THE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH OF
VICE PRESIDENT HUBERT H. HUMPHREY
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
AUGUST 29, 1968
A NEW DAY FOR AMERICA
My fellow Americans, my fellow Democrats:
I proudly accept the nomination of our party.
This moment is one of personal pride and gratification. Yet one cannot help but reflect the deep sadness that we feel over the troubles and the violence which have erupted regrettably and tragically in the streets of this great city, and for the personal injuries which have occurred. Surely we have learned the lesson that violence breeds more violence and that it cannot be condoned --whatever the source.
I know that every delegate to this Convention shares tonight my sorrow and my distress for these incidents. And may we, for just one moment, in sober reflection, in serious purpose, may we just quietly and silently -- each in our own way -- pray for our country. And may we just share for a moment a few of those immortal words of the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi -- words which I think may help heal the wounds and lift our hearts. Listen to this immortal saint: “Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light."
Those are the words of a saint. And may those of us of less purity listen to them well. And may America tonight resolve that never, never again shall we see what we have seen.
Yes, I accept your nomination in this spirit that I have spoken, knowing that the months and the years ahead will severely test our America. And as this America is tested once again, we give our testament to America. And I do not think it is sentimental nor is it cheap -- that each and everyone of us in our own way should once again reaffirm to ourselves and our posterity -- that we love this nation -- we love America.
This is not the first time that our nation has faced a challenge to its life and its purpose.
Each time that we have faced these challenges, we have emerged with new greatness and with new strength.
We must make this moment of crisis a moment of creation. As it has been said: “In the worst of times, a great people must do the best of things.”
And let us do it.
We stand at such a moment now -- in the affair of this nation. Because, my fellow Americans, something new, something different has happened. It is the end of an era and is the beginning of a new day.
It is the special genius of the Democratic Party that it welcomes change, not as an enemy but as an ally ...not as a force to be suppressed, but as an instrument of progress to be encouraged.
* * * *
This week our Party has debated the great issues before America in this very hall.
Had we not raised these issues, troublesome as they were, we would have ignored the reality of change.
Had we papered over differences with empty platitudes instead of frank, hard debate, we would deserve the contempt of our fellow citizens and the condemnation of history.
We have heard hard and sometimes bitter debate.
But I submit that this is the debate and this is the work of free people, the work of an open convention, and the work of political party responsive to the needs of this nation.
Democracy affords debate, discussion and dissent.
But it also requires decision.
And we have decided, here, not by edict but by vote -- not by force but by ballot.
Majority rule has prevailed, while minority rights are preserved.
There is always the temptation to leave the scene of battle in anger and despair, but those who know the true meaning of democracy accept the decision of today, but never relinquish their right to change it tomorrow.
In the space of one week, this Convention has laid the foundations for a new Democratic Party structure in America. From precinct level to the floor of this Convention, we have revolutionized our rules and procedures.
And that revolution is in the proud tradition of our Party.
In the tradition of Franklin Roosevelt, who knew that America had nothing to fear but fear itself...and it is in the tradition of Harry Truman who let'em have it and told it like it was. And that's the way we're going to do it from here on out.
It is in the tradition of that beloved man, Adlai Stevenson, who talked sense to the American people. And, oh, tonight, how we miss that great, good and gentle man of peace in America.
And my fellow Americans, all that we do and all that we ever hope to do, must be in the tradition of John F. Kennedy who said to us: Ask not what your country can do for you, but what can you do for your country.”
And my fellow Democrats and my fellow Americans, in the spirit of that great man, ask what together we can do for the freedom of man.
And what we are doing is in the tradition of Lyndon B. Johnson who rallied a grief-stricken nation when our leader was stricken by the assassin’s bullet and said to you and said to me and said to all the world: "Let us continue.”
And in the space of five years since that tragic moment, President Johnson has accomplished more of the unfinished business of America than any of his modern predecessors.
I do believe that history will surely record the greatness of his contribution to the people of this land.
And tonight, to you, Mr. President, I say: Thank you, thank you, Mr. President.
At this convention, too, we have recognized the end of an era and the beginning of a new day.
And that new day belongs to the people -- to all of the people everywhere in this land of the people -- to every man, woman, and child that is a citizen of the Republic.
Within that new day lies nothing less than the promise seen a generation ago by Thomas Wolfe: “To every man his chance, to every man regardless of his birth, his shining golden opportunity. To every man the right to live and to work and to be himself. And to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him. This is the promise of America.”
Yes, a new day is here. Across America -- throughout the entire world -- the forces of emancipation are at work. We hear freedom's rising chorus: “Let me live my own life. Let me live in peace. Let me be free," say the people.
And that cry is heard today in our slums and on our farms and in our cities.
It is heard from the old, as well as from the young.
It is heard in Eastern Europe and it is heard in Vietnam.
And it will be answered by us in how we face the three realities that confront this nation.
The first reality is the necessity for peace in Vietnam and in the world.
The second reality is the necessity for peace in our cities and in our nation.
The third reality is the paramount necessity for unity in our country.
Let me speak first about Vietnam.
There are differences, of course, serious differences, within our Party on this vexing, painful issue of Vietnam. And these differences are found even within the ranks of all the Democratic Presidential candidates.
Once you have examined the differences, I hope you will recognize the much larger area of agreement.
Let those who believe that our cause in Vietnam has been right -- and those who believe it has been wrong -- agree here and now: Neither vindication nor repudiation will bring peace or be worthy of our country.
The question is: What do we do now?
No one knows what the situation in Vietnam will be on January 20, 1969.
Every heart in America prays that, by then, we shall have reached a cease-fire in all Vietnam, and be in serious negotiation toward a durable peace.
Meanwhile, as a citizen, a candidate, and Vice President, I pledge to you and to my fellow Americans, that I shall do everything within my power to aid the negotiations and to bring a prompt end to this war.
May I remind you of the words of a truly great citizen of the world, Winston Churchill -- it was he who said –- and we would heed his words well: “Those who use today and the present to stand in judgment of the past, may well lose the future.”
And if there is one lesson we should have learned, it is that the policies of tomorrow need not be limited by the policies of yesterday.
And my fellow Americans, if it becomes my high honor to serve as President of these States and people, I shall apply that lesson to the search for peace in Vietnam, as to all areas of national policy.
Now, let me ask you, do you remember these words, at another time, in a different place: “Peace and freedom do not come cheap. And we are destined -- All of us here today -- to live out most, if not all of our lives, in uncertainty and challenge and peril.”
The words of a prophet? Yes.
The words of a President? Yes.
The words of the challenge of today? Yes.
