Remarks at Presentation to President Hoover of a Citation for Distinguished Civilian Service.

President Hoover, Mr. Chairman, and My Friends:

You see, there was some excuse for my question addressed to the Chairman because I had been assigned a very specific and succinct part of this program. But I did feel I wanted to express a few personal sentiments with which I hope most of you can agree.

First, my purpose was to pay a great tribute--as great a tribute as I am capable of delivering--to the youthfulness of our guest of honor, Mr. Hoover.

Someone said that any man is young who retains his optimism. And optimism, I believe, is a capacity for looking toward the future with hope and enthusiasm.

Now our guest of honor has shown his optimism twice. He has headed great commissions determined to deliver to us better service in the government that we must maintain, and at less cost to ourselves. He remains optimistic, or he would not have devoted so many years of his life to this work.

And in his case, I think, there would be a great deal of excuse-at least at times I feel so--for an opposite conclusion.

He spent many years in public service, and I know something of some of the frustrations and difficulties he had during at least four years of that service.

He knows what it means to attempt to install new methods, new procedures, in a great hierarchy, in a great bureaucracy.

Now, I would not have any of you think that your public servants in the Civil Service and in other areas are not good people. Indeed they are. Some of them are extraordinarily intelligent and capable. But they are a very large group that has been accustomed to operate according to certain procedures--certain methods. We do it ourselves, in our daily lives. We become creatures of habit.

I won't venture to remark about the ladies. But I would bet any man here puts the same foot into his trousers first every morning.

In all our daily lives you can find that we fall into habits. Take the one of eating. How many people are there here, I wonder, whose doctors have not asked them to keep their weight down, but who go on indulging themselves?

The same way in government. We become used to these procedures and practices, and they involve these millions of people. I declare, if you could provide for the government, through the Bureau of the Budget, a new accounting system, with the utmost expedition and efficiency, it would certainly take you many months before you could reach the last echelon of government. And why not? They will plead: "Why, we have blank forms printed for the next three years; we are all ready; we will have to re-train our clerks." You would have every good reason in the world for not doing this hastily.

Our guest of honor has never lost his enthusiasm for better government through all this kind of thing.

I merely wanted to point out, this is an unusual kind of enthusiasm and leadership, from which all of us benefit.

And may I say that every one of the recommendations submitted by this latest Hoover Commission has been the subject of earnest study. They have been monitored within the government by one of our noted businessmen, Mr. Kestnbaum, in order to get every one of them implemented as rapidly as possible. I am first to admit that that speed has not been sufficient and all we could ask. But it is progress, and it will continue. That I promise this body, which has worked so hard to bring it about.

And now after that, the real purpose of my coming to this platform to speak: I have been privileged to get ready for Mr. Hoover a short Citation which I shall now read.

TO

HERBERT HOOVER

STATESMAN AND CITIZEN

Honored in every field of human endeavor:

Science, Business, Government, Education, Art, Charity,

I address the Nation's recognition of a crowning achievement.

To a searching examination of the Executive Branch of the Government

you have freely applied unparalleled knowledge.

Inspired by your concern for the whole truth,

disciplined by your unremitting insistence on accuracy,

united by your respect for majority opinion,

your Commissions have wrought incalculable good.

Through your efforts ours will be a stronger country.

In so adding strength to the American Republic,

you have added strength to the free world.

We are grateful.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER