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Lincoln Day Dinner, Pekin, IL, February 14, 1972
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The original documents are located in Box D32, folder "Lincoln Day Dinner, Pekin, IL,
February 14, 1972" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
copies of mr. Ford Ford only
Moffice Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE A LINCOLN DAY DINNER
AT PEKIN, ILLINOIS
FEBRUARY 14, 1972
FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. MONDAY
The first Republican President was one of the wisest and most eloquent men
ever to occupy the White House.
Abraham Lincoln's speeches were masterpieces of simplicity, yet they roll
off the tongue more sweetly than the most florid oratorical phrases.
Most of all, Lincoln's utterances were remarkable for the wisdom they
contained. A Lincoln quotation of which I am most fond is this: "You may fool
all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the
time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time."
Tonight this is the one Lincoln quote I will use. The reason is that I
want to give total emphasis to one major point. The point is that the Republican
Party can achieve great success in the 1972 election if only we can get the truth
across to the American people. We must dispel the myths that the opposition is
peddling about Republicans.
The Bible tells us: "Great is truth, and mighty above all things."
To make the truth known--this is what we must do to win the hearts and
minds of the American people in this most important election year.
I do not issue this challenge to you solely for partisan reasons. I do so
because I sincerely believe that the cause of peace at home and abroad will be
best served by a Republican victory in 1972.
The truth sometimes touches us in flashes. We speak of "moments of truth."
Such a moment occurred the night of January 25, 1972, when President Nixon went on
nationwide radio and television to reveal the vigorous private negotiations he had
been pursuing to end the war in Vietnam.
Certain truths then became immediately evident to all reasonable persons:
It is not the United States which is continuing the Vietnam War but the
North Vietnamese.
We offered as long ago as last May 31 to withdraw all U.S. troops from
Vietnam within six months in exchange for an Indochina cease-fire and release of
American prisoners of war.
(more)
GERALD FORD VIBRARY
Digitized from Box D32 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
We are not committed to the support of any particular government in Saigon--
only to the objective that the people of South Vietnam determine their future.
We have done everything possible to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War
short of cooperating with the North Vietnamese to topple the Saigon Government.
The North Vietnamese have been insisting that we collaborate on turning
South Vietnam over to them.
Another truth also became clear. Some candidates for the Democratic
presidential nomination are not only willing but are urging that we make peace
on the enemy's terms. They are, I believe, unwittingly prolonging the war.
I say they are prolonging the war because I believe the North Vietnamese
would accept President Nixon's basic peace plan if they were not encouraged to
believe they will do better by holding out. They might very well buy the idea of
an election in South Vietnam if some Democratic leaders did not lead them to
believe we eventually will simply turn South Vietnam over to them.
Consider what some of the Democratic presidential candidates are saying,
in effect. They are saying to the American people and to the world: "The
Democratic Party made a mistake in leading the United States into the Vietnam War
nine years ago. We have spent over $100 billion in that war and lost more than
50,000 lives. Let's wipe the slate clean by making peace on the enemy's terms."
The Vietnam War ultimately is going to end through negotiations. The
greater the number of Americans who talk of ending the war through surrender, the
farther off the day of settlement will be.
It is ironic that some leading Democrats today point to their party as the
party of peace. It is the Democrats who initiated the U.S. combat role in Vietnam
and escalated our commitment there to 543,000 men. It is easy to have peace if you
are willing to take the enemy's terms.
It was a great Roman, Cicero, who said: "What then should be the objective
of those who are at the helm of government, which they should never lose sight of,
toward which they ought to set their course? It is peace with dignity."
It is interesting to note that leaders of the country's largest POW-family
group have praised President Nixon for his latest peace initiative and are demanding
that his critics go on record with their own plans for freeing American prisoners
of war.
I join the POW families in that demand. I would like to ask the Democratic
presidential candidates where the morality and justice would be in eliminating all
(more)
-3--
U.S. aid to Saigon while the North Vietnamese continue to receive up to $1 billion
a year in aid from their allies. In that connection, we have offered to limit our
aid to Saigon if the North Vietnamese would agree to a similar limitation on the
aid they get.
We could negotiate an end to the war--if the Democrats would unite behind
the President.
