Address Before the Woman's National Democratic Club.

Madam President, the Woman's National Democratic Club, ladies and gentlemen:

I am glad to be here tonight.

You know, I just flew up here from Key West, and I'm going to fly back down there tomorrow. I have left Washington a good many times for a one-night stand somewhere else, but this is the first time I have ever come to Washington for a one-night stand.

I want you to know how happy I am to be here. I am delighted to speak to this crowd of Democrats--especially at a dinner given by such a fine group of Democratic women. Besides, Mrs. Truman--under pressure from Mrs. Edwards--made this engagement for the two of us; and when I have a date with Mrs. Truman, I usually keep it.

I've been having an interesting time at Key West--and I have been doing some things that I don't have time to do here in Washington. For one thing, I have been getting some extra sleep. You know, the President usually has so much work to do that it keeps him busy all day and most of the night.

Down at Key West, I have also had more time than usual to think about some of the things that lie ahead of us.

One of the things I have been thinking about is next year's election. I am sure that is a matter of considerable interest to all of you people here tonight. It's a matter of considerable interest to me, too, and that's what I want to talk to you about.

I'm not going to make any announcement about who the candidate will be, although I do have some ideas on that subject. What I want to talk about tonight is the broad picture of what this election means. I want to talk about where this Nation stands in the world and about what the future holds in store for us. I want to impress upon you, if I can, just how important that election next year will be.

In a presidential election, we do more than choose between candidates--we also choose a course of action for our country to follow for the next 4 years. That is a matter for every one of us to consider very seriously and, I am sure, prayerfully. A wise choice can do much to insure the prosperity and security of our Nation. A mistake in a presidential election can cause the country untold harm.

You remember what happened in 1920. When the people voted for Harding, that meant a tremendous change in the course the United States was following. It meant that we turned our backs on the newborn League of Nations. It meant that we tried to isolate ourselves--we simply shut our eyes to the international facts of life.

Well, it didn't work. The United States was a major world power in 1920, even if it did not like to act as one. I think most people now recognize that the country chose the wrong course in 1920--and that choosing the wrong course then had a lot to do with the eventual necessity of fighting a Second World War.

Now, this is an example of why a presidential election in this country is so vitally important. It affects the future of every citizen, and our national position in the world. I hope that we will never repeat the mistake of 1920.

The course America chooses in 1952 will be even more important than the choice in 1920. This is because of the great change which has taken place in our position among the nations of the world.

We have now achieved a position of leadership in the world that gives us opportunities and responsibilities never before equaled in human history.

I think we should all understand that. There is so much carping criticism nowadays about what's wrong with the country that people don't seem to think much about what's right with the country. You hear it on every hand: "The trouble with the country today is this" and "The trouble with the country is that." We ought to stop once in a while and spend a little time counting our blessings.

So far as the United States is concerned, we can all be proud of where it stands and the condition it is in today. Some people, of course, have political reasons why they can't admit that to be true. But it is a fact, nevertheless. We have the strongest and most productive economic system the world has ever seen. We have come out of the most devastating war of all time with our free institutions intact. This country today stands at the highest point in its history.

One of the things that gives me the greatest pride is our moral position before the world.

We are taking the lead in a great crusade for peace.

We are giving our unfaltering support to the United Nations because it is the world's best hope for peace.

We are striving mightily to build a firm structure of international law and order, so that wars shall be no more.

We are using our strength, not to take advantage of the rest of mankind, but to help them--to help them to help themselves. We are doing that because we know the welfare of all men will contribute to world peace. We know that helping others is the best way--probably the only way--to achieve a better future for ourselves.

In this endeavor we have already had results. We have halted the economic and social decline which so gravely threatened the civilization of Western Europe. We have thrown back lawless aggression in Korea. We have curbed the creeping menace of Communist subversion that was attacking one country after another around the world.

It is still too early to say exactly what the outcome of this great effort will be. But we can be sure that if we had not acted as we did, many of the countries that are free today would have long since vanished behind the Iron Curtain to become slaves to dictatorship.

If we had followed this kind of a course back in the years after the First World War--if we had accepted our international responsibilities at that time--the Second World War could have been prevented.

This time, I believe deeply that we are following the right course, and that we can and will be successful in preventing another world conflict.

If we are successful, a great age--an age of great achievements for mankind--lies ahead of us. It is a wonderful picture. When I think about it, I wish I were beginning my life all over again.

Science and invention are opening up new possibilities that are simply fantastic. Atomic energy, which is such a danger to the world now, can bring marvelous benefits when it is turned to peaceful uses. Medical science is discovering new ways to improve health and cure disease. Scientists are constantly finding means to get more and better production from our farms and industries.

These advances in technology will help to make possible great social advances. More and more of our people can have better education, better homes, better health, and greater security. A happier life can be brought within the reach of all our citizens and, I hope, of all the people in the world.

These new discoveries should make it possible to liberate millions of men and women in other lands from the terrible burdens of disease and poverty that now hold them down.

These are some of the things that are within our reach.

When we think about next year's election, we ought to place it in this perspective. We ought not to think about that election just as a matter of parties or candidates. We ought to think about it in terms of what it would mean to our national prosperity, to our efforts for peace, to our chance of realizing all our opportunities in the years ahead.

