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Richard M. Nixon Speakers Manual. Issued by The Dick Nixon Club. 58 pages. [Brochure], 3/1/1960
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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
47
1
03/1960
Brochure
Richard M. Nixon Speakers Manual. Issued
by The Dick Nixon Club. 58 pages.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Page 1 of 1
RICHARD M. NIXON
FOR PRESIDENT
The Man Who Gets Things Done
Both Home and Abroad!
RICHARD M. NIXON
Speakers Manual
11 There is no man in the history of America who has had
such careful preparation as has Vice President Nixon for
carrying out the duties of the Presidency
"For four solid years there hasn't been a principal ad-
ministrative meeting among the heads of Government that
he has not attended as an active participant.
"He has gone on behalf of the United States to many foreign
countries
and in every country
the reports have
been that the United States has gained many additional
friends. "
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Issued by:
The Dick Nixon Club
832 Shoreham Building
15th and H Streets, N.W.
March, 1960
Washington 5, D. C.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
I.
I'm for Dick Nixon because
1
Ten good reasons why people support Richard M.
Nixon for President.
II.
Dick Nixon - the Man
2
Boyhood; Personal Characteristics
3
Education
4
Lawyer; Naval Officer
5
First Campaign - 1946
6
First Term in Congress
7
Second Campaign - 1948; the Hiss Case
8
Campaign for U.S. Senate, 1950; Eisenhower-Nixon
9
Campaign
A New Kind of Vice President
10 12
Preparation of a President
13
What President Eisenhower thinks of Nixon
14
The Steel Strike
15-16
Pat Nixon
17-18
III.
The Eisenhower-Nixon Record
19
More Jobs
20
Better Jobs and Better-Paying Jobs
21
Prices
22
Economic Growth
23
Consumer Goods and Services
24
Public Services and Housing
25
Health; Hospitals and Doctors
26
Other Health Facilities
27
Education: Schools
28
Teachers
29
Social Insurance and Welfare
30
Highways
31
Housing
32
Farmers
33
Foreign Relations
34
National Security
34
Missiles
36-37
Space
38
Page
IV.
Dick Nixon - His Ideas
39
What Dick Nixon thinks in his own words:
the philosophy that gets things done.
Freedom and Progress
39
Private Enterprise; Man's Responsibility to Man
40
The Future of Freedom; Federal Spending
41
Politics
42
Republicans and Democrats: The Difference
43
National Security and Foreign Policy
44-45
Education, Civil Rights, Agriculture, Jobs,
Social Security, Labor
46
V.
Dick Nixon - Election Results
47
1946
47
1948
48
1950
49
1952 and 1956
50
VI.
Dick Nixon - Awards, Honors, Memberships
51
Awards
51
Honorary Degrees
51
Honorary Memberships
52
Church
53
Organization Memberships
53
"Dear Dick,
Under you and the President the Republican
Party is emerging, at home and abroad, as
the great liberal party of the future. "
MILTON EISENHOWER
ii
I'M FOR DICK NIXON
BECAUSE:
Richard Nixon is prepared by experience to be President of the United States.
He has been carefully trained in all aspects of the job by President Eisenhower.
He has had invaluable experience "minding the store" in Ike's absence.
Dick says, "I would carry out and build upon the policies of the
Eisenhower Administration." And Dick is the one who is best
prepared to do it.
Dick Nixon has shown that he can and will stand up to the Communists in a
way that Americans respect and are proud of.
Richard and Pat Nixon have represented America in all parts of the globe; the
world's leaders know and trust them; Dick will be able to work effectively with
our allies for peace with justice.
Under Ike and Dick America has made more rapid progress in
building schools and hospitals and in satisfying other urgent
public needs than ever before; Dick would speed that progress.
Dick Nixon is an experienced legislator and a strong, decisive leader. He
would make the kind of strong President that America needs.
Dick has for years been a tower of strength for the Republican
Party and, at the same time, an effective Vice President for
all Americans.
The benefits of economic growth for Americans have been greater in the past
seven years under economic policies that Dick Nixon supports than ever
before; he would continue those policies.
Dick Nixon is living proof to the world that America is a land of
opportunity where a talented young man or woman from the rank
and file can work hard and get to the top.
Dick Nixon is a winning campaigner; he has always had broad support from
Independents and Democrats as well as the nearly unanimous support of
Republicans. The polls show he has such broad support now.
"
Never has there been a Vice President so well
versed in the activities of government. Whatever
dedication to country, loyalty, and patriotism, and
great ability can do for America, Dick Nixon will
do -- and that I know. " PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
2
DICK NIXON - THE MAN
1946
1950
1952
1960
Congressman!
U.S. Senator!
Vice President!
President!
Richard Nixon's career has probably been the most remarkable of
any in modern times. Fourteen years ago he was a young, small
town lawyer, little known outside his home community. In those
fourteen years he was twice elected to the U.S. House of
Representatives, then to the U.S. Senate, and then as Vice Presi-
dent of the United States. Now he is the leading contender for
President. It is a success story in the best American tradition.
It is also evidence of the extraordinary qualities and abilities that
have made such a meteoric rise possible.
"I had heard a lot of very fine things about him. I
checked with a lot of people who worked with him in
both the House and the Senate. Everybody whose
opinion I respected said he was an absolute star, a
man of enormous capacity. They liked and admired
him. So I pretty much made up my mind that this
was the fellow. 11
THOMAS DEWEY
11
. a man of ability, capacity, and skill,
a politician of finesse and astuteness, who
should not be underrated. "
SENATOR HUBERT HUMPHREY
3
BOYHOOD
Dick was born in Yorba Linda, a very small town in Southern California
on January 9, 1913. He grew up in nearby Whittier, a pleasant, quiet,
medium sized town, the wholesome atmosphere of which owed much to
the fact that many Friends had settled there. Whittier was regarded as
a "Quaker Community." There he learned habits of hard work and
thrift, a respect for his fellow man regardless of race or creed, and
a deep respect for the rights of individuals. An unswerving devotion
to the truth wherever he found it, and to personal integrity, was also
part of this Quaker heritage.
As a boy Dick had responsibilities. He worked in the family store,
delivered groceries, and sold gasoline. He helped to put himself
through school. In school he proved to be a good student. He worked
hard, got good grades, and showed special talent for debating at an
early age. He was particularly interested in history and politics.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Dick's success in debating reflects several personal characteristics
which have had a lot to do with shaping his career. His willingness
to work hard enabled him to master the facts of any subject that he
tackled. He has an exceptional, analytical mind and a retentive mem-
ory which enables him to make his own speedy evaluation of a problem
confronting him. Add to this a remarkable ability to think on his feet.
These are the qualities which, taken together, make him one of the
few men in American public life today who can speak extemporaneously,
but authoritatively, on national issues.
In addition to these qualities Dick has a faculty for making warm, loyal,
lasting friends. People who ever have had a chance to know Dick well,
remain his staunch admirers, permanently.
"As a young student Dick had the uncommon capacity
to brush aside the facades of a subject and get to the
heart of it. He always completed on half a page what
would take a normal "A" student two pages
He has
a fantastic capacity to communicate with people eye to
eye, shoulder to shoulder. " DR. PAUL SMITH
President of Whittier College
4
EDUCATION
Nixon attended the public elementary school in Yorba Linda, California, until
his parents moved to Whittier in 1922. He completed his grammar school
education in Whittier and was graduated from Whittier High School in 1930 at
the age of seventeen.
He maintained an "A" average through high school. He won the Constitutional
Oratorical Contest, an interscholastic public speaking competition, three
years running: his sophomore, junior, and senior years.
On graduating from high school Nixon won the California Interscholastic Gold
Seal Award for scholarship. He also won the Harvard Award as "best all-
round student. 11 The Harvard Award entitled him to a scholarship at Harvard
University. Unable to accept, Nixon chose Whittier College.
At Whittier Dick maintained a high academic standing while prominent in
extra-curricular activities. He was graduated second in his class. He was
President of his Freshman class, Vice President of the Student Body in his
Junior year, and President of the Student Body in his Senior year. He was
associate editor of the student newspaper. He represented Whittier in more
than fifty intercollegiate debates and won most of them.
In his freshman year Nixon was a leader in organizing a new student fraternity
called the Orthagonians or Square Shooters. The Orthagonians competed with
the established "Franklins, " who had a reputation for being highbrow and
favoring the sons of the town's wealthier families. Nixon was the first presi-
dent of the Orthagonians. He wrote their song. He was the director and male
lead of their first play, which he collaborated in writing.
Dick worked hard to make the football team, but spent most of his time on the
bench. A classmate remembers "Dick had two left feet. But, boy, was he an
inspiration. He was always talking it up. That's why the chief /the coach/
let him hang around, I guess. He was one of those inspirational guys. 11
After graduation from Whittier, Nixon went to Duke University Law School in
North Carolina on a scholarship. He was graduated from Duke in 1937, at age
twenty-four. He stood third in his class and was elected to the Order of the
Coif, an honorary law fraternity. Dick was elected President of the Duke Bar
Association, and he was on the Duke Law Review staff.
"Richard Nixon, one of the finest young men, both in character
and ability, that I have ever had the opportunity of having in my
classes. He is a superior student, alert, aggressive, a fine
speaker, and one who can do an exceptionally good piece of
research when called upon to do so. His position with his fellows
is shown by the fact that he is this year president of the Duke Bar
Association.
11
DEAN H. CLAUDE HORACK (Duke - 1937)
5
SMALL TOWN LAWYER
Nixon passed his bar examinations in November, 1937, at age twenty-four.
He went to work for the small law firm of Wingert and Bewley and, about a
year later, was made a member of the firm. The firm name became Bewley,
Knoop and Nixon.
From 1937 to 1942 Dick practised law in Whittier and served as Assistant City
Attorney. At that time it looked as though a career as a small town attorney
might be in store for him. Dick liked trial work but disliked divorce cases.
When these came his way he often managed to reconcile the litigants.
WAR TIME SERVICE
In January, 1942, Nixon went to work for the U. S. Office of Emergency
Management, later the Office of Price Administration in Washington, D. C.
Here he gained an understanding of the problems of Federal employees and
at the same time crystalized a strong dislike for centralized economic
direction.
