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The original documents are located in Box D35, folder "Commencement Exercises, Wake
Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, May 29, 1972" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 D33 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R, Ford Presidential Library
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD
Moffice Copy
AT COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES OF WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
MONDAY MORNING, MAY 29, 1972
President Scales, members of the faculty, members of the graduating
class of 1972 and my friends, it is a distinct privilege and an honor for
me to participate in your commencement ceremonies.
Russell Baker had a column in the New York Times recently about the
much-discussed communications gap between generations. He observed that
there are certain code words or phrases which have the automatic effect
of turning off the audience.
As an example, he cited the words: "When I was your age." Whenever
an older person utters these words to a younger person, [he said] the
comprehension mechanism of the younger party simply goes blank like a
television screen when somebody pulls the plug.
Of course, the young generation knows perfectly well that we senior
citizens were never your age, that we were born on the threshhold of
senility and that whatever we think we remember about our youth is
inaccurate and irrelevant.
So, I solemnly promise you that I will not once mention how it was
"when I was your age" nor even express the wish that I might be again.
-2-
But I will mention one hope that I have for all of you when you are my
age. I hope that you will have the heartwarming experience of watching
your firstborn son receive his degree from a fine educational institution
like Wake Forest.
You can be doubly proud of this moment because you, all of the
graduating class, more than anyone else, know that Wake Forest is one
university that demands and achieves academic excellence.
I know one senior who wasn't spending as much time studying as
he should have last winter, so he tried to con his professor with a little
of the Christmas spirit. He wrote a note on the top of his mid-term test
saying, "The Lord only knows the answers to these questions. Merry Christmas!"
Two weeks later he got the test back and the professor had written another
little note under his. It said, "The Lord gets an A. You get an F. Happy
New Year!"
Graduation exercises are, as you know, primarily for parents and
the people who rent caps and gowns. But it is a fixed part of the academic
ritual to have a commencement speech.
-3-
A commencement speech is when you take 5,000 words and string them
out for 45 minutes, and all you really say is: SCHOOL'S OUT!
Well, you know that Ford has a better idea --- and this Ford's better
idea is to keep this as brief as possible. I've found that the only one
who listens to me after ten minutes is the next speaker.
In a few weeks I will be visiting the People's Republic of China.
Following the President's historic trip to that vast and ancient country,
the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Congress were invited by the
Chinese. Senators Mansfield and Scott recently returned, while Congressman
Hale Boggs of Louisiana and I, with our wives and a small American staff,
will be leaving in June.
I wish that I could have been to Peking and back already so I could
give you a firsthand report; but like most of you, I have been doing a
lot of homework and midnight reading lately to prepare myself.
I've been briefed by the President and the Senators, as well as
China experts from the State Department, on what to expect of the new
China which has been hidden from Americans, indeed from most foreigners,
for a full generation.
-4-
The one impression they all bring back is the tremendous degree of
dedication and discipline which they encountered among the Chinese people.
They are struck by the fact that farmer and city dweller, young and old,
one and all appear to be motivated by the common goals set for them by
Chairman Mao, by the nearly universal desire to reform their society through
their own resources and their own hard work.
President Nixon told me when he returned from China that the one thing
which impressed him most was their total belief and total dedication to
their system of government, especially among the younger people. But he
added that he returned with a stronger faith in our system of government,
with its unique emphasis on individuality and freedom. Both the Democratic
and Republican leaders of the Senate voiced similar sentiments after their
visit to the People's Republic of China.
Of course I do not intend to prejudge China; I go there with great
gratitude for the opportunity, with an open mind and immense curiosity,
and I will draw my own conclusions. But I mention these impressions of
those who have gone before because I believe that in every human society,
-5-
East or West, ancient or modern, from the earliest records of organized
communities until the present day, there has been a continuous effort to
find the perfect mix of these two ideals; on the one hand, discipline and
dedication; and on the other, individuality and freedom.
I do not say that one is better than the other; what I do say is
that we must find a proper proportion of both; in government, and in our
individual lives. Whenever a society goes too far in one direction or
the other it 18 in trouble. Where there is too much discipline and dedication,
you get despotism, and even a benevolent despotism will eventually corrupt
and corrode the human spirit and sew the seeds of its own destruction.
Where there is too much individuality and freedom, on the other hand, there
will be disorder and anarchy and chaos, in which no one can live in safety,
let alone create for the common good. From such chaos there always arises
a strong man, a self-appointed Master, who restores dedication and discipline
and destroys every vestige of individuality and freedom.
You have seen the clash of these two fundamental forces in your own
lives. Your elders -- be they parents or teachers or preachers or political
leaders --- have come down hard on the side of dedication and discipline.
1 GERALD R. LISARA FORD
-6-
It is no accident that the several fields of academic inquiry, the law,
medicine, physical science, literature, language, engineering, theology
and philosophy, for example, are called "disciplines." To master any of
them requires an extraordinary degree of self-discipline and of dedication
to a chosen goal. This definitely limits individuality and curtails
individual freedom, at least during the learning period. But we accept
it if our motivation is strong enough; and we also have full confidence
that after our apprenticeship we will enjoy an extra measure of freedom
and individual expression.
Now you have reached the first and major milestone of academic
discipline, and you are about to reap the reward of greater freedom and
individualism. The thought I hope to leave with you today is not to swing
too far toward either extreme. I urge you to keep in your own lives, and
in the life of our nation, the delicate balance between discipline and
freedom, between dedication and individuality, without which you cannot
possibly have either a happy life or a good society.
The ancient Greeks discovered and put into written documents most
of the philosophical ideas by which men live today; the Athenians had
--7-
freedom and individuality and the Spartans had dedication and discipline;
the Spartans were emulated by the Macedonians and under the leadership of
Alexander they subdued not only Athens but the known world. Yet their
triumph was short, freedom and individuality would not be suffocated, and
the world was not again ordered by discipline and dedication until the
Romans forged these twin virtues into their iron swords. The Roman world
was long on law and order and short on creativity, which burst out anew
in the near-anarchy of the Renaissance.
