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Lincoln Day Speech, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, February 10, 1969
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Lincoln Day Speech, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, February 10, 1969
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The original documents are located in Box D26, folder "Lincoln Day Speech, Illinois
Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, February 10, 1969" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 10, 1969 AT ILLINOIS
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS
GOOD EVENING. I MUST TELL X YOU WHAT
A
THRILL IT IS FOR A GOOD REPUBLICAN TO BE
VISITING YOU HERE IN THE LAND OF LINCOLN. I AM
DELIGHTED TO BE HERE AT ILLINOIS WESLEYAN, A
FINE SCHOOL OF WHICH MY GOOD FRIEND CONGRESSMAN
ARENDS IS A TRUSTEE.
YOU KNOW, I JUST RECENTLY LEARNED
SOMETHING NEW ABOUT THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. THE
NAME OF YOUR STATE COMES, I UNDERSTAND, FROM THE
INDIAN AND THE FRENCH, AND IT My MEANS STATE alora Mate THE DWELLING
+
PLACE OF THE TRIBE OF SUPERIOR MEN
Beemp
+
Pt
Ellert
NOW, HAVING HAD LES ARENDS SERVE WITH
ME AS HOUSE REPUBLICAN WHIP FOR FOUR YEARS I CAN
WELL BELIEVE THAT ILLINOIS IS PEOPLED WITH
SUPERIOR MEN. HE HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS HELP TO
ME IN MY POST AS HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER AND IT
IS WITH DEEP SINCERITY AND APPRECIATION THAT I
CALL HIM MY STRONG RIGHT ARM.
Digitized from Box D26 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
- 2 -
OF COURSE ILLINOIS HAS OTHER
SUPERIOR MEN, TOO. TONIGHT WE WILL BE DEALING
WITH POLITICAL HEROES. YOU HAVE YOUR OUTSTAND-
ING NEW GOVERNOR, DICK OGILVIE; YOU HAVE THE
SUPERIOR MAN WHO MADE A HIT WITH HIS RECORDING
OF THE "GALLENT MEN," SEN. EVERETT M. DIRKSEN;
YOU HAVE THE RISING YOUNG POLITICAL STAR, THE
JUNIOR SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS, CHUCK PERCY; AND
YOU HAVE YOUR FINE GROUP OF AN EVEN DOZEN
REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMEN, INCLUDING THAT SUPERIOR
GENTLEMEN FROM THE 17TH DISTRICT, LES ARENDS.
ILLINOIS CLAIMS LINCOLN AS THE GREAT-
EST OF ITS SONS. THIS IS NATURAL, SINCE
LINCOLN LIVED IN SPRINGFIELD FOR 17 YEARS AND
RODE THE CIRCUIT--THE EIGHTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT--
ALL THROUGH THIS AREA AS A PRACTICING ATTORNEY.
SO ABE LINCOLN IS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH
BLOOMINGTON, TOO.
ABE LINCOLN WAS ONE OF MY BOYHOOD
HEROES, PERHAPS THE GREATEST. NOT JUST BECAUSE
-3-
HE AND HIS COUSIN WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE SPLIT
3,000 RAILS IN MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS, BUT
BECAUSE ABE MADE IT THE HARD WAY TO THE BIGGEST
JOB IN THE WORLD, THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED
STATES. I ADMIRED HIM FOR MANY QUALITIES--HIS
HUMILITY HUMILITY,/HI ,/ HIS DEVOTION TO HARD WORK HIS DRY
SENSE OF HUMOR./HIS GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT HIS
LOVE OF GOD AND COMMON MEN.
WRITING OF LINCOLN'S DEATH ON APRIL
15, 1865, THE GREAT POET WALT WHITMAN SAID OF
HIM: "HE LEAVES FOR AMERICA'S HISTORY AND
BIOGRAPHY, SO FAR, NOT ONLY ITS MOST DRAMATIC
REMINISCENCE--HE LEAVES, IN MY OPINION, THE
GREATEST, BEST, MOST CHARACTERISTIC, ARTISTIC,
MORAL PERSONALITY."
LINCOLN WAS THAT. HE WAS A MORAL
MAN, A MAN WITH THE KIND OF CHARACTER/AND
INTEGRITY AND/COMPASSION THAT MADE HIM A
UNIQUE MAN--A GREAT LEADER WHO SEEMED CREATED
FOR HIS TIMES.
-4-
AND WE HAVE NOW TODAY IN OUR
NEW PRESIDENT A MAN WHO SEEMS CREATED FOR HIS
TIMES, A MAN WHO IS DESTINED TO LEAD THE UNITED
STATES THROUGH SOME OF THE MOST CRITICAL MOMENTS
IN OUR HISTORY.
read
as
we
THERE ARE STRIKING SIMILARITIES
BETWEEN THE PERIOD WHEN ABRAHAM LINCOLN SERVED
AS 16TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THIS
ERA WHEN RICHARD M. NIXON SERVES AS OUR 37TH
CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
IN 1860, AS NOW, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
WERE SORELY DIVIDED AND BITTERNESS TORE AT THE
HEART OF THE COUNTRY.
IN THE RACE FOR THE PRESIDENCY IN
1860 THERE WERE FOUR CANDIDATES, SO THAT THE
VOTE WAS EVEN MORE SPLINTERED THAN IN THE THREE-
MAN 1968 RACE.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN RECEIVED SLIGHTLY
LESS THAN 40 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL POPULAR VOTE
BUT WON A MAJORITY OF THE ELECTORAL VOTES.
-5-
RICHARD NIXON RECEIVED 44 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL
POPULAR VOTE AND WON A MAJORITY OF THE ELECTORAL
VOTE. SO HE DID BETTER THAN LINCOLN, PERCENTAGE-
WISE.
to day
THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY PRESIDENT
because Nebon m ant imphatically
NIXON DOES NOT HAVE A MANDATE, I SAY MR. NIXON
DOES HAVE A MANDATE--A MANDATE FOR CHANGE, A
MANDATE FOR THE NEARLY SIX OUT OF 10 AMERICANS
WHO VOTED FOR A CHANGE IN ADMINISTRATIONS IN
WASHINGTON. Only out 7 10 americans worte/whater had had for the
IT IS TRUE/PRESIDENT NIXON FACES
past 4 years.
