CONGRESSIONAL RECORD (SENATE)
July 26, 1993
Mr. BUMPERS. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a friend,
Vince Foster, Jr., who was Deputy Counsel to the President of the
United States. The rest of the story is relatively well known, that
he took his life last Tuesday evening in a small park just off GW
Parkway.
I was not a close friend. Just a good friend. I was also a friend of his father, who was a strong political supporter of mine, as was Vince, Jr.
The Fosters were a remarkable family. Vince`s father, Vince, Sr., was one of the most respected men in Arkansas, a man whose success in virtually every endeavor was the envy of all the people in that area. A man of character, intellect, and public spiritedness. Vince`s sister, Sheila Anthony, is the wife of former Congressman Beryl Anthony, with whom the Presiding Officer (Mr. Dorgan) served for several years in the House of Representatives. And now Sheila is an Assistant Attorney General of the United States.
Vince, as has been reported and widely discussed, was a soft-spoken, reserved person. He was brilliant. He was No. 1 in his law school class, No. 1 on the bar exam.
I saw an old picture of him over the weekend, which had him and President Clinton in Miss Mary Purkins kindergarten. I guess they were 5 years old at the time. This was in Hope, AR. "Mack" McLarty, the President`s Chief of Staff, was 1 year behind them; three very prominent people from Hope. Maybe some of their fantastic successes can be attributed to Ms. Purkin`s kindergarten.
In any event, Vince was one of the last persons that I would have ever thought would get to a state of mind where he felt life was not worth continuing. He had a beautiful wife, Lisa, and three beautiful children, Vince III, Brugh, and Laura. Vince III has been interning in my office here in Washington this summer. They are all beautiful children, destined, in my opinion, to succeed just as their father had.
I was rather shocked when he left what we refer to as the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock to come to Washington. He was a senior partner and had become managing partner after 2 years in the firm. Two years out of law school in that firm, and he was such a profound success they made him a managing partner.
It was in that law firm that he and Hillary Clinton became trusted, close friends. I think I could say that the President and the First Lady probably relied as much on his counsel and advice as they did anybody, and I know that both of them considered him one of two or three of their very best friends.
He was not only brilliant, common sensical, he was also handsome. I would say Vince was probably 6 feet 3 inches tall, and I had told my wife two or three times since the first of the year that I thought Vince Foster was maybe the best looking guy I ever knew.
But he was also the kind of fellow whose big physical presence and handsomeness was of little importance to him. He was totally devoted to his family and his work, and that is what mattered to him.
I do not know what else I can say about Vince, except that it was shocking and that his death seems so senseless, inexplicable. But I have certainly lost a friend. The President and the First Lady have lost a right arm. My beloved State of Arkansas has lost one of its noblest, brightest sons, and the Nation also has lost a great public servant.
When you come here from the private sector and you are subjected, particularly at the White House, which is such a pressure cooker, to all of these tremendous pressures, your motives questioned, your integrity, everything attacked. It is unexpected, and sometimes traumatic.
I can relate to it because when I ran for Governor not expecting to win, and suddenly found myself elected suddenly, I am cast from small town lawyer to the Governor`s mansion and the Governor`s office. You talk about a country boy being out of his league, you are looking at one. It took me a long time to settle in to being Governor. I was terrified. But I know that for whatever reason, Vince made his decision, it was made, and I speak simply to say it is a terrible loss to all of us. My heart goes out to his wife and children, his lovely mother, her sisters, and his close friends.
This document is an unofficial version of the Congressional Record. The printed Congressional Record produced by the Government Printing Office is the only official version.