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Mahaska County Republican Dinner, Oskaloosa, IA, May 13, 1967
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Mahaska County Republican Dinner, Oskaloosa, IA, May 13, 1967
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The original documents are located in Box D22, folder "Mahaska County Republican
Dinner, Oskaloosa, IA, May 13, 1967" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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: all mailing only, 4:15 p.m., May 12, 1967
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
FOR RELEASE AT
6:30 p.m., Saturday, May 13, 1967
EXCERPTS FROM A SPEECH BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER,
AT MAHASKA COUNTY REPUBLICAN DINNER, OSKALOOSA, IA., SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1967.
We are on our way. We are on the move. I believe there is a good chance
a Republican will be elected President of the United States in 1968 and that the
Republican Party will take control of the U.S. House of Representatives and make
substantial gains in the Senate.
I believe this because there was widespread dissatisfaction with the Johnson
Administration in 1966 and it is continuing and growing.
I believe it because the Republican Party now holds the governorships in
25 states--states with 285 electoral votes.
But most of all I believe it because the Republican Party has become a party
of ideas, a party of young people, a party with strong new leadership, a problem-
solving party, a party of the future.
Let me emphasize at the outset that no incumbent President is easy to beat.
History has proved that. We can never feel we "have it made." It will take
tremendous effort on the part of every party worker who wants to see a "New
Direction" in Washington.
Republicans will have to pick "the right man" as their candidate in '68. The
Party will have to unite behind him. The candidate will have to wage a skillful,
well-organized campaign and keep mistakes at a minimum. He will have to offer an
appealing domestic program and a viable position on Vietnam. And, assuming that
George Wallace is a third-party candidate--and I believe he will be--the Republican
candidate will have to overcome certain voter defections to the Wallace camp.
Having sketched this "tall order," I still feel encouraged. After all, the
Democrats also have Wallace to contend with--and possibly other splinter group
candidates.
I feel encouraged because there is a new spirit pulsing through the
Republican Party. There is new young blood in the Party and it is rushing to the
surface much faster than many had expected. Look at how far we have come, how
fast we have moved up, since the disaster of 1964. And we are continuing to build--
in terms of organization, program and ideas.
(more)
Digitized from Box D22 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
Much of this new spirit, this new excitement, is evident in the Congress
and, more specifically, in the House of Representatives.
In the House and in the Senate, Republicans have set in motion a swift flow
of proposals. This activity stands in sharp contrast to the inaction and inertia
of the majority party. Our proposals also contrast sharply in content with those
of the majority party. We as Republicans would limit the Federal role and expand
that of the private sector and the state and local governments in a fresh assault
on problems that have defied attacks by government alone.
Roughly half of all Americans today are under 25 years of age. We are
witnessing what might be called a "Youthquake." Most young Americans do not feel
a strong allegiance to any political party. They are interested in problem-solving
and in programs that actually work.
I think the new Republican Party has much to offer young Americans today.
The Republican Party is where the action is. Its ideas are not rooted in the Big
Depression--a time that is alien to the thoughts and feelings of today's youth.
Unlike the present majority party, the Republican Party is eagerly looking for
new ideas and new solutions. We are proposing sensible solutions for the
Seventies. The other party still relies on the tired theories of the Thirties.
They haven't had a new idea in more than 30 years.
The 1968 Republican candidate will need issues. He will find them not only
in the other party's blunders and divisiveness but in the bank of new ideas now
being built up by Republican activists in the Congress.
You have read of many of these ideas--sharing of federal tax revenue with
the cities and states to cut red tape and promote a larger local role in problem-
solving, establishment through the Percy-Widnall Bill of a National Home Ownership
Foundation which would raise mortgage funds and help slum dwellers become proud
home owners, an attack on hard-core unemployment and poverty through tax credits
encouraging industry to train the unskilled and make them productive citizens, a
movement to raise a majority of Americans to the college level through tax
credits for a portion of college expenses, an opportunity crusade enlisting
private enterprise in a revamped war on poverty.
