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South High School Commencement Address, Grand Rapids, MI, June 16, 1966
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South High School Commencement Address, Grand Rapids, MI, June 16, 1966
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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The original documents are located in Box D20, folder "South High School Commencement
Address, Grand Rapids, MI, June 16, 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Miss Shepard Honored graduates, members of The faculty - parents
SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS--JUNE 16, 1966
ONE OF THE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT AMERICA IS THAT IT'S
PRETTY SENTIMENTAL. SO I DON'T FEEL AT ALL EMBARRASSED
ABOUT SAYING THAT I FEEL A TUG AT MY HEARTSTRINGS WHEN-
to south Field
EVER I COME HERE TO TALK TO SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.
andwen though that is a long time ago
I WAS GRADUATED FROM SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL IN 1931, AND
YOU CAN BE SURE THE OLD SCHOOL COLORS, THE GLORY OF THE
RED AND THE BLUE, MAKE MY PULSE JUMP EVERY TIME I SEE
THEM, JUST AS THEY DO YOURS.
WHEN I THINK BACK TO MY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION, I
REMEMBER ALL THE EXCITEMENT, THE THRILL OF RECEIVING MY
DIPLOMA, AND THE TINGE OF SADNESS THAT A HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENT FEELS WHEN HE REALIZES THAT HE PROBABLY WON'T
GERALD FORD LIBRARI
Digitized from Box D20 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
BE SEEING MUCH OF MANY OF THE PEOPLE HE WENT TO SCHOOL WITH
FROM THAT TIME FORWARD.
BUT ON COMMENCEMENT NIGHT, TOO, I RECALL THAT MOST OF
MY CLASSMATES WERE THINKING ABOUT THE FUN THEY WERE GOING
TO HAVE AFTER THE CEREMONY. THEY WERE HARDLY TINGLING
WITH EXCITEMENT OVER WHAT THE SPEAKER OF THE EVENING MIGHT
SAY. IF THEY TALKED AT ALL ABOUT THE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
THEY WERE ABOUT TO HEAR, IT WAS TO WHISPER: "I SURE HOPE
HE DOESN'T TALK TOO LONG."
I DO HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOU TONIGHT, AND I THINK IT'S
ONE YOU WILL WANT TO HEAR--BUT 1, TOO, HOPE IT WON'T TAKE
VERY LONG TO DELIVER IT.
YOUR NATURAL ITCHINESS TO BE OUT AND DOING REMINDS ME
LIBRARY
OF AN EXPERIENCE ANOTHER CONGRESSMAN HAD JUST THIS LAST
-3-
MEMORIAL DAY. HE WAS TO BE THE MAIN SPEAKER AT MEMORIAL DAY
SERVICES IN HIS HOME TOWN. WHEN HE ARRIVED AT THE PLACE
FOR THE CEREMONY, THE PROGRAM CHAIRMAN HANDED HIM A NOTE.
THE NOTE SAID: "OUR MEMORIAL DAY PROGRAM INCLUDES A TALK
BY THE MAYOR, A RECITATION BY A STUDENT, YOUR SPEECH AND
THEN THE FIRING SQUAD."
I HOPE WHAT I HAVE TO SAY TO YOU THIS EVENING DOES NOT
PROMPT YOU TO SAY, "HE SHOULD BE SHOT AT SUNRISE."
THIS IS A GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY CLASS. YOU 253 GRADUATING
SENIORS HAVE THE DISTINCTION OF BELONGING TO THE 50TH CLASS
TO BE GRADUATED FROM SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL.
THIS IS SO VERY APPROPRIATE, BECAUSE NOT ONLY IS YOUR
FORD
SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL A GOLDEN YEAR WHICH WILL SHINE
GERAL
LIBRARY
-4-
FOREVER IN YOUR MEMORY BUT YOU ARE ENTERING UPON A GOLDEN
AGE IN HISTORY.