In August, 1942, Nixon was commissioned a Lieutenant (j.g.) in the Navy
and, after indoctrination at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, was assigned first
to duty in Iowa and then, in May, 1943, to the South Pacific with the South
Pacific Combat Air Transport Command.
He served on Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Vella Lavella, and Green Island and
won two South Pacific battle stars. He received a Letter of Commendation
from the Commander, South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force for
"meritorious and efficient performance of duty as Officer in Charge of the
South Pacific Air Transport Command." The Citation says:
"He displayed sound judgment and initiative in organizing
the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command at both
Bougainville and Green Islands. He established the ef-
ficient liaison which made possible the immediate supply
by air of vital material and key personnel, and the prompt
evacuation of battle casualties from these stations to rear
areas.
"
After fifteen months overseas Nixon was transferred to the Fleet Air Wing at
Alameda, California and, later, the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington,
D. C. At the end of the war he was engaged in negotiating the termination of
Navy Contracts with aircraft manufacturers in Baltimore, Maryland. For his
performance on this assignment Nixon received a second Letter of Commendation.
He was released from active duty in March, 1946, in the grade of Lieutenant
Commander.
6
FIRST CAMPAIGN - 1946
In 1946, after the war, an unusual
event started Dick on his political
career.
A committee of one hundred citizens
had formed in the old Twelfth Con-
gressional District of California for
the purpose of seeking out the best
qualified man they could find to run
for Congress against the incumbent,
Jerry Voorhis. They found Dick.
The Incumbent
Dick - the Challenger
After interviewing and rejecting eight applicants the Committee decided,
well in advance of the primaries, that Dick Nixon was their man. They
persuaded him to make the race, and they successfully mobilized a
unified effort in support of their choice.
In this 1946 campaign Dick worked hard and was elected with about
15, 000 votes to spare. He studied the issues and mastered the points
of his disagreement with the "liberal" incumbent, Jerry Voorhis. He
challenged Voorhis, who had been in office ten years and was considered
unbeatable by many, to a series of debates. The two contestants actually
met on the same platforms in a series of discussions on the issues in all
parts of the District. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents packed
the high school auditoriums to hear the candidates match their wits,
their principles, and their ability to put their ideas across.
At the start of the campaign few observers gave the young challenger
much of a chance to beat the "Champ." When Nixon won his party's
nomination (with a popular vote of about 7, 000 below the incumbent's
total), his supporters thought he had done well, but they didn't expect
him to be able to win the general election.
But Dick's views on the issues, expounded dramatically in the colorful
debates where the two candidates could be compared in action, con-
vinced the people of the Twelfth District that Dick Nixon was the man
they wanted. When the votes were counted in November he was ahead
by 15, 000. He had won the nod from thousands of Democrats as well
as from Republicans.
" The secret of his political success:
He works
untiringly; has good political sense;
wife cer-
tainly is an asset. He has good sense of timing. He
knows the issues, and he has the ability to hit upon
the popular imagination
"
JERRY VOORHIS
7
FIRST TERM - THE HERTER COMMITTEE
In Congress Dick Nixon was soon selected for the
important "Herter Committee" to study the
European Recovery Program. Here his ca-
pacity for hard work and for dealing effectively
with an immense volume of factual material
found a speedy application.
Dick won the lasting friendship of Chris Herter
and the Committee was commended for the
"staggering volume and intensity of its work."
Postwar Europe at the time was virtually prostrate. Pre-war ideals as well
as pre-war production facilities and civilization had been laid waste. Com-
munist Russia then appeared capable of overrunning Western Europe.
Communist and socialist theories seemed to be spreading everywhere and
finding fertile ground among survivors in the Western Democracies.
Thus, Dick Nixon's education in the problems of free world survival in the
face of Communism began thirteen years ago in 1947.
"Dick is the best person we have, outside of the
President himself, for overseas good-will mis-
sions. I don't know anybody who so effectively
represents abroad the best qualities of America,
and the kind of dedication to the ideals of our na-
tion which have made it respected and admired. 11
JOHN FOSTER DULLES
- AND TAFT HARTLEY
Dick was also soon plunged into one of the most complex
and difficult of our domestic problems by his appoint-
ment to the House Education and Labor Committee.
Few national issues have generated more heat than did
the effort to redress, after twelve years of the admittedly
one-sided Wagner Act, the balance between labor and
management.
Here again, however, Dick's unusual talents stood him in good stead. He was
among the leaders in drafting and supporting the Taft-Hartley Labor Management
Relations Act of 1947 and in the subsequent moves to amend and improve it. For
all the bitter criticism that has been aimed at this legislation, it has survived the
test of time and has come to be recognized for what it is: a piece of just legislation
in the interest of the working man and of the general public. The success of this
legislation is in part a tribute to Dick Nixon's ability to analyze a problem, to
look at it objectively without partisan prejudice, and to find a workable solution
in the best interests of all the people.
FROM THE FIRST, DICK GOT THINGS DONE, BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD
S
SECOND CAMPAIGN - 1948
Dick's extraordinary work as a freshman
Congressman won him immense popularity
in his home District. In 1948 he scored a
smashing victory.
He was nominated by the Democrats as their
candidate for Congress as well as by the
Republicans of his District!
Nixon
In other words, the majority of the Demo-
Nixon
Democratic
crats, as well as the Republicans wanted
Republican
Nominee
Dick for Congress!
Nominee
(California law at that time permitted candidates to file on both
tickets, and they usually did so; sometimes they "won" in the
primaries by being nominated by both parties.)
THE HISS CASE
It was during his second term in the House of Representatives that
Richard Nixon became involved, as a result of his membership on
the House Un-American Activities Committee, in the explosive and
fateful issue of Communists in Government.
The issue was dramatized in the case of Alger Hiss, an important
Government official, a man who enjoyed the confidence of many
people in high places and a person who seemed to many to be above
suspicion.
As a lawyer Nixon had had experience in judging the veracity of a
witness. Now he became convinced that Hiss was lying about his
alleged Communist connections.
Of course, Dick was fully aware of the risk to his own political career
which was involved in questioning the loyalty of Hiss. It would not be
enough to be right. He would have to be able to prove that he was
right. There was an easy way out. He could have assumed, as many
others did, that a man of Hiss' prominence could not possibly be tainted
with Communism.
Dick took the hard way. He had a duty to pursue the facts, and he
responded to that duty. Personally, carefully, and almost alone he
persisted in drawing out the evidence. Ultimately, Hiss was con-
victed of perjury.
"Nixon's job on the investigation of Hiss was a monumental
performance. He has never gotten credit for the major
part of his accomplishment. 11
AMOS J. PEASLEY
"The conviction of Alger Hiss was due to your patience
and persistence alone. 11 HERBERT C. HOOVER
9
THE SENATE RACE - 1950
By 1950 Dick Nixon's popularity had reached new heights. It was no
longer confined to his home congressional district; it had spread
throughout California. Dick was the logical candidate of his party to
run against the veteran, Sheridan Downey for the office of U. S.
Senator from California.
After Dick had announced for the race, Senator Downey withdrew
a candidate. Conservative Democrat, Manchester Boddy, and
Congresswoman, Helen Gahagan Douglas engaged in a bitter primary
contest for the Democratic nomination. Representative Douglas won,
but not until after she had been identified up and down the State by her
Democratic opponents as being on the leftmost margins of the
Democratic Party.
Thus, Dick Nixon was again confronted, as he had been in his first
race for Congress, with a clear cut contest between his own concept
of constitutional government and free enterprise and the "let the
government do everything" concepts of the "liberals" of that day. The
campaign was a hard fought one, along these established lines. In
November, 1950, the people of California chose Dick Nixon as their
new Senator.
In this contest Nixon won with a plurality of about 680, 000 votes, although
Democrats outnumbered Republicans in California by about three to two.
It is evident that hundreds of thousands of Democrats voted for Dick Nixon
and against Douglas.
"
the man whose 'bulldog determination' enabled
the government to hunt out and unravel the Hiss
case;" a campaigner " who puts more of his heart into
a campaign
"
WILLIAM F. KNOWLAND
EISENHOWER AND NIXON - 1952
After only two years in the Senate, Dick was involved in another campaign.
This time it was a national campaign and as candidate for Vice President
of the United States.
Dick had made such a fine record as a moderate, progressive Republican,
as an articulate spokesman for his point of view, and as a scrapping, vote-
getting campaigner - the like of which his Party hadn't seen in years - that
nominee Eisenhower put the name of Dick Nixon at the top of the list of
those he would like to have for a running mate. The team of Ike and Dick
was formed. In 1952 Dick was elected Vice President.
It was the first time in nearly a quarter century that a Republican had been
elected to office in nation-wide balloting; Ike and Dick broke the long adverse
record.
" All the people of California are rejoicing at your success, Dick. "
The Nixon nomination "is like a breath of fresh air to this country,
and I believe the people will respond to it." EARL WARREN
10
A NEW KIND OF VICE PRESIDENT
As Vice President of the United States Dick Nixon has continued to set new
precedents. President Eisenhower likes him and trusts him, not only in
political matters on which he has been regularly consulted, but on matters
of National Policy.
"In the last four years you have brought to the office of
Vice President a real stature that formerly it had not
known;
you have worked tirelessly and effectively to
interpret to the people of America - and to forward -
the policies of this Administration. For all of this I am
personally indebted to you
"
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER, 1956
The President named Dick a regular member of the Cabinet. At Cabinet
meetings Dick sits across the table from the President. He always par-
ticipates as a member of the Cabinet. He presides when the President is
absent.
"All of us in the Administration are proud, indeed,
of the job you have done during these truly difficult
days, and are proud to be associated with you as
the leader who is carrying on in the President's
absence. "
*
*
*
*
"You were superb. You have no idea what your
understanding, integrity, courage, and leader-
ship mean to so many of us."
NELSON ROCKEFELLER
DICK HAS BEEN TRAINED TO BE PRESIDENT
11
The President also made Dick a member of the National Security Council and
again authorized him to preside in the absence of the President. Dick was
made Chairman of the President's Committee on Government Contracts and
Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Price Stability for Economic Growth.
"Richard Nixon's judgement of Congress' thinking
was superb. He gradually seemed to impress the
Cabinet and the National Security Council, and his
thinking became accepted as authoritative."