MONUMENTAL TASKS IN RALLYING SUPPORT FOR HIS
PROGRAM FROM A COUNTRY WHICH GAVE HIM,
PERSONALLY, LESS THAN A MAJORITY OF ITS VOTES
AND A CONGRESS CONTROLLED BY THE OPPOSITION
PARTY.
BUT MR. NIXON IS A MAN ACCUSTOMED
TO MONUMENTAL TASKS, AS HE HAS PROVED IN THE
PAST. AND I BELIEVE HE IS ALREADY PROVING HIS
METTLE IN THE GREATEST JOB HE HAS EVER HAD probably
as tough a job as any President has ever had.
-6-
YOU KNOW, FIVE CLERGYMEN TOOK PART
IN THE NIXON INAUGURAL CEREMONY. THIS PROMPTED
SOME PEOPLE TO REMARK THAT MR. NIXON IS THE
MOST PRAYED-OVER PRESIDENT THIS COUNTRY HAS
EVER HAD. I PERSONALLY THINK/THAT'S GOOD. //
THIS REMINDS ME OF A LINCOLN STORY.
DURING THE CIVIL WAR, LINCOLN LEARNED THAT THE
AUTHORITIES AT melitary A, HOSPITAL HAD FORBIDDEN ANYONE
TO RECITE PRAYERS FOR THE PATIENTS OR EVEN TO
Sounds a lit the the present day u.s. Supreme Crust.
READ THE BIBLE TO THEM. LINCOLN REMOVED THE BAN
AND SAID: "IF THERE WERE MORE PRAYING AND LESS
SWEARING, IT WOULD BE FAR BETTER FOR OUR
COUNTRY." AT THE RISK OF SOUNDING SANCTI-
MONIOUS, Wathout I anlogy SAY, when "AMEN." 2 see americas problems at home & abroad
BELIEVE THIS COUNTRY HAS MUCH NEED
OF PRAYER.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN HAS BEEN DESCRIBED
BY HISTORIANS AS A SOMETIMES UNCOUTH MAN AND A
TELLER OF OFF-COLOR STORIES. HE IS ALSO KNOWN
TO HAVE BEEN A MAN OF DEEP RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS
AND A STUDENT OF THE BIBLE,/THE BOOK OF TRUTH.
-7-
HE WAS A SIMPLE MAN, A MAN OF PEACE.
I SAID EARLIER THAT I BELIEVE
PRESIDENT NIXON, LIKE ABRAHAM LINCOLN, IS A
MAN UNIQUELY SUITED TO SERVE OUR NATION IN
THIS TIME OF CRISIS.
EVERY ACTION TAKEN BY MR. NIXON
SINCE HE TOOK THE OATH OF OFFICE AS PRESIDENT
BEARS OUT THE CONFIDENCE, THE FEELING OF
TRUST I HAVE IN THE MAN WHO NOW LEADS THIS
NATION.
HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS WAS UNUSUAL,
PERHAPS THE MOST UNUSUAL EVER DELIVERED IN
THIS COUNTRY.
IT WAS UNUSUAL BECAUSE IT WAS A
QUIET SPEECH QUIETLY DELIVERED. THERE WERE
NO GLORIOUS PROMISES CLOTHED IN GLOWING
RHETORIC. THERE WAS NO BOMBAST. THERE WERE
NO STRIDENT PARTISAN PHRASES.
IT WAS A MESSAGE OF PEACE. IT
CONTAINED WORDS OF GREAT PORTENT FOR PEACE
-8-
BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD.
IT WAS A MESSAGE OF THE SPIRIT,
FOR IT EXTOLLED THOSE QUALITIES AMERICA
HUNGERS FOR TODAY -- "GOODNESS,/DECENCY,/
LOVE/AND KINDNESS "// MR. NIXON APPEALED, AS
DID ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN HIS FIRST INAUGURAL
ADDRESS, TO "THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE."
I BELIEVE PRESIDENT NIXON WILL BE
NUMBERED AMONG THE PEACEMAKERS. I BELIEVE
HE WILL FIND AN HONORABLE COMPROMISE TO END
THE KILLING IN VIETNAM/AND AN ACCEPTABLE
FORMULA FOR AN ARAB-ISRAELI SETTLEMENT WHICH
WILL AVERT A CONFRONTATION BETWEEN THE NUCLEAR
POWERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
The
I BELIEVE, Too, THAT HE WILL
SUCCEED HERE AT HOME IN ESTABLISHING "THE
DECENT ORDER THAT MAKES PROGRESS POSSIBLE AND
OUR LIVES SECURE."
THERE ARE SOME WHO SAY THE NEW
PRESIDENT IS ACTING TOO SLOWLY IN "SETTLING
-9-
IN" HIS ADMINISTRATION AND SETTING NEW
POLICY. I SAY/THAT THIS KIND much OF DELIBERATENESS
IS ALL TO THE GOOD. WE HAVE HAD TOO MUCH OF
1
THE HASTE THAT MAKES WASTE IN RECENT YEARS.
WHEN SWIFT DECISIONS ARE NEEDED,
THEY WILL BE MADE. BUT, OVERALL, THE NIXON
ADMINISTRATION WILL BE MARKED BY CALM
DELIBERATION AND STABILITY. /and propers. IT WILL BE A
"COOL" ADMINISTRATION, A COMMON SENSE
ADMINISTRATION. Don't that what america so badly nuds ?
COMMON SENSE CAN BRING US GREAT
ACHIEVEMENTS. IT MAY EVEN CONFOUND OUR
ENEMIES. FOR AS RALPH WALDO EMERSON ONCE
WROTE: "NOTHING ASTONISHES MEN SO MUCH AS
COMMON SENSE AND PLAIN DEALING."
AS A NATION AND A PEOPLE WE ARE
FACED WITH GREAT PROBLEMS AT THIS POINT IN
HISTORY.
WHAT WAS THE LEGACY LEFT TO MR.
NIXON BY THE OUTGOING ADMINISTRATION? WHAT
-10-
PROBLEMS DID THE REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION
INHERIT?
/
THE LONGEST FOREIGN WAR IN AMERICAN
HISTORY, WITH CASUALTIES NOW TOTALLING MORE
THAN 31,000 G.I.'S KILLED IN COMBAT AND
NEARLY 200,000 WOUNDED.
2
A CAULDRON OF CONFLICT IN THE
MIDDLE EAST THAT THREATENS TO BUBBLE OVER
INTO A CONFRONTATION BETWEEN THE TWO MAJOR
NUCLEAR POWERS, THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA.
