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Republican Dinner, San Jose, CA, December 5, 1967
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The original documents are located in Box D23, folder "Republican Dinner, San Jose, CA,
December 5, 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 D23 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. TUESDAY--
December 5, 1967
Excerpts from a Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford, R-Mich., at a Republican Dinner
Tuesday evening, Dec. 5, 1967, in San Jose, California
The American people are living in a crisis atmosphere--crisis at home and
crisis abroad.
They are confused and bewildered. The times cry out for strong national
leadership, a way out of the sea of troubles in which this country now is
floundering.
And this is the greatest tragedy--that a crisis of confidence compounds all
of the Nation's difficulties. There is no leader charting a clear course for the
country, no strong voice to which America's millions can respond, for the people
have lost confidence in Lyndon B. Johnson and his administration.
The latest nationwide poll by Lou Harris indicates that 57 per cent of the
American people disapprove of the way Mr. Johnson is doing his job as President. At
the same time, only 34 per cent approve Mr. Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War.
I submit that this lack of confidence in the Johnson-Humphrey Administration
stems from one major cause--that the Administration's record of performance
falls far short of its promises. Newsmen call it a "credibility gap." In fact,
CBS commentator Walter Cronkite and others have bluntly accused the Administration
of lying. I prefer to believe that this Administration has made a series of major
mistakes in judgment--so many as to cause a massive deterioration of the public
trust.
Why have the American people lost faith in their government?
We all remember that in late 1963 Secretary of Defense McNamara said that
1
"the major part" of America's military task in South Vietnam could be "completed
by the end of 1965." Then there were 14,000 Americans serving in Vietnam--as
advisers to Southvietnamese military commanders. Now there are some 480,000
American military personnel in Vietnam, and the Presient has said he will
increase this commitment to 525,000.
We all recall the statement made by Lyndon Johnson during the 1964 presi-
dential campaign--that "we don't want our American boys to do the fighting for
Asian boys" and that we don't want to "get tied down in a land war in Asia."
(more)
-2-
Reminded of this statement at a White House press conference last Nov. 1,
Mr. Johnson said, "There has not been a change of policy." And he added, "That
did not imply then and does not imply now that we would not do what we needed
to do to deter aggression."
For my part, I believe every American interpreted Mr. Johnson's 1964 campaign
statements to mean that he would not send hundreds of thousands of Americans to
fight a land war in Southeast Asia. And I believe Ho Chi Minh may also have
been misled into thinking America's role in Vietnam would continue to be advisory.
In fact, there may be a Credibility Gap between Hanoi and Washington as
long as Lyndon Johnson occupies the White House.
But the Credibility Gap extends beyond the Vietnam War and into many facets
of our domestic affairs.
In December, 1965, President Johnson said he was going to reduce federal
2
payrolls by 25,000. Instead, the Johnson-Humphrey Administration added 187,506
employes to the payroll over the next seven months. Currently civilian employ-
ment by the federal government stands at nearly 3 million. That reflects a
jump of 243,400 between June 1966 and June 1967.
In his State of the Union Message on Jan. 27, 1966, President Johnson said:
"I intend to ask the Congress to consider measures that, without improperly
invading State and local authority, will enable us to deal effectively with
strikes that may cause irreparable damage to the national interest."
That was the promise--a pledge to send recommendations to Congress aimed at
3
improving our handling of national emergency strikes. That was in January, 1966.
Has the President fulfilled that promise? Most emphatically not. Instead he
has so mismanaged the economy that 1967 will be a banner year for strikes and
1968 promises to set an even more damaging record.
The Congress simply has been unable to believe this Administration in fiscal
matters. Small wonder the economy is being buffeted by the winds of
uncertainty. As for the wage-earner, his paycheck is slimmer than two years
ago in terms of what it will buy.
A look at the record shows that the President forecast a $1.8 billion
4
deficit for fiscal 1967 but closed the books 12 months later with a $9.7 billion
2RS.
deficit. Last January he predicted an $8.1 billion deficit for fiscal 1968,
but now he talks of a deficit of $30 to $35 billion.
As a good friend of Lyndon Johnson's, Walter Reuther, is fond of saying
America is in deep trouble.
(more)
-3-
I suggest the reason we are in trouble is lack of leadership and lack of
honesty in our national government. No government which lacks strong direction
at the top can long retain the trust of the American people. And without the
trust of the people, no government can succeed.
