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6/13/76 - Stanford University Commencement
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6/13/76 - Stanford University Commencement
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This file contains material relating to Conspicuous Consumption, Waste, Suburban Sprawl.
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Carla A. Hills Speeches
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The original documents are located in Box 2, folder "6/13/76 - Stanford University
Commencement" of the Carla A. Hills Speeches 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. Gerald Ford 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Digitized from Box 63 of the Philip Buchen Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
QUALITY OF LIFE
STANFORD UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
JUNE 13, 1976
To RETURN TO THE LAWRENCE FROST AMPHITHEATER JUST 21 YEARS
AFTER MY OWN COMMENCEMENT BRINGS SUCH A FLOOD OF THOUGHTS TO
MIND. So MUCH HAS HAPPENED TO THE UNIVERSITY, THE COUNTRY, THE
WORLD AND TO ME,
THAT A NUMBER OF YOU HAVE BEEN BORN SINCE I WAS LAST HERE
IS SOBERING ENOUGH.
BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR SOCIETY? Now THAT A GENERATION HAS
PASSED SINCE MY GRADUATION, WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT THE QUALITY
OF LIFE IN OUR COUNTRY TODAY AS COMPARED TO THEN?
IT MAKES LITTLE DIFFERENCE, I SUPPOSE, AS TO WHETHER THEN
OR NOW WAS THE BEST TIME TO BEGIN CAREERS, YET I WOULD LIKE
TO THINK THAT OUR HOPES -- YOURS AND MINE -- CAN BE HIGHER TODAY
FOR THE FUTURE THAN THEY WERE IN 1955,
1955 -- OVERSAW THE WINDING DOWN OF THE KOREAN WAR, JUST
AS WE NOW WATCH THE BITTERNESS OF VIETNAM RECEDING. WHAT HAVE
WE LEARNED OF WAR? MAYBE NOT ENOUGH TO AVOID ANOTHER ONE, BUT
PERHAPS AT LEAST ENOUGH NOT TO ACCEPT BLINDLY THE NARROW VIEWS
OF OTHERS REGARDING WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
GERALD FL. FORD CIBRANT
-2-
1955 -- WAS ALSO THE YEAR AFTER BROWN VS, THE BOARD OF
EDUCATION. SEPARATE BUT EQUAL FACILITIES FOR BLACKS, SAID THE
SUPREME COURT, IS A CONTRADICTION OF TERMS, THAT DECISION
LAUNCHED A SOCIAL REVOLUTION UNSURPASSED IN THIS CENTURY, AND
ANY FAIR-MINDED EVALUATION SHOWS GREAT PROGRESS --- REGARDLESS
OF HOW MUCH WE SEE THERE IS YET TO DO.
THE OTHER SOCIAL REVOLUTION OF THIS CENTURY BEGAN ONLY ONE
GENERATION EARLIER IN THE 1930's. OUR MOST GENEROUS EFFORTS TO
IMPROVE OUR SOCIETY STEM FROM THE PERIOD OF THE NEW DEAL. THAT
THOSE AND SUBSEQUENT EFFORTS HAVE FALLEN SHORT OF THEIR GOAL
AND HAVE LEFT IN THEIR WAKE INEFFICIENT GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACIES
ARE NOT THE MOST MATERIAL POINTS. THE SIGNIFICANCE IS THAT IN
THE 30's AND AGAIN IN THE 50's WE BEGAN MAJOR EFFORTS TO IMPROVE
THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR A GREATER PROPORTION OF AMERICANS.
Now IN 1976 AFTER ALL THAT HAS OCCURRED IN THESE LAST TWO
YEARS, WE ASK AGAIN -- JUST AS WE DID IN THE 50's AND IN THE
30's -- DO WE AS A NATION HAVE THE STAMINA TO TRY AGAIN TO FIND
A BETTER WAY? CAN YOU FIND FOR YOURSELVES AND CAN WE FIND AS A
SOCIETY A MEASURE OF REAL IMPROVEMENT IN THE GENERATION AHEAD?
PUT SIMPLY: Is OURS A RISING OR A DECLINING CIVILIZATION?
-3-
THERE ARE OBVIOUS MARKS OF IMPROVEMENT. BLACKS, WOMEN,
JEWS, CATHOLICS -- ALL MINORITIES -- CAN ASPIRE TO BROADER
SUCCESS IN BUSINESS, THE PROFESSIONS, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY,
WHETHER THROUGH THE FORCE OF LAW OR THE CHANGE OF TRADITION,
THE OBSTACLES OF THE FIRST THREE-QUARTERS OF THIS CENTURY SEEM
TO BE IN SOME MEASURE THE OPPORTUNITIES OF THE LAST QUARTER.
