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Annual Business Banquet of the Graduate School of Business, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), May 18, 1967
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Annual Business Banquet of the Graduate School of Business, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), May 18, 1967
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This file contains material relating to Adam Clayton Powell.
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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Republican National Committee (U.S.)
Department of Defense. 9/18/1947-
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The original documents are located in Box D22, folder "Annual Business Banquet of the
Graduate School of Business, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), May 18,
1967" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 D22 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
ANNUAL BUSINESS BANQUET. GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. UCLA
BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE
THE SUBTITLE OF MY TALK TONIGHT HAS BEEN FREELY PARA-
PHRASED FROM THE 19TH CENTURY VOLUME BY AN UNRECONSTRUCTED
CONFEDERATE COLONEL: "AN UNBIASED HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN
THE STATES, FROM THE SOUTHERN POINT OF VIEW.
I WOULD LIKE TO BRING YOU AN UNBIASED APPRAISAL OF THE
NATIONAL POLITICAL SCENE FROM A REPUBLICAN POINT OF VIEW.
AND I AM QUITE SERIOUS. INSOFAR AS HABIT WILL ALLOW, I
INTEND TO BE UNBIASED IN MY CONTENTION THAT IN TODAY'S ERA
OF ESCALLATING NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS, WE CAN
NO MORE AFFORD THE OLD-FASHIONED STEREOTYPES OF POLITICAL
DEBATE THAN THE CENTURY-OLD PREJUDICES OF THE CIVIL WAR.
NOT SO LONG AGO, AND EVEN NOW, MANY PEOPLE AUTOMATICALLY
REGARDED THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AS THE PARTY OF BIG BUSINESS
AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AS THE PARTY OF BIG LABOR, OR THE
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2
THE AFL-CIA -- EXCUSE ME, I MEAN A -C10
POSSIBLY THIS WAS IN SOMEBODY'S MIND WHEN IT WAS SUG-
GESTED THAT I MIGHT DISCUSS WITH YOU THE UNEASY PARTNERSHIP
BETWEEN BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT THAT PREVAILS IN THE GREAT
SOCIETY. NOW ONE HAS ONLY TO LOOK AT THE MEMBERSHIP ROLLS
OF THE PRESIDENT'S CLUB TO SEE HOW EASY THE PARTNERSHIP
BETWEEN THE BUSINESS WORLD AND THIS DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION
REALLY IS. AND WHO EXPOSED THE SHOCKING COINCIDENCES
BETWEEN THESE $1000 MEMBERSHIPS BY BUSINESS EXECUTIVES AND
FEDERAL CONTRACTS AND FAVORS -- WHY, THE REPUBLICANS!
NEVERTHELESS, THE OLD POLITICAL THOUGHT-PATTERNS STICK
WITH US. I'M SURE YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE WORD-ASSOCIATION
TESTS USED BY PSYCHIATRISTS TO ANALYZE AUTOMATIC REACTIONS.
FOR INSTANCE, ONE DOCTOR TOLD HIS PATIENT: "I'M GOING TO
FORD
GIVE YOU A LIST OF FIVE WORDS. WITHOUT HESITATING, GIVE ME
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THE ONE WORD THAT DOESN' T BELONG WITH THE OTHER FOUR."
3
THEN HE SHOWED HIM A SLIP OF PAPER ON WHICH WERE WAS
WRITTEN:
MAN --- WOMAN --- CHILD --- CARPET --- SEX
THE PATIENT QUICKLY REPLIED THAT THE WORD "CARPET"
OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T FIT.
THE DOCTOR FROWNED. "THERE'S SOMETHING SERIOUSLY
WRONG HERE," HE SAID: "THE WORD YOU SHOULD HAVE ELIMINATED
IS "SEX."
IT WAS THE PATIENT'S TURN TO BE PUZZLED. HE DEMANDED
TO KNOW WHY.
"WELL," EXPLAINED THE PSYCHIATRIST, "YOU CAN BEAT A
MAN, YOU CAN BEAT A WOMAN, YOU CAN BEAT A CHILD AND YOU CAN
BEAT A CARPET. BUT YOU CAN'T BEAT SEX."
LET'S PLAY THIS WORD-ASSOCIATION GAME WITH POLITICAL
PARTISANS. TO A VISCERAL DEMOCRAT, THE INSTANT REACTION
LIBRA
TO THE TITLE OF THIS SPEECH IS LIKELY TO BE: BUSINESS -- BAD;
4
GOVERNMENT -- GOOD; THE PEOPLE -- WE'RE FOR EM.
THE REAL REPUBLICAN, NOW -- AND ALMOST EVERY REPUBLICAN
I KNOW IS A REAL REPUBLICAN WHILE REGARDING OTHER REPUBLICANS
WITH CERTAIN RESERVATIONS -- WILL PROBABLY REACT THIS WAY=
BUSINESS -- GOOD; GOVERNMENT -- BAD; THE PEOPLE -- WE RE
FOR EM TOO, BUT THEY JUST DON T UNDERSTAND US.
THERE ARE OTHER POLITICAL CHESTNUTS, EQUALLY ANCIENT,
THAT I THINK WE MIGHT WELL CONSIGN TO HISTORY. REPUBLICANS
FAVOR THE FARMER, DEMOCRATS DO MORE FOR MINORITIES -- THE
AMERICAN FARMER, AS A MATTER OF FACT, HAS BECOME ONE OF THE
MOST OPPRESSED MINORITIES OF THE GREAT SOCIETY. REPUBLICANS
RULE SUBURBIA WHILE DEMOCRATS CHERISH THE CENTRAL CITY --
AS A MATTER OF FACT, MANY OF THE EVILS OF OUR CITIES ARE
THE PRODUCTS OF UNBROKEN DEMOCRATIC MACHINE RULE FOR MANY
FORD
DECADES. DEMOCRATS ARE ATLANTIC-ORIENTED WHILE REPUBLICANS
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LOOK TO THE PACIFIC -- HOW, THEN, HAVE WE BECOME INVOLVED
5
IN AN INTERMINABLE LAND WAR IN ASIA, WHILE NATO DISOLVES.
TO BE INTELLECTUALLY HONEST, ALL SUCH POLITICAL KNEE-
JERK REACTIONS ARE THE PRODUCTS OF OVERSIMPLIFICATION WHICH,
I HAVE TO CONFESS, WE SOMETIMES FIND USEFUL IN PARTISAN
BATTLE. BWT THE FACT IS THAT GOVERNMENT IS NOT, OF ITSELF
EVIL. BUSINESS AND ORGANIZED LABOR HAVE NO INHERENT VIRTUES
OR VICES, AND NEITHER POLITICAL PARTY OWNS. ANY MONOPOLY OF
DEDICATION TO THE COMMON GOOD. ALL THESE GROUPINGS AND
INSTITUTIONS ARE COMPOSED SIMPLY OF PEOPLE AND SHOULD BE
JUDGED BY THE DEGREE TO WHICH THEY TRULY SERVE THE PEOPLE.
