world everybody wants to tell the president what to do and boy he needs to be told many times but I just haven't had the time but I want to know I want you to know that each and every one of you I know is indispensable to this government I'm proud of this cabinet I'm proud of our all the members who have served in our cadet I'm proud of our sub cabinet I'm proud of our White House staff as I point out last night sure we've done some things wrong in this administration and the top man always takes the responsibility and I have never ducked it but I want to say one thing no man or no woman came into this administration and left it with more of this world's goods than when he came in no man or no woman ever profited at the public expense or the public till that tells something about you mistakes yes but for personal gain never you did what you believed in sometimes right sometimes wrong and I only wish that I were a wealthy man present time I've got to find a way to pay my taxes and if I wear I'd like to recompense you for the sacrifices that all of you have made to serve in government but you are getting something in government and I want you to tell this to your children and I hope the nation's children will hear hear it too something in government service that isn't far more important than money it's a cause bigger than yourself it's the cause of making this the greatest nation in the world the leader of the world because without our leadership the world will know nothing but war possibly starvation or worse in the years ahead with our leadership it will no peace it will know plenty we have been generous and we will be more generous in the future as we are able to but most important we must be strong here strong in our hearts strong in our souls stronger than our belief and strong and our willingness to sacrifice as you have been willing to sacrifice it CUNY arey way to serve in government some else I'd like for you to tell your young people you know people often come in say what do I tell my kids you know they look at government it's a sort of a rugged life and they see the mistakes that are made they get the impression that everybody is here for the purpose of feathering his nest that's why I made this earlier point not in this administration not one single man or a woman and I say to them there are many fine careers this country needs good farmers good businessmen good plumbers good carpenters I remember my old man I think that they would have called him suitable I said a little man common man in consider himself that way you know what he was it was a streetcar motormen first and then he was a farmer and then he had a lemon ranch it was the poorest lemon ranch in California I can assure you he sold it before they found oil on it and then he was a grocer but he was a great man because he did his job and every job counts up to the hilt regardless of what happened nobody will ever write a book probably about my mother well I guess all of you would say this about your mother my mother was a saint and I think of her two boys dying of tuberculosis nursing for others in order that she could take care of my older brother for three years in Arizona and seeing each of them die and when they died it was like one of her own yes she will have no books written about her but she was a saint now however we look to the future had a little quote in the speech last night from TR as you know I I'd like to read books I'm not educated but I do read books and the TR quote was pretty good one there's another one I found as I was reading my last night in the White House and this quote is about a young man it was a young lawyer in New York he'd married a beautiful girl and they had a lovely daughter and then suddenly she died and this is what he wrote this was in his diary he said she was beautiful in face and form and lovely are still in spirit as a flower she grew and as a fair young flower she died her life had been always in the sunshine there had never come to her a single great sorrow none ever knew her who did not love and revere for her bright and sunny temper and her saintly unselfishness fair pure and joyous as a maiden loving tender and happy as a young life when she had just become a mother on her life seemed to be just begun and then the years seemed so bright before her end by a strange and terrible fate death came to her and when my heart's dearest I couldn't died the light went from my life forever that was tr mm-hm and his twenties he thought the life had gone from his life forever but he went on and he not only became president but as an ex-president he served his country always in the arena tempestuous strong sometimes wrong sometimes right but he was a man and as I leave let me say that's an example I think all of us should remember we think sometimes when things happen that don't go the right way we think that when you don't pass the bar exam the first time I happen to but I was just lucky I mean my writing was so poor the bar examiner said we just got to let the guy through we think that when someone dear to us dies we think that when we lose an election we think that when we suffer a defeat that all has ended we think his TR sir that the light had left his life forever not true it's only a beginning always the young must know it the old must know it it must always sustain us because the greatness comes not when things go always good for you but the greatness comes and you're really tested when you take some knocks some disappointments when sadness comes because only if you've been in the deepest Valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain and so I say to you on this occasion we leave we leave proud of the people who have stood by us and work for us and serve this country we want you to be proud of what you've done we want you to continue to serve in government if that is your wish always give your best never get discouraged never be petty always remember others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them and then you destroy yourself and so we leave with high hopes in good spirit and with deep humility and with very much gratefulness in our hearts I can only say to each and every one of you we come from many faiths we pray perhaps to different gods but really the same God in a sense but I want to say for each and every one of you not only will we always remember you not only will we always be grateful to you but always you will be in our hearts and you will be in our prayers thank you very much you

Channel: Richard Nixon Foundation

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Id: 32GaowQnGRw

Length: 21min 5sec (1265 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 16 2012