Remarks in Belleville, Illinois

Governor Kerner, my old and dear friend Paul Douglas, one of the Nation's most effective Congressmen, Mel Price, Governor Shapiro, Mayor Fields, Paul Powell, Jim Ronan, and my good friends of Illinois:

It is good to be in Illinois and with your neighbors and my friends, Senator Symington, Senator Long, Mayor Gunn of St. Louis, Congresswoman Sullivan, Congressman Frank Karstch. You know, somehow or other I have a feeling in my bones this afternoon that this is going to be a great Democratic year for Otto Kerner, one of the great Governors in this Nation; Stu Symington, one of the great Senators in the Nation; Sam Shapiro; Leonor Sullivan; Frank Karsten; Mel Price; and, I would hope, Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey.

Standing here by this plaque dedicated to our late beloved President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, I am aware again of the sense of high purpose that he brought to the Presidency of the United States.

He had a vision of a world at peace. "We will not reach that goal today," President Kennedy said, "or tomorrow. We may not reach it in our own lifetime. But the quest is the greatest adventure of our century."

President Kennedy is gone today, but the vision remains and the great quest for peace stretches before us. Peace is the most important issue of this campaign, for one simple reason: without it, we will never have the chance to do something about the other issues that concern us.

The question is not who wants peace. I think everybody wants peace. The real question is what is the best way to achieve peace, what is the best way for us Americans to keep the peace.

I think you have a clear choice. On the one hand is the choice of a government which believes that the best way to keep peace is to be prepared to use power with restraint and to always be firm but always be fair. And this is the policy that I follow.

I believe we must turn back Communist aggression wherever it threatens. But at the same time, I believe that we must work patiently and calmly to ease the tensions in the world just as we tried to ease the tensions and the differences in our own communities.

I believe that we can never turn our back on the Communists or relax our guard. But I believe that we can, and I believe that we must, try to convince them that peace is just as much in the interest of their people as it is in the interest of our people.

I believe that we can put twice as many intercontinental ballistic missiles over the Soviet Union as they can put over America. But I also know that the Russians have the power to kill millions of my people. There would not be "total" victory, but there would be "total" devastation, and the survivors would be jealous of the dead.

In such a world as this, a nuclear world, there is no room to rattle our rockets, or to bluster and bluff and be belligerent. There is room only for courage and intelligence and reason. There are some people who may believe differently.

There are some people that talk about nuclear war as if it were inevitable, and of nuclear bombs as if they were "merely another weapon."

They sound as if force or the threat of force can solve our problems. This is dangerous talk. Our military strength is vital to our security. And throughout my entire public career of more than 25 years in the Congress, I have constantly voted to increase our military strength when some people have voted to reduce it.

But I would counsel my fellow Americans today in this friendly, happy crowd, in this beautiful city of Belleville, where Americans love their country and they are out here to demonstrate it--I would say to you that we cannot and we must not use this strength to try to compel, to try to frighten others into following our every command. That course can only lead to constant conflict.

These people also believe that the United States can demand quick resolution to all the problems of the world. From the way some of them talk, all that we need to do is to snap our fingers and ancient disputes that have gone on for centuries will be instantly settled.

Well, I wish there was some giant economy size aspirin tablet that would work on international headaches. But there just isn't. The only cure is patience and strength, with reason mixed in.

Some people seem to believe that we can put an end to all difficulty and danger, and then we can retire from the world.

Well, that is just not so. In this world, as in life, itself, there is no escape from problems, there is no escape from peril. The sound of gunfire in Asia echoes in the homes of Illinois and Missouri. An angry cry for freedom in Africa requires patience and human understanding in Washington.

To abandon our commitments, to withdraw from our responsibilities, would endanger free men and free women everywhere, and would bring the hope for peace to an end. I don't believe that you want to do that.

I believe in victory, the victory of love over hate, the victory of man's hopes over man's fears, the victory of peace over war, and the victory of freedom over tyranny. And I believe you believe in that, too.

In the shadow of this afternoon as the sun is about to set, we stand here by a memorial to a great President. John Fitzgerald Kennedy also believed in that victory. He is gone and so is another wonderful man who loved peace and who longed for the day when our swords would become plowshares--President Herbert Hoover, who passed away yesterday. On his 90th birthday this year, President Herbert Hoover spoke words that have a very special meaning here today. President Hoover was a Republican. I am a Democrat. But his hopes for America and my hopes for America, his hopes for humanity and my hopes for humanity are not partisan.

And so I would like to close my little talk with you today by quoting my friend's words, by quoting President Hoover who was my counselor when I assumed the responsibilities of the President. He was one of the first to call and extend his aid. Here are the words that he used, and I quote, and I hope you will listen carefully:

"Our American form of civilization has been deluged with rising criticism from both home and abroad .... So perhaps the time has come for Americans to take stock and to think something good about themselves ....

"On the moral and spiritual side we could suggest that . . . (we) fought for free men in two world wars and asked no indemnities, no acquisition of territory, no domination over other peoples. We could point to a spirit of Christian compassion such as the world has never seen, and prove it by the tons of food and clothing and billions of dollars we have provided as gifts in saving hundreds of millions of people overseas from famine, and many governments from collapse ....

"We could point out that our American system has achieved the greatest productivity, the highest standard of living of any nation on earth. True, we have large natural resources--but other nations also have such resources. What, then, has brought us such abundance?

"We have freedom of choice. And the produce of our freedom is the stimulation of our energies, initiative, ingenuity, and creative faculties. Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and of human dignity."

Thus said a great President who has passed on.

Now, in this campaign, you will have a decision to make. Two weeks from yesterday you will go and select your leaders for this country and the leaders for the free world for the next 4 years.

You have two issues that stand out: Shall we continue the foreign policy of bipartisanship, where Senator Arthur Vandenberg, a Republican, worked with President Truman, a Democrat, to stop the Communists in Greece and Turkey?

Shall we follow the bipartisan policy of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who worked with Lyndon Johnson, a Democratic leader of the Senate, in the crisis in the Strait of Formosa, when our country was united and we put our country ahead of our party ?

Shall we follow the policies of Senator Dirksen and Senator Hickenlooper, who worked with John Fitzgerald Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis and in the test ban treaty?

Or shall we go off on another adventure to fly to evils that we know not of on a very dangerous course?

You will decide that course.

In our domestic policy, unemployment in this State is at an all-time low. Income is at an all-time high. Corporation profits after taxes this year are up $12 billion. Workers income after taxes this year is up $60 billion.

Yes, in the words of our great President, this country is moving again. That is what John Fitzgerald Kennedy predicted and that is what we are doing.

So now I must run along. I leave that choice up to you. I hope that you will be understanding. I hope that you will do your duty. I hope you will realize your obligation. The spotlight of the world is on America on November 3d. They are going to look to us for leadership.

We have new governments in Germany, England, in the Soviet Union, Italy, and other places. They have seen the transition that has taken place since President Kennedy was taken from us. They are looking to see what kind of leadership you are going to select.

Well, I will tell you what kind you are going to select. You are going to search your conscience and regardless of what party you belong to, you are going to do what your conscience tells you is best for your country, and whatever your decision is it will be satisfactory to Hubert Humphrey and to me.

Thank you very much.