THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Chicago, Illinois)
___________________________________________________________________________
______
For Immediate Release January 9, 2001
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT PRIVATE PARTY
The Empire Room
The Palmer Hilton Hotel
Chicago, Illinois
7:30 P.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: We had a rally upstairs. You heard them, didn't you?
In the ballroom. A little loud. And I hope we didn't interrupt you. So
there's an overflow crowd in the lobby. And they said they have to go
through the edge of another ballroom. (Laughter.) So here I am.
(Laughter and applause.)
So I've invaded your dinner. (Laughter.) Well, thank you for the
wonderful, warm welcome. I'm in Chicago today to basically say goodbye to
the people of Chicago and Illinois as President.
It's a very happy day for me in many ways. This hotel, since you're
here for that, I should tell you, this hotel plays a huge role in my life.
And I have two pictures of this hotel. That's what I told them upstairs, I
have two pictures of this hotel which I look at every day of my life. One
is of the lobby on St. Patrick's Day of 1992; Hillary and I are standing
there with green graffiti -- not graffiti, what do you call it -- confetti,
not graffiti, confetti -- (laughter and applause) -- it's been a long day.
And a long eight years. (Laughter.) Confetti coming down, because that's
the night that we won the Democratic primary in Illinois, which basically
sealed my nomination. (Applause.)
The second picture was my mother and my father dining here in 1946.
(Applause.) And that's in my private office in the Residence of the White
House. I look at it every night -- every single night. So I've seen those
two pictures of this place every day for eight years. This is also where I
basically kicked off my campaign in Illinois in December of 1991, and so
I'm very happy to be here.
And I wanted to come here for my last appearance in Chicago as
President. And I want to tell all of you that it's been an honor to serve.
I'm glad my country is in better shape than it was eight years ago.
(Applause.) I thank all of you for the role that you've played in
revitalizing our country. And I wish only the best for the future.
I've said many times and I'll say again, America may find people who
do this job better than I have, but you will never find anybody who loved
doing it any more. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END 7:35 P.M. CST
President and First Lady | Vice President and Mrs. Gore
Record of Progress | The Briefing Room
Gateway to Government | Contacting the White House | White House for Kids
White House History | White House Tours | Help
Privacy Statement