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1968 Election, Beaver Dam, WI, August 27, 1968
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1968 Election, Beaver Dam, WI, August 27, 1968
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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The original documents are located in Box D25, folder "1968 Election, Beaver Dam, WI,
August 27, 1968" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Distribution: 50 Copies to Beaver Dam
aug. 22, 1968
M Office Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. TUESDAY--
August 27, 1968
Excerpts from a Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford, R-Mich., Minority Leader of the
U.S. House of Representatives, August 27, 1968, at Beaver Dam, Wis.
We need more than just a change of leadership in this country. We need
leadership that will lift the American people out of the fog and frustration of
failure--the policy blunders which have brought us a no-win war in Vietnam, a
no-win war against poverty, and the alienation of our young people.
The American people deserve better.
What have our people done to deserve what has happened to them more than
30,000 dead in Vietnam, a national crime rate rising nearly nine times as fast as
the population, taxes and a cost of living that go up faster than their income,
238 riots resulting in more than 200 deaths and more than $800 million in property
damage.
It is not the American people who have failed, it is their leaders.
That is why I think the voters will clean house, from top to bottom, in
November. They will sweep out all the incompetents and those derelict in their
duty. They will demand and get good, clean, efficient government. They will elect
outstanding, dynamic Republicans like Rick Murray to the United States House of
Representatives.
Americans have always been dedicated to progress. Progress can only be
built on a foundation of order. That foundation must be fashioned with the build-
ing blocks of justice.
This is the house we must build if we are not to live and perish
in
a
house divided against itself. We must build a house that rests on the cornerstones
of law, order, justice and equal opportunity.
Order and justice go hand in hand--but the law must be upheld. There can be
no peace, no safety, no progress in a land where the law is scoffed at and law
enforcement officials are attacked in the exercise of their duties.
The place to start is for public officials to say what they mean and to mean
what they say. The American people must be able to have confidence in their
government again, to trust in their government.
The leading candidate for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination
FORD
had a few words to say about crime in this country the other day. He told members
LIBRARY
(more)
Digitized from Box D25 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
of two labor unions in Chicago that if elected President he would direct a nation-
wide mobilization against "violence, looting and crime. 11
This is the same man who on August 14, 1966, told the National Association
of County Officials in New Orleans that if he had to live in a slum "you would have
had a little more trouble than you have had already, because I have enough spark
left in me to lead a mighty good revolt under those conditions."
Since those words were spoken, the United States has witnessed more than
225 riots.
There is no excuse for slum conditions. But neither is there any excuse for
violence. And, furthermore, there is no excuse for the Vice-President of the United
States inviting violence by condoning it.
It is time for plain talk in America. Honesty tells us law and order must be
maintained. Our streets must be made safe for law-abiding citizens.
Honesty also tells us that the Johnson-Humphrey Administration committed a
blunder of colossal proportions in committing American troops to a massive land war
in Vietnam.
We must now do everything necessary to back up our men in Vietnam while
seeking an honorable political settlement of the bloody conflict there. Let us pray
for our men in Vietnam and also for our negotiators in Paris. And let us resolve
that there shall be no more Vietnams, no more no-win wars in which American boys
will be sacrificed for murky objectives never quite explained.
The day of the half-truth must end. We need no more of an Administration
which promises that American boys will never be sent to do the job that Asian boys
should be doing and then commits more than 500,000 of our young men to duty in
Vietnam. We need no more of an Administration that tells us a little inflation is a
good
thing and then forces upon us a 10 per cent tax increase to help stop gallop-
ing inflation. We need no more of an Administration that tells us we are not
experiencing a crime wave then reveals that the crime rate has shot up 88 per cent
since 1960.
We do need an Administration and a Congress that will put government back in
the hands of the people, an Administration and a Congress that will tell the people
the hard truth about this country's problems and will work with the people back home
to solve them. I think the American people are going to elect that kind of
leadership--Nixon-Agnew leadership--and that kind of a Congress in November. I feel
sure that with your support fine young men like Rick Murray will be sitting in the
House of Representatives a Republican House when the 91st Congress convenes next
January.
