 At this time we shall have the presentation of the colors. Please remain standing for the invocation, Bishop Bolen. A year has passed and once again the members of the White House Photographers Association stand before you and we beg you to bless us. We are confident in our conviction that you must love photographers because you surely would not have given us a beautiful world with all its picturesque places and peculiar people if there wasn't somebody about to record it for posterity. We see ourselves in the unfolding of your creation when there emerged a race of men and women by film possessed, disciples of duplication and artists of no mean repute, doomed by their calling to stop the corridors of power in search of that one elusive picture which is worth the proverbial ten thousand words and hopefully an equal number of dollars. Be with us, Lord, as we record the march of our nation, its agonies and its ecstasies, its triumphs and its disasters, its sorrows and its joys. Help us to capture for all time the faces of rapture which illustrate our victories big and little, the release hostage, the missing child reunited with his family, the miners coming out alive, the winning home run in the bottom of the ninth with two out. Make us sensitive to those private moments of grief when tragedy disrupts the human family, when the innocent are the victims of the drunken driver, the terrorist, the drug pusher. Especially in this election year, we ask you, Lord, to be at our side when the hours are long, the planes are late, the parade is rerouted, the newsmakers don't make any, and the coffee tastes like Delta Mud. Give us moments of respite so that we can dream the epic photographer's dream of being in the right place at the right time with the right equipment and no other photographer inside. Bless our president and Mrs. Reagan who have graced our table this evening. Give them the courage to face the challenges of the global community in a continuing search for peace and justice so that we may all raise our eyes in hope rather than cowering in fear. While honoring this assembly with their presence, they also provide the membership with a less altruistic glow of contentment. And so far as while president, the president and our First Lady are in here in our vision, they are not out there providing somebody else with a photo opportunity. Kindly, Father, be good to those who love us, spouses and children, who share our frustrations and bravely tolerate our complaints, reward them for that profound wisdom and insight which persuades them that in their lives we are the greatest gifts you could have given them. And give us the grace, Lord, to believe it also. And remember, too, Lord, those familiar faces of our company who have abandoned their dark rooms forever and embarked on that final one-way journey from which there is no return. Be gracious to them, Lord, judge not their portfolios on which many an editor may have already cast a jaundiced eye, but judge their lives, their caring, their compassion, their search for perfection, their endless quest to blend the mysteries of your divine creation with the inadequacies and the imperfections of our human condition. Welcome them, Lord, and let their joy be unconfined. Bless the food we are about to eat and let our sharing be enhanced by ebullient conversation and sparkling wit. An occasion to remember truly the gift of a God who loves life and wishes to honor us by doing likewise. Amen. Ladies and gentlemen, while you're still standing, First Lady, President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan. Hear, hear. Not to try to top Bishop Boland with any verbiage. Please be seated. Dinner is served. Amen. The winner of the 1988 Kodak White House News Photographers Association, Chief Middleman. United States. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Well, thank you, Ken, and thank all of you, and my congratulations again to the award winners. I'm delighted to be at this 1988 White House News Photographers Dinner, the last one that Nancy and I will be attending. I've always considered photographers, the cameramen and the crew, my favorites among the press, so I knew that being friends, you wouldn't mind if I got off a few things off my chest tonight. There's been a lot in the papers in recent weeks about insiders' views of the White House. Well, I've had it with all that, so tonight I'm going to give you the view from the ultimate insider, me. I'm going to tell the real story of this administration. It's been a wonderful two terms with lots of accomplishments, and I've even brought the slides to prove it, so Marlon hit the lights. One of the most interesting episodes was General Secretary Gorbachev's visit to the United States. I tried to help him understand our culture. In this photo, I'm saying this is the way it works, Mikhail. If Domino's doesn't get the pizza here in 35 seconds, we get it free. I like Mikhail personally, but you have to watch the Soviets every minute. Someone accidentally noticed that several weeks after they left, noticed they planted bugs all over the place. And by the way, on the matter of the INF Treaty, I told the Senate not to worry about verification. I told them I'd take care of it. And while Gorbachev was here, I even made him write a hundred times, I will not cheat, I will not cheat. Oops, oops. When out during my presidency, I've always emphasized diplomacy. But sometimes it comes to the point you have to use force in foreign affairs. And here I am, arm wrestling General Norega for Panama. We really enjoyed our trip to China, and we're amazed that the population was over a billion people. And as you can see here, the lines are terrible. On another trip, the government of Indonesia gave us these gifts. And there are friends. Actually, I love this shirt. I finally found something louder than Sam Donaldson. And speaking of the press, remember during the contra-aid vote when the networks wouldn't let me on the air? I bet you wondered how I finally got my message out. It's no secret that the press and I sometimes don't get along. In addition to my standard ploy of using helicopter noise to avoid reporters' questions, I've now added a new method to avoid questions. Tear gas. I've loved almost every minute I've been in office, although there were a couple of trips to the hospital. In case you're wondering what happened here, I had just said, so Don, you say you're going to write a book. But while I was recuperating, the congressional leadership came to see me. And here I am asking for a colon donor. One of my greatest enjoyments is talking to the young men and women who defend us from attack. Here I am, on top of the White House. And the soldier is explaining where he thinks the next book will come from. It's fortunate that not everything has been spilled in these books, however. I mean, I hope the environmentalists never find out about this one. We used to fly Air Force One over Wyoming low and shoot Buffalo from the window. But I'll tell you someone I trust totally, George Bush. He's been a wonderful vice president, and he'll make an excellent president. And that's why I endorsed him, and why I'll work hard for him this fall. Here we are listening to one of his speeches. You do get to meet lots of wonderful people as president, and they're always bringing me things to try on. What struck me about this photo is that this hat fit Don Regan fine. Now, this is an interesting photo. This young man down front there in the picture later told me he had a vision of Michael Dukakis in the Oval Office. And I like this one of Lucky sitting on my lap. Unfortunately, my raincoat was on the seat just behind me. Now, this is a sight I've seen many times. And you do sometimes get in the way, and you do sometimes cause a commotion. But your work has produced a permanent historical record of my two terms as presidents. You've been there with me. You've captured me in moments of hope and excitement during the campaign, moments of disappointment like when General Secretary Gorbachev and I parted there in Iceland, moments of grief such as when we were with the families of the Challenger crew, many, many moments of joy and optimism, and of course moments of love whenever I look in Nancy's direction. You've captured what life has meant for Nancy and me over these past eight years. And for that, I genuinely thank you. And you know there's one picture you've taken time and time again, that of me saluting the troops. I do that out of respect. You here tonight do good, hard, creative work, and I respect that too. So, as we say our farewells here tonight, this salutes for you. And now tonight, good night, and God bless you. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time we'd like President Reagan to present our photographer of the year, his grand prize, Jim Stansfield from National Geographic. Will you come up, please? Ladies and gentlemen, the White House News Photographers Association photographer of the year, James Stansfield. And now Steve Athens, worry Steve. Ladies and gentlemen, the White House News Photographers, cameraman of the year for the third consecutive year, Steve Athens. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the grand award that they both share for six months each, given to both our award winners each year. Congratulations, gentlemen. Mr. President, before you sit down, sir, the White House News Photographers Association has a small token that they'd like to give you as a belt buckle. Also, one other thing that we have for you, Mr. Reagan, is last year at the Library of Congress we presented your wife with her own camera, and she got a lot of play out of it and took a lot of pictures on your summit. And this year, since you're embarking on a summit next week, we have for you a brand new camera loaded and ready to take pictures. Thank you very much and good shooting, Mr. President. She's this. Thank you.