AMOS J. PEASLEY
President Eisenhower also called on Dick Nixon for a series of nine important
missions abroad. The Vice President has traveled more than 150, 000 miles
as the President's representative.
In 1953 he went to the Far East, in 1955 to Central America. In 1956 he went
to Brazil for the Presidential inauguration, to Asia, and to Austria and
Germany to study the Hungarian Refugee problem. In 1957 he made his trip to
Africa and Italy, and in 1958 came his trip to South America.
On this last trip, in Caracas, Venezuela, the motorcade in which Dick and Pat
Nixon were travelling was stopped and attacked by a Communist inspired mob.
The great personal courage and the cool good judgment, which Dick Nixon
showed when Pat's life and his were in danger, won him many admirers.
"Your fellow legionnaires share the heartfelt pride and
gratitude of all Americans for the courageous and digni-
fied manner in which you represented the United States
and your high office under the most difficult and trying
circumstances.
"
John S. Gleason, Jr.
National Commander, American Legion
"Allow me to express my profound admiration for the great
service you have performed for our country and for the
cause of democracy and freedom throughout the world, with
your serene conduct and exemplary fortitude in the face of
Communist aggression during your recent visit to South
America. " Serafina Romualdi, Latin American Representative
of the A.F.L. - C.I.O.
"The unruffled composure you demonstrated in those places
where you were stoned and spat at generously reflects a type
of courage of the highest order. Such courage, generated by
your readiness to subordinate self to your country's interest
has enhanced American goodwill, the vain efforts of those who
have an axe to grind against America notwithstanding."
President Carlos P. Garcia, The Philippines
After the South American trip the House of Representatives commended Nixon
for "his courageous and dignified conduct. "
12
In November, 1958, Vice President Nixon went to England to represent the
President at the dedication of the American Chapel at St. Pauls. Here, as
everywhere, he made friends for America.
"Your speeches have deeply impressed the public.
Your personality and that of your charming wife
has 'got over' in a wonderful way. 11
HAROLD McMILLAN
"If I may say so, your visit to this country has been a
great success and has strengthened still further our
close friendship with the United States."
SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL
And in August, 1959, the Vice President went to Russia to open the American
Exhibition at Moscow. This was the occasion of his famous debates with the
Premier of the U.S.S.R., Mr. Khrushchev.
The Vice President's trip to Moscow and to Poland have undoubtedly won him
wide respect and admiration.
"The Vice President is proving himself a good ambassador.
He is friendly, tough, and most important, he radiates con-
fidence. That is the face America needs to show to the
world.
"
THE BOSTON HERALD
"Vice President Nixon has been saying to the
Russians the very things that most of us would
like him to say." THE BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD
"Mr. Nixon's trip to Russia has proved to be much
more important than many of us expected it to be.
In fact it has produced a diplomatic break-through. "
WALTER LIPPMAN
13
THE PREPARATION OF A PRESIDENT - 1960
The jobs that the Vice President has held in the Executive Branch (which have
been in addition to his duties as Presiding Officer of the Senate) have given
him a wide experience in the critical areas of national administration.
His missions to foreign countries have given him a unique opportunity to study
at first hand the problems of U.S. foreign relations, to get acquainted with
the heads of foreign states, to implement the policies of the administration
abroad, and to formulate his own opinions about how they can be best dealt
with in the future.
His service in the Cabinet has made him familiar with the problems of
administering the Executive Branch.
His activities on the National Security Council have given him an intimate
knowledge of the highly classified measures that are required for the
national security, and of the reasons for these decisions.
His Chairmanship of the President's Committee on Government Contracts
has given him a continuing role in the drive of this Administration to secure
equal civil rights for all, and to eliminate differences in the treatment of
U.S. citizens based on differences of race or creed.
His Chairmanship of the Cabinet Committee on Price Stability for Economic
Growth has put him in the forefront of the Administration effort to promote
maximum sustainable economic growth with price stability and, therefore,
the nation's domestic well-being.
"Nixon knows more about the sensitive
area of government relations in the
world than any man who might be nomi-
nated / and is / the most logical, widely
experienced. " THOMAS DEWEY
14
WHAT PRESIDENT EISENHOWER THINKS OF DICK
"There is no man in the history of America
who has had such careful preparation as has
Vice President Nixon for carrying out the
duties of the Presidency, if that duty should
ever fall upon him. For four solid years
there hasn't been a principal administrative
meeting among the heads of Government that
he has not attended as an active participant.
He has gone on behalf of the United States to
many foreign countries on many trips. And
in every country he has visited the reports
have been that the United States has gained
many additional friends. "
President Eisenhower
"I have called upon him to serve on numerous
committees
and the success attained is a
tribute to his dedication and his wisdom. "
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gettysburg, September 12, 1956.
"By your extensive travels you have been of
inestimable service to the Secretary of State
and to me. In addition you have gained an
understanding of our foreign problems that
is both unusual and comprehensive. "
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
"Anyone who attempts to drive a wedge of any
kind between Dick Nixon and me has just as
much chance as if he tried to drive it between
my brother and me. 11
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
15
THE STEEL STRIKE
Dick Nixon, working with the Secretary of Labor, got the steel strike
settled. He got it settled on a basis that satisfied both labor and manage-
ment and was fair to the public.
This is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable and creditable accomplish-
ments of recent years.
This strike had taken a bite out of U. S. production
and economic growth half as big as the bite taken by
the entire recession.
Everybody wanted a settlement, but labor-manage-
ment attitudes had hardened. Although the cooling-
off period was drawing to a close, no meeting of the
minds was in sight.
Costly resumption of the strike or emergency legis-
lation or both seemed to be in prospect.
At the express direction of President Eisenhower,
Nixon undertook to bring about a settlement. The
Federal Mediation Service had tried long and hard
to bring the disputants together, but negotiations
had bogged down. New ideas were needed.
Characteristically, Dick studied the facts objectively
and came up with a new proposal which both sides
found satisfactory.
Mr. Roger Blough, U. S. Steel Chairman, said this
proposal was "perhaps the only one possible for
both sides to accept." Mr. Blough estimates the
increase in average annual earnings for employees
would be 3. 75% per year. This was less than the
Aluminum settlement of 2% or the Can settlement
at 4. 5% or the Kaiser Steel settlement at 3. 82%.
It was well below the 8% average in prior steel
settlements.
16
Mr. David J. McDonald, President of the
Steelworkers Union, said the settlement
meant "peace, prosperity, and lasting
happiness" for the 500, 000 steelworkers.
The inflationary influence that results from a wage increase depends on
two things:
1. how much over-all unit costs go up as
a result of higher labor costs, and
2. to what extent this increase is offset
by increases in labor productivity.
If productivity in the steel industry continues to rise at about 3% per year
as it has in the past, and if total costs rise less rapidly than labor costs,
this settlement will have little inflationary effect and perhaps none at all.
DICK NIXON SERVED THE NATION WELL
IN SECURING A SETTLEMENT OF THE
STEEL STRIKE WHICH ASSURES CON -
TINUED PRODUCTION AND WHICH
INVOLVES LITTLE, IF ANY, IN-
FLATIONARY INFLUENCE
"Without the Vice President we would not
have had a settlement."
JAMES P. MITCHELL
Secretary of Labor
17
Dick and Pat
No account of Richard Nixon's career would be complete without the story
of Pat Nixon, his wife.
Mrs. Nixon was born in Ely, Nevade in 1913; she is two months younger
than her husband. Christened Thelma Ryan, her father nicknamed her
"Pat." The family moved to a small farm near the village of Artesia,
California, while Pat was still a baby. There the Ryans raised vegetables
on a ten acre "ranch." Pat remembers that she "worked right along with
my brothers in the fields" and it was "lots of fun, 11 and she helped her
mother with such household duties as baking. "The school was a mile
away." Each day she and the other children walked both ways.
Pat Ryan's mother died when Pat was twelve, and for five years she had
charge of the Ryan household. Her father died when she was seventeen.
After that Pat Ryan was on her own.
For a year after her father's death she worked in a local bank; then she
drove east with relatives and took a job in a hospital near New York.
Returning to Los Angeles at nineteen, she studied merchandising at the
University of Southern California, working vacations and holidays at
Bullock's-Wilshire store. Occasionally she made some extra money
doing bit parts in the movies.
After graduation Pat wanted to be a buyer for a big store, but the offer of
a teaching job paying $190. a month in the Whittier High School was too
attractive to turn down; so Pat came to Whittier.
Here she met Richard Nixon. They tried out for parts in a Little Theatre
play and won the two romantic roles. Wasting no time, Dick proposed to
Pat the night they met. But Pat was in no hurry. Dick courted her for
two years before they were married in June, 1940.
Pat and Dick are both experienced in making their own way. The ex-
perience was very helpful to them in making do on Dick's salary.
During the war, Pat often took jobs to supplement the family income.
As a Congressman's wife, living in a two bedroom apartment in
Virginia, she was cook, laundress, maid, seamstress, and baby
sitter for the household - with no outside help.
18
Now Vice President and Mrs. Nixon have some help at their home on Forest
Lane in Washington, but it still takes a good deal of doing on Pat's part to
make ends meet. A Vice President has no allowance for "quarters" or for
entertainment expenses. All of this must come out of his salary. (The
Vice President's "expense allowance" from the government is only for ex-
penses incidental to official activities.)
So, there continues to be a heavy demand on Pat Nixon's home-making talents.
The Second Lady of the land cooks the Vice President's breakfast and says
proudly, "Dick claims no one but me fixes soft scrambled eggs the way he
likes them. " She goes to market for the family and takes the girls to school
in their 1955 Oldsmobile. Sometimes her mail is very heavy, as it was after
their South American trip. Since Pat Nixon has no secretary, she answers it
herself.
But the real center of the quiet home life that the Vice President and Mrs.
Nixon live at their present home is their two daughters, 'Tricia, fourteen,
and Julie, eleven. The Nixon's are devoted to their girls and are determined
that they will be good parents in addition to fulfilling the demands of their public
responsibilities.
Occasionally a Vice Presidential duty will cause Julie to say: "I think Daddy
ought to get a new job so he would be home more. Why can't he work like the
man in the grocery store and come home every night at six?" But the four
Nixons can be sure of being together at breakfast every day, and even the demands
of the Vice Presidency allow a man to be a father on some evenings and week-
ends.
