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Lincoln Day Dinner, Orlando, FL, March 20, 1971
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The original documents are located in Box D31, folder "Lincoln Day Dinner, Orlando, FL,
March 20, 1971" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 D31 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
LINCOLN DAY DINNER, ORLANDO, FLORIDA,
6:30 P.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1971
I AM VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE
TONIGHT, AND I AM HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO
TELL YOU THAT BETTER TIMES LIE JUST AHEAD.
WE HAVE LIVED THROUGH A MIGHTY
ROUGH PERIOD IN THIS COUNTRY IN RECENT
YEARS -- A TIME OF ASSASSINATION AND
ANARCHY, OF RIOTS AND BURNINGS, OF
SNIPINGS AND BOMBINGS, OF CAMPUS
DISRUPTIONS AND VIOLENT DISORDERS.
REMEMBER THE GOOD OLD DAYS, WHEN
YOUTHFUL PROTEST WAS JUST A GIRL WHO
INSISTED ON SAYING "NO?"
INSTEAD WE HAVE EXPERIENCED WILD
DEMONSTRATIONS AND ATTEMPTS TO TEAR OUR
COUNTRY APART, VIOLENT REVOLUTION,
-2-
MINDLESS REVOLT.
I
HAVE JUST FIGURED OUT WHY
THEY CALL IT THE FAR LEFT.
THAT'S BECAUSE
IT'S SO FAR FROM BEING RIGHT.
+ BELIEVE VIOLENCE IN THIS
COUNTRY HAS CLEARLY SUBSIDED. AND I FEEL
CERTAIN THIS IS FAR MORE THAN MERE
CIRCUMSTANCE. THIS IS A DIRECT RESULT OF
POSITIONS TAKEN BY OUR REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION -- REFUSAL TO COMPROMISE
WITH THE FORCES OF VIOLENCE AND A
DETERMINATION TO DEAL FIRMLY WITH THOSE
WHO SEEK CHANGE THROUGH DESTRUCTIVE MEANS.
WE HAVE, IN A WORD, A RESPONSIBLE
ADMINISTRATION. / DURING THE LAST
ADMINISTRATION, NOBODY WANTED TO BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING.
I DON'T INTEND TO BE PARTICULARLY
PARTISAN TONIGHT, BUT I'LL JUST BET THAT
-3-
IF PRESIDENT NIXON ENDS THE VIETNAM WAR,
REDUCES CRIME AND BRINGS INFLATION UNDER
CONTROL THE DEMOCRATS WILL SAY IT'S A
TRICK TO MAKE THEM LOOK BAD.
WE DO HAVE MANY PROBLEMS THAT
DEEPLY CONCERN us, AND INFLATION IS ONE
OF THEM. THINGS ARE QUIET IN WASHINGTON
RIGHT NOW BUT INFLATION HASN'T SLOWED UP
MY WIFE
SHE JUST KEEPS CHARGING AHEAD.
IT IS QUIET ALONG THE POTOMAC,
BUT A FEVER IS BURNING BENEATH THE SURFACE
OF THE POLITICAL SCENE. IT IS THE FEVER
OF CHANGE Let me re-emphasize - CHANGE.
MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO THE FIRST
REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT, ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
TOLD A NATION TORN IN TWO BY WAR:
"THE DOGMAS OF THE QUIET PAST
ARE INADEQUATE TO THE STORMY PRESENT. THE
OCCASION IS PILED HIGH WITH DIFFICULTY AND
-4-
WE MUST RISE TO THE OCCASION. AS OUR CASE
IS NEW, SO WE MUST THINK AND ACT ANEW. "
ON JANUARY 22 LAST, PRESIDENT
RICHARD M. NIXON ADDRESSED THE CONGRESS
AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, DECLARING:
"IN THESE TROUBLED YEARS JUST
PAST, AMERICA HAS BEEN GOING THROUGH A
LONG NIGHTMARE OF WAR AND DIVISION, OF
CRIME AND INFLATION. EVEN MORE DEEPLY, WE
HAVE GONE THROUGH A LONG, DARK NIGHT OF THE
AMERICAN SPIRIT. BUT NOW THAT NIGHT IS
ENDING. NOW WE MUST LET OUR SPIRITS SOAR
AGAIN. THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION ARE
EAGER TO GET ON WITH THE QUEST FOR NEW
GREATNESS. THEY SEE CHALLENGES, AND THEY
ARE PREPARED TO MEET THOSE CHALLENGES.
IT IS FOR US HERE TO OPEN THE DOORS THAT
WILL SET FREE AGAIN THE REAL GREATNESS OF
THIS NATION -- THE GENIUS OF THE AMERICAN
LIBRARY
PEOPLE."
-5-
The
WILL THE DEMOCRATIC-CONTROLLED
CONGRESS MEET THAT CHALLENGE? WILL THE
controlled by the Demants
CONGRESS RIDE THE WINDS OF CHANGE WITH
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY? OR WILL THE MASTERS
OF POLITICAL POWER ON CAPITOL HILL SEEK
TO STIFLE CHANGE AND PUSH IT BACK INTO THE
BOTTLE?
THE TIMES CHANGE, AND POLITICAL
PARTIES AND GOVERNMENTS MUST CHANGE WITH
THEM.
I FIND THAT CHANGE HAS SWEPT
THROUGH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, RIPPING
AWAY THE COBWEBS OF REACTION AND THE
RESISTANCE TO REFORM. Whave on The MOVE.
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT JUST A
FEW SHORT YEARS AGO THAT THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY WOULD BE CHAMPIONING THE FIRST MAJOR
OVERHAUL OF THE WELFARE SYSTEM IN FOUR
DECADES? In our hearts of minds we know the present
welfore proparem is a failure. Holody defendint We want
to Chance IT -& + we must
-6-
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT JUST A
FEW SHORT YEARS AGO THAT THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY WOULD BE ADVOCATING A MASSIVE
SHARING OF FEDERAL INCOME TAX REVENUE WITH
THE CITIES AND STATES? 2 congratulate HN. Rochfulled
for his leadership. WHO
WOULD HAVE THOUGHT JUST A
FEW SHORT YEARS AGO THAT THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY WOULD BE PROPOSING TO RESHAPE THE
ENTIRE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BY CUTTING THE
NUMBER OF FEDERAL CABINET DEPARTMENTS
FROM 11 TO SEVEN?
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS BECOME
THE PARTY OF DARING AND IMAGINATION -- THE
PARTY OF BOLDNESS AND REFORM -- THE PARTY
OF THE FUTURE -- THE PARTY OF HOPE FOR
AMERICA
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS ALIVE
WITH NEW IDEAS AND PROGRAMS FOR MEETING
THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE, FOR RESTORING OUR
-7-
ENVIRONMENT, FOR BRINGING THE BEST POSSIBLE
HEALTH CARE TO THE PEOPLE, FOR IMPROVING
THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN AMERICA.
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS BECOME
THE PARTY OF THE STATUS QUO, MERELY SEEKING
TO GRAFT NEW GROWTH ONTO OLD PROGRAMS.
THE NEW DEAL AND THE FAIR DEAL HAVE BECOME
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE'S ORDEAL
DESPITE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
ROADBLOCKS TO CHANGE, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
HAS BROUGHT GREAT PROGRESS TO THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE IN THE PAST TWO YEARS
.t
will more come.
DESPITE THE FACT THAT RICHARD
NIXON WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT SINCE
ZACHARY TAYLOR TO ENTER OFFICE WITH
CONGRESS FIRMLY IN CONTROL OF THE OPPOSITION
PARTY, THE WHEELS OF PROGRESS HAVE BEEN
STEADILY TURNING AND THE RECORD IS THERE
TO PROVE IT.
-8-
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT REVERSED THE COURSE
There our
are
OF THE WAR IN VIETNAM AND WOUND IT DOWN
$200,000
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT DEVELOPED A NEW
Cometters in are
down south 7190.
STRATEGY FOR PEACE IN THE WORLD CENTERED
SUCCESS
ON THE NIXON DOCTRINE OF HELPING THOSE
NATIONS WHICH HELP THEMSELVES.
- will
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
more out
ADMINISTRATION THAT BROUGHT ABOUT
$1.5 G. 5 1
RATIFICATION OF THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION
TREATY
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT ENTERED INTO SERIOUS
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE SOVIET UNION ON THE
LIMITATION OF STRATEGIC ARMS.
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT RENOUNCED BIOLOGICAL
WEAPONS AND THE FIRST USE OF CHEMICAL
WARFARE
-9-
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT ACHIEVED A DRAFT
TREATY PROHIBITING THE EMPLACEMENT OF
NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN THE SEABED.