WHEN YOU LEFT SCHOOL FOR YOUR SUMMER RECESS JUST TWO YEARS
AGO, THE COUNTRY WAS ENTERING BOTH ITS GREATEST CONSTITUTIONAL
CRISIS AND AN ECONOMIC DECLINE THAT THREATENED TO RIVAL THE
GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE 1930's.
REASONABLE PEOPLE LOOKED THEN WITH DESPAIR AT A POLITICAL
SYSTEM WHOSE LEADERS WERE BEING CONVICTED AND DISCREDITED ON A
SCALE UNPARALLELED IN THE FREE WORLD AND AT AN ECONOMIC SYSTEM
THAT SEEMED UNABLE TO MAINTAIN ITSELF.
BUT TODAY IN OUR BICENTENNIAL YEAR, WE ARE APPROACHING THE
ELECTION OF 1976 WITH A DEDICATION TO MORALITY AND FAIRNESS
UNEQUALLED IN OUR 200 YEARS AND PERHAPS UNEQUALLED ANYWHERE IN
THE WORLD. WE HAVE LEARNED AGAIN THAT OURS IS STILL A CREATIVE
SOCIETY, A COUNTRY OF UNRIVALED VITALITY. MORE THAN ANY OTHER
NATION, IT IS STILL AMERICA THAT IS DISPLAYING THE STRENGTH TO
LEAD THE FREE WORLD OUT OF ITS ECONOMIC AND MORAL RECESSION,
-4-
"So WHAT?" -- YOU MAY SAY. HERE WE ARE AGAIN -- BACK WHERE
WE STARTED. THE POORLY EDUCATED, POORLY FED, POORLY HOUSED,
AND JOBLESS ARE STILL WITH US IN NUMBERS FAR TOO LARGE TO BE
ACCEPTED. WHERE ARE THE CONCEPTS, THE STRATEGIES, AND THE LEADERS
THAT WILL SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS? Is IT ENOUGH TO RECOVER OUR
BALANCE? WILL WE NEVER ADVANCE?
OUR NATIONAL CONFIDENCE IN OUR INSTITUTIONS HAS BEEN ON AN
EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER, As SOON AS POLITICAL LEADERS WERE
PURGED, HEADLINES FEATURING THEM WERE REPLACED WITH NEW ONES ABOUT
BUSINESS LEADERS WHOSE INTEREST IN COMPETITIVE BRIBERY SEEMS TO
HAVE SURPASSED THEIR COMMITMENT TO COMPETITIVE PRICING. TODAY,
BOTH HAVE GIVEN WAY TO NEW WAVES OF HEADLINES THAT REFLECT POORLY
ON SOME LEGISLATORS IN WASHINGTON.
BUT, THE SURVIVING TRUTH IS THAT WE STILL HAVE OUR SENSE
OF INDIGNATION -- THE PLIGHT OF OUR UNDERPRIVILEGED AND THE
TRANSGRESSIONS OF OUR LEADERS STILL INVOKES OUR OUTRAGE.
THE THRUST OF MY FEW REMARKS THIS MORNING WILL BE AN ASSESSMENT
OF OUR WILL AND OUR CAPACITY FOR MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENT, AS WE
BEGIN OUR THIRD CENTURY AND AS WE AGAIN ATTEMPT TO DEAL WITH THE
SAME SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS THAT HAVE FRUSTRATED DEDICATED
AND EXPENSIVE GOVERNMENTAL EFFORTS IN THE PAST. THAT WE CAN CAUSE
CHANGE IF WE PUT OUR MINDS AND MONEY TO THE TASK CAN SCARCELY BE
DOUBTED, FOR OUR HISTORY IS REPLETE WITH HEROIC ACHIEVEMENT.
-5-
TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO, FOR EXAMPLE, THE IDEA OF FLIGHT BEYOND
THE EARTH'S PULL OF GRAVITY WAS A DREAM OF A FEW FAR-SEEING
SCIENTISTS AND FICTION WRITERS. TODAY THE ADVENTURES OF THE
ENTERPRISE CREW IN STAR TREK SEEM COMMON PLACE TO OUR YOUNGEST
CHILDREN AND THE FUTURE OF MAN IN SPACE IS LITERALLY TAKEN FOR
GRANTED.
