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South High School Commencement Address, June 14, 1962
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4525781
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South High School Commencement Address, June 14, 1962
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The original documents are located in Box D16, folder "South High School Commencement
Address, June 14, 1962" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech
File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS - SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL
June 14, 1962
I wish I could thank every one of you 244 graduates personally
for the privilege of speaking to you tonight. It is an auspicious day for each of
you ----at the same time happy and poignant---and I'm so very pleased
to be sharing it with you.
My faith in the high caliber and many talents that you are
taking with you into the colleges, technical schools, industries, and
households throughout this mighty nation is enforced by the reputation
that the class of 1962 has made for itself. Your academic achievements
in particular are outstanding, and I know you must be justly proud of
them. In various extra-curriculars, this class has been active and
successful. I was especially pleased to know of the new memorial trophy,
given in the memory of Arthur W. Krause, who was principal of South High
m1931
to
D.R.
School when I graduated and who later became superintendent of schools.
I know that throughout the years the recipients of this trophy will
realize and appreciate the great honor that has been bestowed on them.
It has been many years since I was sitting as one among the
graduating class of South High on a similar occasion. It was not so
FORD : LIBRARY GERALD
Digitized from Box D16 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
long ago, however, that I cannot remember the thrill of anticipation as
well as the pangs of sadness that must accompany an event that is both
an ending and a beginning. I know you all feel, as I felt, that at last
the time has come to get out and do something with yourselves and with
the world you live in. This day, June 14th, is a particularly appropriate
an aminca.
time to be mindful of the challenges that await you, for it is Flag Day
I need not remind you of the great need America has of your talents and
your ambitions and the great trust she is putting in you to use them
wisely.
Thirty-one years ago your speaker of this evening was one of
232 seniors in the graduating class of 1931. For me and my classmates
that occasion was the culmination of many happy and stimulating experiences
which resulted in very real friendships that have endured throughout the
years. It was the cut-off date for many, both as spectators and
participants, who had cheered and fought for Trojan victories and the
glory of the red and blue. It was the completion of our academic training
under the guidance and leadership of a wonderful faculty, teachers who
LIBRARY
-3-
patiently prodded us along the all-important path of scholarship.
Happy as we were to receive our diplomas, there was an undertone of
saddness for all had learned to revere and respect our alma mater.
The Class 21962, 2am positive, has & will
have similar feelings This evening 4 in the future.
FORD LIBRARY
It's is o grand occason for The grabuates, The path, parents & prints
We all redling
I thoroughly enjoy commencements. It is n pleasure to finish projects
but it is always interesting to begin new ones. That is happening have tought
COMMENCEMENT -- The word itself indicates a beginning rather than an
ending. The degree you receive tonight is a license to tackle new
challenges and opportunities across a broad spectrum.
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
--3--
If one is a PESSIMIST today there is evidence that we as individuals and
our Nation face serious problems and awesome responsibilities. The sky is not
all clear. There are some ominous storm clouds today and there will be others
tomorrow
It me mentron 1). Right
now -- our men in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are:
a). Patrolling the wall in Berlin.
b). Instructing, supplying, transporting and accompanying VietNamese
and Thailand forces in the rugged jungles and rice paddies in
Southeast Asia.
FORD 3 LIBRARY 078830
--4--
2). Today all our citizens are paying the heaviest tax burden in our
Nation's history.
3) 2,962
Our farmers are confronted with ever increasing problems of financing,
the acquisition of land and equipment, the cost price squeeze is worsening,
Thirdleth
and the threat of increased rather than decreasing government intervention.
4). Right now investors large and small who have put their savings in stocks
and securities have suffered serious economic losses with the wide
fluctuations in the stock market.
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
--5--
5). Businessmen at all levels are faced with increased competition at
home and abroad.
6). The workingman, with apprehension, sees the threat of automation---
machines replacing men in the production process.
7). Our national leaders are concerned with our apparent inability to sub-
stantially reduce unemployment and eliminate underemployment or chronic
economic distress in some geographical areas.
8). All Americans view with alarm the broad challenge of the materialistic,
atheistic dictatorship in the Kremlin.
FORD ** LIBRARY CENALD
--6--
Despite such difficulties, some temporary and some of long duration, I am
an OPTIMIST about the future of AMERICA and YOUR opportunities to make
your way successfully and happily.
2 say with all the Let us emphasis not be at fearful my command of the
ominus clouds.
Let us have faith and trust in America.
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
2 am an OPTIMIST because of personal experiences + because
the recent Listory of ameria. 2 below in The
statement that is carvel in marbe on the archives -
what is past is produc.