And the words of John Kennedy to you and to me and to me and to posterity.
* * * *
Last week we witnessed once again in Czechoslovakia the desperate attempt of tyranny to crush out the forces of liberalism by force and brutal power -- to hold back change. But in Eastern Europe, as elsewhere, the old era will surely end and, there, as here, a new day will dawn.
And to speed this day, we must go far beyond where we've been, beyond containment to communication, beyond differences to dialogue, beyond fear to hope.
We must cross the remaining barriers of suspicion and despair.
We must halt the arms race before it halts humanity. And is this, is this a vain hope? Is it but a dream? I say the record says no.
Within the last few years we have made progress.
We have negotiated a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
We have laid the groundwork for a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
We have reached agreement on banning weapons in outer space.
We have been building patiently stone by stone, each in our own way, the cathedral of peace. And now we must take new initiatives.
Every American, black or white, rich or poor, has the right in this land of ours to a safe and a decent neighborhood. And on this there can be no compromise.
I put it very bluntly. Rioting, sniping, mugging, traffic in narcotics and disregard for law are the advance guard of anarchy and they must and they will be stopped.
But may I say most respectfully, particularly to some who have spoken before, the answer lies in reasoned, effective action by state, local and federal authority. The answer does not lie in an attack on our courts, our laws or our Attorney General.
We do not want a police state, but we need a state of law and order. And neither mob violence nor police brutality have any place in America.
And I pledge to use every resource that is available to the President to end for once and for all the fear that is in our cities.
Now let me speak of other rights. Nor can there be any compromise with the right of every American who is able and who is willing to work to have a job, who is willing to be a good neighbor, to be able to live in a decent home in the neighborhood of his own choice.
Nor can there by any compromise with the right of every American who is anxious and willing to learn to have a good education.
And it is to these rights -- the right of law and order, the right of life, the right of liberty, the right of a job, the right of a home in a decent neighborhood, and the right to an education -- it is to these rights that I pledge my life and whatever capacity and ability I have.
But we cannot be satisfied with merely repairing that which is old. We must also move beyond the enclosures of our traditional cities to create new cities, to restore our present cities, yes, and we must bring prosperity and modern living and opportunity to our rural areas.
We must design and open America, opening new opportunities for new Americans in open land. I say to this audience, we have invested billions to explore outer space where man may live tomorrow. We must also be willing to invest to develop inner space right here on earth where many may live today.
And now that third reality. Essential if the other two are to be achieved, is the necessity, my fellow American., for unit in our country, for tolerance and forbearance, for holding together as a family. And we must make a great decision: are we to be one nation, or are we to be a nation divided between black and white, between rich and poor, between north and south, between young and old.
I take my stand. We are and we must be one nation -- united by liberty and justice for all, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. This is our America.
And just as I've said to you that there can be no compromise on the right of personal security, there can be no compromise on securing of human rights.
If America is to make a crucial judgment of leadership, in this coming election, then let that selection be made without either candidate hedging or equivocating. Winning the presidency for me is not worth the price of silence or evasion on the issue of human rights.
And winning the presidency, and listen well, winning the presidency is not worth a compact with extremism.
I choose not simply to run for President. I seek to lead a great nation. And either we achieve true justice in our land or we shall doom ourselves to a terrible exhaustion of body and spirit.
I base my entire candidacy on the belief which comes from the very depth of my soul, which comes from basic religious conviction that the American people will stand up, that they will stand up for justice and fair play, and that they will respond to the call of one citizenship, one citizenship open to all for all Americans.
So this is the message that I shall take to the people and I ask you to stand with me. And to all of my fellow Democrats now who have labored hard and openly this week at the difficult and sometimes frustrating work of democracy, I pledge myself to the task of leading the Democratic Party to victory in November.
And may I say to those who have differed with their neighbor or those who have differed with a fellow Democrat, that all of your goals, that all of your high hopes, that all of your dreams, all of them will come to naught if we lose this election. And many of them can be realized with a victory that can come to us.
And now a word to two good friends, and they are my friends, and they're your friends, and they're fellow Democrats. To my friend, Gene McCarthy and George McGovern, who have given new hope to a new generation of Americans that there can be greater meaning in their lives, that America can respond to men of moral concern, to these two good Americans I ask your help for our America. And I ask you to help me in the difficult campaign that lies ahead.
And now I appeal to those thousands, yes, millions of young Americans to join us not simply as campaigners but to continue as vocal, creative and even critical participants in the politics of our times. Never were you needed so much and never could you do so much if you were to help now.
Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. Robert F. Kennedy as you saw tonight had a great vision.
If America will respond to that dream and that vision, their deaths will not mark the moment when America lost its way, but it will mark the time when America found its conscience.
These men have given us inspiration and direction. And I pledge from this platform tonight we shall not abandon their purposes. We shall honor their dreams by our deeds, now and in the days to come.
I am keenly aware of the fears and frustrations of the world in which we live.
It is all too easy to play on these emotions. But I do not intend to do so.
I do not intend to appeal to fear, but rather to hope.
I do not intend to appeal to frustration, but rather to your faith.
I shall appeal to reason and to your good judgment.
Source: Humphrey Campaign Press Release
Richard M. Nixon
Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech
Republican National Convention
Miami Beach, Florida
August 8, 1968
Mr. Chairman, delegates to this convention, my fellow Americans.
Sixteen years ago I stood before this Convention to accept your nomination as the running mate of one of the greatest Americans of our time -- or of any time -- Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Eight years ago, I had the highest honor of accepting your nomination for President of the United States. Tonight, I again proudly accept that nomination for President of the United States.
But I have news for you. This time there is a difference.
This time we are going to win.
We're going to win for a number of reasons: first a personal one. General Eisenhower, as you know, lies critically ill in the Walter Reed Hospital tonight. I have talked, however, with Mrs. Eisenhower on the telephone. She tells me that his heart is with us. And she says that there is nothing that he lives more for and there is nothing that would lift him more than for us to win in November and I say let's win this one for Ike!
We are going to win because this great Convention has demonstrated to the nation that the Republican Party has the leadership, the platform and the purpose that America needs. We are going to win because you have nominated as my running mate a statesman of the first rank who will be a great campaigner and one who is fully qualified to undertake the new responsibilities that I shall give to the next Vice President of the United States.
And he is a man who fully shares my conviction and yours, that after a period of forty years when power has gone from the cities and the states to the government in Washington, D.C., it's time to have power go back from Washington to the states and to the cities of this country allover America.
We are going to win because at a time that America cries out for the unity that this Administration has destroyed, the Republican Party -- after a spirited contest for its nomination -- for President and for Vice President stands united before the nation tonight.