IT IS A GOLDEN AGE FOR YOU BECAUSE IT IS NEW-MINTED
WITH OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE JUST BEGINNING THEIR CAREERS
AND IT IS A GOLDEN AGE FOR YOU BECAUSE IT IS THE AGE OF
YOUTH IN AMERICA.
SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE DECIDED SOME TIME AGO WHAT YOU
WANT OUT OF LIFE WHILE OTHERS ARE STILL ASKING THEMSELVES,
"WHAT DO I WANT TO BE?"
SOMETIMES, OF COURSE, THE WHEELS TURN AND A MAN WINDS
UP IN A JOB HE NEVER EVEN DREAMED ABOUT AS A BOY.
BERALD FORD LIBRA
FOR INSTANCE, THERE'S THE FELLOW WHO CAME BACK TO HIS
HOME TOWN AFTER BEING GONE FOR 25 YEARS AND ASKED ONE OF
-5-
THE NATIVES ABOUT A CLASSMATE OF HIS.
"YOU MEAN JIM BROWN, THAT KID WHO WAS GOING TO MAKE
A MILLION?"
"YES, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HIM?"
"WELL," SAID THE NATIVE, "JIM HAD A GAS STATION FOR
A WHILE BUT IT WENT BROKE. THEN HE ATTENDED ACCOUNTING
SCHOOL BUT HE COULDN'T MAKE A LIVING AT THAT. SO HE
WENT BACK TO SCHOOL AND STUDIED LAW BUT HE FAILED AT THAT,
TOO."
"GOLLY, THAT'S TOO BAD." THE RETURNEE SAID. "JIM
WAS QUITE A GUY, VERY POPULAR. I'M SORRY TO HEAR HE'S
SUCH A FAILURE."
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
-6-
"FAILURE, MY FOOT," THE OLDTIMER EXCLAIMED. "HE'S
OUR CONGRESSMAN, NOW."
SO, YOU SEE, YOU DON'T ALWAYS KNOW HOW THINGS ARE
GOING TO TURN OUT FOR YOU.
BUT I DO KNOW THIS--YOU YOUNG PEOPLE ARE TREMENDOUSLY
FORTUNATE BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH MORE POTENTIAL IN
hope an expectation
YOUR WORLD, SO MUCH MORE CHALLENGE THAN THERE WAS IN MY
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION WORLD OF 35 YEARS AGO.
THERE IS A SLANG EXPRESSION THAT GOES: "YOU'VE GOT
IT MADE."
I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE REALLY EVER HAS IT MADE, BUT
IF ANYONE DOES THEN IT IS YOU YOUNG PEOPLE.
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
-7-
I HAVE A KIND OF SECRET AND I'M ALMOST AFRAID TO
TELL IT TO YOU. IT'S ONLY A SECRET FOR YOU BECAUSE I
DON'T THINK YOU KNOW IT. BUT, BELIEVE ME, THE POLITICIANS
now +
KNOW IT AND IT IS THIS. YOU YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER
WA
in
I DON'T MEAN YOU HAVE THE POWER TO JUMP AND RUN WHERE
WE OLD PEOPLE BEGIN PUFFING AFTER WE CLIMB A LONG FLIGHT
OF STAIRS. I MEAN YOU SOON WILL HAVE THE POWER TO PRETTY
MUCH RUN THIS COUNTRY. YOU WILL HAVE THE VOTING POWER TO
MAKE GOVERNMENTS--LOCAL, STATE AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT--
DO WHAT YOU WANT IF YOU USE THAT POWER.
simple mathematics- 1
THE REASON IS THAT THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY
have the potential To take over
ARE TAKING OVER. RIGHT NOW HALF OF THE POPULATION OF
GLEATO FORD LIBRARY
-8-
THIS COUNTRY IS UNDER 25 YEARS OF AGE. BY 1970, THREE
OUT OF FIVE AMERICANS WILL BE LESS THAN 25 YEARS OLD.
BY 1970, OURS WILL BE THE YOUNGEST COUNTRY IN THE FREE
WORLD.
must
THAT MEANS THE POLITICIANS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO
they have no choice
LISTEN TO YOU--AND THEY SHOULD.
THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN MUCH TALK ABOUT THE WISDOM OF
AGE. THERE IS, OF COURSE, SOME TRUTH IN THIS BECAUSE A
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
9-
MAN LEARNS FROM EXPERIENCE AND HE DRAWS UPON THAT EXPERIENCE
AS HE SEEKS TO SOLVE NEW PROBLEMS.
BUT I HAVE BEEN LITERALLY AMAZED IN TALKING WITH THE
YOUNG PEOPLE OF 1966 TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH MORE THEY KNOW
THAN PEOPLE THEIR AGE DID WHEN I WAS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT.
IT ISN'T SIMPLY THAT THERE HAS BEEN A KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION.
WE KNOW THAT IS SO IN THIS AGE OF THE ATOM, THE MISSILE,
AND THE MOON ROCKET. BUT WE KNOW, TOO, THAT TODAY'S YOUNG
PERSON IS EAGER AND ALERT AND BURNING TO LEARN.
THE SKY IS NO LONGER THE LIMIT. YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY
HAVE NO BOUNDARIES, NO LIMITATIONS ON WHAT THEY CAN LEARN
AND WHAT THEY CAN DO.
YOU HAVE THE POWER. YOU HAVE PHYSICAL POWER BECAUSE
YOU ARE YOUNG; THE YOUNG NOW HAVE THE VOTING POWER; AND
-10-
THERE ARE NO LIMITS TO WHAT YOU CAN DO
to hurridly
I SAID THAT A LITTLE BIT TOO FAST.
THERE ARE LIMITS,
BECAUSE WITH POWER COMES RESPONSIBILITY.
IF YOU ARE 18 OR 19 YEARS YOUNG AND YOU FEEL AS THOUGH
YOU CAN NEVER DIE, IT IS A GLORIOUS FEELING. BUT YOU MUST
HOLD YOURSELF IN OR YOU WILL WASTE YOURSELF, DESTROY
YOURSELF IN MEANINGLESS ACTIVITY.
IT'S FINE TO HAVE FUN, BUT HAVING FUN IS NOT THE BE-ALL
AND END-ALL OF LIFE.
YOU MUST SET A GOAL FOR YOURSELF--TO BECOME ALL THAT
YOU ARE CAPABLE OF BECOMING--AND THE FUN WILL TAKE CARE
OF ITSELF.
FORD is LIBRARY 9ERALD
THE MOST DIFFICULT TASK EVERYONE IN THIS WORLD FACES
-11-
IS THAT OF SELF-CONTROL.
YOU ENCOUNTER FRUSTRATIONS AND YOU WANT TO SMASH THINGS.
IF YOU YIELD TO THAT IMPULSE, YOU SMASH NOT ONLY PHYSICAL
OBJECTS OR OTHER PEOPLE BUT ALSO YOURSELF. THE SELF-
DISCIPLINED PERSON MAY GET THE IMPULSE TO TRAMPLE OTHERS
UNDERFOOT, BUT HE DOES NOT ACT ON IT. HE SEEKS OTHER MEANS
OF GAINING HIS OBJECTIVE.
THOSE OF YOU WHO FEEL YOU HAVE A SPECIAL HANDICAP SHOULD
NOT DESPAIR. SOME PEOPLE HAVE NOT LEARNED TO VALUE A MAN
FOR WHAT HE IS. SOME PEOPLE STILL USE OUTMODED STANDARDS
BASED ON BIAS OR UGLY PREJUDICE. BUT THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH,
GIVING WAY TO THE NEW.
A NEW MORALITY IS DEVELOPING IN THIS COUNTRY IN THE
FORD is LIBRARY
FIELD OF HUMAN RELATIONS.
-12-
THERE IS A NEW MORAL SENSE IN THE NATION, AND IT IS
GROWING AS SURELY AS I AM STANDING HERE.
