Address at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, California

May I first address the heads of the organizations that are my hosts this evening: Mrs. Kearns, Madam President of the National Federation of Republican Women, Mr. Saunders, Chairman of the Citizens for Eisenhower of Southern California, and Mr. Trippitt, President of the Democrats for Eisenhower--and my fellow Americans:

Incidentally, this is the first time I have had the great privilege of using such words in addressing my hosts.

Now for many reasons I am delighted to be with you. Here I meet again with groups which 2 years ago did so much to reverse the trend toward highly centralized government in our Nation.

Among you are the representatives of the women of the Republican Party, inspired with that wonderful determination for good that has always characterized your activities. Others of you represent other groups bound not by party ties but by a common devotion to good government-government administered by public servants of integrity and purpose.

Naturally, I want, first, to pay my compliments to all of you who have joined together to be my hosts tonight, but far more than this, I feel that I owe to you an accounting of the progress made by the administration that your efforts did so much, 2 years ago, to send to Washington.

I think, too, that it is time that we had a talk about the course of our Government for the next 2 years.

We are meeting in a great State which has furnished the Nation so many distinguished public servants. It is the State which only recently has given our country a man who will be known in history as one of the great Chief Justices of the United States, Earl Warren. It is the home State of another devoted public servant who both here and abroad has been doing such a great job for all of us--our Vice President, Dick Nixon. Here, too, is the home of a man who in the last Congress demonstrated outstanding qualities of ability and leadership--the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Bill Knowland. And, my friends, I think I speak for everyone present when I say that the prayers of this entire gathering are with Mrs. Knowland, for her early return to health. And, tonight, I am especially happy to be in the company of an able compatriot in the business of government, Tom Kuchel, who as a member of the Senate has ably served his State and our Nation.

My respects go as well to the Congressmen of our party who have worked so diligently to bring success to our cause. And of course, I cannot forget your Governor, who so graciously introduced me to this audience.

Now, all of these men, and all of you here tonight have shown that you are Americans willing to do more than just talk about having a better and stronger Nation--an America willing to work and to fight for the kind of country that you are determined to have. You are among the millions of our citizens who take seriously their obligations of citizenship. You are not content merely to be bystanders in the business of self-government. And because you are leaders--dedicated leaders-you persuade others to exercise their civic responsibilities as well.

Through such selfless devotion, all of America is strengthened, and our freedoms are made more secure.

Our common interest is good government. All good government is produced only by able and dedicated people. Government is people. All of you in this great audience are, therefore, a part of the stuff of which good government is made. Our common purpose is that our Government shall daily advance the good of all of our people, regardless of race or color or creed or political affiliation or regional considerations.

In this effort in the past, you have made speeches. You have buttonholed your neighbors. You have pounded the pavements. You have used the telephone. You have addressed envelopes. And you have licked stamps.

And you well know what resulted 2 years ago from all those efforts.

I know that you will again succeed. Because, as good citizens, you know that in the American way, it is not enough to start a job with zeal and enthusiasm. You must also have the stamina and the determination to see it through.

Let us, then, militantly resolve here tonight to carry forward together the great work we undertook 2 years ago.

Now, what did we start out to do? How far have we come? What's left to be done? These are the political questions of our day that are truly important.

Two years ago the people of our country voted to have clean government. What has happened in the 20 months since?

Not one appointee of this administration has been involved in scandal or corruption.

Moreover, in this administration, not politics, nor complacency, nor cronyism, will stay the use of every available legal and investigative process to prevent abuse of the public trust. Integrity and decency and dignity have been restored to the Federal Government. Our Government again stands high in the eyes of our people. This is clean government.

Two years ago the people of our country demanded a cut in the high cost of their Government. They wanted a cut, too, in their high taxes.

And what has been done?

