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The original documents are located in Box D26, folder "Republican Governors Association,
Palm Springs, CA, December 6, 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Digitized from Box D26 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION
PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, FRIDAY,
DECEMBER 6, 1968.
Mr.Visi Pais Elect aguest
when
DISTINGUISHED GOVERNORS AND
1
GOVERNORS-ELECT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
IT'S BEEN A LONG YEAR AND A HARD
ROAD TO PALM SPRINGS FROM PALM BEACH, WHERE
LAST I WAS PRIVILEGED TO MEET WITH YOU.
BUT IT HAS BEEN A YEAR OF SOLID SUCCESS FOR
OUR PARTY AND BRIGHT PROMISE FOR OUR COUNTRY.
NOWHERE HAS THE VIGOR OF RESURGENT
REPUBLICANISM BEEN MORE EVIDENT THAN IN THE
RAPID EXPANSION OF THE REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS
ASSOCIATION. I CONGRATULATE EACH OF YOU
AND ESPECIALLY THANK GOVERNOR JOHN CHAFEE
FOR HIS FINE LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNOR REAGAN
FOR THE HOSPITALITY THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE
RICHEST RESOURCE OF THIS GOLDEN STATE.
A YEAR AGO GOV. NUNN BROUGHT
-2-
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S NATIVE STATE BACK INTO
THE FOLD. I REMEMBER SUGGESTING WE OUGHT
TO ADD ILLINOIS AND, SURE ENOUGH, GOV.-ELECT
OGILVIE DID IT, IN SPITE OF MAYOR DALEY'S
NEW ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES.
THEY'RE REALLY VERY SIMPLE. JUST
TWO HANDLES YOU CAN PULL.
ONE SAYS "STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC
TICKET."
THE OTHER SAYS "CAUTION!
50,000 VOLTS."
WE HAVE A LOT TO BE THANKFUL FOR
AS REPUBLICANS, AND A LOT TO DO AS AMERICANS.
A GREAT NATIVE SON OF CALIFORNIA IS THE
PRESIDENT-ELECT. ONE OF YOUR OWN
DISTINGUISHED NUMBER IS THE VICE-PRESIDENT-
ELECT. NEXT YEAR THERE WILL BE 31 REPUBLICAN
GOVERNORS IN STATES REPRESENTING TWO-THIRDS
OF THE NATION'S PEOPLE, AND IN EIGHT OF THE
10 MOST POPULOUS STATES.
-3-
I AM HERE TO REPORT ON THE
CONGRESS, AND I WOULD DIG A CREDIBILITY GAP
DEEPER THAN DEATH VALLEY IF I PRETENDED NOT
TO BE DISAPPOINTED THAT PRESIDENT NIXON WILL
NOT START OFF WITH A REPUBLICAN HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES. I AM DISAPPOINTED, BUT
NOT DISMAYED. TAKING MY CUE FROM DICK NIXON'S
OWN CAREER, I STARTED MY CAMPAIGN FOR A
REPUBLICAN CONGRESS IN 1970 JUST ONE MONTH
AGO TODAY.
IN THE SENATE THE NEW LINEUP WILL
BE 42 TO 58, EIGHT VOTES SHY OF CONTROL;
IN THE HOUSE IT WILL BE 192 TO 243, 26 VOTES
SHORT OF A MAJORITY. BUT THE IMPORTANT
THING IS THAT WE ARE STILL GAINING STRENGTH
ON EVERY FRONT; FROM LESS THAN ONE-THIRD
OF BOTH BODIES A LITTLE OVER TWO YEARS AGO
THERE HAS BEEN A NET INCREASE OF 52 REPUBLICAN
SEATS IN THE HOUSE AND 10 IN THE SENATE.
