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    "title": "Boy's State Remarks, Lansing, MI, June 13, 1968",
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    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D25, folder \"Boy's State Remarks, Lansing, MI,\nJune 13, 1968\" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the\nGerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nDigitized from Box D25 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nBOY S STATE REMARKS -- 6-13-68\nVE ALWAYS BEEN PROUD TO BE A MEMBER\nOF THE AMERICAN LEGION BUT IT MAKES ME EVEN\nPROUDER TO SEE THIS FINE ORGANIZATION OF MEN\nWHO ONCE WERE WILLING TO GIVE THEIR LIVES FOR\nTHEIR COUNTRY, NOW SPONSORING SUCH A PROGRAM\nAS THIS, IN WHICH BOYS CAN LEARN HOW TO LIVE\nTHEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY.\nIT SEEMS TO ME THIS IS THE KIND OF\nTHING OUR NETWORKS OUGHT TO CARRY LIVE ON\nNATIONAL TELEVISION ONCE IN A WHILE, AND\nTRANSMIT ALL AROUND THE WORLD BY SATELLITE,\nTO SHOW PEOPLE HERE AT HOME AND ABROAD WHAT THE\nFUTURE OF AMERICA IS REALLY LIKE.\nWE HEAR PEOPLE SAY THESE DAYS THAT OUR\nCOUNTRY IS SICK. I THINK MAYBE SOME OF THESE\nSELF-ANNOINTED PSYCHIATRISTS OUGHT TO GET UP\nOFF THEIR COUCHES AND GO OUT AND SEE OUR\nERALD FORD LIBRANT\nCOUNTRY IN TRUE PERSPECTIVE -- AND THEN MAYBE\n-2-\nCHECK IN FOR A CHECKUP THEMSELVES. WHO'S SICK ?\nnot you selected as local legders with a potential for a greater role in\n1 NOT THIS BUNCH\nthe years ahead\n\"BOYS WILL BE BOYS,\" THE OLD SAYING\nGOES. WELL, AS THE FATHER OF THREE LIVELY\nBOYS, I'D D RATHER BELIEVE THAT \"BOYS WILL BE\nMEN.\" AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, YOU WILL.\nI' M GLAD THIS IS THE CASE, BECAUSE THERE\nARE AN AWFUL LOT OF THINGS LEFT TO DO IN THIS\nsome\nCOUNTRY, A LOT OF WRONGS TO BE PUT RIGHT, AND\nA LOT OF THINGS THAT ARE RIGHT AND HAVE TO BE\nKEPT THAT WAY. 1л vividly REMEMBER THE NAVY'S FABULOUS\nSEABEES WHO PERFORMED PRODIGIES OF CONSTRUCTION\nWORK IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC JUNGLES DURING WORLD\nWAR 11, SOMETIMES LANDING AHEAD OF THE COMBAT\nTROOPS. AS SOON AS THEY HAD A SPARE MINUTE,\nTHEY'D ERECT LIGHT-HEARTED SIGNS AROUND THEIR\nCAMPS -- LIKE \"WELCOME TO THE U.S. MARINES\" AND\nSO FORTH. BUT THE ONE I REMEMBER BEST WAS AT\nBOUGAINVILLE, AND IT SAID:\n\"THE DIFFICULT WE DO IMMEDIATELY\"\n-3-\n\"THE IMPOSSIBLE TAKES A LITTLE LONGER.\"\nSO THAT'S THE PROPOSITION I WANT TO\nMAKE TO YOU TONIGHT: IF MY GENERATION DOES\nTHE DIFFICULT -- NEXT NOVEMBER 5th IF NOT\nIMMEDIATELY -- WE'LL LEAVE IT FOR YOU TO TAKE\nON THE IMPOSSIBLE.\nTHAT'S NOT JUST ORATORY. WHEN I WAS\nABOUT YOUR AGE, OUR HERO WAS COL. CHARLES A.\nLINDBERGH, WHO HAD FLOWN SOLO ALL THE WAY FROM\n9 40 hour trip, alone, in a single engine arrent\nNEW YORK TO PARIS., WE SUPPOSED SOMEDAY BIG\nAIRPLANES CARRYING MAYBE 20 OR MORE PASSENGERS\nWOULD FLY REGULARLY TO EUROPE, BUT IF ANYBODY\nHAD TOLD US ABOUT ASTRONAUTS CIRCLING THE EARTH\nIN OUTER SPACE, TAKING COLOR SNAPSHOTS THAT\nSHOW the ghte JUST AS ROUND AS COLUMBUS FIGURED IT\nWAS, WE' D HAVE SAID THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE.\nWE USED TO MAKE OUR OWN CRYSTAL SET\nRADIOS THEN, AND SOMETIMES ON A CLEAR NIGHT\nWE'D EVEN HEAR CHICAGO, OR KANSAS CITY. BUT to\nSEE THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN MEXICO ON COLOR\n-4-\nTELEVISION? -- WHY, EVEN DICK TRACY HADN'T\nINVENTED THAT YET.\nOUR FATHERS AND MOTHERS USED TO WORRY\nA LOT ABOUT POLIO -- IF THEY HEARD OF SOMEBODY\nGETTING IT WE COULDN'T GO SWIMMING FOR WEEKS.\nNOW, THANKS TO DR. SALK AND OTHER MEDICAL\nRESEARCHERS, INFANTILE PARALYSIS IS A RARE\nDISEASE. SO YOU SEE MORE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED\nIN MY LIFETIME, AND YOURS, TO CHANGE THE WORLD\nAND THE WAY WE LIVE THAN ALL THAT HAPPENED IN\nALL THE CENTURIES BETWEEN COLUMBUS AND\nLINDBERGH'S CROSSINGS OF THE ATLANTIC.