IT IS THE NEW MORALITY THAT PRODUCED THE CIVIL RIGHTS
ACTS OF 1958, 1960 AND 1964 AND THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF
1965. IT IS THE NEW MORALITY THAT MAKES AMERICA CRY OUT
IN HORROR AND INDIGNATION WHEN ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP
VIOLATES THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS. WE ALL CONDEMN THE SELF-
APPOINTED GUNMEN OR ANY IRRESPONSIBLE MOB ACTION AGAINST
THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS.
SOON, WE HOPE, THE NEW MORALITY WILL BE SO STRONG THAT
RACIAL RADICALS ON BOTH SIDES WILL SHRINK FROM VIOLENCE.
ONE PRECEPT WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER. LAWLESS DISREGARD
totally wrong
FOR THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS IS WRONG A THIS IS TRUE WHETHER
LIBRARY
-13-
THE LAW IS BROKEN IN DENIAL OF EQUAL RIGHTS OR IN PURSUIT
OF EQUAL RIGHTS.
THERE IS A GREAT NEED IN AMERICA TODAY--A NEED FOR
SELF-DISCIPLINE AND A NEW MORAL CLIMATE AT ONE AND THE
SAME TIME, A NEED FOR EVERY PERSON TO SEE HIMSELF AS PART
OF HUMANITY AND TO LIVE HIS LIFE IN COMPASSION FOR HIS
MAN
FELLOW, IN DEVOTION TO JUSTICE.
AS JOHN DONNE SAID: "NO MAN IS AN ISLAND, ENTIRE OF
ITSELF; ANY MAN'S DEATH DIMINISHES ME, BECAUSE I AM
INVOLVED IN MANKIND; AND THEREFORE NEVER SEND TO KNOW
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS; IT TOLLS FOR THEE."
YOU ARE THE COMMUNITY LEADERS OF TOMORROW; YOU ARE
THE YOUNG, THE POWERFUL. MAKE YOUR POWER FELT IN THE
CAUSE OF JUSTICE, IN SERVICE TO OTHERS.
-14-
ASK YOURSELF WHAT LIFE MEANS TO YOU. IS IT IMPORTANT
TO BE "HIP?" OR IS IT IMPORTANT TO DO SOMETHING WORTHWHILE
WITH YOUR LIFE?
YOUR TEACHERS HERE AT SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL HAVE TRIED TO
TEACH YOU TO THINK FOR YOURSELF. THIS IS VITAL IF YOU
ARE TO BE A PERSON WHO COUNTS FOR SOMETHING.
I DON'T MEAN YOU SHOULD NEVER THINK LIKE OTHER PEOPLE.
I MEAN YOU SHOULD NEITHER BE A KOOK WHO PRIDES HIMSELF ON
BEING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS NOR BE A SHEEP WHO
FOLLOWS OTHERS BLINDLY.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT WAS A GREAT INDIVIDUALIST, AN
ADVOCATE OF THE STRENUOUS LIFE AND A BELIEVER IN THE FIGHT
FOR THE RIGHT.
-15-
HE SUMMED UP HIS PHILOSOPHY IN JUST A FEW WORDS, AND
HERE THEY ARE FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT:
"IT IS NOT THE CRITIC WHO COUNTS, NOT THE MAN WHO
POINTS OUT HOW THE STRONG MAN STUMBLED, OR WHERE THE DOER
OF DEEDS COULD HAVE DONE THEM BETTER.
"THE CREDIT BELONGS TO THE MAN WHO IS ACTUALLY IN THE
ARENA; WHOSE FACE IS MARRED BY DUST AND SWEAT AND BLOOD;
WHO STRIVES VALIANTLY; WHO ERRS AND COMES SHORT AGAIN AND
AGAIN; WHO KNOWS THE GREAT ENTHUSIASMS, THE GREAT DEVOTIONS;
WHO SPENDS HIMSELF IN A WORTHY CAUSE; WHO, AT THE BEST,
KNOWS IN THE END THE TRIUMPH OF HIGH ACHIEVEMENT; AND WHO,
AT THE WORST, IF HE FAILS, AT LEAST FAILS WHILE DARING
GREATLY."