As for Republicans, we can be proud of our record on Vietnam. We have reason
to be proud because we are getting out of Vietnam with honor.
In fact, the entire Republican record during the three years that Richard
Nixon has filled the Presidency is a basis for pride. This, too, is a truth we are
going to have to carry to the American people this election year.
We can be proud because we are successfully fighting an inflation that
roared ahead almost unchecked under the Democrats between 1965 and 1969. The cost
of living rose 4.3 per cent in 1971. That is a marked improvement over the 5.5 per
cent increase in 1970 and the 6.1 per cent rise in 1969. Through the President's
bold program of price and wage controls--a program that is working--w stand a good
chance to hold the rise in 1972 to 3 per cent.
We can be proud of the President's New Economic Policy, which will push
unemployment down toward the 5 percent mark by the end of 1972. We are moving from
a wartime to a peacetime economy, and the dislocations are severe. Meantime,
employment has topped 80 million, an all-time high. With employment steadily growing,
unemployment will drop. Sound growth in the economy will soak up the increased
number of job-seekers. The economic indicators are pointing upward.
We have to work to make truths like this known because the Democrats are playing
a game they are very good at. It's called "viewing with alarm" seeing the worst
of things and blaming the Republicans for it.
There's really only one way to beat the Democrats at their game. That is to
recite the real-life accomplishments of our Republican Administration.
We have reason to be proud of the Nixon Administration, and we should let
the American people know the truth about it.
The truth is it was the Nixon Administration that reversed the course of the
Vietnam War and is ending U.S. involvement in that war in an honorable way.
It is the Nixon Administration that brought about a cease-fire in the Middle
East and has helped prevent an outbreak of fresh fighting there.
It is the Nixon Administration that is engaged in strategic arms limitation
talks with the Soviet Union--talks that carry the promise of a near=future agreement.com
(more)
LIBRARY
-4-
It was the Nixon Administration that arranged agreement in principle with the
Soviet Union on access to Berlin.
It was the Nixon Administration that brought about ratification of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It was the Nixon Administration that renounced biological weapons and the
first use of chemical warfare.
It was the Nixon Administration that achieved a treaty prohibiting the
emplacement of nuclear weapons in the world's seabeds.
It is President Nixon who transformed the world scene from one of confronta-
tion between the major powers to one of negotiation-who is even now planning
summit meetings in Peking and Moscow as missions for peace.
It is President Nixon who has developed a new strategy for peace in the
world centered around the doctrine of helping those nations willing to help
themselves.
These, of course, are all actions aimed at promoting peace abroad. What
about progress at home?
It was the Nixon Administration that reordered our national priorities by
devoting a greater part of the Federal Budget to human needs than to defense.
It was the Nixon Administration that achieved the most significant improve-
ments in unemployment insurance in our entire history.
It was the Nixon Administration hat brought about a massive increase in our
manpower programs to provide work experience and training for young people of all
races.
It was the Nixon Administration that quadrupled minority hiring for govern-
ment jobs in higher grades and expanded aid to minority enterprises by more than
half--and has since proposed an even greater expansion of such aid.
It was the Nixon Administration that tripled food assistance programs for the
needy from $1.1 million to $3.5 million a year.
It was the Nixon Administration which proposed $1.5 billion in funding for
school districts with a high concentration of low income families and the doubling
of aid to black colleges.
It was the Nixon Administration which reformed our draft laws to make them
more equitable and began moving toward an all-volunteer Army.
It was the Mixon Administration that acted to protect the environment by
creating a new Council on Environmental Quality and a new Environmental Protection
Agency.
(more)
-5-
It was the Nixon Administration that won passage of legislation to improve
on-the-job safety for America's working men and women.
It was the Nixon Administration that put together an organized assault
against organized crime and turned the syndicate into an empire in deep trouble.
It was the Nixon Administration that trebled Federal aid to local communities
for law enforcement and court improvements and cut back the rise in crime.
It is the Nixon Administration that has launched the most progressive and
most comprehensive Federal attack on drug abuse ever undertaken in the United States.
Now we look to the future. We look for more progress--progress toward peace
at home and abroad, and progress toward prosperity in peacetime.
There is much more that Richard Nixon is determined to accomplish.
By a stroke of fate, he has been afforded an opportunity to change the
direction in which the Supreme Court was travelling during years when more attention
was paid to the rights of criminal defendants than the rights of society.