I'm not a history professor, but you can follow my theme through the
rest of it. There has always been this struggle and conflict between
absolute liberty and absolute order, and it has been the job of politicians
and statesmen throughout history to reconcile these two most desirable
conditions of human life.
It has been said that the difference between politicians and statesmen
is that the politician thinks of the next election, while the statesman
thinks of the next generation.
I don't know where that puts me because, frankly, I think of both.
Like the soap commercial says: Don't you wish everybody did?
-8-
I'm here this morning not as a statesman, nor as a politician,
nor even as a parent. I'm here because I am concerned, as I think you
are concerned, with what kind of a country and what kind of a world we
will have when you are my age, when you have done the best you can to
make it better, when you can think of all the things you should have done
and didn't do, and all the things you did and shouldn't have done, and
when, perhaps, you will be called upon to say a few words of wisdom to
the Senior Class of Two Thousand and Two.
The thoughts I hope to leave are these: Nurture in your own lives,
and sustain in this Nation, the delicate and difficult mixture of discipline
and dedication, of individuality and freedom, which has got us where we
are today, and will preserve and protect us in the future.
Americans have not yet found the perfect formula. But we have done
better than most of the nations that have come and gone in history; we
live under a system of government that is nearly 200 years old and is
today the oldest continuous Constitutional republic in the world. But
it is changing, it has always been changing, and it will continue to
change.
-9-
Just for instance, in this very Congress we have lowered the voting
age to 18 and proposed a Constitutional Amendment for equal rights for
women, though the States have yet to go along. The voting age was set
at 21 many centuries ago when this was the age at which a young male was
supposed to be strong enough to wear heavy armor. The inequality of women
under the law -- for I assure you they have always been superior in most
other respects -- stems from the same medieval times when muscle rather
than mental ability was society's primary asset.
When you are my age the Class of 2002 may very likely be admonished
by a woman politician. I am delighted to note that Wake Forest has again
set the pace by electing Marylou Cooper as next year's Student Government
President. My opponent in my last election was a woman, but unfortunately
she didn't get enough votes. My congratulations to Miss Cooper. I trust
she 1sn't planning to move to Michigan.
I am encouraged to learn that 62 percent of the eligible students
at Wake Forest have already registered to vote in November. I hope that
percentage will increase. I was in the forefront of the effort in Congress
to extend the vote to 18, 19 and 20 year-old Americans, not because I
-10-
felt it would benefit my party -- most of the surveys suggested the
contrary -- but because I sincerely believe it will benefit our country.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not going soft and saying that your generation
knows better than my generation how the government should be run, or that
you have all the answers that we have failed to find. But I have four of
the younger generation in my own family, and I meet with groups of young
people four and five times a week, and I never come out of such discussions
without some interesting new ideas or approaches to problems. So I'm
confident that giving the thoughtful young people of America a voice and
a vote can only benefit all of us in the long run. My only misgiving is
that you will not take full advantage of this chance to get into the
hot-and-heavy, give-and-take of the political process, not only by voting
but also in precinct work and year-round party building and policy-formulation,
not only by championing the candidate of your choice in a glamorous
Presidential contest but also by working for and supporting the champions
of good government who run for school boards, county and city office,
the State legislatures and the Congress. Even running for some partisan
political office yourself.
-11-
If you do get involved in this year's political campaign, never
forget that the things that unite us as Americans are far more enduring
than the things that divide us -- and one of these is our national sense
of humor.
As the campaign gets hotter, try to remember to singe but never
to burn -- that all of us, regardless of Party or age, would lots rather
make love than war -- that both Democrats and Republicans are striving
together to create a more perfect Union, with liberty and justice for all.
Our unwritten compact of respect for the convictions of others and
faith in the decency of others, allows Americans the luxury of rugged
political competition. Let's all work to banish war from our shrinking
world and hate from our expanding hearts --- to make this whole planet as
full of friendship and felicity as this campus is today.
Discipline and dedication. Individuality and freedom. You have
encountered these seemingly contradictory elements in your college years
and in your own family life. You have achieved some balance, some compromise,
some kind of mixture in your own life. We all have.
Perhaps the American dream is too high on individuality and freedom.
Perhaps closed societies such as that of mainland Chins are too long on
-12-
discipline and dedication. Perhaps we can teach each other and learn from
each other, as the doors begin to open.
Confucius, whose thoughts guided millions upon millions of Chinese
before Chairman Mao, and I suspect still do, was very strong on the importance
of education. One of his sayings, which has been translated into English
verse, seems to me particularly appropriate for graduating seniors -- or
for that matter -- for their proud parents and grandparents who are here
today. This is what Confucius said:
"Wise is that man, and bound to grow,
Who knows he knows a thing or so,
But who is not afraid to show,
The many things he doesn't know."
This is truly a day of Commencement, the last time you will ever be
assembled all in one place, the first time you will each be on your own,
taking up the task of making a full life for yourselves and as much as lies
in your power, a better world for all mankind. Cherish the virtues of
freedom and individuality, discipline and dedication; cultivate courtesy
and charity and compassion; remember that courage comes from faith, and
that faith is only fear that has said its prayers.
-13-
Congratulations, Class of 1972, and Godspeed to all of you. The
world is already better for your being, and it will be a far better world,
I know, when you are my age.
# # 0
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD
Office Copy
AT COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES OF WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
MONDAY MORNING, MAY 29, 1972
President Scales, members of the faculty, members of the graduating
class of 1972 and my friends, it is a distinct privilege and an honor for
me to participate in your commencement ceremonies.
Russell Baker had a column in the New York Times recently about the
much-discussed communications gap between generations. lie observed that
there are certain code words or phrases which have the automatic effect
of turning off the audience.
Ass an example, he cited the words: "When I was your age." Whenever
an older person utters these words to a younger person, [he said] the
comprehension mechanism of the younger party simply goes blank like a
television screen when somebody pulls the plug.
of course, the young generation knows perfectly well that we senior
citizens were never your age, that we were born on the threshhold of
senility and that whatever we think we remember about our youth is
inaccurate and irrelevant.