\nAND THINGS ARE GOING TO KEEP ON\nHAPPENING, FASTER AND FASTER. SOME WILL BE\nGOOD AND SOME BAD. BUT YOU ARE GOING TO BE\nANY GENERATION OF AMERICANS BEFORE YOU Better health iducated\nBETTER PREPARED TO SORT THESE THINGS OUT THAN\nYOU' RE HERE TO GET SOME PRACTICAL\nEXPERIENCE IN POLITICS, AND I IMAGINE YOU WANT\nSOME TIPS FROM SOMEBODY WHO'S BEEN WORKING AT\nLIBRARY\n-5-\nIT AWHILE. WELL, I HAVE TO ADMIT I STARTED\nEARLY. WHEN I WAS GOING TO GRAND RAPIDS SOUTH\nHIGH SCHOOL I DECIDED TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT OF\nTHE SENIOR CLASS.\nI HAD A LOT OF FRIENDS, AND A LOT OF\nGOOD IDEAS, AND I PUT ON A TERRIFIC CAMPAIGN.\nI DON'T THINK THEY' VE SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT AT\nGRAND RAPIDS SOUTH BEFORE OR SINCE, THOUGH SOME\nOF YOU MAY CORRECT ME.\nIT WAS THE MOST BRILLIANT POLITICAL RACE\nI' VE EVER RUN -- EXCEPT FOR ONE THING. I LOST.\nWELL, IT TOOK ME 18 YEARS TO GET UP\nCOURAGE TO OFFER MYSELF TO THE VOTERS AGAIN.\nIT WASN'T SO MUCH THAT I WAS DISCOURAGED, BUT\nI WAS BUSY. I WENT TO ANN ARBOR, PLAYED A\nLITTLE FOOTBALL FOR MICHIGAN, THEN TO YALE,\nWHERE I COACHED FOOTBALL WHILE STUDYING LAW,\nAND THEN I SERVED IN THE NAVY AS A SHIP'S\nOFFICER ON AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER, AND WHEN THE WAR\nENDED FOUR YEARS LATER I CAME HOME TO PRACTICE\n-6-\nLAW, BUT I STILL WAS BUGGED BY THE IDEA OF A\nCAREER IN PUBLIC SERVICE -- DOING THINGS FOR\nPEOPLE THEY COULDN'T DO THEMSELVES, A LOT OF\nPEOPLE INSTEAD OF JUST A FEW CLIENTS, MAKING\nGOOD LAWS INSTEAD OF JUST ARGUING ABOUT OLD\nONES. SO THE FIRST CHANCE I HAD I RAN FOR\nCONGRESS. THAT WAS IN 1948.\nTHIS TIME I WON, AND MY GOOD CONSTITUENTS\nHAVE BEEN WITH ME EVER SINCE, AND I HOPE 1' VE\nBEEN ABLE TO HELP THEM. THE REASON I TELL YOU\nALL THIS IS NOT BECAUSE I LIKE TO TALK ABOUT\nMYSELF -- ALTHOUGH THEY SAY SOME CONGRESSMEN\nDO -- BUT TO POINT OUT THAT THOSE 18 YEARS\nBETWEEN ELECTIONS WEREN'T ALL WASTED. I\nMANAGED TO LEARN A FEW THINGS, ON THE FOOTBALL\nFIELD AND IN THE NAVY AND PRACTICING LAW,\nWHICH PERHAPS I CAN PASS ALONG TO YOU.\nTHE FIRST THING IS THAT RULES ARE\nIMPORTANT.\nTHE SECOND THING IS THAT TEAMWORK IS\nIMPORTANT.\n-7-\nTHE THIRD THING IS THAT DEDICATION\nIS ALL-IMPORTANT.\nTHERE ARE RULES THAT GOVERN EVERYTHING\nWE DO. THEY RANGE ALL THE WAY FROM THE TEN\nCOMMANDMENTS AND THE GOLDEN RULE TO THE RULES\nOF POKER NOT THAT 19 M RECOMMENDING POKER, BUT\nDON'T EVERY PLAY IT WITHOUT RULES OR CHESS.\nPRIVATE MORALITY HAS ITS OWN RULES, AND SO DOES\nPUBLIC LAW. EVEN NATURE HAS ITS ORDER, BUT\nMAN ALONE HAS THE POWER TO MAKE AND BREAK HIS\nOWN LAWS.\nAMERICANS ARE WORRIED -- I NEEDN'T TELL\nYOU -- ABOUT CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS IN OUR\nCOUNTRY. CONGRESS IS WORRIED. IN SPITE OF\nMUCH YOU READ AND HEAR WE' RE STILL A LONG WAY\nFROM ANARCHY -- THE HEART OF AMERICA IS STILL\nSOUND -- BUT WE HAVE FALLEN BACKWARD. NOBODY\nCAN DECIDE WHICH LAWS HE LIKES AND WILL OBEY\nAND WHICH LAWS HE DOESN LIKE AND WON' OBEY --\nANY MORE THAN ANY PLAYER IN A FOOTBALL GAME CAN\n-8-\nMAKE UP HIS OWN RULES. WE HAVE TO DO MORE THAN\nRESPECT THE LAW AND OBEY IT, HOWEVER, WE HAVE\nTO INSIST THAT EVERYBODY ELSE DOES THE SAME.\nAND WE HAVE TO RESTRAIN AND, IF POSSIBLE,\nRETRAIN THOSE WHO REFUSE TO PLAY BY THE RULES.\nOF COURSE, SOME RULES SEEM TO US\nBURDENSOME, OR SILLY, OR OUT OF DATE. AND\nSOME OF THEM ARE. BUT WE HAVE A WONDERFULLY\nFLEXIBLE AND RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT IN THIS\nCOUNTRY, THROUGH WHICH ORDERLY CHANGE IS ALWAYS\nPOSSIBLE -- INDEED IT CANNOT BE STOPPED --\nWHENEVER MOST AMERICANS REALLY WANT IT. THESE\nARE THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES OF A REPRESENTATIVE\nREPUBLIC -- FREE ELECTIONS, PUBLIC PERSUASION,\nPETITIONING THE LEGISLATURE, PROCEDURE IN THE\nCOURTS, THAT YOU RE HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT\nAND HOW TO USE. THERE MAY BE COUNTRIES WHERE\nFREEDOM IS SO RESTRICTED THAT MASS DEMONSTRATIONS\nAND STUDENT UPRISINGS ARE THE ONLY WAY TO BRING\nABOUT REFORM. THIS ISN'T SO IN THE UNITED\nBehind Irm Centain /FRANCIE\n-9-\nSTATES, AND ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU IT is, IS\nEITHER IGNORANT OR DELIBERATELY MISLEADING.