THE SAME REPUBLICAN TREND IS UNDERWAY IN
-4-
STATE LEGISLATURES AND OTHER STATE, COUNTY
AND CITY ELECTIVE OFFICES WHERE PARTY
STRENGTH IS BUILT
WE ARE NOT HERE FOR POSTMORTEMS,
BUT PERMIT ME A FEW FOOTNOTES ON THIS
SOMEWHAT CURIOUS NATIONAL ELECTION. IT'S
ALMOST UNPRECEDENTED, BUT 58 OF THE 59 NEW
REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMEN ELECTED IN 1966
SURVIVED IN 1968. ONE WAS A VICTIM OF
REDISTRICTING. THIS NOT ONLY TESTIFIES TO
THE CALIBER OF OUR RECENT REINFORCEMENTS
BUT TO THE TEAM SPIRIT THAT PREVAILS IN OUR
HOUSE LEADERSHIP WE PUT THEM TO WORK AND
THEY WENT TO WORK WITH A WILL
THE 20 NEW REPUBLICANS ELECTED
IN 1968 ARE OF THE SAME QUALITY
C
7
MY
EARLY ESTIMATION
THEY COME FROM 14 STATES
AND EVERY PART OF THE COUNTRY; OUR GAINS,
THOUGH OFFSET BY LOSSES, WERE NEITHER
ISOLATED NOR SECTIONAL.
&
-5-
THE THIRD-PARTY THREAT IN THE
SOUTH DID NOT, AS FORECAST, DISRUPT THE
STEADY ADVANCE OF A TRUE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM
[THERE]; WE ACTUALLY GAINED IN VIRGINIA,
MARYLAND, TEXAS AND NORTH CAROLINA.
FINALLY, YOU MAY RECALL MY WARNING
A YEAR AGO IN FLORIDA THAT THE NEXT
PRESIDENT MIGHT VERY WELL BE CHOSEN BY
THE HOUSE [WITH EACH STATE HAVING A SINGLE
VOTE
THE DEMOCRATS THEN CONTROLLED 29
DELEGATIONS TO OUR 18, WITH THREE EVENLY
DIVIDED.
WE CONCENTRATED ON THESE CLOSE
DELEGATIONS, AND SO DID THE DEMOCRATS. WE
GAINED ONE DELEGATION -- NEW MEXICO'S -- AND
TIED UP TWO MORE, CUTTING THE DEMOCRATS
DOWN TO 26, A MINIMAL MAJORITY. BUT FIVE
OF THOSE WERE WALLACE STATES. PROBABLY IF
THE ELECTION HAD GONE TO THE NEW HOUSE IT
WOULD HAVE BEEN AS DEADLOCKED AS THE
-6-
ELECTORAL COLLEGE.
IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. BUT WE COULD
BE IN THE MIDST OF A DEADLY DANGEROUS
CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS RIGHT NOW IF IT
HAD -- AND IT CAME VERY CLOSE.
LET'S FIX THE ROOF BEFORE THE
NEXT CLOUDBURST.
I
INTEND TO PRESS FOR
PROMPT ACTION IN THE NEXT CONGRESS ON AN
ELECTORAL REFORM AMENDMENT AND HOPE YOU
GOVERNORS WILL GET BEHIND TTS. RAPID
RATIFICATION
SO MUCH FOR MIGHT-HAVE-BEENS.
WE
ARE HERE NETTHER TO CONGRATULATE NOR TO
COMMISERATE OURSELVES BUT IN THE SPIRIT OF
PRESIDENT-ELECT NIXON'S INAUGURAL THEME --
"FORWARD TOGETHER."
ILLIKE THAT IDEA
THAT IS THE WAY
WE HAVE BEEN MARCHING THESE PAST FEW YEARS
AND LOOK HOW FAR WE HAVE COME. REMEMBER THE
ENDLESS ARGUMENTS AFTER OUR CLOSE 1948 AND
-7-
1960 PRESIDENTIAL DEFEATS ABOUT WHAT FACTOR
even now
MADE THE BIG DIFFERENCE? NOBODY AGREES YET,
BUT AS FOR 1968, THE ANSWER IS OBVIOUS.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THIS YEAR
PRESENTED
TO THE VOTERS
AN IMAGE OF RELATIVE
UNITY AND HARMONY; THE DEMOCRATS GAVE
&
DISCONCERTING DEMONSTRATION
OF DIVISION,
DISCORD AND DISARRAY. FROM THE FIRST
PRIMARY THROUGH THE MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION
AND HIS CLOSING CAMPAIGN, DICK NIXON
HAMMERED HOME THE IDEA THAT ONLY A PARTY
THAT COULD UNITE ITSELF COULD UNITE THE
COUNTRY. NOW, WE HAVE TO MAKE GOOD ON THAT
PROMISE.