-16-
THIS IS WHAT I ASK OF YOU--THAT YOU SHOULD DARE GREATLY
IN THIS ONE LIFE YOU HAVE TO LIVE. SO LIVE THAT YOU CAN
BE PROUD OF YOURSELF, CAN HOLD UP YOUR HEAD AND SEE THE
SKY.
THIS IS THE FOURTH SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATING CLASS
I HAVE SPOKEN TO AT COMMENCEMENT TIME. I FEEL SURE IT IS
ONE OF THE BEST, BOTH IN LOOKS AND ABILITY.
UNLIKE SOME POLITICIANS, I AM GOING TO MAKE GOOD ON
THE PROMISE I MADE # AT THE BEGINNING 0 TALK-NOT
TO TALK TOO LONG.
I WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE YOU WITH THIS MESSAGE.
"IF THERE IS RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE HEART, THERE WILLFORD
BE BEAUTY IN THE CHARACTER.
GERALD
LIBRARY
17-
IF THERE BE BEAUTY IN THE CHARACTER. THERE WILL BE
HARMONY IN THE HOUSE.
IF THERE IS HARMONY IN THE HOUSE. THERE WILL BE ORDER
IN THE NATION.
WHEN THERE IS ORDER IN THE NATION. THERE WILL BE PEACE
IN THE WORLD."
----THANK YOU
Congratulations- Hood luck - Hod bless your
--END--
GERAED LIGURA
Plz Return
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS by REP. GERALD R. FORD at SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.
JUNE 16, 1966
One of the things I love about America is that it's pretty sentimental. So I
don't feel at all embarrassed about saying that I feel a tug at my heartstrings when-
ever I come here to talk to South High School students.
I was graduated from South High School in 1931, and you can be sure the old
school colors, the glory of the Red and the Blue, make my pulse jump every time I see
them, just as they do yours.
When I think back to my high school graduation, I remember all the excitement,
the thrill of receiving my diploma, and the tinge of sadness that a high school
student feels when he realizes that he probably won't be seeing much of many of the
people he went to school with from that time forward.
But on commencement night, too, I recall that most of my classmates were thinking
about the fun they were going to have after the ceremony. They were hardly tingling
with excitement over what the speaker of the evening might say. If they talked at all
about the commencement address they were about to hear, it was to whisper: "I sure
hope he doesn't talk too long."
I do have a message for you tonight, and I think it's one you will want to hear--
but I, too, hope it won't take very long to deliver it.
Your natural itchiness to be out and doing reminds me of an experience another
congressman had just this last Memorial Day. He was to be the main speaker at
Memorial Day services in his home town. When he arrived at the place for the cere-
mony, the program chairman handed him a note. The note said: "Our Memorial Day
program includes a talk by the mayor, a recitation by a student, your speech and then
the firing squad."
I hope what I have to say to you this evening does not prompt you to say, "He
should be shot at sunrise."
This is a golden anniversary class. You 253 graduating seniors have the distinc-
tion of belonging to the 50th class to be graduated from South High School.
This is so very appropriate, because not only is your senior year in high school
a golden year which will shine forever in your memory but you are entering upon a
golden age in history.
It is a golden age for you because it is new-minted with opportunities for those
beginning their careers, and it is a golden age for you because it is the age of youth
in America.
Some of you may have decided some time ago what you want out of life while others
are still asking themselves, "What do I want to be?"
GERALD
LIBRARY
(MORE)
-2-
Sometimes, of course, the wheels turn and a man winds up in a job he never even
dreamed about as a boy.
For instance, there's the fellow who came back to his home town after being gone
for 25 years and asked one of the natives about a classmate of his.
"You mean Jim Brown, that kid who was going to make a million?"
"Yes, whatever happened to him?"
"Well," said the native, "Jim had a gas station for a while but it went broke.
Then he attended accounting school but he couldn't make a living at that. So he went
back to school and studied law but he failed at that, too."
"Golly, that's too bad," the returnee said. "Jim was quite a guy, very popular.
