Reaction to Bob Hope's Death

ByABC News
July 28, 2003, 11:14 AM

July 28 -- As America mourns the death of Bob Hope, here is reaction from across the country.

"Today America lost a great citizen Bob Hope served our nation when he went to battlefields to entertain thousands of troops from different generations." President Bush

"Bob Hope leaves a matchless legacy of laughs to people all over the world Bob also helped raise more than one billion dollars for countless good causes. It was my honor to present him with the National Medal of Arts, to sign a law naming him an honorary veteran of our Armed Forces, and to enjoy two great days of golf with him." Former President Bill Clinton

"I know we all have confidence that Bob Hope is now on the last road The road to heaven, where he'll be joining up with Crosby and Lamour and so many others he brought such joy to."

Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.

"Losing him is like losing a member of the family. Ronnie always said that Bob was one of our finest ambassadors for America and for freedom, spending his lifetime entertaining servicemen and women away from home and overseas, especially in time of conflict." Former First Lady Nancy Reagan

"Bob Hope loved to joke that he'd never won an Academy Award. It was a running gag on the show the 16 times he served as host or co-host. Maybe Bob never won a competitive Oscar, but he received more honorary awards than anyone else in history, including two Oscar statuettes one in 1952 for his 'contribution to the laughter of the world, his service to the motion picture industry, and his devotion to the American premise.'" Frank Pierson, president, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

"He really kept the morale up when it was low and I admire him." Sid Caesar, comic and friend

"I don't believe he was ever a veteran, but he was more than a veteran as far as I'm concerned He brought a shining light into us when there didn't seem to be no hope at all. Korea was a bad place to be and he helped out a whole mess of fellas." Bernard Perry, who remembers seeing Hope and Marilyn Monroe in a USO show when he was a 17-year-old medic in the Korean War