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Blodgett Hospital School of Nursing, Grand Rapids, MI, September 2, 1965
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The original documents are located in Box D18, folder "Blodgett Hospital School of
Nursing, Grand Rapids, MI, September 2, 1965" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Commencement Exercises
79th
BLODGETT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
39
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Thursday, September 2, 1965, 8 P.M.
Presiding
George Richel
President, Board of Trustees
Prelude - "Water Music Suite"
G. F. Handel
Processional - "Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 in D"
Elgar
Invocation
Reverend George Weeber
Reformed Church of America
"Eternal Life"
Olive Dungan
Carlos Florido, Soloist
Address -
"Balance In Government"
Representative Gerald R. Ford
Minority Leader, House of Representatives, U.S. Congress
Presentation of Diplomas and Pins
Associate Director, Blodgett Memorial Hospital
William Downer
Assistant Director, Blodgett Memorial Hospital, and
Director, School of Nursing and Nursing Service
Mary E. Scott
Assistant Director, School of Nursing
Sybil E. Hole
Presentation of Honor Citations
Mrs. Larmon R. Abbott
Chairman, School of Nursing Advisory Committee
Benediction
Doctor Peter Y. De Jong
Doctor of Theology, Calvin College Seminary
Recessional - "Trumpet Tune in D"
Purcell
Postlude - "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba"
G. F. Handel
Mr. Eric Weaver, Musical Director
Mr. Charles Bertsch, Organist
Flowers and Ushering by Courtesy of
Marion Louise Withey Guild, Blodgett Memorial Hospital
Alumnae Association, Class of 1965, Reception Hostesses
You are cordially invited to attend a reception
in the Church Dining Room, 9 to 11 P.M.
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
GRADUATING CLASS OF 1965
FAITH ANN BAJEMA
LINDA MAE GOODALE
JÉSSIE D. PAUSMA
537 West Leonard Street
4419 Magnolia Street
607 Morse Street
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Wyoming, Michigan
Waupun, Wisconsin
SUSANNE GRETCHEN BENSEMA
JOANNE RUTH HEYS
BEVERLY ARTHURHULTZ
CHANCEL
845 Aberdeen Street, N.E.
908 Iroquois Drive
PLESCHER
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
8877 Stebbins Street
Montague, Michigan
Miss Mary E. Scott, Mrs. Sybil E. Hole, Mrs. Larmon R. Abbott,
HARRIETT ANN BIERI
MARILYN RUTH HOEKENGA
PHYLLIS GRAYCE ROZEMA
Dr. Robert Puite, Mr. William Downer, Dean John Vanden Berg,
1226 Hope Street, S.E.
1911 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
2359 Baldwin Drive
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Jenison, Michigan
Dean Francis McCarthy, Reverend George Weeber, Doctor
Peter Y. De Jong, Representative Gerald R. Ford, Mr. George
JUDITH LOUISE DAVIS
BARBARA LYNN HOEKSEMA
MARY JOY SCHEPERS
W. Richel.
116 Sweet Street, N.E.
715 College Avenue
110 Park Avnue
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Holland, Michigan
Falmouth, Michigan
DEANNE ELIZABETH DE JONG
JANICE FAITH HOPKINS
SHIRLEY J. SCHREUDER
2709 Burton Street, S.E.
5740 Elm Avenue
4727 Lakepointe
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Hudsonville, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
ORDER OF PROCESSIONAL
MARCIA JOAN DE JONG
SUSAN JOAN KINGMA
CAROLYN MASSELINK STAAT
Graduating Class
1518 Margaret Street, S.E.
935 Calvin Avenue, S.E.
72 West 17th Street
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Holland, Michigan
Board of Trustees
Representatives of School of Nursing Advisory Committee
ELIZABETH ANDRÉ DE JONGE
MARCIA JEAN LANE
CAROLE ANN STEINER
Representatives of the Medical Staff
1300 Calvin Avenue, S.E.
8643 Beachler Drive, N.E.
2128 Emerald Street, N.E.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Greenville, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Faculty of the School of Nursing
CAROL E. DE VRIES
MARSHA KATHRYN MATTHEWS
ALICE TOLSMA
4088 Heron Street, S.W.
1404 Sigsbee Street, S.E.
1326 Whitmore Street, N.W.
Wyoming, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
ORDER OF RECESSIONAL
JOAN LIEFFERS DE VRIES
SHEILA LYNNE MEEUWSEN
BARBARA ANN VERDUIN
654 Lovett Street, S.E.
664 Winchell Street, S.E.
1025 Edna Street, S.E.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Graduating Class
Board of Trustees
CAROL JOYCE DE WENT
JEANETTE MARIE NEVINS
NANCY JO WALDYKE
Representatives of School of Nursing Advisory Committee
845 Maple Lane
1344 Carman Street, N.E.
19 East Lincoln Avenue
Zeeland, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zeeland, Michigan
Representatives of the Medical Staff
Faculty of the School of Nursing
SUSAN SHACKELTON EMMONS
MARCIA RUTH OOSTERHOUSE
KATHLEEN ALLYN WEBER
642 Cherry Street, S.E.
1849 Chamberlain Avenue, S.E.
1580 - 68th Street, S.E.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
JANICE RAE FEENSTRA
MARLENE JEAN OOSTRA
BARBARA ESTHER WEEBER
12461 - 68th Avenue
7576 - 12th Avenue
1219 Portland Street, N.E.
Allendale, Michigan
Jenison, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
MARJORY ANN FILBY
JANICE KAY PARTAK
CAROLE ANN WINDEMULLER
1826 Eastern Avenue, S.E.
R.F.D. #1
790 College Avenue
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Belding, Michigan
Holland, Michigan
Address by Rep. Gerald R. Ford
Blodgett Hospital School of Nursing
39
Grand Rapids, Michigan Sept. 2, 1965
11#
READING TEXT
The test of a society is found in the quality of its common life
the level of violence, the awareness of its responsibilities, the
depth and scope of its human vibrancy.
