 Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the day I called Mack Baldridge to ask him to join the cabinet, I was told by Midge I would have to call back later. He was out on his horse roping and couldn't come to the phone. Right then, I knew he was the kind of man I wanted. It's a gift to be simple, we're told. If that means to hold simple, strong and decent values, Mack had that gift. You could see it in the way he moved around the White House. He seemed to know everyone, not just those in the public eye, but the secretaries and assistants as well. And he treated everyone with the same measure of courtesy and respect, from his driver to the president. He never judged a man or woman by rank or trappings. Despite his many remarkable successes, worldly success was not the way he measured people. No, money was not, position was not, qualities of character were, honesty, courage, industry and humility. These were his yardsticks. And if you had these simple qualities, you made it in his eyes, whether you were rich or poor, famous or unknown. Cowboys was one way he decided if you were his kind of person, it's well known now that he insisted on simple language in memos at the Commerce Department. He banned phrases that were vague or redundant. He once said that the thing he liked about cowboys was that they didn't talk unless they had something to say. When they said something, they meant it. To him, simple language did not mark a simple mind, but a strong and fearless one. It was a sign of those who didn't hide their meaning behind a cloud of ambiguous words. Mack of course never hid his opinions. Even if the tide was against him, he was forceful and clear and unflinching. I always knew where he stood, and so did the country. I could always count on him for the truth as he saw it no matter how unpleasant or unpopular. There were times the cabinet came down on an issue 12 to 1, and he was on the short end. But I knew that if he believed something that others didn't, he wouldn't reign himself in and follow the herd. He would step forward and be clear. What I'm saying about Mack Baldridge adds up to a simple but extraordinary quality, that I would call, more than anything else, American. In his directness, in his honesty, in his independence, in his disregard for rank, in his courage, he embodied the best of the American spirit. I suppose we think of that spirit as living most of all in cowboys. And that's why I've always suspected it was more than just roping. And his place here in Washington that got Mack voted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame. He belonged there. It was in his blood. It was in his heart and soul. Let me say a word about his many contributions to his country. These were not simple, although they were built on simple principles. Principles like his reverence for the independence of the American character, for the freedom that lets independence flourish, and for the opportunities of a free society. Mack was an architect of American international economic policy during years in which that policy moved to center stage. He also helped shape our policy toward east-west trade in a period in which that was a source of new questions and concerns. And perhaps the least recognized of his major achievements was the securing of trade ties with China. In just four years since his 1983 visit to China, trade has become a pillar of the Sino-American relationship. To contribute so much required skill and persistence, qualities Mack had in abundance. It also required vision. Vision not only for dealing with immediate issues, but for the future of the entire world and its economy as well. I always prized the quality of Mack's vision. He had the capacity to look up from the dust of the plains to the distant mountains. He never forgot that all the skirmishes and battles over trade policy that we have here in Washington and around the world have one final goal. We are building the world in which our children and grandchildren will live. And we who love freedom and revere the dignity of humanity have a sacred duty to make that an open world of real hope and abundant opportunity. A world in which the spirit of freedom, yes, what you might call that part of the American spirit that lives in all of mankind, in which that spirit can ride across an open range toward the peaks beyond. I'm told that Mack's staff had orders to interrupt him at whatever time of the day with calls from only two people. I was one, and any cowboy who rang up was the other. Well, I'm honored to have been in that company. Mack, as we know, left us while he was doing what he loved most. And now, whenever any of us wants to ring him up, we'll have to remind ourselves that he's out on a horse somewhere, and we'll just have to wait. Yet in his simplicity, he has entered the company of the men and women who have shaped our nation and its destiny, and he will live in that company forever. Yes, there is sorrow, but the sorrow is with us and for us. We must believe that door is open that God promised and he has just gone through that door into another life where there's no more pain nor more sorrow. And we must believe that we too will one day go through that door and join him again. Thank you. God bless you. Righteousness all our days with those they love. Help us, we pray, in the midst of things we cannot understand. To believe in trust in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sin, the world is hushed and the fever of life is over and our work is done.