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT REORDERED OUR NATIONAL
PRIORITIES TO DEVOTE A GREATER PART OF THE
FEDERAL BUDGET TO HUMAN NEEDS THAN TO
DEFENSE SPENDING. For Two yrs in a mo, under a Republican
Presedent we will spend more on domestic meals, than on our multing forces.
TT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT PUSHED THROUGH MAJOR
REFORMS IN THE POSTAL SYSTEM, IN THE
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AND IN
MANY OTHER AREAS OF THE FEDERAL
BUREAUCRACY.
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT ACHIEVED THE MOST
SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE HISTORY
OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE.
-10-
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT ACTED TO PROTECT THE
ENVIRONMENT BY CREATING A NEW COUNCIL
ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND A NEW
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT BROUGHT ABOUT MORE
SCHOOL DESEGREGATION IN TWO YEARS THAN IN
THE ENTIRE PERIOD BETWEEN 1.954 AND 1969.
IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT WON PASSAGE OF
LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE ON-THE-JOB SAFETY
FOR AMERICA'S WORKING MEN AND WOMEN.
AND IT WAS A REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION THAT GOT A RELUCTANT
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS TO ADOPT LEGISLATION
FOR A STEPPED-UP FIGHT AGAINST ORGANIZED
CRIME AND THE DRUG MENACE.
-11-
LET'S BE HONEST ABOUT IT
A
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS IS NOT ANXIOUS TO
GIVE A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT ANYTHING THAT
WILL MAKE HIM AND HIS PARTY LOOK GOOD.
WHEN A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT'S
PROPOSALS PREVAIL WITH A DEMOCRATIC
CONGRESS IT IS BECAUSE POPULAR SUPPORT
FOR THE LEGISLATION IS SO APPARENT IT
CANNOT BE IGNORED. THE DEMOCRATS THEN TRY
TO STEAL THE CREDIT FOR THE LEGISLATION --
AS THEY DID WITH TAX REFORM IN 1969 -- AND
SEEK TO AMEND THE LEGISLATION BEYOND ALL
RECOGNITION.
IN SPITE OF SUCH TACTICS,
REPUBLICANS CAN POINT TO A FORMIDABLE LIST
OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE LAST CONGRESS --
AMONG THEM POSTAL REFORM, DRAFT REFORM,
THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT, THE
UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION AMENDMENTS OF 1970
-12-
THE ORGANIZED CRIME CONTROL ACT, AND THE
COMPREHENSIVE DRUG CONTROL ACT.
NOW WE LOOK TO THE FUTURE. WE
LOOK FOR MORE PROGRESS -- PROGRESS TOWARD
PEACE
AND PROGRESS TOWARD PROSPERITY IN
PEACET ME
IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION
MESSAGE OF JANUARY 22 LAST, THE PRESIDENT
LAID A BLUEPRINT FOR PROGRESS BEFORE THE
CONGRESS AND THE NATION.
HE SET FORTH SIX GREAT GOALS
a decade 3 Peace mu temporary Lostilities
PROSPERITY IN PEACETIME WELFARE REFORM,
THE RESTORATION OF OUR ENVIRONMENT, THE
BEST POSSIBLE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS,
PUTTING THE MONEY WHERE OUR PROBLEMS ARE
BY SHARING FEDERAL REVENUE WITH THE CITIES
AND STATES, AND COMPLETE REFORM OF THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THROUGH AN OVERHAUL OF
CABINET DEPARTMENTS.
-13-
WITH ONE STROKE, THE PRESIDENT
HAS CHALLENGED THE NATION TO SCRAP WHAT
HAS FAILED AND TO TURN INSTEAD TOWARD
MEETING THE NEEDS OF TOMORROW IN TOMORROW'S
TERMS
HE HAS TAKEN DRAMATIC NEW
INITIATIVES ON SOCIAL LEGISLATION AND ON
THE STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT -- AND THE
RESPONSE AMONG THE PEOPLE MAKES IT CLEAR
HE HAS CAPTURED THE IMAGINATION OF THE
NATION.
WHAT THE PRESIDENT IS ASKING
FOR IS A CHANCE TO PROVE THAT GOVERNMENT
CAN WORK
HE IS SEEKING TO DO THIS BY
MOVING TO REPLACE THE PRESENT SCANDALOUS
WELFARE SYSTEM, TO ESTABLISH WORK
INCENTIVES AND WORK REQUIREMENTS, TO AID THE
WORKING AS WELL AS THE NON-WORKING POOR
-14-
WITH AN INCOME FLOOR, TO BOLSTER STATE AND
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, TO OVERHAUL JOB
TRAINING AND JOB PLACEMENT PROGRAMS, TO
SHARE FEDERAL INCOME TAX REVENUE WITH
STATES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES.
