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The original documents are located in Box D19, folder "Sigma Delta Chi, Columbus, OH,
April 3, 1965" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 D17 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford (R-Mich)
SIGMA DELTA CHI Columbus, Ohio April 3, 1965
Those of you who are concerned with the more obscure political
happenings in Washington may r ecall that I was elected Minority Leader
of the House by a landslide vote of 73 to 67.
This triumph and the use of that word may be the over-statement of
the year
shows that all you need is an allegation of virtue, a moderate
amount of hard work, and lots of luck.
The overwhelming mandate I received in January, and the unbroken
record of successes since then, encourage me to appear before you tonight
as an authority
on the problems of the oppressed minorities.
As was said two thousand years ago "Where the carcass is, there
will the eagles gather together.' I am certain none of you are eagles.
You see, football is really my first love. I am a politican
only because of the job security!
But since Michigan wallopped Oregon State in the Rose Nowl by
27 points, and, three days later Ford beat his opponent by only 6 points,
perhaps I chose the wrong profession.
FORDO & LIBRARY GERALD
I have often wondered where I would now be if I had accepted Curly
more
Sigma Delta Chi
-2-
Packers
Lambeau's offer in 1934 to play fro ball with the Green Bay
perhaps on the Supreme Court.
Parts. takez look at the new direction of the Republican
It's true that the new House Republican leadership hasn't won any
spectacular legislative successes. This has been appropriately noted by
some
But we never campaigned on a platform that we could
double our numbers and slice the opposition in half before November 1966 by
some strange sleight of hand or magic potion.
As you may know, the numbers on each side of the aisle in the House
have remained the same since November third--140 Republicans to 294 Democrats.
The odds are rough. But, to coin a phrase
with a little different twist
"we shall overcome."
You in your profession and those of us in my profession face the
same powerhouse but in a different way.
The White House and all its talented troops try to spoon-feed the
news media
and they try to clobber us. The President has virtually unlimited
resources working his will---- a veritable army of experts, authorities,
researchers, propagandists and the like.
LIDRARY
He is also king pin of a branch of government that employes 21/2 million
civilians and controls the destinty of 2 million 600 thousand military personnel.
more
Sigma Delta Chi
-2-
Packers
Lambeau's offer in 1934 to play fro ball with the Green Bay
perhaps on the Supreme Court.
Parts. tabs takez look ot the new direction of the Republican
It's true that the new House Republican leadership hasn't won any
spectacular legislative successes. This has been appropriately noted by
some
But we never campaigned on a platform that we could
double our numbers and slice the opposition in half before November 1966 by
some strange sleight of hand or magic potion.
As you may know, the numbers on each side of the aisle in the House
have remained the same since November third---140 Republicans to 294 Democrats.
The odds are rough. But, to coin a phrase with a little different twist
"we shall overcome.'
You in your profession and those of us in my profession face the
same powerhouse but in a different way.
The White House and all its talented troops try to spoon-feed the
news media
and they try to clobber us. The President has virtually unlimited
resources working his will a veritable army of experts, authorities,
researchers, propagandists and the like.
GERALD
He is also king pin of a branch of government that employes 2½ million
civilians and controls the destinty of 2 million 600 thousand military personnel.
more
SigmaDelta Chi
-3-
These two groups have a payroll cost totalling $28 billion. and together
they will spend more than 127 billion tax dollars in fiscal 1966. I
wish Republicans had this kind of a campaign fund!
This awesome power and the vast apparatus, if used improperly, could
mean the withering away and eventually the death of the two-party system.
there is nothing constitutionally ordained about running our
government through two great political parties.
llmost from the start our nation made such a choice, however.
It was a wise decision. We avoided the chaos of a multi-party government.
We avoided the loss of freedom of the single-party system. And we built into
government an additional set of checks and balances.
Not only does a strong second party provide the electorate with
legislative alternatives, but also with a remarkably high level of
honesty and frankness.