I congratulate Governor Reagan. I congratulate Governor Rockefeller. I congratulate Governor Romney. I congratulate all those who have made the hard fight that they have for this nomination. And I know that you will all fight even harder for the great victory our party is going to win in November because we're going to be together in that election campaign.
And a party that can unite itself will unite America.
My fellow Americans, most important -- we are going to win because our cause is right.
We make history tonight -- not for ourselves but for the ages.
The choice we make in 1968 will determine not only the future of America but the future of peace and freedom in the world for the last third of the Twentieth Century.
And the question that we answer tonight: can America meet this great challenge?
For a few moments, let us look at America, let us listen to America to find the answer to that question.
As we look at America, we see cities enveloped in smoke and flame.
We hear sirens in the night.
We see Americans dying on distant battlefields abroad.
We see Americans hating each other; fighting each other; killing each other at home.
And as we see and hear these things, millions of Americans cry out in anguish.
Did we come all this way for this?
Did American boys die in Normandy, and Korea, and in Valley Forge for this?
Listen to the answer to those questions.
It is another voice. It is the quiet voice in the tumult and the shouting.
It is the voice of the great majority of Americans, the forgotten Americans -- the non-shouters; the non-demonstrators.
They are not racists or sick; they are not guilty of the crime that plagues the land.
They are black and they are white -- they're native born and foreign born -- they're young and they're old.
They work in America's factories.
They run America's businesses.
They serve in government.
They provide most of the soldiers who died to keep us free.
They give drive to the spirit of America.
They give lift to the American Dream.
They give steel to the backbone of America. They are good people, they are decent people; they work, and they save, and they pay their taxes, and they care.
Like Theodore Roosevelt, they know that this country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it is a good place for all of us to live in.
This I say to you tonight is the real voice of America. In this year 1968, this is the message it will broadcast to America and to the world.
Let's never forget that despite her faults, America is a great nation.
And America is great because her people are great.
With Winston Churchill, we say: "We have not journeyed all this way across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies because we are made of sugar candy."
America is in trouble today not because her people have failed but because her leaders have failed.
And what America needs are leaders to match the greatness of her people.
And this great group of Americans, the forgotten Americans, and others know that the great question Americans must answer by their votes in November is this: Whether we shall continue for four more years the policies of the last five years.
And this is their answer and this is my answer to that question.
When the strongest nation in the world can be tied down for four years in a war in Vietnam with no end in sight;
When the richest nation in the world can't manage its own economy;
When the nation with the greatest tradition of the rule of law is plagued by unprecedented lawlessness;
When a nation that has been known for a century for equality of opportunity is torn by unprecedented racial violence;
And when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad or to any major city at home without fear of a hostile demonstration -- then it's time for new leadership for the United States of America.
My fellow Americans, tonight I accept the challenge and the commitment to provide that new leadership for America.
And I ask you to accept it with me.
And let us accept this challenge not as a grim duty but as an exciting adventure in which we are privileged to help a great nation realize its destiny.
And let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth -- to see it like it is, and tell it like it is -- to find the truth, to speak the truth, and to live the truth -- that's what we will do.
We've had enough of big promises and little action.
The time has come for honest government in the United States of America.
And so tonight I do not promise the millennium in the morning.
I don't promise that we can eradicate poverty, and end discrimination, eliminate all danger of war in the space of four, or even eight years. But, I do promise action -- a new policy for peace abroad; a new policy for peace and progress and justice at home.
Look at our problems abroad. Do you realize that we face the stark truth that we are worse off in every area of the world tonight than we were when President Eisenhower left office eight years ago. That's the record. And there is only one answer to such a record of failure and that is a complete housecleaning of those responsible for the failures of that record. The answer is a complete re-appraisal of America's policies in every section of the world.
We shall begin with Vietnam.
We all hope in this room that there is a chance that current negotiations may bring an honorable end to that war. And we will say nothing during this campaign that might destroy that chance.
But if the war is not ended when the people choose in November, the choice will be clear. Here it is.
For four years this Administration has had at its disposal the greatest military and economic advantage that one nation has ever had over another in any war in history.
For four years, America's fighting men have set a record for courage and sacrifice unsurpassed in our history.
For four years, this Administration has had the support of the Loyal Opposition for the objective of seeking an honorable end to the struggle.
Never has so much military and economic and diplomatic power been used so ineffectively.
And if after all of this time and all of this sacrifice and all of this support there is still no end in sight, then I say the time has come for the American people to turn to new leadership -- not tied to the mistakes and the policies of the past. That is what we offer to America.
And I pledge to you tonight that the first priority foreign policy objective of our next Administration will be to bring an honorable end to the war in Vietnam. We shall not stop there -- we need a policy to prevent more Vietnams.
All of America's peace-keeping institutions and all of America's foreign commitments must be re-appraised. Over the past twenty-five years, America has provided more than one-hundred and fifty billion dollars in foreign aid to nations abroad.
In Korea and now again in Vietnam, the United States furnished most of the money, most of the arms; most of the men to help the people of those countries defend themselves against aggression.
Now we are a rich country. We are a strong nation. We are a populous nation. But there are two hundred million Americans and they're two billion people that live in the Free World.
And I say the time has come for other nations in the Free World to bear their fair share of the burden of defending peace and freedom around this world.
What I call for is not a new isolationism. It is a new internationalism in which America enlists its allies and its friends around the world in those struggles in which their interest is as great as ours.
And now to the leaders of the Communist world, we say: After an era of confrontation, the time has come for an era of negotiation.
Where the world's super powers are concerned, there is no acceptable alternative to peaceful negotiation.
Because this will be a period of negotiation, we shall restore the strength of America so that we shall always negotiate from strength and never from weakness.
And as we seek peace through negotiation, let our goals be made clear:
We do not seek domination over any other country.
We believe deeply in our ideas, but we believe they should travel on their own power and not on the power of our arms.
We shall never be belligerent but we shall be as firm in defending our system as they are in expanding theirs.
We believe this should be an era of peaceful competition, not only in the productivity of our factories but in the quality of our ideas.
We extend the hand of friendship to all people, to the Russian people, to the Chinese people, to all people in the world.
And we shall work toward the goal of an open world -- open skies, open cities, open hearts, open minds.
The next eight years, my friends, this period in which we are entering, I think we will have the greatest opportunity for world peace but also face the greatest danger of world war of any time in our history.
