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The original documents are located in Box D20, folder "Lake County GOP Picnic Rally,
Madison, SD, August 29, 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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
FOR RELEASE IN MONDAY A.M.'s, AUGUST 29, 1966
ADDRESS BY REP, GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
At
LAKE COUNTY GOP PICNIC RALLY
MADISON, SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota is a great farming state. It is fitting, therefore, that we pay
our respects to the agriculture expert of the Johnson-Humphrey Administration--
Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman.
I know you share the view that he is the most peculiar Secretary of Agriculture
we have had for a long, long time. I cannot salute him as a trail-blazing experimen-
ter or a social revolutionary, but I congratulate him for being a political phrase-
maker who was born with a foot in his mouth.
Secretary Freeman is the only Secretary of Agriculture who has ever asked the
Department of Defense to cut down on its purchases of beef and pork produced by the
American farmer.
He is the only Secretary of Agriculture who has ever publicly expressed
pleasure at a drop in farm prices.
He is the Cabinet officer who beamed his approval of an $8 million Export-
Import Bank deal to help Communist Rumania process 300,000 pigs a year with modern
American-made equipment and to sell millions of pounds of Communist pork in competi-
tion with American farmers.
Secretary Freeman has waged an undeclared war on American agriculture which
has driven parity prices from an average of 84.5 per cent under Eisenhower to barely
79 per cent this year. He, as the agriculture "boss man" on the Johnson-Humphrey-
Freeman team, has helped to increase beef imports and has dumped CCC-stored grains to
knock down market prices. This Democratic Administration, as you well know, also
tried to scuttle the school milk and school lunch programs.
This is what our fathers used to call "some punkins." But if Secretary Freeman
has hurt the farmers and wounded the Democrats, he is to be thanked for providing the
Republican campaign slogan for 1966. Recently, at a secret Democratic political
huddle at which he brushed off the housewives and the farmers, he gave this slick
advice to the desperate Democratic congressional candidates--and I quote:
"Slip, slide and duck any question of higher consumer prices if you
possibly can!"
That's Orbiting Orville. Right out of the horse's mouth. "Slip, slide and
duck!" Perhaps such advice would be helpful if the Democratic hopefuls were dodging
baseballs in a carnival concession. But candidates who "slip, slide and duck!" won't
(MORE
-2-
satisfy the American voters in 1966. In the political arena this fall Democrats will
be ducking when they should be slipping, and slipping when they should be sliding.
We have the opportunity to make this the year of the Elephant. Republicans
are on the right side of the issues, have the best candidates, real party unity, and
organization. The Democrats are saddled with higher prices, higher interest rates,
higher draft calls, higher crime rates. The Great Society is the High Society. Had
enough?
What is the state of the Union? Not good with a war in Vietnam and NATO in
disarray in Europe. At home we see prices skyrocketing to all-time highs, interest
rates going out of sight, mortgage money tight and getting tighter, federal spending
out of control, crime soaring and violence spreading across the land.
This is the time for leadership. America needs straight-from-the-shoulder
answers, not slip, slide and duck. Despite all the Johnson-Humphrey fanfare and
hoopla, this nation is not getting decisive and effective leadership at a time when
it's desperately needed. The "big daddy" Johnson-Democrat attitude will not solve
the frankenstein mess which is damaging our prestige and power abroad, and ravaging
our people at home. Democrats talk like Pollyanna. The White House blows with an
uncertain trumpet, with its credibility at an all-time low.
What are we to believe about Vietnam? There the stakes are high; the
consequences are great.
Americans are proud of our men in our armed forces. Many of you here have
husbands, fathers, sons and brothers fighting for freedom half-way around the world.
We must not, we cannot, we will not let them down. Republicans believe we must
forthrightly and steadfastly meet the challenge of Communist terror and aggression
in Vietnam, Berlin or elsewhere.
It is a grim and difficult war in the jungles, swamps and rice-paddies of
Southeast Asia. Already our combat losses have risen to over 30,000--including more
than 4,400 Americans killed in action.
But, we have the power to be successful on the battlefield and at the peace
table, and we should press more vigorously for solutions on both fronts. I commend
Illinois Senatorial Candidate Chuck Percy for calling for an All-Asian Peace
Conference, with the Asians themselves taking the lead in seeking an honorable peace
in war-torn Vietnam. This promising proposal is a Republican plan for peace.
Our soldiers are performing billiantly in Vietnam. But it is tragic that
more and more of our young menare being sent to fight and perhaps to die there.
(MORE)
-3-
We are told there will be 400,000 of our ground troops in Vietnam by the end
of this year. It is also reported it will take 750,000 Americans to end the Vietnam
War within five years.
These reports sound utterly fantastic when we recall what President Johnson
told the nation just two years ago, when he was seeking election.
"We don't want our American boys to do the fighting for Asian boys," Johnson
the campaigner said. "We don't want to get involved with a nation with 700 million
people and get tied down in a land war in Asia."
National Republican leaders urged the President in December, 1965, to make
more effective use of the superiority we enjoy in air and sea power to end the Vietnam
War more quickly and save our manpower.
But the President dilly-dallied and shilly-shallied until 6-1/2 months later
when the polls told him the American people wanted to win in Vietnam and get out.
Only then did the President order destruction of the oil depots near Nanoi and
Haiphong. In explaining the action, Defense Secretary McNamara said the bombings
would save American and South Vietnamese lives.
Apparently this Democratic Administration thought the oil depot bombings would
save lives in July but not in December.
The war in Vietnam is costly both in lives and in dollars. Yet, the Johnson
Administration persists in a spending-as-usual attitude. While pumping billions into
the Vietnam War, the Johnson-Humphrey-Freeman Administration dishes out billions more
in non-essential domestic spending. The result -- inflation.
Inflation is a big word. But you people know exactly what it means. You find
out every time you go into the market place and pay more and more for less and less.
Don't let Big Daddy or any other apologist for his Administration tell you
you never had it so good. That's a lot of hooey.
Mr. Johnson went to Nebraska and Des Moines to tell the farmers they never
had it so good.
He didn't tell them the farmer is caught in a cost-price squeeze. He didn't
tell them that the average parity ratio over the past five years is the lowest it
has ever been for any consecutive five-year period since the big depression.
He didn't tell them that farm production costs have gone up $4 billion since
1960, or that total farm debt stands 60 per cent higher than five years ago.
He didn't tell them that farmers are still earning only about 65 per cent as
much as non-farmers.
(MORE)
-4-
The truth is the Johnson-Humphrey-Freeman Administration has been spending
the American people silly. This is the chief reason your dollars are slipping away
in line with Freeman's slip-slide-and-duck philosophy,
The Democrats have been drowning this country in red ink for six long years
Do you know what the deficit for those six years adds up to? Thirty billion -
an average of $6 billion a year. The last time the Federal budget was balanced
was in 1960 under a Republican Administration.
President Johnson pretends to be an economizer. I say "pretends" because
I've got the figures to back up what I say. Mr. Johnson is planning to spend 47.5
per cent more in fiscal year 1967 than the federal government spent in 1960. Since
fiscal 1965 -- in just two years -- federal spending is up 17 per cent. That's
the great economy record compiled during Mr. Johnson's time in office.
It's this kind of reckless spending, the doling out of dollars by the
Johnson-Humphrey-Freeman Administration and its blank-check Democratic Congress,
which is the prime cause of inflation.
In their 1960 platform the Democrats promised to maintain price stability.
Have they kept this promise?
In 1960 the Democrats promised to place farmers on the same economic level
as automobile workers and the taamsters. What happened to that promise? Like all
the others, it was for the Democrats to get in on, not to deliver on.
And I ask you. Why does the Administration and its captive Democrat
Congress act as though there is no problem under the sun which can't be cured by
spending billions of taxpayer dollars?
Why, in short, does the Administration pretend that we can fight an all-
out war in Vietnam and still pay for any and every sociological brainstorm hatched
by the kept economists of the Great Society?
We're bogged down in Vietnam. We're in a mess with inflation. And now
we're getting kicked around by high interest rates.
Do you know that the Democrats in their 1960 platform had the unmitigated
gall to attack the Eisenhower Administration as a high-interest administration?
Well, after barely five years of Democratic control, interest rates in
this country have hit a 40-year high--that's right, a 40-year high--and they're
still going up.
This may be news to you, but the Adminsitration can't even be honest about
interest rates, much less keep them from going sky-high.
(MORE)
-5-
Here in my hand I hold a United States Savings Bond. My children and your
children are buying these bonds. So are farmers and industrial workers, people
who are demonstrating their faith in America. The U.S. Treasury pays them about
4.15 per cent interest for the use of their money.
But that's only when it comes to taking candy-money from school kids.
In contrast, when the Treasury turns to the big investors, it talks another
language. Here I hold a Participation Sales Certificate, which is an interest
in various mortgage assets that the federal government owns. Its issuance was
authorized by the Participation Sales Act of last May, another Democratic Congress
blank check.
Anyone who can afford the $5,000 minimum can buy one of these certificates
and will draw interest not at the rate of about 4.15 per cent but 5-3/4 - or more.
That means the Democratic Administration pays over 40 per cent more to the rich
than it pays to the great number of Americans who don't have $5,000 in cash lying
around for a safe investment. This is Democrat policy -- low interest returns
for the poor; high interest returns for the rich.
That's Robin Hood in reverse. He stole from the rich to give to the poor.
The Administration takes from the have-nots and gives to the haves.
What do we have today in the Democratic Party? We've got the Party of
Big Business, the Party of Big Government, the Party of Big Bureaucracy, the
Party of Big Spending, the Party of Big Deficits, the Party of Big Cost of Living,
the Party of Big Labor Troubles, the Party of Big Home Foreclosures, the Party of
Big Scandals, the Party with Big Riots in the Streets, the Party of Big Promises.
Riots in the Streets. The Democratic Party promised big but failed to
deliver.
There is an atmosphere of lawlessness in this country. It springs from the
attitude that Americans should only obey the laws that please them. It stems from
the feeling that if you've got more than I have, I can take from you whatever I
want. It's the old attitude of the-world-owes-me-a-living gone wild.
You read about the riots, the arson, and the looting in our great cities
and you wonder if America has gone mad. This disregard for law and order breeds
anarchy.
I have said it before and I say it again. When high-ranking public figures
like Vice President Humphrey talk about leading a revolt themselves, they are
encouraging a defiance of the law which is inexcusable in a civilized society. Is
this a Great Society?
Some of our big cities are rapidly reverting to the jungle, Lawless
elements are threatening to make guerrilla warfare with the police a familiar pat-
-6-
tern of American life.
How long are we going to abdicate law and order--the backbone of any
civilization--in favor of a soft social theory that the man who heaves a brick
through your window, or tosses a fire bomb into your car, or snipes at firemen
is simply the misunderstood and underprivileged product of a broken home?
Vietnam. Inflation. High interest. Violence. These are the issues of
1966. We did not create them. They are simply there. We would prefer that the
Administration had not let them develop.
But that is where the two-party system comes in.
Winston Churchill once said that democracy had many and serious faults but
was better than any other system of government man had devised.
Democracy in America depends on two-party politics. One-party government
leads straight to tyranny. A vigorous two-party system is the simplest way of
bringing about necessary changes in our government without wrecking the country
or resorting to revolution.
Today we do not have two nearly-equal-in-strength political parties.
Lopsided government, if allowed to continue, leads only to disaster.
Competition is the secret of American economic freedom and social progress.
Competition between the two major political parties has been good for America.
In 1966 this competition will be re-established, The Democrats' stranglehold will
be broken at the polls in November.
The easiest and quickest way for the people of this country to clean up
Vietnam, stop inflation, bring down interest rates, and protect the lives, rights
and property of us all-including all minorities--is to vote Republicans in and
Democrats out. It's just as simple as that. It's not a matter of intrigue in
government, or of contributing $10,000 to the President's Club, or lobbying on
Capitol Hill.
Often when I ponder the great land that is America, I think of that day in
Philadelphia when Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention.
"Which have you given us," a bystander asked him, "a monarchy or a re-
public?" "A Republic," Franklin answered, "if you can keep it."
That republic has endured for 177 years because in every age there have
been Americans who gave of their time, of their treasure, and of their faith to
keep it.
It is for us, the living, to re-dedicate ourselves to that high purpose.
And it is my deep conviction that you--all of you--will pass on the torch of
freedom to your children because you dare stand up and be counted for America.
Thank you and God bless each of you.