REPUBLICANS WANT TO REFORM
GOVERNMENT ITSELF -- SO THAT INSTEAD OF
SLIDING FURTHER INTO MUSCLEBOUND
INEFFECTIVENESS IT AT LAST CAN DELIVER
THE SERVICES IT PROMISES AND BRIDGE THE
GAP BETWEEN PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE.
AS THE FIRST REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SAID: "THE LEGITIMATE
OBJECT OF GOVERNMENT IS TO DO FOR PEOPLE
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, BUT WHICH THEY CANNOT
BY INDIVIDUAL EFFORT DO AT ALL OR DO SO
WELL FOR THEMSELVES."
THROUGH FEDERAL REVENUE SHARING,
BY PUTTING THE MONEY WHERE THE PROBLEMS
-15-
ARE WE WILL BE RETURNING GOVERNMENT TO
THE PEOPLE. AND, AS LINCOLN SO WELL
EXPRESSED IT: "WE HOLD TO THE TRUE
REPUBLICAN POSITION. IN LEAVING THE
PEOPLE'S BUSINESS IN THEIR HANDS, WE
CANNOT BE WRONG."
THERE WILL BE GREAT OPPOSITION
TO REVENUE SHARING AND TO OVERHAUL OF THE
FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS. WE ALL KNOW THAT OLD
FEDERAL PROGRAMS NEVER DIE, THEY DON'T
EVEN FADE AWAY. THEIR SUPPORTERS ARE LEGION,
AND LOBBYISTS ARE A DETERMINED BREED.
BUT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL BE
HEARD -- AND THEY SHOULD BE HEARD, AT ALL
LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT. WHAT MAN HAS MADE
/
MAN CAN CHANGE. AND WE MUST HAVE THE
COURAGE TO CHANGE WHAT SHOULD BE CHANGED.
WE MUST TEAR AWAY THE TANGLE OF
RED TAPE. WE MUST FIND OUR WAY OUT OF THE
-16-
BUREAUCRATIC MAZE. WE MUST RETURN
GOVERNMENT TO THE PEOPLE.
NEW YORK
THE PROBLEMS OF
IV
ARE
NOT THE SAME AS THOSE OF MICHIGAN. THE
ALBANY
PROBLEMS OF
ARE NOT IDENTICAL
WITH THOSE OF GRAND RAPIDS. THAT IS WHY
WE NEED FEDERAL REVENUE SHARING.
MONEY IS POWER. MOVING MONEY
BACK TO THE STATES AND CITIES MEANS A FLOW
OF POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE. THIS IS WHERE
THE POWER BELONGS
IF REPUBLICANS SUCCEED IN
RETURNING POWER TO THE PEOPLE, THE PEOPLE
WILL TURN TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
THE PEOPLE WILL TURN TO
REPUBLICANISM BECAUSE IT IS THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY WHICH SEEKS TO MAKE THE
PEOPLE -- YOUNG, MIDDLE-AGED AND OLD -- A
PART OF PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY. IT IS THE
-17-
REPUBLICAN PARTY WHICH SEEKS TO INVOLVE
THE PEOPLE IN BUILDING THROUGH BETTER
GOVERNMENT A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL OF US
ON THIS PLANET.
THAT IS WHY I SAY THE PARTY OF
LINCOLN IS ON THE THRESHOLD OF ONCE AGAIN
BECOMING THE MAJORITY PARTY IN THIS NATION
EVERY INDIVIDUAL WANTS TO COUNT
FOR SOMETHING. UNDER THE REPUBLICAN
PHILOSOPHY OF GOVERNMENT, HE CAN.
WE MUST THINK IN TERMS OF PEOPLE
NOT JUST PROGRAMS. WE MUST REPLACE
COMPUTERS WITH COMPASSION.
LINCOLN SAID: "THIS COUNTRY,
WITH ITS INSTITUTIONS, BELONGS TO THE
PEOPLE WHO INHABIT IT."
