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    "title": "Press Conference of the Vice President at Metro Center, Nashville, Tennessee",
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    "ocrText": "Digitized from Box 19 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nFOR IMEDIATE RELEASE\nDECEMBER 11, 1975\nOffice of the Vice President\n(Nashville, Tennessee)\nPRESS CONFERENCE OF THE\nVICE PRESIDENT AT\nMETRO CENTER\nNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE\n(AT 11:45 A.M. CST)\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure\nindeed to be here in Nashville. I have got to say as one interested in\narchitecture that this has got to be an experience, visiting this\ncomplex here. I don't know when I have seen a more attractive,\nbeautiful setting than this patio over here. I would just like to say\nI think we need more of these in Washington.\nIt is a pleasure to be here. I would be delighted to answer\nany questions.\nQUESTION: Mr. Vice President, let me ask you first of all,\nnow that you have announced that you will not be running in the\nPresidential election of 1976, what are your future political plans\nand are you having any second thoughts about having made that decision?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: I have absolutely no plans at all. I wrote\nthe letter and stand on every word that is in it. It expresses the\nfeelings I had at the time and I still have. I think it was the right\ndecision. I am totally relaxed and happy to be here.\nQUESTION: DO you plan to do any campaigning for President\nFord in the primaries?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: Within the limits of the election laws,\nwhich are very strict and take a tremendous amount of interpreting,\nyou cannot spend more than $1,000 for any candidate during a nominating\ncampaign. That includes travel or anything else.\nSo, what I have been doing is going on trips for the government\nand going on trips for fund raisings, related to and financed by the\nnational committee. If the President's committee, President Ford's\ncommittee, financed the trip, then I can go on that.\nQUESTION: Sunday, Mr. Callaway predicted that President\nFord would carry the primaries in New Hampshire, Florida and Illinois,\nover Reagan and said if he didn't, he would be in serious trouble. DO\nyou agree with those predictions?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: No, sir. I wouldn't put it that way.\nI just say very simply that in my opinion, President Ford is going\nto be the nominee of the Republican Party. I have been in politics\na long time. To make predictions about any specific vote or any\nspecific situation on what your margin is going to be, I find always\ngets you into difficulties. I just think it is a very simple\ntradition in this country and both parties would indicate it, that\nthe incumbent President will get the nomination.\nQUESTION: Mr. Vice President, are you saying, back to one\nof your earlier questions that if the Ford Presidential committee\npays, you will campaign for the President?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: Sure.\nQUESTION: In the primaries and beyond?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes. The Ford Presidential committee\nwill be only for the primaries. Then it becomes the national\ncommittee.\nQUESTION: Mr. Vice President, are you predicting a Vice\nMORE\nPage 2\nPresidential candidate at this point for Mr. Ford?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: No, sir. For the last ten months I have\nbeen saying ever since I was confirmed by the Congress, that the\nPresident should not select his candidate for the Vice Presidency\nuntil after he is nominated, at which time he should then indicate\nwhom he thought could best: serve the country and the party and that\nthat person would be nominated by the convention.\nQUESTION: Could it be a woman?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: I don't know why not.\nQUESTION: Mr. Vice President, if by some quirk of fate, Mr.\nReagan should win the nomination, will you go out and campaign for\nhim as vigorously as you would Mr. Ford?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: If you answer that question in the\naffirmative, then you are giving credence to the possibility that\nhe will win it. I don't think this is a possibility. Therefore,\nwhenever I am asked that question, I point out that I think it is\nthe fact that President Ford is going to win it. I think Governor\nReagan will fade and President Ford is my candidate.\nQUESTION: What do you like the most about being in Washington\nand dislike the most?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: Perhaps the nicest thing that has\nhappened is coming here and visiting this building and seeing SO\nmany nice people here. As far as Washington is concerned, I have an\noffice in the Executive Office Building.. This is the sixth time\nin 35 years I have been in that building, in one capacity or the other.\nI know the city pretty well. I have known all the Vice\nPresidents since Henry Wallace. They were all frustrated. I came\ndown with the determination and the recognition that the only function\nof the Vice President is to preside over the Senate of the United\nStates, which is a great honor and a privilege.\nOther than that, he is or she is a staff assistant to the\nPresident to undertake or carry out any assignments. Having come\nwith that psychological orientation, I am delighted to be here. I\nhave carried out the assignments that President Ford has given me\nto the best of my ability. I have had an interesting time in Washington.\nQUESTION: Will you remain in Washington?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: No, ma'am.\nQUESTION: Mr. Vice President, if you were President would\nyou veto the tax bill that may come out in Congress?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: I am not the President. Therefore, I\nhave no responsibility. I just explained I am a staff assistant\nto the President. Any opinions I have, I give to the President. I\ndon't try to anticipate or second guess him on what he is going to do.\nQUESTION: Is it going to hurt him politically, running for\nthe President again?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: That again is a political question which\nis one he will have to decide and determine. But I can say to you that\nmy observation of the President during the last year -- I really\nhadn't known him very well before - is he is a man who tries to determine\nafter the most careful study and examination of the issues and the\nproblems, what is the right course of action for this country, what\nwill reflect the best long term interests of the American people.\nThen he takes that position regardless of short term\npolitical consequences. This quality I admire and respect. I think\nthis country needs this. We have got to get off the short term\npolitical expediency purposes and take the right steps for the long\nMORE\nPage 3\nterm best interests of America. That is what this President has\nthe courage to do.