TAKING THE LONGEST VIEW OF THIS 20TH CENTURY I CAN, I
SUBMIT THAT MY PARTY -- THE REPUBLICAN PARTY -- STANDS ON
THE THRESHHOLD OF A MOMENTOUS EVENT. IT IS ABOUT TO EMERGE,
INDEED IT MAY ALREADY HAVE BECOME, THE PARTY OF THE PEOPLE
ORD
WHICH IT WAS IN ITS BEGINNINGS.
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IT CERTAINLY SEEMED TO BE THE PARTY OF THE PEOPLE OF
6
CALIFORNIA LAST NOVEMBER. AND I AM GOING TO TRY MY LEVEL
BEST TO MAKE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THE PARTY OF THE PEOPLE
NATIONALLY IN 1968.
LEST I SEEM TO BE SLIPPING AWAY FROM MY NONPARTISAN
SPIRIT, LET ME QUOTE A GREAT DEMOCRAT -- NOT JEFFERSON OR
WILSON OR FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT BUT A CONTEMPORARY LEADER
OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, A MAN WHO SCORED ONE OF THE GREAT-
EST ELECTORAL LANDSLIDES IN OUR HISTORY -- OVER BILL MILLER
OF NEW YORK -- VICE PRESIDENT HUBERT HUMPHREY.
AT A DEMOCRATIC FUND-RAISING DINNER IN WASHINGTON LAST
WEEK, PRESIDENT JOHNSON TROTTED OUT ALL THE WEARY BROMIDES
ABOUT REPUBLICAN WRECKING CREWS AND BLIND OBSTRUCTIONISM,
BUT IT REMAINED FOR OLD HONEST HUBERT TO CLOSE THE
CREDIBILITY GAP.
FORD
"ONLY ONE THING WILL DEFEAT US, " THE VICE PRESIDENT
WARNED HIS FELLOW DEMOCRATS. "ONLY ONE THING WILL DEFEAT
7
US AND THAT WILL BE OURSELVES. IF THE PARTY HAS FAITH IN
ITS LEADERS, ITS PROGRAMS AND ITS CAUSE, WE ARE UNBEATABLE.
IF WE DON'T HAVE THAT FAITH, WE DON'T DESERVE THE TRUST OF
THE PEOPLE."
WELL, MY FRIEND HUBERT HUMPHREY IS NOT NOTED FOR A
FEW WELL-CHOSEN WORDS, BUT I WILL BUY EVERY ONE OF. THESE.
I WISH I'D SAID THEM FIRST -- AND I WILL SAY THEM AGAIN TO
AS MANY REPUBLICANS, INDEPENDENTS AND DEMOCRATS AS I CAN
BETWEEN NOW AND NOVEMBER 1968.
IF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS FAITH IN ITS LEADERS, ITS
PROGRAMS AND ITS CAUSE, WE ARE UNBEATABLE. IF WE DON'T,
WE DON'T DESERVE THE TRUST OF THE PEOPLE.
A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT, CALVIN COOLIDGE, IS SUPPOSED
TO HAVE SAID "THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT IS BUSINESS."
I
FORD
DISAGREE. ANOTHER REPUBLICAN LEADER ON CAPITOL HILL OFTEN
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ASSERTED THAT "THE DUTY OF THE LOYAL. OPPOSITION IS TO
8
OPPOSE, PERIOD I DON' T AGREE. THE BUSINESS OF GOVERN-
MENT IS TO SERVE THE PEOPLE AND THE BUSINESS OF BUSINESS
IS TO SERVE THE PEOPLE AND THE BUSINESS OF THE LOYAL
OPPOSITION UNDER OUR TWO-PARTY SYSTEM IS TO SERVE THE
PEOPLE.
THAT IS THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THAT'IS THE RECORD WE
DRSAREPUBLICANS SENT TO US BY THE PEOPLE LAST NOVEMBER. WE
BROOD
ARE TRYING TO WRITE IN THIS CONGRESSX WITH 47 ADDITIONAL
ARE HAPPY TO TAKE UP VICE PRESIDENT HUMPHREY'S CHALLENGE*
IN HIS OWN WORDS. IF WE CANNOR CORRECTLY INTERPRET THE WILL
OF THE PEOPLE AT THIS MOMENT IN OUR HISTORY, TRANSLATE THEIR
ASPIRATIONS AND ANXIETIES, THEIR SPECIAL NEEDS AND GENERAL
GOALS INTO MEANINGFUL POLITICAL ACTION, THEN REPUBLICANS WILL
NOT DESERVE TO WIN NATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN 1968.
FORD ERALD LIBRARY
PERSONALLY, I BELIEVE WE HAVE AN EXCELLENT CHANCE OF
9
ELECTING A PRESIDENT AND A MAJORITY OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES NEXT YEAR. AS HUBERT HUMPHREY SAID, THE
ONLY THING THAT CAN DEFEAT US WILL BE OURSELVES.
WE CAN AVOID THIS RECURRENT MALADY OF REPUBLICANS, I
BELIEVE, IF WE KEEP OUR EYES CLEARLY FOCUSED ON THE PEOPLE.
I DO NOT MEAN TO DEAL IN PLATITUDES AND I HOPE I AM NOT
RESTATING THE OBVIOUS. FROM THE FIRST WORDS OF THE
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE -- "WE, THE PEOPLE" -- TO
LINCOLN'S RINGING RESOLUTION THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE,
BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT PERISH IN ITS
GRAVEST TEST, THE PRIMACY OF THE PEOPLE HAS BEEN CENTRAL
TO THE AMERICAN CONCEPT OF POLITICS.
I DO NOT PROPOSE TO GO INTO THE MERITS OR THE COMPLEX
LEGAL ISSUES OF THE ACTION TAKEN BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES IN DENYING A SEAT TO FORMER CONGRESSMAN
ADAM CLAYTON POWELL. BUT I WAS STARTLED AND SHOCKED TO
10
HEAR CRITICISM OF THIS ACTION, NOT ONLY FROM COLUMNISTS AND
COMMENTATORS BUT EVEN SOME OF MY CONGRESSIONAL COLLEAGUES
WHO OUGHT TO KNOW BETTER, ON THE GROUNDS THAT THE OVER-
WHELMING HOUSE VOTE FOR MY POWELL RESOLUTION OF JANUARY 10
WAS THE RESULT OF AN AVALANCHE OF MAIL AND COMMUNICATIONS
FROM CONSTITUENTS AT HOME.
