Bill Clinton: “From the industrial skyscrapers of Louis Sullivan to the prairie houses of Frank Lloyd Wright to the elegant geometry of…”

“From the industrial skyscrapers of Louis Sullivan to the prairie houses of Frank Lloyd Wright to the elegant geometry of I.M. Pei, Americans have defined the field of architecture in the 20th century. No architect better expresses the American spirit of our time than Frank Gehry. From concert halls to shopping malls, he has given the world buildings that are fearless and flamboyant, that trample the boundaries of convention. There are few architects whose works so stirs the imagination that people will cross oceans just to see it built. But his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, has attracted architecture pilgrims for years. When people ask what America aspired to on the eve of the 21st century, they will look to the work of this remarkable man, Frank Gehry. [The President and the First Lady presented the medal and congratulated Mr. Gehry.]”