Bill Clinton: “The Reverend C.L. Franklin, then pastor of Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Church, was a powerfully emotional preacher. But…”

“The Reverend C.L. Franklin, then pastor of Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Church, was a powerfully emotional preacher. But one Sunday in 1954 it was the heavenly voice of a 12-year-old that brought the congregation to its feet. The voice belonged to his own daughter, Aretha, the woman now idolized throughout the world as the Queen of Soul. No matter where she has traveled, she has never left behind the sound of those Sundays in church. You could hear it ranging over four full octaves when she sang Dr. King to heaven and in electrifying performances at our Inaugural celebrations. You can hear it in every one of her nearly 50 albums, and I am so grateful that she has allowed me to hear it time after time here at the White House. Aretha's voice once was designated a natural resource of the State of Michigan. [Laughter] She will probably never know how many people whose lives she has enriched, whose hearts she has lifted, how many people she gave a spring in the step that would not have been there, and brought sunshine to a rainy day and tenderness to a hardened heart. Today we honor her for all she has given with the magnificent talent God gave her. Colonel, read the citation. [Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President presented the medal.]”