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The original documents are located in Box D27, folder "Chamber of Commerce, Gastonia,
NC, September 29, 1969" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech
File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Distribution : 15 copies Mr. Ford
noffice Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
BEFORE THE GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
AT 7 P.M. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1969
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
If I were to give my talk a title it would be: "The Age of Reform: New
Directions for the Seventies." We are definitely entering upon an age of reform, and
we are traveling in new directions as we make new attacks on problems that have
plagued us for years.
To know what the Nixon Administration is doing and why, we must first take a
look at its legacy -- the situation it inherited upon taking office. I would like
to give you a factual rundown on that situation without partisan bias of any kind.
Richard Nixon assumed the leadership of a country deeply enmeshed in a jungle
war halfway around the world, a country which had suffered escalating inflation for
four years, a country in which the crime rate had climbed nearly 10 times as fast as
the population, a country in which the problems of the cities threatened to turn
urban crisis into flaming revolution, a country in which the Have-Nots continued to
be the Have-Nots and the welfare system was like a constantly festering sore, a
country in which local, state and federal taxes had driven taxpayers to the rim of
revolt although the revenue had been inadequate to solve the horrendous problems
rushing in on us from all sides.
Any new administration coming into office first takes stock and then charts
a new course.
With the situation as I have described it -- and I think the rundown was
truthful and accurate -- it was inevitable that the Nixon Administration should
become a reform administration and should move in totally New Directions.
What has happened?
The new administration has moved toward peace in Vietnam and elsewhere. In
Vietnam the question no longer is whether we should move in more deeply but how
fast we can Vietnamize the war. We are embarked on a policy of de-escalation and
disengagement, coupled with adherence to the basic objective of national self-
determination for the people of South Vietnam.
In the general field of foreign policy, President Nixon has seized the
initiative in dramatic moves aimed at promoting world peace. With his recent
(more)
Digitized from Box D27 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
round-the-world trip, the President laid the diplomatic groundwork for possible new
breakthroughs in East-West relations. By becoming the first American President to
visit a Communist capital, Mr. Nixon opened new channels of communication between
East and West.
It was an act of initiative when Secretary of State William P. Rogers
declared his intention to seek improved relations with Communist China. It was also
an astute move when he declared that the United States wants friendly relations with
both Communist China and the Soviet Union and cautioned them to avoid war with each
other.
The Sino-Soviet split is easily the most important development in foreign
affairs in modern history.
In a little noted turn of events, Hungary and the United States have
announced four modest steps toward better relations.
We are clearly entering into the era of negotiation which President Nixon
promised us when he took office last Jan. 20 -- an era of negotiation instead of
confrontation, an era when peace becomes more than just a word.
On the domestic scene, we are slowly but surely beginning to get hold of
inflation.
Despite the actions of those who would have us cast aside the surtax and
cast spending caution to the winds, the responsible forces in the Congress -- both
Democrats and Republicans -- are determined to retain the surtax at 5 per cent for
six months beyond next Jan. 1 and to build a strong surplus into the federal budget.
Much to its credit, the Nixon Administration has refused to knuckle under
to those who have tried to play politics with the people's pocketbook.
Besides fighting inflation with appropriate fiscal and monetary measures,
President Nixon recognized the urgent need for tax reform and therefore proposed
16 major changes in our income tax laws. The House Ways and Means Committee built
on that foundation and came up with the most sweeping tax reform and tax relief
bill in the 56 years since the Federal income tax first was adopted.
I strongly supported the House tax reform bill. It will undergo some
changes in the Senate, but I believe it will emerge in basically the same form that
it passed the House. Final passage by both houses probably will not come until
perhaps November or later.
Again, on the domestic scene, President Nixon has addressed himself to
another of our most pressing problems. Fully aware that there can be no decent
(more)
-3-
progress without order, the President has stressed the importance of proper law
enforcement - a system of law, order and justice.
I spoke at the outset about reform. We are living in an age that demands
reforms. I say that the Nixon Administration will be a reform administration. The
course has been charted, and we will hue to it. The winds of change are blowing.
They cannot be bottled up.
