Press Release, Speech of President Harry S. Truman, Akron, Ohio

IMFEDIATE RELEASE INDEDIATE RELEASE ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT IN AKRON, OHIO (ARMORY) NATIONAL OCTOBER 11, 1948, 9.00 PM, EST ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE" ISSUED GOVERN AS ACTUALLY DELIVERED BY THE PRESIDENT Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, fellow Democrats: before I say anything else, I should like to thank you people of Akron and all the people of Ohio for your tremendous registra- tion in this crucial election. You have given the Nation magni- ficent proof of your good citizenship. I want to thank you not only as the Democratic Party's candidate for President, but also as President of the United States. This is your answer to bad government -- both at home and abroad. I have had a magnificent reception in Ohio today. In every state I have been, I think that welcome can't be equaled, but every time it is equaled, and usually bettered. I thank all of you -- Democrats and Republicans, in- dustrial workers and farmers, professional people and small busi- nessmen. I want to thank you for your appreciation of the rights, duties, and opportunities of American citizenship. You know, you are the Government, if you exercise your right to vote. The people are the Government in this great Country, and when you don't vote, you shirk your duty as 8 part of the Government. So long as this election is decided by votes of the people and not by their failure to vote, I have no fears for the future of this great Country -- neither have I any fears for the outcome of the election on November 2nd. This cambaign is the people's crusade. Let no one tell you that the people are not interested. They are interested. They are waking up to what the Republicans propose to do to them I have lived 3 long time -- sixty-four years -- and I have trevelled E lot, but never before have I seen such turncuts as I have seen all over this great Country of ours. From early morning until late at night, wherever I have travelled, a wolcoming crowd has greeted the train. This has been true in large cities and industrial areas and also in what Senator Taft calls "the whistle-stops. , Now, as I have said time and again, there.is one basic issue in this campaign. This is it: The Depocratic Purty and the people against special privilege and the privileged few. That is the issue in this campaign. The Republicans have the propaganda and the money, but we have the people, and the people have the votes. That's why we're going to win. The Republicans have the money because the big corpora- tions have found cut they can get what they want from the Repub- lican Party. We have the people because the people have found out that they can got what they want from the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party thinks in terms of doing things for the people -- higher minimum wages -- broader social security protection in old age -- better medical care -- better schools and better hones -- and a better life for the men and women who do the world's work. OVER