5
A THREE-YEAR-LONG INFLATIONARY
SPIRAL WHICH IN 1968 PRODUCED THE SHARPEST
INCREASE IN THE COST OF LIVING IN 17
4
RECORD-HIGH INTEREST RATES,
YEARS469 844
1961
PUSHED UP BY EXCESSIVE FEDERAL SPENDING
5
A MOUNTING TIDE OF CRIMINALITY,
sl
RISING BY NEARLY 90 PER CENT IN THE PAST
EIGHT YEARS.
6
RIOTS, CAMPUS REBELLIONS AND A
NEAR-BREAKDOWN IN LAW AND ORDER ACROSS THE
-11-
COUNTRY.
7
POCKETS OF POVERTY IN THE MIDST
OF PLENTY, DEALT WITH UNDER A PROGRAM WHICH
GAVE RISE TO THIEVERY,/EMBEZZLE%ENT/AN AND
CORRUPTION.
8
A COST-PRICE SQUEEZE ON THE FARM
THAT SHUTS FARMERS OUT OF THEIR FAIR SHARE
OF OUR ECONOMIC WEALTH.
THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION HAS
MOVED CAREFULLY AND FIRMLY TO TAKE ON ALL
OF THESE HORRENDOUS PROBLEMS. PRESIDENT
NIXON VIEWS THEM AS A CHALLENGE FROM WHICH
WE CANNOT / AND MUST NOT SHRINK. INDEED, HE
HAS OPENED FOR US THE VISTAS OF OPPORTUNITY --
THE OPPORTUNITY TO RE-ORDER OUR PRIORITIES
AND TO GET ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF BUILDING A
NEW AND GREATER AMERICA.
Inthe short span 13 weeks
WE ARE GETTING A RE-ORDERING OF
OUR PRIORITIES.
WHAT IS OUR CHIEF DOMESTIC CONCERN?
-12-
THERE IS NONE GREATER/THAN THAT OF THE PUBLIC
SAFETY -- THE CONCERN OVER VIOLENCE IN THE
STREETS AND THE STILL-ROCKETING RISE IN
CRIME. PRESIDENT NIXON IS ACTING TO ANSWER
Social causes
THAT CONCERN.
Order plus with justice under low.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN PREACHED
"REVERENCE FOR THE LAW" AND URGED THAT IT
BECOME "THE POLITICAL RELIGION OF THE NATION,"
FOR HE KNEW, AS WE DO,/THAT WITHOUT ORDER
THERE CAN BE NO PROGRESS.
WITHOUT ORDER/THERE CAN ONLY BE
ANARCHY, CHAOS AND CONFUSION.
WE MUST ATTACK CRIME WITH ALL THE
MANPOWER AND THE WEAPONS AND THE FIRMNESS
REQUIRED TO CURB IT -- AND WE WILL DO SO.
Bail more prosecutors + judges.
WE MUST LAY A FOUNDATION FOR ORDER
BY IMPROVING THE QUALITY AND DIRECTION OF
LIFE IN AMERICA AND THE RESPONSIVENESS OF ITS
INSTITUTIONS -- AND WE WILL DO THAT ALSO.
THE PRESIDENCY /IS A POWERFUL
-13-
OFFICE. ITS OCCUPANT GENERATES AN ATMOSPHERE
WHICH MYSTERIOUSLY/BUT UNMISTAKABLY AFFECTS
THE LIVES OF MOST AMERICANS. THE PRESIDENT
SETS A TONE FOR THE COUNTRY.
HAVING ASSUMED THE OFFICE OF
PRESIDENT WHEN THE PAGES OF AMERICAN HISTORY
WERE FLOODED WITH A SWELLING TIDE OF CRIME
AND VIOLENCE, RICHARD NIXON HAS RESOLVED
TO COOL THE VIOLENT PASSIONS THAT HAVE
ENGULFED THIS COUNTRY AND TO ROLL BACK THE
RISING WAVE OF CRIME. HE HAS MADE AN
EXCELLENT START.
THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION IS
BUILDING A PROGRAM, /A REPUBLICAN PROGRAM IN
THE IMAGE OF THE FIRST AND GREATEST REPUBLICAN
PRESIDENT, THAT GREAT SON OF ILLINOIS,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WE ARE BUILDING A REPUBLICAN
PROGRAM IN THE IMAGE OF HIM WHO SAID:
"THE LEGITIMATE OBJECT OF
-14-
GOVERNMENT IS TO DO FOR A COMMUNITY OF
PEOPLE WHATEVER THEY NEED TO HAVE DONE, BUT
CANNOT DO AT ALL, OR CANNOT SO WELL DO, FOR
THEMSELVES, IN THEIR SEPARATE AND INDIVIDUAL
CAPACITIES."
WE ARE BUILDING A PROGRAM IN THE
IMAGE OF HIM WHO SAID: "THERE IS NO
GRIEVANCE THAT IS A FIT OBJECT OF REDRESS BY
MOB LAW."
I BELIEVE THAT REPUBLICAN PROGRAM
WILL BRING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TOGETHER IN
PURSUIT OF GREAT NATIONAL GOALS, GOALS THAT
WILL BE ACHIEVED BY THE QUIET COOPERATION OF
GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS, AND THE VOLUNTARY
EFFORT OF PRIVATE CITIZENS -- AND NOT BY
not by
SHOUTING OR ROCK-THROWING.
OUR REPUBLICAN PROGRAM WILL
PRODUCE UNITY AT HOME / CURB THE INFLATION THAT
MOCKS OUR SEEMING PROSPERITY GIVE THE
FARMER 100 PER CENT OF OPPORTUNITY AND HIS
-15-
FAIR SHARE OF OUR ECONOMIC WEALTH REDUCE
CRIME AND RESTORE RESPECT FOR LAW AND ORDER of
RESOLVE THE URBAN CRISIS AND EASE RACIAL
TENSIONS,/REFORM THE ENTIRE WELFARE CONCEPT /
AND END THE PARADOX OF MALNUTRITION IN THE
MIDST OF PLENTY.
THE BEST ANSWER TO UNREST/IS TO
RECOGNIZE LEGITIMATE PROBLEMS,/ANTICIPATE
LEGITIMATE DEMANDS, /AND MOVE AHEAD WITH
APPROPRIATE SOLUTIONS BEFORE TROUBLE BEGINS.
