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Nixon-Lodge volunteers rally group manual: Basic rally plan, major city rally, rallies without major candidates, organization. 9 pages. [Other Document], n.d.
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Nixon-Lodge volunteers rally group manual: Basic rally plan, major city rally, rallies without major candidates, organization. 9 pages. [Other Document], n.d.
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Richard Nixon Presidential Library
White House Special Files Collection
Folder List
Box Number Folder Number Document Date
Document Type
Document Description
46
2
n.d.
Other Document
Nixon-Lodge volunteers rally group manual:
Basic rally plan, major city rally, rallies
without major candidates, organization. 9
pages.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Page 1 of 1
NIXON - LODGE VOLUNTEERS
RALLY GROUP
HEADQUARTERS
Room 523
Washington Building
15th and New York Ave., N.W.
Washington 4, D.C.
RALLY DIRECTOR - John Nidecker
Assistant - Shirley Bradshaw
Rally Coordinator - Richard McCabe
FIELD RALLY ORGANIZATION - 10 men
Field Rally Directors will operate under the
direction of the Rally Director and the Advance
Men from the Nixon for President headquarters.
Field Rally Directors will be scheduled to
arrive in the city of a major rally from one to
two weeks prior to the scheduled date. He
will contact the local Nixon-Lodge Volunteer
organization, the local Republican Committee,
College Youth for Nixon and women's groups to
outline plans for masses of people to assist
in the program.
Working with this group as a basic committee,
he will then organize a complete table of
organization to function in the pre-rally period
as well as the post-rally period.
Sub-committees should be formed and the
importance of the acceptance of responsibility
should be thoroughly stressed. The following
sub-committees should be set up as early as
possible.
-2-
TELEPHONE PYRAMID COMMITTEE
3 Directors (minimum)
30 Captains (minimum)
The directors should divide the local
telephone directories so that each director
is responsible for one section. Each
director then subdivides his section into
ten divisions for his ten captains. Each
captain calls ten people in his division
instructing them to call ten additional
names. They, in turn, instruct the people
they call to call ten more names. Thus
the pyramid keeps building.
Suggestions as to the wording of the
conversations should be worked out locally.
The importance of the visit of either
candidate should be impressed upon the
people called.
The captains should recheck their people
to be sure that all calls have been made.
The directors should recheck their
captains frequently. Since the people
making the calls will be volunteers,
constant recheck is necessary so that
the chain of calls will not be broken.
PUBLICITY COMMITTEE
Radio, TV and newspaper people should be
included in the group so that local
interest stories can be aired and
printed in advance of the arrival.
Suggested publicity material will be
furnished by the Field Rally Director.
The publicity committee should also
include men and women who would
distribute, to stores and offices,
printed signs telling the location and
time of the arrival of the candidate.
Handbills should be printed for delivery
by local high school, college, etc., groups.
-3-
On the day prior to the arrival a vast
coverage of media should be accomplished.
A front-page newspaper story with a map
of the cavalcade route should be used.
Spot announcements on radio and inclusion
in TV newscasts will help swell crowds.
PARADE COMMITTEE
The parade committee should be responsible
for obtaining permits for the following:
Sound trucks
Parade route
Fireworks displays
Contacts should be made with municipal
officials, police, fire department and
traffic engineers and a meeting set up
where a full explanation of plans will
be made to these people.
The parade committee should also arrange
to borrow jeeps, station wagons and
trucks for use in the parade.
Jeeps and station wagons should be
decorated and equipped for sound and be
routed around the area to play official
music and announce the story of the
candidate's visit. This should begin
about three or four days prior to the
arrival.
The parade at noon should be routed
through the principal business area and
should cover every major downtown street.
It should consist of:
Horses
Color Guard
Bands
Marching units
Floats
Sound trucks
Jeeps
Balloon truck
-4-
In lieu of sufficient units local
delivery units can be incorporated
provided they bear an identifying Nixon-
Lodge legend.
The parade committee can contact bands,
drum and bugle corps, etc. To attract
such volunteer groups, a competition
could be set up with a prize trophy
awarded. This trophy could be donated
by a local jeweler. Unions should be
contacted to avert trouble in that
direction. If proper salesmanship
is employed, they will often allow many
bands to participate provided one band
is paid union scale.
Floats can be prepared by local people
but should not include night club
advertising. There is no objection to
the use of units like the Anheuser-Busch
team and wagon.
The balloon truck will release about
1500 to 2000 helium-filled toy balloons
at strategic points along the route.