WE MUST, INDEED, GO FORWARD
TOGETHER
NOT MERELY AS REPUBLICANS, FOR
WE ALREADY HAVE SHOWN WE CAN DO THAT WITHOUT
FORFEITING THE HEALTHY INTERNAL COMPETITION
AND CLASH OF VIEWPOINTS THAT KEEPS A PARTY
ALIVE AND ALERT TO THE PEOPLE'S REAL NEEDS.
-8-
WE MUST GO FORWARD TOGETHER AS
AMERICANS, DRAWING EVER WIDER THE CIRCLE
OF OUR PARTISANSHIP TO ENCOMPASS A MAJORITY
OF CITIZENS WHO WILL NOT ONLY VOTE FOR US
BUT JOIN WITH US, TO BRING FRESH AND
REALISTIC SOLUTIONS TO OUR VEXING PROBLEMS,
AND TO TRANSLATE INTO PUBLIC LAW AND POPULAR
WILL THOSE BASIC HUMAN NEEDS OF PERSONAL
SECURITY, EVEN HANDED JUSTICE AND EQUAL
OPPORTUNITY TO GET AHEAD IN A CLIMATE OF
FREEDOM AND MUTUAL RESPECT
IN THE 90TH CONGRESS, BELIEVE
THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP AND THE REPUBLICAN
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE SHOWED A RESPONSIBLE
DETERMINATION TO GO FORWARD TOGETHER
[FOR
FOR
A
BETTER AMERICA
WITH OUR SUPERIOR TEAMWORK
AND MORALE, WE COULD ON MANY OCCASIONS
HAVE SIMPLY ROADBLOCKED ANY ACTION ON
ADMINISTRATION PROPOSALS. INSTEAD, WE
WORKED TO IMPROVE THEM THROUGH THE
-9-
GIVE-AND-TAKE OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS,
AND OFTEN WE DID. THERE IS NOT TIME TO GO
DOWN THE LIST, BUT AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE
WAS THE OMNIBUS CRIME BILL WHOSE MAJOR
REPUBLICAN FEATURES EMBODIED THE SOUND
PRINCIPLE OF BLOCK GRANTS TO CUT THE STATES
IN ON THE ALLOCATION OF FEDERAL FUNDS.
if not all
THIS HAD THE BACKING OF MOST GOVERNORS OF
BOTH PARTIES. at The critical moment in The Home
consideration qthe will PERHAPS, the support IRONICALLY, The Hovemons WE was WERE sital. muditin teamorth Our logation
PENALIZED FOR OUR RESPONSIBILITY. THE 91ST
planted
CONGRESS WILL BE VERY MUCH LIKE THE LAST
ONE -- EVIDENTLY PEOPLE THOUGHT IT WAS A
PRETTY GOOD CONGRESS IN TERMS OF LEGISLATIVE
PERFORMANCE. STILL, WE LOST MANY A CLOSE
ROLLCALL IN THE 90TH CONGRESS BY THE MARGIN
OF OUR NOVEMBER GAINS. ΓA3 REPUBLICAN
and
LEADERS PLEDGED TO SUPPORT THE NEW NIXON
AUMINISTRATION TN EFFECTING RESPONSIBLE
CHANGE IN WASHINGTON, SENATOR DIRKSEN AND I
-10-
WILL BE IN A FAR MORE FAVORABLE POSITION
NEXT YEAR THAN AS THE DUBIOUS MINORITY
CHAPERONES OF THE FINAL FREESPENDING
JOHNSON-HUMPHREY FLING
AS HIS FRIEND AND FORMER
COLLEAGUE IN THE HOUSE, I CAN SAY SIMPLY
AND SINCERELY THAT I BELIEVE RICHARD NIXON
WILL BE A GREAT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, A GREAT LEADER OF A GREAT PEOPLE.
IT WILL TAKE ALL THE KNOWHOW HE ACQUIRED
DURING 14 YEARS ON CAPITOL HILL TO DEAL WITH
A DEMOCRATIC-CONTROLLED CONGRESS, BUT I AM
CONFIDENT HE WILL LEAD US FORWARD TOGETHER.