In addition to her role as home-maker in the Nixon private life, Pat Nixon has
had important duties as wife of the Vice President. She has accompanied him
on many of his good will trips abroad and has helped him represent America
to our friends abroad.
Pat Nixon has shared the triumphs of her husband's career, and she has shared
its trials. She was with him when he accepted the nomination for Vice Presi-
dent. She was in the car behind his when Communist mobs threatened their
lives in Caracas. She has managed the task of being at once a good mother and
homemaker and a good Second Lady. Pat Nixon is prepared in the event that the
duties of First Lady should ever fall upon her.
19
DICK NIXON
-
THE EISENHOWER-NIXON RECORD
Under Ike and Dick, working as a team, America has set new records
of peacetime economic progress, of relaxing international tensions, and
of projecting the ideals of progress under freedom throughout the world.
Americans of both parties have similar goals for progress in America;
but there is a sharp difference in their views about how these goals can
best be attained. Vice President Nixon stated that difference at Chicago
on January 27, 1960:
"We Republicans have unshakeable faith that the way to
achieve these goals is by the free choices of millions
of individual consumers, by the productive efforts of
free management and labor, and by local and state
action wherever possible -- supplemented when neces-
sary but not supplanted by the Federal Government.
"The philosophy of most of our opponents is just the
opposite. They claim that the road to progress has to
be paved with bigger government, more spending, and
higher tax bills for the people to pay. "
Seven years ago Eisenhower and Nixon applied their principles. The
period began with the biggest tax cut in history. As a result of this tax
reduction alone, about forty billion dollars have been spared by the Fed-
eral tax collector in the past seven years and have been available for
additional spending by the consumer and by State and local government.
The repid expansion of Federal spending was halted. If allowance is
made for price changes, Federal purchases of goods and services in
1960 will be at about the same level as they were in 1953.
Under these policies the flow of real goods and services to American
consumers expanded at a greatly accelerated rate, and at the same time
America's needs for homes, hospitals, schools, highways, and a great
variety of other public facilities and services were satisfied at a sharply
accelerated rate.
This more rapid progress resulted, for the most part, not from Federal
action but from allowing private initiative and state and local government
to do the job.
"The record proves that our faith in freedom is well placed. "
VICE PRESIDENT NIXON
20
MORE JOBS
Under Eisenhower and Nixon American industry has provided more jobs
for U.S. citizens than ever before. In 1959 there were 65.6 million
civilian jobs in the U.S. compared to 61. 0 million in 1952 and 57. 8
million in 1947.
Not only has the total number of jobs been higher; there have been more
jobs per thousand of population.
We want jobs to be available for the people who want them.
The best test of how well our economy is doing in providing
jobs is this: how many civilians were actually employed in
proportion to the size of the population?
Under Ike and Dick there have been an average of 536 em-
ployed persons per thousand of adult population.
Most of the other 464 people per thousand were young people
in school, housewives, and retired elderly people.
Under Ike and Dick U.S. non-farm industry has employed on
the average 482 persons per thousand of adults.
This is a higher percentage of the population than has ever
been employed before. Before the last World War only 397
U.S. adults per thousand were employed.
Even during the war, with all the activity involved in fighting,
there were only 430 jobs per thousand.
Here is a chart showing the progress toward more jobs in industry:
Civilian Employed Per Thousand of U.S. Adults 14 and Over
482
397
AMERICA INCREASED ITS NUMBER OF JOBS UNDER IKE & DICK
21
BETTER JOBS
While the increase in the number of jobs is an important measure of the
benefits of economic progress and growth, the mere number does not
reveal the fact that an important "upgrading" in the average job has been
taking place.
Few facts mean more in terms of human satisfaction than this upgrading
of jobs. The trend is largely the result of technological progress in
industry.
Since 1950, this trend has accelerated. Of the 16. 4 million jobs added in
the past nine years, 98% were in the five best paid major occupation groups.
This trend means that most people who took new jobs in the
period got jobs with better pay, more prestige and usually
greater job satisfaction.
This progress flows from what Mr. Nixon has called "the
productive efforts of free management and labor. 11
AND BETTER PAYING JOBS
The earnings of American workers are now at all-time record levels.
Not only are earnings at record levels in dollars, but also the worker can
buy more with his pay check than ever before.
Under Ike and Dick the real value of most workers' earnings has
gone up faster than under previous administrations. (The real
value is the dollar value adjusted for changes in the prices the
worker pays.)
Worker purchasing power has gone up, partly because prices
have been more nearly stable, and partly because big invest-
ments in capital equipment by industry have increased worker
productivity.
Compare the rate at which worker earning power has increased each year
under previous administrations with the more rapid rate of increase under
Ike and Dick:
Increase Per Year Under
Increase Per Year
Job Groups
Previous Administrations
Under Ike & Dick
Professional & Technical Workers
2.8%
3.5%
Managers, Officials & Proprietors
1.1%
4.0%
Clerical & Kindred Workers
2.0%
4.5%
Sales Workers
3.6%
4.2%
Craftsmen, Foremen & Kindred Workers
3.8%
5.0%
22
PRICES
The tragic inflation which has played havoc with values in the United States
since 1939 has been brought under control by Ike and Dick:
Ike and Dick have brought near-stability to our price system
after years of price madness, by following policies "based
on encouraging rather than stifling free enterprise."
Under these policies an economy such as ours will grow
rapidly and produce more, better, and better paying jobs,
and at the same time maintain reasonably stable prices.
Price stability is essential for maximum sound economic
growth in a free economy. Only when there is an outlook
for reasonably stable values can people who save invest
intelligently and with confidence.
It is chiefly this investment in more efficient tools and equip-
ment that increases worker productivity and makes higher pay
without inflation possible.
If the sound economic policies which the Vice President
supports are continued over the next ten years, we can
count on a continuation of reasonably stable prices
through the period.
But, if these policies are abandoned, as the Democrats
frankly promise to abandon them, we can be sure we will
have a repetition of the devastating inflation of the 1940s.
Contrast the record of consumer and wholesale price
increases under the Democrats (1939 to 1952) and
under Ike and Dick (1952 to 1959).
under
WHOLESALE
PRICES
CONSUMER
PRICES
Democrats
under
"Ike and Dick"
120%
93%
8.6% 8.7%
23
ECONOMIC GROWTH
People work in order to buy what they want. The principal purpose of
economic activity is to create and distribute goods and services to con-
sumers. In a free economy the decision as to what shall be produced
is made, not by central economic planners, but by "the free choices of
millions of individual consumers."
In the first five years under Eisenhower and Nixon and
their policies of "encouraging rather than stifling free
enterprise," the real volume of consumer purchases of
goods and services increased 60% faster than it had in
the last five years under the Democrats.
This means that the benefits of economic growth to
consumers was much greater under Eisenhower and
Nixon.
Here is the comparison of the average annual increase of consumer purchases
in billions of 1960 dollars for the two periods:
Last five years under Democrats
- $ 6.2
First five years under Ike and Dick
- $10.0
As might be expected, when the Federal Government takes a relatively
smaller share of our national production, the consumers get a relatively
larger share. And the reverse is also true. When, as under the
Democrats, Federal purchases of goods and services expand more
rapidly, the flow of goods and services to private consumers increases
less rapidly.
Here is the dramatic comparison of these two 5 year periods showing that:
Under the Democrats:
Federal buying went up
And consumer buying went
$9.1 billion per year.
up only $6.2 billion per year.
Whereas, Under the Republicans:
Federal buying in 1960 dollars
And, as a result, consumer
went up only $0.6 billion per year.
purchases of goods and
services rose $10.0 billion
per year.
WHEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TAKES MORE, PEOPLE GET LESS.
WHEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TAKES LESS, PEOPLE GET MORE.
24
CONSUMER GOODS AND SERVICES
The flow of consumer goods and services to Americans has increased both
under the Democratic and Republican administrations, but it increased 60%
faster under Eisenhower and Nixon than it had under Truman.
It might be supposed that consumer goods and services are desirable and
that a rapid increase in this flow would be a matter for pride. The Demo-
crats, however, who, as the Vice President has said, "claim that the road
to progress has to be paved with bigger government, more spending, and
higher tax bills" are embracing a curious new doctrine according to which
government outlays "have great growth producing, aesthetic, and spiritual
value - whereas, private spending is considered to be vulgar, materialistic,
and selfish. "
This is a transvaluation of values according to which, what
people want is not necessarily "good" or "goods." It implies
that the wise government economic planner (a Democrat) will
know better what is good for people than they know themselves.
He will better the consumer's lot by increasing Federal Gov-
ernment expenditures and, thus, supplying the consumer with
more of what the planner judges to be good for him.
This radical opinion received a big push from J. K. Galbraith,
who described modern America as "a world where increased
output satisfies the craving for more elegant automobiles,
more exotic food, more erotic clothing, more elaborate
entertainment indeed for the entire modern range of sensu-
ous, edifying, and lethal desires."
It is a congenial view to those who think America is a "second
rate power, " that Americans are "vulgar," and "materialistic,"
and are going "soft and flabby" in the face of virile communism.
It is also a congenial view to those who think a centrally planned
economy will be better than a free choice economy.
The facts, however, contradict this slanderous view. "The free choice of
millions of individual consumers" in this country has actually been direct-
ing our production to wiser and more beneficial channels, not more
foolish ones. "
In the years from 1952 to 1958 the average American consumer reduced
from 43. 6% to 39. 1% the share of his expenditures devoted to food and
clothing. He increased the share of his outlay devoted to such beneficial
objectives as owner occupied homes, medical services, privately financed
education and research and travel.
AMERICANS ARE NOT GOING SOFT AND FLABBY; A FREE CHOICE
ECONOMY ALLOCATES PRODUCTION MORE WISELY THAN A CENTRAL
ECONOMIC PLANNER COULD POSSIBLY DO.
25
HEALTH, EDUCATION, HOUSING, AND THE GENERAL WELFARE
Economic progress makes possible, in addition to a more adequate supply
of consumer goods, the realization of important national objectives such
as better health, better education, better housing, in which government
services and government facilities have a proper role.