SINCE WHEN IS IT WRONG FOR ANY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO AND ACT ACCORDING TO THE EXPRESSED
WISHES OF THE PEOPLE WHEN THEIR SENTIMENTS ARE LOUD AND
CLEAR, AND IN HIS JUDGMENT, CONSTITUTIONAL AND CORRECT? IT
SEEMS TO ME THAT IS WHAT THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
THE "PEOPLE'S HOUSE" IN WHICH I HAVE HAD THE HONOR OF
SERVING FOR 19 YEARS, IS REALLY ALL ABOUT.
I SAY WITH JEFFERSON, THE TRADITIONAL FOUNDER OF THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY, THAT "I AM NOT AMONG THOSE WHO FEAR THE
PEOPLE," AND I ASK WITH LINCOLN, THE FOUNDER OF THE
11
REPUBLICAN PARTY, "WHY SHOULD THERE NOT BE A PATIENT
CONFIDENCE IN THE ULTIMATE JUSTICE OF THE PEOPLE? IS THERE
ANY BETTER OR EQUAL HOPE IN THE WORLD?"
WE WHO HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE, WHATEVER OUR POLITICS, HAVE
THE DUTY OF RECOGNIZING AND REFINING INTO CONCRETE TERMS
WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT. WE ARE SPECIALISTS IN THE SAME SENSE
THAT BUSINESS HAS MARKET ANALYSTS AND PRODUCTION ENGINEERS
TO DETERMINE AND MAKE INTO SALEABLE ITEMS THE GOODS AND
SERVICES PEOPLE WANT. IF WE ARE WRONG TOO OFTEN, WE LOSE
OUR JOBS, AND WE SHOULD.
THERE- ARE CERTAIN SIMILARITIES BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND
BUSINESS IN THE UNIQUE AMERICAN SCHEME OF THINGS. BUSINESS
AND POLITICAL AGENCIES ARE BOTH COMPOSED OF PEOPLE AND
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
EXIST TO SERVE THE PEOPLE. BUSINESS MANAGEMENT COMPETES
FOR THE PEOPLE'S DOLLARS AND POLITICAL MANAGEMENT COMPETES
FOR THE PEOPLE'S VOTES. IDEALLY, THIS HEALTHY COMPETITION
IN BOTH ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL FIELDS SHOULD RESULT IN THE
CUSTOMER BEING SATISFIED.
BUT WE ALL KNOW THE PEOPLE ARE NOT SATISFIED --
CERTAINLY NOT IN THE FIELD OF GOVERNMENT, ABOUT WHICH I
CAN SPEAK FROM SOME EXPERIENCE. THIS WEEK > ISSUE OF U.S.
NEWS WORLD REPORT TRUMPETS ON ITS COVER THE TIDINGS WE
ALL KNOW TO BE TRUE -- "GOOD TIMES -- BUT PEOPLE ARE
UNHAPPY." IT GOES ON TO CATALOG A HUNDRED INDIVIDUAL REASONS
WHY, FROM-VIET-NAM TO THE RISING CRIME RATE, FROM THE
EROSION OF PENSIONS AND SAVINGS TO RISING PRICES, HIGH
INTEREST RATES AND HEAVIER TAX BURDENS.
THE CURIOUS HIPPIES, THE SHRILL PROTESTERS WHO BURN
THEIR OWN FLAG, THE RANCOROUS AND DEMAGOGIC PROPHETS OF
WHITE AND BLACK POWER, ALL ARE SYMPTOMS OF SOME DEEP DIS-
FORD
SATISFACTION IN OUR SOCIETY. BUT IF WE CAN CONTROL OUR
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INDIGNATION, WE MUST REMEMBER THESE ALSO ARE PEOPLE --
13
STRUGGLING IN THEIR WARPED WAYS FOR RECOGNITION AS PEOPLE
WHO COUNT IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS.
I HAVE SAID THAT THERE ARE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN GOVERN-
MENT AND BUSINESS, BOTH COMPETING AS IT WERE
FOR PUBLIC
ACCEPTANCE, BUT THERE ARE ALSO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WE
DARE NOT OVERLOOK.
THE FIRST IS THAT BUSINESS, IN GENERAL, IS CLOSER TO
THE PEOPLE THAN GOVERNMENT -- AT LEAST CLOSER THAN THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. IT IS CLOSER BOTH IN SPACE AND IN TIME.
THE SELLER AND THE BUYER MEET DAILY AND FACE TO FACE, AND
COMPETITION IN A FREE MARKET OPERATES MORE OR LESS CON-
TINUOUSLY, CONSTANTLY MAKING THE NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS TO
THE CONSUMER'S DEMAND.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAS ITS
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
NERVE-CENTER IN WASHINGTON, WHERE THERE IS AN EVER-PRESENT
DANGER OF BEGINNING TO BELIEVE THAT WASHINGTON OPINION IS
14
PUBLIC OPINION. WE WHO SERVE TWO-YEAR TERMS IN THE PEOPLE'S
HOUSE ARE IN CLOSEST CONTACT WITH THE PEOPLE -- AND FOR THIS
REASON I STRONGLY OPPOSED PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S NOW FORGOTTEN
PROPOSAL FOR A FOUR-YEAR CONGRESSIONAL TERM -- BUT EVEN WE
CAN ONLY SKIM THE SURFACE OF THE NATION AS A WHOLE, OUTSIDE
OUR OWN CONSTITUENCIES AND THE PEOPLE ARE LIMITED, IN
EXPRESSING THEIR DISPLEASURE OR DELIGHT IN THEIR FEDERAL
OFFICIAL'S PERFORMANCE OF DUTY, TO NATIONAL ELECTIONS EVERY
TWO OR FOUR OR SIX YEARS.
I HAPPEN TO THINK THE HANDWRITING WAS CLEARLY ON THE
WALL LAST NOVEMBER, BUT WE WILL ALL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL
NOVEMBER OF NEXT YEAR TO BE SURE.
THERE IS ANOTHER IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMPE-
TITION IN THE MARKETPLACE AND COMPETITION IN THE POLITICAL
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and
ARENA. CUSTOMERS BESTOW THEIR BUYER'S S DOLLARS VOLUNTARILY;
CITIZENS HAVE THEIR TAX DOLLARS TAKEN FROM THEM BY FORCE.
15
THUS, WHILE ANY INEPT BUSINESS WHICH FAILS TO SERVE
THE PEOPLE'S NEEDS SIMPLY DISAPPEARS, INEPT GOVERNMENT CAN
ENTRENCH AND PERPETUATE ITSELF FOR A CONSIDERABLE PERIOD
BEFORE IT IS EVENTUALLY TURNED OUT OF POWER BY THE PEOPLE.
wast differences in their respective
FINALLY, THERE ARE VASTLY DISPARATE POWERS OF PUBLICITY.