How does society 1965 meet the tests?.... It fails some. It passes
others.
The tragic, terrifying events in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere
during the waning days of a long, hot summer are reminders that
today's society fails in some areas.
Death and destruction, violence and fear, turmoil and silent hate
all bear witness to our failure in solving deepy-rooted social
problems of our time.
more
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
Blodgett Hospital
-2-
We are failing in other areas of the Nation's common life.
Large metropolitan centers lie smothered under machine-generated
smog. The air is an obnoxious mixture of fumes and smoke.
Rivers that once ran clean and pure are polluted. Lakes--once
blue and clear become contaminated with chemical waste.
In many areas the natural beauty of the wilderness is buried under
a welter of flamboyant signboards and marred by a jungle of neon.
Yes, our society is failing to improve some physical qualities of
its common life.
What of the quality of humanity in our society?
Certainly, a civilized society should educate its children. A
civilized society should protect the right of all its citizens
to vote. A civilized society should care for its aged in need who
are ill. With their cooperation the poor should be helped to escape
the agony of the slums.
FORD BRARY
Blodgett Hospital
-3-
The New York Times recently commented on these qualities in saying:
"These actions are essential for a good society; they do not
create a great society."
The 89th Congress of the United States has taken some steps toward
there maybe a tendency
strengthening a good society. However, much of the legislation
to mely to on legislation - not smough on what good men good
adopted this year is politically-oriented. Much of It is long
citizens can do.
on quantity and short on quality.
It has been said that the paradox of this Congress is the adoption
of measures which are the heritage of yesterday's failures and
quarrels.
The Congress needs to take sounder steps toward helping to build
a good society of tomorrow. Somehow, someway in a bi-partisan
manner we must insure that America is a place where a person can
reach higher, seek farther, and grow greater than anywhere else
on earth.
GERALD FORD VIBRARY
-more-
Blodgett Hospital
To accomplish this, we must give more of ourselves than we receive.
We must put humanity and humanitarianism first. We must consider
the God-given qualities of man above all.
Recall the wisdom of Arnold Toynbee, scholar and historian, who
said: "Our age will be well remembered. not for its horrifying
crimes nor its astonishing inventions, but because it is the first
generation since the dawn of history in which mankind dared to
believe it practical to make the benefits of civilization available
to the whole human race."
Unfortunately, tragic developments in recent months could make
this prediction untrne.
While large segments of our society believe in making the benefits
of civilization available to the enture human race, an alarming
number of others devote their energies to creating havoc...to
GERALD
making life miserable for others to pitting man against man...
to disturbing the tranquility of a free nation.
-more-
Blodgett Hospital
5-
I believe we need an aroused public conscience. The growth and
prosperity, the state and strength of our Nation are the result
of free citizens conducting their personal lives within the
constituted framework of authority, law and order. This process
is part of the effect of an aroused public conscience.
Today, the
strong needs for an aroused public conscience
are, unfortunately, to be found in many places.
A large section of an American city is burned and looted. College
students riot in protesting an alleged breech of freedom of speech.
Hoodlums invade a quiet village bringing a wave of fear and violence.
Carrying placards demanding peace at any price, pickets march on the
Nation's Capitol threatening to invade Congress. Others shout
"freedom now" as they troop in front of the White House.
-more-
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
Blodgett Hospital
-6-
Compare these irrespon&ible actions with the effects of an
aroused public conscience that approves school bond issues and
more parks....that elects responsible public officials....that
rebuilds cities that clears slums that builds new highways... that
supports hospitals and other civic institutions... that insists on
individual expression.
Despite some gloomy signs of dangerous cracks in the Nation's
foundation of good citizenship, there are many bright omens of hope.
indired
These
The scales are being heavily weighted for the good. The balance
of good and poor citizenship is being tilted for the better.
Let's look first at the immediate S cene here tonight in this room.
Your dedication to the service of mankind, your power of knowledge,
your proved willingness to sacrificd, your strong desire to help
others are the individual qualities needed by our Nation.
-more-
GERALD
Blodgett Hospital
-7-
You have chosen a noble and demanding profession. You will save
broken bodies and help mend broken minds. You will assist others to
regain their strength through your own strength of purpose and skill.
I salute you for your determination, endurance, courage and
achievements.
Despite the strife and trouble, the heartbreak and frustrations,
we live in one of history's most exciting times. Each day brings
a new chapter in the march of progress.
It is highly encouraging to see examples of man's determination to
strive for a new relationship with a crowded and ominous world.