I believe we must have peace. I believe that we can have peace, but I do not underestimate the difficulty of this task. Because you see the art of preserving peace is greater than that of waging war and much more demanding. But I am proud to have served in an Administration which ended one war and kept the nation out of other wars for eight years. And it is that kind of experience and it is that kind of leadership that America needs today, and that we will give to America with your help.
And as we commit to new policies for America tonight, let us make one further pledge:
For five years hardly a day has gone by when we haven't read or heard a report of the American flag being spit on; an embassy being stoned; a library being burned; or an ambassador being insulted some place in the world. And each incident reduced respect for the United States until the ultimate insult inevitably occurred.
And I say to you tonight that when respect for the United States of America falls so low that a fourth-rate military power, like North Korea, will seize an American naval vessel on the high seas, it is time for new leadership to restore respect for the United States of America.
My friends, America is a great nation.
And it is time we started to act like a great nation around the world. It is ironic to note when we were a small nation -- weak militarily and poor economically -- America was respected. And the reason was that America stood for something more powerful than military strength or economic wealth.
The American Revolution was a shining example of freedom in action which caught the imagination of the world.
Today, too often, America is an example to be avoided and not followed.
A nation that can't keep the peace at home won't be trusted to keep the peace abroad.
A President who isn't treated with respect at home will not be treated with respect abroad.
A nation which can't manage its own economy can't tell others how to manage theirs.
If we are to restore prestige and respect for America abroad, the place to begin is at home in the United States of America.
My friends, we live in an age of revolution in America and in the world. And to find the answers to our problems, let us turn to a revolution, a revolution that will never grow old. The world's greatest continuing revolution, the American Revolution.
The American Revolution was and is dedicated to progress, but our founders recognized that the first requisite of progress is order.
Now, there is no quarrel between progress and order -- because neither can exist without the other.
So let us have order in America -- not the order that suppresses dissent and discourages change but the order which guarantees the right to dissent and provides the basis for peaceful change.
And tonight, it is time for some honest talk about the problem of order in the United States.
Let us always respect, as I do, our courts and those who serve on them. But let us also recognize that some of our courts in their decisions have gone too far in weakening the peace forces as against the criminal forces in this country and we must act to restore that balance.
Let those who have the responsibility to enforce our laws and our judges who have the responsibility to interpret them be dedicated to the great principles of civil rights.
But let them also recognize that the first civil right of every American is to be free from domestic violence, and that right must be guaranteed in this country.
And if we are to restore order and respect for law in this country there is one place we are going to begin. We are going to have a new Attorney General of the United States of America.
I pledge to you that our new Attorney General will be directed by the President of the United States to launch a war against organized crime in this country.
I pledge to you that the new Attorney General of the United States will be an active belligerent against the loan sharks and the numbers racketeers that rob the urban poor in our cities.
I pledge to you that the new Attorney General will open a new front against the filth peddlers and the narcotics peddlers who are corrupting the lives of the children of this country.
Because, my friends, let this message come through clear from what I say tonight. Time is running out for the merchants of crime and corruption in American society.
The wave of crime is not going to be the wave of the future in the United States of America.
We shall re-establish freedom from fear in America so that America can take the lead in re-establishing freedom from fear in the world.
And to those who say that law and order is the code word for racism, there and here is a reply:
Our goal is justice for every American. If we are to have respect for law in America, we must have laws that deserve respect.
Just as we cannot have progress without order, we cannot have order without progress, and so, as we commit to order tonight, let us commit to progress.
And this brings me to the clearest choice among the great issues of this campaign.
For the past five years we have been deluged by government programs for the unemployed; programs for the cities; programs for the poor. And we have reaped from these programs an ugly harvest of frustration, violence and failure across the land.
And now our opponents will be offering more of the same -- more billions for government jobs, government housing, government welfare.
I say it is time to quit pouring billions of dollars into programs that have failed in the United States of America.
To put it bluntly, we are on the wrong road -- and it's time to take a new road, to progress.
Again, we turn to the American Revolution for our answer.
The war on poverty didn't begin five years ago in this country. It began when this country began. It's been the most successful war on poverty in the history of nations. There is more wealth in America today, more broadly shared, than in any nation in the world.
We are a great nation. And we must never forget how we became great.
America is a great nation today not because of what government did for people -- but because of what people did for themselves over a hundred-ninety years in this country.
So it is time to apply the lessons of the American Revolution to our present problem.
Let us increase the wealth of America so that we can provide more generously for the aged; and for the needy; and for all those who cannot help themselves.
But for those who are able to help themselves -- what we need are not more millions on welfare rolls -- but more millions on payrolls in the United States of America.
Instead of government jobs, and government housing, and government welfare, let government use its tax and credit policies to enlist in this battle the greatest engine of progress ever developed in the history of man -- American private enterprise.
Let us enlist in this great cause the millions of Americans in volunteer organizations who will bring a dedication to this task that no amount of money could ever buy.
And let us build bridges, my friends, build bridges to human dignity across that gulf that separates black America from white America.
Black Americans, no more than white Americans, they do not want more government programs which perpetuate dependency.
They don't want to be a colony in a nation.
They want the pride, and the self-respect, and the dignity that can only come if they have an equal chance to own their own homes, to own their own businesses, to be managers and executives as well as workers, to have apiece of the action in the exciting ventures of private enterprise.
I pledge to you tonight that we shall have new programs which will provide that equal chance.
We make great history tonight.
We do not fire a shot heard 'round the world but we shall light the lamp of hope in millions of homes across this land in which there is no hope today.
And that great light shining out from America will again become a beacon of hope for all those in the world who seek freedom and opportunity.
My fellow Americans, I believe that historians will recall that 1968 marked the beginning of the American generation in world history.
Just to be alive in America, just to be alive at this time is an experience unparalleled in history. Here is where the action is. Think.
Thirty-two years from now most Americans living today will celebrate a new year that comes once in a thousand years.
Eight years from now, in the second term of the next President, we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the American Revolution.
And by our decision in this election, we, all of us here, all of you listening on television and radio, we will determine what kind of nation America will be on its 200th birthday; we will determine what kind of a world America will live in the year 2000.
This is the kind of a day I see for America on that glorious Fourth -- eight years from now.
I see a day when Americans are once again proud of their flag. When once again at home and abroad, it is honored as the world's greatest symbol of liberty and justice.
I see a day when the President of the United States is respected and his office is honored because it is worthy of respect and worthy of honor.
I see a day when every child in this land, regardless of his background, has a chance for the best education our wisdom and schools can provide, and an equal chance to go just as high as his talents will take him.
I see a day when life in rural America attracts people to the country, rather than driving them away.