The American news media has a noble tradition in demanding the facts,
burtsing the bubble of propaganda, unstuffing the shirt and exposing the
corrupt.
more-
1
Sigma Delta Chi
4-
You of the journalistic profession can perform your job
better if the relative strengths of our two parties are more nearly
in balance and not so far out of kilter.
When both the Executive and Legislative branches are dominated
by the same political party, the Committees on government operations
of the House and Senate which have broad investigating authority
should be under the control of the minority party. It smacks of
legalized collusion when we find the suspect and the District Attorney
are blood relatives.
To make the Federal government function better, to help
you get the facts, Republicans in Congress believe this new idea would
be a step in the right difection.
By giving the minority party control of the two committees
with their sweeping authority to investigate
the majority party
would be constantly on notice that its actions or inactions were
subject to effective and critical review. The American people deserve
this kind of protection. an assurance that political righteousness
of ALD FORD
prevails in high places.
more
SigmaDelta Chi
-5-
By assuring in this way that the voice of the minority party is
heard, there would be small chance that any cover-up or wrong-doing
would escape notice.
The news media would have the responsibility to objectively report
the work of the Committees on Government Operations of the House and
Senate with the minority perty controlling the investigating authority.
It is safe to speculate, for example, that with such a set-up
there would be more public confidence that the real Bobby Baker story had
been told.
The Democrats certainly have us overwhelmed numerically in
Congress. We could throw up our hands and say "what's the use?" That's no
answer for the American people, for you or for ourselves. Fortunately,
there is a constructive ferment right now in the Republican Party.
We have already made some reorganization of our internal machinery.
*he Research and Planning Committee is working on long-range policy.
We are creatin special task forces on major substantive in such rapid
succession that one observer said we are setting up an "anti-poverty
program for Republican intellectuals."
-more
Sigma Delta Chi
-6-
The current, day-to-day legislative problems are dealt with
by a policy committee, which is on the firing line often and long these
days.
On the basis of simple arithmetic, the Administration can slam-bang
through just about anything it wants in this Congress, particularly by
twisting a few arms as it did in the Nasser victory on an appropriation
bill a few weeks ago.
Nevertheless, we will win on some issues in this Congress. More
importantly, Republicans will build a record for a substantially stronger
representation after November 8, 1966.
Our Republican strategy in the house will be diversified.
We'll be most grateful for any Democratic support, ****h North or South.
To compete with the administration we will offer:
1. Opposition to Administration aims and methods whenwe think
both are wrong; but never obstructionism just for its own sake.
2. Constructive alternatives to dministration S chemes when we
feel they are tackling the right problems, at home and abroad,
in the wrong way.
more
Sigma Delta Chi
-7-
3. Workable programs, developed through task forces, to meet
any problems the Administration is ignoring, neglecting or
sidetracking. By the way, we refuse to concede that Democrats
have a monopoly on ideas for the solution of domestic or
foreign difficulties.
4. Wholehearted support for the President when we think he is
right. Viet-Nam policy in the last few weeks is the prime
example. More and more Republicans have staunchly backed the
President while more and more Democrats have changed their
tune to favor immediate negotiation and a tail-between-our-legs
withdrawal.
more
FORD :- LIBRAR CERALD j
Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford (R-Mich)
SIGMA DELTA CHI Columbus, Ohio April 3, 1965
Those of you who are concerned with the more obscure political
happenings in Washington may r ecall that I was elected Minority Leader
of the House by a landslide vote of 73 to 67.
This triumpho end the use of that word may be the over-statement of
the year shows that all you need is an allegation of virtue, a moderate
amount of hard work, and lots of luck.
The overwhelming mandate I received in January, and the unbroken
record of successes since then, encourage me to appear before you tonight
as an authority on the problems of the oppressed minorities.
As was said two thousand years ago--- "Where the carcass is, there
will the eagles gather together." I am certain none of you are eagles.
You see, football is really my first love. I am a politican
only because of the Job security!
But since Michigan wallopped Oregon State in the Rose Nowl by
27 points, and, three days later Ford best his opponent by only 6 points,
perhaps I chose the wrong profession.