\nEACH GENERATION IN AMERICA HAS TAKEN\nTHE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAWS INHERITED FROM\nTHE FOUNDING FATHERS AND SHAPED THEM TO MEET\nNEW PROBLEMS AND MORE COMPLEX NEEDS. THIS IS\nA CONTINUOUS PROCESS AND BY USING IT, WE HAVE\nSEEN SUCH PROGRESS AS NO OTHER NATION HAS KNOWN.\nLEARN HOW TO MAKE THE RULES WORK FOR YOU AND\nFOR ALL OTHER AMERICANS -- EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER\nLAW -- AND I GUARANTEEE YOU THAT PROGRESS WILL\nGO ON AND ON.\nRULES ARE IMPORTANT, AND SO IS\nTEAMWORK. YOU ALL KNOW THAT FROM FOOTBALL OR\nBASEBALL OR BASKETBALL -- OR EVEN FROM\nDANCING LESSONS. I SUPPOSE THE MOST SPECTACULAR\nPRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAMWORK\nIS A MODERN AIRCRAFT CARRIER. OF COURSE THEY' VE\nCHANGED A LOT SINCE MY DAY -- NUCLEAR POWER AND\nJETS THAT FLY SO FAST YOU ONLY HEAR THEM AFTER\nLIBRARY\n-10-\nTHE VE GONE -- BUT THE PRINCIPLE IS THE SAME.\nSOON SOME OF YOU WILL BE SERVING IN THE MILITARY\nAND, WHILE I PRAY OUR COUNTRY WILL BE AT PEACE,\nDON'T LOOK ON THESE AS LOST YEARS. YOU CAN\nLEARN MORE ABOUT LIVING AND WORKING WITH OTHER\nMEN, YOU CAN MASTER MORE OF THE MEANING OF\nEXECUTIVE DECISION AND RESPONSIBILITY, IF YOU\nUNDERTAKE THIS OBLIGATION INTELLIGENTLY, THAN\nYOU WOULD IN CIVILIAN LIFE FOR ANOTHER 10 YEARS.\nTHE ADMIRAL IN HIS CABIN AND THE CAPTAIN\nON THE BRIDGE ARE IMPORTANT, AND SO ARE THE\nPILOTS IN THEIR PLANES. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT\nTEAMWORK MEANS WHEN YOU REALIZE WHAT ONE MISSING\nPART IN AN ENGINE MEANS, WHAT HAPPENS IF A\nRADIOMAN GOOFS AN URGENT MESSAGE, HOW SWIFTLY\nSOME TRAINED HAND MUST TURN THE HELM OR FIND A\nBAD FUSE OR CLOSE AN OPEN VALVE OR PRESS THE\nRIGHT BUTTON. TRAINING AND DISCIPLINE ALONE\nMAKE POSSIBLE THE SPLIT-SECOND TEAMWORK OF A\nCARRIER LAUNCHING OR LANDING, EVERY MAN DOING\n-11-\nHIS JOB WITH NO ROOM FOR MISTAKES. TEAMWORK\nENABLES EACH OF US TO REACH BEYOND OUR ARM'S\nLENGTH, TO ACCOMPLISH TASKS WE COULD NEVER DO\nALONE, AND IT IMPARTS A SPECIAL SATISFACTION\nWHICH THE SOLITARY SOUL CAN NEVER KNOW. YES,\nTEAMWORK IS IMPORTANT.\nTHE LAST OF THE THREE THINGS I WANT YOU\nTO REMEMBER AS YOU PRACTICE POLITICS AND\nGOVERNMENT -- AND THEY WILL PROVE JUST AS\nESSENTIAL IN ANY OTHER ENDEAVOR -- IS DEDICATION.\nTHIS IS A LITTLE HARD TO DEFINE, BUT I SUPPOSE\nYOU COULD CALL IT LIVING AND WORKING FOR SOME-\nTHING LARGER THAN YOURSELF.\nIN ITS MOST FUNDAMENTAL FORM THIS IS\nLIVING AND WORKING FOR YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR\nFRIENDS, FOR THE TEAM OF WHICH YOU ARE A PART.\nIN ITS NOBLEST DEVELOPMENT IT MEANS LIVING AND\nWORKING AND, IF NEED BE, SACRIFICING FOR YOUR\nCOUNTRY AND YOUR GOD.\nDON'T LET ANYBODY SNEER AT SUCH\n-12-\nDEDICATION -- IT IS ALL THAT SEPARATES US FROM\nTHE SAVAGE BEASTS. SOME PEOPLE THINK POLITICS\nIS A CYNICAL BUSINESS -- BUT CONGRESS OPENS\nEVERY DAY WITH A PRAYER, WHICH IS MORE THAN YOU\nCAN SAY FOR SOME PROFESSIONS.\nTO BE BART OF SOMETHING LARGER THAN\nYOURSELF, TO GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT AND\nTHEN A LITTLE BIT MORE, THIS IS THE GREATEST\nSATISFACTION OF LIFE AND THE MOST REDEEMING\nGRACE OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. AS THE HIPPIES SAY,\nEVERYBODY HAS TO DO HIS OWN THING. BUT THE\nTHING THAT YOU DO -- DO IT BY THE RULES, DO IT\nIN TEAMWORK WITH OTHERS, AND ABOVE ALL DO IT WITH\nDEDICATION.\nGOOD LUCK IN YOUR DELIBERATIONS AND\nDEBATES, IN YOUR WARMUP AND WORKOUT FOR THE\nFUTURE POLITICAL ARENA. REMEMBER, WE' RE\nCOUNTING ON YOU FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE -- AND WE LL\nKEEP WORKING ON THE DIFFICULT.\nTHIS IS A GREAT COUNTRY -- LET'S MAKE IT\nEVEN GREATER!\n###\nMaffice Copy\nBOY'S STATE\nJune 13, 1968\nLansing, Michigan\nI've always been proud to be a member of the American Legion but it makes\nme even prouder to see this fine organization of men who once were willing to give\ntheir lives for their country, now sponsøring such a program as this, in which boys\ncan learn how to live their lives for their country.