This administration and your Congress, under Republican leadership, have cut the cost of your Government by over eleven billion dollars. This has made it possible for us to pass on to the taxpayer 7 billion 400 million dollars of this saving. This is equal to an annual saving of almost fifty dollars for every man, woman, and child in all America. This is the biggest tax cut in the history of the United States. Now the remainder of this savings in governmental costs is being applied against the previously planned budget deficits, so that our debt--the public debt--will not unnecessarily keep piling up.

This administration believes that the individual knows better how to spend his money than does a bureaucrat in Washington.

And may I emphasize that the tax laws have been executed without political favoritism and without corruption.

Two years ago our people were longing for a prosperous economy-without war. The useless shooting that could lead nowhere except to ever growing casualty lists has been stopped. The tremendous expenditures to support it have been stopped. Nevertheless, the Nation's economy has adjusted to these new conditions with minimum economic detriment to most of our people. This is true even in those areas most directly affected by war production. The year 1954 is, in fact, the best peacetime year in our history.

But we are most certainly not satisfied--far from it. I am keenly aware of the economic dislocation and individual hardships which, in certain locations, are the aftermath of war and inflation. The administration and the Republican Congress have moved and will continue to move with the full force of the Federal Government to ease these problems.

And we have provided many strong protections to strengthen our economy. Among these are tax revisions which encourage new enterprise--and make new jobs. We have new housing programs. And there are no windfall profits in them. The FHA has been overhauled and revitalized and has again become an indispensable and an effective agency in helping to provide homes for those who need them. We have soundly expanded the social security system to include ten million more Americans. We have a broadened unemployment compensation program--for four million more Americans. We have provided advantageous group life insurance for every Government worker.

This evening I met briefly the wife of our Postmaster General, who told me that after this insurance program was effected and accomplished, within 3 days thereafter a man working for the Post Office Department died, and except for this insurance system his wife and family would have been left penniless. Now they have something on which to live.

We have an expanded road program made possible by returning to the States money received from Federal gasoline taxes. We have enacted a farm program that will prevent the accumulation of unmanageable surpluses. This program will lead to full parity in the market place for the farmer, instead of a percentage of parity at some Government warehouse. All of these measures--and there are many more--provide an even stronger economy, an economy that will stay strong, that will continue to grow, an economy under which Americans will continue to prosper.

At last our Nation's economic strength is of an enduring kind.

It is not a prosperity based on the froth of inflation.

We flatly reject the idea that, for America to stay prosperous, we must constantly run an economic fever.

We flatly reject the idea that, for America to stay prosperous, the Government must always spend more than it has.

No longer do we have a prosperity pegged to the battlefield sacrifices of our husbands, our sons, and our brothers.

We do have a prosperous economy--and we have it without war. We have kept faith with the American people.

And over the world we are building strength where there was weakness. We have brought realism where there was wishful thinking in our foreign dealings. We have brought frankness, candor, and force to a foreign policy which at last insists on distinguishing words from deeds in the conduct of the affairs of the world.

Much of a specific and concrete character has been accomplished in this field.

Two years ago, it looked almost certain that our friends in Iran would bow to communist imperialism. With their downfall the free world would have lost over 60 percent of the known petroleum reserves of the world. The consequences would have been disastrous.

Iran today has new strength, new hope, new determination. Iran has a new tie to the cause of freedom. Disaster has been averted.

At Suez, ancient irritations and quarrels involving two of our friends have been resolved. Peace has been preserved. Progress has been assured in an area vital to Western civilization.

Pakistan has become a valued new ally.

In the Far East, despite the inescapable misfortune of Indochina, the United States Navy has just completed the resettlement of 250,000 evacuees from the Communist-held northern sections, and have transferred them to places where they could five in conditions of freedom. A new concert of nations is building strength in this region, where there was weakness. In that crucial area of the world there has been established for the first time, a solid, enduring relationship between the Western World and the friendly people of Asia.

At Caracas the American Republics joined in a solid working arrangement assuring the defeat of any future attempts to impose communistic imperialism upon the peoples of the Americas.