# # #
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. TUESDAY--
August 27, 1968
Excerpts from a Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford, R-Mich., Minority Leader of the
U.S. House of Representatives, August 27, 1968, at Beaver Dam, Wis.
We need more than just a change of leadership in this country. We need
leadership that will lift the American people out of the fog and frustration of
failure--the policy blunders which have brought us a no-win war in Vietnam, a
no-win war against poverty, and the alienation of our young people.
The American people deserve better.
What have our people done to deserve what has happened to them more than
30,000 dead in Vietnam, a national crime rate rising nearly nine times as fast as
the population, taxes and a cost of living that go up faster than their income,
238 riots resulting in more than 200 deaths and more than $800 million in property
damage.
It is not the American people who have failed, it is their leaders.
That is why I think the voters will clean house, from top to bottom, in
November. They will sweep out all the incompetents and those derelict in their
duty. They will demand and get good, clean, efficient government. They will elect
outstanding, dynamic Republicans like Rick Murray to the United States House of
Representatives.
Americans have always been dedicated to progress. Progress can only be
built on a foundation of order. That foundation must be fashioned with the build-
ing blocks of justice.
This is the house we must build if we are not to live
and perish
in a
house divided against itself. We must build a house that rests on the cornerstones
of law, order, justice and equal opportunity.
Order and justice go hand in hand--but the law must be upheld. There can be
no peace, no safety, no progress in a land where the law is scoffed at and law
enforcement officials are attacked in the exercise of their duties.
The place to start is for public officials to say what they mean and to mean
what they say. The American people must be able to have confidence in their
government again, to trust in their government.
The leading candidate for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination
had a few words to say about crime in this country the other day. He told members
(more)
-2-
of two labor unions in Chicago that if elected President he would direct a nation-
wide mobilization against "violence, looting and crime."
This is the same man who on August 14, 1966, told the National Association
of County Officials in New Orleans that if he had to live in a slum "you would have
had a little more trouble than you have had already, because I have enough spark
left in me to lead a mighty good revolt under those conditions. 11
Since those words were spoken, the United States has witnessed more than
225 riots.
There is no excuse for slum conditions. But neither is there any excuse for
violence. And, furthermore, there is no excuse for the Vice-President of the United
States inviting violence by condoning it.
It is time for plain talk in America. Honesty tells us law and order must be
maintained. Our streets must be made safe for law-abiding citizens.
Honesty also tells us that the Johnson-Humphrey Administration committed a
blunder of colossal proportions in committing American troops to a massive land war
in Vietnam.
We must now do everything necessary to back up our men in Vietnam while
seeking an honorable political settlement of the bloody conflict there. Let us pray
for our men in Vietnam and also for our negotiators in Paris. And let us resolve
that there shall be no more Vietnams, no more no-win wars in which American boys
will be sacrificed for murky objectives never quite explained.
The day of the half-truth must end. We need no more of an Administration
which promises that American boys will never be sent to do the job that Asian boys
should be doing and then commits more than 500,000 of our young men to duty in
Vietnam. We need no more of an Administration that tells us a little inflation is a
good
thing and then forces upon us a 10 per cent tax increase to help stop gallop-
ing inflation. We need no more of an Administration that tells us we are not
experiencing a crime wave then reveals that the crime rate has shot up 88 per cent
since 1960.
We do need an Administration and a Congress that will put government back in
the hands of the people, an Administration and a Congress that will tell the people
the hard truth about this country's problems and will work with the people back home
to solve them. I think the American people are going to elect that kind of
leadership--Nixon-Agnew leadership--and that kind of a Congress in November. I feel
sure that with your support fine young men like Rick Murray will be sitting in the
House of Representatives a Republican House when the 91st Congress convenes next
January.
###