As Vice President Nixon said, it is the "unshakeable faith" of Republicans
that the way to achieve these goals, which require government activity is
"by local and state action wherever possible. 11 He said the services of
local and state government should be "supplemented when necessary, but
not supplanted by the Federal Government."
Policies based on this Republican faith have been followed
during the Eisenhower-Nixon Administration. Total
Federal purchases of goods and services (measured in
dollars of constant purchasing power) have not been
expanded.
It is a fact of major importance that America made more
rapid progress toward its goals in the fields of health,
education, and housing under these policies than it had
under the Democrats when the real volume of Federal
purchases expanded rapidly.
Democratic critics of this Administration have been advocating increased
Federal spending (and taxes). They have justified the proposal on the
grounds that such expenditures are necessary to speed progress in the
fields where public services are admittedly important.
This argument simply ignores the facts: progress has
been greater when the Federal role didn't expand than
when it did.
Vice President Nixon said of our achievements:
"We can and should be proud of our record. And let me
serve notice right here and now that I intend to defend it
with all the strength at my command against those who
attack it. 11
He said, however, that "the very record which is our greatest strength
is potentially our greatest danger, "because there will be "a temptation
to stand pat on what we have done. " He said:
"We shall look upon our record, not as our ultimate
achievement, but as the solid foundation upon which
to build even greater accomplishments in the future. 11
This section documents, in part, the record of progress in the fields of
health, education, and housing under Eisenhower and Nixon. The next
section is devoted to how Vice President Nixon would build on this
foundation.
26
HEALTH
The chance of an American catching one of eight major killing and crippling
diseases has been literally cut in half during the relatively short period of
the Eisenhower-Nixon Administration.
The eight diseases are tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, malaria, typhoid,
meningococcal infections, diphtheria, undulant fever, and smallpox.
The incidence of these diseases, taken as a group, was reduced from
twelve in 10, 000 to six in 10, 000.
Federal expenditures for health research were raised to
record levels under Ike and Dick, and the war against
disease was greatly accelerated.
HOSPITALS AND DOCTORS
New hospitals have been built during the Eisenhower-Nixon Administration
at an all time record rate.
After allowing for changing costs, here is the comparison of the real
volume of total new hospital construction in millions of 1947-49 dollars
per year:
1939 - 45 Under Roosevelt
$157
1946 - 52
Under Truman
$528
1953 - 59
Under Ike & Dick
$580
The hospital building under Truman was predominantly publicly financed.
Under Ike and Dick it has been predominantly privately financed. Private
hospital construction in the seven years under Ike and Dick has been 83%
above the level of the preceding seven years under Truman.
During the Eisenhower-Nixon Administration new doctors
were graduated from medical schools at a rate of 6, 834
per year, 20% above the rate in the preceding five years.
AMERICA GOT THE MEN, THE KNOWLEDGE, AND THE FACILITIES
TO PROMOTE BETTER NATIONAL HEALTH UNDER IKE AND DICK
MORE RAPIDLY THAN EVER BEFORE
27
OTHER HEALTH FACILITIES
Water and sewage facilities are types of public investments which are
clearly essential to the public health and well-being.
Water facilities include source and purification facilities for community
water supplies and distribution systems. Sewer facilities include collecting
sewers and treatment works.
The value of contract awards for construction of water facilities in the last
four years under Eisenhower and Nixon (1955-1958 inclusive) was $1.7
billion compared to $0. 9 billion in the last four years under the Democrats
(1949-1952 inclusive). (Comparable information for the years 1946, 1947,
and 1948 is not available, hence the rates of construction for the full periods
under Truman and Eisenhower-Nixon can not be compared.)
After allowance is made for the rise in the average cost of
water facilities construction, the real volume of such con-
struction in the last four years under Eisenhower and Nixon
was 35% greater than in the comparable period under Truman.
Here is the comparison in millions of 1955 dollars:
Under Truman
$1, 177
Under Eisenhower-Nixon
1,595
Similarly, in the case of sewage facilities construction, contracts in the last
four years for which information is available under Ike and Dick had a value
of $2, 458 million, compared to $1, 377 million in the last four years under
Truman.
After allowance is made for rising costs in this case, the
real volume of construction of sewage facilities during
the last four years of the Eisenhower-Nixon Administra-
tion is 32% higher than under Truman.
Here is the comparison
Under Truman
$1,734
Under Eisenhower-Nixon
2,282
IN THE CASE OF WATER AND SEWAGE FACILITIES, AS WITH HOSPITALS,
MORE RAPID PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN SATISFYING THE NATIONS'
NEEDS DURING THE EISENHOWER-NIXON ADMINISTRATION THAN
UNDER THE PRECEDING DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION
28
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
School rooms built during the eight years of the Eisenhower-Nixon Admin-
istration will accommodate about 15 million children.
This is upwards of three times the 5.5 million children that can be accommo-
dated by classrooms built during the preceding eight years under Harry S.
Truman.
A serious backlog of need for new educational construction was
accumulated during the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Administration,
when the annual construction of new classrooms averaged only
11, 870 for twelve years.
This situation was not much improved under Harry Truman.
The 23, 500 classrooms built per year in the eight years under
Truman brought the average for twenty years of Democrat
administration to only 16, 525 classrooms per year.
Under Eisenhower and Nixon more than half a million new classrooms will
be built. The average annual construction will be 62, 700 classrooms.
The graphic comparison is: (classrooms built per year)
Under Democrats (20 years)
16, 525
Under Republicans (8 years)
62,700
Thus, under Eisenhower and Nixon there was an outstanding job of catching
up with the need for educational facilities which had accumulated during the
Democratic administrations.
The 30% increase in classrooms between 1954 and 1959 compares with a
20% increase in pupil enrollment in the same period.
As a result, the average number of pupils per classroom, which was 30. 6
in 1954 was reduced to 28. 1 in 1959.
America spent a much bigger share of its resources on education during the
Eisenhower-Nixon Administration than it had under previous administrations.
In 1958 total U.S. educational expenditures reached $19. 8 billion. This was
4. 6% of U.S. gross national product, compared to 3. 3% in 1952. From 1932
to 1952 under the Democrats educational expenditures averaged 3.0% of
gross national product.
EDUCATIONAL CONSTRUCTION WAS NEGLECTED UNDER THE
DEMOCRATS; THE RESULTING BACKLOG OF NEED HAS BEEN
LARGELY CAUGHT UP UNDER EISENHOWER AND NIXON
29
EDUCATION - TEACHERS
To accomplish the nation's objectives of a better education for our children,
requires an adequate number of adequately paid instructional staff as well
as classrooms.
From 1952 to 1958 the number of teachers in public schools rose from
963, 000 to 1, 240, 000. This was a 29% increase in the number of public
school teachers. It contrasts with the increase of 16% from 1946 to 1952
under the Truman Administration.
As a result the average number of enrolled public school
children per teacher declined from 30. 1 in 1952 to 28. 1
in 1958.
It had risen from 28. in 1946 to 30. 1 in 1952 under the
Democrats.
Thus, to the extent that better education for our children is possible, when
the teacher's time must be divided among fewer children the nation slipped
backward in the Truman years, but has moved forward and recovered that
loss during the Eisenhower-Nixon Administration.
Teachers' pay has also improved in relation to earnings in other employ-
ment during the Eisenhower-Nixon years.
In the years 1940 to 1942 the average annual salaries of public school
instructional staff personnel was about equal to the national average for
all full-time employment.
In the 1952-53 school year this relation was still true.
In the 1957-58 school year, however, the average public school salary at
$4, 650 was 9% above the national average earnings.
During the Eisenhower-Nixon years public school salaries
rose 31% compared to a 22% increase for the average of
all full-time workers.
These figures do not, of course, indicate that U.S. public
school teachers are adequately paid in relation to the im-
portance of their job of educating our youth, but the figures
do demonstrate that the compensation of teachers in relation
to that of other employment scored a marked improvement
in the Eisenhower-Nixon years after not doing so under the
preceding Democratic administrations.
THE NUMBER AND COMPENSATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS
IMPROVED DURING THE EISENHOWER-NIXON YEARS AFTER
FAILING TO DO SO UNDER THE PRECEDING DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATIONS
30
SOCIAL INSURANCE AND WELFARE
During the Eisenhower-Nixon years the "pit of personal disaster" has been
bridged over to a greater extent for more and more citizens.
In June, 1959, more than 13 million citizens were receiving Old-Age,
Survivors, and Disability Insurance benefits.
The percent of the nation's aged, sixty-five years of age and older,
eligible for benefits had risen to 71.6% from 42.2% in 1952 as the program
matures.
Total monthly benefits in 1959 were above $800 million.
The average monthly benefit for a retired worker under
the system in October, 1959, was $72.64, compared to
$49.25 in 1952.
After allowing for the 10% rise in consumer prices,
which occurred in the period, the purchasing power of
the average benefit check showed an increase of one-
third.
For those whose needs were not met by insurance programs there was aid
through public assistance.
The number of persons receiving old age assistance declined in the period
by 9% to 2, 401, 000. The number of beneficiaries under the programs of
aid to dependent children, aid to the blind, and aid to the permanently and
totally disabled showed increases.
The average monthly public assistance payment under the
old age assistance program was $65.64 in October, 1959,
compared with $50.90 in 1952.
Allowing for the increase in the cost of living, the purchas-
ing power of the average old age assistance check rose 17% in
the period.
AMERICA TOOK INCREASINGLY BETTER CARE OF ITS AGED AND INFIRM
DURING THE EISENHOWER-NIXON YEARS
31
HIGHWAYS
The nation's investment in its highway system in 1958 amounted to $5. 4
billion. This reflected an increase of $2.6 billion from the $2. 8 billion
level recorded in 1952.
Even after allowing for a modest increase in average highway construction
costs, the real volume of new building was up 85% in these years.
Under the Eisenhower-Nixon Administration the 41, 000 mile
Interstate System of freeways was undertaken.
Work on 10, 131 miles of this system (or 25% of the system)
has been initiated. 5, 800 miles of highway in the system
has been completed (14%).
Few aspects are more typical of the American way of life than the indi-
vidual mobility made possible by the private automobile in combination
with a good highway system.
The interstate system proposed and undertaken under this administration
introduces a new concept of long-range travel by private automobile.