\nQUESTION: It sounds like you are campaigning for him.\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: I am answering a question which you asked\nme, sir, trying to give the best I can to give the background on the\nissue.\nQUESTION: Why is it that you are speaking at a fund raising\nevent that competes with the Ford fund raising event at the same\nsetting?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: We have to rephrase your question. This\nis not a fund raising event. This is a bipartisan meeting. It is\nnot competing with the Ford campaign this evening. If you want the\nbackground, I was asked by the Statecchairman to come here for a fund\nraising meeting almost a year ago.\nUnfortunately, the Congress deferred my confirmation until\nafter the election. Therefore, I was unable to attend. I have been\ntrying to come and then when the situation developed, that totally\nunbeknownst to the State Chairman, a Ford campaign committee was set\nup, a dinner. In order not to compete with that this was changed\nto a bipartisan meeting.\nIt is not fund raising.\nQUESTION: It is Democratic and Republican?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir, a very happy occasion, very\ndistinguished gathering.\nQUESTION: Weren't you supposed to be attending a $1,000 a\nplate luncheon meeting during the day today, but something came of\nthat because of the Ford fund raising dinner?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: I think I had just explained. I never\nheard of $1,000. But if you go back to what I said, originally there\nhad been a plan a year ago to have a fund raising lunch. The price\ntag was never identified.\nThen, I couldn't make it. But I wasn't confirmed. So,\nthat postponed that. Then, I couldn't come before. Now I am here.\nThis other dinner has been scheduled. Let's face it, in the\nRepublican Party and in the Democratic Party, the national committees\nhave to raise money.\nEach of the candidates have to raise money. The Congressmen\nand Senators have to raise money. The local and State parties have\nto raise money. This is a very active period in terms of money-raising.\nQUESTION: If I understood what you said, the Republican\nState Chairman did not know about this evening's Ford campaign dinner.\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: Let's put it the other way around. The\nFord campaign group didn't know about this lunch when they set up the\nother party. But the State Chairman being a man of great discretion,\nperception, distinction, shifted his lunch to a bipartisan luncheon.\nI know that it is going to be a very pleasant, delightful occasion. I\nam thrilled at the opportunity of being here.\nQUESTION: Mr. Vice President, yesterday Governor Hugh Carey\nmade a hurried trip to Washington, to the Federal Reserve Board Chairman,\nasking for, I think, emergency funds of $160 million for the State. Do\nyou think that Mr. Burns should comply with that request?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: I wasn't at the meeting. I couldn't\ntell you what was said or what the arguments were. But now that\nyou have raised the question of New York, I would like to say that\nNew York City has a problem and that the President has recommended to\nthe Congress and the Congress has passed a program to allow the guarantee\nMORE\nPage 4\nof some bonds during an interim period, while the credit of the city\nis being reestablished with the buyers of the bonds. Because the\nbudget will have been balanced by 1978. There is a very serious\nquestion which I would like to take, in view of your thoughtful question,\nthe opportunity or the advantage of that question to say, that unless\nrevenue sharing is renewed in the next two weeks by the Congress of\nthe United States, New York City's budget will not be in balance\nbecause they depend on $243 million from revenue sharing.\nThat is in the budget to balance it. The whole action of\nCongress is to help New York, not to bail them out. Now they have\ntaken this action which is based on a balanced budget. Without this\nmoney the budget won't be balanced.\nI am not sure the action of the Congress will qualify for\nassistance during this period. Therefore, we face a very --- as\nCongress does, the city does and the State and the effect on other\ncities throughout the country - a very serious situation. They have\ngot two weeks to get this out of the committee and pass it.\nOtherwise, it cannot be included in the budget. This is\ngoing to be the budget of every city and every state and every county\nthroughout the United States. They will not be able to include these\nfunds which they have had for the last four years.\nQUESTION: Do you think it is very likely that Congress will\nextend revenue sharing in the next few weeks?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: I am praying for it every night. I just\nthink it is the most important single thing that Congress has to do\nbetween now and celebrating Christmas.\nQUESTION: What kind of response are you getting from those\nprayers?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: My reading is not very clear yet. But\nit is an awfully important question. Every municipality, every state\nhas got this problem. A lot of other cities have got fiscal problems.\nIf this pushes them over and Congressional action has not been taken,\nthere may be some Christmas vacations spoiled.\nQUESTION: Mr. Vice President, Secretary Treasurer Simon\nsaid he would oppose any so-called new international economic order\nat the upcoming meetings in Paris. Does this reflect your opinion?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: One, I don't know what they are. Two,\nI didn't know he made the statement. Three, this is out of my field.\nI am afraid I can't be helpful to you on that.\nQUESTION: Mr. Vice President, the latestG allup poll gives\nPresident Ford only a 41 percent approval rating. Would you comment\non his chances in the general election next year?\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: The second time I ran in New York,\nI had a 24 percent approval rating. I won by 500,000 votes. So\nthat I would like to put it this way: That when someone is an\nexecutive in a period of transition of the kind we are going through\nand makes tough decisions because he thinks they are in the best\ninterests of the country and they have an adverse short term political\neffect, it is bound to affect his rating.\nBut, in the long term, when people go to the polls, they\nvote for people who have the courage to do what they think is right\nfor this country or for a state. I wouldn't put too much weight on\nthat.\nThe other thing I would say is that the approval rating of\nCongress, if you will forgive me, is down around 17 percent. On the\ntheory that you have just proposed, I would have to assume that nobody\nwould get reelected from Congress.\nQUESTION: Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President.\nTHE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. It is a pleasure.\nEND\n(AT 12:00 P.M. CST)"
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