Press Release, Speech of President Harry S. Truman, Quincy, Massachusetts

TROMAR ABOVG ARCHIVES AND RECORDS INMEDIATE RELEASE 8.5. IMEDIATE RELEASE REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT AT QUINCY, MASSA- chusetts, First Parish Church in Quincy Square, October 28, 1948 at 7:30 a. m., E. S. T. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I can't tell you how highly I appreciate the com liment which you ay to the President of the United States, and to your wonderful citizensof this great State who are with me this morning, by turning out at this time of day. I am very glad to be here in this historic city this morning, and it is a very high honor to be presented to you on the steps of this Church where two great men and their wives are buried. You know, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were political enemies, but they became fast friends. And when they passed away, on the same day, thellast words of one of them was, "The country is safe. Jefferson still lives. And the last words of the other was, "John Adams will see that things go forward. If You can't beat that in a Republic like this, my friends. That is what makes this country great. We can have our political fights, but we understand that the other fellow has a perfect right to his views no matter what they may be, and he has a right to express them. That is what makes the Constitution of the United States the -reatest document of Governmentin the history of the world. I have known about Quincy all my life, of course, because it is and has been the home of these two >reat men. Now, I sincerely hope -- I sincerely hope that you mood citizens here will send David Concannon to theCongress because I will have sonebody I can work with, if you do that. And I know very well that you are going to elect the whole Democratic ticket here in this >reat State, if this is any index -- the way you turned out this early in the norning. The way Boston gave me a welcome yesterday and last night, I am just as sure as I stand here that Massachusetts will turn in a hundred thousand majority for the Democrats. I learned a lot about this great City when I was Chairman of the Special Senate Committee to investigate the National Defense Program. I came to have a very reat admiration for the magnificent work that you did, here in your shipyards. Ships from your yards fought all over the world, and you people who built them helped win the war just as surely as did the sailors who sailed them. Now, we have another big job to do, and that is win the peace. Itis much harder to win the peace than it is to win a war, because everybody is behind you when you have to fight for the welfare of your country. But when you have to fight for the peace, everybody has his own idea of what that peace should be, and it is a very difficult matter to get people together on just exactly what it should be. Only one country, you know, can start a war, but it takes two or three, four or five, to make the peace. I have been working ever since V-J Day to establish conditions for a just and lasting peace in the world. This nation has a serious problem in stopping the menace of Communism. I have fought Communism here in the United States, and I have led in he fight against Communism all over the world. Communists don't like me very well. They are all against me, and I an glad of it. I don't want them for me. I hate Communism, and because I have fought SO much to prevent its spread, the Communists hate me. They are doing their very best to prevent my election. I know that the best way to stop Communism in this country is to make sure that every citizen has a good standard of living, and a job all the year round, a decent place to live, and good schools with medical care for his family. I have been fighting for those things ever since I have been President and long before. (OVER)