So, I solemnly promise you that I will not once mention how it was
"when I was your age" nor even express the wish that I might be again.
FORDO LIBRARY is
But I will mention one hope that I have for all of you when you are my
age. T hope that you will have the heartwarming experience of watching
your firstborn son receive his degree from a fine educational institution
11ke Nake Forest.
You can be doubly proud of this moment because you, all of the
graduating class, more than anyone else, know that Wake Forest is one
university that demands and achieves academic excellence.
I know one senior who wasn't spending as much time studying as
jora about huvan last winter, NO trum tried to con his professor with n little
of the Christmas spirit. He wrote a note on the top of his mid-term test
saying, "The Lord only knows the answers to these questions. Merry Christmas!"
Two weeks later he got the test back and the professor had written another
little note under his. It said, "The Lord gets an 1. You get an F. Happy
New Year!"
Graduation exercises are, as you know, primarily for parents and
the people who rent caps and gowns. But it is a fixed part of the academic
ritual to have a commencement speech.
LIBRARY
-3-
A commencement speech is when you take 5,000 words and string them
out for 45 minutes, and all you really say is: SCHOOL'S OUT!
Well, you know that Ford has n better idea -- and this Ford's better
Isen In to keep this an brief AB possible. I've found that the only one
who listens to me after ten minutes is the next speaker.
In a Few weeks I will be visiting the People's Republic of China.
Following the President's historic trip to that vast and ancient country,
the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Congress were invited by the
Chinese. Senators Mansfield and Scott recently returned, while Congressman
Hale Boggs of Louisinna and I, with our wives and a small American staff,
will be leaving in June.
I wish that I could have been to Peking and back already 80 I could
give you " firsthand report; but like mont of you, I have been doing a
lot of homework and midnight reading lately to prepare myself.
I've been briefed by the President and the Senators, as well as
China experts from the State Department, on what to expect of the new
China which has been hidden from Americans, indeed from most foreigners,
for a full generation.
-4-
The one impression they all bring back is the tremendous degree of
dedication and discipline which they encountered among the Chinese people.
Thery Bre struck by the fact that farmer and city dweller, young and old,
one and all appear to be motivated by the common goals set for them by
Chairman Man, by the nearly universal desire to reform their society through
their (PAI) resources and their own hard work,
President Nixon told me when he returned from China that the one thing
which impressed him most was their total belief and total dedication to
their system of government, especially among the younger people. But he
added that he returned with a stronger faith in our system of government,
with its unique emphasis on individuality and freedom. Both the Democratic
and Republican lenders of the Senate voiced similar sentiments after their
visit to the People's Republic of China.
Of course I do not intend to prejudge China; I go there with great
gratitude for the opportunity, with an open mind and immense curiosity,
and I will draw my own conclusions. But I mention these impressions of
those who have gone before because I believe that in every human society,
-5-
East or West, ancient or modern, from the earliest records of organized
communities until the present day, there has been a continuous effort to
find the perfect mix of these two ideals; on the one hand, discipline and
dedication; and on the other, individuality and freedom.
T do not Bay that one is better than the other; what I. do say is
that we must find a proper proportion of both; in government, and in our
individual lives. Whenever a society goes too far in one direction or
the other it 171 in trouble, Where there 1x too much discipline and dedication,
you get despotism, and even a benevolent despotism will eventually corrupt
and corrode the human spirit and BOW the seeds of its own destruction.
Where there 1a too much individuality and freedom, on the other hand, there
will be disorder and anarchy and chaos, in which no one can live in safety,
let alone create for the common good. From such chaos there always arises
a strong man, a self-appointed Master, who restores dedication and discipline
and destroys every vestige of individuality and freedom.
You have seen the clash of these two fundamental forces in your own
lives. Your elders --- be they parents or teachers or preachers or political
leaders have come down hard on the side of dedication and discipline.
FORD LIBRARY is
-6-
It 18 no accident that the several fields of academic inquiry, the law,
medicine, physical science, literature, language, engineering, theology
and philosophy, for example, are called "disciplines." To master any of
them requires an extraordinary degree of self-discipline and of dedication
to n chosen goal. This definitely limits individuality and curtails
individual freedom, at least during the learning period. But we accept
1.t. 14 our motivation is strong enough; and we also have full confidence
that ofter our apprenticeship we will enjoy an extra measure of freedom
and individual expression.
How you have reached the first and major milestone of academic
discipline, and you are about to reap the reward of greater freedom and
individualism. The thought I hope to leave with you today is not to swing
too far toward either extreme. I urge you to keep in your own lives, and
in the life of our nation, the delicate balance between discipline and
freedom, between dedication and individuality, without which you cannot
possibly have either a happy life or a good society.
The ancient Greeks discovered and put into written documents most
of the philosophical ideas by which men live today; the Athenians had
RALD
-7-
freedom and individuality and the Spartans had dedication and discipline;
the Spartans were emulated by the Macedonians and under the leadership of
Alexander they subdued not only Athens but the known world. Yet their
triumbh ware short, freedom And individuality would not be suffocated, and
the world was not again ordered by discipline and dedication until the
Romana forged these twin virtues into their iron swords. The Roman world
was long on low and order and short on creativity, which burst out anew
in the near-anarchy of the Renaissance.
I'm not A history professor, but you can follow my theme through the
rest of it. There has always been this struggle and conflict between
absolute liberty and absolute order, and it has been the job of politicians
and statesmen throughout history to reconcile these two most desirable
conditions of human life.
It has been said that the difference between politicians and statesmen
is that the politician thinks of the next election, while the statesman
thinks of the next generation.
I don't know where that puts me because, frankly, I think of both.
Like the soap commercial says: Don't you wish everybody did?