President Nixon has proposed a sweeping array of reforms which I believe
the American people have long wanted -- welfare reform which will turn all able-
bodied Americans from welfare to workfare; draft reform which will make the selective
service system as fair as possible until we can establish a volunteer army; postal
reform which will create a government-owned self-supporting postal corporation in
place of the present impossible system; poverty program reform which keeps the Office
of Economic Opportunity as an innovative agency but spins off successful anti-poverty
programs to old-line Government departments; manpower training reform which consoli-
dates Federal manpower training programs to give greater flexibility in funding and
provides a retraining trigger as an anti-recession weapon in the event of heavy
unemployment; tax reform which takes millions of poor citizens off the taxrolls,
reduces taxes for millions of other low-income Americans and prevents the wealthy
from escaping taxation; a New Federalism which provides an increasing slice of
Federal income tax revenue for the cities and states and gives them new vigor as
solvers of the problems to which they are closest.
This is indeed the Age of Reform, and we will move ahead quickly with these
new approaches to pressing problems if the Congress will work hand in hand with the
new national Administration.
To date, the record has not been distinguished by quantity production, but
I believe this situation will remedy itself now that the Congress is moving into
higher gear. The emphasis, to this point, has been on quality -- and in that area
the Congress can point with pride.
Despite the outcries from those whose OX is being gored, I believe the
House Ways and Means Committee and House members generally have responded to the
public demand for tax reform and tax relief. While the bill does not have as
anti-inflationary a cast as one might wish, it is by and large a constructive piece
of legislation.
The Nixon era is the Age of Reform and the era of New Directions -- new
solutions for the problems of the sizzling Seventies.
(more)
-4-
President Nixon is moving forward in New Directions both in foreign and
domestic affairs.
As seen by students of international affairs, the President has already
laid the foundation of a new foreign policy -- innovative, flexible, adaptable and
closely attuned to the nationalistic and regional interests of Free World and
Communist nations.
The overwhelmingly cordial reception in Communist Romania had deep signifi-
cance. This was a recognition that President Nixon no longer sees the communist
world as a monolithic enemy alliance but as a group of nations whose common ideology
is transcended by powerful nationalistic aspirations. President Nixon is keenly
aware that United States policy should be adapted to those nationalistic interests.
This new concept of U.S. foreign policy also is reflected in the new Nixon
Doctrine for Asia -- the do-it-yourself policy which President Nixon has laid down
for the nations of Southeast Asia, the policy which declares to the world that there
will be no more Vietnams.
To put it bluntly, the United States will play the Russian game in Southeast
Asia but, hopefully, will play it better. We will provide arms and economic
assistance to non-communist nations in Southeast Asia but we will not send American
soldiers to fight other countries' battles there. We are a Pacific power, not an
Asian power. An Asian presence, yes. An Asian power, no.
While gradually disengaging ourselves militarily from Southeast Asia, we
are moving toward negotiations with the Soviet Union on arms limitation and stabili-
zation of the situation in Europe. An important element here is that President Nixon
is leaving much to European hands. Mr. Nixon does not believe that the problems of
the world can be solved solely by himself and the men in the Kremlin.
By announcing in Bucharest that "the United States believes the rights of
all nations are equal," President Nixon voiced a view with tremendous appeal for
minor Communist nations as well as Free World countries. He also made clear to the
world the sharp contrast between America's views and those of Soviet leaders who
crushed Czechoslovakia in the name of the Russian doctrine which allows the socialist
states very limited sovereignty.
Under President Nixon, we have seized the initiative in foreign affairs
even in the face of Communist aggression. We have proclaimed and promoted doctrines
of international law and justice which have given the United States a new and lofty
standing in the court of world opinion.
(more)
-5-
This new Nixon foreign policy also makes it easier for the United States to
devote more attention to its domestic concerns -- racial conflict, student unrest,
the urban crisis and inflation.
I would like to say a few more words about the cooling of inflation. Let's
make this plain. You cannot correct overnight an inflationary situation that has
been allowed to build up over a period of more than three years -- but correct it
we will.
Those who are seeking to profit by the current inflationary psychology should
mark this and mark it well. The Nixon Administration's program of careful restraint
will continue until this inflation psychology is eliminated and a reasonable degree
of price and wage stability is restored.
Industry has as much to fear from continuing inflation as
any other segment of our economy. There is always the possibility that our citizens
will seek to develop other family resources as a hedge against inflation rather than
to invest their money in life insurance.
The inflation now plaguing us is the product of a heritage of errors. The
results of many of those errors have been corrected. Our monetary and fiscal
policies now are meshing. We are, finally, making some progress in dealing with
inflation. It should be understandable that this progress is slow.
Viewed individually, the leading economic indicators suggest to me a slow-
down in the economy generally. In the times in which we live, this ironically is a
cause for rejoicing.