As a result, in Guatemala, the first beachhead of international communism in the Western Hemisphere has been eliminated.

In spite of recent disappointments in Europe, the growing strength of NATO continues to bring an increased sense of security to the free people of that vital area. We are, with continuing determination and confidence, working with our friends to bring about a new defensive arrangement which will further assure the freedom of the peoples of western Europe.

Throughout the world a series of alliances and improved understandings among our friends has enhanced the strength of the free world, upon which our own security so very greatly depends. These are merely examples of results brought largely about by the tireless efforts of our distinguished Secretary of State, Foster Dulles.

I am gratified to report to this great audience that this administration has maintained a continuing bipartisan discussion of the foreign problems of this Nation--a record of bipartisan consultation unmatched in any previous administration. To you and to all Americans, patriots above all sectional and partisan considerations, I know this accomplishment is of real meaning.

Now at home, what of our national defense?

First and foremost, we have established a business administration in the gigantic defense organization. We are eliminating the waste of duplication and inefficiency.

No longer do we have a feast and famine program of defense. Skyrocketing expansion of our Armed Forces, inspired by hysterical fear, followed by their reckless contraction resulting from complacency, are the most perilous and costly kind of military program. We have adopted a stable, long-term policy, emphasizing a steady buildup of our military strength with efficiency and with economy.

No longer do we waste vast sums for mothballing and demothballing of ships--on opening and closing of military bases. No longer do we force in and force out of the Armed Forces young veterans who already have served this Nation in time of war.

No longer do we build combat air wings just on paper.

Instead, today, at a cost of billions less, we have an armed strength far more efficient and better organized than ever before--a defense stronger and readier in peacetime than it has ever been.

Next--today we at last deal effectively with the Communist conspiracy in the United States itself. This doesn't mean that every citizen should suspect his neighbor or fear the loss of his constitutional rights. But it does mean that we are backing up the FBI and the Department of Justice in dealing forthrightly with any who would plot the violent destruction of our form of Government. The Congress and the executive branch have taken the statutory and administrative steps necessary to treat this problem with the care and the vigor it requires. This administration does not look upon the Communist menace as a red herring.

Yes, we promised to strive for a prosperous America, at peace. We promised an efficient defense against attack from abroad and against subversion at home. We promised a realistic foreign policy.

As to performance, over and above what I have said, we invite the most rigid scrutiny of the record.

But we said we would do even more than this.

We said we would cut down padded Federal payrolls--that we'd clean out misfits and unfits in the Government service. And in 20 months padded payrolls have been cut by over 211,000. Security risks have been removed from sensitive positions.

We said we would reverse the deadly trend toward centralization of Government power in Washington. This we have done. In addition, pursuant to an act of Congress, I have appointed a Commission, composed of distinguished Americans, which for months has been examining closely all phases of Federal, State, and local responsibility, and their relationships one to another.

We said we'd remove stifling controls from the Nation's economy. This was done a year and a half ago, amid dire predictions of carping critics that inflation would follow and prices would soar out of sight. Despite these gloomy predictions, inflation was stopped and the cost of living was stabilized.

As all of this was being done, we were also stopping bureaucrats in Washington from doing a lot of things that you and all enterprising Americans can do better yourselves.

We have tried to live by the maxim of Abraham Lincoln: "The legitimate object of Government," he said, "is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do for themselves--in their separate and individual capacities." And he added, "In all that the people can individually do for themselves, Government ought not to interfere."

In keeping with this sound and sage advice, the Government is stopping the manufacture of ice and of cement. It is being stopped from retreading tires, repairing shoes, roasting coffee, making clothes. The Government has been stopped from making rope, operating rubber plants, running a commercial bank.

The Government has been stopped from operating a big fleet of tugs and barges on our inland waterways. All of these things are again in the hands of private citizens--exactly where they belong.

We made another commitment to the American people 2 years ago. We promised a new era of cooperation between the Executive and the Congress--cooperation that would lead to progressive accomplishment for the good of all our people--as visualized by our Founding Fathers when they wrote the Constitution for the United States of America.

For the past 20 months there has been harmony unprecedented in our time between the Executive and the Congress--harmony that has led to progressive accomplishments for the good of all our people. This must be preserved.

Now, on the promises to which I have adverted, we have delivered. Our people know it.

But the program is not completed. There is much to be done. We must keep on working.

We shall keep on, despite those misguided and irresponsible people who, hoping for individual advantage, spread fear--fear of war, fear of atomic disaster, fear of international catastrophe, fear of depression-false fears, my friends, of tomorrow and of ourselves. Fellow Americans, 2 years ago the people of this country proved that they will not listen to the peddlers of fear.

We shall ride forward over their gloom-filled talk and their cynical doubts.

Our program is for just one thing: the practical good of 160 million Americans. In 2 years we have done much toward that goal. But we have much more to do.

Important legislation must be considered by the next Congress. This would include a great program to expand our foreign trade, a program to promote American investment abroad, a comprehensive water resources program. It will include a tremendous new highway program. It will include legislation to meet the needs of our people in the field of health and medical care--and it will once and for all repudiate the philosophy of socialized medicine. It will include consideration of the very important recommendations that will grow out of the White House Conference on Education. The next Congress will consider legislation of fundamental importance respecting the personnel of our Armed Forces. A new Armed Forces Reserve System will be established. Congress will be called upon to consider the exceedingly important recommendations of the Hoover Commission and also those of the Commission on Intergovernmental Relations and Fiscal Affairs concerning the relations between Federal, State, and local governments.

Many other important problems will command the attention of the next Congress. Among them will be measures for lowering the voting age in Federal elections, statehood for Hawaii, amendments to our labor-management laws, and other as yet unrealized promises in the national platform of the Republican Party. We are determined to fulfill every commitment that we have made to the American people.

Will we be able to go ahead to attain these goals for a better America?

Let us look at a few political facts. Under our system, many millions of our citizens have partisan affiliations. This is as it should be. In no other way can party responsibility be fixed under our system.

But for a political party in our Nation to be held clearly accountable to the people for its political philosophy and programs to guide the course of our Government, it is essential that that party control both the executive and the legislative branches of the Government. This is what all of you worked for in 1952.

When, unfortunately, the Congress is controlled by one political party and the executive branch by the other, politics in Washington has a field day. The conduct of Government tends, under these conditions, to deteriorate into an endless round of contests for political advantage-an endless round of political maneuverings, of stagnation and inaction-of half measures or no measures at all. These are the reasons--the compelling reasons--why the completion of your great program requires the election of a Republican-led Congress.

My friends, 2 years ago I called upon those who believe in the principles and objectives that we commonly share, to fight for their advancement with all their heart and force. Tonight I renew that call. I call upon you for a rekindling of the enthusiasm and determination of 1952. I am convinced that the great majority of Americans believe that we are on the right course. But the very confidence that they now have in our Government has understandably diminished their constant and active participation in its affairs. They think everything is all right. They must make sure that it remains so. It is our task, therefore, to reactivate their participation. It is our task again to organize the hearts and minds and the efforts of this great majority actively in this cause. You are leaders in this task. And as leaders, you must seek the cooperation and fighting support of our people, regardless of party, who, like you, want to support these principles and these objectives.

Let me make this clear: this is the time to go to work. This is the time for rededication, for renewed effort.

We must carry forward our program--a program which in deeds and in facts gives voice to the spirit of America. It is a program whose success will inspire gratitude in the hearts of all of our people, now and in the future.

And now, my friends, before I leave this platform, may I thank you once again for the cordiality of your welcome. I should like also to take this moment to thank all those who, along the streets of this great city today, gave me a smile and a welcome and a "Hi Ike."

Good night, and God bless you.