UNDER EISENHOWER AND NIXON INVESTMENT IN NEW, IMPROVED
PUBLIC HIGHWAYS WENT FORWARD IN AMERICA AT ABOUT
TWICE THE RATE UNDER TRUMAN
32
HOUSING
During the Eisenhower-Nixon years from 1953 to 1959 the nation's home
building industry has been satisfying our needs for new homes at an all- - time
record rate.
The 8, 149, 200 privately financed homes built in the years from 1953 to 1959,
inclusive, are 19% above the 6, 851, 200 units started in the preceding seven
years.
A very large backlog of need for new housing had built up in America in the
Roosevelt years, when only about 2.4 houses were built per year for each
hundred of population.
In the post war period under Truman, progress was made in satisfying this
need when new housing starts rose to an average of 6.8 per hundred of popula-
tion per year.
During the Eisenhower-Nixon years, however, an even higher rate of 7. 1 per
hundred of population has been maintained, in spite of the fact that the
emergency post-war needs had been partly satisfied.
The graphic record of the rate of new home building under the
Democratic administrations and under Eisenhower and Nixon
is provided below in units per thousand of population.
Years
Administration
Housing Starts Per Thousand of Population
33-40
Roosevelt
25
41-45
Roosevelt
23
46-52
Truman
68
53-59
Ike and Dick
71
1959
Ike and Dick
74
The 1959 rate of starts is the equivalent of a new home for
each American family every 38 years.
In addition to the fact that the housing industry built 19% more houses in the
Eisenhower-Nixon years, they were bigger and better houses. They were,
on the average, worth 18% more than the Truman homes. In 1954 dollars
they averaged $13, 900 compared to $11,800 for the earlier construction.
AMERICA GOT MORE AND BETTER HOUSES DURING THE EISENHOWER-
NIXON YEARS THAN UNDER THE PRECEDING DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATIONS
33
FARMERS
The average income (from all sources) of persons on farms in the United
States has been $949 per year during the Eisenhower-Nixon Administration.
This is 8% above the average for the preceding seven years under Truman.
Nevertheless, farm income has not risen as strongly as
non-farm income in recent years. In 1959 it was down
from the relatively high level of 1958.
Programs initiated by Democrats to support the price
of some farm products have stimulated production out
of relation to demand. The result has been huge,
costly, government-owned surpluses and a depressing
influence on prices in spite of the expensive govern-
ment conducted price support activities.
The truly remarkable gains in production per acre of
all major crops in recent years has been evidence of
the resourcefulness and efficiency of our farm popula-
tion, but under the unwise farm programs legislated
by Democratic administrations it has led to high gov-
ernment expenditures with little or no corresponding
benefit to farmers.
In spite of the adverse effects of these programs on farm income during the
recent years of peaceful growth, the farmer's purchasing power over the
long term has performed well in relation to the purchasing power of the
non-farmer.
For example, in 1958, the purchasing power of the income of the average
person living on farms was 83% over the pre-war level of 1935-39, whereas,
the average purchasing power of the non-farm population was only 69% above
the same base period.
IN THE LONG PULL FARMERS HAVE ENJOYED AS MUCH OR MORE
ECONOMIC PROGRESS AS NON-FARMERS IN SPITE OF THE PRICE
DEPRESSING EFFECTS OF ILL-CONCEIVED DEMOCRATIC FARM PROGRAMS
34
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The free world has grown stronger during the Eisenhower-Nixon Administration.
The threat of world domination by Communism has been gradually diminished,
although it is still substantial.
There was a period following World War II, when this Country had
substantially disarmed, during which western Europe was exposed
to an extreme danger of being overrun by Russia.
Now the likelihood of Russian military aggression is
greatly lessened.
During that early period Communism expanded on many fronts.
Hundreds of millions of people in many parts of the world came
under the Communist yoke.
Now this expansion of Comunist power has been halted.
In that postwar period many free countries had powerful Communist
parties with open international affiliations and sympathies. There
was a critical danger that these countries would fall to Communism
by subversion.
Now this danger is greatly reduced.
Even in America there were people who listened with interest to
Socialist and Communist theories.
Now few Americans see any merit whatever in such
proposals.
Even in Russia there have been changes that diminish the threat of
armed aggression. The terror has been rejected (temporarily at
least) as an instrument of government. The "iron curtain" has
been partly drawn aside. Some increased attention is being given
in Russia to consumer goods production. Russian threats have
become less blatant; it now protests it wants disarmament and
peace.
These are improvements over the Stalin era.
There is less solidarity among Communist block nations than there has
been in the past. There is less friendliness for Communism among
the uncommitted nations.
THE WORLD DRIFT TOWARD COMMUNISM HAS BEEN STOPPED UNDER
IKE AND DICK
THE AFFIRMATION OF THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD FOR FREEDOM
IS MORE CLEARLY HEARD
35
NATIONAL SECURITY
The military strength of America and of the free world is now at an all time
record peak. This peak of strength has been achieved under Eisenhower and
Nixon.
On January 27, 1960, speaking of effective free world defense, President
Eisenhower said:
The real test is to provide security in a way that effectively
deters aggression and does not itself weaken the values and
institutions we seek to defend.
"Because of our insistence upon adequacy and efficiency
our country is, over all, the strongest power on earth, both
militarily and economically. "
General Nathan F. Twining, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and former Air
Force Chief of Staff, testified on February 1, 1960:
"I believe the United States is the strongest nation in the
world and will remain the strongest nation in the world. "
And Secretary of Defense Thomas S. Gates, Jr., said:
"There is no deterrent gap. 11
It is important to keep in mind in this connection that a national expenditure
for a deterrent greater than necessary is wasteful. It weakens rather than
strengthens our position.
President Eisenhower emphasized this point on February 4, 1960. He said:
"What you want is enough - a thing that is adequate. A deterrent
has no added power once it has become completely adequate. "
Democratic spokesmen, hardpressed for an "issue," have professed to think
that America is a "second class power. " On January 27, 1960, Vice Presi-
dent Nixon said:
"Questions have been raised as to whether we have
sufficient
strength
to deter any potential aggressor. 11
"We need constant reexamination and constructive criticism of
our defense posture But constructive criticism is one thing;
making America appear weaker than she is to potential ag-
gressors is another. It is time to quit selling America short.
"No aggressor in the world today can knock out the deterrent
striking power of the United States and its allies. This is the
case today and it will continue to be so in the future. "
"We know this. Our political critics should know it; and, what
is most important, Mr. Khrushchev knows it. "
36
MISSILES
The free world arsenal contains an operational Intercontinental Ballistic
Missile (ICBM), operational Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs),
and, altogether, twenty types of missiles in operational status.
These missiles were developed almost entirely under Eisenhower and Nixon.
Very little was done to develop such weapons under prior administrations.
A good measure of the size of the effort made is the amount of
money provided for missiles of all types.
(millions of dollars per government fiscal year)
Years
Amount
Administration
Before 1951
$
60
Democratic
1951 - 1953
1,000
1954 - 1960
3,000
Republican
1961
7,000
Funds programmed for ICBMs actually declined to nothing
under President Truman.
Before 1947
$1,950,000
1948
270,000
1949
100,000
1950
0
The development of this important weapon was neglected in
spite of the fact that Truman's Presidential Air Policy
Commission advised him on January 1, 1948:
"
other nations may well be even with or ahead
of us now. Research in these areas must be given
the highest priority."
This neglect under the Democrats is the chief reason we are behind the
U.S.S.R. in the development of big rocket engines:
"The main reason is that the U.S. had no ballistic missile
program worth mentioning between 1945 and 1951. 11
Werner Von Braun, November 10, 1957.
37
Missiles (cont.)
According to Lt. Gen. B. A. Schriever "we are behind the U.S.S. R. in
developing a propulsive force" because "we have been working hard on
the problem of achieving tremendous thrust only 1/3 of the time spent
by the U.S.S.R. on these matters.' " But "we have made substantial
progress" and lack of the big rocket engines "does not affect our mili-
tary power.
We could devastate the Communist world by bomber, or
by IRBMs, or by ICBMs
by any one of these means or by a combina-
tion of them. "
AMERICA AND THE FREE WORLD HAVE MISSILES BECAUSE OF THE
EFFORT UNDER EISENHOWER AND NIXON
38
SPACE
The most important discoveries of the space age have been made by American
Scientists.
These discoveries have been made as a result of space programs under
Eisenhower and Nixon.
Here is a list of Made-in-America firsts:
First to find and measure the Van Allen radiation belts.
First to measure the extent of the earth's magnetic field.
First to photograph the earth from 300 miles in space.
First to discover the pear shape of the earth.
First to observe hydromagnetic oscillations of the earth's
magnetic field.
First to measure the density of micrometeors in interplanetary space.
First to recover an object intact from space.
First with fully stabilized space flight (all three axes).
First to orbit a communications satellite.
We have put fourteen satellites in orbit compared to three for the USSR.
We have pioneered in space exploration in spite of the fact that we do not
have booster rockets as powerful as the USSR. How is that possible?
- Because we have developed more sophisticated, smaller
instruments for use in satellites than have the Russians.
- And because we have put up more satellites with different
instruments, different orbits, and different objectives.
Why don't we have booster rockets as big as the Russians do?
Chiefly because the Democrats neglected development work on
rocket motors when they were in power. (See "Missiles" page
THE EISENHOWER-NIXON ADMINISTRATION GOT THINGS DONE
IN SPACE AS WELL AS AT HOME AND ABROAD
39
DICK NIXON
-
HIS IDEAS
What Vice President Nixon thinks on virtually every public issue is on the
record for all to see. His statements are characteristically direct. Some-
times they are blunt. They speak volumes about his basic principles - about
the way he works and the conclusions he has reached.
From a sampling of such statements, probably better than in any other way,
the direction of Dick Nixon's thinking on important issues can be observed,
and a feeling for the way he would tackle the nation's problems can be
obtained.