-8-
I'm here this morning not as n statesman, nor as a politician,
nor even as a parent. I'm here because I am concerned, as I think you
are concerned, with what kind of a country and what kind of a world we
will have when you are my age, when you have done the best you can to
make it better, when you can think of all the things you should have done
and didn't do, and all the things you did and shouldn't have done, and
when, perhaps, you will be called upon to say a few words of wisdom to
the Centor Class of Two Thousand and Two,
The thoughts I hope to leave are these: Nurture in your own lives,
and sustain in this Nation, the delicate and difficult mixture of discipline
and dedication, of individuality and freedom, which has got us where we
are today, and will preserve and protect us in the future.
Americans have not yet found the perfect formula. But we have done
better than most of the nations that have come and gone in history; we
live under a system of government that is nearly 200 years old and is
today the oldest continuous Constitutional republic in the world. But
1t 18 changing, it has always been changing, and it will continue to
change.
GERALD R.,FORD The LIBRARY Y
-9-
Just for instance, in this very Congress we have lowered the voting
age to 18 and proposed a Constitutional Amendment for equal rights for
women, though the States have yet to 80 along. The voting age was set
at 21 many centuries ngo when this WAA the age at which A young male was
supposed to be strong enough to wear heavy armor. The inequality of women
under the law -- - for I assure you they have always been superior in most
other respects - stems from the same medieval times when muscle rather
than mental ability was society's primary asset.
When you are my nge the Class of 2002 may very likely be admonished
by a woman politician. I am delighted to note that Wake Forest has again
set the pace by electing Marylou Cooper an next year's Student Government
President. My opponent in my last election was a woman, but unfortunately
she didn't get enough votes, My congratulations to Miss Cooper. I trust
she 1sn't planning to move to Michigan.
I am encouraged to learn that 62 percent of the eligible students
at Wake Forest have already registered to vote in November. I hope that
percentage will increase. I was in the forefront of the effort in Congress
to extend the vote to 18, 19 and 20 year-old Americans, not because I
-10-
felt 1t would benefit my party -- most of the surveys suggested the
contrary -- but because I sincerely believe it will benefit our country.
Bon't per ne wrong - I'm not going soft and saying that your generation
knows better than my generation how the government should be run, or that
you have all the anowers that we have failed to find. But I have four of
the younger generation in my own family, and I meet with groups of young
people four and five times a week, and I never come out of such discussions
without HOME Interenting new Ideas or approaches to problemn, So I'm
confident that giving the thoughtful young people of America a voice and
a vote can only benefit all of us in the long run. My only misgiving is
that you will not take full advantage of this chance to get into the
hot-and-heavy, give-and-take of the political process, not only by voting
but also In precinct work and year-round party building and policy-formulation,
not only by championing the candidate of your choice in a glamorous
Presidential contest but also by working for and supporting the champions
of good government who run for school boards, county and city office,
the State legialatures and the Congress. Even running for some partisan
political office yourself.
-11-
If you do get involved in this year's political campaign, never
forget that the things that unite un AR Americans are far more enduring
than the things that divide UR -- and one of these is our national sense
of humor.
hs the campaign gets hotter, try to remember to singe but never
to burn -- that all of 12/1, rogardless of Party or age, would lota rather
make love than war, -- that both Democrate and Republicans are striving
together to create n more perfect Union, with liberty and justice for all.
Our unwritten compact of respect for the convictions of others and
faith in the decency of others, allows Americans the luxury of rugged
political competition. Let's all work to banish war from our shrinking
world and hate from our expanding hearts - to make this whole planet as
full of friendship and felicity as this campus is today.
Discipline and dedication. Individuality and freedom. You have
encountered these seemingly contradictory elements in your college years
and in your own family life. You have achieved some balance, some compromise,
some kind of mixture in your own life. We all have.
Perhaps the American dream is too high on individuality and freedom.
Perhaps closed societies such as that of mainland Chins are too long on
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
-12-
discipline and dedication. Perhaps we can teach each other and learn from
each other, as the doors begin to open.
Confucius, whose thoughts guided millions upon millions of Chinese
before Chairman Mao, and I suspect still do, was very strong on the importance
of education. One of his sayings, which has been translated into English
verse, seems to me particularly appropriate for graduating seniors --- or
for that matter -- for their proud parents and grandparents who are here
today. Th18 16 what Confucius said:
"Wise is that man, and bound to grow,
Who knows he knows a thing or so,
But who 18 not afraid to show,
The many things he doesn't know."
This is truly n day of Commencement, the last time you will ever be
assembled all in one place, the first time you will each be on your own,
taking up the task of making a full life for yourselves and as much AS lies
in your power, a better world for all mankind. Cherish the virtues of
freedom and individuality, discipline and dedication; cultivate courtesy
and charity and compassion; remember that courage comes from faith, and
that faith is only fear that has said its prayers.
-13-
Congratulations, Class of 1972, and Godspeed to all of you. The
world 18 already better for your being, and it will be a far better world,
I know, when you are my age.