THE MORE DIFFICULT QUESTION IS WHETHER WE HAVE THE WISDOM
AND THE STAYING POWER TO SECURE CHANGES THAT WILL GIVE A GREATER
PROPORTION OF AMERICANS BOTH THE DESIRE AND THE CHANCE FOR A
BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE.
ONE INDICATION OF OUR CAPACITY TO CHANGE IS OUR GROWING
REALIZATION THAT OUR RESOURCES ARE LIMITED AND THAT WE HAVE BEEN
A WASTEFUL PEOPLE,
THE GASOLINE CRISIS TAUGHT US THAT WE WASTE ENERGY.
THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS TAUGHT US THAT WE WASTE THE AIR AND
WATER RESOURCES UPON WHICH WE DEPEND FOR SURVIVAL,
THE CIVIL DISTURBANCES OF 1968 TAUGHT US THAT WE WASTE OUR
HUMAN RESOURCES BY CONSIGNING LARGE SEGMENTS OF OUR POPULATION
TO A CONTINUING CYCLE OF POVERTY FROM WHICH FAR TOO FEW BREAK
FREE.
-6-
WE KNOW WE HAVE WASTED THE CAPACITY OF WOMEN TO CONTRIBUTE.
OUR COLLECTIVE EXISTENCE HAS BEEN ONE OF CONSUMPTION,
WE CONSUMED A FRONTIER AND TURNED IT INTO A SERIES OF SPRAWLING
CITIES. AND WE CONSUME OUR RESOURCES AT A FRIGHTENING RATE
TO KEEP THOSE CITIES ALIVE. Yet ONE LOOK AT OUR CITIES MAKES
IT APPARENT THAT WE ARE WASTING THEIR POTENTIAL AS A QUALITY
HABITAT FOR MAN,
IT IS TRUE THAT OUR STANDARD OF LIVING HAS INCREASED OVER
THE PAST THREE DECADES. BUT IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT SINCE WORLD
WAR II THE LEVEL OF OUR DESIRES HAS ESCALATED EVEN MORE.
THE LEVEL OF GOODS THAT PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY THINK THEY
ARE ENTITLED TO OWN IS MUCH HIGHER TODAY THAN IT WAS 30 YEARS
AGO. WE LIVE IN BIGGER -- NOT NECESSARILY BETTER -- HOUSES,
WE HAVE BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO DRIVING BIGGER -- NOT NECESSARILY
BETTER -- CARS, OUR APPETITES HAVE INCREASED FASTER THAN OUR
RESOURCES,
-7-
SEVENTY YEARS AGO RIGHT HERE ON THE STANFORD CAMPUS,
THORSTEIN VEBLEN TOLD US WHAT WAS COMING: HE SAID WE WERE
MOTIVATED AS MUCH BY OUR DESIRE TO CONSUME CONSPICUOUSLY AS
BY OUR DESIRE FOR ECONOMIC SUFFICIENCY, AND ONLY LAST YEAR
PROFESSOR DANIEL BELL NOTED THAT WITH OUR PRESENT ATTITUDE
NO GIVEN LEVEL OF ECONOMIC WELL-BEING WILL EVER SUFFICE.
PROFESSOR BELL CALLS THE YEARS SINCE WORLD WAR II A REVOLUTION
OF "RISING ENTITLEMENTS".
NOWHERE HAS OUR WILLINGNESS TO THROW AWAY THE SLIGHTLY
TARNISHED FOR THE SHINY NEW BEEN MORE EVIDENT THAN IN OUR
CITIES, A SUBJECT OF PARTICULAR CONCERN TO THE SECRETARY OF
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT.
THE STARK FACT IS THAT LARGE PARTS OF OUR GREATEST CITIES
HAVE BEEN SACRIFICED TO OBSOLESCENCE AND DECAY. IN NEW YORK
CITY ALONE 50,000 UNITS OF HOUSING ARE ABANDONED EACH YEAR,
ABANDONED NEIGHBORHOODS AND NEARBY SLUMS HOUSE A
CONCENTRATION OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF A MAGNITUDE WHICH SEEM
NEAR INSOLUABLE: CRIME, RACIAL ANIMOSITY, FAMILY DISINTEGRATION.