I'm sorry to hear he's such a failure."
"Failure, my foot," the oldtimer exclaimed, "He's our congressman, now."
So, you see, you don't always know how things are going to turn out for you.
But I do know this--you young people are tremendously fortunate because there is
so much more potential in your world, so much more challenge than there was in my
high school graduation world of 35 years ago.
There is a slang expression that goes, "You've got it made." I don't know if
anyone really ever has it made, but if anyone does then it is you young people.
I have a kind of secret, and I'm almost afraid to tell it to you. It's only a
secret for you because I don't think you know it. But, believe me, the politicians
know it and it is this: You young people have the power.
I don't mean you have the power to jump and run where we old people begin puffing
after we climb a long flight of stairs. I mean you soon will have the power to pretty
much run this country. You will have the voting power to make governments--local,
state and the federal government--do what you want if you use that power.
The reason is that the young people in this country are taking over. Right now
half of the population of this country is under 25 years of age. By 1970, three out
of five Americans will be less than 25 years old. By 1970, ours will be the youngest
country in the Free World.
That means the politicians are going to have to listen to you--and they should.
There has always been much talk about the wisdom of age, There is, of course,
some truth in this because a man learns from experience and he draws upon that
experience as he seeks to solve new problems.
But I have been literally amazed in talking with the young people of 1966 to
find out how much more they know than people their age did when I was a high school
student. It isn't simply that there has been a knowledge explosion. We know that is
so in this age of the atom, the missile, and the moon rocket. But we know, too, that
today's young person is eager and alert and burning to learn.
(MORE)
-3-
The sky is no longer the limit. Young people today have no boundaries, no
limitations on what they can learn and what they can do.
You have the power. You have the physical power because you are young; the young
now have the voting power; and there are no limits to what you can do.
I said that a little bit too fast. There are limits--because with power comes
responsibility.
If you are 18 or 19 years young and you feel as though you can never die, it is
a glorious feeling. But you must hold yourself in or you will waste yourself,
destroy yourself in meaningless activity.
It's fine to have fun, but having fun is not the be-all and end-all of life.
You must set a goal for yourself--to become all that you are capable of becoming--
and the fun will take care of itself.
The most difficult task everyone in this world faces is that of self-control.
You encounter frustrations and you want to smash things. If you yield to that
impulse, you smash not only physical objects or other people but also yourself. The
self-disciplined person may get the impulse to trample others underfoot, but he does
not act on it. He seeks other means of gaining his objective.
Those of you who feel you have a special handicap should not despair. Some
people have not learned to value a man for what he is. Some people still use
outmoded standards based on bias or ugly prejudice. But the old order changeth,
giving way to the new.
A New Morality is developing in this country in the field of human relations.
There is a new moral sense in the nation, and it is growing as surely as I am standing
here.
It is the New Morality that produced the Civil Rights Acts of 1958, 1960 and
1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It is the New Morality that makes America
cry out in horror and indignation when any one individual or group violates the
rights of others. We all condemn the self-appointed gunmen or any irresponsible mob
action against the rights of others.
Soon, we hope, the New Morality will be so strong that racial radicals on both
sides will shrink from violence.
One precept we must always remember. Lawless disregard for the rights of others
is wrong. This is true whether the law is broken in denial of equal rights or in
pursuit of equal rights.
There is a great need in America today--a need for self-discipline and a new
moral climate at one and the same time, a need for every person to see himself as
part of humanity and to live his life in compassion for his fellow, in devotion to
justice.
(MORE)
-4-
As John Donne said: "No man is an island, entire of itself; ...any man's death
diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know
for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
You are the community leaders of tomorrow; you are the young, the powerful.
Make your power felt in the cause of justice, in service to others.
Ask yourself what life means to you. Is it important to be "hip?" or is it
important to do something worthwhile with your life?
Your teachers here at South High School have tried to teach you to think for
yourself. This is vital if you are to be a person who counts for something.
I don't mean you should never think like other people. I mean you should neither
be a kook who prides himself on being completely different from others nor be a sheep
who follows others blindly.
