Remarks at the 50th Anniversary Convention of the United States Jaycees in St. Louis, Missouri.

Mr. President, all the candidates for president of this organization, all of the distinguished guests here on the platform, and the delegates to this 50th anniversary convention, your wives, your girl friends, and your guests:

I know that you can understand how deeply moved I am, and my wife and daughter are, by this wonderful reception. You probably wonder what Tricia said to me while the very great applause was running up through the rafters. She said, "Why, Daddy, this is better than .our convention in Miami." And, of course, my answer was, "Why, there is a reason for it. They are young."

I am honored to address the 50th anniversary convention of the Jaycees. There are a number of reasons why this honor means a great deal to me: because I was a member of the Jaycees, because I was honored to be made a JCI senator. Incidentally, when they chose that number 72,¹ I had no idea I'd be in this office. There were no political connotations whatever at that time.

¹ The President was made JCI (Junior Chamber International) senator number 72 and a life member of JCI in 1953.

When your president extended the invitation to me, I asked him, "When do you want me to speak, at noon or at night?" I chose noon. I want to tell you why. Twenty years ago when I was a Congressman and then a candidate for the Senate in California, I, for the first time, had the honor of addressing a convention of the Jaycees of America. It also happened to be in Miami, Florida.

A friend of mine--I thought he was a friend--told me, "You know, Dick, we have a great spot for you, the night they elect officers. Everybody will be there. You will have a great, enthusiastic crowd."

Well, of course, I could not choose my spot then, so I accepted the invitation. I arrived on time. I was scheduled to speak at 8:00. But that was quite a contest in Miami that year. I don't know whether there has been one since or whether this one will be like it. But there was ballot after ballot after ballot and I finally went on at 1 :45 a.m. in the morning.

By that time, the delegates and their guests were so worn out by politicking and partying, that no one to this day who attended that convention to whom I talked can remember a thing that I said. I don't remember what I said.

There is only one thing I remember about that convention. Does Indiana still have those whistles?

That just proves that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Now it is customary on an occasion like this to look to the past, to talk about the grave and serious problems that we have at the present, and, perhaps, to take a quick look into the future. It is particularly customary in these times to talk about America and its admittedly very serious problems.

Some believe the Nation is coming apart at the seams; that we are gripped with fear and repression and even panic. I am not going to talk to you in that vein today.

I believe that at this time instead of talking only about, and primarily about, what is wrong about America, it is time to stand up and speak about what is right about the United States of America. Because, you see, what is right about America enables us to correct those things that are wrong about America. To do something, if I may borrow a phrase, about those things that are wrong about America.

What is right about America? Look back over the 50 years that this organization has been in being. Our population has almost doubled. But putting it in other terms, while the population has only doubled, the production of the United States, the income of the United States, has gone up tenfold.

The number of Americans who are in high school has gone up 10 times. The number of Americans in college has gone up twenty-fold. I could go on with the statistics with regard to the progress that this Nation has made in the 50 years that this organization has been in being.

We can summarize it very simply by saying that never in human history have more people shared more wealth and had more opportunity with better jobs than in the United States of America. We should be proud of that, and I believe that we are.

I realize that there is a fashion these days--and I understand this attitude and we must all try to understand it--that says that we should not dwell on America's material accomplishments, that what really counts are problems of people. And they do. And what really counts is the spirit and the idealism and that certainly does count.

But let us look at it in another way: Because America is the richest country in the world, because America has such enormous productive capacity, we can do things about our problems that no other country in the world can do.

Let me give you an example. You know about the problem of poverty in America. You also know about our welfare system. Let me give you my views on that system in just a word. I say that when any system makes it more profitable for a man not to work than to work, when any system has the effect of encouraging a man to desert his family rather than to stay with it, it is time to abolish that system and to get one that's better.

Now what can we do about it? Because America is rich--and we could not do this unless we had the wealth that we have---I have been able to recommend to the Congress of the United States the most historic, and I think most objective observers would agree, the most revolutionary program in this field in a period of 50 years.

Let me summarize what that program is. It provides first a program of job incentives and job opportunities and job training so that we can move people off the welfare rolls and onto payrolls in the United States of America.

But it goes beyond that. It provides for a family assistance program, and under that program we will place a floor--and we can do this--under the income of every family in America.

What does this mean? It means that a man and his wife and, most important, his children can stand on that floor with dignity. That is what we can do in America because we have what we have.

Consider the problem, the one so deeply dividing our country at the present time: the war in Vietnam. When we consider this war, it has gone on many years. It has cost lives. It has deeply troubled our people. So as we consider it, let us look at what we are doing about it.

Since coming into office, finally after 5 years of more and more men going to Vietnam, we are bringing them home. One hundred and fifteen thousand had returned home by April 20, and because of the success of our efforts to destroy enemy sanctuary areas in Cambodia and their supplies, we can continue with the program of withdrawal and replacement so that during the spring of next year a total of 265,000 Americans who were there will be home, back in the United States of America.

I realize that is not the total answer. It is a plan, a plan that will end the war and a plan that will replace Americans with the South Vietnamese as they are able to take over the defense of their own country.