RALD
I have often wondered where I would now be if I had accepted Curly
Sigma Delta Chi
-2-
Packers-------
Lambeau's offer in 1934 to play fro ball with the Green By
perhaps on the Supreme Court.
It's true that the new House Republican leadership hasn't won any
spectacular legislative successes. This has been appropriately noted by
some reporters. But we never campaigned on a platform that we could
double our numbers and slice the opposition in half before November 1966 by
some strange sleight of hand or magic potion.
As you may know, the numbers on each side of the aisle in the House
have remained the same since November third--140 Republicans to 294 Democrats.
The odds are rough. But, to coin a phrase with a little different twist---
"we shall overcome."
You in your profession and those of us in my profession face the
same powerhouse but in a a different way.
The White House and all its talented troops try to spoon-feed the
news media-------------------- they try to clobber us. The President has virtually unlimited
resources working his will---- a veritable army of experts, authorities,
FORD & OERALD LIBRARY
researchers, propagandists and the like.
He is also king pin of a branch of government that employes 21 million
and controls the destintv of 2 million 600 thousand military personnel.
SigmaDelta Chi
-3-
These two groups have a payroll cost totalling $28 billion....and together
they will spend more than 127 billion tax dollars in fiscal 1966. I
wish Republicans had this kind of a campaign funds
This awesome power and the vast apparatus, if used improperly, could
mean the withering away and eventually the death of the two-party system.
*here is nothing constitutionally ordained about running our
government through two great political parties.
Almost from the start our nation made such a choice, however.
It was a wise decision. We avoided the chaos of a multi-party government.
We avoided the loss of freedom of the single-party system. And we built into
government an additional set of checks and balances.
Not only does a strong second party provide the electorate with
legislative alternatives, but also with a remarkably high level of
honesty and frankness.
The American news media has a noble tradition in demanding the facts,
burtsing the bubble of propaganda, unstuffing the shirt and exposing the
corrupt.
more-
GERALO FORD LIBRARY
Sigma Delta Chi
-4-
You of the journalistic profession can perform your job
better if the relative strengths of our two parties are more nearly
in balance and not so far out of kilter.
When both the Executive and Legislative branches are dominated
by the same political party, the Committees on government operations
of the House and Senate---which have broad investigating authority--
should be under the control of the minority party. It smacks of
legalized collusion when we find the suspect and the District Attorney
are blood relatives.
To make the Federal government function better, to help
you get the facts, Republicans in Congress believe this new idea would
be a step in the right difection.
By giving the minority party control of the two committees
with their sweeping authority to investigate- the majority party
would be constantly on notice that its actions or inactions were
subject to effective and critical review. The American people deserve ORD
OTV
this kind of protection. assurance that political righteousness
LIBRARY
prevails in high places.
more
Sigma Delta Chi
-4-
You of the journalistic profession can perform your job
better if the relative strengths of our two parties are more nearly
in balance and not so far out of kilter.
When both the Executive and Legislative branches are dominated
by the same political party, the Committees on government operations
of the House and Senate--which have broad investigating authority-
should be under the control of the minority party. It smacks of
legalized collusion when we find the suspect and the District Attorney
are blood relatives.
To make the Federal government function better, to help
you get the facts, Republicans in Congress believe this new idea would
be a step in the right difection.
By giving the minority party control of the two committees
with their sweeping authority to investigate the majority party
would be constantly on notice that its actions or inactions were
subject to effective and critical review. The American people deserve ORD
ALD
this kind of protection.
assurance that political righteousness
LIBRARY
prevails in high places.
more
SigmaDelta Chi
5-
By assuring in this way that the voice of the minority party is
heard, there would be small chance that any cover-up or wrong-doing
would escape notice.
The news media would have the responsibility to objectively report
the work of the Committees on Government Operations of the House and
Senate with the minority party controlling the investigating authority.
It is safe to speculate, for exemple, that with such a set-up
there would be more public confidence that the real Bobby Baker story had
been told.