Details for set-up on this truck are
supplied by the Field Rally Director.
At strategic locations, confetti should
be dropped from upper floors of tall
buildings. A confetti drop should be
made when the candidate arrives at his
?
hotel in the motorcade.
ARRIVAL COMMITTEE
A reception committee should be on hand
when the candidate arrives in town. If
the arrival is by train, cooperation
should be solicited to have the platform
appropriately decorated with signs,
bunting, etc. A band should be on hand
to play lively music and a group should
be familiar with the official song.
The arrival should be well covered by
all news media.
-5-
If the arrival is at an airport, an
airline baggage train should be decorated
for use in a kiddie parade. Bands should
be used and the airport decorated.
As the candidate proceeds to the motorcade,
all motorized units should start engines
to join the motorcade for the trip into
town. This should be done only with the
approval of the Advance Man.
WOMEN'S ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE
The women's activities committee will be
responsible for the recruitment of
attractive young ladies to be dressed in
the official Nixon Volunteers costume.
These girls will assist in the distribution
of literature and buttons throughout the
city. They will also participate in the
activities of all other committees
designated.
Gow
FIREWORKS
Both daylight and evening displays can be
used. These are outlined in the Field
Rally Director kit.
BOOTHS
A Nixon-Lodge information booth should
be set up in the hotel in which the
candidate will stay. Mountable materials
for a background for the booth will be
furnished. A simple table appropriately
decorated should be provided for the
distribution of buttons and printed
matter. The booth should be manned by
girls in the official costume.
-6-
POST-RALLY OPERATION
The post-rally operation includes the
return of all borrowed equipment, the
salvage of bunting, etc. The Field
Rally Director should obtain names
and addresses of volunteers and donees
of material, services and equipment
for thank-you letters.
MAJOR CITY RALLIES
This type of operation will be handled several
weeks in advance. The basic format outlined
in the foregoing section will be carried out
on a much greater scale.
A previously selected auditorium will be the
focal point of the major rally.
These major rallies will include either of the
two principal candidates. The first job is to
tell everybody that because of the popularity
of the candidate, everyone will not be able
to come. This creates a double desire in that
they want to see the person and their getting
to see him requires a special invitation of
which very few are available. You can work
on this through the local Republican
organization, the Young Republican Club, the
College Youth for Nixon and various women's
groups. All may be allocated tickets on the
basis that we are sorry we can't give them
more but they are just not available. This
is more successful than dumping a load of
tickets into somebody's hands and saying -
"You must get rid of them".
Again - nothing more is used than the idea of
making the tickets a premium to be given away
rather than a chore. Each group given
reserved tickets should be given a group of
non-reserved tickets also. Further details
on the printing of tickets and the breakdown
of the distribution are included in the Field
Rally Director kit.
The program of the rally will be a formal one
culminating with an address by the candidate.
This type of rally should draw crowds of
25,000 people or more.
RALLIES WITHOUT MAJOR
CANDIDATES
In many areas of the country, Nixon-Lodge
Volunteers will not have the benefit of a
candidate visit. It is felt that some
attention-getting device should be provided
as the focal point for rallies in these
areas. In 1956, a device was employed to
take the story to these people and attracted
voters from the Independent and Democratic
ranks. Where possible, Republican Senatorial
and Congressional cendidates spoke at those
rallies.
If a focal idea is employed, rallies can be
held in communities where the major candidates
do not visit to help increase the number of
votes for Nixon and Lodge.
The pattern developed for the basic rally
would apply except that the rally would
terminate at a local baseball field,
fairgrounds or suburban shopping center
parking lot. At that point, the local
candidate could make a brief address and
a forceful presentation could be made on
behalf of the major candidates.
ORGANIZATION - RALLY GROUP
DIRECTOR - John E. Nidecker
Responsible for set-up, training and over-all
direction of Field Rally Directors.
Major rallies and field operations.
Render assistance to field men and act as trouble-
shooter.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - Shirley A. Bradshaw
Assist Director of Rally Group in capacity of
Executive Assistant.
RALLY COORDINATOR -- Richard McCabe
Maintain schedules of routing field men.
Maintain contact with field men when on operations.
Maintain supplies at warehouse points in Los Angeles,
Chicago and New York.
Schedule supplies for distribution to rally locations.
Maintain reports from field group to be coordinated
into master report.
FIELD RALLY DIRECTORS - 10 men
Coordinate operations in the field as describe in
Rally Group Manual.