THIS HAS BECOME A MAJOR ENTERPRISE OF BOTH GOVERNMENT AND
BUSINESS. PROPERLY USED BY BUSINESS MANAGERS, ADVERTISING
AND PUBLIC RELATIONS ARE A VALID STIMULUS TO COMPETITION AND
PUBLIC INFORMATION. IMPROPERLY APPLIED THEY PERSUADE PEOPLE
THAT THEY SHOULD BUY WHAT THEY REALLY DON'T WANT, THINGS
THAT ARE USELESS OR EVEN HARMFUL, THINGS THAT MAY BANKRUPT
THEM IN THE END. THE SAME GUIDELINES CAN BE APPLIED TO
POLITICAL SELLING, EXCEPT THAT IN EMPLOYING PUBLICITY THE
INCUMBENT GOVERNMENT HAS A HUGE, ALMOST INSURMOUNTABLE
ADVANTAGE OVER ALL ITS COMPETITION.
THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE, FOR INSTANCE, LISTS
16
6,856 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES WHO SPEND FULL TIME ON PUBLICITY
FOR THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT. THIS DOESN'T
EVEN COUNT THOSE WHO SPEND ONLY HALF OR NINE-TENTHS OF THEIR
TIME IN PROMOTING THE GREAT SOCIETY, AND THEIR OWN POLITICAL
CAREERS. THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT SPENDS OVER $23 MILLION A
YEAR FOR PUBLICITY, THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEARLY
$9 MILLION, H.E.W. ALMOST AS MUCH, AND SO "ON TO A GRAND
TOTAL OF $425 MILLION A YEAR. THIS SUM'IS NEARLY TWICE THE
ANNUAL NEWS BUDGETS OF ALL THREE RADIO AND TELEVISION NET-
WORKS, THE ASSOCIATED*PRESS AND UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL,
AND THE NATION'S 10 LARGEST NEWSPAPERS COMBINED
I MIGHT
ADD, IT'S MORE THAN 1000 TIMES WHAT THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL
COMMITTEE CAN SPEND ON PUBLICITY.
THAT IS A WHOPPING LOT OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PUBLICITY --
FORD
WON T CALL IT PROPAGANDA BECAUSE IT ISN'T ALL DESERVING
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OF THAT NAME. MUCH OF IT IS LEGITIMATE INFORMATION AND
17
USEFUL TO THE PEOPLE BUT NOT VERY MUCH OF IT IS CRITICAL
OF THE WAY THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION IS DOING THINGS --
OFFHAND, I CAN T REMEMBER EVER SEEING A SINGLE UNKIND WORD.
WITH THESE RESOURCES, AND THE DETERMINATION OF AN
ARMY OF FEDERAL BUREAUCRATS DEDICATED TO THE PRESERVATION
OF THE STATUS QUO -- WHICH MEANS THEIR OWN JOBS -- IT HAS
BECOME EXCEEDINGLY DIFFICULT TO GIVE A NEW DIRECTION TO
THIS NATION. EVEN DURING EIGHT YEARS OF PRESIDENT
EISENHOWER'S ADMINISTRATION -- EIGHT YEARS, INCIDENTALLY
OF PROSPERITY WITHOUT WAR AND PEACE WITHOUT SURRENDER
--
intruchable
THE GREAT FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY REMAINED ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED
atthmugh somewhat smaller in numbers.
But 19t. RW. Int.
AND EVER-EXPANDING. BUREAUCRATS ARE NOT BAD PEOPLE, SOME
OF MY BEST FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS ARE BUREAUCRATS
BUT THEY
ARE INCREDIBLY ISOLATED AND DETACHED FROM THE MAINSTREAM
RD
OF AMERICAN LIFE. BUREAUCRACY BECOMES AN END UNTO ITSELF
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WITH AN APPARENTLY ETERNAL LIFE OF ITS OWN, OBLIVIOUS TO
18
CHANGING POLITICAL CLIMATE.
LET ME GIVE YOU A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF HOW BUREAUCRACY
BREEDS AND DEFEATS ITS OWN NOBLE PURPOSES. AT THE END OF
WORLD WAR 11, UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMAN, THIS COUNTRY DECIDED
IT WOULD BE MORE EFFICIENT TO CONSOLIDATE ALL THE BRANCHES
OF THE ARMED SERVICES UNDER AN ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT
OF DEFENSE. THIS WAS POPULARLY CALLED "UNIFICATION" BUT
IT WAS NOT. THE ARMY, NAVY AND AIR FORCE CONTINUED GROWING
ON THEIR OWN. THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT WAS AN ADMINISTRATIVE
DEVICE INTENDED TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY AND ELIMINATE COSTLY
DUPLICATION OF MANPOWER AND EFFORT IN CERTAIN AREAS, SUCH
AS SUPPLY.
WHEN SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MC NAMARA TOOK OVER HE
INHERITED A DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CIVILIAN STAFF OF ABOUT
RD
1500 EMPLOYEES. HE COMPLAINED THEN ABOUT THE "IMPOSSIBLE"
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SITUATION OF TOO MANY EXECUTIVES
INCLUDING 15 PRESIDENTIAL
19
APPOINTEES, REPORTING DIRECTLY D.O.D. TO HIM.
TODAY, MC NAMARA S BUREAUCRACY NUMBERS 67,000 PENTAGON
CIVILIANS TOPPED BY 150 RANKING EXECUTIVES WHO EARN $25,000
OR MORE A YEAR, TWICE THAT MANY IN THE OVER-$20,000 BRACKET,
AND SOME 24,000 CAREER CIVIL SERVANTS IN THE $10,000 AND
ABOVE CATEGORY. THESE INCLUDE, INCIDENTALLY, 23 "DIGITAL
COMPUTER SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATORS" WHOSE AVERAGE PAY IS
$19,661.
HAS THIS MADE THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT MORE EFFICIENT?
NOT IF YOU BELIEVE SOME OF THE REPORTS FROM THE COMPTROLLER
businessoment who deal with the Pentagon
GENERAL, AND WATCHDOG COMMITTEES OF THE CONGRESS WHICH
ALLEGE SHOCKING WASTE AND MISMANAGEMENT IN JUST THE SUPPLY
AND LOGISTICS ASPECT OF OUR VIET-NAM BUILDUP.
