Bill Clinton: “It started out as just another odd job for this aspiring artist, researching the artistic possibilities of plaster used…”

“It started out as just another odd job for this aspiring artist, researching the artistic possibilities of plaster used to cast broken bones. ``I had my wife cover me head to foot in the stuff,'' he said. ``Once it dried, I broke out of it, breaking the mold in the process; then I put it back together. It was white, spectral, full of elusive potential, just what I had been after.'' George Segal's art may be inanimate, but more than a few of us have had to look twice just to be sure. [Laughter] His silent creations speak volumes about the human condition and give life to the spaces where they are displayed. His sculptures at the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial of the Depression breadline and the fireside chat transport us back to that time and place. Through all of his work, George Segal has brought elegance to the everyday and mystery to the commonplace. Decades after his first experiments with plaster, he continues to break the mold. Colonel, read the citation. [Lieutenant Colonel Everhart read the citation, and the President presented the medal.]”