\nIt seems to me this is the kind of thing our networks ought to carry live\non national television once in awhile, and transmit all around the world by satellite,\nto show people here at home and abroad what the future of America is really like.\nWe hear people say these days that our country is sick. I think maybe some\nof these self-annointed psychiatrists ought to get up off their couches and go out\nand see our country in true perspective and then maybe check in for a checkup\nthemselves. Who's sick? Not this bunch!\n\"Boys will be boys,\" the old saying goes. Well, as the father of three\nlively boys, I'd rather believe that \"Boys will be men.\" And before you know it,\nyou will.\nI'm glad this is the case, because there are an awful lot of things left to\ndo in this country, a lot of wrongs to be put right, and a lot of things that are\nright and have to be kept that way. I remember the Navy's fabulous Seabees who\nperformed prodigies of construction work in the South Pacific jungles during World\nWar II, sometimes landing ahead of the combat troops. As soon as they had a spare\nminute, they'd erect light-hearted signs around their camps like \"Welcome to the\nU.S. Marines\" and so forth. But the one I remember was at Bougainville, and it said:\n\"The difficult we do immediately\"\n\"The impossible takes a little longer.\"\nSo that's the proposition I want to make to you tonight: if my generation\ndoes the difficult next November 5th if not immediately we'll leave it for\nyou to take on the impossible.\nThat's not just oratory. When I was about your age, our hero was Col.\nCharles A. Lindbergh, who had flown solo all the way from New York to Paris. We\nsupposed someday big airplanes carrying maybe 20 or more passengers would fly\nregularly to Europe, but if anybody had told us about astronauts circling the\nEarth in outer space, taking color snapshots that show it just as round as Columbus\nfigured it was, we'd have said that's impossible.\nFORD & LIBRARY GERALD\n-2-\nWe used to make our own crystal set radios then, and sometimes on a clear\nnight we'd even hear Chicago, or Kansas City. But see the Olympic Games in Mexico\non color television? why, even Dick Tracy hadn't invented that yet.\nOur fathers and mothers used to worry a lot about polio if they heard\nof somebody getting it we couldn't go swimming for weeks. Now, thanks to Dr. Salk\nand other medical researchers, infantile paralysis is a rare disease. So you see\nmore things have happened in my lifetime, and yours, to change the world and the\nway we live than all that happened in all the centuries between olumbus and\nLindbergh's crossings of the Atlantic.\nAnd things are going to keep on happening, faster and faster. Some will be\ngood and some bad. But you are going to be better prepared to sort these things\nout than any generation of Ameri cans before you.\nYou're here to get some practical experience in politics, and I imagine you\nwant some tips from somebody who's been working at it awhile. Well, I have to admit\nI started early. When I was going to Grand Rapids South High School I decided to\nrun for President of the Senior Class.\nI had a lot of friends, and a lot of good ideas, and I put on a terrific\ncampaign. I don't think they've seen anything like it at Grand Rapids South before\nor since, though some of you may correct me.\nIt was the most brilliant political race I've ever run except for one\nthing. I lost.\nWell, it took me 18 years to get up courage to offer myself to the voters\nagain. It wasn't so much that I was discouraged, but I was busy. I went to Ann\nArbor, played a little football for Michigan, then to Yale, where I coached football\nwhile studying law, and then I served in the Navy as a ship's officer on an aircraft\ncarrier, and when the war ended four years later I came home to practice law, but\nI still was bugged by the idea of a career in public service doing things for\npeople they couldn't do themselves, a lot of people instead of just a few clients,\nmaking good laws instead of just arguing about old ones. So the first chance I had\nI ran for Congress. That was in 1948.