LET'S MAKE THIS COUNTRY BELONG
TO THE PEOPLE AGAIN. LET'S GIVE THE
INDIVIDUAL THE FEELING OF DETERMINING HIS
-18-
OWN DESTINY, OF BEING ABLE TO MAKE THINGS
HAPPEN
THIS IS THE IMAGE OF THE NEW
REPUBLICANISM. THIS IS THE SHAPE OF
THINGS TO COME. THIS IS HOW THE NEW
REPUBLICAN PARTY WILL BUILD A NEW AMERICA
Thembyon -- END --
I'll All you This fall.
Distribution : 15 copin of m. Ford only
maffice Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE A LINCOLN DAY DINNER
AT ORLANDO, FLORIDA
6:30 P.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1971
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
I am very happy to be here tonight, and I am happy to be able to tell you
that better times lie just ahead.
We have lived through a mighty rough period in this country in recent
years--a time of assassination and anarchy, of riots and burnings, of snipings
and bombings, of campus disruptions and violent disorders.
Remember the good old days, when youthful protest was just a girl who
insisted on saying "no?"
Instead we have experienced wild demonstrations and attempts to tear our
country apart, violent revolution, mindless revolt.
I have just figured out why they call it the Far Left. That's because it's
so far from being right.
I believe violence in this country has clearly subsided. And I feel certain
this is far more than mere circumstance. This is a direct result of positions
taken by our Republican Administration--refusal to compromise with the forces of
violence and a determination to deal firmly with those who seek change through
destructive means.
We have, in a word, a responsible administration. During the last
administration, nobody wanted to be responsible for anything.
I don't intend to be particularly partisan tonight, but I'll just bet that
if President Nixon ends the Vietnam War, reduces crime and brings inflation under
control the Democrats will say it's a trick to make them look bad.
We do have many problems that deeply concern us, and inflation is one of
them. Things are quiet in Washington right now, but inflation hasn't slowed up my
wife. She just keeps charging ahead.
It is quiet along the Potomac, but a fever is burning beneath the surface
of the political scene. It is the fever of change.
More than a century ago the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln,
told a nation torn in two by war:
(more)
FORD & LIBRARY 9ERALD
-2-
"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The
occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise to the occasion. As our
case is new, so we must think and act anew."
On Jan. 22 last, President Richard M. Nixon addressed the Congress and the
American people, declaring:
"In these troubled years just past, America has been going through a long
nightmare of war and division, of crime and inflation. Even more deeply, we have
gone through a long, dark night of the American spirit. But now that night is
ending. Now we must let our spirits soar again. The people of this nation are
eager to get on with the quest for new greatness. They see challenges, and they
are prepared to meet those challenges. It is for us here to open the doors that
will set free again the real greatness of this nation--the genius of the American
people. "
Will the Democratic-controlled Congress meet that challenge? Will the
Congress ride the winds of change with the Republican Party? Or will the masters
of political power on Capitol Hill seek to stifle change and push it back into the
bottle?
The times change, and political parties and governments must change with
them.
I find that change has swept through the Republican Party, ripping away the
cobwebs of reaction and the resistance to reform.
Who would have thought just a few short years ago that the Republican Party
would be championing the first major overhaul of the welfare system in four decades?
Who would have thought just a few short years ago that the Republican Party
would be advocating a massive sharing of Federal income tax revenue with the cities
and states?
Who would have thought just a few short years ago that the Republican Party
would be proposing to reshape the entire Federal Government by cutting the number
of Federal cabinet departments from 11 to seven?
The Republican Party has become the party of daring and imagination--ti
party of boldness and reform--the party of the future-the party of hope for
America.
The Republican Party is alive with new ideas and programs for meeting the
needs of the people, for restoring our environment, for bringing the best possible
health care to the people, for improving the quality of life in America.
(more)
-3-
The Democratic Party has become the party of the status quo, merely seeking
to graft new growth onto old programs. The New Deal and the Fair Deal have become
the American people's ordeal.
Despite Democratic Party roadblocks to change, the Republican Party has
brought great progress to the American people in the past two years.
Despite the fact that Richard Nixon was the first President since Zachary
Taylor to enter office with Congress firmly in control of the opposition party, the
wheels of progress have been steadily turning and the record is there to prove it.
It was a Republican Administration that reversed the course of the war in
Vietnam and wound it down.
It was a Republican Administration that developed a new strategy for peace
in the world centered on the Nixon Doctrine of helping those nations which help
themselves.