Recently, a 47-year-old Cleveland newspaperman landed in England
to a hero's wlecome after a perilous, 78-day solo voyage across
the Atlantic.
GERALD
-more-
Blodgett Hospital
-8-
Robert Manry made the trip in his now famous Tinkerbelle---the
smallest vessel known to have traveled the turbulent, 3,200-mile
stretch of water wilderness.
His fete was none for the timid. It was hardly an accomplishment
for schoolboys to imitate. But it was one to inspire a renewed
faith in the capacity of individual man.
History may not give him the recognition of Columbus or Magellan.
But, Manry captured for himself the joy of striving against
huge obstacles and winning. His life has been enriched. To a degree
so have the lives of those who followed his journey into the
realm of courage.
This is a kind of faith we need more than ever as our small planet
is swept by ominous forces bent on generating turmoil and
stilling human drive.
-more-
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
Blodgett Hospital
-9-
The long voyage of one person challening the sea is an example
of what courage and skill canachieve.
There are many other examples to inspire faith in the capacity
of individual man, whose personal efforts lead to advancements
in the fields of medicine, engineering, science and human relations.
I have described both the gloomy and the optimistic profiles of
our age to help show a sharp contrast in the way things are going
in the world.
After assessing the good and the bad, the successes and failures,
I am highly optimistic.
This is neither a time to stumble, nor to falter, nor to fear
in accepting the responsibilities of citizenship. The task is
to lead the way toward strengthening moral, esthetic, cultural
and scientific values.
GERALD R.FORD LIBRARY
-more-
Blodgett Hospital
-10-
I have great faith in you.
Your presence here and the documents you receive for achievement
strongly reflect your desire to accept responsibilities in a
turbulent, demanding and changing world.
Congratulations. The Nation and the world are better because of you.
and may Mod bless your all
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
Address by Rep. Gerald R. Ford
Blodgett Hospital School of Nursing
Grand Rapids, Michigan Sept. 2, 1965
READING TEXT
The test of a society is found in the quality of its common life----
the level of violenes, the awareness of its responsibilities, the
depth and scope of its human vibrancy.
How does society 1965 meet the tests?.... It fails some. It passes
others.
The tragic, terrifying events in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere
during the waning days of a long, het summer are reminders that
today's society fails in some areas.
Death and destruction, violence and fear, turmoil and silent hate
all bear witness to our failure in selving deeply-rooted social
problems of our time.
more
GERALD LIGARA
Blodgett Hospital
&
We are failing in other areas of the Nation's common life.
Large metropolitan centers lie smothered under machine-generated
smog. The air is an obnoxious mixture of fumes and smoke.
Rivers that once ran clean and pure are polluted. Lekes-once
blue and crystal clear--- become contaminated with chemical waste.
In many areas the natural beauty of the wilderness is buried
under a welter of flamboyant signboards and marred by a jungle
of noon.
Yes, our society is failing to improve some physical qualities
of its common life.
What of the quality of humanity in our society?
Certainly, a civilised society should educate its children. A
civilized society should protect the right of all its citizens
to vote. A civilised society should care for its aged who are ill.
It should help its poor escape from the agony of slums.
Blodgett Hospital
-3-
The New York Times recently commented on these qualities in sayings
"These actions are essential for a good society; they de not
create a great society."
The 89th Congress of the United States has taken some stops toward
strengthening a good society. However, such of the legislation
adopted this year is politically-eriented. Much of it is long
on quantity and short on quality.
It has been said that the paradox of this Congress is the adoption
of measures which are the heritage of yesterday's failures and
quarrels.
The Congress needs to take sounder steps toward helping to build
a good society of tomorrow. Somehow, someway in a bi-partisan
manner we must insure that America is a place where a person can
reach higher, seek farther, and grow greater than anywhere else
on earth.
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
-more-
Blodgett Hospital
-
To accomplish this, we must give more of ourselves than we receive.
We must put humanity and humanitarianism first. We must consider
the God-given qualities of man above all.
Recall the wisdom of Arnold Toynbee, scholar and historian, who
said: "Our age will be well remembered...not for its horrifying
crimes nor its astonishing inventions, but because it is the first
generation since the dawn of history in which mankind dared to
believe it practical to make the benefits of civilisation available
to the whole human race."
Unfortunately, tragic developments in recent months could make
this prediction untmme.
While large segments of our society believe in making the benefits
of civilisation available to the enture human race, an alarming
number of others devote their energies to creating havoc...to
making life miserable for others...to to pitting man against man...
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
to disturbing the tranquility of & free nation.
-more-
Blodgett Hospital
5-
I believe we need an aroused public conscience. The growth and
prosperity, the state and strength of our Nation are the result
of free citisens conducting their personal lives within the
constituted framswork of authority, law and order. This process
is part of the effect of an arounedd public conscience.
Today, the swift and strong needs for an aroused public conscience
are, unfortunately, to be found in many places.
A large section of an American city is burned and looted. College
students riot in protesting an alleged breech of freedom of speech.
Hoodlums invade a quiet village bringing a wave of fear and violence.
Carrying placards demanding peace at any price, pickets march on the
Nation's Capitol threatening to invade Congress. Others shout
"freedom now" as they troop in front of the White House.
