Remarks and a question-and-answer session with students at Abraham Lincoln Middle School in Selma, California

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 11, 1995

Student. Mr. President, I'm very overwhelmed by your visit this morning. But how was it like meeting President Kennedy?

The President. It was--well, for me, it was an incredible experience. And it was interesting. In 1963 when I went there to the White House, I was 16 years old. I had been out of Arkansas, I think, twice in my life--out of my home State. I think I'd only been out of the State twice. And I got this trip to Washington with these other--a hundred of us, who were young boys who were at this--in this program I was in. This was the American Legion Boys Nation program.

And I really wanted to meet President Kennedy because I admired him and I liked him and I agreed with what he was trying to do. And I liked him because he was highly controversial in my home State and throughout the South because he was trying to finish the work of the Civil War. He was trying to pass all of the civil rights legislation. He was trying to eliminate racial discrimination. And he was taking a lot of heat for it. And a lot of people in my part of the country weren't for him because of it. But I was for him because of it, because I believed in what he was doing. So it was not only a great thing for me to meet the President, but I thought that he was really looking out for our future, and I thought I would live in a better America because he was President. So I was very excited about it.

And I remember the day it occurred. I didn't know if the President was going to shake hands with all of the 100 boys, but because I was from Arkansas, I was at the top of the alphabet--[laughter]--and because I was above average in size, I could sort of elbow my way up to the front of the line. [Laughter] So I made sure I got to shake his hand. Although he was quite nice, he stayed around. I think he shook most people's hands that day.

But it was a wonderful thing, you know. That's a great thing about this country. I mean, I just--here I was coming from a modest-sized town, and one day I was shaking hands with the President, kind of like this. That's one of the great things about democracy. You know, your families' votes count just as much as mine does. Anybody else?

Student. What are your plans after you leave office?

The President. I don't know. I haven't thought about it much. Once in a while I think about it, but I haven't--you know, if I stay healthy, and I've been blessed with pretty good health, I hope I can continue to do some things that are useful for my country. I'm not much on just laying around. I like to work, and I like to do things. So I'll try to find something very useful to do that will help America and help the causes that I believe in in this country and around the world. But I haven't really thought about it much. It takes all my concentration to do my job.

Did you have your hand up?

Student. What do you think the most important thing you've done while you've been in office is?

The President. I think the most important thing I've done in office is to basically make the Presidency a place where problems are dealt with again. You know, in other words, instead of just being--what I've tried to do is to use the office of the Presidency to actually tackle the problems of the country and not just to make speeches and talk and try to stay popular. And I've done a lot of controversial things. And I know I've made some mistakes, but I have actually used the power of the Presidency to take on things that have not been taken on.