It was a Republican Administration that brought about ratification of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It was a Republican Administration that entered into serious negotiations
with the Soviet Union on the limitation of strategic arms.
It was a Republican Administration that renounced biological weapons and
the first use of chemical warfare.
It was a Republican Administration that achieved a draft treaty prohibiting
the emplacement of nuclear weapons in the seabed.
It was a Republican Administration that reordered our national priorities
to devote a greater part of the Federal budget to human needs than to defense
spending.
It was a Republican Administration that pushed through major reforms in the
postal system, in the Executive Office of the President, and in many other areas
of the Federal bureaucracy.
It was a Republican Administration that achieved the most significant
improvements in the history of unemployment insurance.
It was a Republican Administration that acted to protect the environment by
creating a new Council on Environmental Quality and a new Environmental Protection
Agency.
It was a Republican Administration that brought about more school
desegregation in two years than in the entire period between 1954 and 1969.
It was a Republican Administration that won passage of legislation to
(more)
-4-
improve on-the-job safety for America's working men and women.
And it was a Republican Administration that got a reluctant Democratic
Congress to adopt legislation for a stepped-up fight against organized crime and
the drug menace.
Let's be honest about it. A Democratic Congress is not anxious to give a
Republican President anything that will make him and his party look good.
When a Republican President's proposals prevail with a Democratic Congress
it is because popular support for the legislation is so apparent it cannot be
ignored. The Democrats then try to steal the credit for the legislation--as they
did with tax reform in 1969--and seek to amend the legislation beyond all
recognition.
In spite of such tactics, Republicans can point to a formidable list of
accomplishments in the last Congress--among them postal reform, draft reform, the
Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of
1970, the Organized Crime Control Act, and the Comprehensive Drug Control Act.
Now we look to the future. We look for more progress--progress toward
peace, and progress toward prosperity in peacetime.
In his State of the Union Message of Jan. 22 last, the President laid a
blueprint for progress before the Congress and the Nation.
He set forth six great goals--prosperity in peacetime, welfare reform,
the restoration of our environment, the best possible health care for all Americans,
putting the money where our problems are by sharing Federal revenue with the
cities and states, and complete reform of the Federal Government through an overhaul
of cabinet departments.
With one stroke, the President has challenged the Nation to scrap what has
failed and to turn instead toward meeting the needs of tomorrow in tomorrow's terms.
He has taken dramatic new initiatives on social legislation and on the
structure of government--and the response among the people makes it clear he has
captured the imagination of the nation.
What the President is asking for is a chance to prove that government can
work.
He is seeking to do this by moving to replace the present scandalous welfare
system, to establish work incentives and work requirements, to aid the working as
well as the non-working poor with an income floor, to bolster state and local
governments, to overhaul job training and job placement programs, to share Federal
(more)
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
-5-
income tax revenue with states and local communities.
Republicans want to reform government itself--so that instead of sliding
further into musclebound ineffectiveness it at last can deliver the services it
promises and bridge the gap between promise and performance.
As the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, said: "The legitimate
object of government is to do for people what needs to be done, but which they
cannot by individual effort do at all or do so well for themselves."
Through Federal revenue sharing, by putting the money where the problems
are, we will be returning government to the people. And, as Lincoln so well
expressed it: "We hold to the true Republican position. In leaving the people's
business in their hands, we cannot be wrong."
There will be great opposition to revenue sharing and to overhaul of the
Federal departments. We all know that old Federal programs never die; they don't
even fade away. Their supporters are legion, and lobbyists are a determined breed.
But the American people will be heard--and they should be heard, at all
levels of government. What man has made, man can change. And we must have the
courage to change what should be changed.
We must tear away the tangle of red tape. We must find our way out of the
bureaucratic maze. We must return government to the people.
The problems of New York are not the same as those of Michigan. The
problems of Albany are not identical with those of Grand Rapids. That is why
we need Federal revenue sharing.
Money is power. Moving money back to the states and cities means a flow
of power back to the people. This is where the power belongs.
If Republicans succeed in returning power to the people, the people will
turn to the Republican Party.
The people will turn to Republicanism because it is the Republican Party
which seeks to make the people--young, middle-aged and old--a part of participatory
democracy. It is the Republican Party which seeks to involve the people in building
through better government a better life for all of us on this planet.
That is why I say the party of Lincoln is on the threshold of once again
becoming the majority party in this nation.
Every individual wants to count for something. Under the Republican
philosophy of government, he can.