Theodore Roosevelt was a great individualist, an advocate of the strenuous life
and a believer in the fight for the right.
He summed up his philosophy in just a few words, and here they are for you to
think about:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man
stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred
by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again
and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself
in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement;
and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."
This is what I ask of you--that you should dare greatly in this one life you
have to live. So live that you can be proud of yourself, can hold up your head and
see the sky.
This is the fourth South High School graduating class I have spoken to at
commencement time. I feel sure it is one of the best, both in looks and ability.
Unlike some politicians, I am going to make good on the promise I made you at
the beginning of my talk--not to talk too long.
I would like to leave you with this message:
"If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character.
If there be beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world."
Thank you
###
GERMLO FORD LIBRARY
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS by REP. GERALD R. FORD at SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.
JUNE 16, 1966
One of the things I love about America is that it's pretty sentimental. So I
don't feel at all embarrassed about saying that I feel a tug at my heartstrings when-
ever I come here to talk to South High School students.
I was graduated from South High School in 1931, and you can be sure the old
school colors, the glory of the Red and the Blue, make my pulse jump every time I see
them, just as they do yours.
When I think back to my high school graduation, I remember all the excitement,
the thrill of receiving my diploma, and the tinge of sadness that a high school
student feels when he realizes that he probably won't be seeing much of many of the
people he went to school with from that time forward.
But on commencement night, too, I recall that most of my classmates were thinking
about the fun they were going to have after the ceremony. They were hardly tingling
with excitement over what the speaker of the evening might say. If they talked at all
about the commencement address they were about to hear, it was to whisper: "I sure
hope he doesn't talk too long."
I do have a message for wou tonight, and I think it's one you will want to hear--
but I, too, hope it won't take very long to deliver it.
Your natural itchiness to be out and doing reminds me of an experience another
congressman had just this last Memorial Day. He was to be the main speaker at
Memorial Day services in his home town. When he arrived at the place for the cere-
mony, the program chairman handed him a note. The note said: "Our Memorial Day
program includes a talk by the mayor, a recitation by a student, your speech and then
the firing squad."
I hope what I have to say to you this evening does not prompt you to say, "He
should be shot at sunrise."
This is a golden anniversary clase. You 253 graduating seniors have the distinc-
tion of belonging to the 50th class to be graduated from South High School.
This is so very appropriate, because not only is your senior year in high school
a golden year which will shine forever in your memory but you are entering upon a
golden age in history.
It is a golden age for you because it is new-minted with opportunities for those
beginning their careers, and it is a golden age for you because it is the age of youth
in America.
Some of you may have decided some time ago what you want out of life while others
are still asking themselves, "What do I want to be?"
GERALD
LIBRARY
(MORE)
-2-
Sometimes, of course, the wheels turn and a man winds up in a job he never even
dreamed about as a boy.
For instance, there's the fellow who came back to his home town after being gone
for 25 years and asked one of the natives about a classmate of his.
"You mean Jim Brown, that kid who was going to make a million?"
"Yes, whatever happened to him?"
"Well," said the native, "Jim had a gas station for a while but it went broke.
Then he attended accounting school but he couldn't make a living at that. So he went
back to school and studied law but he failed at that, too."
"Golly, that's too bad," the returnee said. "Jim was quite a guy, very popular.
I'm sorry to hear he's such a failure."
"Failure, my foot," the oldtimer exclaimed, "He's our congressman, now."
So, you see, you don't always know how things are going to turn out for you.
But I do know this--you young people are tremendously fortunate because there is
80 much more potential in your world, so much more challenge than there was in my
high school graduation world of 35 years ago.
There is a slang expression that goes, "You've got it made." I don't know if
anyone really ever has it made, but if anyone does then it is you young people.
I have a kind of secret, and I'm almost afraid to tell it to you. It's only a
secret for you because I don't think you know it. But, believe me, the politicians
know it and it is this: You young people have the power.