-8-
OUR YEARS OF ABUNDANCE SOMEHOW FOSTERED THE NOTION THAT
OUR URBAN ASSETS COULD BE DISCARDED, As OUR CENTER CITIES GREW
OLD, THOSE WHO COULD, FLED THE URBAN CORE WITH ITS PROBLEMS FOR
THE NEWLY-BUILT SUBURBS, UNTIL RECENTLY, GOVERNMENT POLICIES
ACTUALLY ENCOURAGED THIS SUBURBAN SPRAWL, A SPRAWL THAT HAS
CONSUMED THOUSANDS OF SQUARE MILES OF OUR REMAINING OPEN SPACE,
YET OUR CITIES HOLD IRREPLACEABLE RESOURCES, GREAT MASSES
OF INVESTED WEALTH AND PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY AS WELL AS HISTORY
AND BEAUTY CAN BE FOUND THERE, A LARGE PORTION OF OUR HOUSING
STOCK IS SITUATED THERE, ALONG WITH NEEDED WATER AND SEWER LINES,
FACTORIES, ROADS, SCHOOLS, TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, AND UTILITIES,
WE FORGET TOO EASILY THAT WHEN WE ABANDON A HOUSING UNIT IN A
CITY, WE ARE ABANDONING A PART OF ALL THESE RELATED ASSETS,
I STATE THE OBVIOUS WHEN I SAY THAT RECYCLING CITIES IS
HALF AS COSTLY AS SUBURBAN DEVELOPMENT ON ALL COUNTS -- CAPITAL,
LAND, ENERGY, AND ECOLOGICAL DISRUPTION.
FAIR-MINDED PEOPLE CAN LOOK AT THE AGONY OF OUR CITIES
OVER HOUSING, JOBS, AND BUSSING, AND AGREE THAT THE BLAME DOES
NOT TOTALLY LIE WITH RACISTS OR WITH MEDDLESOME OFFICIALS,
RATHER IT IS APPARENT THAT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS HAVE
GROWN FAR FASTER THAN OUR DETERMINATION TO FORGE ACCEPTABLE
SOLUTIONS.
-9-
WHAT WE NEED AND WHAT WE ARE NOW BEGINNING IS A WAR, A
WAR THAT CANNOT BE WON WITH MONEY ALONE, A WAR THAT MUST BE
SKILLFULLY DIRECTED AND SUPPORTED ON A LOCAL LEVEL, WE COULD
NOT WIN THE WAR OF THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE VILLAGES WITH BILLIONS
OF DOLLARS OF AID, AND WE LOST THE FIRST ROUND OF OUR FIGHT
TO SAVE OUR CITIES EVEN THOUGH WE SPENT BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
ON PUBLIC HOUSING.
CITIES, WHICH HAVE HAD THEIR TAX BASE DANGEROUSLY ERODED,
WHOSE SCHOOLS HAVE PRIMARILY THE DISADVANTAGED, AND WHOSE
INDUSTRY IS LEAVING, ARE IN A DOWNWARD SPIRAL. To REVERSE
THAT SPIRAL REQUIRES NEW INCENTIVES TO ATTRACT BUSINESSES AND
TO ATTRACT A HETEROGENOUS MIX OF PEOPLE.
NEW YORK'S PLIGHT HAS BEEN THE SYMBOL OF A BATTLE SEEMINGLY
LOST. WILMINGTON, HARTFORD, PORTLAND, PHILADELPHIA, BOSTON,
SAINT LOUIS, CHICAGO, AND KANSAS CITY COULD BE SYMBOLS OF SUCCESS,
SUSPENSION OF PROPERTY TAXES, PRIVATE INVESTMENT INCENTIVES,
FEDERAL REVENUE SHARING, AND FEDERAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK
GRANTS -- WHICH BET ON LOCAL INITIATIVE ARE ALL WEAPONS THAT
WELL DIRECTED CITIES ARE USING.
-10-
IN THE PAST WE, AS INDIVIDUALS, HAVE ABANDONED THE CITIES TO
THEIR PROBLEMS. RATHER THAN ATTACK DETERIORATING NEIGHBORHOODS,
INCREASING CRIME, SEGREGATED EDUCATION, AND JOBLESS MINORITIES
WITH OUR VOTES, OUR TAX DOLLARS, AND WITH ALL THE CREATIVITY AND
ENERGY THAT WE COULD MUSTER, WE HAVE TOO OFTEN CURSED THE
INEPTITUDE OF OUR CITIES' LEADERS FROM THE SANCTITY OF OUR SUBURBS.