We must think in terms of people, not just programs. We must replace
computers with compassion.
(more)
-6-
Lincoln said: "This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people
who inhabit it."
Let's make this country belong to the people again. Let's give the
individual the feeling of determining his own destiny, of being able to make things
happen.
This is the image of the new Republicanism. This is the shape of things to
come. This is how the new Republican Party will build a new America.
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AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE A LINCOLN DAY DINNER
6:30 P.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1971
ORLANDO, FLORIDA
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
I am very happy to be here tonight, and I am happy to be able to tell you
that better times lie just ahead.
We have lived through a mighty rough period in this country in recent
years--a time of assassination and anarchy, of riots and burnings, of snipings
and bombings, of campus disruptions and violent disorders.
Remember the good old days, when youthful protest was just a girl who
insisted on saying "no?"
Instead we have experienced wild demonstrations and attempts to tear our
country apart, violent revolution, mindless revolt.
I have just figured out why they call it the Far Left. That's because it's
so far from being right.
I believe violence in this country has clearly subsided. And I feel certain
this is far more than mere circumstance. This is a direct result of positions
taken by our Republican Administration--refusal to compromise with the forces of
violence and a determination to deal firmly with those who seek change through
destructive means.
We have, in a word, a responsible administration. During the last
administration, nobody wanted to be responsible for anything.
I don't intend to be particularly partisan tonight, but I'll just bet that
if President Nixon ends the Vietnam War, reduces crime and brings inflation under
control the Democrats will say it's a trick to make them look bad.
We do have many problems that deeply concern us, and inflation is one of
them. Things are quiet in Washington right now, but inflation hasn't slowed up my
wife. She just keeps charging ahead.
It is quiet along the Potomac, but a fever is burning beneath the surface
of the political scene. It is the fever of change.
More than a century ago the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln,
told a nation torn in two by war:
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"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The
occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise to the occasion. As our
case is new, so we must think and act anew."
On Jan. 22 last, President Richard M. Nixon addressed the Congress and the
American people, declaring:
"In these troubled years just past, America has been going through a long
nightmare of war and division, of crime and inflation. Even more deeply, we have
gone through a long, dark night of the American spirit. But now that night is
ending. Now we must let our spirits soar again. The people of this nation are
eager to get on with the quest for new greatness. They see challenges, and they
are prepared to meet those challenges. It is for us here to open the doors that
will set free again the real greatness of this nation-the genius of the American
people. "
Will the Democratic-controlled Congress meet that challenge? Will the
Congress ride the winds of change with the Republican Party? Or will the masters
of political power on Capitol Hill seek to stifle change and push it back into the
bottle?
The times change, and political parties and governments must change with
them.
I find that change has swept through the Republican Party, ripping away the
cobwebs of reaction and the resistance to reform.
Who would have thought just a few short years ago that the Republican Party
would be championing the first major overhaul of the welfare system in four decades?
Who would have thought just a few short years ago that the Republican Party
would be advocating a massive sharing of Federal income tax revenue with the cities
and states?
Who would have thought just a few short years ago that the Republican Party
would be proposing to reshape the entire Federal Government by cutting the number
of Federal cabinet departments from 11 to seven?
The Republican Party has become the party of daring and imagination-- the
party of boldness and reform-the party of the future-the party of hope for
America.
The Republican Party is alive with new ideas and programs for meeting the
needs of the people, for restoring our environment, for bringing the best possible
health care to the people, for improving the quality of life in America.
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The Democratic Party has become the party of the status quo, merely seeking
to graft new growth onto old programs. The New Deal and the Fair Deal have become
the American people's ordeal.
Despite Democratic Party roadblocks to change, the Republican Party has
brought great progress to the American people in the past two years.
Despite the fact that Richard Nixon was the first President since Zachary
Taylor to enter office with Congress firmly in control of the opposition party, the
wheels of progress have been steadily turning and the record is there to prove it.
It was a Republican Administration that reversed the course of the war in
Vietnam and wound it down.
It was a Republican Administration that developed a new strategy for peace
in the world centered on the Nixon Doctrine of helping those nations which help
themselves.
It was a Republican Administration that brought about ratification of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It was a Republican Administration that entered into serious negotiations
with the Soviet Union on the limitation of strategic arms.
It was a Republican Administration that renounced biological weapons and
the first use of chemical warfare.
It was a Republican Administration that achieved a draft treaty prohibiting
the emplacement of nuclear weapons in the seabed.
