Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
7344386
label
Remarks of the President at the Springfield Art Center [Ford Speech or Statement]
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
7344386
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
Remarks of the President at the Springfield Art Center [Ford Speech or Statement]
citationUrl
collections
White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
7344386
levelOfDescription
item
productionDates
day
7
logicalDate
1976-06-07
month
6
year
1976
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
fc93307e04bec112
ocrText
Digitized from Box 27 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 7, 1976
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
(Springfield, Ohio)
THE WHITE HOUSE
REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT
AT THE
SPRINGFIELD ART CENTER
3:05 P.M. EDT
Thank you very much, Mayor Parker. I really
appreciate not only the key but the plaque, and I want to
express to him on behalf of all of our party what a wonderful
welcome we have had here in Springfield.
Thank you very, very much, Bud Brown -- incidentally,
I think he is a darn good Congressman, too -- Jim Rhodes,
Bob Taft, Mayor Parker:
It is wonderful to be in Springfield. I am
overwhelmed with so many wonderful people, so warm and so
friendly. You vote for me tomorrow and I won't let you down.
But let me talk for just a minute about why that
election tomorrow is very important and why I think you ought
to vote for President Ford for the Republican nomination, so
he can win in November. Let me take just a minute.
In August of 1974 -- refresh your memory -- this
country was in terrible trouble. The American people had
lost faith and confidence in the White House itself. We
were suffering inflation of over 12 percent. We were on the
brink of the worst economic recession in 40 years. Unemployment
was going up and jobs were going down.
At the same time, on the international front, our
allies were uncertain and our adversaries might have been
tempted to take advantage of the situation we faced. Let
me assure you, it was not a very happy and pleasant time to
become President of the United States.
But in the past 22 months we have done the right
thing. We have been open, we have been frank, we have been
candid in the way in which we have dealt with people at home
and with our allies abroad. And the net result is the public
has had a restoration of confidence and trust as far as the
White House is concerned, and give me four more years and
we will do even better in that period of time.
A year ago we were facing a serious economic problem,
the worst in 40 years. What did we do? We didn't panic. We
were calm, we were tough, and the net result is the rate of
inflation has dropped from 12 percent to under 3 percent.
That is a 75 percent reduction and that is a darn good record.
MORE
Page 2
That just happens to mean that when that paycheck
comes from home or from the factory, you can go to the store
and you can do a heck of a lot better. Your spendable income
-- because the Ford Administration did the right thing --
means more in 1976 than it did in 1974.
But let's talk about jobs for a minute. A year
ago, we were losing jobs and this country faced a terrifically
serious economic situation. But what have we done in the
last 12 months? We have added 3,600,000 jobs in 12 months.
We added 700,000 more jobs in the month of May and we have
now -- as of the month of May -- 87,700,000 Americans on
the job, an all-time record, and we are going to do better
than that in the months ahead.
Let me tell you what I think we have to work for.
People are always saying, "What statistics are you talking
about when you discuss unemployment?" The only way I know
to describe it is simply this: I want a job for everybody
in America who wants a job and will go and get one.
One comment about foreign policy. This Administration
has brought peace to the United States. This Administration
has the military capability and the diplomatic skill to
keep the peace and this Administration will keep the peace
in the future, because we have the resolve, the military
capability and the skill to do SO. I commit myself to that.
And let me add, I think it is important for all of you to
remember that there is not a single American boy today fighting
or dying on any foreign battlefield. That is the record
of the Ford Administration.
And I might say parenthetically, the Ford
Administration is not going to commit any U.S. military
personnel to Rhodesia or South Africa.
But now let me make this comment: Tomorrow you
may well be making the decision, who will be the Republican
nominee for President of the United States. If you want a
Republican candidate to win you should vote for Jerry Ford.
He can win in 1976. And if you want a candidate at the top
of the ticket to help elect Bob Taft -- which is important --
a candidate who will help to elect Bud Brown and the rest
of the State legislative and local ticket, you vote tomorrow
for Jerry Ford, who has done a good job. I want your vote.
I appreciate your help.
Thanks for being here.
END (AT 3:15 P.M. EDT)