Richard Nixon is keeping all of his promises to the American people. He
wants to do much more than he has already achieved. What he needs to write his
whole program into law is a Republican Congress.
There is a whole host of Nixon Administration reforms awaiting congressional
action: A workfare program in place of the welfare scandal; Federal revenue sharing,
giving the States and cities a percentage slice of Federal tax receipts so they can
zero in on their own problems free from Federal red tape; reorganization of cabinet
departments so government will be more responsive to the people; a consolidation of
manpower training programs, to be turned over to the states and local communities as
they become equipped to handle them; a re-examination of Federal aid to schools to
achieve quality education; and a revamping of our labor laws to improve handling of
national emergency labor disputes in transportation.
Every one of these reforms will be an issue in the 1972 campaign unless the
Democrats in Congress join Dick Nixon in his crusade to improve the quality of life
in America.
The best way to help Dick Nixon is to elect Republicans to Congress next
November 7 SO he will have the team he needs to turn America in the right direction.
The hour of truth is upon us, and the time is now. Truth is our greatest
weapon in the 1972 campaign. Our success at the polls will be measured by our
success in impressing the truth upon the American people.
So tell the Republican story. Tell the Richard Nixon story. Let the American
people know what Dick Nixon has done to bring them peace abroad and progress at home.
That is the truth you must make clear. So let us do the job. Together we
can. We are on the march--we and Dick Nixon. Let us prove that our party is a
winning one. Let us move forward together.
# # #
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD,
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE A LINCOLN DAY DINNER
AT PEKIN, ILLINOIS
FEBRUARY 14, 1972
TRUTH R-MICH. VEconomy
FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. MONDAY
PROGRESS, crime
FOREIGN.
The first Republican President was one of the wisest and most eloquent men
ever to occupy the White House.
Abraham Lincoln's speeches were masterpieces of simplicity, yet they roll
off the tongue more sweetly than the most florid oratorical phrases.
Most of all, Lincoln's utterances were remarkable for the wisdom they
contained. A Lincoln quotation of which I am most fond is this: "You may fool
all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the
time; but you can't fool all of the people-all the time."
Tonight this is the one Lincoln quote I will use. The reason is that I
want to give total emphasis to one major point. The point is that the Republican
Party can achieve great success in the 1972 election if only we can get the truth
across to the American people. We must dispel the myths that the opposition is
peddling about Republicans.
The Bible tells us: "Great is truth, and mighty above all things."
To make the truth known--this is what we must do to win the hearts and
minds of the American people in this most important election year.
I do not issue this challenge to you solely for partisan reasons. I do so
because I sincerely believe that the cause of peace at home and abroad will be
best served by a Republican victory in 1972.
The truth sometimes touches us in flashes. We speak of "moments of truth."
Such a moment occurred the night of January 25, 1972, when President Nixon went on
nationwide radio and television to reveal the vigorous private negotiations he had
been pursuing to end the war in Vietnam.
Certain truths then became immediately evident to all reasonable persons:
1
It is not the United States which is continuing the Vietnam War but the
North Vietnamese.
We offered as long ago as last May 31 to withdraw all U.S. troops from
Vietnam within six months in exchange for an Indochina cease-fire and release of
American prisoners of war.
(more)
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
-2-
We are not committed to the support of any particular government in Saigon--
only to the objective that the people of South Vietnam determine their future.
We have done everything possible to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War
short of cooperating with the North Vietnamese to topple the Saigon Government.
The North Vietnamese have been insisting that we collaborate on turning
South Vietnam over to them.
Another truth also became clear. Some candidates for the Democratic
Y
presidential nomination are not only willing but are urging that we make peace
on the enemy's terms. They are, I believe, unwittingly prolonging the war.
I say they are prolonging the war because I believe the North Vietnamese
would accept President Nixon's basic peace plan if they were not encouraged to
believe they will do better by holding out. They might very well buy the idea of
an election in South Vietnam if some Democratic leaders did not lead them to
believe we eventually will simply turn South Vietnam over to them.