But I have seen, as you have seen, those deeply troubled people, and I understand why they feel as they do, carrying their signs and shouting their slogans, "Peace Now." Why not? The day that I came into office, I could have had peace now.

Let me tell you what I vowed when I came into this office. When I came here 17 months ago, 40,000 Americans had lost their lives in Vietnam and I made two pledges: One, I pledged to end this war, and two, I pledged to end it in a way that their younger brothers and their sons might not have to fight in another Vietnam sometime in the future.

So, I would say to all of you, let it be written that this generation had the courage and the character to end this war, and win a peace that the next generation will have a chance to keep. It is not just peace now, but peace in the years ahead and that is what we shall have as we bring our policy in Vietnam to its conclusion.

Let us turn to the problem of the economy. As we look at the economy of this country, we see troubles. And as we look at the cause of those troubles, one of them primarily is that we are having the difficult transition which must always take place when you move from a wartime to a peacetime economy. Seven hundred thousand men who were in the armed services or in defense plants have now had to find civilian employment. This has meant more unemployment than we would want. It has meant some dislocations in the economy.

But it is a cost that is worthwhile, because I say to you this economy is strong, this economy is sound, and it is time--and I believe this is the time--when America can demonstrate that we can have prosperity without war, prosperity with peace in the United States of America. That is our goal.

Now, here again, of course, there are those very well intentioned who say, why not an instant solution, why don't we have Government wage and price controls to stop the inflation of wages and prices?

That is an instant answer and an easy answer. But you know what it is? It is like a doctor telling you when you have got a sore finger that the cure for it is to cut off your arm--because never forget how America got where it got today.

We became the envy of the whole world. We are an economic miracle for the whole world with the average American earning almost twice as much in real wages as that of the next highest nation in the world. How? Not by government restricting free men, but by providing greater freedom and greater opportunity for Americans.

And in this period of transition, let's not make the mistake of replacing that system which got us where it has with one that will restrict that freedom, and also reduce the tremendous productive power, this engine of progress, that has made America what it is.

A word about the problem of inflation. It is a difficult one. One of the major causes, as you know, is the fact that our Government has been spending more than it has taken in for too many years. So now the question comes in an election year: What do we do about it?

It is so tempting for a Congressman or Senator to vote for this spending bill or that spending bill that will help these people or those people in his constituency or in a special group in the Nation.

Let me say this: This is not a partisan subject.

I would simply urge the young men and young women in this audience that when you go home, look at the records of the various candidates and give support to those candidates, be they Democratic or Republicans, who have the courage and the character to vote against a spending program by Government that would help some people but that would raise prices for all people. That is the kind of support that we need.

Consider the problem that has been so much on the minds of many of our young people and older ones who have any sense of the perspective of history and what could happen in the years ahead, the problems of the environment.

As I flew by helicopter from Scott Field in here today, I looked down on the tremendous economy that surrounds this great city of St. Louis. I saw smoke coming from some of the factories, and I remembered, in my time, that when you had smoke coming from factories that was a good sign, it was a sign of progress, it was a sign of jobs, it was a sign of production.

But times have changed. If I can put it in symbolic terms, as far as the factory is concerned, what we need to do is to improve the jobs and increase them, increase the production and eliminate the smoke.

My friends, that is why, as we look ahead 10, 15, 20 years from now, unless we act now, we can have the most productive economy in the world but we will have cities that are choked with traffic, suffocated by smog, poisoned by water, and terrorized by crime.

It doesn't need to be that way. That is why we have presented to the Congress an historic new program to clean up our water and our air and to provide the open spaces which are the heritage, and should be, of every generation of Americans.

Consider another problem, one that deeply divides this Nation, one that sometimes is not, perhaps, discussed as frankly and candidly as it should be, the problem of the relations between the races in America.

As we consider this problem, it is certainly not the answer simply to say that a majority of the people do not favor action which would attempt to solve the problem, because for Americans to be deeply divided is not in our tradition and certainly not in the best interest of America's future.

Now a great deal has happened insofar as our race relations are concerned, looking at what is right about America. I was talking to a very distinguished Negro educator from Columbia University, Dr. Charles Hamilton, recently. He pointed out that in the last 10 years the numbers of Negroes who had moved above the poverty line was 35 percent, a greater percentage than whites who moved above the poverty line in that same period.

He pointed out another historic fact, the fact that in America today there are more Negro Americans in college than there are Englishmen in college in England or Frenchmen in college in France. And we have, of course, reduced the legal barriers for voting rights, for jobs and opportunities in housing. All of these things have occurred.

What I am saying simply is this: We have come a long way, but we have a long way to go. And I would urge this group of young Americans to recognize that you will be living in the future in which this problem will become more and more in the public mind, as it should be.

But it can be solved and it needs the devotion and the dedication of men and women of good will on both sides. I think you have the spirit to find solutions to it. I could go on. But I think these examples prove the point.

Because America is strong and rich, because it is so productive, we are able to do things about poverty. We have the strength to do things about our environment. We have the strength to do things about our economy that no other people in the history of the world have been able to do and that no other people in the world today can afford to do.

Now let me come to you. I have spoken of problems in which government has a special interest. Government has the responsibility to end a war and win the peace. We shall meet that responsibility. Government has the responsibility for programs in the field of cleaning up the air and the water and providing for the open spaces. We will meet that responsibility. Government has the responsibility to break down the legal barriers which divide the races and we will meet and are meeting that responsibility. Government has the responsibility to provide the climate in which Americans, all Americans, have an opportunity for good jobs and not only for good jobs but an opportunity if they have the ability and the desire, to be owners and managers, to have a piece of the action, because when they have a piece of the action, then they believe in this system rather than fighting against it.

But there are some areas in which government cannot do the job. Could I give you three examples? I turn first to the area of race relations. Here government can pass laws. Government can enforce laws. But as government passes the law and enforces the law, there needs to be added an extra element that can come only from the hearts and the minds of the people of the United States of America, because there is one thing that government cannot provide, the healing power of mutual respect for the individual dignity of every person in this country.

Let me say to you, my friends, go back to your communities, wherever they may be--because the problem is not sectional, it is national--go back to your communities, and rather than having America be torn apart let's bring Americans together.

Remember this: Speaking in personal terms, I believe in the American dream. I have seen it come true in my own life. But speaking also in broader terms, we can fulfill the American dream only when every American has an equal opportunity to fulfill his own dream. Let that be the goal of the Junior Chamber of Commerce.

A second area of concern in which you can help: The problem of crime, the problem of law enforcement and respect for law. Here government can pass laws. Government can enforce the law. We will meet that responsibility. But the missing ingredient and what is needed all over this country is something that can only come from people, individuals who respect the law, and that respect for law does not exist in many areas. I want to tell you why I believe we need a new approach. If we ask people to respect the laws we must have laws and those who enforce the laws who deserve respect. That means that in every community in this Nation--and it is primarily a local problem rather than a national problem--we need to provide those programs for laws and the enforcement of laws and the personnel that will deserve the respect.

Let me put it another way. I believe in obedience to the law and I know that you do. But let our proud claim be that we ask Americans to obey the law, not because they fear it, but because they respect it. That should be the goal of America.

Then finally, a problem that I should discuss with this great organization of young men and young women: the alienation between young Americans and older Americans, the generation gap. We must bridge that gap. You can do better than we can because the bridge you have to build is not as long as the bridge we have to build. You are closer to that younger generation.

I charge you, I urge you, to do everything that you can not to make the gap bigger, not to set up a hostile confrontation but to give to young people the understanding of our system that they need.

I would urge every club of the Jaycees throughout America to invite young Americans, high school age, college age, regularly to your meetings. Let them hear the speakers. Let them get the feel of your organization and perhaps they will have a different attitude than they would otherwise have.

But now, what do you tell them? This is the great question. It is not enough-and it is certainly no comfort to me, and I am sure no comfort to you--that a majority of Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of student demonstrations and student strikes. Because when any group of Americans, be they young Americans particularly, feel so alienated from our system and our society, have lost faith in it to the extent that they resort to other means than the orderly means, then we should do something about it and not allow that division to become something that eventually could erupt and destroy a society.

So what do you tell them? I will tell you what will not be enough. "We are going to win peace." They will want that, as they should, and that will come. "We are going to clean up the environment." They want that and they should because that environment is the one they will be living in. They will want an opportunity for at least a good job and an opportunity for advancement. They will want that. It will be provided. They will be concerned about the problems of poverty and they will support those programs that I have mentioned that will provide a floor under the income of those who are unable to work and unable to provide for their families.

But let me leave you with one fundamental truth, and I believe this very deeply and unless we understand this we will fail to bridge this generation gap: Young America today, particularly those in college and high school years, are not going to be satisfied simply by an absence of war and by having good jobs. Young Americans think in idealistic and spiritual terms, and that is to their credit.

Could I put it in historical perspective? One hundred and ninety years ago when this country was founded it was very poor and it was very weak. Yet, Thomas Jefferson was able to say, when this country was founded, when the Declaration of Independence was drafted and proclaimed--listen to his words: "We act not just for ourselves alone, but for all mankind."

What a presumptuous thing to say about a weak and poor country. But it was true. America, when it was weak and poor, meant something more than military might and economic strength. It had the lift of a driving dream that caught the imagination of millions of people in this world.

As we think back to those days, let us remember that that driving dream, that idealism, is what is important today. Let us tell young Americans, all Americans, that we should love America. But let us love her not because she is rich and not because she is strong, but because America is a good country and we are going to make her better.

One hundred and ten years ago, in one of the bloodiest and most tragic instances in this world's and this Nation's history, John Brown, after the bloody raid on Harper's Ferry, was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged.

When he was on his way to .the gallows he rode in a wagon with his own coffin right beside him. And as he rode through the Virginia countryside that day, speaking to no one in particular, he said aloud these words: "This is a beautiful country."

Today, when America has all its blessings and admittedly has many problems, let us never forget that if John Brown could say that just before the tragic War Between the States, with his own death imminent, then we, too, can say: This is a beautiful country and we are privileged to be the generation that has the responsibility to make it even more beautiful for the generations ahead.

Thank you.