\nThis time I won, and my good constituents have been with me ever since, and\nI hope I've been able to help them. The reason I tell you all this is not because\nI like to talk about myself although they say some Congressmen do -- but to point\nout that those 18 years between elections weren't all wasted. I managed to learn a\nfew things, on the football field and in the Navy and practicing law, which perhaps\nI can pass along to you.\nLIBRARY\n-3-\nThe first thing is that rules are important.\nThe second thing is that teamwork is important.\nThe third thing is that dedication is all-important.\nThere are rules that govern everything we do. They range all the way from the\nTen Commandments and the Golden Rule to the rules of poker (not that I'm recommending\npoker, but don't ever play it without rules!) or chess. Private morality has its\nown rules, and so does public law. Even nature has its order, but man alone has the\npower to make and break his own laws.\nAmericans are worried . I needn't tell you about crime and lawlessness\nin our country. Congress is worried. In spite of much you read and hear we're still\na long way from anarchy -- the heart of America is still sound but we have fallen\nbackward. Nobody can decide which laws he likes and will obey and which laws he\ndoesn't like and won't obey any more than any player in a football game can make\nup his own rules. We have to do more than respect the law and obey it, however.\nWe have to insist that everybody else does the same. And we have to restrain and,\nif possible, retrain those who refuse to play by the rules.\nOf course, some rules seem to us burdensome, or silly, or out of date. And\nsome of them are. But we have a wonderfully flexible and responsive government in th is\ncountry, through which orderly change is always possible - indeed it cannot be\nstopped - whenever most Americans really want it. These are the demo cratic processes\nof a representative republic -- free elections, public persuasion, petitioning the\nlegislature, procedure in the courts, that you're here to learn more about and how\nto use. There may be countries where freedom is so restricted that mass demon-\nstrations and student uprisings are the only way to bring about reform. This isn't\nso in the United States, and anyone who tells you it is,is either ignorant or\ndeliberately misleading.\nEach generation in America has taken the Constitution and the laws inherited\nfrom the Founding Fathers and shaped them to meet new problems and more complex needs.\nThis is a continuous process and by using it, we have seen such progress as no other\nnation has known. Learn how to make the rules work for you and for all other\nAmericans - equal justice under law -- and I guarantee you that progress will go\non and on.\nRules are important, and so is teamwork. You all know that from football or\nbaseball or basketball or even from dancing lessons. I suppose the most\nspectacular practical example of the importance of teamwork is a modern aircraft\ncarrier. Of course they've changed a lot since my day - nuclear power and jets\nthat fly so fast you only hear them after they've gone -- but the principle is\n-4-\nthe same. Soon some of you will be serving in the military and, while I pray our\ncountry will be at peace, don't look on these as lost years. You can learn more\nabout living and working with other men, you can master more of the meaning of\nexecutive decision and responsibility, if you undertake this obligation intelligently,\nthan you would in civilian life for another 10 years.