Consider what some of the Democratic presidential candidates are saying,
in effect. They are saying to the American people and to the world: "The
Democratic Party made a mistake in leading the United States into the Vietnam War
nine years ago, We have spent over 0100 billion in that war and lost more than
50,000 lives. Let's wipe the slate clean by making peace on the enemy's terms."
The Vietnam War ultimately is going to end through negotiations. The
greater the number of Americans who talk of ending the war through surrender, the
farther off the day of settlement will be.
It is ironic that some leading Democrats today point to their party as the
party of peace. It is the Democrate who initiated the U.S. combat role in Vietnam
and escalated our commitment there to 543,000 men. It is easy to have peace LE you
are willing to take the enemy's terms.
It was a great Roman, Cicero, who said: "What then should be the objective
of those who are at the helm of government, which they should never lose sight of,
toward which they ought to set their course? It is peace with dignity."
It is interesting to note that leaders of the country's largest POW-family
group have praised President Nixon for his latest peace initiative and are demanding
that his critics go on record with their own plans for freeing American prisoners
of war.
I join the POW families in that demand. I would like to ask the Democratic
presidential candidates where the morality and justice would be in eliminating all
(more)
-3-
U.S. aid to Saigon while the North Victnamese continue to receive up to $1 billion
a year in aid from their allies. In that connection, we have offered to limit our
aid to Saigon if the North Vietnamese would agree to a similar limitation on the
aid they get.
We could negotiate an end to the war--if the Democrats would unite behind
the President.
As for Republicans, we can be proud of our record on Vietnam. We have reason
to be proud because we are getting out of Vietnam with honor.
In fact, the entire Republican record during the three years that Richard
Nixon has filled the Presidency is a basis for pride. This, too, is a truth we are
going to have to carry to the American people this election year.
5.5
We can be proud because we are successfully fighting an inflation that
71-43
roared ahead almost unchecked under the Democrats between 1965 and 1969. The cost
of living rose 4.3 per cent in 1971. That is a marked improvement over the 5.5 per
cent increase in 1970 and the 6.1 per cent rise in 1969. Through the President's
bold program of price and wage controls--a program that is working--we stand a good
chance to hold the rise in 1972 to 3 per cent.
We can be proud of the President's New Economic Policy, which will push
unemployment down toward the 5 percent mark by the end of 1972. We are moving from
a wartime to a peacetime economy, and the dislocations are severe. Meantime,
employment has topped 80 million, an all-time high. With employment steadily growing,
unemployment will drop. Sound growth in the economy will soak up the increased
number of job-seekers. The economic indicators are pointing upward.
We have to work to make truths like this known because the Democrats are playing
a game they are very good at. It's called "viewing with alarm"--seeing the worst
of things and blaming the Republicans for it.
There's really only one way to beat the Democrats at their game. That is to
recite the real-life accomplishments of our Republican Administration.
We have reason to be proud of the Nixon Administration, and we should let
the American people know the truth about it.
The truth is it was the Nixon Administration that reversed the course of the
Vietnam War and is ending U.S. involvement in that war in an honorable way.
It is the Nixon Administration that brought about a cease-fire in the Middle
East and has helped prevent an outbreak of fresh fighting there.
It is the Nixon Administration that is engaged in strategic arms limitation
talks with the Soviet Union--talks that carry the promise of a near=future agreement
(more)
-4-
It was the Nixon Administration that arranged agreement in principle with the
Soviet Union on access to Berlin.
It was the Nixon Administration that brought about ratification of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It was the Nixon Administration that renounced biological weapons and the
first use of chemical warfare.
It was the Nixon Administration that achieved a treaty prohibiting the
emplacement of nuclear weapons in the world's seabeds.
It is President Nixon who transformed the world scene from one of confronta-
tion between the major powers to one of negotiation--who is even now planning
summit meetings in Peking and Moscow as missions for peace.
It is President Nixon who has developed a new strategy for peace in the
world centered around the doctrine of helping those nations willing to help
themselves.
These, of course, are all actions aimed at promoting peace abroad. What
about progress at home?
It was the Nixon Administration that reordered our national priorities by
devoting a greater part of the Federal Budget to human needs than to defense.
It was the Nixon Administration that achieved the most significant improve-
ments in unemployment insurance in our entire history.
It was the Nixon Administration hat brought about a massive increase in our
manpower programs to provide work experience and training for young people of all
races.
