The Hill News

Secretary Clinton delivered the following remarks at the memorial service for former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger June 21, 2011 at Fort Myers Chapel, Arlington, Virginia.

I want to thank the Eagleburger family, Scott, Andrew, Jason, for the invitation to share some observations about an extraordinary diplomat, not only on my own behalf, but on behalf of the men and women of the State Department. 

When I first was asked to be Secretary of State by President Obama, I figured I should call all of my esteemed predecessors to ask for any words of advice. And I had met Secretary Eagleburger, but I cannot claim to have been a friend or a colleague. So when I called and I said I would very much appreciate any advice, he kept saying, “Keep your eye upon the doughnut and not upon the hole.” And I said, “Excuse me?” He said, “Well, exactly.” And then I look at the back of this program with this wonderful picture of Larry and Marlene,! and there is the favorite saying about keeping your eye upon the doughnut and not upon the hole. Every time I saw him since, he said, “Are you keeping your eye on the doughnut?” And I said, “Well, Larry, if I could find the doughnut, I’d keep my eye on it for sure.” 

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