###
FOR RELEASE IN MONDAY A.M.'s, AUGUST 29, 1966
ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
At
LAKE COUNTY GOP PICNIC RALLY
MADISON, SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota is a great farming state. It is fitting, therefore, that we pay
our respects to the agriculture expert of the Johnson-Humphrey Administration--
Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman.
I know you share the view that he is the most peculiar Secretary of Agriculture
we have had for a long, long time. I cannot salute him as a trail-blazing experimen-
ter or a social revolutionary, but I congratulate him for being a political phrase-
maker who was born with a foot in his mouth.
Secretary Freeman is the only Secretary of Agriculture who has ever asked the
Department of Defense to cut down on its purchases of beef and pork produced by the
American farmer.
He is the only Secretary of Agriculture who has ever publicly expressed
pleasure at a drop in farm prices.
He is the Cabinet officer who beamed his approval of an $8 million Export-
Import Bank deal to help Communist Rumania process 300,000 pigs a year with modern
American-made equipment and to sell millions of pounds of Communist pork in competi-
tion with American farmers.
Secretary Freeman has waged an undeclared war on American agriculture which
has driven parity prices from an average of 84.5 per cent under Eisenhower to barely
79 per cent this year. He, as the agriculture "boss man" on the Johnson-Humphrey-
Freeman team, has helped to increase beef imports and has dumped CCC-stored grains to
knock down market prices. This Democratic Administration, as you well know, also
tried to scuttle the school milk and school lunch programs.
This is what our fathers used to call "some punkins." But if Secretary Freeman
has hurt the farmers and wounded the Democrats, he is to be thanked for providing the
Republican campaign slogan for 1966. Recently, at a secret Democratic political
huddle at which he brushed off the housewives and the farmers, he gave this slick
advice to the desperate Democratic congressional candidates-and I quote:
"Slip, slide and duck any question of higher consumer prices if you
possibly can!"
That's Orbiting Orville. Right out of the horse's mouth. "Slip, slide and
duck!" Perhaps such advice would be helpful if the Democratic hopefuls were dodging
baseballs in a carnival concession. But candidates who "slip, slide and duck!" won't
(MORE
-2-
satisfy the American voters in 1966. In the political arena this fall Democrats will
be ducking when they should be slipping, and slipping when they should be sliding.
We have the opportunity to make this the year of the Elephant. Republicans
are on the right side of the issues, have the best candidates, real party unity, and
organization. The Democrats are saddled with higher prices, higher interest rates,
higher draft calls, higher crime rates. The Great Society is the High Society. Had
enough?
What is the state of the Union? Not good with a war in Vietnam and NATO in
disarray in Europe. At home we see prices skyrocketing to all-time highs, interest
rates going out of sight, mortgage money tight and getting tighter, federal spending
out of control, crime soaring and violence spreading across the land.
This is the time for leadership. America needs straight-from-the-shoulder
answers, not slip, slide and duck. Despite all the Johnson-Humphrey fanfare and
hoopla, this nation is not getting decisive and effective leadership at a time when
it's desperately needed. The "big daddy" Johnson-Democrat attitude will not solve
the frankenstein mess which is damaging our prestige and power abroad, and ravaging
our people at home. Democrats talk like Pollyanna. The White House blows with an
uncertain trumpet, with its credibility at an all-time low.
What are we to believe about Vietnam? There the stakes are high; the
consequences are great.
Americans are proud of our men in our armed forces. Many of you here have
husbands, fathers, sons and brothers fighting for freedom half-way around the world.
We must not, we cannot, we will not let them down. Republicans believe we must
forthrightly and steadfastly meet the challenge of Communist terror and aggression
in Vietnam, Berlin or elsewhere.
It is a grim and difficult war in the jungles, swamps and rice-paddies of
Southeast Asia. Already our combat losses have risen to over 30,000--including more
than 4,400 Americans killed in action.
But, we have the power to be successful on the battlefield and at the peace
table, and we should press more vigorously for solutions on both fronts. I commend
Illinois Senatorial Candidate Chuck Percy for calling for an All-Asian Peace
Conference, with the Asians themselves taking the lead in seeking an honorable peace
in war-torn Vietnam. This promising proposal is a Republican plan for peace.
Our soldiers are performing billiantly in Vietnam. But it is tragic that
more and more of our young menare being sent to fight and perhaps to die there.
(MORE)
-3-
We are told there will be 400,000 of our ground troops in Vietnam by the end
of this year. It is also reported it will take 750,000 Americans to end the Vietnam
War within five years.
These reports sound utterly fantastic when we recall what President Johnson
told the nation just two years ago, when he was seeking election.
"We don't want our American boys to do the fighting for Asian boys," Johnson
the campaigner said. "We don't want to get involved with a nation with 700 million
people and get tied down in a land war in Asia."
National Republican leaders urged the President in December, 1965, to make
more effective use of the superiority we enjoy in air and sea power to end the Vietnam
War more quickly and save our manpower.
But the President dilly-dallied and shilly-shallied until 6-1/2 months later
when the polls told him the American people wanted to win in Vietnam and get out.
Only then did the President order destruction of the oil depots near Hanoi and
Haiphong. In explaining the action, Defense Secretary McNamara said the bombings
would save American and South Vietnamese lives.
Apparently this Democratic Administration thought the oil depot bombings would
save lives in July but not in December.
The war in Vietnam is costly both in lives and in dollars. Yet, the Johnson
Administration persists in a spending-as-usual attitude. While pumping billions into
the Vietnam War, the Johnson-Humphrey-Freeman Administration dishes out billions more
in non-essential domestic spending. The result -- inflation.
Inflation is a big word. But you people know exactly what it means. You find
out every time you go into the market place and pay more and more for less and less.
Don't let Big Daddy or any other apologist for his Administration tell you
you never had it so good. That's a lot of hooey.
Mr. Johnson went to Nebraska and Des Moines to tell the farmers they never
had it so good.
He didn't tell them the farmer is caught in a cost-price squeeze. He didn't
tell them that the average parity ratio over the past five years is the lowest it
has ever been for any consecutive five-year period since the big depression.
He didn't tell them that farm production costs have gone up $4 billion since
1960, or that total farm debt stands 60 per cent higher than five years ago.
He didn't tell them that farmers are still earning only about 65 per cent as
much as non-farmers.
