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Republican Dinner, Nashville, TN, November 21, 1969
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4526239
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Republican Dinner, Nashville, TN, November 21, 1969
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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The original documents are located in Box D28, folder "Republican Dinner, Nashville, TN,
November 21, 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Distribution Full
Gallerier mail 12: 2:15p.m. 15p.m. 1/1/1/69 11/21/69 office Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. FRIDAY--
November 21, 1969
Excerpts from a speech at a Republican dinner in Nashville, Tenn.
I am by nature an optimist, but it is not for that reason that I feel
inspired as I stand before you tonight.
I feel inspired because each passing day strengthens my conviction that
President Nixon has set a proper course, the right course, both in Vietnam and in
our domestic affairs.
On Nov. 3 President Nixon addressed the Nation on the subject of Vietnam.
That evening he made one of the greatest speeches ever delivered by an American
President. The impact of that speech is now shown by polls indicating that eight
out of 10 Americans are supporting the President's policies on Vietnam.
The reason the President is being supported by an overwhelming majority of
the American people is that he made our two remaining choices in Vietnam abundantly
clear. Those choices are capitulation or, in the absence of a negotiated political
settlement, Vietnamization of the war. Once the President had explained the
consequences of capitulation - otherwise known as immediate withdrawal - it was
inevitable that the American people would give him their support.
There are those who claim the President campaigned on a promise to end the
war but has no plan to do SO. This is a blatant falsehood.
The President has a carefully worked out program to end the Vietnam War.
That program is known as Vietnamization. It means that American ground combat
forces will be out of Vietnam hopefully by the end of 1970. They will be phased
out of Vietnam at the fastest practicable rate, while South Vietnamese forces are
phased in.
The President is carrying out what he promised during his election campaign--
a plan to end American military involvement in Vietnam.
The President's plan to end the American ground combat role in the war is
sound, and it is working.
That is why he has the overwhelming support of the American people.
At the same time, we have made substantial progress in Vietnam. The
political and military aspects of the struggle there have shifted in favor of the
United States and its allies. The pendulum has swung in our direction.
FORD
The military situation is under control. The Saigon Government's presence
is moving ahead. The South Vietnamese armed forces are bigger and better. There
LIBRARY
(more)
Digitized from Box D28 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
has been encouraging political progress in Saigon through a broadening of support,
and some drastically needed economic reforms are finally under way.
As for North Vietnam and the Viet Cong, they have made it plain that they
expect the protest movement in the United States to speed the end of the Vietnam
War on their terms. I say they are making a bad mistake, because the vast majority
of the American people know that the real name for immediate withdrawal is
capitulation -- and they reject it.
Whether 250,000 or even a half million people join in a massive peace march,
government policies cannot be made in the streets. Chants of "peace, now" are no
substitute for careful decision-making in the councils of government.
The truth is that President Nixon has reversed the Vietnam policies of his
predecessor. He is doing his best to extricate the United States from Vietnam, and
he deserves the support of the demonstrators as well as the silent majority.
Continued protest on Vietnam can only be destructive. It can only delay the
process of disengagement which President Nixon has started.
There is at least one hopeful note in the aftermath of the November
Moratorium, however. It seems to me that the Students for a Democratic Society has
become so splintered and the Weatherman faction has so discredited itself that SDS
may well be on its way to oblivion.
I said at the outset that President Nixon's course seemed right to me both
in Vietnam and at home.
In the area of domestic policy, the President has sent the Congress some
40 proposals which are deeply rooted in the need for reforms in America.
There has been a noticeable reluctance among the Democratic majority in the
Congress to move those proposals forward. Yet those proposals must be implemented
if the country is to move ahead.
I now find some hope in the sudden approval of draft reform by the Senate.
This may be a loosening of the log that breaks the jam. But I certainly believe
a watch-and-wait attitude is indicated.
In the case of draft reform, Congress's approval of the President's request
for a lottery or random selection system is the occasion for a loud hurrah. I am
sure that is the feeling of a vast majority of the American people. Like the
President, I want this country to go to an all-volunteer Army as soon as possible,
but meantime we must try to make the draft as fair as we can.
The watchword of the Nixon Administration is reform. I fervently hope that
the Congress will not deny the American people the reforms they so greatly desire.
# # #
Full Distribution
Office Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. FRIDAY--
November 21, 1969
Excerpts from a speech at a Republican dinner in Nashville, Tenn.
I am by nature an optimist, but it is not for that reason that I feel
inspired as I stand before you tonight.
I feel inspired because each passing day strengthens my conviction that
President Nixon has set a proper course, the right course, both in Vietnam and in
our domestic affairs.
On Nov. 3 President Nixon addressed the Nation on the subject of Vietnam.
That evening he made one of the greatest speeches ever delivered by an American
President. The impact of that speech is now shown by polls indicating that eight
out of 10 Americans are supporting the President's policies on Vietnam.
The reason the President is being supported by an overwhelming majority of
the American people is that he made our two remaining choices in Vietnam abundantly
clear. Those choices are capitulation or, in the absence of a negotiated political
settlement, Vietnamization of the war. Once the President had explained the
consequences of capitulation - otherwise known as immediate withdrawal - -- it was
inevitable that the American people would give him their support.
There are those who claim the President campaigned on a promise to end the
war but has no plan to do so. This is a blatant falsehood.
The President has a carefully worked out program to end the Vietnam War.
That program is known as Vietnamization. It means that American ground combat
forces will be out of Vietnam hopefully by the end of 1970. They will be phased
out of Vietnam at the fastest practicable rate, while South Vietnamese forces are
phased in.
The President is carrying out what he promised during his election campaign--
a plan to end American military involvement in Vietnam.
The President's plan to end the American ground combat role in the war is
sound, and it is working.
That is why he has the overwhelming support of the American people.
At the same time, we have made substantial progress in Vietnam. The
political and military aspects of the struggle there have shifted in favor of the
United States and its allies. The pendulum has swung in our direction.
The military situation is under control. The Saigon Government's presence
is moving ahead. The South Vietnamese armed forces are bigger and better. There
(more)
-2-
has been encouraging political progress in Saigon through a broadening of support,
and some drastically needed economic reforms are finally under way.
As for North Vietnam and the Viet Cong, they have made it plain that they
expect the protest movement in the United States to speed the end of the Vietnam
War on their terms. I say they are making a bad mistake, because the vast majority
of the American people know that the real name for immediate withdrawal is
capitulation -- and they reject it.
Whether 250,000 or even a half million people join in a massive peace march,
government policies cannot be made in the streets. Chants of "peace, now" are no
substitute for careful decision-making in the councils of government.
The truth is that President Nixon has reversed the Vietnam policies of his
predecessor. He is doing his best to extricate the United States from Vietnam, and
he deserves the support of the demonstrators as well as the silent majority.
Continued protest on Vietnam can only be destructive. It can only delay the
process of disengagement which President Nixon has started.
There is at least one hopeful note in the aftermath of the November
Moratorium, however. It seems to me that the Students for a Democratic Society has
become so splintered and the Weatherman faction has so discredited itself that SDS
may well be on its way to oblivion.
I said at the outset that President Nixon's course seemed right to me both
in Vietnam and at home.
In the area of domestic policy, the President has sent the Congress some
40 proposals which are deeply rooted in the need for reforms in America.
There has been a noticeable reluctance among the Democratic majority in the
Congress to move those proposals forward. Yet those proposals must be implemented
if the country is to move ahead.
I now find some hope in the sudden approval of draft reform by the Senate.
This may be a loosening of the log that breaks the jam. But I certainly believe
a watch-and-wait attitude is indicated.
In the case of draft reform, Congress's approval of the President's request
for a lottery or random selection system is the occasion for a loud hurrah. I am
sure that is the feeling of a vast majority of the American people. Like the
President, I want this country to go to an all-volunteer Army as soon as possible,
but meantime we must try to make the draft as fair as we can.
The watchword of the Nixon Administration is reform. I fervently hope that
the Congress will not deny the American people the reforms they so greatly desire.
# # #