Such a sampling is provided here:
FREEDOM
Nixon's deepest convictions center around the importance and worth of
human freedom. Freedom, he believes, is made possible by law. In a
constitutional republic such as ours, the constitution is the charter of our
rights. The constitution makes possible a government of laws (rather than
of men) and "Law makes freedom possible. 11
The climate of political freedom under law makes possible national growth
and the realization of individual aspirations. Our major goal for ourselves
is not economic growth in itself, but the spiritual and cultural objectives
which we can attain because of technological and economic progress and
increasing leisure. As Dick Nixon put it:
"I believe that we should plan so that leisure time can be used
not just for what is really the opiate of the people in the United
States - television in its present form - but for developing the
tremendous cultural possibilities - in the arts, music,
literature - which are possible when our people have the burden
of toil lifted from them."
DICK NIXON UNDERSTANDS HOW LAW CREATES FREEDOM IN A REPUBLIC
40
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE
Within the framework of liberty under law, Dick says, the benefits of
economic progress will generally be greatest if economic development
is left largely to private initiative:
"I firmly believe that private enterprise, generally,
while not sacrosanct, is more efficient, more pro-
ductive, and more desirable than government enter-
prise in assuring economic progress and providing for
the needs of the people. And I believe the government
should give more attention, more emphasis, to pro-
viding increased opportunities for our citizens than
increased security. On that score I believe the gov-
ernment has certain real responsibilities to protect
the people against the hazards of old age, unemploy-
ment, sickness, and ill-health. But that should not
be its major function. To provide adequately for all,
including those who are not able to care for their own
needs, we must have a strong productive and growing
economy. We cannot simply stand still and cut up the
pie into constantly smaller pieces. That is why we
must put our primary emphasis on providing oppor-
tunities - on promoting enterprise, growth, and a
maximum contribution by each individual. "
DICK NIXON WOULD UTILIZE THE DYNAMIC FORCE OF FREE ENTERPRISE
IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF ALL
41
THE FUTURE OF FREEDOM
We have ample evidence of the productivity for good of such a political and
economic system in the fact of American leadership, both in the develop-
ment of democratic institutions and in economic development.
We should understand our own institutions, preserve them and demonstrate
them to the rest of the world. We must not abandon them for the ways of
socialism merely because another system with an inrerior record claims
sup eriority.
Freedom will survive in the world only if we demonstrate that it is, in fact,
superior in its capacity to satisfy man's material and spiritual needs.
"Unless the system in which you have political freedom proves
that it is the most effective in bringing about economic progress,
Communism is going to gain increasing adherents throughout the
world
I would like for us to speak less of the threat of Com-
munism and more of the promise of freedom. We should adopt
as our primary objective not the defeat of Communism but the
victory of plenty over want, of health over disease, of freedom
over tyranny."
THE FEDERAL BUDGET
Government should so manage its financial affairs that it will have a balanced
budget, but the budget should be balanced over a term of years rather than in
each year.
"I am not rigid with regard to the balanced budget in this sense:
I think we should approach the budget problems on a five year
basis rather than being bound to one year. There are some
years - a recession year, for example, or one where you have
a great international crisis - when we all know that it is inevitable
and necessary for the budget to be unbalanced. There are other
years when we can have surpluses to make up the over-all deficits. "
DICK NIXON UNDERSTANDS HOW TO MAXIMIZE THE BENEFITS OF OUR
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS AND HOW TO DEMONSTRATE THEM
TO OTHERS
42
POLITICS
Dick Nixon is an exceptionally successful practitioner of "politics" under
our system.
He understands that a free self-government is no stronger than the "politics"
which preserve it. Accordingly, his views on politics and politicians are
especially important.
A man, he says, must be a politician before he can be a statesman.
"Politicians are, in the main, honorable, above average in
their intellectual equipment, and effective in getting action
on problems that less practical people only talk or write
about. An individual has to be a politician before he can be
a statesman."
And on the qualities that make for a successful political leader, he says:
"Political success comes from a combination of hard work and
breaks. But unless you have the guts to take chances when the
breaks come your way, and the determination and stamina to
work hard, you will never amount to much more than a political
hack and a perennial 'also ran' in your political career."
The political leader's job he describes like this:
"The political leader is important. Whether Republican or
Democrat, it is his responsibility when running for office to
study the issues, to determine what he believes to be in the
best interests of the country, and then to take strong positions
and to try to win the people over to his point of view. If
leaders do not do that, the country will drift in its policies into
following mass thinking that will represent in some instances
the lowest common denominator. Considering the great
problems that we face in the world, that is inadequate. Our
decisions must represent not the lowest common denominator
but the best thinking that America can produce. I don't think
that you can lead from a position of vacillation. If you are
going to lead, you've got to decide in advance whether the
issue is one that you feel is worth fighting about. If it isn't,
then you take no position at all. But if it is worth fighting
about, you've got to take a clear-cut position and get all of
the advantage that comes from being out in front. "
DICK NIXON UNDERSTANDS POLITICS AND THE ROLE OF POLITICS
IN PRESERVING A FREE SOCIETY
43
REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS - THE DIFFERENCE
The goals at which Americans of both political parties aim are similar, but
there is a crucial difference in the way the members of the two parties
seek to achieve them. The Vice President stated this essential difference
like this:
"We Republicans have unshakeable faith that the way to achieve
these goals is by the free choices of millions of individual con-
sumers, by the productive efforts of free management and
labor, and by local and state action where possible -- supple-
mented when necessary but not supplanted by the Federal
Government.
"The philosophy of most of our opponents is just the opposite.
They claim that the road to progress has to be paved with
bigger government, more spending, and higher tax bills for
the people to pay. 11
THE RECORD AS PROOF
The record proves that our faith in freedom is well placed.
Economic policies based on encouraging, rather than stifling
free enterprise get results -- they work.
"Because, the fact is that for twenty years Democratic Ad-
ministrations promised to give the American people the
economic abundance and prosperity that the people, stimu-
lated by seven years of Republican faith-in-freedom, have
in great measure now achieved for themselves. And as
long as they are left free of arbitrary controls, the
American people will continue to achieve greater and
greater abundance with fair shares for everyone."
AND AS A FOUNDATION
"We can and should be proud of our record. And let me serve
notice right here and now that I intend to defend it with all the
strength at my command against those who attack it. But, we
shall look upon our record not as our ultimate achievement
but as the solid foundation upon which to build even greater
accomplishments in the future.
No Administration in our history has more reason to be proud
of its record in domestic affairs, but we see exciting challenges
in those domestic problems that remain unsolved. "
DICK NIXON REGARDS THE EISENHOWER-NIXON RECORD AS A SOLID
FOUNDATION UPON WHICH TO BUILD
44
NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN POLICY
"There is no part of our record of which we are more proud than in the area
of national security and the conduct of foreign policy. But we know that
the challenge which confronts us continues to be massive in character.
'Militarily our objective must be to maintain sufficient strength not for
purposes of attack but to deter any potential aggressor.
"We need constant examination and constructive criticism of our defense
posture, pointing up our weaknesses where they exist. But constructive
criticism is one thing; making America appear weaker than she is to poten-
tial aggressors is another. It is time to quit selling America short. We
are not a second-rate country, with second-rate military strength and a
second-rate economy.
"What should our policy in the future be? Because we are living in an age of
rapid technological advances in military science, we must submit our na-
tional security programs to a searching, month-to-month reexamination in
the light of any new technological developments and of our best current
estimates of the military capabilities of any potential aggressor. On the
basis of these appraisals we must make such readjustments as are necessary
to keep our deterrent power at adequate levels.
"Let's get these facts straight right here and now. No aggressor in the world
today can knock out the deterrent striking power of the United States and its
allies. This is the case today and it will continue to be so in the future. We
know this, our political critics should know it -- and what is most important,
Mr. Khrushchev knows it.
"But the maintenance of military strength adequate to deter aggression, while
absolutely essential for our survival, does not by itself meet the responsibili-
ties of world leadership which are ours.
"We must continue to follow the President's leadership in his willingness to
discuss our differences at the conference table whenever there is a prospect
for success; in his search for an effective formula under which we could
reduce the burden of armaments and discontinue testing of even more destruc-
tive nuclear weapons; and in his steadfast devotion to the principle that the
United States must take the leadership in substituting the rule of law for the
rule of force as a method of settling disputes between nations. "
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OF OUR DEFENSE POSTURE IS A NATIONAL
SERVICE: DETRACTING FROM OUR REAL STRENGTH, A DISSERVICE
45
"Above all, we must recognize that the greatest danger we face is in the
non-military rather than the military area. Millions of Americans heard
Mr. Khrushchev on his recent visit to this country lay down his blunt
challenge for peaceful competition between the Communist and the Free
World.
"Can we win in this competition? The answer is -- yes, if we recognize
some basic factors.
"We must avoid at all costs any over-confidence just because the Communist
idea is repugnant to us or because of our belief that the Communist system
has built-in weaknesses which will eventually bring about its downfall.
"We must always remember that a totalitarian system, in the short run,
can concentrate immense power on chosen objectives; that the Russian
people are working long and hard under the driving direction of fanatically
dedicated leaders who are motivated by but a single objective -- the com-
munization of the world; that the leaders as well as the people have a
highly-developed competitive spirit and that they have the advantage of
anyone who is running behind in a race -- the stimulus of trying to catch
up and pass the front runner.
"We can win in this competition, in other words, if we recognize their
strength and if we work harder, believe more deeply, and are motivated
by an even stronger competitive spirit than theirs.
*
*
*
*
"To put it simply, they offer progress at the cost of freedom. Our alterna-
tive is progress with freedom -- and, in fact, progress because of freedom.
*
*
*
*
"Let our mission in the world today be to extend to all mankind not just the
ideal but the fact of freedom -- by preserving and protecting and defending
it, by helping others achieve it, by offering our own example of a free
society at work.
This mission is not new. It is the heart of the American idea that goes
back to the very foundation of this free Republic. It is the essence of the
crusade launched here seven years ago and we can be proud that
our great President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, is its living symbol in
America and throughout the world."
AMERICA'S LONG STANDING MISSION: TO DEMONSTRATE THE FRUITS
OF A FREE SOCIETY TO THE WORLD AND TO ASSIST OTHERS TO
REALIZE PROGRESS IN FREEDOM
46
EDUCATION
" We believe that overall the American educational system is the best in the
world. But inadequate classrooms, underpaid teachers and flabby standards
are weaknesses we must constantly strive to eliminate, always recognizing
in the remedies we recommend that any Federal education program must
not infringe upon State and local responsibility for and control of our school
system. "
CIVIL RIGHTS
11 We are proud that there has been more progress in the seven years of this
Administration in the field of civil rights than in any Administration since
Lincoln's, but we shall continue to work for constructive programs which
will assure progress toward our goal of equality of opportunity for all
Americans.
