Remarks at the 17th Annual Republican Women's Conference.

Mary Brooks, Senator Dirksen, all of the distinguished guests at the head table, all of the distinguished guests in the audience, both in this room and downstairs:

I stopped in the overflow room before and I can tell you that there is just as much excitement and just as much enthusiasm there as there is here.

As Senator Dirksen has indicated, I don't think I have ever seen so many women in one place and I have seen them upstairs and downstairs.

I want you to know, too, as I stand here before you, I realize that over these past few days you have heard from a number of representatives from the new administration. I have not spoken to you. I will speak to you tonight briefly.

I am going to make a promise, though, with regard to what I will do next year. That will come later. But before referring to that, I want to say just a few words about those whom you are honoring tonight. As I understand it, you are honoring women generally. First I want to tell you how proud I am of the women that we have in the present administration. I am not going to name any one of them by name, except for Mary Brooks. She is typical of them and all that I can say is we wish we had more. We need more like Mary Brooks in this administration.

I would like to also tell you how proud I am of the women in this administration who do not hold office, but who hold the hands of their husbands who do hold office. I refer to our Cabinet wives.

I wonder if both downstairs, where they are carrying this on closed circuit television, and upstairs will the Cabinet wives please stand so that you can all see them, those who are in the Cabinet?

I want you to know that I am--I was going to say "an expert on wives." I don't mean that. But I have seen not only many women in government, but I have seen the wives of government officials and I have had the opportunity to see the wives of the members of the new Cabinet. I want to tell you first I am proud of every member of that Cabinet. It is a fine team. It is one of the best teams we have ever had.

But I can tell you that I have had an unusual experience, as you probably noted. We have done two things that have never been done before. We have had two meetings. Immediately before the Inauguration we had a meeting of all of the Cabinet, with the wives, an all-day meeting in which they were briefed along with the members of the Cabinet on the major issues that we would be facing.

Then just this last week we had another meeting. We are going to have one every quarter, because we believe that in government, when men have to make these very important decisions, if the member of the Cabinet happens to be a man, he needs not only the sympathy of his wife; he needs her advice, her understanding.

I can tell you that as I have seen those Cabinet women around that table, as I have seen them at dinners, state dinners at the White House, as I see them tonight, we have one of the finest groups of Cabinet wives I have ever seen. I am very proud of them, too.

Having spoken of our Cabinet family, I want to speak also of our Republican family-- --Republican women. As we were having a reception just the other day for a group that was in the White House, the National Committee, several came through the line and said, "We thank you for inviting us to the White House." I know that, as I read the statistics that Mary Brooks just handed me, yesterday in the White House there were 4,762 women who consumed 24,500 cookies, 235 gallons of punch, and came over in 44 buses.

I simply want to say this: To those of you who expressed thanks to me and to my wife Pat for inviting you to the White House, we want to thank you for making it possible that we could invite you to the White House. I know that Ev Dirksen will back me up in what I say. Without your help, we couldn't have done it; and with your help, we are going to continue to do it.

I think you should know that the first Women's Conference actually occurred in 1953. That was the first one, 17 years ago. Mrs. Eisenhower hosted the women at that conference. That was the first time in 20 years that the Republican Women had been visitors at the White House in that capacity. This year Pat Nixon hosted you. We hope to make it an annual event for as many years as you will allow us to do so.

Now if I could express a personal word--I can't often do this at home--but I understand that you are going to honor my wife and my two daughters for their role in the campaign. Believe me, they deserve it. Any wife who can do as my wife has, listen to my speeches through campaigns, at home and abroad in over 60 countries for 23 years, and sit there transfixed, as if she is hearing it for the first time, believe me, that is service far beyond the call of duty.

But beyond that, I want you to know that in this last campaign I was proud of what all the Republican women did, the marvelous work you did all over this country. I was proud of what the women of my family did, my wife making appearances on her own in so many places, as did the wives of the Cabinet who are up here today, and my two daughters going out and making appearances all over the country.

People ask me about the fan mail we get. We get more for them than we do for me, believe me. We get more invitations for them, I think, than we do for me. That is fine.

I am reminded of a lesson that I have never forgotten: I remember in 1952, right after being nominated for Vice President, naturally, as a young Senator and a young candidate for Vice President-the youngest in history except for one up to that time--I felt, you know, rather puffed up about it, and I was put in my place at one of the first receptions. I remember it was in Nebraska. It was one of those long handshakers, and people came through the line over and over again saying, "Congratulations. This was fine," and so forth and so on.

Then one fellow came through the line. He said that he came from a farm and had driven over 200 miles to that meeting. He put it quite directly. He said, "Dick, I want to tell you something"--because he had seen me out there before when I had spoken as a Congressman and as a Senator. If there is any place I have not spoken, you name it. But believe me, he said to me, "I just want you to know that as I stand here and shake hands with you, I congratulate you for what you did. But never forget this: You are controversial, but everybody likes Pat."

So you see, I know the asset of the women in my family. I know what assets the Cabinet wives and all of the women in this administration are to this administration. I know what each of you has done in this campaign, and I thank you for it.

Now, if I could speak briefly about what you campaigned for, where we stand on it, and what I hope to be able to report next year. There were many great issues in the last campaign. Among those that I think stood out most in the minds of the women workers and the women voters to whom I talked in such great numbers were these:

First, the desire to bring peace in the world again. That was uppermost in the minds of women voters across this country, not the illusory peace that comes from simply ending a war, but the kind of a peace that is lasting, ending a war on a basis that will discourage other wars.

The women wanted that kind of leadership. They weren't satisfied with the past leadership. They voted for new leadership. That, therefore, was a major issue.