LET ME GIVE YOU ANOTHER RED-HOT REPORT ON THE WAY THE
ADMINISTRATION MAKES USE OF ITS IMMENSE PUBLICITY MACHINE
IN THE POLITICAL BATTLE. NEXT MONDAY THE HOUSE OF
20
REPRESENTATIVES WILL TAKE UP THE ADMINISTRATION'S BILL FOR
FEDERAL GRANTS-IN-AID TO ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION.
DEBATE HAS BEEN DELAYED FOR FOUR SUCCESSIVE WEEKS BECAUSE
REPUBLICANS WERE RALLYING AROUND A SUBSTITUTE PLAN TO TURN
OVER THIS MONEY IN BLOCK GRANTS TO THE STATES, SUPPOSING THEY
KNEW BEST WHERE IT WAS MOST NEEDED, RATHER THAN HAVING IT
DOLED OUT UNDER A MYRIAD OF RULES AND REGULATIONS FIXED BY
THE FEDERAL EDUCATION COMMISSIONER.
NOW THE FACTS ARE THESE. THE REPUBLICAN FORMULA WOULD
GIVE JUST AS MUCH MONEY TO EVERY STATE, AND MORE TO SOME,
THAN THE GREAT SOCIETY PROGRAM. AT THE SAME TIME IT SAVES
HEAVY ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND THE INTOLERABLE BURDEN OF
EVERY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR AROUND THE COUNTRY HAVING TO
LOBBY WASHINGTON FOR HIS SHARE. THE REPUBLICAN FORMULA
FOLLOWS THE NEAR-UNANIMOUS RESOLUTION OF LAST DECEMBER
GER S FORD LIBRARY
GOVERNOR'S CONFERENCE OF BOTH REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC
21
GOVERNORS, ENDORSING THE IDEA OF BLOCK GRANTS OVER
CATEGORICAL FEDERAL AID. IT ALSO FOLLOWS, WE FEEL, THE
PEOPLE'S MANDATE IN THE LAST ELECTION FOR MORE LOCAL
DIRECTION OF LOCAL PROGRAMS.
THE REPUBLICAN ALTERNATIVE DOES NOT REOPEN THE OLD
DEBATE ON THE MERITS OF FEDERAL AID TO EDUCATION. IT PRO-
VIDES THE SAME OR GREATER PROTECTION TO PRIVATE AND PAROCHIAL
SCHOOLS THAT EXISTING LAW AND THE ADMINISTRATION BILL PROVIDE.
IT GIVES THE SAME OR GREATER HELP TO LESS-ADVANTAGED PUBILS
AND POORER SCHOOL DISTRICTS. BUT IT DOES THESE THINGS IN
A NEW
BETTER WAY, A WAY WHICH THREATENS ONE BUILT-IN
FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY AND ITS CENTRALIZED CONTROL.
A NOSE COUNT TAKEN BY THE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP IN THE
HOUSE REPORTEDLY SHOWED THAT THE REPUBLICAN VERSION WOULD
WIN BY SOME 40 VOTES. THEN THE ADMINISTRATION REALLY ERALD WENT
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TO WORK
mistabily by the White Honor abilf 22
EVERY STOP WAS PULLED. RELIGIOUS SCHOOL EDUCATORS
WERE TOLD THE REPUBLICAN BILL DISCRIMINATED AGAINST PAROCHIAL
PUPILS -- SOME OF WHOM WERE GIVEN LETTERS TO CARRY HOME TO
THEIR PARENTS. NON-RELIGIOUS PRIVATE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
WERE SIMILARLY FILLED WITH FALSE ALARMS.
THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF DENOUNCED THE REPUBLICAN BILL.
ADMINISTRATION SOURCES LEAKED STORIES TO FRIENDLY COLUMNISTS
PERSONALLY ATTACKING THE AUTHOR OF THE REPUBLICAN BILL AS
AN AVOWED ENEMY OF EDUCATION, WHICH HE CERTAINLY IS NOT.
MINORITIES WERE WARNED THAT THE REPUBLICAN BILL WOULD ROB
THE POOR AND WAS REALLY PART OF A SINISTER PLOT WITH
SEGREGATIONIST SOUTHERN DEMOCRATSx TO SCUTTLE SCHOOL INTE-
GRATION IN THE SOUTH.
virtually
WITH MUCH SECRECY, EVERY SOUTHERN DEMOCRAT WAS INDI- -
VIDUALLY CORNERED, CAJOLED AND CAUTIONED. WITH MUCH FANFARE,
IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT COMMISSIONER HOWE, TARGET OF THE
23
WHITE RACISTS AS THE CHAMPION OF CIVIL RIGHTS IN FEDERAL
AID TO EDUCATION, WAS STRIPPED OF HIS AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE
INTEGRATION GUIDELINES. WHAT OTHER DEALS THE ADMINISTRATION
DEMOCRATS MADE WITH THEIR DIXIE BROTHERS, I DO NOT KNOW.
PERHAPS THIS WILL BECOME CLEARER NEXT WEEK.
REPUBLICANS FOUGHT BACK to CLARIFY THE FACTS AND THE
ISSUE, WHICH IS PURELY AND SIMPLY WHETHER PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE
THE RIGHT TO RUN THEIR OWN SCHOOLS, THROUGH STATE AND LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS, OR ACCEPT EVER-TIGHTER ONE-MAN RULE
FROM WASHINGTON IN RETURN FOR SORELY-NEEDED FEDERAL FUNDS.
WE CONFERRED WITH PRIVATE SCHOOL LEADERS AND WON THEIR
AGREEMENT THAT THE REPUBLICAN PROPOSAL CONTAINS NO SHRED
OF RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION. WE POINTED OUT THAT ENFORCE-
MENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS PROVISIONS RESTS ON AN ENTIRELY
DIFFERENT LAW, AND WOULD REMAIN UNALTERED.
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
FINALLY, WE PUBLICLY REPUDIATED ANY COALITION WITH
24
SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS BASED ON RACIST OPPOSITION TO THE
ADMINISTRATION BILL. I AM NOT AT ALL SURE THIS OPPOSITION
IS RACIST, SINCE THESE SAME SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS ARE STRONG
ADVOCATES OF STRENGTHENING STATES RIGHTS -- BUT WE SHALL
SEE BY THEIR VOTES.
THE REPUBLICAN BLOCK GRANT SUBSTITUTE FOR FEDERAL AID
TO ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION, KNOWN AS THE QUIE
AMENDMENT, IS NOT REALLY A STATES RIGHTS BILL BUT RATHER A
STEP TOWARDS STATES RESPONSIBILITY.