11
AGRICULTURE
" We are thankful that American agriculture is the most productive in the
world and that our problem is one of surpluses rather than scarcity. But
we believe there is no higher legislative priority than a complete over-
hauling of obsolete farm programs under which the prices farmers receive
for major farm products continue to go down and the costs ot the taxpayer
continue to go up."
JOBS
" The fact that there are more jobs at higher wages available to Americans
than at any time in history does not weaken our determination to develop
effective programs in which areas of chronic unemployment can be restored
to healthy, productive units of our economy."
SOCIAL SECURITY
" The fact that as a result of our policies twelve million more Americans are
covered by Social Security and that benefits are almost 50% higher than was
the case seven years ago does not in any way slow down our drive to find
ever more adequate methods for protecting the aged, the unemployed and
the disabled. "
LABOR
11 And the fact that the American ecomomy has never been more productive
than it is today only encourages us to find more effective methods to deal
with disputes between labor and management so that the public interest
may be more adequately protected but without controls which would stifle
the productivity of our free enterprise system."
ALTHOUGH PROGRESS HAS BEEN UNPARALLELED UNDER THE
EISENHOWER-NIXON ADMINISTRATION, THERE ARE UNSOLVED
DOMESTIC PROBLEMS THAT PRESENT AN EXCITING CHALLENGE
47
DICK NIXON, THE CAMPAIGNER - 1946 ELECTION RESULTS
The remarkable ability of Dick Nixon to win public support in a campaign is
documented dramatically by the election results.
Dick's first election contest was in the primary in the 12th Congressional
District of California in June, 1946. Since both candidates were filed for
both the Republican and Democrat primary ticket (under California's cross-
filing law), Dick's first task was to win the Republican nomination. This he
did by about two to one.
Here is the way the vote divided in the primary:
Ticket
Nixon
Voorhis
Other
Republican
24,397
12,125
1,532
Democratic
5,077
25,048
Total Primary 29,474
37,173
1,532
The results in the general election were these:
General election
65,586
49,994
Net Gain
36,112
12,821
The comparison of the total primary vote with the vote in the general elections
that year indicates that Dick Nixon gained about three votes, net, for every
vote gained by the incumbent, Voorhis.
Dick Nixon had won only 44% of the popular vote in the primaries. His re-
markable gain gave him 58% of the popular vote in the general election.
Since the registration in the Twelfth District at that time was about evenly
divided between Republicans and Democrats, it is evident that Dick Nixon's
campaign won him heavy support from Democrats, although his initial sup-
port from the opposition party had been much smaller than that enjoyed by
the incumbent.
IN HIS FIRST CAMPAIGN DICK WON SUPPORT FROM MEMBERS OF BOTH
PARTIES
48
ELECTION RESULTS IN 1948
After his first two years in Congress, Dick's popularity was so great in his
District that he had no opposition on the Republican side in the primaries.
Nevertheless, he polled 42, 509 votes, nearly 6, 000 votes more than the total
Republican vote in the 1946 primaries.
In addition he won the Democratic nomination with 4, 603 votes to spare.
Thus, he was "elected" in the primary by being nominated by both parties.
Here are the results of that primary election:
Primary
Nixon
Zetterberg
Porter
Republican
42,509
--
--
Democrat
21,411
16,808
As these figures show, Dick Nixon won, not only a plurality, but a majority
of the Democratic primary votes.
49
ELECTION RESULTS IN 1950
In 1950 Dick Nixon ran for the United States Senate seat being vacated by
Senator Sheridan Downey.
California then had twenty-three Congressional Districts and 5, 007, 017
registered voters. Of these voters 3, 062, 205 were Democrats and 1, 944, 812
were Republicans.
It is evident that the young Congressman was up against a new problem with a
registration of three to two against his party. Nevertheless, he won that race
by a margin of 680, 847 out of 3.7 million votes cast.
The results of that election were:
Nixon
Douglas
Other
General Election 2, 183, 454
1, 502, 507
354
It is apparent from the foregoing election results that Dick Nixon was able to
win the support of Democrats in very large numbers in his state-wide campaign
very much as he had been able to do in his home Congressional District. Only
on this assumption can his margin of victory be explained in a State where the
registration was three to two Democratic.
His total vote of 2.1 2 million actually exceeded the total Republican registration
of 1. 9 million.
It is possible to estimate with a high degree of probability that Dick Nixon won
about 800, 000 Democratic votes in this election. If we assume that the turn
out for both parties was 74% and that Nixon got 90% of the Republican vote,
there would be 880, 000 Independent and Democrat votes required to make up
the total actually polled.
This would imply that one California Democrat voted for Dick Nixon in 1950
for every two that voted for Douglas.
IN HIS SENATE CAMPAIGN DICK NIXON WON EXTENSIVE SUPPORT FROM
MEMBERS OF BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES
50
ELECTION RESULTS IN 1952 AND 1956
In these years Dick Nixon campaigned nation-wide on the Eisenhower-Nixon
ticket.
While no strict inference is possible about the relative contribution of the
nominee for Vice President to this successful ticket, it is a matter of record
that Dick Nixon was favored by Eisenhower in the first instance in part because
of his remarkable record as a successful campaigner. It is also of record that
important campaign assignments were given to the Vice President.
The results of these elections demonstrate that the Eisenhower-Nixon team did
campaign effectively and successfully. These results are summarized below:
Year
Eisenhower-Nixon
Stevenson
1952
33,779,000 - 54.9%
27,315,000 - 45.1%
1956
35,581,000 - 57.4%
25,739,000 - 42.6%
In 1952 Eisenhower and Nixon carried thirty-nine states and won with an
electoral vote of 442 to eighty-nine; in 1956 they carried forty-one states
and their electoral vote was 457 to seventy-three for the Democrats.
DICK NIXON HAS RECEIVED SUPPORT FROM MEMBERS OF BOTH PARTIES
WHEN CAMPAIGNING AT LOCAL, STATE, AND NATIONAL LEVELS
51
AWARDS
U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce, one of America's ten Outstanding Young
Men of the Year during 1947.
Lincoln Club Award (1951)
Junior Chamber of Commerce International, Seventh World Congress, Special
Award (1953)
Freedoms Foundation Award (1953)
The Military Order of the Purple Heart, citation for "his valiant and unending
fight against Communism" (1953)
Whittier College Alumni Association Award (1954)
Twelfth World's Christian Endeavor Convention's Distinguished Service Citation
(1954); also the International Society of Christian Endeavor, the Eighth
International Youth's Distinguished Service Citation (1959)
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Bernard Baruch Distinguished
Service Medal (1954); also Loyalty Day Award of the Veterans of Foreigh Wars,
Department of District of Columbia (1957)
The Military Chaplains Association of the United States of America, Annual
National Award (1955)
Chicago Southside Community Center, Inc., Award (1956)
Women's National Republican Club of New York City, Distinguished Political
Service Award (1958)
Junior Achievement, Inc., First Honorary Member (1958)
Lions International, Membership Award (1958)
AMVETS Memorial Scholarship Winners of 1958 Commendation (1958)
The National Secretaries Association, 1958 International Award (1958)
Methodist and Episcopal Baptist Convention of Illinois Award (1959)
Football Writers Association of America, Citation of Honor (1959)
The Polish Alliance Polish Medal of Honor (1959)
Patriotism Award, Notre Dame University (1960)
HONORARY DEGREES
Bethany College, LL. D. (1957)
Bradley University, LL. D. (1951)
Defiance College, LL. D. (1957)
De Pauw University, LL. D. (1957)
Fordham University, LL. D. (1959)
Lafayette College, LL. D. (1956)
Lowell Technological Institute, D.Sc. (1954)
Michigan State University, LL. D (1957)
San Diego, University of, LL. D. (1959)
Temple University, D.H.L. (1955)
Thiel College, D.H.L. (1959)
Whittier College, LL. D. (1954)
Wilberforce University, Doctor of Humanities (1957)
Yeshiva University, LL. D. (1957)
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HONORARY MEMBERSHIPS
Allied Youth, Inc.
American National Red Cross, Whittier Chapter
Bar Association of San Francisco
Boy Scouts of America National Council
Boy's Club Metropolitan Police, Washington, D. C.
Eighth Armored Division Association
Francia Boys Club
International Association of Fire Fighters
Kiwanis Club, La Habra
Lafayette College Alumni Association
Lions International
Los Angeles Press Club
Los Angeles World Affairs Council
Maine State Fair Association
National Celebrities "400 Set"
National Rifle Association
National Sheriff's Association
Neighbors of the Round Table
Old Guard City of Philadelphia
Pawnee Tribe of Indians
Petroleum Club of Fort Worth
Phi Mu Alpha Fraternity
Pi Sigma Alpha, Whittier College
Rotary Club of Whittier
South Queensbury Volunteer Fire Company
Touchdown Club of Washington, D. C.
Union League Club of New York
United States Olympians
University Club of New York
University Club of Washington, D. C.
Variety Club of Greater Miami
Veterans Association of Federal Employees, Inc.
Whittier Bar Association
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MEMBERSHIPS - CHURCH
East Whittier Friends Church of Whittier, California
Westmoreland Congregational Church, Washington, D. C.
MEMBERSHIPS - PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL
American Academy of Political and Social Science
American Bar Association
American Legion, Post No 51, Whittier, California
Bohemian Club, San Francisco
California State Bar
California State Society
Commonwealth Club of San Francisco
Duke University Law School Alumni Association
Junior Chamber of Commerce International
Military Order of the World Wars
National Geographic Society
National Press Club
Native Sons of the Golden West
Naval Order of the United States
Omicron Delta Kappa Society, Duke University
Orthogonian Society, Whittier College
Pacific Coast Displaced Persons
Reserve Officers Association of the United States
Silver Dollar Club
Theodore Roosevelt Association
University Club of Whittier
Variety Club of Washington, D. C.
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Whittier
Volunteers of America; Board of Directors
Whittier Area Chamber of Commerce