WHAT ALL OF US MUST DO IS TO JOIN
IN A GREAT CRUSADE TO TURN THIS COUNTRY
AROUND, TURN IT AWAY FROM THE SOAP BOX
PHILOSOPHY OF GOVERNMENT-SOLVE-ALL AND TURN
IT TOWARD THE NEW DIRECTION OF INDIVIDUAL
RESPONSIBILITY AND PERSONAL DEDICATION TO
SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF OTHERS.
THIS IS THE PATH ON WHICH
PRESIDENT NIXON WILL LEAD US. THIS IS THE
COURSE HE WILL SET.
-16-
PRESIDENT NIXON, OF COURSE, IS
A POLITICAL LEADER AS WELL AS PRESIDENT OF
ALL THE PEOPLE. HE IS A GREAT REPUBLICAN, AS
WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
IN 1862, TWO YEARS AFTER LINCOLN
WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
SUFFERED A SETBACK. THE DEMOCRATS TOOK THE
GOVERNORSHIP OF NEW YORK AND ADDED SOME
CONGRESSIONAL SEATS.
WHEN ASKED HOW HE FELT ABOUT THE
RESULTS OF THE NEW YORK ELECTION, ABRAHAM
LINCOLN SAID: "SOMEWHAT LIKE THE BOY IN
KENTUCKY WHO STUBBED HIS TOE WHILE RUNNING
TO SEE HIS SWEETHEART. THE BOY SAID HE WAS
TOO BIG TO CRY AND FAR TOO BADLY HURT TO
LAUGH."
SO LINCOLN WAS KEENLY AWARE OF
WHAT WAS HAPPENING POLITICALLY IN HIS DAY AND
HE CARED WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REPUBLICAN
just as our Present dons.
PARTY
HZ WAS A GREAT STUMP SPEAKER -- MADE
Lendon
-17-
50 SPEECHES FOR THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDATE, JOHN C. FREMONT, IN 1856 AFTER
MISSING OUT HIMSELF ON THE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL
NOMINATION.
DOT
REMEMBER HOW DICK NIXON CAMPAIGNED
FROM ONE END OF THE COUNTRY TO THE OTHER
ON BEHALF OF CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES IN
1966? THAT WAS WHEN WE MADE A NET GAIN OF 47
SEATS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. WE'VE
MADE AN OVERALL GAIN OF 52 SINCE THE DARK DAYS
OF 1964. BUT WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO.
THE MAGIC NUMBER NOW IS 26.
ASSUMING REPUBLICAN SUCCESS IN SPECIAL
ELECTIONS IN WISCONSIN AND CALIFORNIA, WE
STILL HAVE 26 SEATS TO GO TO WIN CONTROL OF
THE HOUSE.
SENATE
I AM NOT DISCOURAGED, AND I'M SURE
LES ARENDS ISN'T EITHER. We can break the precedents the
past & moke gains in the year alections - How?
I FEEL CERTAIN THAT IN 1970 WE WILL
RECEIVE TREMENDOUS HELP FROM PRESIDENT NIXON.
-18-
NOW THAT WE HOLD THE WHITE HOUSE,
a injury of 218
THE TOP OF THE HILL IN THE FIGHT TO WIN THE
PEOPLE'S HOUSE DOESN'T SEEM QUITE SO HIGH.
IF THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION IS
SUCCESSFUL -- AND I BELIEVE IT WILL BE
SUCCESSFUL -- I THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
WILL WANT TO GIVE MR. NIXON A REPUBLICAN
CONGRESS TO WORK WITH HIM IN CARRYING OUT
This means a cooprative Leadership in the Engreen +
HIS PROGRAM. WE MAY NOT MAKE IT ALL THE WAY
Committee Charomen who will help not hunt
IN 1970 BUT WE'LL WE HIT THAT GOAL LINE YET.
you should be PROVD
HERE IN ILLINOIS, YOU HAVE ELECTED
A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR. YOU HAVE TWO
REPUBLICAN SENATORS. YOU HAVE A GREAT
REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION, A
DELEGATION WHICH SHOULD BE ENLARGED.
LET'S MOVE AHEAD. LET'S BEGIN
ZEROING IN ON 1970 RIGHT NOW. IT'S NOT TOO
EARLY TO LAY PLANS FOR EXPANDING THE ILLINOIS
REPUBLICAN DELEGATION AND BREAKING THE
DELEGATION'S 50-50 DEADLOCK WITH THE DEMOCRATS.
-19-
IF WE CAN'T WIN A MAJORTTY OF THE HOUSE SEATS
TWO YEARS HENCE, LET2S AT LEAST WIN A MAJORITY
IN THE ILLINOIS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATTON.
MEANTIME I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT
EVEN AS A MINORITY, REPUBLICANS IN THE HOUSE
ARE HAVING A MARKED I MPACT ON FEDERAL
LEGISLATION. WE PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN
SHAPING LANDMARK LEGISLATION ENACTED BY THE
90TH CONGRESS.
WE PRESSED CONSTANTLY FOR FISCAL
RESPONSIBILITY, / FOR A HOLD-DOWN IN FEDERAL
SPENDING, AND NOW WE HEAR THAT A SURPLUS IS
ANTICIPATED FOR FISCAL 1969. I FEEL THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY IS PRINCIPALLY RESPONSIBLE
FOR TURNING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AROUND
FROM A $25.4 BILLION DEFICIT IN FISCAL 1968
TO A SURPLUS SITUATION IN 1969. anti -Crime bill
AND SO WE HAVE THIS AND OTHER
GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO CITE AS WE MOVE
TOWARD MAJORITY STATUS IN THE COUNTRY.
-20-
AND WE ARE MOVING TOWARD MAJORITY
STATUS -- BECAUSE WE ARE OFFERING NEW
SOLUTIONS TO OLD PROBLEMS /ORDER IN PLACE OF
TURMOIL,/PEACE IN PLACE OF WAR.
WE HAVE TURNED ON THE LIGHTS AT
THE WHITE HOUSE, AND WE WILL TURN ON THE
LIGHTS IN THE NATION. WE WILL STRIVE
MIGHTILY FOR UNITY. WE WISH PEACE FOR EVERY
CITY IN THIS GREAT COUNTRY.
WHEN I TALK OF POLITICS, I SPEAK
OF IT AS DEMOCRACY'S LIFE BLOOD AND/NOT AS
THE SEED OF DISUNITY. I SPEAK OF IT AS THE
HEALTHY COMPETITION WHICH SERVES TO DEFINE
THE ISSUES AND STIR UP INTEREST IN THE
PROCESSES OF GOVERNMENT.