(MORE)
-4-
The truth is the Johnson-Humphrey-Freeman Administration has been spending
the American people silly. This is the chief reason your dollars are slipping away
in line with Freeman's slip-slide-and-duck philosophy,
The Democrats have been drowning this country in red ink for six long years
Do you know what the deficit for those six years adds up to? Thirty billion -
an average of $6 billion a year. The last time the Federal budget was balanced
was in 1960 under a Republican Administration.
President Johnson pretends to be an economizer. I say "pretends" because
I've got the figures to back up what I say. Mr. Johnson is planning to spend 47.5
per cent more in fiscal year 1967 than the federal government spent in 1960. Since
fiscal 1965 -- in just two years --- federal spending is up 17 per cent. That's
the great economy record compiled during Mr. Johnson's time in office.
It's this kind of reckless spending, the doling out of dollars by the
Johnson-Humphrey-Freeman Administration and its blank-check Democratic Congress,
which is the prime cause of inflation.
In their 1960 platform the Democrats promised to maintain price stability.
Have they kept this promise?
In 1960 the Democrats promised to place farmers on the same economic level
as automobile workers and the teamsters. What happened to that promise? Like all
the others, it was for the Democrats to get in on, not to deliver on.
And I ask you. Why does the Administration and its captive Democrat
Congress act as though there is no problem under the sun which can't be cured by
spending billions of taxpayer dollars?
Why, in short, does the Administration pretend that we can fight an all-
out war in Vietnam and still pay for any and every sociological brainstorm hatched
by the kept economists of the Great Society?
We're bogged down in Vietnam. We're in a mess with inflation. And now
we're getting kicked around by high interest rates.
Do you know that the Democrats in their 1960 platform had the unmitigated
gall to attack the Eisenhower Administration as a high-interest administration?
Well, after barely five years of Democratic control, interest rates in
this country have hit a 40-year high--that's right, a 40-year high--and they're
still going up.
This may be news to you, but the Adminsitration can't even be honest about
interest rates, much less keep them from going sky-high.
(MORE)
-5-
Here in my hand I hold a United States Savings Bond. My children and your
children are buying these bonds. So are farmers and industrial workers, people
who are demonstrating their faith in America. The U.S. Treasury pays them about
4.15 per cent interest for the use of their money.
But that's only when it comes to taking candy-money from school kids.
In contrast, when the Treasury turns to the big investors, it talks another
language. Here I hold a Participation Sales Certificate, which is an interest
in various mortgage assets that the federal government owns. Its issuance was
authorized by the Participation Sales Act of last May, another Democratic Congress
blank check.
Anyone who can afford the $5,000 minimum can buy one of these certificates
and will draw interest not at the rate of about 4.15 per cent but5-3/4 or more.
That means the Democratic Administration pays over 40 per cent more to the rich
than it pays to the great number of Americans who don't have $5,000 in cash lying
around for a safe investment. This is Democrat policy -- low interest returns
for the poor; high interest returns for the rich.
That's Robin Hood in reverse. He stole from the rich to give to the poor.
The Administration takes from the have-nots and gives to the haves.
What do we have today in the Democratic Party? We've got the Party of
Big Business, the Party of Big Government, the Party of Big Bureaucracy, the
Party of Big Spending, the Party of Big Deficits, the Party of Big Cost of Living,
the Party of Big Labor Troubles, the Party of Big Home Foreclosures, the Party of
Big Scandals, the Party with Big Riots in the Streets, the Party of Big Promises.
Riots in the Streets. The Democratic Party promised big but failed to
deliver.
There is an atmosphere of lawlessness in this country. It springs from the
attitude that Americans should only obey the laws that please them. It stems from
the feeling that if you've got more than I have, I can take from you whatever I
want. It's the old attitude of the-world-owes-me-a-living gone wild.
You read about the riots, the arson, and the looting in our great cities
and you wonder if America has gone mad. This disregard for law and order breeds
enarchy.
I have said it before and I say it again. When high-ranking public figures
like Vice President Humphrey talk about leading a revolt themselves, they are
encouraging a defiance of the law which is inexcusable in a civilized society. Is
this a Great Society?
Some of our big cities are rapidly reverting to the jungle. Lawless
elements are threatening to make guerrilla warfare with the police a familiar pat-
-6-
tern of American life.
How long are we going to abdicate law and order--the backbone of any
civilization--in favor of a soft social theory that the man who heaves a brick
through your window, or tosses a fire bomb into your car, or snipes at firemen
is simply the misunderstood and underprivileged product of a broken home?
Vietnam. Inflation. High interest. Violence. These are the issues of
1966. We did not create them. They are simply there. We would prefer that the
Administration had not let them develop.
But that is where the two-party system comes in.
Winston Churchill once said that democracy had many and serious faults but
was better than any other system of government man had devised.
Democracy in America depends on two-party politics. One-party government
leads straight to tyranny. A vigorous two-party system is the simplest way of
bringing about necessary changes in our government without wrecking the country
or resorting to revolution.
Today we do not have two nearly-equal-in-strength political parties.
Lopsided government, if allowed to continue, leads only to disaster.
Competition is the secret of American economic freedom and social progress.
Competition between the two major political parties has been good for America.
In 1966 this competition will be re-established. The Democrats' stranglehold will
be broken at the polls in November.
The easiest and quickest way for the people of this country to clean up
Vietnam, stop inflation, bring down interest rates, and protect the lives, rights
and property of us all-including all minorities--is to vote Republicans in and
Democrats out. It's just as simple as that, It's not a matter of intrigue in
government, or of contributing $10,000 to the President's Club, or lobbying on
Capitol Hill.
Often when I ponder the great land that is America, I think of that day in
Philadelphia when Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention.
"Which have you given us," a bystander asked him, "a monarchy or a re-
public?" "A Republic," Franklin answered, "if you can keep it."
That republic has endured for 177 years because in every age there have
been Americans who gave of their time, of their treasure, and of their faith to
keep it.
It is for us, the living, to re-dedicate ourselves to that high purpose.
And it is my deep conviction that you--all of you--will pass on the torch of
freedom to your children because you dare stand up and be counted for America.
Thank you and God bless each of you.
###
nils Are ( Ben Reful 10m.