It was the Nixon Administration that quadrupled minority hiring for govern-
ment jobs in higher grades and expanded aid to minority enterprises by more than
half--and has since proposed an even greater expansion of such aid.
It was the Mixon Administration that trinled food assistance programs for the
needy from $1.1 million to $3.5 million a year.
It was the Nixon Administration which proposed $1.5 billion in funding for
school districts with a high concentration of low income families and the doubling
of aid to black colleges.
It was the Nixon Administration which reformed our draft laws to make them
more equitable and began moving toward an all-volunteer Army.
It was the Nixon Administration that acted to protect the environment by
creating a new Council on Environmental Quality and a new Environmental Protection
Agency.
(more)
-5-
It was the Nixon Administration that won passage of legislation to improve
on-the-job safety for America's working men and women.
It was the Nixon Administration that put together an organized assault
against organized crime and turned the syndicate into an empire in deep trouble.
It was the Nixon Administration that trebled Federal aid to local communities
for law enforcement and court improvements and cut back the rise in crime.
It is the Nixon Administration that has launched the most progressive and
most comprehensive Federal attack on drug abuse ever undertaken in the United States.
Now we look to the future. We look for more progress--progress toward peace
at home and abroad, and progress toward prosperity in peacetime.
There is much more that Richard Nixon is determined to accomplish.
By a stroke of fate, he has been afforded an opportunity to change the
direction in which the Supreme Court was travelling during years when more attention
was paid to the rights of criminal defendants than the rights of society.
Richard Nixon is keeping all of his promises to the American people. He
wants to do much more than he has already achieved. What he needs to write his
whole program into law is a Republican Congress.
There is a whole host of Nixon Administration reforms awaiting congressional
action: A workfare program in place of the welfare scandal; Federal revenue sharing,
giving the States and cities a percentage slice of Federal tax receipts so they can
zero in on their own problems free from Federal red tape; reorganization of cabinet
departments so government will be more responsive to the people; a consolidation of
manpower training programs, to be turned over to the states and local communities as
they become equipped to handle them; a re-examination of Federal aid to schools to
achieve quality education; and a revamping of our labor laws to improve handling of
national emergency labor disputes in transportation.
Every one of these reforms will be an issue in the 1972 campaign unless the
Democrats in Congress join Dick Nixon in his crusade to improve the quality of life
in America.
The best way to help Dick Nixon is to elect Republicans to Congress next
November 7 so he will have the team he needs to turn America in the right direction.
The hour of truth is upon us, and the time is now. Truth is our greatest
weapon in the 1972 campaign. Our success at the polls will be measured by our
success in impressing the truth upon the American people.
So tell the Republican story, Tell the Richard Nixon story. Let the American
people know what Dick Nixon has done to bring them peace abroad and progress at home.
That is the truth you must make clear. So let us do the job. Together FORD
can. We are on the march--we and Dick Nixon. Let us prove that our party is
a
winning one. Let us move forward together.
LIBRARY
# # #
Capies up m. Fonly
affice Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE A LINCOLN DAY DINNER
AT PEKIN, ILLINOIS
FEBRUARY 14, 1972
FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. MONDAY
The first Republican President was one of the wisest and most eloquent men
ever to occupy the White House.
Abraham Lincoln's speeches were masterpieces of simplicity, yet they roll
off the tongue more sweetly than the most florid oratorical phrases.
Most of all, Lincoln's utterances were remarkable for the wisdom they
contained. A Lincoln quotation of which I am most fond is this: "You may fool
all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the
time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time."
Tonight this is the one Lincoln quote I will use. The reason is that I
want to give total emphasis to one major point. The point is that the Republican
Party can achieve great success in the 1972 election if only we can get the truth
across to the American people. We must dispel the myths that the opposition is
peddling about Republicans.
The Bible tells us: "Great is truth, and mighty above all things."
To make the truth known--this is what we must do to win the hearts and
minds of the American people in this most important election year.
I do not issue this challenge to you solely for partisan reasons. I do so
because I sincerely believe that the cause of peace at home and abroad will be
best served by a Republican victory in 1972.
The truth sometimes touches us in flashes. We speak of "moments of truth."
Such a moment occurred the night of January 25, 1972, when President Nixon went on
nationwide radio and television to reveal the vigorous private negotiations he had
been pursuing to end the war in Vietnam.