LET US AS REPUBLICANS BE FAIR, BUT
ALWAYS FIRM IN WHAT WE CONSIDER TO BE THE
RIGHT. AND LET US BE EVER MINDFUL OF THE
BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE.
AS ABRAHAM LINCOLN SO APTLY PUT
-21-
IT IN A SPEECH TO CONGRESS: "WE HOLD THE TRUE
REPUBLICAN POSITION. IN LEAVING THE PEOPLE'S
BUSINESS IN THEIR HANDS, WE CANNOT BE WRONG."
THANK YOU.
-- END --
Distribution 20 Capies Mr. Ford
M Office Copy
A LINCOLN DAY SPEECH
BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 10, 1969
ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
Good evening. I must tell you what a thrill it is for a good Republican
to be visiting you here in the Land of Lincoln. I am delighted to be here at
Illinois Wesleyan, a fine school of which my good friend Congressman Arends is
a trustee.
You know, I just recently learned something new about the state of
Illinois. The name of your state comes, I understand, from the Indian and the
French, and it means the dwelling place of the tribe of superior men.
Now, having had Les Arends serve with me as House Republican Whip for
four years I can well believe that Illinois is peopled with superior men. He
has been a tremendous help to me in my post as House Republican leader and it
is with deep sincerity and appreciation that I call him my strong right arm.
Of course Illinois has other superior men, too. Tonight we will be
dealing only with political heroes. You have your outstanding new governor,
Dick Ogilvie; you have the superior man who made a hit with his recording of
the "Gallent Men," Sen. Everett M. Dirksen; you have the rising young political
star, the junior senator from Illinois, Chuck Percy; and you have your fine group
of an even dozen Republican congressmen, including that superior gentleman from
the 17th District, Les Arends.
Illinois claims Lincoln as the greatest of its sons. This is natural,
since Lincoln lived in Springfield for 17 years and rode the circuit -- the
Eighth Judicial Circuit all through this area as a practicing attorney. So
Abe Lincoln is closely associated with Bloomington, too.
Abe Lincoln was one of my boyhood heroes, perhaps the greatest. Not
just because he and his cousin were supposed to have split 3,000 rails in Macon
County, Illinois, but because Abe made it the hard way to the biggest job in the
world, the Presidency of the United States. I admired him for many qualities --
his humility, his devotion to hard work, his dry sense of humor, his generosity
of spirit, his love of God and common men.
(more)
-2-
Writing of Lincoln's death on April 15, 1865, the great poet Walt Whitman
said of him: "He leaves for America's history and biography, so far, not only
its most dramatic reminiscence -- he leaves, in my opinion, the greatest, best,
most characteristic, artistic, moral personality."
Lincoln was that. He was a moral man, a man with the kind of character
and integrity and compassion that made him a unique man -- a great leader who
seemed created for his times.
And we have now
today
in our new President a man who seems created
for his times, a man who is destined to lead the United States through some of
the most critical moments in our history.
There are striking similariites between the period when Abraham Lincoln
served as 16th President of the United States and this era when Richard M. Nixon
serves as our 37th Chief Executive.
In 1860, as now, the American people were sorely divided and bitterness
tore at the heart of the country.
In the race for the Presidency in 1860 there were four candidates, so that
the vote was even more splintered than in the three-man 1968 race.
Abraham Lincoln received slightly less than 40 per cent of the total
popular vote but won a majority of the electoral votes. Richard Nixon received
44 per cent of the total popular vote and won a majority of the electoral vote.
So he did better than Lincoln, percentagewise.
There are those who say President Nixon does not have a mandate. I say
Mr. Nixon does have a mandate -- a mandate for change, a mandate for the nearly
six out of 10 Americans who voted for a change in administrations in Washington.
It is true President Nixon faces monumental tasks in rallying support for
his program from a country which gave him, personally, less than a majority of
its votes and a Congress controlled by the opposition party.
But Mr. Nixon is a man accustomed to monumental tasks, as he has proved
in the past. And I believe he is already proving his mettle in the greatest job
he has ever had.
You know, five clergymen took part in the Nixon inaugural ceremony. This
prompted some people to remark that Mr. Nixon is the most prayed-over President
this country has ever had. I personally think that's good.
This reminds me of a Lincoln story. During the Civil War, Lincoln learned
that the authorities at a hospital had forbidden anyone to recite prayers for
the patients or even to read the Bible to them. Lincoln removed the ban and
(more)
-3-
said: "If there was more praying and less swearing, it would be far better
for our country." At the risk of sounding sanctimonious, I say, "Amen."
I believe this country has much need of prayer.
Abraham Lincoln has been described by historians as a sometimes uncouth
man and a teller of off-color stories. He is also known to have been a man of
deep religious convictions and a student of the Bible, the Book of Truth. He
was a simple man, a man of peace.
I said earlier that I believe President Nixon, like Abraham Lincoln, is
a man uniquely suited toserve our Nation in this time of crisis.
Every action taken by Mr. Nixon since he took the oath of office as
President bears out the confidence, the feeling of trust I have in the man who
now leads this Nation.
His Inaugural Address was unusual, perhaps the most unusual ever delivered
in this country.
It was unusual because it was a quiet speech quietly delivered. There
were no glorious promises clothed in glowing rhetoric. There was no bombast.
There were no strident partisan phrases.
It was a message of peace. It contained words of great portent for peace
both at home and abroad.
It was a message of the spirit, for it extolled those qualities America
hungers for today -- "goodness, decency, love and kindness." Mr. Nixon appealed,
as did Abraham Lincoln in his first inaugural address, to "the better angels of
our nature."
I believe President Nixon will be numbered among the peacemakers. I
believe he will find an honorable compromise to end the killing in Vietnam and an
acceptable formula for an Arab-Israeli settlement which will avert a confrontation
between the nuclear powers in the Middle East.
I believe, too, that he will succeed here at home in establishing "the
decent order that makes progress possible and our lives secure."
There are some who say the new President is acting too slowly in
"settling in" his Administration and setting new policy. I say that this kind
of deliberateness is all to the good. We have had too much of the haste that
makes waste in recent years.
When swift decisions are needed, they will be made. But, overall, the
Nixon Administration will be marked by calm deliberation and stability. It
will be a "cool" Administration, a common sense Administration.
(more)
-4-
Common sense can bring us great achievements. It may even confound our
enemies. For as Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Nothing astonishes men so much
as common sense and plain dealing."