It was a Republican Administration that reordered our national priorities
to devote a greater part of the Federal budget to human needs than to defense
spending.
It was a Republican Administration that pushed through major reforms in the
postal system, in the Executive Office of the President, and in many other areas
of the Federal bureaucracy.
It was a Republican Administration that achieved the most significant
improvements in the history of unemployment insurance.
It was a Republican Administration that acted to protect the environment by
creating a new Council on Environmental Quality and a new Environmental Protection
Agency.
It was a Republican Administration that brought about more school
desegregation in two years than in the entire period between 1954 and 1969.
It was a Republican Administration that won passage of legislation to
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improve on-the-job safety for America's working men and women.
And it was a Republican Administration that got a reluctant Democratic
Congress to adopt legislation for a stepped-up fight against organized crime and
the drug menace.
Let's be honest about it. A Democratic Congress is not anxious to give a
Republican President anything that will make him and his party look good.
When a Republican President's proposals prevail with a Democratic Congress
it is because popular support for the legislation is so apparent it cannot be
ignored. The Democrats then try to steal the credit for the legislation--as they
did with tax reform in 1969--and seek to amend the legislation beyond all
recognition.
In spite of such tactics, Republicans can point to a formidable list of
accomplishments in the last Congress--among them postal reform, draft reform, the
Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of
1970, the Organized Crime Control Act, and the Comprehensive Drug Control Act.
Now we look to the future. We look for more progress--progress toward
peace, and progress toward prosperity in peacetime.
In his State of the Union Message of Jan. 22 last, the President laid a
blueprint for progress before the Congress and the Nation.
He set forth six great goals--prosperity in peacetime, welfare reform,
the restoration of our environment, the best possible health care for all Americans,
putting the money where our problems are by sharing Federal revenue with the
cities and states, and complete reform of the Federal Government through an overhaul
of cabinet departments.
With one stroke, the President has challenged the Nation to scrap what has
failed and to turn instead toward meeting the needs of tomorrow in tomorrow's terms.
He has taken dramatic new initiatives on social legislation and on the
structure of government--and the response among the people makes it clear he has
captured the imagination of the nation.
What the President is asking for is a chance to prove that government can
work.
He is seeking to do this by moving to replace the present scandalous welfare
system, to establish work incentives and work requirements, to aid the working as
well as the non-working poor with an income floor, to bolster state and local
governments, to overhaul job training and job placement programs, to share Federal
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income tax revenue with states and local communities.
Republicans want to reform government itself--so that instead of sliding
further into musclebound ineffectiveness it at last can deliver the services it
promises and bridge the gap between promise and performance.
As the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, said: "The legitimate
object of government is to do for people what needs to be done, but which they
cannot by individual effort do at all or do so well for themselves."
Through Federal revenue sharing, by putting the money where the problems
are, we will be returning government to the people. And, as Lincoln so well
expressed it: "We hold to the true Republican position. In leaving the people's
business in their hands, we cannot be wrong."
There will be great opposition to revenue sharing and to overhaul of the
Federal departments. We all know that old Federal programs never die; they don't
even fade away. Their supporters are legion, and lobbyists are a determined breed.
But the American people will be heard--and they should be heard, at all
levels of government. What man has made, man can change. And we must have the
courage to change what should be changed.
We must tear away the tangle of red tape. We must find our way out of the
bureaucratic maze. We must return government to the people.
The problems of New York are not the same as those of Michigan. The
problems of Albany are not identical with those of Grand Rapids. That is why
we need Federal revenue sharing.
Money is power. Moving money back to the states and cities means a flow
of power back to the people. This is where the power belongs.
If Republicans succeed in returning power to the people, the people will
turn to the Republican Party.
The people will turn to Republicanism because it is the Republican Party
which seeks to make the people--young, middle-aged and old--a part of participatory
democracy. It is the Republican Party which seeks to involve the people in building
through better government a better life for all of us on this planet.
That is why I say the party of Lincoln is on the threshold of once again
becoming the majority party in this nation.
Every individual wants to count for something. Under the Republican
philosophy of government, he can.
We must think in terms of people, not just programs. We must replace
computers with compassion.
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Lincoln said: "This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people
who inhabit it."
Let's make this country belong to the people again. Let's give the
individual the feeling of determining his own destiny, of being able to make things
happen.
This is the image of the new Republicanism. This is the shape of things to
come. This is how the new Republican Party will build a new America.
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