PROGRESS AND GOODWILL IS WHAT
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT AND WILL DEMAND,
AND NARROW PARTISANSHIP WILL BE SELF-
DEFEATING. CERTAINLY YOU GOVERNORS, WHO NOW
SPEAK FOR TWO OUT OF EVERY THREE CITIZENS,
ARE STRAGEGICALLY SITUATED TO STRENGTHEN
AND SUPPORT THE NEW REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT
-11-
IN THE DOMESTIC PROGRAMS OF REDIRECTION AND
REFORM OVER WHICH WE HAVE LABORED SO LONG
TOGETHER. WE MAY NEVER GET ANOTHER CHANCE,
IF WE FAIL NOW.
BUT IF WE SERVE THE PEOPLE WELL,
WE MAY AGAIN BECOME THE MAJORITY PARTY
THAT ABRAHAM LINCOLN -- A MINORITY PRESIDENT
ELECTED IN A TIME OF VIOLENCE AND FEAR AND
DOUBT -- LEFT AS THE LEGACY OF HIS LEADERSHIP.
YOU KNOW, I REMEMBER STOPPING ONCE
AT A FARMHOUSE IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS WHICH
DISPLAYED AN "ANTIQUES" SIGN ALONG THE ROAD.
WHILE MY WIFE WAS POKING AROUND THE OLD
GLASS AND FURNITURE, I SPOTTED A HUGE AXE
AND PICKED IT UP AND FELT THE EDGE AND
HEFTED IT.
THE OLD MAN WHO KEPT THE PLACE
LOOKED ME OVER AND SAID:
st
"WOULDN'T WANT TO SELL THAT. USED
TO BELONG TO ABE LINCOLN."
-12-
"WELL, IT'S STILL IN MIGHTY GOOD
SHAPE FOR SUCH AN OLD AXE," I SAID.
"OUGHT TO BE," THE FARMER SAID.
"IT'S HAD THREE NEW HEADS AND PLENTY OF NEW
HANDLES."
WELL, THAT'S HOW IT IS WITH OUR
REPUBLICAN PARTY.
IT'S STILL THE PARTY OF ABE
LINCOLN, BUT IT'S HAD A LOT OF DIFFERENT
HEADS AND A LOT OF DIFFERENT HANDLES. AND
NOW IT'S GOT ANOTHER NEW HEAD -- PLENTY OF
NEW HANDLES -- AND IT STILL IS IN MIGHTY
GOOD SHAPE.
THANK YOU FOR INVITING ME; NOW
LET'S GO FORWARD TOGETHER.
END : :
REMARKS OF REP. GERALD R. FORD OF MICHIGAN
REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TO THE REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION
PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1968
Friday P.M. Release
December 6, 1968
Distinguished Governors and Governors-Elect, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It's been a long year and a hard road to Palm Springs from Palm Beach,
where last 1 was privileged to meet with you. But it has been a year of solid
success for our party and bright promise for our country.
Nowhere has the vigor of resurgent Republicanism been more evident than
in the rapid expansion of the Republican Governors Association. I congratulate
each of you and especially thank Governor John Chafee for his fine leadership
and Governor Reagan for the hospitality that has always been the richest
resource of this Golden State.
A year ago Gov. Nunn brought Abraham Lincoln's native State back into
the fold. I remember suggesting we ought to add Illinois and, sure enough,
Gov.- Elect Ogilvie did it, in spite of Mayor Daley's new electronic voting
machines.
They're really very simple. Just two handles you can pull.
One says "Straight Democratic Ticket."
The other says "Caution! 50,000 Volts."
We have a lot to be thankful for as Republicans, and a lot to do as
Americans. A great Native Son of California is the President-Elect. One of
your own distinguished number is the Vice-President-Elect. Next year there will
be 31 Republican Governors in States representing two-thirds of the nation's
people, and in eight of the 10 most populous States.
I am here to report on the Congress, and I would dig a Creditility Gap
deeper than Death Valley if I pretended not to be disappointed that President
Nixon will not start off with a Republican House of Representatives. I am
disappointed, but not dismayed. Taking my cue from Dick Nixon's own career,
I started my campaign for a Republican Congress in 1970 just one month ago today.
In the Senate the new lineup will be 42 to 58, eight votes shy of
control; in the House it will be 192 to 243, 26 votes short of a majority.