Now there will be pressure from many quarters for relaxation of monetary
restraints. The answer must be that monetary restraints will be eased only when it
becomes clear that inflationary pressures have eased sufficiently.
Interest rates will come down when all Americans recognize that the
Administration intends to win the battle against inflation.
There has been some criticism of President Nixon. These critics don't
charge him with making a mess of things -- just with not cleaning it up immediately.
Seriously, the President has been following a carefully charted battle plan
in fighting inflation. While the Federal Reserve Board has been applying appropri-
ate monetary restraint, the President is unswervingly steering toward a $5.8 billion
budget surplus in fiscal 1970 -- the largest in 18 years and the fourth largest in
our history.
Balanced budgets and monetary restraint are necessary to control inflation.
We must pay for our past sins.
(more)
-6-
Now let us look at the positive side.
I firmly believe that the restraints now being employed will strengthen our
economy so that it will ride higher but in better balance in the Seventies. At this
moment I see America standing on the edge of many years of dynamic and unparalleled
economic growth.
Despite all the gloomy talk, consider the fact that 1969 will be the best
year yet for the American economy. Do not let stock market miseries obscure the
basic fact that the American private enterprise system has great bounce in it and
is headed for continuing economic growth.
We must fight inflation, but the end of the business upswing is not in
sight -- and this is not a contradiction. The battle against inflation is simply
a corrective maneuver -- an adjustment in the attitude of our economic vehicle so
that it will travel a truer course.
Let us not look only to the national Administration for corrective maneuvers,
however. We all have a responsibility in the fight against inflation, the battle
to put the affairs of our Nation in order.
The Administration is moving to unify the Nation by correcting past failures
but we --- all of us -- must abandon the attitude that "all is fine so long as I get
mine." We must rather -- individually and collectively -- seek the greatest good
for the greatest number.
The great English poet John Donne once declared that "no man is an island
unto himself."
George Bernard Shaw put it this way: "We are all dependent on one another,
every soul of us on earth."
The responsibility for guiding the future of America rests not only with the
Congress, not only with governmental leaders, not only with the President. That
responsibility devolves upon all of us. Each of our lives impinges on the lives of
others. To the extent that we all live the good life, the unselfish life, the lives
of all others are enriched.
We all believe in the American Dream. Let us live so that all may share
in it.
###
Q Office Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
BEFORE THE GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
AT 7 P.M. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1969
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
If I were to give my talk a title it would be: "The Age of Reform: New
Directions for the Seventies." We are definitely entering upon an age of reform, and
we are traveling in new directions as we make new attacks on problems that have
plagued us for years.
To know what the Nixon Administration is doing and why, we must first take a
look at its legacy -- the situation it inherited upon taking office. I would like
to give you a factual rundown on that situation without partisan bias of any kind.
Richard Nixon assumed the leadership of a country deeply enmeshed in a jungle
war halfway around the world, a country which had suffered escalating inflation for
four years, a country in which the crime rate had climbed nearly 10 times as fast as
the population, a country in which the problems of the cities threatened to turn
urban crisis into flaming revolution, a country in which the Have-Nots continued to
be the Have-Nots and the welfare system was like a constantly festering sore, a
country in which local, state and federal taxes had driven taxpayers to the rim of
revolt although the revenue had been inadequate to solve the horrendous problems
rushing in on us from all sides.
Any new administration coming into office first takes stock and then charts
a new course.
With the situation as I have described it -- and I think the rundown was
truthful and accurate -- it was inevitable that the Nixon Administration should
become a reform administration and should move in totally New Directions.
What has happened?
The new administration has moved toward peace in Vietnam and elsewhere. In
Vietnam the question no longer is whether we should move in more deeply but how
fast we can Vietnamize the war. We are embarked on a policy of de-escalation and
disengagement, coupled with adherence to the basic objective of national self-
determination for the people of South Vietnam.
In the general field of foreign policy, President Nixon has seized the
initiative in dramatic moves aimed at promoting world peace. With his recent
(more)
-2-
round-the-world trip, the President laid the diplomatic groundwork for possible new
breakthroughs in East-West relations. By becoming the first American President to
visit a Communist capital, Mr. Nixon opened new channels of communication between
East and West.
It was an act of initiative when Secretary of State William P. Rogers
declared his intention to seek improved relations with Communist China. It was also
an astute move when he declared that the United States wants friendly relations with
both Communist China and the Soviet Union and cautioned them to avoid war with each
other.
