Gerald R. Ford photo

Remarks at a Reception in Philadelphia Honoring Senator Hugh Scott.

May 18, 1975

Mr. Segal, Senator Scott, and lovely wife Marian, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

I am really honored and privileged to be here with the American Friends of Lubavitch. Shalom.

Obviously, it is a great privilege and pleasure for me to be here today to join with all of you in honoring my very, very good friend, Hugh Scott, a colleague of mine in the Congress for many, many years.

I am deeply grateful for the many, many instances where Hugh has given me good counsel and fine support, and there is no way that I can ever adequately repay him for his friendship. I might even go so far as to say that Hugh is one of the first people I turn to when I have - tzores (troubles). And in the last few weeks, have I had - tzores. [Laughter]

Today, it gives me a great deal of personal pleasure to add my voice to yours as we say to Hugh Scott on this very, very special occasion, mazel tov (good luck).

I think we all recognize that we are blessed in countless ways in this great country, not the least of which is the quality and the character of the men and women who give life to America. The leadership of a great people in a democracy makes special demands on a public official. He must have the desire to know what is on the people's minds, the wisdom to know what is in their hearts, and the courage to know what to do is right.

All of these qualities are possessed in abundance by the man you honor today. I have known Hugh Scott for 27 years. I have valued, as I said earlier, his personal friendship. And I have admired his complete and total integrity. There are very, very few public officials who have so successfully combined the serious duties of statesmanship with the good humor and the good grace which are Hugh Scott's trademarks.

You honor Hugh today for his staunch and steadfast support he has given to the State of Israel since its creation 27 years ago. It's an honor he richly deserves, and I know that he cherishes it. The rest of the Nation continues to honor him as a man of conviction with a talent for compromise; a man of experience who looks into the future; a man of integrity with a little twinkle in his eye; a man of intellect who can do battle with the best of them in the toughest struggle in the Congress or in any other political arena.

This is the total man that I know as Hugh Scott, a man that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dearly loves--the man today that you honor and pay tribute to. The library center in Israel which you are dedicating to his name, and that of his lovely wife Marian, is a fitting honor, signifying as it does the wealth of knowledge which man has gathered through the ages and the use of that knowledge in constructive and purposeful purposes.

Nothing could characterize better Hugh's own life, nor reflect more accurately the philosophy of your movement. You are committed to preserving the deep and very abiding faith of the Jewish tradition for young and succeeding generations. Your devotion has won the respect and the admiration and, I might say, the appreciation of thousands in this country and around the world. One reason is the leadership of Rabbi Schneerson, who is observing his 25th anniversary this year as the head of this movement.

My wish for you tonight was best said by one of my predecessors in the White House, and I quote: "May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of [the] other inhabitants."

And the quotation goes on as follows: "May the father of all mercies scatter light, not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way, everlastingly happy."

The President who wrote those words was George Washington. The year was 1790. The spirit of what he said is as alive today as it was then.

My congratulations to Hugh Scott, to Marian, and my thanks to all of you for letting me join with you in paying this tribute to them.

May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 5:11 p.m. in the Commonwealth Ballroom at the Marriott Motor Hotel at a reception sponsored by the American Friends of Lubavitch. The library named in honor of Senator and Mrs. Scott was located in Kfar Chabad, Israel.

In his remarks, the President referred to Rabbi Menachen Schneerson, leader of the movement in the United States, and Bernard G. Segal, former president of the American Bar Association.

Gerald R. Ford, Remarks at a Reception in Philadelphia Honoring Senator Hugh Scott. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256600

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