Certain truths then became immediately evident to all reasonable persons:
It is not the United States which is continuing the Vietnam War but the
North Vietnamese.
We offered as long ago as last May 31 to withdraw all U.S. troops from
Vietnam within six months in exchange for an Indochina cease-fire and release of
American prisoners of war.
(more)
FORD is LIBRARY GER V
-2-
We are not committed to the support of any particular government in Saigon--
only to the objective that the people of South Vietnam determine their future.
We have done everything possible to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War
short of cooperating with the North Vietnamese to topple the Saigon Government.
The North Vietnamese have been insisting that we collaborate on turning
South Vietnam over to them.
Another truth also became clear. Some candidates for the Democratic
presidential nomination are not only willing but are urging that we make peace
on the enemy's terms. They are, I believe, unwittingly prolonging the war.
I say they are prolonging the war because I believe the North Vietnamese
would accept President Nixon's basic peace plan if they were not encouraged to
believe they will do better by holding out. They might very well buy the idea of
an election in South Vietnam if some Democratic leaders did not lead them to
believe we eventually will simply turn South Vietnam over to them.
Consider what some of the Democratic presidential candidates are saying,
in effect. They are saying to the American people and to the world: "The
Democratic Party made a mistake in leading the United States into the Vietnam War
nine years ago. We have spent over $100 billion in that war and lost more than
50,000 lives. Let's wipe the slate clean by making peace on the enemy's terms."
The Vietnam War ultimately is going to end through negotiations. The
greater the number of Americans who talk of ending the war through surrender, the
farther off the day of settlement will be.
It is ironic that some leading Democrats today point to their party as the
party of peace. It is the Democrats who initiated the U.S. combat role in Vietnam
and escalated our commitment there to 543,000 men. It is easy to have peace if you
are willing to take the enemy's terms.
It was a great Roman, Cicero, who said: "What then should be the objective
of those who are at the helm of government, which they should never lose sight of,
toward which they ought to set their course? It is peace with dignity."
It is interesting to note that leaders of the country's largest POW-family
group have praised President Nixon for his latest peace initiative and are demanding
that his critics go on record with their own plans for freeing American prisoners
of war.
I join the POW families in that demand. I would like to ask the Democratic
presidential candidates where the morality and justice would be in eliminating all
(more)
GERALD
-3--
U.S. aid to Saigon while the North Vietnamese continue to receive up to $1 billion
a year in aid from their allies. In that connection, we have offered to limit our
aid to Saigon if the North Victnamese would agree to a similar limitation on the
aid they get.
We could negotiate an end to the war--if the Democrats would unite behind
the President.
As for Republicans, we can be proud of our record on Vietnam. We have reason
to be proud because we are getting out of Vietnam with honor.
In fact, the entire Republican record during the three years that Richard
Nixon has filled the Presidency is a basis for pride. This, too, is a truth we are
going to have to carry to the American people this election year.
We can be proud because we are successfully fighting an inflation that
roared ahead almost unchecked under the Democrats between 1965 and 1969. The cost
of living rose 4.3 per cent in 1971. That is a marked improvement over the 5.5 per
cent increase in 1970 and the 6.1 per cent rise in 1969. Through the President's
bold program of price and wage controls--a program that is working--we stand a good
chance to hold the rise in 1972 to 3 per cent.
We can be proud of the President's New Economic Policy, which will push
unemployment down toward the 5 percent mark by the end of 1972. We are moving from
a wartime to a peacetime economy, and the dislocations are severe. Meantime,
employment has topped 80 million, an all-time high. With employment steadily growing,
unemployment will drop. Sound growth in the economy will soak up the increased
number of job-seekers. The economic indicators are pointing upward.
have to work to make truths like this known because the Democrats are playing
a game they are very good at. It's called "viewing with alarm" seeing the worst
of things and blaming the Republicans for it.
There's really only one way to beat the Democrats at their game. That is to
recite the real-life accomplishments of our Republican Administration.
We have reason to be proud of the Nixon Administration, and we should let
the American people know the truth about it.
The truth is it was the Nixon Administration that reversed the course of the
Vietnam War and is ending U.S. involvement in that war in an honorable way.