LAKE COUNTY GOP PICNIC RALLY--MADISQN, SOUTH DAKOTA
AUGUST 29, 1966
SOUTH DAKOTA IS A GREAT FARMING STATE. IT IS FITTING,
THEREFORE, THAT WE PAY OUR RESPECTS TOD THE AGRICULTURE
EXPERT OF THE JOHNSON-HUMPHREY ADMINISTRATION--SECRETARY
OF AGRICULTURE ORVILLE L. FREEMAN.
I KNOW YOU SHARE THE VIEW THAT HE IS THE MOST PECULIAR
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE WE HAVE HAD FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.
I CANNOT SALUTE HIM AS A TRAIL-BLAZING EXPERIMENTER OR A
SOCIAL REVOLUTIONARY, BUT I CONGRATULATE HIM FOR BEING A
POLITICAL PHRASE-MAKER WHO WAS BORN WITH A FOOT IN HIS
MOUTH.
SECRETARY FREEMAN IS THE ONLY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
GERALD
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WHO HAS EVER ASKED THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO CUT DOWN
ON ITS PURCHASES OF BEEF AND PORK PRODUCED BY THE AMERICAN
FARMER.
HE IS THE ONLY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE WHO HAS EVER
PUBLICLY EXPRESSED PLEASURE AT A DROP IN FARM PRICES.
HE IS THE CABINET OFFICER WHO BEAMED HIS APPROVAL OF
AN $8 MILLION EXPORT-IMPORT BANK DEAL TO HELP COMMUNIST
RUMANIA PROCESS 300,000 PIGS A YEAR WITH MODERN AMERICAN-
MADE EQUIPMENT AND TO SELL MILLIONS OF POUNDS OF COMMUNIST
PORK IN COMPETITION WITH AMERICAN FARMERS.
SECRETARY FREEMAN HAS WAGED AN UNDECLARED WAR ON AMERICAN
AGRICULTURE WHICH HAS DRIVEN PARITY PRICES FROM AN AVERAGE
OF 84.5 PER CENT UNDER EISENHOWER TO BARELY 79 PER CENT
THIS
YEAR.
HE, AS THE AGRICULTURE "BOSS MAN" ON THE
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JOHNSON-HUMPHREY-FREEMAN TEAM, HAS HELPED TO INCREASE BEEF
IMPORTS AND HAS DUMPED CCC-STORED GRAINS TO KNOCK DOWN
MARKET PRICES. THIS DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION, AS YOU WELL
KNOW, ALSO TRIED TO SCUTTLE THE SCHOOL MILK AND SCHOOL
LUNCH PROGRAMS.
THIS IS WHAT OUR FATHERS USED TO CALL "SOME PUNKINS."
BUT IF SECRETARY FREEMAN HAS HURT THE FARMERS AND WOUNDED
THE DEMOCRATS, HE IS TO BE THANKED FOR PROVIDING THE
REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN SLOGAN FOR 1966. RECENTLY, AT A SECRET
DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL HUDDLE AT WHICH HE BRUSHED OFF THE
HOUSEWIVES AND THE FARMERS, HE GAVE THIS SLICK ADVICE
TO THE DESPERATE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES--
AND I QUOTE:
"SLIP, SLIDE AND DUCK ANY QUESTION OF HIGHER
QERALO FORD LIBRARY
CONSUMER PRICES IF YOU POSSIBLY CAN."
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THAT'S ORBITING ORVILLE. RIGHT OUT OF THE HORSE'S
MOUTH: "SLIP, SLIDE AND DUCK." PERHAPS SUCH ADVICE WOULD
BE HELPFUL IF THE DEMOCRATIC HOPEFULS WERE DODGING BASEBALLS
IN A CARNIVAL CONCESSION, BUT CANDIDATES WHO "SLIP, SLIDE,
AND DUCK!" WON'T SATISFY THE AMERICAN VOTERS IN 1966. IN
THE POLITICAL ARENA THIS FALL DEMOCRATS WILL BE DUCKING WHEN
THEY SHOULD BE SLIPPING, AND SLIPPING WHEN THEY SHOULD BE
SLIDING.
WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE THIS THE YEAR OF THE
from the Countr House to the Corgress
ELEPHANT. REPUBLICANS ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ISSUES,
HAVE THE BEST CANDIDATES, REAL PARTY UNITY, AND ORGANIZATION
THE DEMOCRATS ARE SADDLED WITH HIGHER PRICES, HIGHER
INTEREST RATES, HIGHER DRAFT CALLS, HIGHER CRIME RATES.
THE GREAT SOCIETY IS THE HIGH SOCIETY! HAD ENOUGH? --
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WHAT IS THE STATE OF THE UNION? NOT GOOD WITH A WAR
IN VIETNAM AND NATO IN DISARRAY IN EUROPE. AT HOME WE
SEE PRICES SKYROCKETING TO ALL-TIME HIGHS, INTEREST RATES
GOING OUT OF SIGHT, MORTGAGE MONEY TIGHT AND GETTING TIGHTER,
FEDERAL SPENDING OUT OF CONTROL, CRIME SOARING AND VIOLENCE
SPREADING ACROSS THE LAND.
THIS IS THE TIME FOR LEADERSHIP. AMERICA NEEDS STRAIGHT-
FROM-THE-SHOULDER ANSWERS SLIP, SLIDE AND DUCK WILL NOT
SUFFICE
DESPITE ALL THE JOHNSON-HUMPHREY FANFARE AND
HOOPLA, THIS NATION IS NOT GETTING DECISIVE AND EFFECTIVE
LEADERSHIP M THE DEMOCRATS AT A TIME WHEN IT'S DESPERATELY
NEEDED. THE "BIG DADDY" JOHNSON-DEMOCRAT ATTITUDE WILL NOT
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SOLVE THE FRANKENSTEIN MESS WHICH IS DAMAGING OUR PRESTIGE
AND POWER ABROAD, AND RAVAGING OUR PEOPLE AT HOME.
DEMOCRATS TALK LIKE POLLYANNA. THE WHITE HOUSE BLOWS WITH
AN UNCERTAIN TRUMPET, WITH ITS CREDIBILITY AT AN ALL-TIME
LOW.
WHAT ARE WE TO BELIEVE ABOUT VIETNAM? THERE THE STAKES
ARE HIGH; THE CONSEQUENCES ARE GREAT.
AMERICANS ARE PROUD OF OUR MEN IN OUR ARMED FORCES.
MANY OF YOU HERE HAVE HUSBANDS, FATHERS, SONS AND BROTHERS
FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM HALF-WAY AROUND THE WORLD. WE MUST NOT
WE CANNOT, WE WILL NOT LET THEM DOWN. REPUBLICANS BELIEVE
WE MUST FORTHRIGHTLY AND STEADFASTLY MEET THE CHALLENGE OF
COMMUNIST TERROR AND AGGRESSION IN VIETNAM, BERLIN OR
ELSEWHERE.
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IT IS A GRIM AND DIFFICULT WAR IN THE JUNGLES, SWAMPS
AND RICE-PADDIES OF SOUTHEAST ASIA. ALREADY OUR COMBAT
LOSSES HAVE RISEN TO OVER 30,000--INCLUDING MORE THAN
4,400 AMERICANS KILLED IN ACTION.
BUT, WE HAVE THE POWER TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON THE BATTLE-
FIELD AND AT THE PEACE TABLE, AND WE SHOULD PRESS MORE
VIGOROUSLY FOR SOLUTIONS ON BOTH FRONTS. I COMMEND ILLINOIS
SENATORIAL CANDIDATE CHUCK PERCY FOR CALLING FOR AN
ALL-ASIAN PEACE CONFERENCE, WITH THE ASIANS THEMSELVES TAKING
THE LEAD IN SEEKING AN HONORABLE PEACE IN WAR-TORN VIETNAM.
THIS PROMISING PROPOSAL IS A REPUBLICAN PLAN FOR PEACE it has
the full andorrent of the Republican Congressional Teadership
OUR SOLDIERS ARE PERFORMING BRILLIANTLY IN VIETNAM.
BUT, IT IS TRAGIC THAT MORE AND MORE OF OUR YOUNG MEN ARE
BEING SENT TO FIGHT AND PERHAPS TO DIE THERE.
WE ARE TOLD THAT THERE WILL BE 400,000
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
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OF OUR GROUND TROOPS IN VIETNAM BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.
St isalso reported
IT WILL TAKE 750,000 AMERICANS TO
END THE VIETNAM WAR WITHIN FIVE YEARS.
THESE REPORTS SOUND UTTERLY FANTASTIC WHEN WE RECALL
WHAT PRESIDENT JOHNSON TOLD THE NATION JUST TWO YEARS AGO,
WHEN HE WAS SEEKING ELECTION.
"WE DON'T WANT OUR AMERICAN BOYS TO DO THE FIGHTING
FOR ASIAN BOYS," JOHNSON THE CAMPAIGNER SAID. "WE DON'T
WANT TO GET INVOLVED
A NATION WITH 700 MILLION PEOPLE
AND GET TIED DOWN IN A LAND WAR IN ASIA. Those were Democratic
campaign promises in 1964
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN LEADERS URGED THE PRESIDENT IN
DECEMBER, 1965, TO MAKE MORE EFFECTIVE USE OF THE SUPERIORITY
WE ENJOY IN AIR AND SEA POWER TO END THE VIETNAM WAR MORE
RD
QUICKLY AND SAVE OUR MANPOWER.
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BUT THE PRESIDENT DILLY-DALLIED AND SHILLY-SHALLIED
UNTIL 6-1/2 MONTHS LATER WHEN THE POLLS TOLD HIM THE
AMERICAN POEPLE WANTED TO WIN IN VIETNAM AND GET OUT.
ONLY THEN DID THE PRESIDENT ORDER DESTRUCTION OF THE
OIL DEPOTS NEAR HANOI AND HAIPHONG. IN EXPLAINING THE
ACTION, DEFENSE SECRETARY MCNAMARA SAID THE BOMBINGS WOULD
SAVE AMERICANAND SOUTH VIETNAMESE LIVES.
this Democration administration
APPARENTLY
THOUGHT THE OIL DEPOT BOMBINGS
WOULD SAVE LIVES IN JULY BUT NOT IN DECEMBER.
THE WAR IN VIETNAM IS COSTLY BOTH IN LIVES AND IN
with the full corporation sthe Demonito in Longress
DOLLARS. YET, THE JOHNSON ADMINISTRATION PERSISTS IN A
SPENDING-AS-USUAL ATTITUDE. WHILE PUMPING BILLIONS INTO
THE VIETNAM WAR, THE JOHNSON-HUMPHREY-FREEMAN ADMINISTRATION
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DISHES OUT BILLIONS MORE IN NON-ESSENTIAL DOMESTIC SPENDING.
THE RESULT--INFLATION.
yourthy
INFLATION IS A BIG WORD. BUT YOU PEOPLE KNOW WHAT IT
MEANS. YOU FIND OUT EVERY TIME YOU GO INTO THE MARKETPLACE
AND PAY MORE AND MORE FOR LESS AND LESS.
DON'T LET BIG DADDY OR ANY OTHER APOLOGIST FOR HIS
ADMINISTRATION TELL YOU YOU NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD. THAT'S
A LOT OF HOOEY as The coot Inving sperals upward, pincharg the pachitporh of everyone but
to Des Moines
MR. JOHNSON WENT
TO NEBRASKA AND
TO TELL THE
FARMERS THEY NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD.
HE DIDN'T TELL THEM THE FARMER IS CAUGHT IN A COST-
PRICE SQUEEZE. HE DIDN'T TELL THEM THAT
THE AVERAGE
is
PARITY RATIO OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS THE LOWEST IT HAS
LIBRAR,
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EVER BEEN FOR ANY CONSECUTIVE FIVE-YEAR PERIOD SINCE THE
BIG DEPRESSION.
HE DIDN'T TELL THEM THAT FARM PRODUCTION COSTS HAVE
GONE UP $4 BILLION SINCE 1960, OR THAT TOTAL FARM DEBT
STANDS 60 PER CENT HIGHER THAN FIVE YEARS AGO.
HE DIDN'T TELL THEM THAT FARMERS ARE STILL EARNING
ONLY ABOUT 65 PER CENT AS MUCH AS NON-FARMERS.
BERALA FORD LIBRARY
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Democrat
THE TRUTH IS THE JOHNSON-HUMPHREY-FREEMAN ADMINISTRATION
1
HAS BEEN SPENDING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SILLY. THIS IS THE
CHIEF REASON YOUR DOLLARS ARE SLIPPING AWAY IN LINE WITH
FREEMAN'S SLIDE-SLIP-AND-DUCK PHILOSOPHY.