# # 0
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"ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D35, folder \"Commencement Exercises, Wake\nForest University, Winston-Salem, NC, May 29, 1972\" of the Ford Congressional Papers:\nPress Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nDigitized from Box D33 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R, Ford Presidential Library\nAN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD\nMoffice Copy\nAT COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES OF WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY\nWINSTON-SALEM, N.C.\nMONDAY MORNING, MAY 29, 1972\nPresident Scales, members of the faculty, members of the graduating\nclass of 1972 and my friends, it is a distinct privilege and an honor for\nme to participate in your commencement ceremonies.\nRussell Baker had a column in the New York Times recently about the\nmuch-discussed communications gap between generations. He observed that\nthere are certain code words or phrases which have the automatic effect\nof turning off the audience.\nAs an example, he cited the words: \"When I was your age.\" Whenever\nan older person utters these words to a younger person, [he said] the\ncomprehension mechanism of the younger party simply goes blank like a\ntelevision screen when somebody pulls the plug.\nOf course, the young generation knows perfectly well that we senior\ncitizens were never your age, that we were born on the threshhold of\nsenility and that whatever we think we remember about our youth is\ninaccurate and irrelevant.\nSo, I solemnly promise you that I will not once mention how it was\n\"when I was your age\" nor even express the wish that I might be again.\n-2-\nBut I will mention one hope that I have for all of you when you are my\nage. I hope that you will have the heartwarming experience of watching\nyour firstborn son receive his degree from a fine educational institution\nlike Wake Forest.\nYou can be doubly proud of this moment because you, all of the\ngraduating class, more than anyone else, know that Wake Forest is one\nuniversity that demands and achieves academic excellence.\nI know one senior who wasn't spending as much time studying as\nhe should have last winter, so he tried to con his professor with a little\nof the Christmas spirit. He wrote a note on the top of his mid-term test\nsaying, \"The Lord only knows the answers to these questions. Merry Christmas!\"\nTwo weeks later he got the test back and the professor had written another\nlittle note under his. It said, \"The Lord gets an A. You get an F. Happy\nNew Year!\"\nGraduation exercises are, as you know, primarily for parents and\nthe people who rent caps and gowns. But it is a fixed part of the academic\nritual to have a commencement speech.\n-3-\nA commencement speech is when you take 5,000 words and string them\nout for 45 minutes, and all you really say is: SCHOOL'S OUT!\nWell, you know that Ford has a better idea --- and this Ford's better\nidea is to keep this as brief as possible. I've found that the only one\nwho listens to me after ten minutes is the next speaker.\nIn a few weeks I will be visiting the People's Republic of China.\nFollowing the President's historic trip to that vast and ancient country,\nthe Majority and Minority Leaders of the Congress were invited by the\nChinese. Senators Mansfield and Scott recently returned, while Congressman\nHale Boggs of Louisiana and I, with our wives and a small American staff,\nwill be leaving in June.\nI wish that I could have been to Peking and back already so I could\ngive you a firsthand report; but like most of you, I have been doing a\nlot of homework and midnight reading lately to prepare myself.\nI've been briefed by the President and the Senators, as well as\nChina experts from the State Department, on what to expect of the new\nChina which has been hidden from Americans, indeed from most foreigners,\nfor a full generation.\n-4-\nThe one impression they all bring back is the tremendous degree of\ndedication and discipline which they encountered among the Chinese people.\nThey are struck by the fact that farmer and city dweller, young and old,\none and all appear to be motivated by the common goals set for them by\nChairman Mao, by the nearly universal desire to reform their society through\ntheir own resources and their own hard work.\nPresident Nixon told me when he returned from China that the one thing\nwhich impressed him most was their total belief and total dedication to\ntheir system of government, especially among the younger people. But he\nadded that he returned with a stronger faith in our system of government,\nwith its unique emphasis on individuality and freedom. Both the Democratic\nand Republican leaders of the Senate voiced similar sentiments after their\nvisit to the People's Republic of China.\nOf course I do not intend to prejudge China; I go there with great\ngratitude for the opportunity, with an open mind and immense curiosity,\nand I will draw my own conclusions. But I mention these impressions of\nthose who have gone before because I believe that in every human society,\n-5-\nEast or West, ancient or modern, from the earliest records of organized\ncommunities until the present day, there has been a continuous effort to\nfind the perfect mix of these two ideals; on the one hand, discipline and\ndedication; and on the other, individuality and freedom.\nI do not say that one is better than the other; what I do say is\nthat we must find a proper proportion of both; in government, and in our\nindividual lives. Whenever a society goes too far in one direction or\nthe other it 18 in trouble. Where there is too much discipline and dedication,\nyou get despotism, and even a benevolent despotism will eventually corrupt\nand corrode the human spirit and sew the seeds of its own destruction.\nWhere there is too much individuality and freedom, on the other hand, there\nwill be disorder and anarchy and chaos, in which no one can live in safety,\nlet alone create for the common good. From such chaos there always arises\na strong man, a self-appointed Master, who restores dedication and discipline\nand destroys every vestige of individuality and freedom.\nYou have seen the clash of these two fundamental forces in your own\nlives. Your elders -- be they parents or teachers or preachers or political\nleaders --- have come down hard on the side of dedication and discipline.\n1 GERALD R. LISARA FORD\n-6-\nIt is no accident that the several fields of academic inquiry, the law,\nmedicine, physical science, literature, language, engineering, theology\nand philosophy, for example, are called \"disciplines.\" To master any of\nthem requires an extraordinary degree of self-discipline and of dedication\nto a chosen goal. This definitely limits individuality and curtails\nindividual freedom, at least during the learning period. But we accept\nit if our motivation is strong enough; and we also have full confidence\nthat after our apprenticeship we will enjoy an extra measure of freedom\nand individual expression.\nNow you have reached the first and major milestone of academic\ndiscipline, and you are about to reap the reward of greater freedom and\nindividualism. The thought I hope to leave with you today is not to swing\ntoo far toward either extreme. I urge you to keep in your own lives, and\nin the life of our nation, the delicate balance between discipline and\nfreedom, between dedication and individuality, without which you cannot\npossibly have either a happy life or a good society.