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Steuben County Republican Dinner, Corning, NY, June 4, 1966
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4525945
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Steuben County Republican Dinner, Corning, NY, June 4, 1966
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This file contains material relating to Lyndon B. Johnson.
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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Press conferences
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
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The original documents are located in Box D20, folder "Steuben County Republican
Dinner, Corning, NY, June 4, 1966" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Digitized from Box D20 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
NEWS
CONGRESSMAN
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
FOR RELEASE AT 7 P.M., SATURDAY
JUNE 4, 1966
SPEECH EXCERPTS--STEUBEN COUNTY REPUBLICAN DINNER, CORNING, N. Y.
President Johnson has proved himself guilty of an arrogance of power--
arrogance toward the press and the American people.
Mr. Johnson demonstrates this arrogance through his penchant for quickie
news conferences attended only by the small corps of regular White House
correspondents.
The quickie news conference that Mr. Johnson is so fond of serves his
purposes admirably. It is held without ample advance notice, so that newsmen
who are specialists in various matters and are not assigned to cover the White
House regularly do not have time to make it. Often these specialists ask
questions that are tough for a president to answer--but they also are questions
a president should answer if the American people are to have confidence in their
government.
By contrast, the late President John F. Kennedy held regularly scheduled
press conferences in the spacious new State Department auditorium and invited
questions from hundreds of Washington newsmen.
In five months this year President Johnson has had only one full-fledged
press conference. In all of 1965 he held only nine.
Lay this alongside the record of Mr. Johnson's immediate predecessors--men
who were not afraid to subject themselves to the most probing questions from
news reporters and who were willing to let the American people in on what was
happening in Washington and the world.
Mr. Kennedy averaged roughly one news conference every other week. President
Eisenhower had about 200. President Truman held over 300. And President Franklin D.
Roosevelt held 998 press conferences, meeting the press twice a week before the
war and once a week during the war.
Mr. Johnson usually adds insult to injury by saying mighty little at his
so-called press conferences. The press session he called after his meeting with
the Cabinet last Wednesday was an excellent example of his skill in saying
exactly nothing.
***
(MORE)
-2-
SPEECH EXCERPTS--
The American people are losing confidence in the Johnson-Humphrey
Administration. Mr. Johnson's vaunted consensus is slipping away, steadily and
surely. This is not at all surprising, because it is only a matter of time
before the American people lose faith in a president who acts as though he can
do no wrong, refuses to take the people into his confidence, and countenances
no criticism.
The President of the United States tries to shut off all criticism of his
Vietnam policies by implying that his critics are something less than patriotic.
He does this despite the fact that most criticism of his basic policy in Vietnam
has come from Democrats, not Republicans.
It seems clear to me that Mr. Johnson is uneasy over mounting pressure by
the American people to find an honorable solution to the war in Vietnam.
The people are disturbed by the continued political strife in South Vietnam
and by the increasingly large commitment of U.S. ground troops there.
The President has not offered the people an adequate explanation for the
dispatch of more of our men to Vietnam, a troop movement which reportedly will
bring our strength in Vietnam to 400,000 men or more.
The President has never said it, but Brig. Gen. Keith L. Ware, the Army's
chief of information, has--the Vietnam war is "our war." I had always believed,
as I am sure the American people have, that we were in Vietnam only to help the
South Vietnamese halt Communist aggression.
But Gen. Ware has said flatly in answer to a newsman's questions: "It is
our war."
Gen. Ware also said our men do not know why they are in Vietnam. I find
that incredible.
Said Gen. Ware in an interview: "They do not know why they are fighting,
but our American troops have fantastically high morale. Some kind of strange
chemistry happens when they get to that country, but don't ask me why."
The tragic truth is the Vietnam war has become our war. The South Vietnamese
have been so busy fighting among themselves that our men have had to carry the
brunt of the battle. For several weeks U.S. casualties have been much larger
than theirs.
Criticism of Vietnam war developments is certainly justified when it is
inspired by concern for our fighting men there. Let the President dare deny any
American the right to express that concern!
###
RE: LBJ 'PRESS"
NEWS
CONGRESSMAN
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
FOR RELEASE AT 7 P.M., SATURDAY
JUNE 4, 1966
SPEECH EXCERPTS--STEUBEN COUNTY REPUBLICAN DINNER, CORNING, N.Y
President Johnson has proved himself guilty of an arrogance of power--
arrogance toward the press and the American people.
Mr. Johnson demonstrates this arrogance through his penchant for quickie
news conferences attended only by the small corps of regular White House
correspondents.
The quickie news conference that Mr. Johnson is so fond of serves his
purposes admirably. It is held without ample advance notice, so that newsmen
who are specialists in various matters and are not assigned to cover the White
House regularly do not have time to make it. Often these specialists ask
questions that are tough for a president to answer--but they also are questions
a president should answer if the American people are to have confidence in their
government.
By contrast, the late President John F. Kennedy held regularly scheduled
press conferences in the spacious new State Department auditorium and invited
questions from hundreds of Washington newsmen.
In five months this year President Johnson has had only one full-fledged
press conference. In all of 1965 he held only nine.
Lay this alongside the record of Mr. Johnson's immediate predecessors--men
who were not afraid to subject themselves to the most probing questions from
news reporters and who were willing to let the American people in on what was
happening in Washington and the world.
Mr. Kennedy averaged roughly one news conference every other week. President
Eisenhower had about 200, President Truman held over 300. And President Franklin D.
Roosevelt held 998 press conferences, meeting the press twice a week before the
war and once a week during the war.
Mr. Johnson usually adds insult to injury by saying mighty little at his
so-called press conferences. The press session he called after his meeting with
the Cabinet last Wednesday was an excellent example of his skill in saying
exactly nothing.
***
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
(MORE)
-2-
SPEECH EXCERPTS--
The American people are losing confidence in the Johnson-Humphrey
Administration. Mr. Johnson's vaunted consensus is slipping away, steadily and
surely. This is not at all surprising, because it is only a matter of time
before the American people lose faith in a president who acts as though he can
do no wrong, refuses to take the people into his confidence, and countenances
no criticism.
The President of the United States tries to shut off all criticism of his
Vietnam policies by implying that his critics are something less than patriotic.
He does this despite the fact that most criticism of his basic policy in Vietnam
has come from Democrats, not Republicans.
It seems clear to me that Mr. Johnson is uneasy over mounting pressure by
the American people to find an honorable solution to the war in Vietnam.
The people are disturbed by the continued political strife in South Vietnam
and by the increasingly large commitment of U.S. ground troops there.
The President has not offered the people an adequate explanation for the
dispatch of more of our men to Vietnam, a troop movement which reportedly will
bring our strength in Vietnam to 400,000 men or more.
The President has never said it, but Brig. Gen. Keith L. Ware, the Army's
chief of information, has--the Vietnam war is "our war." I had always believed,
as I am sure the American people have, that we were in Vietnam only to help the
South Vietnamese halt Communist aggression.
But Gen. Ware has said flatly in answer to a newsman's questions: "It is
our war."
Gen. Ware also said our men do not know why they are in Vietnam. I find
that incredible.
Said Gen. Ware in an interview: "They do not know why they are fighting,
but our American troops have fantastically high morale. Some kind of strange
chemistry happens when they get to that country, but don't ask me why."
The tragic truth is the Vietnam war has become our war. The South Vietnamese
have been so busy fighting among themselves that our men have had to carry the
brunt of the battle. For several weeks U.S. casualties have been much larger
than theirs.
Criticism of Vietnam war developments is certainly justified when it is
inspired by concern for our fighting men there. Let the President dare deny any
American the right to express that concern!
###