####
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. TUESDAY--
December 5, 1967
Excerpts from a Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford, R-Mich., at a Republican Dinner
Tuesday evening, Dec. 5, 1967, in San Jose, California
The American people are living in a crisis atmosphere--crisis at home and
crisis abroad.
They are confused and bewildered. The times cry out for strong national
leadership, a way out of the sea of troubles in which this country now is
floundering.
And this is the greatest tragedy--that a crisis of confidence dompounds all
of the Nation's difficulties. There is no leader charting a clear course for the
country, no strong voice to which America's millions can respond, for the people
have lost confidence in Lyndon B. Johnson and his administration.
The latest nationwide poll by Lou Harris indicates that 57 per cent of the
American people disapprove of the way Mr. Johnson is doing his job as President. At
the same time, only 34 per cent approve Mr. Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War.
I submit that this lack of confidence in the Johnson-Humphrey Administration
stems from one major cause--that the Administration's record of performance
falls far short of its promises. Newsmen call it a "credibility gap." In fact,
CBS commentator Walter Cronkite and others have bluntly accused the Administration
of lying. I prefer to believe that this Administration has made a series of major
mistakes in judgment--so many as to cause a massive deterioration of the public
trust.
Why have the American people lost faith in their government?
We all remember that in late 1963 Secretary of Defense McNamara said that
"the major part of America's military task in South Vietnam could be "completed
by the end of 1965." Then there were 14,000 Americans serving in Vietnam--as
advisers to Southvietnamese military commanders. Now there are some 480,000
American military personnel in Vietnam, and the Presient has said he will
increase this commitment to 525,000.
We all recall the statement made by Lyndon Johnson during the 1964 presi-
dential campaign--that "we don't want our American boys to do the fighting for
Asian boys" and that we don't want to "get tied down in a land war in Asia."
FORD
(more)
LIBRARY
-2-
Reminded of this statement at a White House press conference last Nov. 1,
Mr. Johnson said, "There has not been a change of policy." And he added, "That
did not imply then and does not imply now that we would not do what we needed
to do to deter aggression."
For my part, I believe every American interpreted Mr. Johnson's 1964 campaign
statements to mean that he would not send hundreds of thousands of Americans to
fight a land war in Southeast Asia. And I believe Ho Chi Minh may also have
been misled into thinking America's role in Vietnam would continue to be advisory.
In fact, there may be a Credibility Gap between Hanoi and Washington as
long as Lyndon Johnson occupies the White House.
But the Credibility Gap extends beyond the Vietnam War and into many facets
of our domestic affairs.
In December, 1965, President Johnson said he was going to reduce federal
payrolls by 25,000. Instead, the Johnson-Humphrey Administration added 187,506
employes to the payroll over the next seven months. Currently civilian employ-
ment by the federal government stands at nearly 3 million. That reflects a
jump of 243,400 between June 1966 and June 1967.
In his State of the Union Message on Jan. 27, 1966, President Johnson said:
"I intend to ask the Congress to consider measures that, without improperly
invading State and local authority, will enable us to deal effectively with
strikes that may cause irreparable damage to the national interest."
That was the promise--a pledge to send recommendations to Congress aimed at
improving our handling of national emergency strikes. That was in January, 1966.
Has the President fulfilled that promise? Most emphatically not. Instead he
has so mismanaged the economy that 1967 will be a banner year for strikes and
1968 promises to set an even more damaging record.
The Congress simply has been unable to believe this Administration in fiscal
matters. Small wonder the economy is being buffeted by the winds of
uncertainty. As for the wage-earner, his paycheck is slimmer than two years
ago in terms of what it will buy.
A look at the record shows that the President forecast a $1.8 billion
deficit for fiscal 1967 but closed the books 12 months later with a $9.7 billion
deficit. Last January he predicted an $8.1 billion deficit for fiscal 1968,
but now he talks of a deficit of $30 to $35 billion.
As a good friend of Lyndon Johnson's, Walter Reuther, is fond of saying
America is in deep trouble.
(more)
-3-
I suggest the reason we are in trouble is lack of leadership and lack of
honesty in our national government. No government which lacks strong direction
at the top can long retain the trust of the American people. And without the
trust of the people, no government can succeed.
####