-more-
GERALD ADVURIT R. FOR/
Blodgett Hospital
-5-
Compare these irresponsible actions with the effects of an
aroused public conscience that approves school bond issues and
more parks....that elects responsible public officials....that
rebuilds cities... that clears slums..... that builds new highways... that
supports hospitals and other civic institutions... that insists on
individual expression.
Despite some gloomy signs of dangerous cracks in the Nation's
foundation of good citizenship, there are many bright omens of hope.
The scales are being heavily weighted for the good, The balance
of good and poor citizenship is being tilted for the better.
Let's look first at the immediate 8 cene here
tonight...in
this room.
Your dedication to the service of mankind, your power of knowledge,
your proved willingness to secrified, your strong desire to help
others are the individual qualities needed by our Nation.
-more-
FORD is LIBRARY 07VY70
Blodgett Hospital
-?-
You have chosen a noble and demanding profession. You will save
broken bodies and help mend broken minds. You will assist others to
regain their strength through your own strength of purpose and skill.
I salute you for your determination, endurance, courage and
achievements.
Despite the strife and trouble, the heartbreak and frustrations,
we live in one of history's most exciting times. Each day brings
a new chapter in the march of progress.
It is highly encouraging to see examples of man's determination to
strive for a new relationship with a crowded and ominous world.
Recently, a 47-year-old Cleveland newspaperman landed in England
to a hero's wlecome after a perilous, 78-day solo voyage across
the Atlentic.
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
-more-
Blodgett Hospital
-8-
Robert Manry made the trip in his now famous Tinkerbelle---the
smallest vessel known to have traveled the turbulent, 3,200-mile
stretch of water wilderness.
His fete was none for the timid. It was hardly an accomplishment
for schoolboys to Imitate. But it was one to inspire a renewed
faith in the capacity of individual man.
History may not give him the recognition of Columbus or Magellan.
But, Manry captured for himself the joy of stilving against
huge obstacles and winning. His life has been enriched. To a degree
so have the lives of those who followed his Journey into the
realn of courage.
This is a kind of faith we need more than ever as our small planet
is swept by ominous forces bent on generating turmoil and
stilling human drive.
-more-
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
Blodgett Hospital
The long voyage of one person challening the sea is an example
of what courage and skill can schieve.
There are many other examples to inspire faith in the capacity
of individual man, whose personal efforts lead to advancements
in the fields of medicine, engineering, science and human relations.
I have described both the gloomy and the optimistic profiles of
our age to help show a sharp contrast in the way things are going
in the world.
After assessing the good and the bad, the successes and failures,
I an highly optimistic.
This is neither a time to stumble, nor to falter, nor to fear
in accepting the responsibilities of citisenship. The task is
to lead the way toward strengthening moral, esthetic, cultural
and scientific values.
GLRALD FORD LIBRAGA
-more-
Blodgett Hospital
-10-
I have great faith in you.
Your presence here and the documents you receive for achievement
strongly reflect your desire to accept responsibilities in a
turbulent, demanding and changing world.
Congratulations. The Nation and the world are better because of you.
FORD & LIBRARY
Address by
Rep. Gerald R. Ford, House Republican Leader
with crrechos
OK
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Blodgett Hospital School of Nursing
FOR RELEASE UPON DELIVERY
OF ADDRESS Sept. 2, 1965
found in
The test of a society is the quality of its common life----the
level of violence, them the awareness of its responsibilities,
the depth and scope of its human vibrancy.
How does society 1965 meet the tests? It fails some. It passes
others.
The tragic, terrifying events in Los Angeles, Chica and elswhere
during the waning days of a long, hot summer are reminders that
today's society fails in some areas.
Death and destruction, violence and fear, turmoil and silent hate all
bear witness to our failure in solving deeply-rooted social problems
of our time.
more-
FORD if LIBRARY GERALD
commencement GR
&
The adoption of a new voting rights bill, the widely publicised war
on premixz poverty, the establishment of work programs for the
economically-distressed young people of our country, federal aid for
?
depressed areas have purpose.
Yet, widespread rioting, killing, wounding, looting in our major
cities broke out in the face of X federally-oriented social-aid
programs.
We are failing in other areas of the Nation's common life.
Large metropolitan centers lie smothered under machile-generated
smog. The air is an obnoxious mixture of fumes and smoke.
Rivers that once ran clean and pure are polluted. Lakes, once
blue and crystal clear, become contâminated with chemical waste.
In many areas the natural beauty of the wilderness is buried under
a welter of flamboyant signboards and marred by a jungle of neon.
-more-
commencembih GR
-3-
to imppove some
Yes, our society is failing physical q1 elities
of its common life.
What of the quality of humanity in our society?
Certifnly, a civilized society should educate its children. A civilized
society should protect the right of all its citizens to vote. A
civilized society should care for its aged who are 111. It should
help its poor escape from the agony of slums.
The New York Times recently commented as these qualities in say ing:
"These actions are essential for a good society; they do not create
a great society."
The 89th Congress of the United States has taken some steps toward
strengthening a good society. However, much of the legislation adopted
this year is politically-oriented. Much of it is long on quantity and
short on quality.