A second major issue was the desire upon the people of this country, among them, to stop the rise in taxes and stop the rise in prices. Women particularly were concerned about that issue because women have the responsibility for the family budget, and having the responsibility for the family budget, they know that unless we deal effectively in handling the problems of the Federal budget, you are not going to be able to balance the family budget.

They voted for new leadership to stop the rise in prices and stop the rise in taxes so that millions of Americans would do a better job and have a better chance to balance that family budget.

Then there is another great issue that I found--whether it was in the North, the East, the West, or the South--that women particularly were interested in, and that was to stop the rise in crime and reestablish respect for law and order throughout the United States.

This administration has been in office for almost 3 months. I know that many are quite impatient, perhaps, or might be impatient as to why we don't have peace, why we haven't stopped inflation, and why we haven't stopped the rise in crime and reestablished respect for law with justice and order throughout this country.

I could stand here and tell you that it had been done. That would not be true. I could stand here and promise you when it would be done. But that would not be responsible.

But I will tell you this: There are no three issues that have a higher priority in this administration than those three. I can tell you that on this day, for example, not only in the morning but throughout the afternoon, and when I leave this meeting to return to the White House for further meetings tonight, those were the three great issues on which my time was being spent.

I will tell you that I am going to make a pledge tonight. I ask not to speak formally to this group this year. Next year I am going to ask for an invitation to make a speech to the Republican Women's Conference when you come back. I ask the women in this audience to hold me and all of my Cabinet colleagues responsible on those three great issues. I will make this promise:

Next year I will be able to report to you and to the American people that we have made real progress toward bringing peace in the world, reestablishing law and order at home, and also in stopping the rise in taxes and inflation in the United States.

This is our goal. We are not overpromising. But I can assure you we have the programs, we have the men, and we have the women, I believe, that can bring success to those programs.

Now, finally, I had a thought. Mary Brooks said, "Tell us what we can do." There is no election this year, unless you happen to live in Virginia or New Jersey, and if you do, we wish you good luck in those States, believe me. But there is something else that you can do, that goes beyond whether you happen to be a Republican, as all of you are, or a Democrat. It involves the mission of all the women in this country above everybody else.

I read a very disturbing report the first of this week. It was from the British Institute of Strategic Studies.¹ Many of you probably read it, too. What made the headlines in this report was its appraisal of American strength in the world compared with that of the Soviet Union.

¹The Strategic Survey, 1968-1969, an annual report issued by the Institute for Strategic Studies, London, England.

It pointed out some facts that we found were accurate when we came into office. First, that over the past few years in terms of conventional weapons, the Soviet Union has been moving at a much faster pace than the United States; and that in terms of strategic weapons of the nuclear type, that in the year 1969 some estimates indicate that the Soviet Union might pass the United States. That compares with what the situation was in 1962 when there was at least a 4 to 1 advantage of the United States over the Soviet Union.

I mention those statistics because they have been publicly printed, not to frighten anybody, because we need not be afraid. We still have major advantages in several areas. But I bring you those statistics simply to indicate that in the field of military strength we have the responsibility and we shall see to it that the United States, as we attempt to. negotiate with other nations, as we are going to be willing to and desire to, as we negotiate to bring peace, we shall always negotiate from strength and never from weakness. That we pledge we will do.

Also, we have the responsibility in this administration for maintaining the economic strength of this country. We think we have programs that will do that.

But getting back to the study of the London Institute, it made one other point in which you have a special responsibility. It raised a question as to whether the year 1969 might mark the period in the history of the Western world when the United States not only lost the military superiority that it had, but more significantly, lost the will and the determination to be a major power and to play a major role in the world.

The study didn't go into it in detail, but the clear implication was that as far as the United States was concerned, a grave question now existed as to whether this great Nation, the Nation on whom the hopes for peace and freedom of the whole free world ride--the question was raised not simply with regard to our military strength, something that your administration takes responsibility for, but with regard to our moral strength, with regard to our will, with regard to our determination.

I simply want to say to the women in this audience, and to the women of America, through you, that will, that determination, cannot be brought by any President to the people. It must come from the home. It must come from the families. It must come from our churches, from our schools throughout the Nation, and I can tell you that having spoken across this Nation for so many years, I am not pessimistic about that will.

This is a great country. I have traveled all the nations of the world and I know the criticisms of America. But I can tell you that when I come back to the United States, I realize that this Nation not only is militarily strong and will remain so, not only is it the richest Nation and will remain so, but that as a great nation, we are going to meet the challenge of our time because we do have the character and we do have the moral stamina that this country requires and that the world requires today. This I believe.

All that I ask is this: that as you return to your homes, we instill that spirit--a spirit of pride, a spirit of patriotism in the very best sense of the word, a spirit of what America has always stood for to the world, not bent on aggression, but recognizing that freedom, meaning as much as it does to us, that we have a responsibility to, hold that standard high for all the world to see. This is the charge that I leave with you tonight, and I am confident, as I have talked to you and as I have received reports from this meeting--I am confident that you are going to meet it.

A few days ago when I delivered the eulogy to President Eisenhower, I referred to the fact that in his eloquent and memorable speech at London's Guildhall, he made the statement: "I come from the heart of America." And he truly did, from the geographical heart and the spiritual heart of America.

I simply want to say that as I see a great group of Americans like this, not just because you are Republicans--I like that--but as I see you vitally interested in your country, concerned about the issues, making this trip to Washington, going back and carrying the word back to the precincts throughout this country, as I see you, I am going to leave this meeting knowing that the heart of America is good because you are going to keep it good and strong. I am sure you will.

Thank you.