I see a day when we can look back on massive breakthroughs in solving the problems of slums and pollution and traffic which are choking our cities to death.
I see a day when our senior citizens and millions of others can plan for the future with the assurance that their government is not going to rob them of their savings by destroying the value of their dollars.
I see a day when we will again have freedom from fear in America and freedom from fear in the world.
I see a day when our nation is at peace and the world is at peace and everyone on earth -- those who hope, those who aspire, those who crave liberty -- will look to America as the shining example of hopes realized and dreams achieved.
My fellow Americans, this is the cause I ask you to vote for. This is the cause I ask you to work for. This is the cause I ask you to commit to -- not just for victory in November but beyond that to a new Administration.
Because the time when one man or a few leaders could save America is gone. We need tonight nothing less than the total commitment and the total mobilization of the American people if we are to succeed.
Government can pass laws. But respect for law can come only from people who take the law into their hearts and their minds -- and not into their hands.
Government can provide opportunity. But opportunity means nothing unless people are prepared to seize it.
A President can ask for reconciliation in the racial conflict that divides Americans. But reconciliation comes only from the hearts of people.
And tonight, therefore, as we make this commitment, let us look into our hearts and let us look down into the faces of our children.
Is there anything in the world that should stand in their way?
None of the old hatreds mean anything when we look down into the faces of our children.
In their faces is our hope, our love, and our courage.
Tonight, I see the face of a child.
He lives in a great city. He is black. Or he is white. He is Mexican, Italian, Polish. None of that matters. What matters, he's an American child.
That child in that great city is more important than any politician's promise. He is America. He is a poet. He is a scientist, he is a great teacher, he is a proud craftsman. He is everything we ever hoped to be and everything we dare to dream to be.
He sleeps the sleep of childhood and he dreams the dreams of a child.
And yet when he awakens, he awakens to a living nightmare of poverty, neglect and despair.
He fails in school.
He ends up on welfare.
For him the American system is one that feeds his stomach and starves his soul. It breaks his heart. And in the end it may take his life on some distant battlefield.
To millions of children in this rich land, this is their prospect of the future.
But this is only part of what I see in America.
I see another child tonight.
He hears the train go by at night and he dreams of far away places where he'd like to go.
It seems like an impossible dream.
But he is helped on his journey through life.
A father who had to go to work before he finished the sixth grade, sacrificed everything he had so that his sons could go to college.
A gentle, Quaker mother, with a passionate concern for peace, quietly wept when he went to war but she understood why he had to go.
A great teacher, a remarkable football coach, an inspirational minister encouraged him on his way.
A courageous wife and loyal children stood by him in victory and also defeat.
And in his chosen profession of politics, first there were scores, then hundreds, then thousands, and finally millions worked for his success.
And tonight he stands before you -- nominated for President of the United States of America.
You can see why I believe so deeply in the American Dream.
For most of us the American Revolution has been won; the American Dream has come true.
And what I ask you to do tonight is to help me make that dream come true for millions to whom it's an impossible dream today.
One hundred and eight years ago, the newly elected President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, left Springfield, Illinois, never to return again. He spoke to his friends gathered at the railroad station. Listen to his words:
"Today I leave you. I go to assume a greater task than devolved on General Washington. The great God which helped him must help me. Without that great assistance, I will surely fail. With it, I cannot fail."
Abraham Lincoln lost his life but he did not fail.
The next President of the United States will face challenges which in some ways will be greater than those of Washington or Lincoln. Because for the first time in our nation's history, an American President will face not only the problem of restoring peace abroad but of restoring peace at home.
Without God's help and your help, we will surely fail; but with God's help and your help, we shall surely succeed.
My fellow Americans, the long dark night for America is about to end.
The time has come for us to leave the valley of despair and climb the mountain so that we may see the glory of the dawn --a new day for America, and a new dawn for peace and freedom in the world.
Source: 'Richard M. Nixon Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech' Pamphlet, Published by Nixon/Agnew Campaign Committee
Nelson Rockefeller
Statement of Candidacy
April 30, 1968
April 27, 1968
HHH - WASHINGTON DECLARATION OF CANDIDACY FOR PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION
Thank you, thank you, Senator Harris. How can I say thank you any more sincerely than to say that my heart runneth over with gratitude and appreciation of a friend, and thank you, Senator Mondale; thank you my champion. Thank you, you two co-chairman for the brilliant leadership you have given all of us, that you have given Congress that symbolizes and represents our country. I am so proud of my co-chairmen and our committee and every person in this gathering today. Thank you. (applause)
And here we are, just as we ought to be, here we are, the people, here we are the spirit of dedication, here we are the way politics ought to be in America, the politics of happiness, politics of purpose, politics of joy; and that's the way it's going to be, all the way, too, from here on out. (applause)
My fellow Americans, we're here today on important business, freedom's business, American's business, the Democratic Party's business, and in that order. These priorities of freedom, country, and party have guided me as I have sought to reach an important personal decision. Any man who has had the privilege of spending almost twenty years near the President and the Presidency as I have, must weigh very carefully the implications of seeking an office that demands perhaps more judgment, wisdom, and maturity than any single man possesses. Yet any man who has spent a lifetime, at least who has spent his adult life in public service, also knows within himself that he must be willing to give of himself, when and where he feels he can best serve what he believes in. And so my friends and fellow Americans, facing and knowing the hard realities of the office, yet also knowing the potential for good which lies within it, I shall seek the nomination of the Democratic Party (applause).
(We want Humphrey...) Like it or not, you have him. Yes, as I said, I shall seek the nomination of the Democratic Party for the Presidency of the United States. My credentials, well, they may be stated rather simply: of a loving family; teacher; mayor of my city; senator from my state; vice-president of my country; grateful husband; proud father; believer in the American Dream-the concept of human brotherhood. (Applause)
In his address of almost four weeks ago, President Johnson acted bravely and beyond all personal interest to bring unity to American and to bring peace to Southeast Asia. We do not yet know the outcome of the initiative for peace in Asia. But we are hopeful, but without illusion--only time and events will give the answer. We do know, however, that in our country, a sense of balance has been restored. We know the President by his action, has given us all a chance to see ourselves and our country in proper perspective. And when seen in that perspective, I believe Lyndon Johnson’s presidency will loom large in history for its dramatic leadership towards social progress, human opportunity, and peace. (applause)
The President’s action has served to dramatize our most urgent requirement-unity of our people-not unity at the expense of personal freedom, not at the expense of diversity, not at the expense of dissent, or we do not demand, nor should we, an America of one mind. What we seek is an America of one spirit. (applause)
We seek an America able to preserve and nurture all the basic rights of free expression, yet able to reach across the divisions that too often separate race from race, region from region, young from old, worker from scholar, rich from poor. We seek an America able to do this in the higher knowledge that our goals and ideals are worthy of conciliation and personal sacrifice.