The Democrats certainly have us overwhelmed numerically in
Congress. We could throw up our hands and say "what's the use?" That's no
answer for the American people, for you or for ourselves. Fortunately,
there is a constructive ferment right now in the Republican Party.
We have already made some reorganization of our internal machinery.
the Research and Flamning Committee is working on long-range policy.
We are creating special task forces on major substantive in such rapid
succession that one observer said we are setting up an "anti-poverty
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
program for Republican intellectuals."
-more
Sigma Delta Chi
-6-
The current, day-t@-day legislative problems are dealt with
by a policy committee, which is on the firing line often and long these
days.
On the basis of simple arithmetic, the Administration can slam-bang
through just about anything it wants in this Congress, particularly by
twisting 3 few arms as it did in the Nasser victory on an appropriation
bill a few weeks ago.
Nevertheless, we will win on some issues in this Congress. More
importantly, Republicans will build a record for a substantially stronger
representation after November 8, 1966.
Our Republican strategy in the house will be diversified.
We'll be most grateful for any Democratic support, Nroth North or South.
To compete with the administration we will offers
1. Opposition to Administration aims and methods when we think
both are wrong; but never obstructionism just for its own sake.
2. Constructive alternatives to Administration S chemes when we
FORD
feel they are tackling the right problems, at home and abroad,
GERA
LIBRARY
in the wrong way.
more
Sigma Delta Chi
-7-
3. Workable programs, developed through task forces, to meet
any problems the Administration is ignoring, neglecting or
sidetracking. By the way, we refuse to concede that Democrate
have a monopoly on ideas for the solution of domestic or
foreign difficulties.
4. Wholehearted support for the President when we think he is
right. Viet-Nam policy in the last few weeks is the prime
exemple. More and more Republicans have staunchly backed the
President while more and more Democrats have changed their
tune to favor immediate negotiation and a tail-between-our-legs
withdrawal.
more
FORM LIBRARY GERALD RAR
Signa Delta Chi
-7-
3. Workable programs, developed through task forces, to meet
any problems the Administration is ignoring, neglecting or
sidetracking. By the way, we refuse to concede that Democrate
have a monopoly on ideas for the solution of domestic or
foreign difficulties.
4. Wholehearted support for the President when we think he is
right. Viet-Nam policy in the last few weeks is the prime
exemple. More and more Republicans have staunchly backed the
President while more and more Democrats have changed their
tune to favor immediate negotiation and a tail-between-our-legs
withdrawal.
more
GERALD LISANA
+
Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford
you were ohio
SIGMA DELTA CHI
Columbus, Ohio
the
petri April 3, 1965
Sam
?
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
AT 8 p.m. EST., April 3, 1965
Jim Rhodeo clarence Brown
Those of you who are concerned with the more obscure political
happenings in Washington may recall that I was elected Minority Leader of
the House not so long ago by a landslide vote of 73 to 67.
Some have described this as a triumph. Others say I have a shaky
mandate. Whatever name is tagged on this political victory, it shows
that all you need is an allegation of virtue, a moderate amount of hard
work and lots of luck.
At this point I suspect my goodfriend Senator Everett McKinley Dirsken
might caution me that the oil can is mightier than the sword.
In any event, the skyrocketing victory or the nervous triumph- I
achieved in January, and the unbroken record of successes since then, have
encouraged me to appear here tonight as an authority
on the problems
GERAL FORD VIBRARY
of the oppressed minorities.
-more-
+
Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford
April you 3, were 1965 Ohio The
SIGMA DELTA CHI
Columbus, Ohio
DeVictorate
the
Sam
?
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
AT 8 p.m. EST., April 3, 1965
Jim clarence Rhodes Brnn
Those of you who are concerned with the more obscure political
happenings in Washington may recall that I was elected Minority Leader of
the House not so long ago by a landslide vote of 73 to 67.
Some have described this as a triumph. Others say I have a shaky
mandate. Whatever name is tagged on this political victory, it shows
that all you need is an allegation of virtue, a moderate amount of hard
work and lots of luck.
At this point I suspect my goodfriend Senator Everett McKinley Dirsken
might caution me that the oil can is mightier than the sword.
In any event, the skyrocketing victory
or the nervous triumph--I
achieved in January, and the unbroken record of successes since then, have
FORD
encouraged me to appear here tonight as an authority
on the problems
GERALD
LIBRARY
of the oppressed minorities.
-more-
-2-
As was said two thousand years ago -- "Where the carcáss is, there
will the eagles gather." I am certain none of you are here for such a
purpose tonight.
As you know, football is really my first love. I am only a
politician because of the job security!
But since Michigan beat Oregon State in the Rose Bowl by 27 points,
and, three days later Ford beat his opponent by only 6 points, perhaps I
chose the wrong profession!
I have often wondered where I would now be if I had accepted Curly
Lambeau's offer in 1934 to play pro ball with the Green Bay Packers --
perhaps on the Supreme Court!
It's true that the new House Republican leadership hasn't won any
spectacular legislative successes. This has been appropriately noted by
some. But we never campaigned on a platform that -- by some strange sleight
of hand or magic potion -- we could double our numbers and slice the
opposition in half before November 1966.
BERALD FORD MORAGI
-3-
As you well know, the numbers on each side of the aisle in the
House have remained the same since November third -- 140 Republicans to
294 Democrats. The odds are rough. But, to coin a phrase -- with a
little different twist -- "we shall overcome."
You in your profession and those of us in my profession face the
same powerhouse -- but in a different way.
The White House and all its troops try to spoon-feed you -- and
they try to clobber us. The President has virtually unlimited resources
for working his will -- a veritable army of experts, authorities, researchers,
propagandists and the like.
He is also king pin of the branch of government that employes
2½ million civilians and controls the destiny of 2 million 600 thousand
an annerah
military personnel. These two groups have x payroll cost totalling
$28 billion
and together they will spend over 127 billion tax dollars
in fiscal
1966. 2 with Republicans had This kid 8
a campup found
-4-
This awesome power and the vast apparatus, if used improperly,
could mean the withering away and eventually the death of the two-party
system.
There is nothing constitutionally ordained about running our
government through two great political parties.
But almost from the start our nation made such a choice. It was
a wise decision. We avoided the chaos of a multi-party government. We
avoided the loss of freedom of the single-party system. And we built into
government an additional set of checks and balances.
Not only does a strong second party provide the electorate with
legislative alternatives but also with a remarkably high level of honesty
and frankness.
Our American news media have a noble tradition in demanding the
facts, bursting the bubble of propaganda, unstuffing the shirt and exposing
the corrupt. You of the news media can perform your job better if the
relative strengths of our two parties are more nearly in balance and not
so far out of kilter.
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
-5-
When both the Executive and Legislative branches are dominated
by the same political party, the Committees on Government Operations
of the House and Senate, which have broad investigating authority,
should be under the control of the minority party. It smacks of legalized
collusion when we find the suspect and the District Attorney are blood
relatives. To make our Federal government function better, to help you
get the facts, Republicans in Congress believe this new idea would be a
step in the right direction.
Here would be a genuine vehicle to assure that the voice of the
minority would be heard, that the majority would be constantly on notice
that its actions or inactions were subject to effective and critical review.
Here would be an assurance the public through your help would know that
any cover-up or wrongdoing would be improbable, if not impossible.
It is safe to speculate that with such a set-up there would be
more public confidence that the real Bobby Baker story had been told.
ASVN GERALD
-6-
The Democrats certainly have us overwhelmed numerically in
Congress. We could say, "What's the use?" That's no answer for the
American people, for you or for ourselves. Fortunately, there is a
constructive ferment right now in the Republican Party.
We have already made some reorganization of our internal machinery.
under chalie Andell
The Research and Planning Committee is working at long-range policy. We
n
are creating special task forces on major substantive issues in such
rapid succession that one observer said we were setting up "an anti-poverty
program for Republican intellectuals."