THE DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN DROWNING THIS COUNTRY IN RED
INK FOR SIX LONG YEARS. YOU KNOW WHAT THE DEFICIT FOR THOSE
SIX YEARS ADDS UP TO? THIRTY BILLION--AN AVERAGE OF
$6 BILLION A YEAR. THE LAST TIME THE FEDERAL BUDGET WAS
BALANCED WAS IN 1960 UNDER A REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION.
PRESIDENT JOHNSON PRETENDS TO BE AN ECONOMIZER. I SAY
"PRETENDS" BECAUSE I'VE GOT THE FIGURES TO BACK UP WHAT I
SAY. MR. JOHNSON IS PLANNING TO SPEND 47.5 PER CENT MORE
IN FISCAL YEAR 1967 THAN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SPENT IN
1
in just two years
1960. SINCE FISCAL 1965 A FEDERAL SPENDING IS UP 17 PER CENT.
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THAT'S THE GREAT ECONOMY RECORD COMPILED DURING MR. JOHNSON'S
TIME IN OFFICE. Now his President Johnson admits The Demorato in Congress are spending
more more Its buting wen blooked budget. SAVERS/SPENDERS
IT 19 THIS KIND OF RECKLESS SPENDING, THE DOLING OUT OF
DOLLARS BY THE JOHNSON-HUMPHREY-FREEMAN ADMINISTRATION AND
ITS BLANK-CHECK DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS, WHICH IS THE PRIME
CAUSE OF INFLATION.
IN THEIR 1960 PLATFORM THE DEMOCRATS PROMISED TO
MAINTAIN PRICE STABILITY. HAVE THEY KEPT THIS PROMISE?
IN 1960 THE DEMOCRATS PROMISED TO PLACE FARMERS ON THE
SAME ECONOMIC LEVEL AS AUTOMOBILE WORKERS AND THE TEAMSTERS.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT PROMISE? LIKE ALL THE OTHERS, IT WAS
FOR THE DEMOCRATS TO GET IN ON, NOT TO DELIVER ON.
GERAB FORD LIBRARY
-14
I ASK YOU. WHY DOES THE ADMINISTRATION AND ITS
CAPTIVE DEMOCRAT CONGRESS ACT AS THOUGH THERE IS NO
PROBLEM UNDER THE SUN WHICH CAN'T BE CURED BY SPENDING
BILLIONS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS?
WHY, IN SHORT, DOES THE ADMINISTRATION PRETEND THAT
WE CAN FIGHT AN ALL-OUT WAR IN VIETNAM AND STILL PAY FOR
ANY AND EVERY SOCIOLOGICAL BRAINSTORM HATCHED BY THE
"KEPT ECONOMISTS"OF THE GREAT SOCIETY?
WE'RE BOGGED DOWN IN VIETNAM. WE'RE IN A MESS WITH
INFLATION. AND NOW WE'RE GETTING KICKED AROUND BY HIGH
INTEREST RATES.
BALON RALD FORD
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DO YOU KNOW THAT THE DEMOCRATS IN THEIR 1960 PLATFORM
unmitiqated
HAD THE GALL TO ATTACK THE EISENHOWER ADMINISTRATION AS A
HIGH-INTEREST ADMINISTRATION?
WELL,
AFTER BARELY FIVE YEARS OF DEMOCRATIC CONTROL,
INTEREST RATES IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE HIT A 40-YEAR HIGH--
THAT'S RIGHT, A 40-YEAR HIGH--AND THEY'RE STILL GOING UP.
THIS MAY BE NEWS TO YOU, BUT THE ADMINISTRATION CAN'T
EVEN BE HONEST ABOUT INTEREST RATES, MUCH LESS KEEP THEM
FROM GOING SKY-HIGH.
HERE IN MY HAND-----I HOLD A UNITED STATES SAVINGS BOND.
MY CHILDREN AND YOUR CHILDREN ARE BUYING THESE BONDS.
GERALD FORD UBRARY
SO ARE FARMERS AND INDUSTRIAL WORKERS, PEOPLE WHO ARE
DEMONSTRATING THEIR FAITH IN AMERICA. THE U.S. TREASURY
about
PAYS THEM 4.15 PER CENT INTEREST FOR THE USE OF THEIR MONEY.
-16-
BUT THAT'S ONLY WHEN IT COMES TO TAKING CANDY-MONEY
FROM SCHOOL KIDS. IN CONTRAST, WHEN THE TREASURY TURNS TO
THE BIG INVESTORS, IT TALKS ANOTHER LANGUAGE. HERE I HOLD--
#
A PARTICIPATION SALES CERTIFICATE, WHICH IS AN INTEREST IN
VARIOUS MORTGAGE ASSETS THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OWNS.
ITS ISSUANCE WAS AUTHORIZED BY THE PARTICIPATION SALES ACT
OF LAST MAY, ANOTHER DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS BLANK CHECK.
ANYONE WHO CAN AFFORD THE $5,000 MINIMUM CAN BUY ONE
OF THESE CERTIFICATES AND WILL DRAW INTEREST NOT AT THE
RATE OF ABOUT 4.15 PER CENT BUT 5-3/4 OR MORE. THAT MEANS
THE DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION PAYS OVER 40 PER CENT MORE
TO THE RICH THAN IT PAYS TO THE GREAT NUMBER OF AMERICANS
WHO DON'T HAVE $5,000 IN CASH LYING AROUND FOR A SAFE
INVESTMENT. THAT'S DEMOCRAT POLICY--LOW INTEREST RETURNS
FOR THE POOR; HIGH INTEREST RETURNS FOR THE RICH.
IDENALD R.FORD VIDRARY
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THAT'S ROBIN HOOD IN REVERSE. HE STOLE FROM THE RICH
TO GIVE TO THE POOR. THE ADMINISTRATION TAKES FROM THE
HAVE-NOTS AND GIVES TO THE HAVES.