For without unity, we shall begin to doubt not only ourselves, but our goals and ideals. With unity, I am convinced these goals can be achieved, which brings me to the questions I have been asking myself: What do these times call for? What are the possibilities of the future? And how should I now proceed.
Well, the time has come to speak thoughts deeply felt, but not often said by millions of Americans. The time has come to speak out on behalf of America, not a nation that has lost its way, but a restless people, a great nation, striving to find a better way. (applause)
The time has come to put aside selfish ambition and pettiness ,to forget old fears and animosities, and to bring forth from our midst tolerance, understanding, and mutual trust. The time has come to recognize that this nation has more strength than weakness, more hope than despair, more faith in doubt, that we have much more chance than any nation in previous history to master the problems that we face. The time has come for those who share a deep and abiding faith in the purpose and potentialities of this nation to say I love my country. (applause)
Yes, the time is come to express in our way and in our time a new American patriotism; not a patriotism expressed alone in flags, but in a willingness to get down to the higher, hard, tiring, endless work that every generation before us has paid out to keep alive the vision of what America can do. The time has come, in short to a reaffirm once more that we can do whatever we must do to carry forth the unfinished, peaceful American revolution. (applause)
And then comes the question of our vision: What is it? What shall it be? If we can mobilize the human resources to bring unity among ourselves, what are the possibilities? Let me state them as I see them: I believe this nation can finally break across the threshold of what no previous society has ever dared to dream or achieve--the building of a social order of both freedom and compassion, of both enterprise and peace. I believe we can finally create a nation where human equality and human opportunity not only exist side by side, but nourish and reinforce each other; where every citizen may participate, on equal terms, in every aspect of being and doing that which relates to self-respect. I believe we can make law and order not only compatible with justice and human progress, but their unflinching guardians. (applause) I believe that we can build cities in neighborhoods where all our citizens may walk together and safety and pride in the spirit of true community. (applause)
I believe we can, and I know we must, maintain the strength needed to protect our national security and to meet our international commitments. (applause)
But I believe, too, in the practical possibilities of peace; I believe that free man, through the exercise of their own will, can narrow the dangerous gap between the rich nations and the poor, can even and the surge of hunger, can slow down and halt a dangerous spiraling arms race, and can treat and reduce the basic causes of tension and conflict in the world. I believe that through our leadership, we can strengthen the United Nations and other international institutions and make them real, everyday forces for peace. (applause)
Yes I believe that this strong, rich, and idealistic nation of ours can help to create a broader world society in which human values will one day rule supreme. And I mean a world society of independent and free nations, where the individual and not the institution or the party comes first. I mean a world society were a child’s future lies open ahead and where he can be a free man and answer ultimately to no one but to God and to his conscience. (applause)
A dream, yes, a hope, yes, because America is both a dream and a hope for ourselves and for others. All of this is what I believe our America can help achieve. If we will only be remember who and what we are, and why this country came into being, and what it is we really set out to do. Now I know full well the limitations of such a testament. I know that it says more of the ideals and a dozen practicalities, and more of high purposes than ways and means. This I know. There is nothing here that I have said of dollar balances, or inflationary pressures, tight money, loose morals, farm policy or labor laws, conservation, housing, health, social security, jobs, and a great deal more of infinite importance. In fact, most of the time, of my time for the past quarter century, has gone into working at these problems; I know them. (applause)
I know them and I have some ideas about how they can be challenged, and during the coming months in my campaign and your campaign. I shall express these ideas. But today, I thought we would do well to begin this great pursuit and venture, this cause that is ours, to begin looking at the stars, for, my friends, there is a guidance in the pursuit of great ideals and energy in the pursuit of great ideas. (applause)
And now to the business of getting elected. Let me share with you my thoughts: The people who voted for me for Vice-president have every right to expect a full four-year service in that office. Thus in the weeks ahead, I want you to know that I shall place high priority up on that call to service and I shall continue to fulfill, to the best of my abilities, the duties of my office, and the responsibilities that have been placed upon me. I shall, as the president has, observe the actual party peace over politics. (applause)
I shall do my utmost to contribute to a broad reasoned national dialogue, devoted not to personalities, but to issues which man once benefit, educate, and inform the American people and the Democratic Party. For 1968, this year, is not the year for frenzied or inflammatory rhetoric, nor is it the year for searching out, and seeking in finding scapegoats for our problems. I submit that 1968 is the year for common sense to the American people. (applause)
It is time requiring every person, in every post, in every area of leadership, maturity, restraint, and responsibility. And it should be a time of great confidence, and above all, my friends, a time for public happiness in this nation. (applause)
So you may understand the ground rules of my effort, I will resist the temptation and successfully so, to deceive either the people or myself. I have been too close to the Presidency to believe that the solutions to our complex and difficult problems are either simple or easy and I know the answers do not come quickly. But what concerns me is not just winning the nomination, but how it is to be won. (applause)
The man who wins the nomination must be able, first, to unite his party. The man who unites his party must be able, above all to unite and govern his nation. You can rest assured that I intend to fight hard and clean for the nomination. (applause)
But I do not, and will not, divide either my party or my country. In this great effort, I shall do my best and I ask no less of those who join me.
For democracy is only what democracy gets done; we don’t get just what we stand for, we get what we earn and what we work for. In the full knowledge of all the challenges that lie ahead within both the campaign and in the high office, I enter this course with a resolve and a determination to win. (applause)
And I shall make everything that I do on one conviction: that this country, we the people of these United States, working in a spirit of unity, can overcome any obstacle, finally realizing the fullness of freedom, the prize of peace, in the happiness of human opportunity, both here and in the world. My fellow Americans, we are the people of today; we are the people of tomorrow, it is to the future that we look and we aspire. And I found some words are told me exactly what I want to tell you; you’ll find them inscribed in the great literature. The future has several names: for the weak it is impossible, for the faint-hearted it is the unknown, for the thoughtful and the valiant it is ideals. The challenge is urgent, the test is large, the time is now -- on to victory! (applause)
Source: Speech Transcript
Hubert H. Humphrey Papers, Minnesota Historical Society
Announcement of Candidacy for President
Washington, D.C. March 16, 1968
I am today announcing my candidacy for the presidency of the United States.
I do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man but to propose new policies. I run because I am convinced that this country is on a perilous course and because I have such strong feelings about what must be done, and I feel that I'm obliged to do all that I can.