\nThe ancient Greeks discovered and put into written documents most\nof the philosophical ideas by which men live today; the Athenians had\n--7-\nfreedom and individuality and the Spartans had dedication and discipline;\nthe Spartans were emulated by the Macedonians and under the leadership of\nAlexander they subdued not only Athens but the known world. Yet their\ntriumph was short, freedom and individuality would not be suffocated, and\nthe world was not again ordered by discipline and dedication until the\nRomans forged these twin virtues into their iron swords. The Roman world\nwas long on law and order and short on creativity, which burst out anew\nin the near-anarchy of the Renaissance.\nI'm not a history professor, but you can follow my theme through the\nrest of it. There has always been this struggle and conflict between\nabsolute liberty and absolute order, and it has been the job of politicians\nand statesmen throughout history to reconcile these two most desirable\nconditions of human life.\nIt has been said that the difference between politicians and statesmen\nis that the politician thinks of the next election, while the statesman\nthinks of the next generation.\nI don't know where that puts me because, frankly, I think of both.\nLike the soap commercial says: Don't you wish everybody did?\n-8-\nI'm here this morning not as a statesman, nor as a politician,\nnor even as a parent. I'm here because I am concerned, as I think you\nare concerned, with what kind of a country and what kind of a world we\nwill have when you are my age, when you have done the best you can to\nmake it better, when you can think of all the things you should have done\nand didn't do, and all the things you did and shouldn't have done, and\nwhen, perhaps, you will be called upon to say a few words of wisdom to\nthe Senior Class of Two Thousand and Two.\nThe thoughts I hope to leave are these: Nurture in your own lives,\nand sustain in this Nation, the delicate and difficult mixture of discipline\nand dedication, of individuality and freedom, which has got us where we\nare today, and will preserve and protect us in the future.\nAmericans have not yet found the perfect formula. But we have done\nbetter than most of the nations that have come and gone in history; we\nlive under a system of government that is nearly 200 years old and is\ntoday the oldest continuous Constitutional republic in the world. But\nit is changing, it has always been changing, and it will continue to\nchange.\n-9-\nJust for instance, in this very Congress we have lowered the voting\nage to 18 and proposed a Constitutional Amendment for equal rights for\nwomen, though the States have yet to go along. The voting age was set\nat 21 many centuries ago when this was the age at which a young male was\nsupposed to be strong enough to wear heavy armor. The inequality of women\nunder the law -- for I assure you they have always been superior in most\nother respects -- stems from the same medieval times when muscle rather\nthan mental ability was society's primary asset.\nWhen you are my age the Class of 2002 may very likely be admonished\nby a woman politician. I am delighted to note that Wake Forest has again\nset the pace by electing Marylou Cooper as next year's Student Government\nPresident. My opponent in my last election was a woman, but unfortunately\nshe didn't get enough votes. My congratulations to Miss Cooper. I trust\nshe 1sn't planning to move to Michigan.\nI am encouraged to learn that 62 percent of the eligible students\nat Wake Forest have already registered to vote in November. I hope that\npercentage will increase. I was in the forefront of the effort in Congress\nto extend the vote to 18, 19 and 20 year-old Americans, not because I\n-10-\nfelt it would benefit my party -- most of the surveys suggested the\ncontrary -- but because I sincerely believe it will benefit our country.\nDon't get me wrong - I'm not going soft and saying that your generation\nknows better than my generation how the government should be run, or that\nyou have all the answers that we have failed to find. But I have four of\nthe younger generation in my own family, and I meet with groups of young\npeople four and five times a week, and I never come out of such discussions\nwithout some interesting new ideas or approaches to problems. So I'm\nconfident that giving the thoughtful young people of America a voice and\na vote can only benefit all of us in the long run. My only misgiving is\nthat you will not take full advantage of this chance to get into the\nhot-and-heavy, give-and-take of the political process, not only by voting\nbut also in precinct work and year-round party building and policy-formulation,\nnot only by championing the candidate of your choice in a glamorous\nPresidential contest but also by working for and supporting the champions\nof good government who run for school boards, county and city office,\nthe State legislatures and the Congress. Even running for some partisan\npolitical office yourself.\n-11-\nIf you do get involved in this year's political campaign, never\nforget that the things that unite us as Americans are far more enduring\nthan the things that divide us -- and one of these is our national sense\nof humor.\nAs the campaign gets hotter, try to remember to singe but never\nto burn -- that all of us, regardless of Party or age, would lots rather\nmake love than war -- that both Democrats and Republicans are striving\ntogether to create a more perfect Union, with liberty and justice for all.\nOur unwritten compact of respect for the convictions of others and\nfaith in the decency of others, allows Americans the luxury of rugged\npolitical competition. Let's all work to banish war from our shrinking\nworld and hate from our expanding hearts --- to make this whole planet as\nfull of friendship and felicity as this campus is today.\nDiscipline and dedication. Individuality and freedom. You have\nencountered these seemingly contradictory elements in your college years\nand in your own family life. You have achieved some balance, some compromise,\nsome kind of mixture in your own life. We all have.\nPerhaps the American dream is too high on individuality and freedom.\nPerhaps closed societies such as that of mainland Chins are too long on\n-12-\ndiscipline and dedication. Perhaps we can teach each other and learn from\neach other, as the doors begin to open.\nConfucius, whose thoughts guided millions upon millions of Chinese\nbefore Chairman Mao, and I suspect still do, was very strong on the importance\nof education. One of his sayings, which has been translated into English\nverse, seems to me particularly appropriate for graduating seniors -- or\nfor that matter -- for their proud parents and grandparents who are here\ntoday. This is what Confucius said:\n\"Wise is that man, and bound to grow,\nWho knows he knows a thing or so,\nBut who is not afraid to show,\nThe many things he doesn't know.\"\nThis is truly a day of Commencement, the last time you will ever be\nassembled all in one place, the first time you will each be on your own,\ntaking up the task of making a full life for yourselves and as much as lies\nin your power, a better world for all mankind. Cherish the virtues of\nfreedom and individuality, discipline and dedication; cultivate courtesy\nand charity and compassion; remember that courage comes from faith, and\nthat faith is only fear that has said its prayers.