-more-
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
commencement GR
It has been said that the paradox of this Congress is the adoption
of measures which are a heritage of yesterday's failures and
quarrels.
The Congress needs to take sounder steps toward helping to build
a good society of tomorrow. Somehow, someway in a bi-partisan manner
we must insure that America is a place where a person can reach higher,
seek farther and grow greater than anywhere else on earth.
To accomplish this, we must give more of ourselves than we receive.
We must put humanity and humanitarianism first. We must consider
the God-given qualities of man above all.
Recall the wisdom of Arnold Toynbee, scholar and historian, who
said: "Our age will be well remembered....not for its horrifying crimes
nor its astonishing inventions, but because it is the first generation
since the dawn of history in which mankind dared to believe it practical
to make the benefits of civilization available to the whole human race."
-more-
commencement GR
-5-
Unfortunately, tragic developments in recent months could
make this prediction untrue.
While large segments of our society believe in making the
benefits of civilization available to the entire human race,
an alarming number of others devote their energies to creating
havoc...,Au To making life miserable for others I pitting man against
mm....tisturbing to as the tranquility of a free nation.
I believed we need an aroused public conscience. The growth and
are
prosperity, the state and strength of our Nation the result
of free citizens conducting their personal lives within the
constituted framework of authority, law and order.
The swift and strong needs for an aroused public conscience are,
unfortunately, to be found seen in many places.
A large section of an American city is burned and looted. College
FORD
students riot in protesting an alleged breech of freedom of speech.
LIBRARY
Hoodlumst invade a quiet village bringing a wave of fear and
violence.
-more-
commencement GR
Carrying placards demanding peace at any price, pickets march
on the Nationas Capitol threatening to invade Congress. there
shout "freedom now" as they troop in front of the White House
Compare these irresponsible actions to the effects of an aroused
public conscience that approves school bond issues and more parks,
Amething about
elects responsible public officials and rebuilds cities,
heardy scales
Despite some gloomy signs of dangerous cracks in the Nation's
foundation of good citizenship, there are many bright omens of hope.
Let's look first at the immediate scene...here, tonight, in this room.
Your dedication to the service of mankind, your power of knowledge,
your proved willingness to sacrifice, your strong desire to help
others are the individual qualities our Needs needs.
You have chosen a noble and demanding profession. You will save
broken bodies and help mend broken minds. You will assist others to
gegain their strength through your own strength of purpose and your
skill.
BERRAD R.FORD
-more-
commencment GR
-7-
I salute you for your determination, endurance, courage and
achievements.
Despite the strife and trouble, the heartbreak and frustrations, we
live in one of history's most xciting times. Each day brings a
new chapter in the march of progress.
It is highly encouraging to see examples of man's determination to
strive for a new relationship with a crowded and ominous world.
Recently, a 47-year-old Cleveland newspaperman landed in England to a
hero's welcome after a perilous, 78-day solo voyage across the
Atlantic. Robert Manry made the trip in his now famous Tinkerbelle--
the smallest vessel known to have mexise traveled the turbulent, 3,200-mile
stretch of water wilderness.
His fete was none for the timid. It was hardly an accomplishment for
schoolboys to imitate. But it was one to inspire a renewed faith in
the capacity of individual man.
more-
GERALD FORD VIBRARY
commencement GR
-8-
This is a kind of faith we need more than ever as our small planet
is swept by ominous forces bent on generating turmoil and
drive
stilling human vibrancy.
name person challenging The a
The long voyage is an example of what courage and skill can achieve.
capacity
There are many other examples to inspire faith in the suggity of
individual man, whose personal efforts lead to advancements in the
human
fields of medicine, engineering, science and relations.
I have described both the gloomy and the optimistic profiles of our
age to help show a sharp contrast in the way things are going in
the world.
After assessing the good and the bad, the successes and failures,
I am highly optimistic.
This is neither a time to stumble, nor to falter, hor to fear in
accepting the responsibilities of citizenship. The task is to lead the way
toward strengthening moral, esthetic, cultural and scientific values.
GERAL FORD LIBRARY
-more-
commencement GR
-9-
I have great faith in you. Your presence here and the documents
you receive for achievement strongly reflect your desire to accept
responsibilities in a turbulent, demanding and changing world.
Congratulations. The Nation and the world are better because of
you.
# # #
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
NEWSPAPER INFORMATION
FOR RELEASE UPON DELIVERY
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
GOVERNOR'S OFFICE
HARRISBURG
ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR WILLIAM W. SCRANTON
AT THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
BALLROOM, HOTEL FONTAINBLEAU, MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA
8:30 P.M., AUGUST 12, 1965
American jurisprudence and American government share a common
dependence on the adversary system.
In our courts the search for civil justice is conducted under
the prodding of opposing advocates, and the system rests on the
supposition that both advocates be strong and able and aggressive.
In our government the quest for civic excellence is pursued
under the prodding of opposing political parties, and rests on the
supposition that there be two great parties, each strong and able and
aggressive.
It is a rare lawsuit, of course, in which the adversaries
are absolutely equal in ability, experience or verve. Nor does the
system require absolute equality. We expect and we understand that so
differences in ability and differences in the fundamental merits of
long as lawyers are human and lawsuits are lawsuits there will be
cases. But what we do demand in our jurisprudence are basic competitive
qualifications for the advocates and that no influence be allowed to
destroy their role as adversaries.
