Press Release, Speech of President Harry S. Truman, St. Louis, Missouri

IMMEDIATE RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE TRUMAN ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT AT THE KIEL AUDITORIUM, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI KUNVO "NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS KIDASSY OCTOBER 30, 1948 -- 9:30 P.M., C.S.T. SERVICE" GOVERNMENT I appreciate most highly this reception in St. Louis, but please bear 3 in mind that I have got to talk to the whole United States, but you can cheer in between times, too. I can't tell you how very much I appreciate this reception on my return to my home State. It touches my heart. I thank you, Governor, rmdst sincerely for your cordial introduction -- which nobody heard. But I know that when Missouri feels this way, we are on 'the road to victory. On November the second, we are going to have a Democratic Governor in Missouri, and a Democratic delegation in the Congress of the United States. I have been in many' a campaign, my friends, I have made four strenuous and hard-fought campaigns in the great State of Missouri for United States Senator. But never in my life-time have I been in a campaign, nor seen a campaign such as I have been through recently. When I became President of the United States, three years six months and 18 days ago, we had been through the most momentous period in the history of the world at that time. 20 days after I became President, Germany surrendered unconditionally. Four months and 21 days after I was sworn in as President of the United States, Japan folded up and surrendened unconditionally, thus ending the greatest war in the history of the world. I succeeded to the Presidency after one of the greatest Democrats that ever lived in this world had been there for nearly 12 years. I was nominated with Franklin Roosevelt in 1944 on the Democratic plat-, form, and I have tried to carry out that platform since I have been President of the United States. You know, one of the greatest decisions I had to make after becoming President of the United States was made just a few minutes after I was sworn in, and that was the order that the conference to form the United Nations should go forward in San Francisco on the 25th day of April. That conference went forward to & successful conclusion, and the United Nations is working for peace, and for the welfare of all mankind. Four days after Japan surrendered on September 2nd, my first foreign policy message went to Congress. That message contained 21 points, based on the Democratic platform of 1944 which I had helped to write. When that message went to Congress, the smear campaign on yoar. President started. in all its vile and untruthfully slanted headlines, columns and editorials, Hearst's character assassins, McCormick-Patterson saboteurs all began firing at me as did the conservative columnists and radio commentators. Not because they believed. anything they' said nor wrote, but because they were paid to do it. In January 1946, I repeated what I thought the Government should do; and I have repeated it time and again since that time -- and I haven't changed a bit. I am still for the New Deal. Now those saboteurs and the character assassins did a lot better job than they intended to do. In 1946 they elected that Republican do-nothing 80th Congress. And then the issues were clearly drawn. We know where the Republicans stand, and we know where the Democrats stand, and I took those issues to the country, my friends. I have traveled up and down this great Nation 22,000 miles since the campaign started, and 9.,000 miles on a non-political campaign before the campaign started. I have told the people that there is just one big issue in this campaign and that is the people against the special interests The Republicans stand for special interests, and they always have. The Democratic Party which I now head stands for the people -- and always has stood for the people. In 1932, the farmers of this great Nation were being foreclosed and were going broke at a terrific rate. I think, in 1932, 123,000 farmers were evicted from their farms. Farm income -- the net farm income that year was two and one-half billion dollars. The total income was four and one-half billion dollars. (OVER)