I don't mean you have the power to jump and run where we old people begin puffing
after we climb a long flight of stairs. I mean you soon will have the power to pretty
much run this country. You will have the voting power to make governments--local,
state and the federal government--do what you want if you use that power.
The reason is that the young people in this country are taking over. Right now
half of the population of this country is under 25 years of age. By 1970, three out
of five Americans will be less than 25 years old. By 1970, ours will be the youngest
country in the Free World.
That means the politicians are going to have to listen to you--and they should.
There has always been much talk about the wisdom of age, There is, of course,
some truth in this because a man learns from experience and he draws upon that
experience as he seeks to solve new problems.
But I have been literally amazed in talking with the young people of 1966 to
find out how much more they know than people their age did when I was a high school
student. It isn't simply that there has been a knowledge explosion. We know that is
80 in this age of the atom, the missile, and the moon rocket. But we know, too, that
today's young person is eager and alert and burning to learn.
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The sky is no longer the limit. Young people today have no boundaries, no
limitations on what they can learn and what they can do.
You have the power. You have the physical power because you are young; the young
now have the voting power; and there are no limits to what you can do.
I said that a little bit too fast. There are limits--because with power comes
responsibility.
If you are 18 or 19 years young and you feel as though you can never die, it is
a glorious feeling. But you must hold yourself in or you will waste yourself,
destroy yourself in meaningless activity.
It's fine to have fun, but having fun is not the be-all and end-all of life.
You must set a goal for yourself--to become all that you are capable of becoming--
and the fun will take care of itself.
The most difficult task everyone in this world faces is that of self-control.
You encounter frustrations and you want to smash things. If you yield to that
impulse, you smash not only physical objects or other people but also yourself. The
self-disciplined person may get the impulse to trample others underfoot, but he does
not act on it. He seeks other means of gaining his objective.
Those of you who feel you have a special handicap should not despair. Some
people have not learned to value a man for what he is. Some people still use
outmoded standards based on bias or ugly prejudice. But the old order changeth,
giving way to the new.
A New Morality is developing in this country in the field of human relations.
There is a new moral sense in the nation, and it is growing as surely as I am standing
here.
It is the New Morality that produced the Civil Rights Acts of 1958, 1960 and
1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It is the New Morality that makes America
cry out in horror and indignation when any one individual or group violates the
rights of others. We all condemn the self-appointed gunmen or any irresponsible mob
action against the rights of others.
Soon, we hope, the New Morality will be 80 strong that racial radicals on both
sides will shrink from violence.
One precept we must always remember. Lawless disregard for the rights of others
is wrong. This is true whether the law is broken in denial of equal rights or in
pursuit of equal rights.
There is a great need in America today--a need for self-discipline and a new
moral climate at one and the same time, a need for every person to see himself as
part of humanity and to live his life in compassion for his fellow, in devotion to
justice.
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As John Donne said: "No man is an island, entire of itself; ...any man's death
diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know
for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
You are the community leaders of tomorrow; you are the young, the powerful.
Make your power felt in the cause of justice, in service to others.
Ask yourself what life means to you. Is it important to be "hip?" or is it
important to do something worthwhile with your life?
Your teachers here at South High School have tried to teach you to think for
yourself. This is vital if you are to be a person who counts for something.
I don't mean you should never think like other people. I mean you should neither
be a kook who prides himself on being completely different from others nor be a sheep
who follows others blindly.
Theodore Roosevelt was a great individualist, an advocate of the strenuous life
and a believer in the fight for the right.
He summed up his philosophy in just a few words, and here they are for you to
think about:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man
stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred
by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again
and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself
in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement;
and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."
This is what I ask of you--that you should dare greatly in this one life you
have to live. So live that you can be proud of yourself, can hold up your head and
see the sky.
This is the fourth South High School graduating class I have spoken to at
commencement time. I feel sure it is one of the best, both in looks and ability.
Unlike some politicians, I am going to make good on the promise I made you at
the beginning of my talk--not to talk too long.
I would like to leave you with this message:
"If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character.
If there be beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world."
Thank you
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