 Thank you very much. An actress once told me that the worst part you could possibly have is one in which you introduced the President of the United States, because nobody really cares anything about what you have to say. All they want you to do is to shut up and sit down and let the leading man come on. Now when that leading man happens to be your husband, you take that advice. So, ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to introduce to you the leading man in my life and the leading man in the country, the President of the United States. Thank you. Thank you all and good evening to you all. Thanks for regards, of course, to Roger, Christine and their family. Roger, you were thrilled almost 40 years ago when The New York Times gave you a good review to your first Broadway production. By the way, I can understand that. Since taking this job, I found out just how hard it is to get a good review from The New York Times. All right, but tonight, Roger, we're giving your entire life a review, and it's a rave. Born in Detroit, educated at Schott, Roger's schooling ended with the advent of the depression. He spent five years at odd jobs. He pumped gas, he worked on the assembly line in a Ford factory, he spent six months in real estate and earned not a penny, and some say he kept himself in pocket with money mainly by playing blackjack and poker. Then in 1934, Roger sensed that certain old apartment buildings were undervalued. He put money into them and launched his first brilliant career in real estate. Soon he had holdings across the country, Detroit, New York, Seattle. During the war, he spent two years at a naval air station in Florida and took the opportunity to look into Florida real estate. When the war ended, he and his colleagues bought three hotels in Florida and one in South Carolina. By the mid-1950s, Roger's holdings qualified him as a tycoon, a magnet, a hard-driving real estate giant, but not his manner. No, there was a sense of humility and gentleness about him and always a sense of fun. In the words of a banker who worked with Roger in those days, I'll quote, business is a game to him. He makes it fun for you, too, because in dealing with him, you never have to concern yourself about what you'll get out of it. As a matter of fact, you sometimes wonder if he's keeping track of how he'll come out himself, end quote. But it's significant that when Roger engineered the purchase of the Empire State Building, the room he selected for his office, there in what was then the tallest, most glamorous building on Earth, the room that Roger selected for his office, was a cubby hole that used to belong to a window washer. Roger kept his files and cardboard boxes scattered around the floor. But as I said, real estate was only the first of Roger's brilliant careers. His second as a New York theatrical producer got started in 1949 when Roger stayed Shakespeare's 12th Night. The show ran for 48 performances, and Roger lost just a little less than $1,000 on each. But it was from up from there, up and up and up. In the 50s and early 60s, Roger had as many as eight shows on Broadway a year. He produced playwrights from around the world. The Frenchman G. Rodoux, the Swiss playwright Durand Met, the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and the Englishman Schaefer, Bolt and Pinter. He, yet it's for his contributions to American theater that Roger should perhaps be most honored. This is the man who produced Bus Stop by William Inge, Tea and Sympathy by Robert Anderson, and Cat and a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. And ladies and gentlemen, Roger Stevens is the man who backed a crazy idea to update Romeo and Juliet and place it in New York. Backed the idea even after another producer pulled out. And after three decades, the mere mention of that show still has the power to thrill. It was called West Side Story. By the way, through much of this period, Roger remained an active player in the real estate market. There's a story about a theatrical producer who needed to speak to Roger about a leading lady. When he was told that Roger was in a bankers meeting about a multimillion dollar loan for a construction project, the director explained how can anybody bother with a hole in the ground when we're casting. But there's still a third brilliant career to speak of. For it was, as has been said here already tonight, in 1961, that President Kennedy asked Roger to see what he could do about founding a National Center for the Arts here in Washington. And I might add that we Republicans were especially happy to see Roger take on the assignment. You see, it cut into the time we'd been using to raise money for the Democrats. But in Roger's own words, in Roger's words, I thought it was a shame that the world's richest nation did not have a decent place for the performing arts. I thought I'd put it together in three or four years and go back to New York. But it took 10 years to get the darn thing built and then somebody had to run it. So there I was. Well, today the Kennedy Center represents one of our nation's premier cultural institutions. And more than 20 years later, Roger, there you still are. Now, Roger, if I may, I'd like to ask you to join me here at the podium. Roger Stevens, on behalf of a grateful nation, I present to you this nation's highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom. And now permit me to read the citation. A quarter of the time, I have big hits. A quarter of the time, artistic successes. A quarter of the time, the critics were crazy. And a quarter of the time, I'm crazy. It figures out pretty well that way. That humble assessment is by Roger L. Stevens, chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, real estate giant, chairman of the First National Council on the Arts, and producer or co-producer of more than 200 plays, including such American classics cat on a hot tin roof and West Side Story. Roger Stevens may be humble, but his achievements have enriched our nation's culture beyond measure. Congratulations, Roger. Thank you. And God bless you. I'm just going to be able to hear it. I'll make it short. Mr. President, I'm deeply honored at receiving such an award. It sort of boggles the mind and makes you feel most humble. Besides that, it's so beautiful. I've never seen anything quite like it before. I will say just a few words because of the fact that I think there's been an oversupply of Roger Stevens around here for the last 30 or 40 minutes. And any more of it would be superfluous. But I would like to say just a couple of things. And as I've listened about how well everything works tonight, there was a time in the first year or so of the work on the then National Cultural Center that we weren't getting anywhere. And I went to President Kennedy and I said, it's a president, I'm doing a bad job and you better get someone else. And with his usual charm, he said, no, Roger, he says, I know you've got the toughest money raising job in the country. I will help you in every way, just keep doing it. So when the President of the United States says something like that, you have to keep on doing it. You can see where we ended up. But the one point I wanted to make is that during this period of time, there have been a half a dozen presidents, six who I've served under. And I think as much as there are differences might have been politically at one time. The one thing they've all agreed on is helping at Kennedy Center. And any time we were in trouble, which was frequently, we could go to the White House and get that kind of support. And Mr. President, I know you've frequently talked about the private sector, I think you may not have realized that during your years here, you've been very cooperative and been the star of the gallows, in which there's a star among stars. And in those White House receptions, which I felt there was just a bit of enjoyment on your part, which was rather nice. And you've brought the gallows as a result of your sort of cooperation and help have gotten to be very successful and brought the reputation of the center up a great deal. So I thought I might interest you also in knowing your desires to see the private sector work. The shows were all right. I mean, George Stevens and Nick Banoff did a marvelous job every year, but the private sector comes through with a great deal of money. And that is what I heard you say that you wanted was to see that the private sector got in with government projects so that there was that sense of help. And I must say that the center itself has just reaped great harvest of goodwill and money as a result of your help and Mrs. Reagan's cooperation. And there's, as I say, I'm simply delighted that I had the honor of receiving that beautiful medal from you. Mr. and Mrs. Reagan, thank you very much for coming and ladies and gentlemen, would you please wait until the president, Mrs. Reagan, have left and then you're in.