When you think about it like that, I believe you will understand why I say we ought to pray over it.

As Democrats, we naturally want to win the election, but in making our fight we must put the national interest ahead of everything else.

I sincerely hope that the foreign policy of the United States will not become a partisan political issue in the campaign. I believe in a bipartisan approach to foreign policy. I don't want to give foreign interests, of any kind, the opportunity to enter into our domestic politics, and try to set Americans against one another. Partisan politics ought to stop at the water's edge.

Since I have been President, I have sought to steer a straight course of handling foreign policy matters on the sole basis of the national interest. The people I have chosen to fill the major government positions concerned with foreign policy have been picked solely on merit, without regard to party label. In making important decisions on foreign policy, I have consulted regularly with leaders of both parties--Democrats and Republicans alike.

For my part, I want to keep it that way-I want to keep our foreign policy out of domestic politics. I am happy to say that there are many patriotic Republicans who have the same view of this question. They have gladly given of their wisdom and their help because they put the country first, too. I might add that these are the Republicans-in Congress and out--who know most about foreign affairs.

But I am sorry to say that there is another group of Republicans--a group who want to put foreign policy into domestic politics. They want to play with dynamite, and they may have their way. I don't know how the Republican convention will decide the matter, next July.

But we can meet this issue if it comes. This is a warning. If the Republicans do make foreign policy an issue in the campaign, it will be the best issue the Democratic Party has. We can stand on our record on foreign policy, and our achievements in the struggle for peace. If the Republican Party takes the fatal step, and decides to throw our program for world peace into the midst of a political fight, I am sure that the Republican Party will be overwhelmingly repudiated by the people.

This is no time to play petty politics with the Nation's safety, and the people of this country will surely rise up against the political party that attempts to do it.

But whether or not foreign policy is made an issue, the campaign next year will be a hard fight. There will be loud Republican voices trying to destroy our faith in ourselves and in our present course of action as a nation. There will be a deliberate attempt to misrepresent the basic facts. The bitter, 'partisan, backward-looking "old guard" will try to belittle our progress and prosperity at home. They will try to discredit the effort we are making to bring about peace. They will try to destroy our hope in the vision of the future that leads us on.

The attack will be well organized--and well financed. We've had a sample in the congressional elections of last year. We saw how the special interests poured money into Ohio last year to elect a Republican senator. Now they will be thinking that if money can win an election in Ohio, maybe money can win a national election. I venture to predict that there is going to be more money spent in trying to defeat the Democratic Party next year than has ever before been spent in any election in the history of this Republic.

And that is not all. The opposition is sure to be fully equipped with slick public relations counselors and gigantic national advertising campaigns. The art of misrepresentation can be expected to reach new heights--if that is possible.

We saw some samples of that last year, too. Do you remember what happened in Maryland? It was all described in sworn testimony before a Senate committee. Use the "big doubt" technique, they said. First, tell a lie to create the doubt, and then use all the tricks of propaganda to exploit it. Create the doubt, and then exploit it. Isn't that a comedown for the party of Abraham Lincoln ?

They tried it--and they managed to fool the people. So they are sure to try it again-lies and smears. Maryland is not the only place they tried it. Look at what they did to Senator Elbert Thomas of Utah. There never was a better man nor a more able Senator than Elbert Thomas. But did that keep the Republicans from conducting a dirty smear campaign to defeat him? No, it did not.

Now, because they got away with it once, they think they can do it again. Now they are going to try it on a national scale.

I do not expect the Democratic Party to take that kind of attack lying down. I do not expect my party to run away from a fight. It never did, and it never will.

We can't stoop to character assassination as the Republicans practiced it in 1950. And we won't have the enormous slush funds they will have.

But we will have some things the Republicans won't have. We will have the record and the issues. The truth and the facts will be on our side. If we get the truth and the facts before the people--if we make sure they know what the real issues are--then, the people will be on our side, too. We proved that conclusively in 1948.

The American people have a lot of commonsense. They know what they want, and they will not be fooled for long by any political confidence men or sleight-of-hand artists.

The way to meet the Republican campaign is to stand firm, and to fight for what we believe is right. I believe the Democratic Party can win and I believe it will win--because it is following the course which corresponds most truly to what the American people deeply feel and believe.

The Democratic Party stands for the people and for progressive policies. It is the party that recognizes the needs of the people, and works to meet those needs.

I have seen the Democratic Party do more for this country in recent years than any party ever did in all our history. I have seen prosperity restored, liberty strengthened, incomes increased, and opportunities enlarged. I have seen all this done because of the progressive ideals of the Democratic Party--and because the Democratic Party has put those ideals into action. I believe in those ideals.

I believe in them because I know the purpose of Government is to serve the people-all the people, and not just those who have money and power.

And I believe the Democratic Party has what it takes to lead the American people in the great struggle we are making for peace and human progress.

If we stand firm and fight for our ideals with courage and with faith in the future, I have no doubt that the American people will choose the Democratic Party to lead this Republic toward prosperity at home and peace in the world.