John Rhodes, with a beefed-up staff, is Policy Committee chairman,
and this reorganized group will deal with current, day-to-day, legislative
problems.
On the basis of simple mathematics, the Administration can pass
about everything it wants to in this Congress, particularly if it twists
a few arms as it did in the Nasser victory on an appropriation bill a
few weeks ago. Nevertheless, we will win on some issues in this Congress.
-7-
More importantly, Republicans will build a record for a substantially
stronger representation after November 8, 1966.
The Republican strategy in the House will be diversified.
We'll be grateful for any Democratic support, North or South. To
compete with the Administration, we will offer:
1. Opposition to Administration's aims and methods when we
think both are wrong; but never obstructionism just for its
own sake.
2. Constructive alternatives to Administration schemes when
we feel they are tackling the right problems, at home or abroad,
in the wrong way. House Republicans have already recommended
responsible proposals this year in medicare, education, housing
and Appalachia.
3. Workable programs, developed through our task forces, to
meet the many problems the Administration is ignoring or
neglecting. We refuse to concede that Democrats have a monopoly
FORD is LIBRARY
on ideas for the solution of domestic or foreign difficulties.
-8-
4. Wholehearted support for the President when we think he
is right. Viet Nam policy in the last few weeks is the prime
example. More and more Republicans have staunchly backed the
President while more and more Democrats have changed their
tune to favor immediate negotiation and tail-between-our-legs
withdrawal.
On the domestic scene we recall that the Congress has enacted
three laws on Civil Rights since 1957. Progress has been made in the
South because there is a growing public conscience and sense of justice.
Yet even in 1964 far too many eligible Negroes of voting age were
not registered to vote in eleven Southern States. For some part of the
2,800,000 who are unregistered, the franchise is unattainable regardless
of their qualifications. In some islands of resistance, the Fifteenth
Amendment to the Constitution is still being flouted.
-9-
The Republican leadership insists this violation of constitutional
rights must end prior to the 1966 election.
The achievement of this goal requires a new and strong Federal
Voting Rights Law. This legislation should:
(1) effectively and speedily end the unconstitutional denial
of the right to vote everywhere in the United States;
(2) terminate unreasonable standards for registration and
voting without interfering with the reasonable requirements
established by the states;
(3) terminate any discriminatory application of requirements
for registration and voting;
(4) should not penalize areas which are not guilty of discrimination.
The Voting Rights bill which the Administration has submitted to the
Congress falls short of meeting these standards.
-10-
This bill appears to affect only the 18, possibly 20,
states which have some kind of literacy test as a qualification for
voting. It does not apply to four Southern states in which are found
25 per cent of the unregistered Negroes of the South -- Arkansas,
Florida, Tennessee, and Texas. It does not apply to Smith County,
Texas, with low voter turnout among a population of 27 per cent Negro.
On the other hand, it does apply to Aroostook County, Maine, where only
one per cent of the population is non-white.
This bill ignores those discriminatory practices used in the
states that do not employ literacy and similar tests.
In the literacy-test states it largely ignores discrimination
that touches less than 50 per cent of the population.
This bill introduces a strange kind of geographical discrimination.
It nullifies the literacy test in Martin County, North Carolina, where
49.9 per cent of the voting-age population went to the polls in 1964, but
it leaves the literacy test in full effect in Guilford County, North Carolina,
-11-
which registered a turnout of 52.5 per cent of its voting-age population.
This bill leaves untouched too much discrimination in too many
places. If it is passed as drafted, the Congress will find itself
struggling with yet another voting rights bill in 1966 or 1967.
The Administration's bill will not accomplish all that must be
done. Under the leadership of Congressman William McCulloch of Ohio,
I believe there will be a Republican Voting Rights bill in the House of
Representatives that will be more comprehensive in its application. The
Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee, the members of the
House Republican Task Force on the Right to Vote, and others, have been
at work on such a bill for several weeks. They are considering, among
other proposals, those made by Republican members of the Congress before
the President presented his bill. This more effective proposal will be
ready for consideration by the House Committee on the Judiciary.