And if circumstances suddenly endangered this adversary
system-- if suddenly it were proposed that justice be dispensed in
American courts without competent advocacy on both sides of the
question- then promptly and properly this distinguished assembly
would become extremely alarmed.
I propose to you tonight that this is precisely what is
happening in the forum of American government: that the two-party
system has come upon an hour of peril and paralysis.
And I submit, too, that this is particularly hazardous
because it comes at a time when basic decisions are being made about
the very fabric of our federal system, and, thus, about the liberty of
our people and the goodness of our society.
Specifically, the national Republican Party today is not,
for the most part, serving as an effective instrument of the two-party
system, and though as a Republican I may find that uncomfortable, as an
American I find it alarming.
All of us, Democrats and Republicans alike, must be concerned
when the condition of either party becomes such that it endangers the
system itself.
- 1 -
So let me, as a Republican and as a practicing politician,
but mostly as an American, talk to you without partisanship about my
party and about our Nation.
It is a tribute to the art of cartooning that when we think
of the Republican Party, we think of elephants.
I grew up in a household where both the substance and symbols
of the Republican Party were treated with more than indifferent
interest. My mother particularly spent her working hours electing good
Republicans, and her off-hours collecting model elephants, elephants in
stone, steel, ebony, ivory, crystal or glass--- any way in which human
ingenuity fashioned them.
There was but one criteria: From whatever material the
elephant was carved, he had to have his trunk raised high in a bellow
of victory. Elephants were considered unfit and useless if their
trunks drooped-- however gracefully. in the whimper of defeat--- or
worse yet, in the posture of not having tried hard enough.
But accepting the symbol of the elephant is one thing, and
believing the many myths that go with elephants is quite another.
Particularly, there are two commonly accepted legends which
we would do well to realize are fictitious.
First is the legend that elephants live many hundreds of
years. Modern science has knocked that into a cocked hat. The real
lifespan of an elephant is no more than that of man a 70-year-old
elephant is an old elephant.
A political party, like an elephant or like a man, cannot
claim extra years or extra life as a matter of right. A political
party, however, unlike man and elephant, can rejuvenate itself.
If the Republican Party wants to continue to live, it is
going to have to earn the privilege through self-rejuvenation, not by
expecting it to happen automatically.
The second elephant myth has also been shot down by modern
science. Contrary to folklore, elephants don't gather up each other's
trunks and tails, marching off to a common dignified graveyard.
Elephants die like the rest of us. They drop one by one in their
tracks, wherever disease or longevity or mortal injury dictate.
So, too, the Republican Party is unlikely to join tails and
trunks today or tomorrow and fall dead before our eyes in a sacred
graveyard. Instead, it's a matter of one elephant after another
dropping along the way.
- 2 -
And the Gallup Poll has been counting the remaining Republican
elephants. That poll--which, incidentally, through some peculiar
perverseness the Republican Party's power structure believed in 1948
when it was wrong, but not since, when it has been right---reveals that
today but one-quarter of the American electorate considers itself to be
Republican. Under these circumstances only a stupid elephant would
fail to realize that he's running short of trunks and tails to grab
hold of as he takes that last majestic and mythical walk through the
jungle.
The one part of elephant folklore that modern science has not
been able to destroy completely is the matter of memory and intelligence
It turns out that the elephant is a bit brighter and more able to learn
from experience than most of the animal kingdom.
One would hope that the Republican Party might take a lesson
from the elephant, learning from the past, without succumbing to the
temptation to confuse memory with nostalgia.
The Republican Party was a long time being born. It can
trace its roots back into American soil first turned by the Federalists.
The Federalists fought for a strong national government and played a
prominent role in forging a nation with the political strength to be
unified and the spiritual strength to be diversified. The Federalists
remained a power in American government until they became too small,
too exclusive and too exclusionary. Then the Party died. The heirs of
the Federalists were the Whigs, who in their turn remained a major
political party until they became so enamoured of the back lash theory
that they succumbed by compromising their anti-slavery sentiments.
Thus came the Republican Party and Abraham Lincoln. The
American nation has never since seen quite so a remarkable combination
of idealism and pragmatism as he fashioned into a political philosophy.
He took the Federalists' sense of nation, the Whigs' spirit
of frontier, and he added a belief in the common man that could have
come from nowhere except the heart of Thomas Jefferson.
So armed, Lincoln's Party was able to preserve the union,
inaugurate the land grant colleges, open up the West to homesteaders,
tie the continent together with railroads, and generally conduct itself
as though it believed the United States was a going concern with a
future and not a museum piece.
In fact, as the 20th century broke across the American
continent, the Republican Party was the natural home of a Theodore
Roosevelt who was talking Orthodox Republicanism when he said:
"Be progressive. A great democracy has got to be progressive,
or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy."
- 3 -
And the Gallup Poll has been counting the remaining Republican
elephants. That poll---which, incidentally, through some peculiar
perverseness the Republican Party's power structure believed in 1948
when it was wrong, but not since, when it has been right reveals that
today but one-quarter of the American electorate considers itself to be
Republican. Under these circumstances only a stupid elephant would
fail to realize that he's running short of trunks and tails to grab
hold of as he takes that last majestic and mythical walk through the
jungle.