IN OPENLY EXPLAINING WHAT I CALL OUR SOUTHERN STRATEGY
IN THIS CONGRESS, I DELIBERATELY RISKED THE POSSIBILITY THAT
WE MAY LOSE THE BATTLE NEXT WEEK. BUT IT IS SOMETHING YOU
ORD
MAY WANT TO HEAR MORE ABOUT. IT IS SURELY IN THE BEST
GERALD
LIBRARY
INTERESTS OF ALL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO HAVE A TRULY TWO-
PARTY SYSTEM IN ALL PARTS OF THE NATION. REPUBLICANS HAVE
CRACKED THE ONCE-SOLID SOUTH, AS YOU KNOW, BUT, WE STILL
25
HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO. ONE REASON IS THAT SOUTHERN
DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS HAVE BEEN HAVING IT BOTH WAYS FAR
TOO LONG. THEY RAIL AGAINST DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATIONS ON
CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION AND THEN TOO FREQUENTLY GO ALONG
WITH THE NORTHERN LIBERAL DEMOCRATS WHENEVER THE CHIPS ARE
DOWN OR WHENEVER THERE'S A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
I SAY IF YOU RE A DEMOCRAT, BE A DEMOCRAT. MY AIM IS
TO DIRECT THESE DEMOCRATS INTO THE BOSOM OF PRESIDENT
JOHNSON'S GREAT SOCIETY WITH ALL IT IMPLIES, POLITICALLY,
SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY. IF THEY CAN'T LIVE THERE, WE
WELCOME ALL CONVERTS TO REPUBLICANISM. IF THEY CAN
EMBRACE IT, WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO FIELD ENLIGHTENED SOUTHERN
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES AND BEAT THEM IN THEIR OWN BACKYARDS
NEXT ELECTION DAY.
8.07089
,RALD
LIBRARY
WE ARE DETERMINED TO STAKE OUT CONSTRUCTIVE, PRACTICAL,
REPUBLICAN SOLUTIONS TO TODAY'S PROBLEMS, AND TOMORROW'S
26
CHALLENGES. IF DEMOCRATS WANT TO JOIN US IN OUR SENSIBLE
REPUBLICAN SOLUTIONS, FINE, WHETHER THEY'RE FROM
MISSISSIPPI OR MONTANA. IF LABOR LEADERS AND UNION MEMBERS
WANT TO CHEER US, AS THE MARITIME UNIONS HAVE IN OUR
REPUBLICAN FIGHT FOR A VIGOROUS AND INDEPENDENT MARITIME
ADMINISTRATION AND REVIVAL OF THE AMERICAN MERCHANT MARINE,
GOOD, WE WELCOME THEM. IF BUSINESS WANTS TO APPLAUD OUR
CONSISTENT STAND FOR AN INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT, TO WHICH THE
PRESIDENT HAS LATELY COME ROUND, WE ARE HAPPY.
BUT THESE WILL NOT BE REGIONAL POSITIONS OR LABOR
POSITIONS OR BUSINESS POSITIONS -- THEY WILL, I HOPE, BE
THE PEOPLE'S POSITIONS AS BEST WE CAN JUDGE WHAT THE PEOPLE
WANT FROM WASHINGTON -- AND JUST AS VITAL -- WHAT THEY DO
NOT WANT.
LIBRARY GERALDR
WINSTON CHURCHILL SAID IN THE SHAMBLES AFTER DUNKIRK
"IF WE OPEN A QUARREL BETWEEN THE PAST AND -THE PRESENT, WE
SHALL FIND THAT WE HAVE LOST THE FUTURE."
I BELIEVE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS HOPELESSLY EMBROILED
IN STERILE AND SELFISH QUARRELING BETWEEN THE PAST AND
PRESENT. IT SHOWS ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT WHERE THE
PALACE
they
FAVORITE OF THE NEW DEAL
WANTS TO REVIVE EVERY TIRED
THEORY OF THE THIRTIÉS UNDER HIS OWN TEXAS BRAND. IT SHOWS
ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT WHERE DEMOCRAT NEO-ISOLATIONISTS
AND PSEUDO-INTELLECTUALS IN THE SENATE SEEK TO REAPPLY TO
THE RUSSIANS THE PRE-PEARL HARBOR POLICIES OF SELLING SCRAP
TO KEEP JAPAN PEACEABLE, AND TO HANOI AND PEKING THE PRE-MUNICH
HARMONIES OF "LET'S NOT BE NASTY TO THE GERMANS. LET'S NOT
BE BEASTLY TO THE HUN."
I BELIEVE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY MUST BE THE PARTY OF
THE FUTURE, NOT FOR MY PARTY'S SAKE BUT FOR OUR COUNTRY
GERAL S FORD LIBRARY
SAKE. I AM CONFIDENT IT CAN BE IF IT CONTINUES ON ITS
PRESENT EXCITING COURSE OF BECOMING THE REAL PEOPLE S PARTY
28
IN AMERICA. WE HAVE A WEALTH OF TALENT AND LEADERSHIP.
WE HAVE THE WISDOM OF EXPERIENCE AND THE ENERGY OF YOUTH.
I DO NOT URGE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY TO TURN ITS BACK ON ITS
GREAT HERITAGE, BUT TO BE FAITHFUL TO IT.
TO RETURN ONCE MORE TO MY NONPARTISAN POSTURE. I HAVE
ALWAYS REMEMBERED THE OTHER SIGN WHICH PRESIDENT TRUMAN
KEPT ON HIS DESK. MOST OF US RECALL THE ONE SAYING "THE
BUCK STOPS HERE." BUT THE ONE I ADMIRED EVEN MORE, ALTHOUGH
I DIDN'T ALWAYS AGREE WITH MR. TRUMAN'S INTERPRETATION OF
IT, WAS A QUOTATION OF MARK TWAIN'S.
"ALWAYS DO RIGHT.' TWAIN ADVISED. "THIS WILL GRATIFY
SOME PEOPLE, AND ASTONISH THE REST."
I HOPE, IN THIS "UNBIASED" REPORT ON WASHINGTON
POLITICS, THAT I HAVE GRATIFIED SOME OF YOU -- AND
FORD & LIBRARY 9ERALD
ASTONISHED THE REST. THANK YOU.
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 18, 1967
EXCERPTS FROM A SPEECH BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER,
AT THE ANNUAL BUSINESS BANQUET OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES
Taking the longest view of this 20th Century I can, I submit that my
party the Republican Party -- stands on the threshold of a momentous event.
It is about to emerge, indeed it may already have become, the party of the people
which it was in its beginnings.
It certainly seemed to be the party of the people of California last
November. And I am going to try my level best to make the Republican Party the
party of the people nationally in 1968.
Last I seem to be slipping away from my nonpartisan spirit, let me quote a
great Democrat not Jefferson or Wilson or Franklin D. Roosevelt, but a contem-
porary leader of the Democratic Party Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
Only one thing will defeat us," the Vice President last week warned his
fellow Democrats. "Only one thing will defeat us and that will be ourselves. If
the Party has faith in its leaders, its programs and its cause, we are unbeatable.