I run to seek new policies - policies to end the bloodshed in Vietnam and in our cities, policies to close the gaps that now exist between black and white, between rich and poor, between young and old, in this country and around the rest of the world.
I run for the presidency because I want the Democratic Party and the United States of America to stand for hope instead of despair, for reconciliation of men instead of the growing risk of world war.
I run because it is now unmistakably clear that we can change these disastrous, divisive policies only by changing the men who are now making them. For the reality of recent events in Vietnam has been glossed over with illusions.
The Report of the Riot Commission has been largely ignored.
The crisis in gold, the crisis in our cities, the crisis in our farms and in our ghettos have all been met with too little and too late.
No one knows what I know about the extraordinary demands of the presidency can be certain that any mortal can adequately fill that position.
But my service in the National Security Council during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin crisis of 1961 and 1962, and later the negotiations on Laos and on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty have taught me something about both the uses and limitations of military power, about the opportunities and the dangers which await our nation in many corners of the globe in which I have traveled.
As a member of the cabinet and member of the Senate I have seen the inexcusable and ugly deprivation which causes children to starve in Mississippi, black citizens to riot in Watts; young Indians to commit suicide on their reservations because they've lacked all hope and they feel they have no future, and proud and able-bodied families to wait our their lives in empty idleness in eastern Kentucky.
I have traveled and I have listened to the young people of our nation and felt their anger about the war that they are sent to fight and about the world they are about to inherit.
In private talks and in public, I have tried in vain to alter our course in Vietnam before it further saps our spirit and our manpower, further raises the risks of wider war, and further destroys the country and the people it was meant to save.
I cannot stand aside from the contest that will decide our nation's future and our children's future.
The remarkable New Hampshire campaign of Senator Eugene McCarthy has proven how deep are the present divisions within our party and within our country. Until that was publicly clear, my presence in the race would have been seen as a clash of personalities rather than issues.
But now that the fight is on and over policies which I have long been challenging, I must enter the race. The fight is just beginning and I believe that I can win ...
Finally, my decision reflects no personal animosity or disrespect toward President Johnson. He served President Kennedy with the utmost loyalty and was extremely kind to me and members of my family in the difficult months which followed the events of November of 1963.
I have often commended his efforts in health, in education, and in many other areas, and I have the deepest sympathy for the burden that he carries today.
But the issue is not personal. It is our profound differences over where we are heading and what we want to accomplish.
I do not lightly dismiss the dangers and the difficulties of challenging an incumbent President. But these are not ordinary times and this is not an ordinary election.
At stake is not simply the leadership of our party and even our country. It is our right to moral leadership of this planet.
Source: Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
January 31, 1968
To the Citizens of New Hampshire:
I hardly need to remind you of the importance of the New Hampshire Presidential primary -- both to the candidates and to the country. This importance stems from more than the fact of its being first. It stems also from the spirit in which New Hampshire's voters approach the election, keenly aware of their special responsibility, of the broad influence of their votes.
In 1968, your responsibility is greater than ever. The nation is in grave difficulties, around the world and here at home. The choices we face are larger than any differences among Republicans or among Democrats, larger even than the differences between the parties. They are beyond politics. Peace and freedom in the world, and peace and progress here at home, will depend on the decisions of the next President of the United States.
For these critical years, America needs new leadership.
During fourteen years in Washington, I learned the awesome nature of the great decisions a President faces. During the past eight years I have had a chance to reflect on the lessons of public office, to measure the nation's tasks and its problems from a fresh perspective. I have sought to apply those lessons to the needs of the present, and to the entire sweep of this final third of the 20th Century.
And I believe I have found some answers.
I have decided, therefore, to enter the Republican Presidential primary in New Hampshire.
I will try to meet as many of you as I can -- Republicans, Democrats and Independents, those who will vote in March and those who will vote in November. I will invite your comments. I will answer your questions. I will discuss with you my own vision of America's future, and I will ask for yours.
I have visited New Hampshire often -- as a candidate, as a public official, and as a private citizen. I appreciate the many courtesies you have paid me. I am deeply grateful for your support in past elections. But in asking your support now, I ask it not on the basis of old friendships. We have entered a new age.
And I ask you to join me in helping make this an age of greatness for our people and for our nation.
Sincerely,
Richard Nixon
Source: 'Richard M. Nixon Letter to the Citizens of New Hampshire'
Courtesy: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
PRESS CONFERENCE OF SENATOR EUGENE J. McCARTHY
SENATE CAUCUS ROOM, WASHINGTON, D.C., NOVEMBER 30, 1967
I intend to enter the Democratic primaries in four states: Wisconsin, Oregon, California and Nebraska. The decision with reference to Massachusetts, and also New Hampshire, will be made within the next two or three weeks. Insofar as Massachusetts is concerned, it will depend principally upon the outcome of a meeting which is being held there if they finish their work this weekend--a meeting of the Democratic State Committee.
Since I first said that I thought the issue of Vietnam and the issues related to it should be raised in the primaries of the country, I have talked with Democratic leaders from about 25 or 26 states; I have talked particularly to candidates for, re-election to the Senate (Democratic candidates), to some House members and also to students on campus and to other people throughout the country.
My decision to challenge the President's position and the Administration's position has been strengthened by recent announcements out of the Administration--the evident intention to escalate and to intensify the war in Vietnam and, on the other hand, the absence of any positive indications or suggestions for a compromise or for a negotiated political settlement. I am concerned that the Administration seems to have set no limit to the price which it is willing to pay for a military victory.
Let me summarize the cost of the war up to this point:
--the physical destruction of much of a small and weak nation by military operations of the most powerful nation in the world;
--100,000 to 150,000 civilian casualties in south Vietnam alone, to say nothing of the destruction of life and property in north Vietnam;
--the uprooting and the fracturing of the structure of the society of South Vietnam, where one-fourth to one-third of the population are now reported to be refugees;
--for the United States--as of yesterday--over 15,000 combat dead and nearly 95,000 wounded through November.
--a monthly expenditure in pursuit of the war running somewhere between $2 and $3 billion.
I am also concerned about the bearing of the war on other areas of United States responsibility, both at home and abroad:
--the failure to appropriate adequate funds for the poverty program here, for housing, for education and to meet other national needs, and the prospect of additional cuts as a condition to a possible passage of the surtax tax bill;
--the drastic reduction of our foreign aid program in other parts of the world;
--a dangerous rise in inflation; and one of the indirect and serious consequences of our involvement in Vietnam --the devaluation of the British pound, which in many respects is more important east of Suez today that the British Navy.