The one part of elephant folklore that modern science has not
been able to destroy completely is the matter of memory and intelligence
It turns out that the elephant is a bit brighter and more able to learn
from experience than most of the animal kingdom.
One would hope that the Republican Party might take a lesson
from the elephant, learning from the past, without succumbing to the
temptation to confuse memory with nostalgia.
The Republican Party was a long time being born. It can
trace its roots back into American soil first turned by the Federalists.
The Federalists fought for a strong national government and played a
prominent role in forging a nation with the political strength to be
unified and the spiritual strength to be diversified. The Federalists
remained a power in American government until they became too small,
too exclusive and too exclusionary. Then the Party died. The heirs of
the Federalists were the Whigs, who in their turn remained a major
political party until they became so enamoured of the back lash theory
that they succumbed by compromising their anti-slavery sentiments.
Thus came the Republican Party and Abraham Lincoln. The
American nation has never since seen quite so a remarkable combination
of idealism and pragmatism as he fashioned into a political philosophy.
He took the Federalists' sense of nation, the Whigs' spirit
of frontier, and he added a belief in the common man that could have
come from nowhere except the heart of Thomas Jefferson.
So armed, Lincoln's Party was able to preserve the union,
inaugurate the land grant colleges, open up the West to homesteaders,
tie the continent together with railroads, and generally conduct itself
as though it believed the United States was a going concern with a
future and not a museum piece.
In fact, as the 20th century broke across the American
continent, the Republican Party was the natural home of a Theodore
Roosevelt who was talking Orthodox Republicanism when he said:
"Be progressive. A great democracy has got to be progressive,
or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy."
- 3 -
Now all of this is of obvious importance to the Republican
Party, but why do I say all of it here before this distinguished and
bipartisan audience? I do so because the awesome domestic challenges
which face our nation in the immediate future will best be met if they
are subjected to the best efforts of two strong parties. It is
partisan nonsense to believe that all wisdom and all sound ideas reside
in the Republican Party, but it is equally foolish to believe that they
reside only in the Democratic Party.
Where do we stand today in the ongoing adventure of perfecting
the American experiment?
No man, be he political friend or foe, can question the skill
with which the President has been shepherding his domestic programs
through the Congress. You need not be in full agreement with the
substance of each program to admit that they constitute a remarkable
political scoreboard. And I do not believe it partisan to point out
that thinking men in both parties might justifiably be concerned that
the very quantity of the program so far enacted might becloud the very
substantial unfinished public business in America today. Consider but
a portion of the catalogue and see if you do not agree that a strong
two-party system is essential for its sound fulfillment.
The field of human rights comes to mind as most significant
in the second half of the 20th century. We have seen this year and
last the enactment of the most far-reaching legal protection for the
rights of man ever attempted by any society. But yet, who will deny
that even after the recent voting rights law much still needs to be
done to protect the sanctity and equality of every man's ballot. I am
thinking primarily of the big city machines, which to this day
callously and deliberately prey upon the outnumbered in every election.
If equal voting rights are truly to be accomplished for every American,
this nation and its states are going to have to undertake massive
election reforms. And I believe that this is far more likely to
happen with two strong political parties rather than one.
Or consider the maze of health and welfare programs which
have been created by American government during the past several
decades. It is no secret that they have become cumbersome, wasteful,
overlapping, and, perhaps worst of all, so uncoordinated that they
reach but a fraction of those whom they were designed to assist.
Here too, we shall find reform coming far more rapidly with two strong
parties contributing to the subject.
Or consider the myriad and mammoth problems involved in
20th century urban life. The big cities each year, despite hugh doses
of tax money continue to lose ground in the fight for liveability.
Clearly, existing approaches to urban problems have not been
successful, and surely we shall all be better off if there are two
vibrant parties at work on the problem.
But of all the important issues of our time that might be
mentioned in discussing the importance of the strong two-party system,
none stands out with more clarity than the questions which now need to
be answered about the very structure of the Federal system itself.
- 5 -
In the law of property, lawyers have a term called
imperceptible encroachment to describe change so gradual that it can
only be seen from a distance in time. Certainly our Federal system
has been undergoing imperceptible encroachment until suddenly we find
that great and important changes have taken place, and even more
significant, that even more important changes now need to be made.
The fundamental principle behind the Federal system, of
course, is that the various levels of government ought to share
separate areas of responsibility for the public business.
The problem comes in the decision of what governmental
level ought to handle what responsibility and how once the
responsibilities have been assigned, they can be most effectively
carried out. The significance of these divisions of responsibility
is that with responsibility there necessarily goes corresponding
amounts of power---and power if not wisely distributed can infringe
on the individual liberties of a people.
Our Federal system today has evolved into a hodgepodge of
confusing and uncoordinated areas of responsibility. As an incumbent
Governor, I can assure you that the list of governmental functions
which are now shared on a hit and miss basis by all three levels of
government is a long and distrubing one. In health, in welfare, in
conservation, in education, in a score of different areas, overlap
and confusion breed almost hourly.
The net effect of this hodgepodge is threefold:
First, it is terribly inefficient. Tax monies are wasted
and in far too many cases the lack of coordination is so great that
many persons ironically fail to receive any of the services which
the three levels of government
state, local and national
are
all involved in providing.
