DESPITE THE DISTANCES of space and the differences of speech which separate Poland and the United States, there are circumstances which make it natural for me to express an especial interest in this ceremony. It has been my own good fortune to visit Poland. It has been my good fortune to meet the illustrious citizen of Poland to whose inspiration this gathering is due. It has been my good fortune to know President Wilson, to whom it was given to play a part in the history of Poland. In so doing he cannot have been forgetful of another stormy moment of the world's affairs, when Kosciuszko, Pulaski, and other Polish volunteers, making their way across seas so much wider and more untraveled than they are now, fought in the ragged regiments of Washington. The intervening century and a half have renewed and multiplied past all count these old relations between the people of our two countries. It is therefore peculiarly touching to us that a ceremony such as this should take place in Poland, on the anniversary which stands first in our calendar. In the name of the people of the United States, as in my own, I wish to give voice to our profound appreciation of so notable a mark of remembrance, sympathy, and friendliness.
Note: The message was read by United States Ambassador to Poland, John N. Willys, during the unveiling ceremonies, which were broadcast in the United States over the National Broadcasting Company networks. The statue, sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, was the gift of Ignace Paderewski, first premier of Poland.
Herbert Hoover, Message on the Unveiling of a Statue of Woodrow Wilson in Poznan, Poland. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/211368