GERALD FORD CIRRANT
-12-
This overall blueprint for Republican legislative action
is based on what we conceive to be our duty to the 43 per cent of the
American electorate who put us in office, and to the people as a
whole who face ever-increasing Federal domination and erosion of their
liberties unless an articulate opposition functions effectively.
It is based on the hard truth that the Republican Party to win
in 1966 must earn and regain the respect of many millions of voters --
and it can't do this by sitting on the sidelines and waiting for an
international or domestic catastrophe to produce a call for a change of
leadership.
It is based also on a profound conviction that something more
than talk of unity and consensus is demanded by the challenges of our
times.
We subscribe to the observation of Senator Robert A. Taft in
1951, endorsed by John F. Kennedy in 1960, that "if you permit appeals
to unity to bring an end to criticism, we endanger not only the
constitutional liberties of our country, but even its future existence."
-13-
We raise the question of whether it is enough in these
days of danger and turmoil for our President to continue to act as
a consensus politician instead of a statesman who leads.
Waiting for a consensus can and often does mean ignoring
little problems until they become big ones.
It can and does mean inaction until the riots start --
whether in Saigon or in Selma.
As recently as January, the President was referring with
satisfaction -- according to some well-known columnists -- to our
policy in South Viet Nam as one of "creative inaction."
To me, this is a fantastic concept -- better described,
perhaps, as "dynamic paralysis."
Yet this attitude was reflected in the State of the Union
Message, which suggested that the international scene was so improved
that we could all but forget it in favor of domestic affairs.
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The disarray of NATO is all but ignored by the Administration.
Nasser and Sukarno thumb their noses with seeming impunity.
And the disruptive voices in the Democratic Party not only
undercut the President in his conduct of foreign affairs at a time of
national crisis -- they also raise the very grave danger of a Communist
miscalculation as to our intentions in Viet Nam and Southeast Asia.
We believe in keeping the ball on the enemy's goal line --
not back-pedaling to our 20-yard line before starting the next play.
The President can always count on Republican support when his
foreign policy is firm and decisive on the side of freedom and in the
national interest.
But if ever there was a time for broad-gauged revival of genuine
bi-partisanship in foreign policy in the spirit of the late Senator
Arthur Vandenberg, that time is now.
Senator Vandenberg, who was my fellow townsman, was largely
responsible for my getting into politics.
FORD is LIBRARY BERALD
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He arrived at a thoughtful concept of the nation's best
interests in foreign policy matters which served the American people
magnificently well -- and it is a concept which I would be honored
to help to expand beyond current policy in South Viet Nam.
But foreign policy bi-partisanship in the Vandenberg pattern
means genuine consultation across party lines in determining policy --
not just using the Republicans for after-thought window dressing.
It does not mean merely a summons to the White House in a moment
of crisis, and then calling in the photographers and announcing Republican
endorsement of an Administration policy already determined.
Nor does it mean foreclosure of Republican criticism of foreign
policy when we are convinced the Administration is wrong.
Some of our problems, particularly a lack of unity, have been
created by Republicans. On behalf of America's future, I suggest that the
present political imbalance -- however self-inflicted -- is not a good thing.
R-E080 & LIBRARY GERALD j
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Under our system, no Party can be doctrinaire, sectarian, narrow
in its appeal, or misrepresented to have such an image, however unfair
the charge might be -- and still attract the majority of the electorate.
The high ground of moderation with unselfish unity is not only
common horse-sense for a political Party -- it is also representative of
the people and in keeping with the underlying genius of the American
political system.
The day-to-day rebuilding of Republican policy and the Party
must begin in the Congress -- and because all the House must face the
voters next year, the heaviest burden of the task must be carried in the House.
We aim to correct that imbalance -- to re-establish two-party
government. Far from lamenting our fate, House Republicans are wide open
to fresh ideas and confident that new approaches, full participation, and
renewed dedication can earn new friends for the Republican Party, and make
an important contribution to the future of America.
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GERALD LIDRARY