In addition, there’s a growing evidence of the deepening moral crisis in America: discontent and frustration, and a disposition to take extra-legal--if not illegal--actions to manifest protest.
I am hopeful that this challenge which I am making--which I hope will be supported by other members of the Senate and other politicians--may alleviate at least in some degree of this sense of political helplessness and restore to many people a belief in the processes of American politics and of American government; that on the college campuses especially and also among adult, thoughtful Americans, it may come to the growing sense of alienation from politics which I think is currently reflected in a tendency to withdraw from political action, to talk of non-participation, to become cynical and to make threats of support for third parties or fourth parties or other irregular political movements.
I do not see in my move any great threat to the unity and strength of the Democratic Party--whatever that unity may be today and whenever that strength may be.
The issue of the war in Vietnam is not really a separate issue, but one which must be dealt with in the configuration of other problems to which it is related. And it is within this broader context that I intend to make the case to the people of the United States.
Let me say that—as I am sure I shall be charge—I am not for peace at any price, but for an honorable, rational and political solution to this war; a solution which I believe will enhance our world position, encourage the respect of our Allies and our potential adversaries, which will permit us to get the necessary attention to other commitments--both at home and abroad, militarily and did not militarily--and leave us with resources and moral energy to deal effectively with a pressing domestic problems of the United States itself. In this total effort, I believe we can restore to this nation a clear sense of purpose and of dedication to the achievement of our traditional purposes as a great nation in the twentieth century.
Thank you very much.
Source: McCarthy for President Press Release
Eugene J. McCarthy Papers, Elmer L. Anderson Library, University of Minnesota
Governor George Romney of Michigan
Veteran’s Memorial Building – Detroit
November 18, 1967 11 a.m. EST
My wife Lenore is my greatest earthly inspiration. She excels in eloquence, the poetry of words, empathy, and graciousness.
I have given my life to the poetry of decisions and work.
-----
One was aspires to the Presidency should be confident he can be useful and capable of providing the needed leadership.
I decided to fight for and win the Republican nomination and election as President of the United States. I have made my decision with a great earnestness.
I am concerned about America.
The size and complexity of our national problems have bred a widespread sense of personal futility.
We have begun to see acceptance of irresponsibility as a way of life. There is growing aimlessness and flabbiness in our American society.
The evidence is everywhere.
Too frequently family responsibilities are pre-empted by government and weakened by obsolete welfare policies that cripple each new generation of the poor.
The crime rate mounts and over half the major crimes are committed by teenagers. To avoid a society that seems to offer no cause worth serving, too many turn to drugs or alcoholism or other means of “escape.”
Too often, young people bursting with idealism, either find themselves playing a game for which they have little heart or hurling themselves into wasteful protest against the so-called “establishment.”
Men and women in the slums, bitter over unfulfilled promises, listen to revolutionaries who would plunge us into civil guerilla warfare. We are becoming “a house divided.”
In this apathetic period, work is now seldom looked on as joy, and excellence of product or service is now seldom an objective.
Our magnificent economy, which offers an impoverished and hungry world the only model that can head off greater deprivation and unprecedented famine, is being systematically jammed by inflation.
The richest nation in the world is in a fiscal mess.
As we have drifted away from principle at home, we have undermined the foundation of our position in the world. Once a beacon of hope for people everywhere, America is now widely regarded as belligerent and domineering.
We are mired in an Asian land war which sacrifices are young men and drains our resources, with no end in sight. Time and again we have been taken toward the mountaintop of hope only to fall back into the crevices of sickening reality. False optimism and lack of candor on the part of our leaders have confused our citizens and sapped their resolve.
Our foreign policy has no clear positive purpose. NATO and the United Nations are in disarray, subversion threatens Latin America, and the have-not nations are losing ground.
But, I’m confident that the American people can reverse this trend. We have the creative energy and the basic principles to build a new America.
The process begins at home.
Our country’s unique political institutions have released and stimulated the best in more people than any other nation in history. We won’t again fulfill our destiny until we can trust the individual and what he can and should do, and the spirit God shared with men.
We must recognize that the root source of America’s strength is the divinely endowed freedom of its people;
That personal responsibility and family responsibilities are essential in a free society;
That is through voluntary cooperation of responsible individuals that Americans have made life more agreeable and rewarding.
In all our communities we must–as I find poor people beginning to do in the ghettos–design a new fabric of voluntary independent agencies through which people help each other.
We must practice are fundamental principles of mutual self-respect and brotherhood with every citizen enjoying full and equal citizenship.
We must restore respect for law and its enforcement. In order of priority, it is more important to make our streets safe than to put a man on the moon.
We must restore the competitive principle, under which labor and business cooperate to serve the consumer first.
Workers must personally participate in progress to enjoy their work and take pride its product.
We must make private contribution, not concentrated power, the yardstick of reward.
We must reestablish control over Federal spending and end perpetual deficits.
In the 50 states of our union, we must again claim not state rights but state responsibilities.
We can, we must, solve the problems on which the Federal bureaucracy has so obviously failed. Our national government must lead in identifying national problems, establishing priorities, and encouraging maximum state, local, and private effort in their solution. To succeed we must decentralize problem-solving responsibility and action.
If we do those things at home, we will have taken the first giant step for re-establishing the influence of the United States in the World.
To apply these principles, to achieve these goals, to build a new America, we must have a Republican President.
The Republican Party has the faith in the individual, and voluntary cooperation, private competitive enterprise, free collective bargaining, and state and local government needed to apply these principles at home. A Republican President can work for a just peace in Vietnam unshackled by mistakes of the past. A Republican President can restore truth to government and regain the confidence of the people.
We need leadership that can elevate religion and morality to their position of paramount importance and thus eliminating growing selfishness, and immorality, and materialism. We must end the spirit of “anything goes,” and restore the importance and quality of our personal lives.
The present President, who is experienced only in the tools of government, will continue, no matter what his intentions, to build greater and greater governmental control over our lives.
To decentralize our attack on problem-solving and to energize the great talents and character of the American people will require broader experience. I have had such experience. I worked in the fields, in construction, in independent and voluntary national and local agencies during war and peace, in international trade and labor conferences, in two of the nation’s largest corporations operating in three major industries, and in state and federal governments.
A New American requires leadership which, by word and deed, merits the confidence of the people and is worthy of God’s blessing.
Because I believe that, working together, we can build a New America, I will work toward this goal with all my heart, mind, and new spirit. I pledge energy and honesty to the task.
#####
Source: Governor George Romney of Michigan Press Release
Courtesy: Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan