Remarks Upon Receiving a Farewell Gift From the Cabinet and an
Informal Exchange With Reporters
Secretary
Shultz. Mr. President, you have heard from all of us how honored we are to have
served in your Cabinet and to be associated in some way with all of the things
that have happened that have done so much for our country and for stability
throughout the world. And we thought you probably were tired of hearing us say
that. And you're wondering, could there be something a
little more tangible connected with it? [Laughter] So, we all got together and
chipped in and purchased this chair that has on the back of it ``The
President.'' And so, I now want to ask the person with the most continuous
seniority in office to do the honors. Sam?
Secretary
Pierce. Yes, indeed. Well, Mr. President, as the last of the Mohicans --
[laughter] -- the last of the original Cabinet members, I have the privilege
and pleasure of presenting you with this chair on behalf of each and every
member of your Cabinet. And when you're out in
The President. Thank you. Well, thank
you, and thank you all very much. But look, let me state for the record, all of
the things that you spoke about couldn't have happened if all of you hadn't
been here making them happen. And I'm grateful to all of you. And with regard
to relaxing in
Secretary
Shultz. Well, my advice, Mr. President -- when you get out to
The President. No, a
saddle. [Laughter] Well, I thank you very much. I have a feeling this
might find its way into a certain library.
Q.
Did you ever doze off in that chair, sir? [Laughter]
The President. No.
Q.
Just thought I'd ask. [Laughter] I heard these stories, you know.
Q.
Maybe we should ask the other people. [Laughter]
Q.
Of course, no comment.
The President. As a matter of fact -- --
Q.
Isn't this the big government you were going to eliminate when you came into
office?
The President. What?
Q.
You were going to eliminate half this government when you came into office.
The President. Well, there are some
things that are no longer there. And there have been some tightening up in the
line of adopting modern business practices that I think have made quite
considerable changes that are not usually seen because they're in the form of
kind of administrative changes.
Q.
Do you still think government is the problem?
The President. Yes, always has been.
Q.
Not the solution?
The President. No. This country was
meant to be -- well, ``We the people.'' The people
told the Government what it could do in the Constitution. It's the only --
well, there's one other constitution which is something like that in the world,
I've found out. It's the only one that really says that. All those other
constitutions are documents in which the Governments tell the people what they
can do.
Q.
Sir, if you had the chance to have 4 more years, would you take it? And what
would you have done with it? [Laughter]
The President. Took 4 more? I might
have been willing if it took 4 more years to get line-item veto. [Laughter] But
no, I'll continue to work for that. The law is very explicit about this. And
so, it's a bittersweet parting because saying good-bye to all these people --
we've worked together, side by side, that's the bitter part. The sweet part is
hearing ``
Q.
What are you going to miss least about this place, Mr. President?
The President. What?
Q.
What will you miss least about this place?
Q.
This is your chance. [Laughter]
Q.
Go ahead.
Q.
Don't name names.
The President. Not being able to do
certain things because of the security necessities.
Q.
Like what?
The President. Well, maybe I'm the
first President that's never been able to go to an Army-Navy game. Nobody wants
to run 75,000 people through a magnetometer.
Q.
What are you going to do when you go back to
The President. What?
Q. -- -- when you go back to
The President. I'm not retiring. I
think there are things to do and things in which as a citizen you can be
helpful in arousing the attention of the people to impress some needs on
Congress to get done. But now, to show you -- I don't know, it could have been
another answer to your question there, but the Chief of Staff has just told me
I've got another appointment. [Laughter]
Note: The President
spoke at