Remarks at a Rally Sponsored by the Republican Women's National Conference

Madam Chairman, Mr. Vice President, delegates to the 8th Republican Women's National Conference, and friends:

For me it is invariably a joyous occasion when I meet with my friends of the Republican Women's National Conference. Your enthusiasm is infectious and it's good to feel it again.

As a matter of fact, I got so enthused this evening that sitting here I am thinking of running for the national --. Well, nevertheless, i am thinking of running for the legislature of my adopted State. At least, again I have the opportunity of thanking all of you--which I do most earnestly--for the support you have given me, both in political campaigns and in the day-to-day business of administering the Government of the United States.

Many of you here probably know of a fact concerning women in politics that I discovered only recently. The first woman to address any presidential nominating convention was a Republican, who, back in 1892, said, "We are here to help, and we have come to stay." I cannot tell you how deeply appreciative I am of the continuing validity of that 60-year-old pledge. For in politics, I early learned that the ladies not only produce "helping power" but also seem to have the most "staying power."

For example, I see plenty of evidence that you are standing firmly by a decision that many of you here helped to make in 1952. That year our Republican Convention turned to a highly talented man for the vice presidential nomination. None of us has ever regretted that choice.

Now in this little talk I wrote some things about Dick Nixon, and I was astonished when he talked a little bit about me, because I am not running. But Dick Nixon has been a credit to the administration, to our party, and to our country. Since 1952 he has gained nearly 8 years of added governmental experience at the highest level--a tour of seasoning unmatched in the Nation's history. All of us know him as a man of integrity and deep faith--one who is intelligent, mature, and uniquely knowledgeable in the problems and personalities in the world scene. And along with this, he has that priceless gift, a sense of humor-indispensable in politics.

And finally and most important, he has Pat.

Now, this year we want to and expect to elect a Republican President and are striving to regain control of the House of Representatives and make real gains in the Senate. The need for this effort is one on which I can speak with some feeling. Not since 1954 have I served with a Congress controlled by our party. More than 5 consecutive years with an opposition Congress is, I'm told, a record for any President--although it is hardly one I wanted to make. In any event, we are setting our sights on obtaining a Republican House to work with my Republican successor.

It's not my purpose tonight to take off into oratorical orbit--already we have a number of senatorial hopefuls doing that, each hoping in the scramble to get into the chair I shall soon vacate. Instead, might I make just a few comments about the coming campaign, about our party, our record, and how we shall serve our country in the coming years.

As we approach this presidential election, each party should be prepared to examine the corridors of its conscience, the record of its performance and its program for future action.

For this our party stands well prepared.

First of all, it believes that political programs should be based on moral law. Moreover, the Republican Party has never rested its case upon promises and platforms alone; it has been a party of accomplishment.

From 1860 to 1960 it has achieved a record of responsible and brilliant performance that is boldly written across the pages of history.

Let's take a look at just the past 7 years.

What have we done to redeem the platform pledges made to the American people in 1952 and 1956?

The record is filled with such advances as improvements in the health and welfare of our people, the greater soundness, freedom, and growth of our economy, increased modernization and strengthening of our defenses, greater prestige abroad, and the initiation of a roadbuilding program that dwarfs anything of its kind in all history of all nations.

To cite in more detail just two examples of the way in which we have kept faith with the American voter:

Foremost, we stopped, on honorable terms, the fighting in Korea and, since, have kept the peace.

That peace cannot, because of the threat hanging like a cloud over the world, achieve the perfection we desire. But we do remember that during the past 7 years no American boy has lost his life in battle, nor has our Nation been depressed by daily casualty lists.

Since 1953 we have lived in an atmosphere where, with our allies, we are able constantly to strengthen the bonds of peace, regardless of the undeniable uneasiness and tension in the world.

We are well aware of and well understand the powerful threats, both implicitly and explicitly expressed by Communist imperialism, and the sacrifices we must make to uphold peace in freedom. And wherever freedom is threatened we have never temporized nor compromised--nor ever shall.