WHAT DO WE HAVE IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY? WE'VE GOT
THE PARTY OF BIG BUSINESS, THE PARTY OF BIG GOVERNMENT,
THE PARTY OF BIG BUREAUCRACY, THE PARTY OF BIG SPENDING,
THE PARTY OF BIG DEFICITS, THE PARTY OF BIG COST OF LIVING,
THE PARTY OF BIG LABOR TROUBLES, THE PARTY OF BIG HOME
FORECLOSURES, THE PARTY OF BIG SCANDALS, THE PARTY WITH
BIG RIOTS IN THE STREETS, THE PARTY OF BIG PROMISES.
RIOTS IN THE STREETS! THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY PROMISED
BIG BUT FAILED TO DELIVER.
BERRLD FORD LIBRARY
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THERE IS AN ATMOSPHERE OF LAWLESSNESS IN THIS COUNTRY.
IT SPRINGS FROM THE ATTITUDE THAT AMERICANS SHOULD ONLY
OBEY THE LAWS THAT PLEASE THEM. IT STEMS FROM THE FEELING
THAT IF YOU'VE GOT MORE THAN 1 HAVE, I CAN TAKE FROM YOU
WHATEVER I WANT. IT'S THE OLD ATTITUDE OF THE-WORLD-OWES-
ME-A-LIVING GONE WILD.
YOU READ ABOUT THE RIOTS, THE ARSON, AND THE LOOTING
IN OUR GREAT CITIES AND YOU WONDER IF AMERICA HAS GONE MAD.
THIS
DISREGARD FOR LAW AND ORDER BREEDS ANARCHY.
I HAVE SAID IT BEFORE AND I SAY IT AGAIN. WHEN HIGH-
RANKING PUBLIC FIGURES LIKE VICE PRESIDENT HUMPHREY TALK
revolt
ABOUT LEADING A
THEMSELVES, THEY ARE ENCOURAGING A
DEFIANCE OF THE LAW WHICH IS INEXCUSABLE IN A CIVILIZED
SOCIETY. IS THIS A GREAT SOCIETY?
LIBRARY
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SOME OF OUR BIG CITIES ARE RAPIDLY REVERTING TO THE
JUNGLE. LAWLESS ELEMENTS ARE THREATENING TO MAKE GUERRILLA
WARFARE WITH THE POLICE A FAMILIAR PATTERN OF AMERICAN LIFE.
How LONG
HOW LONG ARE WE GOING TO ABDICATE LAW AND ORDER--THE
BACKBONE OF ANY CIVILIZATION--IN FAVOR OF A SOFT SOCIAL
THEORY THAT THE MAN WHO HEAVES A BRICK THROUGH YOUR WINDOW,
OR TOSSES A FIRE BOMB INTO YOUR CAR, OR SNIPES AT FIREMEN
IS SIMPLY THE MISUNDERSTOOD AND UNDERPRIVILEGED PRODUCT OF
A BROKEN HOME?
VIETNAM
INFLATION
HIGH INTEREST
VIOLENCE!
THESE ARE THE ISSUES OF 1966. WE DID NOT CREATE THEM.
prefer that
THEY ARE SIMPLY THERE. WE WOULD
THE ADMINISTRATION
HAD NOT LET THEM DEVELOP.
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
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BUT THAT IS WHERE THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM COMES IN.
WINSTON CHURCHILL ONCE SAID THAT DEMOCRACY HAD MANY AND
SERIOUS FAULTS BUT WAS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER SYSTEM OF
GOVERNMENT MAN HAD DEVISED.
DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA DEPENDS ON TWO-PARTY POLITICS.
ONE-PARTY GOVERNMENT LEADS STRAIGHT TO TYRANNY. A VIGOROUS
TWO-PARTY SYSTEM IS THE SIMPLEST WAY OF BRINGING ABOUT
NECESSARY CHANGES IN OUR GOVERNMENT WITHOUT WRECKING THE
COUNTRY OR RESORTING TO REVOLUTION.
TODAY WE DO NOT HAVE TWO
NEARLY-EQUAL-IN-
STRENGTH POLITICAL PARTIES.
LOPSIDED GOVERNMENT, IF ALLOWED TO CONTINUE, LEADS ONLY
TO DISASTER.
GERALD
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COMPETITION IS THE SECRET OF AMERICAN ECONOMIC FREEDOM
AND SOCIAL PROGRESS. COMPETITION BETWEEN THE TWO MAJOR
POLITICAL PARTIES HAS BEEN GOOD FOR AMERICA. IN 1966 THIS
COMPETITION WILL BE REESTABLISHED. THE DEMOCRATS'
STRANGLEHOLD WILL BE BROKEN AT THE POLLS IN NOVEMBER.
people ofthiscountry
THE EASIEST AND QUICKEST WAY FOR
TO CLEAN UP VIETNAM,
STOP INFLATION, BRING DOWN INTEREST RATES, AND PROTECT THE
LIVES, RIGHTS AND PROPERTY OF US ALL--INCLUDING ALL
MINORITIES--IS TO VOTE REPUBLICANS IN AND DEMOCRATS OUT.
IT'S JUST AS SIMPLE AS THAT. IT'S NOT A MATTER OF INTRIGUE
IN GOVERNMENT, OR OF CONTRIBUTING $10,000 TO THE PRESIDENT'S
CLUB, OR OF LOBBYING ON CAPITOL HILL.
OFTEN WHEN I PONDER THE GREAT LAND THAT IS AMERICA,
I THINK OF THAT DAY IN PHILADELPHIA WHEN BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
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LEFT THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
Bystander
"WHICH HAVE YOU GIVEN US," A MIN ASKED HIM, " A MONARCHY
OR A REPUBLIC?" A REPUBLIC," FRANKLIN ANSWERED, "IF YOU
CAN KEEP IT."
THAT REPUBLIC HAS ENDURED FOR 177 YEARS---BECAUSE IN
EVERY AGE THERE HAVE BEEN AMERICANS WHO GAVE OF THEIR TIME,
OF THEIR TREASURE, AND OF THEIR FAITH TO KEEP IT.
IT IS FOR US, THE LIVING, TO REDEDICATE OURSELVES TO
THAT HIGH PURPOSE. AND IT IS MY DEEP CONVICTION THAT YOU--
ALL OF YOU--WILL PASS ON THE TORCH OF FREEDOM TO YOUR
CHILDREN BECAUSE YOU DARE STAND UP AND BE COUNTED FOR AMERICA
each ofryon,
THANK YOU AND GOD BEESS
YOU
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