\nThe admiral in his cabin and the captain on the bridge are important, and so\nare the pilots in their planes. But you know what teamwork means when you realize\nwhat one missing part in an engine means, what happens if a radioman goofs an urgent\nmessage, how swiftly some trained hand must turn the helm or find a bad fuse or\nclose an open valve or press the right button. Training and discipline alone make\npossible the split-second teamwork of a carrier launching or landing, every man\ndoing his job with no room for mistakes. Teamwork enables each of us to reach\nbeyond our arm's length, to accomplish tasks we could never do alone, and it\nimparts a special satisfaction which the solitary soul can never know. Yes, team-\nwork is important.\nThe last of the three things I want you to remember as you practice politics\nand government and they will prove just as essential in any other endeavor -- is\ndedication. This is a little hard to define, but I suppose you could call it living\nand working for something larger than yourself.\nIn its most fundamental form this is living and working for your family and\nyour friends, for the team of which you are a part. In its noblest development it\nmeans living and working and, if need be, sacrificing for your country and your God.\nDon't let anybody sneer at such dedication it is all that separates us\nfrom the savage beasts. Some people think politics is a cynical business -- but\nCongress opens every day with a prayer, which is more than you can say for some\nprofessions.\nTo be part of something larger than yourself, to give it everything you've\ngot and then a little bit more, this is the greatest satisfaction of life and the most\nredeeming grace of the human species. As the hippies say, everybody has to do his\nown thing. But the thing that you do -- do it by the rules, do it in teamwork with\nothers, and above all do it with dedication.\nGood luck in your deliberations and debates, in your warmup and workout for\nthe future political arena. Remember, we're counting on you for the impossible --\nand we'll keep working on the difficult.\nThis is a great country let's make it even greater!\nOfficilapy\nBOY'S STATE\nJune 13, 1968\nLansing, Michigan\nI've always been proud to be a member of the American Legion but it makes\nme even prouder to see this fine organization of men who once were willing to give\ntheir lives for their country, now sponso ring such a program as this, in which boys\ncan learn how to live their lives for their country.\nIt seems to me this is the kind of thing our networks ought to carry live\non national television once in awhile, and transmit all around the world by satellite,\nto show people here at home and abroad what the future of America is really like.\nWe hear people say these days that our country is sick. I think maybe some\nof these self-annointed psychiatrists ought to get up off their couches and go out\nand see our country in true perspective and then maybe check in for a checkup\nthemselves. Who's sick? Not this bunch!\n\"Boys will be boys,\" the old saying goes. Well, as the father of three\nlively boys, I'd rather believe that \"Boys will be men.\" And before you know it,\nyou will.\nI'm glad this is the case, because there are an awful lot of things left to\ndo in this country, a lot of wrongs to be put right, and a lot of things that are\nright and have to be kept that way. I remember the Navy's fabulous Seabees who\nperformed prodigies of construction work in the South Pacific jungles during World\nWar II, sometimes landing ahead of the combat troops. As soon as they had a spare\nminute, they'd erect light-hearted signs around their camps like \"Welcome to the\nU.S. Marines\" and so forth. But the one I remember was at Bougainville, and it said:\n\"The difficult we do immediately\"\n\"The impossible takes a little longer.\"\nSo that's the proposition I want to make to you tonight: if my generation\ndoes the difficult -- next November 5th if not immediately we'll leave it for\nyou to take on the impossible.\nThat's not just oratory. When I was about your age, our hero was Col.\nCharles A. Lindbergh, who had flown solo all the way from New York to Paris. We\nsupposed someday big airplanes carrying maybe 20 or more passengers would fly\nregularly to Europe, but if anybody had told us about astronauts circling the\nEarth in outer space, taking color anapshots that show it just as round as Columbus\nfigured it was, we'd have said that's impossible.