This is not rhetoric. This is a program. Republicans in Congress are making
a record for their presidential candidate and the party's congressional candidates
to run on next year. It will be a record we can win on.
###
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
FOR RELEASE AT
6:30 p.m., Saturday, May 13, 1967
EXCERPTS FROM A SPEECH BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER,
AT MAHASKA COUNTY REPUBLICAN DINNER, OSKALOOSA, IA., SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1967.
We are on our way. We are on the move. I believe there is a good chance
a Republican will be elected President of the United States in 1968 and that the
Republican Party will take control of the U.S. House of Representatives and make
substantial gains in the Senate.
I believe this because there was widespread dissatisfaction with the Johnson
Administration in 1966 and it is continuing and growing.
I believe it because the Republican Party now holds the governorships in
25 states--states with 285 electoral votes.
But most of all I believe it because the Republican Party has become a party
of ideas, a party of young people, a party with strong new leadership, a problem-
solving party, a party of the future.
Let me emphasize at the outset that no incumbent President is easy to beat.
History has proved that. We can never feel we "have it made." It will take
tremendous effort on the part of every party worker who wants to see a "New
Direction" in Washington.
Republicans will have to pick "the right man" as their candidate in '68. The
Party will have to unite behind him. The candidate will have to wage a skillful,
well-organized campaign and keep mistakes at a minimum. He will have to offer an
appealing domestic program and a viable position on Vietnam. And, assuming that
George Wallace is a third-party candidate--and I believe he will be--the Republican
candidate will have to overcome certain voter defections to the Wallace camp.
Having sketched this "tall order," I still feel encouraged. After all, the
Democrats also have Wallace to contend with--and possibly other splinter group
candidates.
I feel encouraged because there is a new spirit pulsing through the
Republican Party. There is new young blood in the Party and it is rushing to the
surface much faster than many had expected. Look at how far we have come, how
fast we have moved up, since the disaster of 1964. And we are continuing to build--
in terms of organization, program and ideas.
(more)
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
-2-
Much of this new spirit, this new excitement, is evident in the Congress
and, more specifically, in the House of Representatives.
In the House and in the Senate, Republicans have set in motion a swift flow
of proposals. This activity stands in sharp contrast to the inaction and inertia
of the majority party. Our proposals also contrast sharply in content with those
of the majority party. We as Republicans would limit the Federal role and expand
that of the private sector and the state and local governments in a fresh assault
on problems that have defied attacks by government alone.
Roughly half of all Americans today are under 25 years of age. We are
witnessing what might be called a "Youthquake." Most young Americans do not feel
a strong allegiance to any political party. They are interested in problem-solving
and in programs that actually work.
I think the new Republican Party has much to offer young Americans today.
The Republican Party is where the action is. Its ideas are not rooted in the Big
Depression--a time that is alien to the thoughts and feelings of today's youth.
Unlike the present majority party, the Republican Party is eagerly looking for
new ideas and new solutions. We are proposing sensible solutions for the
Seventies. The other party still relies on the tired theories of the Thirties.
They haven't had a new idea in more than 30 years.
The 1968 Republican candidate will need issues. He will find them not only
in the other party's blunders and divisiveness but in the bank of new ideas now
being built up by Republican activists in the Congress.
You have read of many of these ideas--sharing of federal tax revenue with
the cities and states to cut red tape and promote a larger local role in problem-
solving, establishment through the Percy-Widnall Bill of a National Home Ownership
Foundation which would raise mortgage funds and help slum dwellers become proud
home owners, an attack on hard-core unemployment and poverty through tax credits
encouraging industry to train the unskilled and make them productive citizens, a
movement to raise a majority of Americans to the college level through tax
credits for a portion of college expenses, an opportunity crusade enlisting
private enterprise in a revamped war on poverty.
This is not rhetoric. This is a program. Republicans in Congress are making
a record for their presidential candidate and the party's congressional candidates
to run on next year. It will be a record we can win on.
###
FORD LIBRARY