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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release December 9, 1997

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Hillary joins me in extending our condolences to the family of the late Jeanette E. Rockefeller, who died yesterday at the age of 79. As the wife of former Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, she was a pioneering First Lady of Arkansas, helping her former husband bring the New South to our state, and leading women into the mainstream of political and public life. She spearheaded education and cultural outreach across the state through the Arkansas Arts Center. As a tireless campaigner, Mrs. Rockefeller was a strong voice against discrimination, with an uncanny ability to relate to the common man and woman. And, at a particularly tense time in the wake of Martin Luther King's assassination, she organized a memorial service in his honor on the steps of the state capitol.

The people of Arkansas have lost a true and valued friend.

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