\nGERALD LIBRARY CERALDR FORD\n-2-\nWe used to make our own crystal set radios then, and sometimes on a clear\nnight we'd even hear Chicago, or Kansas City. But see the Olympic Games in Mexico\non color television? -- why, even Dick Tracy hadn't invented that yet.\nOur fathers and mothers used to worry a lot about polio if they heard\nof somebody getting it we couldn't go swimming for weeks. Now, thanks to Dr. Salk\nand other medical researchers, infantile paralysis is a rare disease. So you see\nmore things have happened in my lifetime, and yours, to change the world and the\nway we live than all that happened in all the centuries between ᶜ₀lumbus and\nLindbergh's crossings of the Atlantic.\nAnd things are going to keep on happening, faster and faster. Some will be\ngood and some bad. But you are going to be better prepared to sort these things\nout than any generation of Ameri cans before you.\nYou're here to get some practical experience in politics, and I imagine you\nwant some tips from somebody who's been working at it awhile. Well, I have to admit\nI started early. When I was going to Grand Rapids South High School I decided to\nrun for President of the Senior Class.\nI had a lot of friends, and a lot of good ideas, and I put on a terrific\ncampaign. I don't think they've seen anything like it at Grand Rapids South before\nor since, though some of you may correct me.\nIt was the most brilliant political race I've ever run -- except for one\nthing. I lost.\nWell, it took me 18 years to get up courage to offer myself to the voters\nagain. It wasn't so much that I was discouraged, but I was busy. I went to Ann\nArbor, played a little football for Michigan, then to Yale, where I coached football\nwhile studying law, and then I served in the Navy as a ship's officer on an aircraft\ncarrier, and when the war ended four years later I came home to practice law, but\nI still was bugged by the idea of a career in public service doing things for\npeople they couldn't do themselves, a lot of people instead of just a few clients,\nmaking good laws instead of just arguing about old ones. So the first chance I had\nI ran for Congress. That was in 1948.\nThis time I won, and my good constituents have been with me ever since, and\nI hope I've been able to help them. The reason I tell you all this is not because\nI like to talk about myself although they say some Congressmen do -- but to point\nout that those 18 years between elections weren't all wasted. I managed to learn a\nfew things, on the football field and in the Navy and practicing law, which perhaps\nI can pass along to you.\nFORD ABRARY\n-3-\nThe first thing is that rules are important.\nThe second thing is that teamwork is important.\nThe third thing is that dedication is all-important.\nThere are rules that govern everything we do. They range all the way from the\nTen Commandments and the Golden Rule to the rules of poker (not that I'm recommending\npoker, but don't ever play it without rules!) or chess. Private morality has its\nown rules, and so does public law. Even nature has its order, but man alone has the\npower to make and break his own laws.\nAmericans are worried - I needn't tell you about crime and lawlessness\nin our country. Congress is worried. In spite of much you read and hear we're still\na long way from anarchy -- the heart of America is still sound but we have fallen\nbackward. Nobody can decide which laws he likes and will obey and which laws he\ndoesn't like and won't obey . any more than any player in a football game can make\nup his own rules. We have to do more than respect the law and obey it, however.\nWe have to insist that everybody else does the same. And we have to restrain and,\nif possible, retrain those who refuse to play by the rules.