President Obama and his family decided as part of their summer they would actually visit national parks because it is a unifying American idea, fundamentally democratic, and very much a part of our future.
I have great memories of being here. My grandma, my mom, and my sister, who is with us today. She was two at the time, and we traveled throughout the country the entire summer. Our last stop was our favorite stop.
The National parks, I think, are studies in leadership. How presidents have related to the national parks have been in some ways defining aspects of their larger leadership quality.
Well, I think it's always special when a president visits anywhere. Chester A. Arthur was the first to visit Yellowstone in 1883. President Theodore Roosevelt, Roosevelt came in 1903. Then in 1923 Warren Harding. In 1927 silent Calvin Coolidge visited us. Then in 1937 FDR, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, came.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, swinging through the west on a campaign tour, took time out for a visit to Yellowstone National Park. An exponent of conservation, Mr. Roosevelt backed many measures aimed at enlarging our national forests and preserving wildlife. This was a moment of relaxation amid the scenes he loved.
This is a moment that I have been looking forward to for a long, long time. To return to Yellowstone where I spent one of the greatest summers of my life.
Gerald Ford was an interesting example of a President, because he had been a park ranger in Yellowstone. Then after Ford, Jimmy Carter came to Yellowstone and was again fishing, was his primary focus. After Carter, George Herbert Walker Bush who came to Yellowstone in 1989. Bill Clinton was here twice.
Yellowstone is the symbol of our national parks because it's the oldest one and the first one in the history of the world.
And then after Bill Clinton, of course, we had President Barack Obama.
You know, the thing I remember most was, you know, driving by and seeing--it was elk. And I remember bison. In fact, I ran up close to a bison and took some pictures of him.
It's never a good idea to approach bison closely.
The Recovery Act has been a real boon for us. It's been welcome dollars. The great thing about the way the National Park Service in Yellowstone approached the Recovery Act, the funding with that, was we wind up a variety of projects that we already had in the queue of thing that we wanted to do.
The notion that collectively we come together and we say, you know, we're going to preserve some things that last beyond our individual lives that we're going to pass that on. And we have to do it together. You know, that's part of what is hopefully best about our government. And so every once in a while we need the ability to step back from our personal wants and project something finer and better for future generations. That's what the park district is all about.
生词汇总：
study: 这里的study不是解释为“学习”，而是解释为“功课”，通常用复数形式。
Chester A. Arthur：切斯特·艾伦·阿瑟，是美国第21任总统
Theodore Roosevelt：西奥多·罗斯福，美国第26任总统
Warren Harding：沃伦·哈定，美国第29任总统
Calvin Coolidge：卡尔文·柯立芝，美国第30任总统
Franklin Delano Roosevelt：富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福，美国第32任总统
exponent:a person who supports an idea, theory, etc. and persuades others that it is good （观点、理论的）拥护者，鼓吹者，倡导者
Gerald Ford: 杰拉德·福特，美国第38任总统
Jimmy Carter：吉米·卡特，美国第39任总统
George Herbert Walker Bush：乔治·H·W·布什，美国第41任总统
elk：驼鹿，麋鹿
boon:something that is very helpful and makes life easier for you 非常有用的东西；益处
黄石国家公园简介：
黄石国家公园，（Yellowstone National Park）简称黄石公园。是世界第一座国家公园，成立于1872年。黄石公园位于美国中西部怀俄明州的西北角，并向西北方向延伸到爱达荷州和蒙大拿州，面积达7988平方公里。这片地区原本是印地安人的圣地，但因美国探险家路易斯与克拉克的发掘，而成为世界上最早的国家公园。它在1978年被列为世界自然遗产。园内高度从北方入口（蒙大拿州的伽德纳（Gardiner））的5,314英尺（1,620米）上升到公园东南方最高点的鹰峰（Eagle Peak）的11,358英尺（3,462米）。在黄石公园广博的天然森林中有世界上最大的间歇泉集中地带，全球一半以上的间歇泉都在这里。这些地热奇观是世界上最大的活火山存在的证据。黄石公园以熊为其象征。园内约有200多只黑熊，100多只灰熊。