(more)
-2-
But the important thing is that we are still gaining strength on every front;
from less than one-third of both bodies a little over two years ago there has
been a net increase of 52 Republican seats in the House and 10 in the Senate.
The same Republican trend is underway in State legislatures and other State,
county and city elective offices where party strength is built.
We are not here for postmortems, but permit me a few footnotes on this
somewhat curious national election. It's almost unprecedented, but 58 of the
59 new Republican Congressmen elected in 1966 survived in 1968. One was a
victim of redistricting. This not only testifies to the caliber of our recent
reinforcements but to the team spirit that prevails in our House leadership;
we put them to work and they went to work with a will.
The 20 new Republicans elected in 1968 are of the same quality, in my
early estimation. They come from 14 States and every part of the country;
our gains, though offset by losses, were neither isolated nor sectional.
The third-party threat in the South did not, as forecast, disrupt the
steady advance of a true two-party system there; we actually gained in Virginia,
Maryland, Texas and North Carolina.
Finally, you may recall my warning a year ago in Florida that the next
President might very well be chosen by the House, with each State having a
single vote. The Democrats then controlled 29 delegations to our 18, with three
evenly divided.
We concentrated on these close delegations, and so did the Democrats.
We gained one delegation -- New Mexico's -- and tied up two more, cutting the
Democrats down to 26, a minimal majority. But five of those were Wallace States.
Probably if the election had gone to the new House it would have been as dead-
locked as the Electoral College.
It didn't happen. But we could be in the midst of a deadly dangerous
Constitutional crisis right now if it had -- and it came very close.
Let's fix the roof before the next cloudburst. I intend to press for
prompt action in the next Congress on an electoral reform amendment and hope
you governors will get behind its rapid ratification.
So much for might-have-beens. We are here neither to congratulate nor
to commiserate ourselves but in the spirit of President-elect Nixon's Inaugural
theme -- "Forward Together."
I like that idea. That is the way we have been marching these past
(more)
-3-
few years and look how far we have come. Remember the endless arguments after
our close 1948 and 1960 Presidential defeats about what factor made the big
difference? Nobody agrees yet, but as for 1968, the answer is obvious.
The Republican Party this year presented to the voters an image of
relative unity and harmony; the Democrats gave a disconcerting demonstration of
division, discord and disarray. From the first primary through the Miami Beach
convention and his closing campaign, Dick Nixon hammered home the idea that only
a party that could unite itself could unite the country. Now, we have to make
good on that promise.
We must, indeed, go forward together -- not merely as Republicans, for
we already have shown we can do that without forfeiting the healthy internal
competition and clash of viewpoints that keeps a party alive and alert to the
people's real needs.
We must go forward together as Americans, drawing ever wider the circle
of our partisanship to encompass a majority of citizens who will not only vote
for us but join with us, to bring fresh and realistic solutions to our vexing
problems, and to translate into public law and popular will those basic human
needs of personal security, even-handed justice and equal opportunity to get
ahead in a climate of freedom and mutual respect.
In the 90th Congress, I believe the Republican leadership and the
Republican Members of the House showed a responsible determination to go forward
together for a better America. With our superior teamwork and morale, we could
on many occasions have simply roadblocked any action on Administration proposals.
Instead, we worked to improve them through the give-and-take of the legislative
process, and often we did. There is not time to go down the list, but an out-
standing example was the Omnibus Crime Bill whose major Republican features
embodied the sound principle of block grants to cut the States in on the allo-
cation of Federal funds. This had the backing of most Governors of both parties.
Perhaps, ironically, we were penalized for our responsibility. The 91st
Congress will be very much like the last one -- evidently people thought it
was a pretty good Congress in terms of legislative performance. Still, we lost
many a close rollcall in the 90th Congress by the margin of our November gains.
As Republican leaders pledged to support the new Nixon Administration in
effecting responsible change in Washington, Senator Dirksen and I will be in a
far more favorable position next year than as the dubious minority chaperones
(more)
-4-
of the final freespending Johnson-Humphrey fling.
As his friend and former colleague in the House, I can say simply and
sincerely that I believe Richard Nixon will be a great President of the United
States, a great leader of a great people. It will take all the knowhow he
acquired during 14 years on Capitol Hill to deal with a Democratic-controlled
Congress, but I am confident he will lead us forward together.