If we don't have that faith, we don't deserve the trust of the people."
Well, my friend Hubert Humphrey is not noted for a few well-chosen words
but I will buy every one of these. I wish I'd said them first - and I will say
them again to as many Republicans, Independents and Democrats as I can between
now and November 1968.
If the Republican Party has faith in its leaders, its programs and its cause,
we are unbeatable. If we don't, we don't deserve the trust of the people.
A Republican President, Calvin Coolidge, is supposed to have said "the
business of government is business." I disagree. The business of government is
to serve the people, and the business of business is to serve the people, and
the business of the loyal opposition under the two-party system is to serve the
people.
That is the philosophy of the Republican leadership in the House of Repre-
sentatives and that is the record we are trying to write in this Congress, with
the 47 additional Republicans sent to us by the people last November. We are happy
to take up Vice President Humphrey's challenge in his own words, and if we cannot
correctly interpret the will of the people at this moment in our history, translate
LIBRARY
their aspirations and anxieties, their special needs and general goals into
political action, then Republicans will not deserve to win national leadership in '68.
- 2 -
Personally, I believe we have an excellent chance of electing a President
and a majority of the House of Representatives next year. As Hubert Humphrey
said, the only thing that can defeat us will be ourselves.
We can avoid this recurrent malady of Republicans, I believe, if we keep
our eyes clearly focused on the people. From the first words of the Declaration
of Independence - "We, the People" -- to Lincoln's ringing resolution that
government of the people, by the people, for the people should not perish in its
gravest test, the primacy of the people has been central to the American concept of
politics.
I say with Jefferson, the traditional founder of the Democratic Party, that
"I am not among those who fear the people," and I ask with Lincoln, the founder of
the Republican Party, "Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate
justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world?"
We who hold public office, whatever our politics, have the duty of recogniz-
ing and refining into concrete terms what the people want. We are specialists in
the same sense that business has market analysts and production engineers to deter-
mine and make into saleable items the good and services people want. If we are
wrong too often, we lose our jobs, and we should.
There are certain similarities between government and business in the unique
American scheme of things. Businesses and political agencies are both composed of
people and exist to serve the people. Business management competes for the people's
dollars and political management competes for the people's votes. Ideally, this
healthy competition in both economic and political fields should result in the
customer being satisfied.
But we all know the people are not satisfied - certainly not in the field
of government, about which I can speak from some experience.
There are a hundred individual reasons why, from Vietnam to the rising
crime rate, from the erosion of pensions and savings to rising prices, high
interest rates and heavier tax burdens.
The curious hippies, the shrill protesters who burn their own flag, the
rancorous and demagogic prophets of white and black power, all are symptoms of
some deep dissatisfaction in our society. But if we can control our indignation,
we must remember these also are people--struggling in their warped ways for recog-
nition as people who count in the scheme of things.
I have said that there are similarities between government and business,
both competing as it were for public acceptance, but there are also significant
differences we dare not overlook.
The first is that business is, in general, closer to the people than
government--at least closer than the Federal government. It is closer both in
space and in time. The seller and the buyer meet daily and face to face, and
competition in a free market operates more or less continuously, and constantly
makes the necessary adjustments to the consumer's demand.
(more)
GERALD FORD VIBRARY
***
- 3 -
The Federal government, on the other hand, has its nerve-center in
Washington, where there is an ever-present danger of beginning to believe that
Washington opinion is public opinion. We who serve two-year terms in the
people's House are in closest contact with the people--and for this reason I
strongly opposed President Johnson's now forgotten proposal for a four-year
Congressional term--but even we can only skim the surface of the nation as a
whole, outside our own constituencies. And the people are limited, in expressing
their displeasure or delight in their Federal officials' performance of duty, to
national elections every two or four or six years.
There is another important difference between competition in the market-
place and competition in the political arena. Customers bestow their buyer's
dollars voluntarily. citizens have their tax dollars taken from them by force.
Thus, while any inept business which fails to serve the people's real needs
simply disappears, inept government can entrench and perpetuate itself for a
considerable period before it is eventually turned out of power by the people.
Finally, there is a vast disparity in the powers of publicity. This has
become a major enterprise of both government and business. Properly used by
business managers, advertising and public relations are a valid stimulus to
competition and public information. Improperly applied they can persuade people
that they should buy what they really don't want, things that are useless or
even harmful, things that will bankrupt them in the end. The same guidelines
can be applied to political selling, except that in publicity the incumbant
government has a huge, almost insurmountable advantage over all its competition.
The General Accounting Office, for instance, lists 6,856 Federal employees
who spend full time on publicity for the executive branch. The Federal government
spends some $425 million a year on "public information." Much of it is legiti-
mate information and useful to the people. But not very much of it is critical
of the way the current administration is doing things--offhand, I can't remember
ever seeing a single unkind word.
With these resources, and the determination of an army of Federal bureau-
crats dedicated to the preservation of the status quo--which means their own
jobs--it has become exceedingly difficult to give a New Direction to this nation.
Nevertheless, we are determined to stake out constructive, practical,
Republican solutions to today's problems, and tomorrow's challenges. If
(more)
QERALD FORD LIBRARY
- 4 -
Democrats want to join us in supporting them, fine, whether they're from
Mississippi or Montana. If labor leaders and union members want to cheer us,
as the maritime unions have in our Republican fight for a vigorous and inde-
pendent Maritime Administration and revival of the American Merchant Marine,
good, we welcome them. If business wants to applaud our consistent stand for
an investment tax credit, to which the President has lately come 'round, we
are happy.
But these will not be regional positions or labor positions or business
positions--they will, I hope, be the people's positions as best we can judge
what the people want from Washington--and just as vital--what they do NOT want.
Winston Churchill said in the shambles after Dunkirk: If we open a
quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the
future."
I believe the Democratic Party is hopelessly embroiled in sterile and
selfish guarreling between the past and present.
I believe the Republican Party must be the party of the future, not for
my party's sake but for our country's sake. I am confident it can be if it
continues on its present exciting course of becoming the real people's party
in America. We have a wealth of talent and leadership. We have the wisdom of
experience and the energy of youth. I do not urge the Republican Party to turn
its back on its heritage, but to be faithful to it.
#####
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 18, 1967
EXCERPTS FROM A SPEECH BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH. HOUSE MINORITY LEADER,
AT THE ANNUAL BUSINESS BANQUET OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES
Taking the longest view of this 20th Century I can, I submit that my
party -- the Republican Party -- stands on the threshold of a momentous event.
It is about to emerge, indeed it may already have become, the party of the people
which it was in its beginnings.
