Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "4525537",
    "label": "Ford Press Releases - Extremism, 1966",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4525537"
}

{
    "id": "4525537",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4525537",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Ford Press Releases - Extremism, 1966",
    "description": "This file contains john Birch Society.",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4525537",
    "collections": [
        "Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers",
        "Press Releases Subject Files"
    ],
    "subjects": [
        "Republican National Committee (U.S.)"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/ford/grf-0054/642076/4525537.pdf",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/ford/grf-0054/642076/4525537.pdf",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/ford/grf-0054/642076/4525537.pdf",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4525537",
    "naId": 4525537,
    "coverageEndDate": {
        "logicalDate": "1966-09-30",
        "month": 9,
        "year": 1966
    },
    "coverageStartDate": {
        "logicalDate": "1966-04-01",
        "month": 4,
        "year": 1966
    },
    "levelOfDescription": "fileUnit",
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}

{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/ford/grf-0054/642076/4525537.pdf",
    "mediaId": "d5a29c01512ccfae",
    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D7, folder \"Ford Press Releases - Extremism,\n1966\" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R.\nFord Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nDigitized from Box D7 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nCONGRESSMAN\nNEWS\nGERALD R. FORD\nRELEASE\nI\nHOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nAPRIL 1, 1966\nSTATEMENT BY HOUSE MINORITY LEADER GERALD R. FORD, R-MICHIGAN\nI am shocked and outraged by the charge reportedly made last night\nby a John Birch Society official in Arkansas that President Johnson was\nunder Communist influence in civil rights matters,\nThe President and I have had our political differences, as you well\nknow. But if anybody says Lyndon B, Johnson was under Communist influence\non this issue, they will have to say the same of all of us who have\nchampioned human decency and equal justice in this country.\nThe author of these remarks in Arkansas, according to the UPI, also\nsmeared the late President Kennedy with the same foul brush just as another\nJohn Birch official has smeared former President Eisenhower.\nI believe in a good hard political fight and intend to make one this\nyear for a Republican Congress that will keep a close eye on President\nJohnson for the rest of his term. But I think partisanship should stop far\nshort of the cesspool.\n###\nFORD is LIBRARY GERALD\nTHE FOLLOWING EXCHANGE OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICHIGAN,\nAND MR. J. EDWARD MARTIN OF LOS ANGELES WAS RELEASED TO THE PRESS AT 11 A.M. ON\nTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1966:\nCOPY\nSeptember 27, 1966\nHon. Gerald R. Ford\nHouse Office Building\nWashington 25, D. C.\nDear Mr. Ford:\nYour investigator, Mr. John Buckley, has spent a number\nof hours with me ascertaining the basic facts surrounding\na political contribution made by Mr. and Mrs. J. Edward\nMartin in the amount of $6,000. You will recall that this\nincident came to national attention by virtue of our being\nmembers of the John Birch Society and my being a member\nof the Los Angeles County Republican Central Committee,\ntogether with the fact that the architectural-engineering\nfirm of which I am a partner is a design contractor to the\nVeterans Administration.\nI had requested from the Executive Secretary of the\nPresident's Club that the names of Mrs. Martin and me be\nstricken from their rolls, since our contribution was made\nto the Democratic National Committee and not to the\nPresident's Club. A Democratic Congressman from Southern\nCalifornia, Mr. Cameron, demanded that the money be\nreturned. They have returned the $6,000 to Mr. and Mrs.\nMartin. So much for background.\nYou have demanded legislation establishing a Congressional\ninvestigating committee chaired by a prominent member of\nthe Minority Party and with a majority representation by\nthat Minority Party. You have asked that that committee be\nadequately staffed and financed to do a thorough, compre-\nhensive job of policing the actions of the Executive Depart-\nment and the members of the Senate and House. The political\nfacts are well known to you--how economic coercion can be\nexercised by political parties. You know full well the\nessential need for the legislation you have proposed. We\ncongratulate you for your understanding and your zeal. The\naction you propose is clearly affirmative and has the\ncapability of correcting a serious deficiency in our govern-\nmental system. I believe it to be essential if Republicans\nare to survive in the jungle of political influence.\nOne of your contemporaries in Congress chose a different\napproach. He chose to deprecate the individual Republican\nwho contributed to the Democratic National Committee, rather\nthan attacking the Democratic National Committee itself. It\nis analagous to criticizing the victim of a holdup for yielding\nhis few dollars to the bandit. His type of leadership will\nonly perpetuate the system of political shakedowns that exists.\nMrs. Martin and I would like to make a political contribution\nof $1,000 to the Republican National Committee through you,\nwith the express provision that you recognize in receipt of\nthe contribution that:\n1. We are Republicans who believe the nation needs\nthe above legislation.\n2. We are members of the John Birch Society, which\nwe believe encourages its membership to be active\nin the political party of their choice, which believes\n(MORE)\n-2-\nCOPY\nthat there is an abundance of corruption in govern-\nment, and which believes that the individual citizen\nmust be responsible and must pursue his conviction\nregardless of the consequence.\nI hope you find the contribution acceptable to the Republican\nNational Committee under these terms and that you will have\nthe judgment to objectively investigate the John Birch Society\nbefore you disclaim it any further, and that, should you\nbelieve you have cause to make some derogatory observations,\nyou will be specific in the area of your charges.\nConservatives use the John Birch Society as a rallying point,\nand when other Republicans attack the Birch Society and tell us\nwe should not belong to it, we have no other rallying point.\nCertainly a party under the leadership of Nelson Rockefeller\nor George Romney or some of the other liberal Republicans\ncould not be such a rallying point. We are members of the\nJBS because we know of no other group to join that is\nbi-partisan and pro-American, which believes in a nation\nof responsible citizens, and which believes that this is a\nChristian nation and not the agnostic nation that the Supreme\nCourt would create by misinterpretation of the Constitution.\nVery truly yours,\n(Signed)\nMr. and Mrs. J. Edward Martin\nby J. Edward Martin\nJEM:mm\nEnclosure\nREPLY TO ABOVE LETTER\nCOPY\nSeptember 29, 1966\nMr. J. Edward Martin\n1127 Wilshire Boulevard\nLos Angeles, California 90017\nDear Mr. Martin:\nI am returning herewith your check for $1,000 enclosed with your\nletter of September 27.\nI cannot accept this contribution, or any contribution, which is\naccompanied by terms or conditions other than the general under-\nstanding that it will be used to promote Republican principles\nand elect Republican candidates.\nWith or without any contribution, I and my Republican colleagues\nin the House of Representatives will continue our efforts to enact\na fair and comprehensive election reform law that will put a stop\nto what you describe as \"the system of political shakedowns that\nexists\" and of which you represent yourself as a victim.\nI must add that I cannot accept your criticism of my Governor,\nGeorge Romney, Gov. Rockefeller of New York, or the unidentified\nCongressional contemporary to whom you allude, although you are\nentitled to your views like any other American.\nSincerely,\n(Signed)\nGerald R. Ford, M.C.\nGRF:hlr\nEnclosure\n###"
}