THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, all. Please be seated. Thank you all very much. Job, thank you for the fantastic performance. John Milton Cooper, we appreciate your reading -- I had an interesting piece of history dropped on me tonight by Mrs. Cooper. They met on Capitol Hill, when she was an intern for Senator Prescott S. Bush -- father of President 41, grandfather of President 43. And we welcome you both here. Thank you for coming. (Applause.)

And, of course, it's good to see President Roosevelt. (Laughter.) Oftentimes people ask me, do you ever see any of the ghosts of your predecessors here in the White House? I said, "No, I quit drinking." (Laughter and applause.) But we just saw one.

Members of the Cabinet, thank you for coming. Former Governor of North Dakota, now the Secretary of Agriculture, is with us. That last song must have made you feel pretty good, Governor.

I'm proud to be here with Congressman Pete King. Thanks for coming, Congressman. I appreciate you and your wife coming. The Roosevelt family -- members of the Roosevelt family are here tonight. We welcome you back to the White House. Distinguished guests. Laura and I are thrilled that you came to celebrate the 150th birthday of one of the greatest statesmen in our nation's history -- Theodore Roosevelt. I call him Theodore. (Laughter.) Occasionally call him T.R. (Laughter.)

We remember many of our Presidents as leaders made for a unique moment in our history. President Roosevelt, as John said, was a man for all seasons. He was a soldier who won the Medal of Honor, a peacemaker who won the Nobel Prize. He was one of the world's most daring big game hunters, and a leading advocate for conservation of our country's natural resources. He was an intellectual who sometimes read several books a day, as John mentioned, and he wrestled here at the White House.

He was a man who felt at home on a sprawling ranch in the West. He believed in the importance of a "strenuous life" of exercise. I can relate to that. President Roosevelt also was an advocate for simplifying spelling in America. During his presidency, one member of Congress said that President Roosevelt's efforts would create "confusion and discord" in the English language. I can relate to that. (Laughter.)

Nearly 100 years after his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt's legacy still endures here at the White House. Laura gave you an account of the legacy that still endures. He endures in the West Wing, as well. Right across the door of the Oval Office is what was his former office, known as the Roosevelt Room. Above the fireplace hangs a portrait of the 26th President on horseback during the Spanish-American War. That portrait is a reminder -- when I look at it I think about the character and courage that is necessary for any President. For the past eight years, his legacy has been an inspiration to me. It will be an inspiration to the person who replaces me, and it will be an inspiration for all Presidents to come.