--7--
In my lifetime, even within my memory, we as citizens of this great land have
been confronted with equally serious stresses and strains.
a). There was the "call to arms" in World War I
World War II
Korea
b). There were the trials and tribulations of the Depression in the 1930s.
to Westy
c). There was the challenge, of Hitler in Germany
Mussolini in Italy.
These were the days that "tried mens souls."
FORD & LIBRARY QENALO
This was no time for sunshine soldiers and summer patriots.
Yes, there were personal tragedies but our people and the Nation responded
successfully. Our nation and our people have moved to higher and higher plateaus.
Certainly on a relative or comparative basis we have achieved an all-time pinnacle.
Wenhmild Why ask has overales America
--8--
had this steady climb from 13 poor struggling colonies to the
greatest nation in world history? Why have we come from obscurity to the peak
in less than 200 years?
Because in America we have:
1). The finest form of Government ever drafted.
2). The finest educational system in the history of man.
3). Citizens constructively working on the problems of the day.
4). A deep and abiding faith in moral, spiritual and religious values.
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
9.
Let me explain what I mean in each instance:
I. Our Government is the finest because it is based on:
a.)
The DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. Our Declaration of Independence was a
revolutionary document in 1776 and it is a revolutionary document in 1962.
The golden text in this historic document explains "That to secure these rights
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new
government laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such
form as to them seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
In these words Thomas Jefferson assured his generation and those to follow
FORD
that totalitarianism never could take root within the United States of America.
The governed were always to be in control of the government.
GERAL
LIBRARY
10.
b.) The CONSTITUTION
Written in 1787 the United States Constitution has provided the basis
for our liberties for 173 years. If we were to seek the reasons for its
success we would undoubtedly find it in the division of powers between
the states and the central government and the separation of power among
the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary Branches of the Federal
Government.
Fearful then, as we are now, of autocratic or one-party rule,
the fathers of the Constitution so divided the powers of government
among many persons that as long as the Constitution prevails
the will of the majority will likewise prevail.
11.
c.) THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Because majorities have the potential power of being as autocratic
and unreasonable as individual dictatorships, one of the first acts of
the Congress and the states under the Constitution was to adopt the
American Bill of Rights.
These first Ten Amendments, restricting the power of the government,
protect the rights of the most humble individual against the authority
of the most powerful official in order to preserve that human dignity
which is the God-given heritage of every man.
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
--12--
II. We have the finest education system because it is and has been
based on the needs of our times.
EDUCATION - The history of education in America runs the gamut from:
1). The one room school house with a single teacher to the vast school facilities
with the finest equipment and most highly trained and specialized teaching
staffs.
2). Rudimentary courses in "reading, writing & arithmetic" to a curriculum
that covers the vast unknowns in the atmosphere, the depths of the seas,
and the day-to-day living in the world today.
3). A few small colleges privately endowed to the huge publicly supported
universities such as the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.
GERALD
LIBRARY
--13--
History of Education in America is the constructive story of training our
People to meet the NEEDS of our times. This is the true test.
Our educational system in the United States has produced, to mention a few:
Thomas Edison
Henry Ford
Orville and Wilbur Wright
Dr. Jonas Salk
Col. John Glenn
Most importantly, however, Education in America has traditionally turned out
Citizens who are qualified to meet the problems of our times. YOU with your
knowledge and training are the best evidence of the high calibre of America's
educational system.
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
--14--
III. Our Citizens constructively work at solving the problems of the DAY.
me relate
In the past 30 days -- I have flown to San Francisco
Chicago
1 A is your A H
Detroit
Stockholm
18,000 miles
Des Moines
Caledonia
Grand Rayels Grand
1). San Francisco - defense seminar
Industry and military - better weapons, faster at
less cost.
2). Chicago - political meeting
How citizens can actively participate in the political
party of their choice.
Politics and Politicians - put blood in the veins and the breath of
life in the still bones of a Constitutional system.
GLRALD ORD LIBRARY
--15--
3). Detroit - service club convention
How citizens and their local civic organizations can make a
greater contribution to the welfare of their communities.
4). Stockholm - conference of representatives
How free nations of the Western World can better organize
themselves economically and politically to meet the challenge
of the Soviet Union and its satellites.
5). Caledonia - a meeting of citizens to pay tribute to the Youth of America
as they embark on new careers.
FORD is LIBRARY 07V439
--16--
These meetings are only typical of what 185 million Americans are
doing and have done to make our civilization what it is today.
We must WORK even though progress is slow and sometimes dis-
couraging.
--17--
A deep and abiding FAITH in moral, spiritual and religious values.
(c I A - interview)
Congratulations to you all, good luck, and Godspeed in a generation
and day that holds brighter promise than any that ever confronted humankind.
FORD s LIBRARY 0ERALD