OF COURSE THE ANSWER IS NOT IN BUSSING OUR CHILDREN BACK AND
FORTH. IT IS TAKING OURSELVES BACK TO THE FIGHT TO REHABILITATE
THE STRUCTURES, THE GOVERNMENT, AND THE SCHOOLS OF THE CITIES,
FORTUNATELY, THE VERY FORCES WHICH NOW REQUIRE US TO CONSERVE
OUR URBAN ASSETS ARE ALSO GIVING US THE OPPORTUNITY AND THE
INCENTIVE TO REVITALIZE THEM. SCARCITY AND THE RESULTANT HIGH
COST OF LAND, RAW MATERIALS, AND ENERGY ARE MAKING URBAN LIVING
A MORE ATTRACTIVE ALTERNATIVE.
SOME CHILDREN OF THE GENERATION WHO FLED TO THE SUBURBS ARE
RETURNING TO THE CITIES. AREAS THAT ONCE WERE SLUMS HEADING FOR
ABANDONMENT ARE BEING RESTORED BY FAMILIES NO LONGER WILLING TO
BEAR THE COST AND INCONVENIENCES OF SUBURBAN LIFE,
-11-
IT TOOK OUR CITIES A LONG TIME TO REACH THEIR PRESENT STATE
OF AFFAIRS, AND IT WILL TAKE A LONG TIME AND GREAT INGENUITY TO
TURN THE TREND -- BUT TURN IT CAN. OUR ADVERSITY CARRIES WITH
IT THE OPPORTUNITY TO RE-CREATE THE URBAN CENTERS TO THEIR KEY
ECONOMIC, HISTORIC AND CULTURAL PLACE.
I DWELL ON THE CITY HERE PARTLY BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN THE FOCUS
OF MY WORK IN WASHINGTON BUT MOSTLY BECAUSE CITY PROBLEMS PROVIDE
AN INTENSE COMPOSITE PICTURE OF ALL OF OUR CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS,
IF WE AS A PEOPLE ARE TO SECURE REAL SOCIAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
GENERATION AHEAD WE MUST PROVE OUR WILL AND CAPACITY TO DEAL WITH
THE PROBLEMS CONCENTRATED IN OUR CITIES.
As I SEE THE BATTLE FOR THE CITIES EVOLVE, I SEE A NEW
TOLERANCE TAKING SHAPE FOR THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE,
MORE AND MORE I SEE THE UNRESTRAINED GROWTH OF THE PAST YIELD
TO THE RECOGNITION THAT WE HAVE DEVELOPED APPETITES FOR INCOMPATIBLE
GOALS, WHEN THERE WAS PLENTY OF EVERYTHING, WHETHER IT BE SPACE,
AIR, CLEAN WATER, OR FEDERAL FUNDS, WE SEEMED TO PERCEIVE ONLY
SINGLE TRUTHS -- ONE PROBLEM, ONE ANSWER. SOMETHING WAS EITHER
DESIRABLE OR UNDESIRABLE -- RIGHT OR WRONG. OUR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
PROBLEMS COULD BE FAR MORE EASILY EXPLAINED IN SUCH A FRAMEWORK.
-12-
ONCE WE ADMIT THAT THERE ARE FEW ABSOLUTES AND KNOW THAT
WE WILL BE CHOOSING BETWEEN DIFFERENT RIGHTS, NOT NECESSARILY
BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG, WE CREATE A CLIMATE OF ACCOMMODATION
THAT IS THE NECESSARY PREREQUISITE OF PROGRESS.
WE KNOW NOW THAT OUR RESOURCES ARE NOT SUFFICIENT TO
ACHIEVE ALL THE OBJECTIVES THAT EACH OF US INDIVIDUALLY WOULD
LIKE TO SET FOR OUR CIVILIZATION, AND WE TURN TO THE FAR MORE
DIFFICULT, BUT FAR MORE PRODUCTIVE, PROCESS OF MAKING THE
NECESSARY RELATIVE CHOICES,
AMERICA HAS BEEN A SPOILED CHILD, BUT IT NOW MAY BE PASSING
OUT OF ITS ADOLESCENCE.
WITH LUCK AND GOOD LEADERSHIP WE WILL SPEND THE NEXT 21
YEARS FINDING BETTER WAYS TO SOLVE THE ISSUES THAT DIVIDE US
-- ISSUES FOR THE MOST PART THAT ARE NEITHER CONSERVATIVE NOR
LIBERAL -- SIMPLY TOUGH:
-13-
NEW BUSINESS AND ENERGY GROWTH
VERSUS
THE INSISTENT DEMAND FOR BETTER ENVIRONMENT.