In this spirit we have made certain of our Nation's defenses--well knowing that from a position of strength we provide not only for military security but establish the only platform from which we can effectively pursue the objective of mutual disarmament and world peace.

In programming America's defense, we have insisted not only on sufficiency, but on balance--a balance that makes maximum use of our material resources, human energies, and national spirit, and is designed to counter every foreseeable risk.

To do otherwise would be to court disaster.

Now some, I know, have felt and expressed themselves individually as highly qualified to criticize adversely the comprehensive and painstaking calculations that responsible military, scientific, and governmental personnel have made in satisfying our defense requirements. For myself, I assure you that I have the highest personal confidence in those calculations, made by a great cooperating group of able and dedicated people.

I am convinced that our whole defensive structure has been accurately tailored in the light both of national needs and operational efficiency.

Our Nation is the most powerful in the world, and only the ignorant or the blind insist it to be otherwise.

But we--we Republicans--owe it to our people to make this clear to every citizen in the land.

And I earnestly hope you will drive home something else.

Here I refer to a second major area of Republican promise and performance.

Some opponents apparently feel there is no problem that cannot be solved by a subsidy--that all social and economic difficulties can be speedily resolved by tapping the treasury.

What a myth that is!

Extravagance and statesmanship can never be happily wedded.

We stand squarely with Lincoln in the conviction that government should undertake only that which the citizen cannot do properly for himself--that government should always be ready to give a helping hand but never a heavy handout.

Now when we express our belief in such things as "fiscal responsibility," "balanced budgets, .... refusal to debase our currency," and the importance of local authority, we no doubt sound unspectacular to those people who want to dive deeply into the Federal Treasury.

But these subjects are not unspectacular to the family that has, in the past, encountered the rising costs and prices resulting from governmental irresponsibility; or to the housewife who must make the family budget stretch to cover the necessaries of life, with its emergencies; or to the worker whose savings and pensions are endangered whenever government permits the debasing of our money.

All these matters are basic to sound government. Moreover, good government does not seek to be spectacular; it seeks rather the progress and the happiness of the people it serves.

So we shall not deviate from principle; but our job is to make sure that the public better understands the Republican accomplishments of the past and the sound and enduring good to be found in its programs for the future.

If we do this, I have no doubt about which party the American people will turn to next November.

If we do our work well, all our people will appreciate the great advances in American influence in the world, and the growing effectiveness of foreign programs. They will realize that we have had marked success in preserving stability and promoting a great expansion in our economy.

Moreover, in two small cyclic recessions we have remained true to principle, refusing to heed the councilors of fear. We have pursued sane and helpful programs tailored to the true needs of our people. The result has been in each case a rebounding economy and a record rise in prosperity.

Under the policies our party has supported, our people are assured of becoming ever more prosperous according to the best judgment of the finest economic experts we can muster. Indeed, this year's Gross National Product--the broadest measure of the Nation's output of goods and services--will be more than $500 billion.

And if we spread the good news properly, the public will pay no attention to those who have developed an amazing, and what is to them seemingly an enjoyable, habit of making forecasts that drip with gloom, lack of faith, and self-doubt.

Although the political pessimist may voice despair about our future, I know that this audience will never believe that our Nation has lost the hardy traits of mind and spirit, the self-confidence and self-dependence, that have characterized the American people for over 300 years. Rather all of us here tonight assert that the history of our Nation-including that of its past 7 years--justifies fully our confidence in America for the journey ahead.

Our party is about to enter the second century since it first came to power. Over the years the core of Republican purpose has been to exalt individual opportunity and human dignity and to enthrone freedom. This purpose we all share, but we must remember that the driving force in a successful political party is the strength of spirit of its members. Only as we renew this spiritual power and enthusiasm will we bring our party up the slow climb to the summit where the election of a Republican President and a Republican Congress will again become the normal pattern.

And so, as I thank you again for your courtesy and express my admiration for the effort you are making, may I say this: in the confident spirit of the final resolution introduced at the convention that nominated Lincoln, we read, "we adjourn to meet at the White House on March 4th next"--I bid you good night and I hope to see you at the Capitol when my Republican successor takes over on January 20th.