It is the Nixon Administration that brought about a cease-fire in the Middle
East and has helped prevent an outbreak of fresh fighting there.
It is the Nixon Administration that is engaged in strategic arms limitation
talks with the Soviet Union--talks that carry the promise of a near=future agreement.
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It was the Mixon Administration that arranged agreement in principle with the
Soviet Union on access to Berlin.
It was the Nixon Administration that brought about ratification of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It was the Mixon Administration that renounced biological weapons and the
first use of chemical warfare.
It was the Nixon Administration that achieved a treaty prohibiting the
emplacement of nuclear weapons in the world's seabeds.
It is President Nixon who transformed the world scene from one of confronta-
tion between the major powers to one of negotiation--who is even now planning
summit meetings in Peking and Moscow as missions for peace.
It is President Nixon who has developed a new stratery for peace in the
world centered around the doctrine of helping those nations willing to help
themselves.
These, of course, are all actions aimed at promoting peace abroad. That
about progress at home?
It was the Mixon Administration that reordered our national priorities by
devoting a greater part of the Federal Budget to human needs than to defense.
It was the Mixon Administration that achieved the most significant improve-
ments in unemployment insurance in our entire history.
It was the Mixon Administration hat brought about a massive increase in our
manpower programs to provide work experience and training for young people of all
races.
It was the Nixon Administration that quadrupled minority hiring for govern-
ment jobs in higher grades and expanded aid to minority enterprises by more than
half--and has since proposed an even greater expansion of such aid.
It was the Wixon Administration that trinled food assistance programs for the
needy from $1.1 million to $3.5 million a year.
It was the Nixon Administration which proposed $1.5 billion in funding for
school districts with a high concentration of low income families and the doubling
of aid to black colleges.
It was the Nixon Administration which reformed our draft laws to make them
more equitable and began moving toward an all-volunteer Army.
It was the Mixon Administration that acted to protect the environment by
creating a new Council on Environmental Quality and a new Environmental Protection
Agency.
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It was the Nixon Administration that won passage of legislation to improve
on-the-job safety for America's working men and women.
It was the Nixon Administration that put together an organized assault
against organized crime and turned the syndicate into an empire in deep trouble.
It was the Nixon Administration that trebled Federal aid to local communities
for law enforcement and court improvements and cut back the rise in crime.
It is the Nixon Administration that has launched the most progressive and
most comprehensive Federal attack on drug abuse ever undertaken in the United States.
Now we look to the future. We look for more progress--progress toward peace
at home and abroad, and progress toward prosperity in peacetime.
There is much more that Richard Nixon is determined to accomplish.
By a stroke of fate, he has been afforded an opportunity to change the
direction in which the Supreme Court was travelling during years when more attention
was paid to the rights of criminal defendants than the rights of society.
Richard Nixon is keeping all of his promises to the American people. He
wants to do much more than he has already achieved. What he needs to write his
whole program into law is a Republican Congress.
There is a whole host of Nixon Administration reforms awaiting congressional
action: A workfare program in place of the welfare scandal; Federal revenue sharing,
giving the States and cities a percentage slice of Federal tax receipts so they can
zero in on their own problems free from Federal red tape; reorganization of cabinet
departments so government will be more responsive to the people; a consolidation of
manpower training programs, to be turned over to the states and local communities as
they become equipped to handle them; a re-examination of Federal aid to schools to
achieve quality education; and a revamping of our labor laws to improve handling of
national emergency labor disputes in transportation.
Every one of these reforms will be an issue in the 1972 campaign unless the
Democrats in Congress join Dick Mixon in his crusade to improve the quality of life
in America.
The best way to help Dick Nixon is to elect Republicans to Congress next
November 7 so he will have the team he needs to turn America in the right direction.
The hour of truth is upon us, and the time is now. Truth is our greatest
weapon in the 1972 campaign. Our success at the polls will be measured by our
success in impressing the truth upon the American people.
So tell the Republican story. Tell the Richard Nixon story. Let the American
people know what Dick Nixon has done to bring them peace abroad and progress at home.
That is the truth you must make clear. So let us do the Job. Together we FORD
can. We are on the march--we and Dick Nixon. Let us prove that our party is a
winning one. Let us move forward together.
LIBRARY
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