As a Nation and a people we are faced with great problems at this point
in history.
What was the legacy left to Mr. Nixon by the outgoing Administration?
What problems did the Republican Administration inherit?
The longest foreign war in American history, with casualties now totalling
more than 31,000 G.I.'s killed in combat and nearly 200,000 wounded.
A cauldron of conflict in the Middle East that threatens to bubble over
into a confrontation between the two major nuclear powers, the United States
and Russia.
A three-year-long inflationary spiral which in 1968 produced the sharpest
increase in the cost of living in 17 years.
Record-high interest rates, pushed up by excessive federal spending.
A mounting tide of criminality, rising by nearly 90 per cent in the past
eight years.
Riots, campus rebellions and a near-breakdown in law and order across
the country.
Pockets of poverty in the midst of plenty, dealt with under a program
which gave rise to thievery, embezzlement and corruption.
A cost-price squeeze on the farm that shuts farmers out of their fair
share of our economic wealth.
The Nixon Administration has moved carefully and firmly to take on all
of these horrendous problems. President Nixon views them as a challenge from
which we cannot and must not shrink. Indeed, he has opened for us the vistas of
opportunity -- the opportunity to re-order our priorities and to get about the
business of building a new and greater America.
We are getting a re-ordering of our priorities.
What is our chief domestic concern? There is none greater than that of
the public safety -- the concern over violence in the streets and the still-
rocketing rise in crime. President Nixon is acting to answer that concern.
Abraham Lincoln preached "reverence for the law" and urged that it become
"the political religion of the nation," for he knew, as we do, that without order
there can be no progress.
Without order there can only be anarchy, chaos and confusion.
(more)
-5-
We must attack crime with all the manpower and the weapons and the
firmness required to curb it -- and we will do SO.
We must lay a foundation for order by improving the quality and direction
of life in America and the responsiveness of its institutions -- and we will do
that also.
The Presidency is a powerful office. Its occupant generates an atmosphere
which mysteriously but unmistakably affects the lives of most Americans. The
President sets a tone for the country.
Having assumed the office of President when the pages of American history
were flooded with a swelling tide of crime and violence, Richard Nixon has
resolved to cool the violent passions that have engulfed this country and to roll
back the rising wave of crime. He has made an excellent start.
The Nixon Administration is building a program, a Republican program in
the image of the first and greatest Republican President, that great son of
Illinois, Abraham Lincoln.
We are building a Republican program in the image of him who said:
"The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people
whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for
themselves, in their separate and individual capacities."
We are building a program in the image of him who said: "There is no
grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law."
I believe that Republican program will bring the American people together
in pursuit of great national goals, goals that will be achieved by the quiet
cooperation of government and business, and the voluntary effort of private
citizens and not by shouting or rock-throwing.
Our Republican program will produce unity at home, curb the inflation that
mocks our seeming prosperity, give the farmer 100 per cent of opportunity and his
fair share of our economic wealth, reduce crime and restore respect for law and
order, resolve the urban crisis and ease racial tensions, reform the entire
welfare concept, and end the paradox of malnutrition in the midst of plenty.
The best answer to unrest is to recognize legitimate problems, anticipate
legitimate demands, and move ahead with appropriate solutions before trouble
begins.
What all of us must do is to join in a great crusade to turn this country
around, turn it away from the soap box philosophy of government-solve-all and turn
it toward the New Direction of individual responsibility and personal dedication
(more)
-6-
to solving the problems of others.
This is the path on which President Nixon will lead us. This is the
course he will set.
President Nixon, of course, is a political leader as well as President of
all the people. He is a great Republican, as was Abraham Lincoln.
In 1862, two years after Lincoln was elected President, the Republican
Party suffered a setback. The Democrats took the governorship of New York and
added some congressional seats.
When asked how he felt about the results of the New York election, Abraham
Lincoln said: "Somewhat like the boy in Kentucky who stubbed his toe while
running to see his sweetheart. The boy said he was too big to cry and far
too badly hurt to laugh.'
So Lincoln was keenly aware of what was happening politically in his day
and he cared what happened to the Republican Party. He was a great stump speaker --
made 50 speeches for the Republican presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, in
1856 after missing out himself on the vice-presidential nomination.
Remember how Dick Nixon campaigned from one end of the country to the
other on behalf of congressional candidates in 1966? That was when we made a
net gain of 47 seats in the House of Representatives. We've made an overall
gain of 52 since the dark days of 1964. But we still have a long way to go.
The magic number now is 26. Assuming Republican success in special
elections in Wisconsin and California, we still have 26 seats to go to win
control of the House.
I am not discouraged, and I'm sure Les Arends isn't either.
I feel certain that in 1970 we will receive tremendous help from President
Nixon.
Now that we hold the White House, the top of the hill in the fight to win
the People's House doesn't seem quite so high.
If the Nixon Administration is successful -- and I believe it will be
successful -- I think the American people will want to give Mr. Nixon a Republican
Congress to work with him in carrying out his program. We may not make it all
the way in 1970 but we'll hit that goal line yet.
Here in Illinois you have elected a Republican governor. You have two
Republican senators. You have a great Republican congressional delegation, a
delegation which should be enlarged.
Let's move ahead. Let's begin zeroing in on 1970 right now. It's not too
(more)
-7-
early to lay plans for expanding the Illinois Republican delegation and breaking
the delegation's 50-50 deadlock with the Democrats. If we can't win a majority
of the House seats two years hence, let's at least win a majority in the Illinois
congressional delegation.
Meantime I want you to know that even as a minority, Republicans in the
House are having a marked impact on federal legislation. We played a major role
in shaping landmark legislation enacted by the 90th Congress.
We pressed constantly for fiscal responsibility, for a hold-down in
federal spending, and now we hear that a surplus is anticipated for fiscal 1969.
I feel the Republican Party is principally responsible for turning the Federal
Government around from a $25.4 billion deficit in fiscal 1968 to a surplus
situation in 1969.
And so we have this and other great accomplishments to cite as we move
toward majority status in the country.
And we are moving toward majority status -- because we are offering new
solutions to old problems, order in place of turmoil, peace in place of war.
We have turned on the lights at the White House, and we will turn on the
lights in the Nation. We will strive mightily for unity. We wish peace for every
city in this great country.
When I talk of politics, I speak of it as democracy's life blood and not
as the seed of disunity. I speak of it as the healthy competition which serves
to define the issues and stir up interest in the processes of government.