It certainly seemed to be the party of the people of California last
November. And I am going to try my level best to make the Republican Party the
party of the people nationally in 1968.
Last I seem to be slipping away from my nonpartisan spirit, let me quote a
great Democrat -- not Jefferson or Wilson or Franklin D Roosevelt, but a contem-
porary leader of the Democratic Party -- Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
"Only one thing will defeat us, the Vice President last week warned his
fellow Democrats. "Only one thing will defeat us and that will be ourselves If
the Party has faith in its leaders, its programs and its cause, we are unbeatable.
If we don't have that faith, we don' deserve the trust of the people."
Well, my friend Hubert Humphrey is not noted for a few well-chosen words
but I will buy every one of these. I wish I'd said them first -- and I will say
them again to as many Republicans, Independents and Democrats as I can between
now and November 1968,
If the Republican Party has faith in its leaders, its programs and its cause,
we are unbeatable. If we don't, we don't deserve the trust of the people.
A Republican President, Calvin Coolidge, is supposed to have said "the
business of government is business." I disagree. The business of government is
to serve the people, and the business of business is to serve the people, and
the business of the loyal opposition under the two-party system is to serve the
people.
That is the philosophy of the Republican leadership in the House of Repre-
sentatives and that is the record we are trying to write in this Congress, with
the 47 additional Republicans sent to us by the people last November. We are happy
to take up Vice President Humphrey's challenge in his own words, and if we cannot
correctly interpret the will of the people at this moment in our history, translate
LIBRARY
their aspirations and anxieties, their special needs and general goals into
political action, then Republicans will not deserve to win national leadership in '68.
- 2 -
Personally, I believe we have an excellent chance of electing a President
and a majority of the House of Representatives next year. As Hubert Humphrey
said, the only thing that can defeat us will be ourselves.
We can avoid this recurrent malady of Republicans, I believe, if we keep
our eyes clearly focused on the people. From the first words of the Declaration
of Independence "We, the People" -- to Lincoln's ringing resolution that
government of the people, by the people, for the people should not perish in its
gravest test, the primacy of the people has been central to the American concept of
politics.
I say with Jefferson, the traditional founder of the Democratic Party, that
"I am not among those who fear the people," and I ask with Lincoln, the founder of
the Republican Party, "Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate
justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world?"
We who hold public office, whatever our politics, have the duty of recogniz-
ing and refining into concrete terms what the people want. We are specialists in
the same sense that business has market analysts and production engineers to deter-
mine and make into saleable items the goodsand services people want. If we are
wrong too often, we lose our jobs, and we should.
There are certain similarities between government and business in the unique
American scheme of things. Businesses and political agencies are both composed of
people and exist to serve the people. Business management competes for the people's
dollars and political management competes for the people's votes. Ideally, this
healthy competition in both economic and political fields should result in the
customer being satisfied.
But we all know the people are not satisfied certainly not in the field
of government, about which I can speak from some experience.
There are a hundred individual reasons why, from Vietnam to the rising
crime rate, from the erosion of pensions and savings to rising prices, high
interest rates and heavier tax burdens.
The curious hippies, the shrill protesters who burn their own flag, the
rancorous and demagogic prophets of white and black power, all are symptoms of
some deep dissatisfaction in our society. But if we can control our indignation,
we must remember these also are people--struggling in their warped ways for recog-
nition as people who count in the scheme of things.
I have said that there are similarities between government and business,
both competing as it were for public acceptance, but there are also significant
differences we dare not overlook.
The first is that business is, in general, closer to the people than
government--at least closer than the Federal government. It is closer both in
space and in time. The seller and the buyer meet daily and face to face, and
competition in a free market operates more or less continuously, and constantly
makes the necessary adjustments to the consumer's demand.
(more)
- 3 -
The Federal government, on the other hand, has its nerve-center in
Washington, where there is an ever-present danger of beginning to believe that
Washington opinion is public opinion. We who serve two-year terms in the
people's House are in closest contact with the people--and for this reason I
strongly opposed President Johnson's now forgotten proposal for a four-year
Congressional term--but even we can only skim the surface of the nation as a
whole, outside our own corstituencies. And the people are limited, in expressing
their displeasure or delight in their Federal officials' performance of duty, to
national elections every two or four or six years.
There is another important difference between competition in the market-
place and competition in the political arena. Customers bestow their buyer's
dollars voluntarily citizens have their tax dollars taken from them by force.
Thus, while any inept business which fails to serve the people's real needs
simply disappears, inept government can entrench and perpetuate itself for a
considerable period before it is eventually turned out of power by the people.
Finally, there is a vast disparity in the powers of publicity. This has
become a major enterprise of both government and business. Properly used by
business managers, advertising and public relations are a valid stimulus to
competition and public information. Improperly applied they can persuade people
that they should buy what they really don't want, things that are useless or
even harmful, things that will bankrupt them in the end. The same guidelines
can be applied to political selling, except that in publicity the incumbant
government has a huge, almost insurmountable advantage over all its competition.
The General Accounting Office, for instance, lists 6,856 Federal employees
who spend full time on publicity for the executive branch. The Federal government
spends some $425 million a year on "public information." Much of it is legiti-
mate information and useful to the people. But not very much of it is critical
of the way the current administration is doing things--offhand, I can't remember
ever seeing a single unkind word.
With these resources, and the determination of an army of Federal bureau-
crats dedicated to the preservation of the status quo--which means their own
jobs--it has become exceedingly difficult to give a New Direction to this nation.
Nevertheless, we are determined to stake out constructive, practical,
Republican solutions to today's problems, and tomorrow's challenges. If
(more)
- 4 -
Democrats want to join us in supporting them, fine, whether they're from
Mississippi or Montana. If labor leaders and union members want to cheer us,
as the maritime unions have in our Republican fight for a vigorous and inde-
pendent Maritime Administration and revival of the American Merchant Marine,
good, we welcome them. If business wants to applaud our consistent stand for
an investment tax credit, to which the President has lately come 'round, we
are happy.
But these will not be regional positions or labor positions or business
positions--they will, I hope, be the people's positions as best we can judge
what the people want from Washington--and just as vital--what they do NOT want.
Winston Churchill said in the shambles after Dunkirk: If we open a
quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the
future.
:
I believe the Democratic Party is hopelessly embroiled in sterile and
selfish "uarreling between the past and present.
I believe the Republican Party must be the party of the future, not for
my party's sake but for our country's sake. I am confident it can be if it
continues on its present exciting course of becoming the real people's party
in America. We have a wealth of talent and leadership. We have the wisdom of
experience and the energy of youth. I do not urge the Republican Party to turn
its back on its heritage, but to be faithful to it.
#####