The Sino-Soviet split is easily the most important development in foreign
affairs in modern history.
In a little noted turn of events, Hungary and the United States have
announced four modest steps toward better relations.
We are clearly entering into the era of negotiation which President Nixon
promised us when he took office last Jan. 20 -- an era of negotiation instead of
confrontation, an era when peace becomes more than just a word.
On the domestic scene, we are slowly but surely beginning to get hold of
inflation.
Despite the actions of those who would have us cast aside the surtax and
cast spending caution to the winds, the responsible forces in the Congress -- both
Democrats and Republicans -- are determined to retain the surtax at 5 per cent for
six months beyond next Jan. 1 and to build a strong surplus into the federal budget.
Much to its credit, the Nixon Administration has refused to knuckle under
to those who have tried to play politics with the people's pocketbook.
Besides fighting inflation with appropriate fiscal and monetary measures,
President Nixon recognized the urgent need for tax reform and therefore proposed
16 major changes in our income tax laws. The House Ways and Means Committee built
on that foundation and came up with the most sweeping tax reform and tax relief
bill in the 56 years since the Federal income tax first was adopted.
I strongly supported the House tax reform bill. It will undergo some
changes in the Senate, but I believe it will emerge in basically the same form that
it passed the House. Final passage by both houses probably will not come until
perhaps November or later.
Again, on the domestic scene, President Nixon has addressed himself to
another of our most pressing problems. Fully aware that there can be no decent
(more)
-3-
progress without order, the President has stressed the importance of proper law
enforcement -- a system of law, order and justice.
I spoke at the outset about reform. We are living in an age that demands
reforms. I say that the Nixon Administration will be a reform administration. The
course has been charted, and we will hue to it. The winds of change are blowing.
They cannot be bottled up.
President Nixon has proposed a sweeping array of reforms which I believe
the American people have long wanted - welfare reform which will turn all able-
bodied Americans from welfare to workfare; draft reform which will make the selective
service system as fair as possible until we can establish a volunteer army; postal
reform which will create a government-owned self-supporting postal corporation in
place of the present impossible system; poverty program reform which keeps the Office
of Economic Opportunity as an innovative agency but spins off successful anti-poverty
programs to old-line Government departments; manpower training reform which consoli-
dates Federal manpower training programs to give greater flexibility in funding and
provides a retraining trigger as an anti-recession weapon in the event of heavy
unemployment; tax reform which takes millions of poor citizens off the taxrolls,
reduces taxes for millions of other low-income Americans and prevents the wealthy
from escaping taxation; a New Federalism which provides an increasing slice of
Federal income tax revenue for the cities and states and gives them new vigor as
solvers of the problems to which they are closest.
This is indeed the Age of Reform, and we will move ahead quickly with these
new approaches to pressing problems if the Congress will work hand in hand with the
new national Administration.
To date, the record has not been distinguished by quantity production, but
I believe this situation will remedy itself now that the Congress is moving into
higher gear. The emphasis, to this point, has been on quality - and in that area
the Congress can point with pride.
Despite the outcries from those whose ox is being gored, I believe the
House Ways and Means Committee and House members generally have responded to the
public demand for tax reform and tax relief. While the bill does not have as
anti-inflationary a cast as one might wish, it is by and large a constructive piece
of legislation.
The Nixon era is the Age of Reform and the era of New Directions -- new
solutions for the problems of the sizzling Seventies.
(more)
-4-
President Nixon is moving forward in New Directions both in foreign and
domestic affairs.
As seen by students of international affairs, the President has already
laid the foundation of a new foreign policy -- innovative, flexible, adaptable and
closely attuned to the nationalistic and regional interests of Free World and
Communist nations.
The overwhelmingly cordial reception in Communist Romania had deep signifi-
cance. This was a recognition that President Nixon no longer sees the communist
world as a monolithic enemy alliance but as a group of nations whose common ideology
is transcended by powerful nationalistic aspirations. President Nixon is keenly
aware that United States policy should be adapted to those nationalistic interests.
This new concept of U.S. foreign policy also is reflected in the new Nixon
Doctrine for Asia -- the do-it-yourself policy which President Nixon has laid down
for the nations of Southeast Asia, the policy which declares to the world that there
will be no more Vietnams.
To put it bluntly, the United States will play the Russian game in Southeast
Asia but, hopefully, will play it better. We will provide arms and economic
assistance to non-communist nations in Southeast Asia but we will not send American
soldiers to fight other countries' battles there. We are a Pacific power, not an
Asian power. An Asian presence, yes. An Asian power, no.