Second, in the face of such confusion an over-abundance of
power tends to rise to the national government. As mankind should
have learned many long years ago power corrupts and absolute power
corrupts absolutely.
The
third
effect---
and understandably also a contributing
cause to the whole problem- is that the tax revenues of the Nation
are seriously malapportioned between the three levels of government.
The national government
primarily through the graduated
income tax
can look forward under our present tax structure to an
increase annually in its revenues of some $7 billion dollars. And
yet as the national treasury bulges, experts have estimated that
within 10 years the state governments will be billions of dollars
short each year from what is needed to provide their share of
governmental services.
There is no more pressing business before the Nation today
than to correct the disrepair into which the federal system continues
to drift.
-6-
And in a problem so basic who can deny the importance
today of two strong political parties each contributing ideas and
solutions. Should the national government pass over to the states
a share of the national income tax?
How big a share should this be?
Should there be restructions as to its use by the states,
and if so what restrictions?
Should each of the levels of government give up
responsibility accumulated over the years in one field or another,
and if so, what level of government should give up what responsibility'
How do you best protect the individual liberties of the
American people in an evermore complex society?
These and an endless list of other questions today stand
unanswered and in fact too often unexplored in the United States.
We must find answers and I believe with all my heart the
best answers will come from the give and take inherent in a strong
two party system.
So, as a Republican, I say to my party, we must get about
the business of strenghtening ourselves--- and as an American I say
to my Nation, you have a tremendous stake in the outcome of our
efforts.
The United States of America is the most unique and
effective system of government ever created on the face of the earth.
It was created and grew and flourished precisely because it never
became captive to a one party monopoly or became proliferated into
a meek, multi-party status, If it is not to flounder, to fade, to
lost its genius, then it is imperative that we re-establish a strong
and vibrant two-party system and with it, the federal system of
government--strong and efficient on all levels-- local, state, and
national.
FND
- 7 -
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CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
EXCERPTS FROM A SPEECH-Sept. 2, 1965
RELEASE FOR AMs
Blodgett Hospital School of Nursing
Sept. 3, 1965
Grand Rapids, Michigan
A civilized society should educate its children, protect the right
of all citizens to vote, care for its economically-distressed aged who
are ill, help its poor with their cooperation to escape the agony of
the slums. These are some qualities of humanity. They are essential for
a good society. They do not create a great society.
The 89th Congress has taken some steps toward strengthening a good
society. However, much of the legislation adopted this year is politically
oriented. Much of it is long on quantity and short on quality.
The paradox of this Congress is the adoption of measures which are a
heritage of yesterday's mistakes and quarrels.
Congress needs to take sounder steps toward helping to build a good
society of tomorrow. Somehow, some way, in a bi-partisan manner we must
insure that America is a place where a person can reach higher, seek
farther, and grow greater.
To accomplish this, we must give more of ourselves than we receive.
We must put humanity and humanitarianism first. We must consider the
God-given qualities of man above all.
*
*
*
While large segments of our society believe in making the benefits of
civilization available to the entire human race, an alarming number of
others devote their energies to creating havoc, making life miserable for
others, pitting man against man, disturbing the tranquility of a nation.
The growth and prosperity, the state and strength of our Nation depend
on an aroused public conscience, which results in free citizens conducting
their personal lives within the constituted framework of authority.
This is neither a time to stumble, nor to falter, nor to fear in
accepting the responsibilities of citizenship. The task is to lead the way
toward strengthening moral, esthetic, cultural and scientific values.
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
#######
#######
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
EXCERPTS FROM A SPEECH-Sept. 2, 1965
RELEASE FOR AMs
Blodgett Hospital School of Nursing
Sept. 3, 1965
Grand Rapids, Michigan
A civilized society should educate its children, protect the right
of all citizens to vote, care for its economically-distressed aged who
are ill, help its poor with their cooperation to scape the agony of
the slums. These are some qualities of humanity ey are essential for
a good society. They do not create a great society.
The 89th Congress has taken some steps toward strengthening a good
society. However, much of the legislation adopted this year is politically
oriented. Much of it is long on quantity and short on quality.
The paradox of this Congress is the adoption of measures which are a
heritage of yesterday's mistakes and quarrels
Congress needs to take sounder steps toward helping to build a good
society of tomorrow. Somehow, some way, in a bi-partisan manner we must
insure that America is a place where a erson can reach higher, seek
farther, and grow greater.
To accomplish this, we must give more of ourselves than we receive.
We must put humanity and humani arianiam irst. We must consider the
God-given qualities of man above all.
*
*
While large segments of our society believe in making the benefits of
civilization available to the entire human race, an alarming number of
others devote their energies to creating havoc, making life miserable for
others, pitting man against man, disturbing the tranquility of a nation.
The growth and prosperity, the state and strength of our Nation depend
on an aroused public conscience, which results in free citizens conducting
their personal lives within the constituted framework of authority.
This is neither a time to stumble, nor to falter, nor to fear in
accepting the responsibilities of citizenship. The task is to lead the way
toward strengthening moral, esthetic, cultural and scientific values.
GERALD FORD LIBRAR,
####### #######