Progress and goodwill is what the American people want and will demand,
and narrow partisanship will be self-defeating. Certainly you Governors, who
now speak for two out of every three citizens, are strategically situated to
strengthen and support the new Republican President in the domestic programs of
redirection and reform over which we have labored so long together. We may
never get another chance, if we fail now.
But if we serve the people well, we may again become the majority party
that Abraham Lincoln -- a minority President elected in a time of violence and
fear and doubt -- left as the legacy of his leadership.
You know, I remember stopping once at a farmhouse in central Illinois
which displayed an "Antiques" sign along the road. While my wife was poking
around the old glass and furniture, I spotted a huge axe and picked it up and
felt the edge and hefted it.
The old man who kept the place looked me over and said:
"Wouldn't want to sell that. Used to belong to Abe Lincoln."
"Well, it's still in mighty good shape for such an old axe," I said.
"Ought to be," the farmer said. "It's had three new heads and plenty
of new handles."
Well, that's how it is with our Republican Party.
It's still the party of Abe Lincoln, but it's had a lot of different
heads and a lot of different handles. And now it's got another new head --
plenty of new handles -- and it still is in mighty good shape.
Thank you for inviting me; now let's go forward together.
# # #
M Office Copy
REMARKS OF REP. GERALD R. FORD OF MICHIGAN
REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TO THE REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION
PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1968
Friday P.M. Release
December 6, 1968
Distinguished Governors and Governors-Elect, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It's been a long year and a hard road to Palm Springs from Palm Beach,
where last I was privileged to meet with you. But it has been a year of solid
success for our party and bright promise for our country.
Nowhere has the vigor of resurgent Republicanism been more evident than
in the rapid expansion of the Republican Governors Association. I congratulate
each of you and especially thank Governor John Chafee for his fine leadership
and Governor Reagan for the hospitality that has always been the richest
resource of this Golden State.
A year ago Gov. Nunn brought Abraham Lincoln's native State back into
the fold. I remember suggesting we ought to add Illinois and, sure enough,
Gov.- Elect Ogilvie did it, in spite of Mayor Daley's new electronic voting
machines.
They're really very simple. Just two handles you can pull.
One says "Straight Democratic Ticket."
The other says "Caution! 50,000 Volts."
We have a lot to be thankful for as Republicans, and a lot to do as
Americans. A great Native Son of California is the President-Elect. One of
your own distinguished number is the Vice-President-Elect. Next year there will
be 31 Republican Governors in States representing two-thirds of the nation's
people, and in eight of the 10 most populous States.
I am here to report on the Congress, and I would dig a Creditility Gap
deeper than Death Valley if I pretended not to be disappointed that President
Nixon will not start off with a Republican House of Representatives. I am
disappointed, but not dismayed. Taking my cue from Dick Nixon's own career,
I started my campaign for a Republican Congress in 1970 just one month ago today.
In the Senate the new lineup will be 42 to 58, eight votes shy of
control; in the House it will be 192 to 243, 26 votes short of a majority.
(more)
-2-
But the important thing is that we are still gaining strength on every front;
from less than one-third of both bodies a little over two years ago there has
been a net increase of 52 Republican seats in the House and 10 in the Senate.
The same Republican trend is underway in State legislatures and other State,
county and city elective offices where party strength is built.
We are not here for postmortems, but permit me a few footnotes on this
somewhat curious national election. It's almost unprecedented, but 58 of the
59 new Republican Congressmen elected in 1966 survived in 1968. One was a
victim of redistricting. This not only testifies to the caliber of our recent
reinforcements but to the team spirit that prevails in our House leadership;
we put them to work and they went to work with a will.
The 20 new Republicans elected in 1968 are of the same quality, in my
early estimation. They come from 14 States and every part of the country;
our gains, though offset by losses, were neither isolated nor sectional.
The third-party threat in the South did not, as forecast, disrupt the
steady advance of a true two-party system there; we actually gained in Virginia,
Maryland, Texas and North Carolina.
Finally, you may recall my warning a year ago in Florida that the next
President might very well be chosen by the House, with each State having a
single vote. The Democrats then controlled 29 delegations to our 18, with three
evenly divided.
We concentrated on these close delegations, and so did the Democrats.