\n-13-\nCongratulations, Class of 1972, and Godspeed to all of you. The\nworld is already better for your being, and it will be a far better world,\nI know, when you are my age.\n# # 0\nAN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD\nOffice Copy\nAT COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES OF WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY\nWINSTON-SALEM, N.C.\nMONDAY MORNING, MAY 29, 1972\nPresident Scales, members of the faculty, members of the graduating\nclass of 1972 and my friends, it is a distinct privilege and an honor for\nme to participate in your commencement ceremonies.\nRussell Baker had a column in the New York Times recently about the\nmuch-discussed communications gap between generations. lie observed that\nthere are certain code words or phrases which have the automatic effect\nof turning off the audience.\nAss an example, he cited the words: \"When I was your age.\" Whenever\nan older person utters these words to a younger person, [he said] the\ncomprehension mechanism of the younger party simply goes blank like a\ntelevision screen when somebody pulls the plug.\nof course, the young generation knows perfectly well that we senior\ncitizens were never your age, that we were born on the threshhold of\nsenility and that whatever we think we remember about our youth is\ninaccurate and irrelevant.\nSo, I solemnly promise you that I will not once mention how it was\n\"when I was your age\" nor even express the wish that I might be again.\nFORDO LIBRARY is\nBut I will mention one hope that I have for all of you when you are my\nage. T hope that you will have the heartwarming experience of watching\nyour firstborn son receive his degree from a fine educational institution\n11ke Nake Forest.\nYou can be doubly proud of this moment because you, all of the\ngraduating class, more than anyone else, know that Wake Forest is one\nuniversity that demands and achieves academic excellence.\nI know one senior who wasn't spending as much time studying as\njora about huvan last winter, NO trum tried to con his professor with n little\nof the Christmas spirit. He wrote a note on the top of his mid-term test\nsaying, \"The Lord only knows the answers to these questions. Merry Christmas!\"\nTwo weeks later he got the test back and the professor had written another\nlittle note under his. It said, \"The Lord gets an 1. You get an F. Happy\nNew Year!\"\nGraduation exercises are, as you know, primarily for parents and\nthe people who rent caps and gowns. But it is a fixed part of the academic\nritual to have a commencement speech.\nLIBRARY\n-3-\nA commencement speech is when you take 5,000 words and string them\nout for 45 minutes, and all you really say is: SCHOOL'S OUT!\nWell, you know that Ford has n better idea -- and this Ford's better\nIsen In to keep this an brief AB possible. I've found that the only one\nwho listens to me after ten minutes is the next speaker.\nIn a Few weeks I will be visiting the People's Republic of China.\nFollowing the President's historic trip to that vast and ancient country,\nthe Majority and Minority Leaders of the Congress were invited by the\nChinese. Senators Mansfield and Scott recently returned, while Congressman\nHale Boggs of Louisinna and I, with our wives and a small American staff,\nwill be leaving in June.\nI wish that I could have been to Peking and back already 80 I could\ngive you \" firsthand report; but like mont of you, I have been doing a\nlot of homework and midnight reading lately to prepare myself.\nI've been briefed by the President and the Senators, as well as\nChina experts from the State Department, on what to expect of the new\nChina which has been hidden from Americans, indeed from most foreigners,\nfor a full generation.\n-4-\nThe one impression they all bring back is the tremendous degree of\ndedication and discipline which they encountered among the Chinese people.\nThery Bre struck by the fact that farmer and city dweller, young and old,\none and all appear to be motivated by the common goals set for them by\nChairman Man, by the nearly universal desire to reform their society through\ntheir (PAI) resources and their own hard work,\nPresident Nixon told me when he returned from China that the one thing\nwhich impressed him most was their total belief and total dedication to\ntheir system of government, especially among the younger people. But he\nadded that he returned with a stronger faith in our system of government,\nwith its unique emphasis on individuality and freedom. Both the Democratic\nand Republican lenders of the Senate voiced similar sentiments after their\nvisit to the People's Republic of China.\nOf course I do not intend to prejudge China; I go there with great\ngratitude for the opportunity, with an open mind and immense curiosity,\nand I will draw my own conclusions. But I mention these impressions of\nthose who have gone before because I believe that in every human society,\n-5-\nEast or West, ancient or modern, from the earliest records of organized\ncommunities until the present day, there has been a continuous effort to\nfind the perfect mix of these two ideals; on the one hand, discipline and\ndedication; and on the other, individuality and freedom.\nT do not Bay that one is better than the other; what I. do say is\nthat we must find a proper proportion of both; in government, and in our\nindividual lives. Whenever a society goes too far in one direction or\nthe other it 171 in trouble, Where there 1x too much discipline and dedication,\nyou get despotism, and even a benevolent despotism will eventually corrupt\nand corrode the human spirit and BOW the seeds of its own destruction.\nWhere there 1a too much individuality and freedom, on the other hand, there\nwill be disorder and anarchy and chaos, in which no one can live in safety,\nlet alone create for the common good. From such chaos there always arises\na strong man, a self-appointed Master, who restores dedication and discipline\nand destroys every vestige of individuality and freedom.\nYou have seen the clash of these two fundamental forces in your own\nlives. Your elders --- be they parents or teachers or preachers or political\nleaders have come down hard on the side of dedication and discipline.\nFORD LIBRARY is\n-6-\nIt 18 no accident that the several fields of academic inquiry, the law,\nmedicine, physical science, literature, language, engineering, theology\nand philosophy, for example, are called \"disciplines.\" To master any of\nthem requires an extraordinary degree of self-discipline and of dedication\nto n chosen goal. This definitely limits individuality and curtails\nindividual freedom, at least during the learning period. But we accept\n1.t. 14 our motivation is strong enough; and we also have full confidence\nthat ofter our apprenticeship we will enjoy an extra measure of freedom\nand individual expression.\nHow you have reached the first and major milestone of academic\ndiscipline, and you are about to reap the reward of greater freedom and\nindividualism. The thought I hope to leave with you today is not to swing\ntoo far toward either extreme. I urge you to keep in your own lives, and\nin the life of our nation, the delicate balance between discipline and\nfreedom, between dedication and individuality, without which you cannot\npossibly have either a happy life or a good society.