\nOf course, some rules seem to us burdensome, or silly, or out of date. And\nsome of them are. But we have a wonderfully flexible and responsive government in this\ncountry, through which orderly change is always possible indeed it cannot be\nstopped - whenever most Americans really want it. These are the demo cratic processes\nof a representative republic - free elections, public persuasion, petitioning the\nlegislature, procedure in the courts, that you're here to learn more about and how\nto use. There may be countries where freedom is so restricted that mass demon-\nstrations and student uprisings are the only way to bring about reform. This isn't\nso in the United States, and anyone who tells you it is,is either ignorant or\ndeliberately misleading.\nEach generation in America has taken the Constitution and the laws inherited\nfrom the Founding Fathers and shaped them to meet new problems and more complex needs.\nThis is a continuous process and by using it, we have seen such progress as no other\nnation has known. Learn how to make the rules work for you and for all other\nAmericans - equal justice under law and I guarantee you that progress will go\non and on.\nRules are important, and so is teamwork. You all know that from football or\nbaseball or basketball - or even from dancing lessons. I suppose the most\nspectacular practical example of the importance of teamwork is a modern aircraft\ncarrier. Of course they've changed a lot since my day - nuclear power and jets\nthat fly so fast you only hear them after they've gone but the principle is\nBERALD FORD LIBRARY\n-4-\nthe same. Soon some of you will be serving in the military and, while I pray our\ncountry will be at peace, don't look on these as lost years. You can learn more\nabout living and working with other men, you can master more of the meaning of\nexecutive decision and responsibility, if you undertake this obligation intelligently,\nthan you would in civilian life for another 10 years.\nThe admiral in his cabin and the captain on the bridge are important, and so\nare the pilots in their planes. But you know what teamwork means when you realize\nwhat one missing part in an engine means, what happens if a radioman goofs an urgent\nmessage, how swiftly some trained hand must turn the helm or find a bad fuse or\nclose an open valve or press the right button. Training and discipline alone make\npossible the split-second teamwork of a carrier launching or landing, every man\ndoing his job with no room for mistakes. Teamwork enables each of us to reach\nbeyond our arm's length, to accomplish tasks we could never do alone, and it\nimparts a special satisfaction which the solitary soul can never know. Yes, team-\nwork is important.\nThe last of the three things I want you to remember as you practice politics\nand government and they will prove just as essential in any other endeavor -- is\ndedication. This is a little hard to define, but I suppose you could call it living\nand working for something larger than yourself.\nIn its most fundamental form this is living and working for your family and\nyour friends, for the team of which you are a part. In its noblest development it\nmeans living and working and, if need sacrificing for your country and your God.\nDon't let anybody sneer at such dedication -- it is all that separates us\nfrom the savage beasts. Some people think politics is a cynical business -- but\nCongress opens every day with a prayer, which is more than you can say for some\nprofessions.\nTo be part of something larger than yourself, to give it everything you've\ngot and then a little bit more, this is the greatest satisfaction of life and the most\nredeeming grace of the human species. As the hippies say, everybody has to do his\nown thing. But the thing that you do -- do it by the rules, do it in teamwork with\nothers, and above all do it with dedication.\nGood luck in your deliberations and debates, in your warmup and workout for\nthe future political arena. Remember, we're counting on you for the impossible --\nand we'll keep working on the difficult.\nThis is a great country let's make it even greater!"
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