While gradually disengaging ourselves militarily from Southeast Asia, we
are moving toward negotiations with the Soviet Union on arms limitation and stabili-
zation of the situation in Europe. An important element here is that President Nixon
is leaving much to European hands. Mr. Nixon does not believe that the problems of
the world can be solved solely by himself and the men in the Kremlin.
By announcing in Bucharest that "the United States believes the rights of
all nations are equal," President Nixon voiced a view with tremendous appeal for
minor Communist nations as well as Free World countries. He also made clear to the
world the sharp contrast between America's views and those of Soviet leaders who
crushed Czechoslovakia in the name of the Russian doctrine which allows the socialist
states very limited sovereignty.
Under President Nixon, we have seized the initiative in foreign affairs
even in the face of Communist aggression. We have proclaimed and promoted doctrines
of international law and justice which have given the United States a new and lofty
standing in the court of world opinion.
(more)
-5-
This new Nixon foreign policy also makes it easier for the United States to
devote more attention to its domestic concerns -- racial conflict, student unrest,
the urban crisis and inflation.
I would like to say a few more words about the cooling of inflation. Let's
make this plain. You cannot correct overnight an inflationary situation that has
been allowed to build up over a period of more than three years -- but correct it
we will.
Those who are seeking to profit by the current inflationary psychology should
mark this and mark it well. The Nixon Administration's program of careful restraint
will continue until this inflation psychology is eliminated and a reasonable degree
of price and wage stability is restored.
Industry has as much to fear from continuing inflation as
any other segment of our economy. There is always the possibility that our citizens
will seek to develop other family resources as a hedge against inflation rather than
to invest their money in life insurance.
The inflation now plaguing us is the product of a heritage of errors. The
results of many of those errors have been corrected. Our monetary and fiscal
policies now are meshing. We are, finally, making some progress in dealing with
inflation. It should be understandable that this progress is slow.
Viewed individually, the leading economic indicators suggest to me a slow-
down in the economy generally. In the times in which we live, this ironically is a
cause for rejoicing.
Now there will be pressure from many quarters for relaxation of monetary
restraints. The answer must be that monetary restraints will be eased only when it
becomes clear that inflationary pressures have eased sufficiently.
Interest rates will come down when all Americans recognize that the
Administration intends to win the battle against inflation.
There has been some criticism of President Nixon. These critics don't
charge him with making a mess of things -- just with not cleaning it up immediately.
Seriously, the President has been following a carefully charted battle plan
in fighting inflation. While the Federal Reserve Board has been applying appropri-
ate monetary restraint, the President is unswervingly steering toward a $5.8 billion
budget surplus in fiscal 1970 -- the largest in 18 years and the fourth largest in
our history.
Balanced budgets and monetary restraint are necessary to control inflation.
We must pay for our past sins.
(more)
-6-
Now let us look at the positive side.
I firmly believe that the restraints now being employed will strengthen our
economy so that it will ride higher but in better balance in the Seventies. At this
moment I see America standing on the edge of many years of dynamic and unparalleled
economic growth.
Despite all the gloomy talk, consider the fact that 1969 will be the best
year yet for the American economy. Do not let stock market miseries obscure the
basic fact that the American private enterprise system has great bounce in it and
is headed for continuing economic growth.
We must fight inflation, but the end of the business upswing is not in
sight -- and this is not a contradiction. The battle against inflation is simply
a corrective maneuver -- an adjustment in the attitude of our economic vehicle so
that it will travel a truer course.
Let us not look only to the national Administration for corrective maneuvers,
however. We all have a responsibility in the fight against inflation, the battle
to put the affairs of our Nation in order.
The Administration is moving to unify the Nation by correcting past failures
but we -- all of us -- must abandon the attitude that "all is fine so long as I get
mine. " We must rather --- individually and collectively -- seek the greatest good
for the greatest number.
The great English poet John Donne once declared that "no man is an island
unto himself."
George Bernard Shaw put it this way: "We are all dependent on one another,
every soul of us on earth.'
The responsibility for guiding the future of America rests not only with the
Congress, not only with governmental leaders, not only with the President. That
responsibility devolves upon all of us. Each of our lives impinges on the lives of
others. To the extent that we all live the good life, the unselfish life, the lives
of all others are enriched.
We all believe in the American Dream. Let us live so that all may share
in it.
###