Remarks at Government Square in Cincinnati

Mr. Chairman, Senator Young, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls:

I brought Steve Young out here to Ohio with me today, and I am expecting you to send him back to Washington. We need him in Washington and we would like for Ohio to send with him Bob Sweeney, Jack Gilligan, and Harry Sand to give us a good Democratic delegation.

I am glad to see here your county chairman, Vincent Beckman. I would say from what I hear about his service as county commissioner, one good turn deserves another.

I am glad to see my old friend Mike DiSalle on the platform. I am especially honored today by the presence here of one of America's most distinguished and most useful citizens, Dr. Sabin. I am so deeply proud that Dr. Sabin and Mr. Fee have announced their support today for the Johnson-Humphrey ticket. That is Hubert Humphrey I am speaking of.

Over the last 24 hours, the meaning of this election has become clear. It is clear, as it should be clear always, that the destiny of a great nation is not to be determined by partisan consideration.

This generation of Americans stands face to face with the reality of our age. The world will not respond to the promises of politicians. It will not respond to the peeves of partisans. In an age of peril, when danger lurks across the land, the world respects and the world responds to performance, the effective performance, of a bipartisan system in the American way.

Strength we have, and strength we must have, and strength we will keep, and strength we will increase. But the strength of arms alone is not enough. We must show stability to match our strength. We must show steadiness to match our purpose. Only by strength and stability and steadiness can we lead the cause of freedom in the world.

This is the meaning of the last 24 hours. In that short span of time, the world has changed. In our oldest ally in the free world, the government has changed. I talked to the new Prime Minister of Great Britain on the telephone just before I left Washington.

In the strongest nation in the Communist world, the government changed yesterday.

In the most anti-American capital of the Communist world, the Communist rulers of the Chinese mainland have come into possession of their first nuclear device.

We cannot know the road ahead. We know there is peril, as there has been peril all of our lives. We know there are trials, as there have been trials all of our lives.

But we must understand and we must not forget that the meaning of the future will be influenced by the choice you make on November 3d. That is the reality of our age.

The course to be chosen in Moscow, the course to be taken in Peiping, the course to be pursued in the capitals of the free men around the world will be guided by the decisions that the Americans make on November 3, 1964, so be sure of what you do and be sure you know you are right.

In this year, as in all years, others will be reading our election returns. What they conclude from what they read may well decide the destiny of this decade, and the longer course of this century. There just simply must be no miscalculation. There simply must be no room for misinterpretation. The world must know on election night that America will not turn from the course we pursued.

Harry Truman faced the Communists in Greece and Turkey, and with the bipartisan support of Arthur Vandenberg, we won. Dwight David Eisenhower faced the crisis in the Formosa Strait, and with the support of Lyndon Johnson and Mike Mansfield, we won. Jack Kennedy faced the Cuban missile crisis, and with the support of Everett Dirksen, we won.

You will not be electing a President alone on November 3d; you will be electing the kind of life that you want to lead and the kind of world you want your children to grow up in. The vote you cast will count as much as the vote you do not cast, for if you fail to vote, your future will be chosen for you.

This is the season of decision for free men. Men who cherish their freedom and who cherish peace for their children and who hope for prosperous and peaceful tomorrows will not allow that decision to be reached by default. More Americans than ever stand firmly in the center. Our course is guided by the wisdom of experience and the goal of common purpose. We do not want to open that American center to attack or to division or to disruption from extreme factions on the fringe.

On November 3d, the choice of the American people can be a choice of promises or it can be a choice of performance. It can be a choice made in prudence or it can be a choice made in passion. I have no doubt what the American people want that choice to be.

The office of the American Presidency is a great and honorable office, created by a great people. Over the last 175 years, only 35 other Americans have held the trust that I hold today. One out of five of those men-one out of five of those 35--have been sons of your State of Ohio. If they could all stand here beside me now, I believe all who have served before would agree with me on these facts:

--The President cannot make the world sure for Americans, but he can and he must make the world sure of America.

--The President cannot wipe away the burdens of freedom, but he can and he must work to control and to eliminate the waste of freedom's resources.

--The President cannot talk a budget down with words, but he can and he must bring the budget down by hard and understanding work.

--The President cannot give the people freedom, he cannot grant the people rights, for their freedom and their rights are no man's to give or no man's to withhold. But the President can and the President must be willing to give all that is his to protect freedom and to preserve those rights of our fellow Americans.

On this quiet side of election day, when a man sits alone in the office where I serve now, promises of political campaigns mean little. Performance means everything. Since that tragic day last November when this office was thrust upon me, I have tried my best to keep the pledge I made to you, to do the best I could with your prayers and with the help of God above.

I am proud and I am grateful that in these 10 months that I have served you, our prosperity has continued to run unbroken. I am grateful that in these months our preparedness and our peace has grown without interruption. I am grateful that we still have and the world still has peace to enjoy.

I cannot promise, and no man can pretend to promise, all that lies ahead. We cannot know tomorrow or next week or even next year.

I can promise, and I do promise, that whatever may arise, your country--America-will be the strongest nation in all the world and will be prepared.

I can promise and I do promise that if we are called to great challenges, your Government will be ready to perform.

I can promise, and I do promise, that the time to come will be used to unite America, and I will never do anything to divide your country. I love the people of this land; I do not hate them. I have faith in them; I do not have fear of them.

I can promise and I do promise that I will give you all the strength that is mine to bind our wounds, to heal our history, and to make this Nation whole for the trials and for the tests that are ahead.

Some people say we are wild spenders, but in their hearts they know they are wrong. In my first 10 months in office, I cut the deficit in half. In my first 10 months in office, we reduced the budget under the last Kennedy budget by $1 billion. This July and August just passed, under this administration, the Government spent $676 million less than it spent in July and August of last year. We have cut the Federal work force of employees. Today there are 21,000 fewer Federal employees working for the Federal Government than there were the day I became President.

We are encouraging business and we are not harassing it. We know that the more prosperous business becomes, the more jobs are created, the higher wages can be paid to the workers. We have determined that this Government shall be solvent, this Government shall be secure, and this Government shall always be strong.

To do this, we must be fiscally responsible. We must watch every dollar so that we can get back a dollar's value for each dollar we spend. These are the facts, and the facts tell us that for the first time in many years, the budget, the deficit, the Federal work force, are all going down together. And profits--$ 12 billion more after taxes. Workers--$60 billion more after taxes. Wages, income, private employment up 5 million people in the last 4 years.

The opposition knows this, for the truth and the facts tell them that they are wrong, and a prosperous, free America knows we are right. And we are going to tell them in language that they will all understand on November 3d.

Thank you.