Let us as Republicans be fair, but always firm in what we consider to be
the right. And let us be ever mindful of the best interests of the people.
As Abraham Lincoln so aptly put it in a speech to Congress: "We hold the
true republican position. In leaving the people's business in their hands, we
cannot be wrong." Thank you.
###
O Office Copy
A LINCOLN DAY SPEECH
BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 10, 1969
ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
Good evening. I must tell you what a thrill it is for a good Republican
to be visiting you here in the Land of Lincoln. I am delighted to be here at
Illinois Wesleyan, a fine school of which my good friend Congressman Arends is
a trustee.
You know, I just recently learned something new about the state of
Illinois. The name of your state comes, I understand, from the Indian and the
French, and it means the dwelling place of the tribe of superior men.
Now, having had Les Arends serve with me as House Republican Whip for
four years I can well believe that Illinois is peopled with superior men. He
has been a tremendous help to me in my post as House Republican leader and it
is with deep sincerity and appreciation that I call him my strong right arm.
Of course Illinois has other superior men, too. Tonight we will be
dealing only with political heroes. You have your outstanding new governor,
Dick Ogilvie; you have the superior man who made a hit with his recording of
the "Gallent Men," Sen. Everett M. Dirksen; you have the rising young political
star, the junior senator from Illinois, Chuck Percy; and you have your fine group
of an even dozen Republican congressmen, including that superior gentleman from
the 17th District, Les Arends.
Illinois claims Lincoln as the greatest of its sons. This is natural,
since Lincoln lived in Springfield for 17 years and rode the circuit -- the
Eighth Judicial Circuit all through this area as a practicing attorney. So
Abe Lincoln is closely associated with Bloomington, too.
Abe Lincoln was one of my boyhood heroes, perhaps the greatest. Not
just because he and his cousin were supposed to have split 3,000 rails in Macon
County, Illinois, but because Abe made it the hard way to the biggest job in the
world, the Presidency of the United States. I admired him for many qualities --
his humility, his devotion to hard work, his dry sense of humor, his generosity
of spirit, his love of God and common men.
(more)
-2-
Writing of Lincoln's death on April 15, 1865, the great poet Walt Whitman
said of him: "He leaves for America's history and biography, so far, not only
its most dramatic reminiscence -- he leaves, in my opinion, the greatest, best,
most characteristic, artistic, moral personality."
Lincoln was that. He was a moral man, a man with the kind of character
and integrity and compassion that made him a unique man -- a great leader who
seemed created for his times.
And we have now
today
in our new President a man who seems created
for his times, a man who is destined to lead the United States through some of
the most critical moments in our history.
There are striking similariites between the period when Abraham Lincoln
served as 16th President of the United States and this era when Richard M. Nixon
serves as our 37th Chief Executive.
In 1860, as now, the American people were sorely divided and bitterness
tore at the heart of the country.
In the race for the Presidency in 1860 there were four candidates, so that
the vote was even more splintered than in the three-man 1968 race.
Abraham Lincoln received slightly less than 40 per cent of the total
popular vote but won a majority of the electoral votes. Richard Nixon received
44 per cent of the total popular vote and won a majority of the electoral vote.
So he did better than Lincoln, percentagewise.
There are those who say President Nixon does not have a mandate. I say
Mr. Nixon does have a mandate -- a mandate for change, a mandate for the nearly
six out of 10 Americans who voted for a change in administrations in Washington.
It is true President Nixon faces monumental tasks in rallying support for
his program from a country which gave him, personally, less than a majority of
its votes and a Congress controlled by the opposition party.
But Mr. Nixon is a man accustomed to monumental tasks, as he has proved
in the past. And I believe he is already proving his mettle in the greatest job
he has ever had.
You know, five clergymen took part in the Nixon inaugural ceremony. This
prompted some people to remark that Mr. Nixon is the most prayed-over President
this country has ever had. I personally think that's good.
This reminds me of a Lincoln story. During the Civil War, Lincoln learned
that the authorities at a hospital had forbidden anyone to recite prayers for
the patients or even to read the Bible to them. Lincoln removed the ban and
(more)
-3-
said: "If there was more praying and less swearing, it would be far better
for our country." At the risk of sounding sanctimonious, I say, "Amen."
I believe this country has much need of prayer.
Abraham Lincoln has been described by historians as a sometimes uncouth
man and a teller of off-color stories. He is also known to have been a man of
deep religious convictions and a student of the Bible, the Book of Truth. He
was a simple man, a man of peace.
I said earlier that I believe President Nixon, like Abraham Lincoln, is
a man uniquely suited toserve our Nation in this time of crisis.
Every action taken by Mr. Nixon since he took the oath of office as
President bears out the confidence, the feeling of trust I have in the man who
now leads this Nation.
His Inaugural Address was unusual, perhaps the most unusual ever delivered
in this country.
It was unusual because it was a quiet speech quietly delivered. There
were no glorious promises clothed in glowing rhetoric. There was no bombast.
There were no strident partisan phrases.
It was a message of peace. It contained words of great portent for peace
both at home and abroad.
It was a message of the spirit, for it extolled those qualities America
hungers for today -- "goodness, decency, love and kindness." Mr. Nixon appealed,
as did Abraham Lincoln in his first inaugural address, to "the better angels of
our nature."
I believe President Nixon will be numbered among the peacemakers. I
believe he will find an honorable compromise to end the killing in Vietnam and an
acceptable formula for an Arab-Israeli settlement which will avert a confrontation
between the nuclear powers in the Middle East.
I believe, too, that he will succeed here at home in establishing "the
decent order that makes progress possible and our lives secure."
There are some who say the new President is acting too slowly in
"settling in" his Administration and setting new policy. I say that this kind
of deliberateness is all to the good. We have had too much of the haste that
makes waste in recent years.
When swift decisions are needed, they will be made. But, overall, the
Nixon Administration will be marked by calm deliberation and stability. It
will be a "cool" Administration, a common sense Administration.
(more)
-4-
Common sense can bring us great achievements. It may even confound our
enemies. For as Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Nothing astonishes men so much
as common sense and plain dealing."
As a Nation and a people we are faced with great problems at this point
in history.
What was the legacy left to Mr. Nixon by the outgoing Administration?
What problems did the Republican Administration inherit?
The longest foreign war in American history, with casualties now totalling
more than 31,000 G.I.'s killed in combat and nearly 200,000 wounded.