\nThe ancient Greeks discovered and put into written documents most\nof the philosophical ideas by which men live today; the Athenians had\nRALD\n-7-\nfreedom and individuality and the Spartans had dedication and discipline;\nthe Spartans were emulated by the Macedonians and under the leadership of\nAlexander they subdued not only Athens but the known world. Yet their\ntriumbh ware short, freedom And individuality would not be suffocated, and\nthe world was not again ordered by discipline and dedication until the\nRomana forged these twin virtues into their iron swords. The Roman world\nwas long on low and order and short on creativity, which burst out anew\nin the near-anarchy of the Renaissance.\nI'm not A history professor, but you can follow my theme through the\nrest of it. There has always been this struggle and conflict between\nabsolute liberty and absolute order, and it has been the job of politicians\nand statesmen throughout history to reconcile these two most desirable\nconditions of human life.\nIt has been said that the difference between politicians and statesmen\nis that the politician thinks of the next election, while the statesman\nthinks of the next generation.\nI don't know where that puts me because, frankly, I think of both.\nLike the soap commercial says: Don't you wish everybody did?\n-8-\nI'm here this morning not as n statesman, nor as a politician,\nnor even as a parent. I'm here because I am concerned, as I think you\nare concerned, with what kind of a country and what kind of a world we\nwill have when you are my age, when you have done the best you can to\nmake it better, when you can think of all the things you should have done\nand didn't do, and all the things you did and shouldn't have done, and\nwhen, perhaps, you will be called upon to say a few words of wisdom to\nthe Centor Class of Two Thousand and Two,\nThe thoughts I hope to leave are these: Nurture in your own lives,\nand sustain in this Nation, the delicate and difficult mixture of discipline\nand dedication, of individuality and freedom, which has got us where we\nare today, and will preserve and protect us in the future.\nAmericans have not yet found the perfect formula. But we have done\nbetter than most of the nations that have come and gone in history; we\nlive under a system of government that is nearly 200 years old and is\ntoday the oldest continuous Constitutional republic in the world. But\n1t 18 changing, it has always been changing, and it will continue to\nchange.\nGERALD R.,FORD The LIBRARY Y\n-9-\nJust for instance, in this very Congress we have lowered the voting\nage to 18 and proposed a Constitutional Amendment for equal rights for\nwomen, though the States have yet to 80 along. The voting age was set\nat 21 many centuries ngo when this WAA the age at which A young male was\nsupposed to be strong enough to wear heavy armor. The inequality of women\nunder the law -- - for I assure you they have always been superior in most\nother respects - stems from the same medieval times when muscle rather\nthan mental ability was society's primary asset.\nWhen you are my nge the Class of 2002 may very likely be admonished\nby a woman politician. I am delighted to note that Wake Forest has again\nset the pace by electing Marylou Cooper an next year's Student Government\nPresident. My opponent in my last election was a woman, but unfortunately\nshe didn't get enough votes, My congratulations to Miss Cooper. I trust\nshe 1sn't planning to move to Michigan.\nI am encouraged to learn that 62 percent of the eligible students\nat Wake Forest have already registered to vote in November. I hope that\npercentage will increase. I was in the forefront of the effort in Congress\nto extend the vote to 18, 19 and 20 year-old Americans, not because I\n-10-\nfelt 1t would benefit my party -- most of the surveys suggested the\ncontrary -- but because I sincerely believe it will benefit our country.\nBon't per ne wrong - I'm not going soft and saying that your generation\nknows better than my generation how the government should be run, or that\nyou have all the anowers that we have failed to find. But I have four of\nthe younger generation in my own family, and I meet with groups of young\npeople four and five times a week, and I never come out of such discussions\nwithout HOME Interenting new Ideas or approaches to problemn, So I'm\nconfident that giving the thoughtful young people of America a voice and\na vote can only benefit all of us in the long run. My only misgiving is\nthat you will not take full advantage of this chance to get into the\nhot-and-heavy, give-and-take of the political process, not only by voting\nbut also In precinct work and year-round party building and policy-formulation,\nnot only by championing the candidate of your choice in a glamorous\nPresidential contest but also by working for and supporting the champions\nof good government who run for school boards, county and city office,\nthe State legialatures and the Congress. Even running for some partisan\npolitical office yourself.\n-11-\nIf you do get involved in this year's political campaign, never\nforget that the things that unite un AR Americans are far more enduring\nthan the things that divide UR -- and one of these is our national sense\nof humor.\nhs the campaign gets hotter, try to remember to singe but never\nto burn -- that all of 12/1, rogardless of Party or age, would lota rather\nmake love than war, -- that both Democrate and Republicans are striving\ntogether to create n more perfect Union, with liberty and justice for all.\nOur unwritten compact of respect for the convictions of others and\nfaith in the decency of others, allows Americans the luxury of rugged\npolitical competition. Let's all work to banish war from our shrinking\nworld and hate from our expanding hearts - to make this whole planet as\nfull of friendship and felicity as this campus is today.\nDiscipline and dedication. Individuality and freedom. You have\nencountered these seemingly contradictory elements in your college years\nand in your own family life. You have achieved some balance, some compromise,\nsome kind of mixture in your own life. We all have.\nPerhaps the American dream is too high on individuality and freedom.\nPerhaps closed societies such as that of mainland Chins are too long on\nFORD i LIBRARY GERALD\n-12-\ndiscipline and dedication. Perhaps we can teach each other and learn from\neach other, as the doors begin to open.\nConfucius, whose thoughts guided millions upon millions of Chinese\nbefore Chairman Mao, and I suspect still do, was very strong on the importance\nof education. One of his sayings, which has been translated into English\nverse, seems to me particularly appropriate for graduating seniors --- or\nfor that matter -- for their proud parents and grandparents who are here\ntoday. Th18 16 what Confucius said:\n\"Wise is that man, and bound to grow,\nWho knows he knows a thing or so,\nBut who 18 not afraid to show,\nThe many things he doesn't know.\"\nThis is truly n day of Commencement, the last time you will ever be\nassembled all in one place, the first time you will each be on your own,\ntaking up the task of making a full life for yourselves and as much AS lies\nin your power, a better world for all mankind. Cherish the virtues of\nfreedom and individuality, discipline and dedication; cultivate courtesy\nand charity and compassion; remember that courage comes from faith, and\nthat faith is only fear that has said its prayers.\n-13-\nCongratulations, Class of 1972, and Godspeed to all of you. The\nworld 18 already better for your being, and it will be a far better world,\nI know, when you are my age.\n# # 0"
}