THE PRESSURE ON GOVERNMENT TO GUARANTEE
NEW JOBS, HOMES, AND SECURITY
AS OPPOSED TO
OUR FAITH IN FREE ENTERPRISE,
THE CRITICAL NEED FOR A MORE EFFECTIVE
SYSTEM OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
WEIGHED AGAINST
OUR DEDICATION TO FAIR TRIALS AND OUR
COMPASSION FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEGED,
THE DEMAND OF CONSUMERS FOR BETTER
TREATMENT
AGAINST
THE CALL OF OTHERS FOR LESS GOVERNMENT
REGULATION.
THE DESPERATE CRY OF THE UNEMPLOYED
VERSUS
THE DESPAIR OF THOSE IMPOVERISHED BY
THE LAST INFLATIONARY CYCLE,
GERALD
-14-
PROBLEMS so STATED ARE TIMELESS, THEY ARE FAR MORE LIKELY
TO EBB AND FLOW -- THAN TO BE SOLVED.
OUR GOVERNMENTS WILL IN THE FUTURE, AS THEY HAVE BEFORE,
ALLOCATE PEOPLE AND RESOURCES TO DEAL WITH THEM IN ACCORDANCE
WITH THE PRIORITIES THAT PEOPLE DEMAND,
YOUR OWN CHANCES TO DEAL WITH THEM IN YOUR PRIVATE AND
GOVERNMENTAL CAREERS WILL COME ABOUT AS MINE DID THROUGH A
COMBINATION OF YOUR OWN DESIRES -- AND CHANCE, As YOU SEE
SOME PROBLEMS REACH CRISIS LEVEL, YOU WILL SEEK DEDICATED,
IMAGINATIVE EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE TURMOIL TO A TOLERABLE
LEVEL, AND YOU WILL SURELY SEE NEW CRISES ARISE TO COMMAND
THE NATION'S AND THE WORLD'S ATTENTION,
THE MEASURE OF OUR CIVILIZATION IS WHETHER WE MAINTAIN
THE CAPACITY AND WILL TO DEAL WITH THESE CRISIS AS THEY ARISE,
My VIEW, OBVIOUSLY, IS THAT WE DO INDEED HAVE BOTH AND THAT
THE PROBLEMS WHICH MAY SEEM DESPERATE TO SOME SHOULD TO YOU
BE THE GREAT CHALLENGES THAT AWAIT YOUR ATTENTION.
IF MY OPTIMISM FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR SOCIETY SEEMS NAIVE
TO SOME, LET ME SAY SIMPLY THAT I SHARE THE CONCERN REGARDING
THE FORCES THAT THREATEN OUR DEMOCRACY, THERE HAVE BEEN FAR
TOO MANY REVELATIONS OF MISCONDUCT NOT TO BE WARY,
-15-
BUT I SHARE MORE THE VIEWS OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT THE
CLEANSING PROCESS OF THE PAST TWO YEARS HAS STRENGTHENED OUR
SOCIETY. I DO NOT AGREE WITH THOSE WHO CHARGE THAT WE HAVE
BEEN ENGAGED IN A FOOLISH SELF-FLAGELLATION BY DISCREDITING OUR
INSTITUTIONS: GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS, AND THE MILITARY. THERE
ARE, OF COURSE, THOSE WHO CLAIM THAT THE WORLD NEEDS A STRONG,
SINGLE-DIRECTED AMERICA, NOT ONE DISTRACTED BY SELF-CRITICISM.
I SEE IT DIFFERENTLY. I SEE THIS COUNTRY ENTERING ITS
THIRD CENTURY IN FULL ADULTHOOD WITH ITS HOUSE IN GOOD ORDER,
WITH THE STRONGEST ECONOMY AND THE STRONGEST DEMOCRACY THIS
WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN. WITH THE OLDEST CONTINUING GOVERNMENT
IN THE FREE WORLD, WE STILL RETAIN MORE THAN ANY OTHER NATION,
THE WILL AND CAPACITY TO REFORM,
I AM, IN SHORT, PLEASED TO BE IN MY HOME STATE, AT MY
UNIVERSITY, TO CELEBRATE YOUR COMMENCEMENT, WITH A FIRM BELIEF
THAT THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE QUALITY OF YOUR LIVES AND OUR
SOCIETY HAVE NEVER BEEN GREATER.
THANK YOU,