A cauldron of conflict in the Middle East that threatens to bubble over
into a confrontation between the two major nuclear powers, the United States
and Russia.
A three-year-long inflationary spiral which in 1968 produced the sharpest
increase in the cost of living in 17 years.
Record-high interest rates, pushed up by excessive federal spending.
A mounting tide of criminality, rising by nearly 90 per cent in the past
eight years.
Riots, campus rebellions and a near-breakdown in law and order across
the country.
Pockets of poverty in the midst of plenty, dealt with under a program
which gave rise to thievery, embezzlement and corruption.
A cost-price squeeze on the farm that shuts farmers out of their fair
share of our economic wealth.
The Nixon Administration has moved carefully and firmly to take on all
of these horrendous problems. President Nixon views them as a challenge from
which we cannot and must not shrink. Indeed, he has opened for us the vistas of
opportunity -- the opportunity to re-order our priorities and to get about the
business of building a new and greater America.
We are getting a re-ordering of our priorities.
What is our chief domestic concern? There is none greater than that of
the public safety -- the concern over violence in the streets and the still-
rocketing rise in crime. President Nixon is acting to answer that concern.
Abraham Lincoln preached "reverence for the law" and urged that it become
"the political religion of the nation," for he knew, as we do, that without order
there can be no progress.
Without order there can only be anarchy, chaos and confusion.
(more)
-5-
We must attack crime with all the manpower and the weapons and the
firmness required to curb it -- and we will do SO,
We must lay a foundation for order by improving the quality and direction
of life in America and the responsiveness of its institutions -- and we will do
that also.
The Presidency is a powerful office. Its occupant generates an atmosphere
which mysteriously but unmistakably affects the lives of most Americans. The
President sets a tone for the country.
Having assumed the office of President when the pages of American history
were flooded with a swelling tide of crime and violence, Richard Nixon has
resolved to cool the violent passions that have engulfed this country and to roll
back the rising wave of crime. He has made an excellent start.
The Nixon Administration is building a program, a Republican program in
the image of the first and greatest Republican President, that great son of
Illinois, Abraham Lincoln.
We are building a Republican program in the image of him who said:
"The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people
whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for
themselves, in their separate and individual capacities."
We are building a program in the image of him who said: "There is no
grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law."
I believe that Republican program will bring the American people together
in pursuit of great national goals, goals that will be achieved by the quiet
cooperation of government and business, and the voluntary effort of private
citizens -- and not by shouting or rock-throwing.
Our Republican program will produce unity at home, curb the inflation that
mocks our seeming prosperity, give the farmer 100 per cent of opportunity and his
fair share of our economic wealth, reduce crime and restore respect for law and
order, resolve the urban crisis and ease racial tensions, reform the entire
welfare concept, and end the paradox of malnutrition in the midst of plenty.
The best answer to unrest is to recognize legitimate problems, anticipate
legitimate demands, and move ahead with appropriate solutions before trouble
begins.
What all of us must do is to join in a great crusade to turn this country
around, turn it away from the soap box philosophy of government-solve-a1l and turn
it toward the New Direction of individual responsibility and personal dedication
(more)
-6-
to solving the problems of others.
This is the path on which President Nixon will lead us. This is the
course he will set.
President Nixon, of course, is a political leader as well as President of
all the people. He is a great Republican, as was Abraham Lincoln.
In 1862, two years after Lincoln was elected President, the Republican
Party suffered a setback. The Democrats took the governorship of New York and
added some congressional seats.
When asked how he felt about the results of the New York election, Abraham
Lincoln said: "Somewhat like the boy in Kentucky who stubbed his toe while
running to see his sweetheart. The boy said he was too big to cry and far
too badly hurt to laugh."
So Lincoln was keenly aware of what was happening politically in his day
and he cared what happened to the Republican Party. He was a great stump speaker --
made 50 speeches for the Republican presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, in
1856 after missing out himself on the vice-presidential nomination.
Remember how Dick Nixon campaigned from one end of the country to the
other on behalf of congressional candidates in 1966? That was when we made a
net gain of 47 seats in the House of Representatives. We've made an overall
gain of 52 since the dark days of 1964. But we still have a long way to go.
The magic number now is 26. Assuming Republican success in special
elections in Wisconsin and California, we still have 26 seats to go to win
control of the House.
I am not discouraged, and I'm sure Les Arends isn't either.
I feel certain that in 1970 we will receive tremendous help from President
Nixon.
Now that we hold the White House, the top of the hill in the fight to win
the People's House doesn't seem quite so high.
If the Nixon Administration is successful -- and I believe it will be
successful -- I think the American people will want to give Mr. Nixon a Republican
Congress to work with him in carrying out his program. We may not make it all
the way in 1970 but we'll hit that goal line yet.
Here in Illinois you have elected a Republican governor. You have two
Republican senators. You have a great Republican congressional delegation, a
delegation which should be enlarged.
Let's move ahead. Let's begin zeroing in on 1970 right now. It's not too
(more)
-7-
early to lay plans for expanding the Illinois Republican delegation and breaking
the delegation's 50-50 deadlock with the Democrats. If we can't win a majority
of the House seats two years hence, let's at least win a majority in the Illinois
congressional delegation.
Meantime I want you to know that even as a minority, Republicans in the
House are having a marked impact on federal legislation. We played a major role
in shaping landmark legislation enacted by the 90th Congress.
We pressed constantly for fiscal responsibility, for a hold-down in
federal spending, and now we hear that a surplus is anticipated for fiscal 1969.
I feel the Republican Party is principally responsible for turning the Federal
Government around from a $25.4 billion deficit in fiscal 1968 to a surplus
situation in 1969.
And so we have this and other great accomplishments to cite as we move
toward majority status in the country.
And we are moving toward majority status -- because we are offering new
solutions to old problems, order in place of turmoil, peace in place of war.
We have turned on the lights at the White House, and we will turn on the
lights in the Nation. We will strive mightily for unity. We wish peace for every
city in this great country.
When I talk of politics, I speak of it as democracy's life blood and not
as the seed of disunity. I speak of it as the healthy competition which serves
to define the issues and stir up interest in the processes of government.
Let us as Republicans be fair, but always firm in what we consider to be
the right. And let us be ever mindful of the best interests of the people.
As Abraham Lincoln so aptly put it in a speech to Congress: "We hold the
true republican position. In leaving the people's business in their hands, we
cannot be wrong." Thank you.
# # #