We gained one delegation -- New Mexico's -- and tied up two more, cutting the
Democrats down to 26, a minimal majority. But five of those were Wallace States.
Probably if the election had gone to the new House it would have been as dead-
locked as the Electoral College.
It didn't happen. But we could be in the midst of a deadly dangerous
Constitutional crisis right now if it had -- and it came very close.
Let's fix the roof before the next cloudburst. I intend to press for
prompt action in the next Congress on an electoral reform amendment and hope
you governors will get behind its rapid ratification.
So much for might-have-beens. We are here neither to congratulate nor
to commiserate ourselves but in the spirit of President-elect Nixon's Inaugural
theme -- "Forward Together."
I like that idea. That is the way we have been marching these past
(more)
-3-
few years and look how far we have come. Remember the endless arguments after
our close 1948 and 1960 Presidential defeats about what factor made the big
difference? Nobody agrees yet, but as for 1968, the answer is obvious.
The Republican Party this year presented to the voters an image of
relative unity and harmony; the Democrats gave a disconcerting demonstration of
division, discord and disarray. From the first primary through the Miami Beach
convention and his closing campaign, Dick Nixon hammered home the idea that only
a party that could unite itself could unite the country. Now, we have to make
good on that promise.
We must, indeed, go forward together -- not merely as Republicans, for
we already have shown we can do that without forfeiting the healthy internal
competition and clash of viewpoints that keeps a party alive and alert to the
people's real needs.
We must go forward together as Americans, drawing ever wider the circle
of our partisanship to encompass a majority of citizens who will not only vote
for us but join with us, to bring fresh and realistic solutions to our vexing
problems, and to translate into public law and popular will those basic human
needs of personal security, even-handed justice and equal opportunity to get
ahead in a climate of freedom and mutual respect.
In the 90th Congress, I believe the Republican leadership and the
Republican Members of the House showed a responsible determination to go forward
together for a better America. With our superior teamwork and morale, we could
on many occasions have simply roadblocked any action on Administration proposals.
Instead, we worked to improve them through the give-and-take of the legislative
process, and often we did. There is not time to go down the list, but an out-
standing example was the Omnibus Crime Bill whose major Republican features
embodied the sound principle of block grants to cut the States in on the allo-
cation of Federal funds. This had the backing of most Governors of both parties.
Perhaps, ironically, we were penalized for our responsibility. The 91st
Congress will be very much like the last one -- evidently people thought it
was a pretty good Congress in terms of legislative performance. Still, we lost
many a close rollcall in the 90th Congress by the margin of our November gains.
As Republican leaders pledged to support the new Nixon Administration in
effecting responsible change in Washington, Senator Dirksen and I will be in a
far more favorable position next year than as the dubious minority chaperones
(more)
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of the final freespending Johnson-Humphrey fling.
As his friend and former colleague in the House, I can say simply and
sincerely that I believe Richard Nixon will be a great President of the United
States, a great leader of a great people. It will take all the knowhow he
acquired during 14 years on Capitol Hill to deal with a Democratic-controlled
Congress, but I am confident he will lead us forward together.
Progress and goodwill is what the American people want and will demand,
and narrow partisanship will be self-defeating. Certainly you Governors, who
now speak for two out of every three citizens, are strategically situated to
strengthen and support the new Republican President in the domestic programs of
redirection and reform over which we have labored so long together. We may
never get another chance, if we fail now.
But if we serve the people well, we may again become the majority party
that Abraham Lincoln -- a minority President elected in a time of violence and
fear and doubt -- left as the legacy of his leadership.
You know, I remember stopping once at a farmhouse in central Illinois
which displayed an "Antiques" sign along the road. While my wife was poking
around the old glass and furniture, I spotted a huge axe and picked it up and
felt the edge and hefted it.
The old man who kept the place looked me over and said:
"Wouldn't want to sell that. Used to belong to Abe Lincoln."
"Well, it's still in mighty good shape for such an old axe," I said.
"Ought to be," the farmer said. "It's had three new heads and plenty
of new handles."
Well, that's how it is with our Republican Party.
It's still the party of Abe Lincoln, but it's had a lot of different
heads and a lot of different handles. And now it's got another new head --
plenty of new handles -- and it still is in mighty good shape.
Thank you for inviting me; now let's go forward together.
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