October 13, 1964
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Remarks of Senator Hubert H. Humphrey Mt. Holyoke College South Hadley, Massachusetts October 13, 1964 Senator Humphrey. Thank you very much. You have convinced me. (Applause) Dr. Catrell, members of the faculty of Mount Holyoke and members of this fine, wonderful, enthusiastic, en1ightened student body - - (Applau s~ - - yes, that includes you, t oo, my dear. You know, I am so happy t o see these smiling young ladies that carry the banner of the opposition b e 3G~G 2 whenever I see one smile I know deep down in their hearts they want to vote for Lyndon Johnson. I am very pleased to share this platform with the Governor of yo'.ll' great State, Governor Peabody. (Applause) And may I say I am very hono::s ~ also to be here with the president of your student body, Miss Barbara Price, who served in Washington in tre Peace Corps. Am I correctly infonr · that this community is the home city of the President of the State Senate of Massachusetts, Mr. Donaghue, Governor, is that correct? (Applause) Well, I knew he wasn't a graduate of Mount Holyoke, even though may I say I would like t o enroll here. (Applause) When your illustrious professor in the field of government takes a - · (Applause) They came over and lassoed me . There is a neighboring school here that -- listen, they were really very nice. They asked me to bring you their fondest r egards. Now I have done it. (Laughter) . Well, what can I talk to you about in just these very few moment: except t o first of all thank you ·so much f or your.:enthusiastic welcome and for the song and for the cheers and also thank you for thinking that Horatio is a very good name. I think that is simply wonderful because I waan't sure of it. I think I owe Senator Goldwater many things . He has done so much for me . He gave me a chance t o travel around the country, propularize my name, and by the way, I want t o make it quite clear I think that Senator Goldwater is to me really a fine man. I think he would make a wonderful neig~ · or . I just don't want him for president. (Applause) Let me say that I notice the sign over here that says something abou·;_ modern Republicans for J ohnson and Humphrey, and I am very grateful for that because one of the great factors in this election is the number of people of Republican persuasion that are going t o vote this time, naybe for the first time , for a Democratic candidate. (Applause). When you can get the Saturday Evening Post that hasn't endorse~ Democrats since 1787 - -they didn't have any then -- and the New York Herald Tribune and a few others of that vintage and of that thinking and the Life Magazine and others to come out and support a president on the Democratic ticket, there must be something t o that rnan and there must be some reason that they are doing this . They are not on the payroll of the Democratic National Committee, and they are not under any partisan pressur ~. Publishers and educators and editorial staffs of these great magaziner have maybe analyzed the record. I think they have . I d on't think it was easy for them, very frankly, to make this decision. It ran against tradition, it ran against their l ong term co1runittments, and it surely ran against many of their backers and supporters. But one thing that makes one proud of his country is that in moment8 of crisis, people put their country above thei r Party, and I happen t o believe this is a moment of crisis. I happen t o believe that this election \-Till not only affect the ne1-:t. two or three years, but it may very well affect the balance of this cent,;.:;::/. I also want to make it quite clear that I do not consider the spokGs · man of the Republican Party, and he is not the spokesw.an of the whole :2;oc.:: Mt. Holyoke - 2 - (Applau¢e) -- I do not conGider this man to be a bad man. We can have our di~agreements p~litically. We don 't have to get personal about it, and I don't intend to. I know his family,. I know him. I have served in the Senate with him. He h<'.s many very fine admirable qualities but I want t6 say qoite frankly what does disturb me is the kind of support, the kind of militant support that comes from some areas. I say this most thoughtfully, and I almost hesitate to say it lest I be miounderstood, but when I see some of the most rabid ~oices in America, when I oee people who follow the line of Ku Klux, when I see people who follow the line of Christia:n Frontiers, when I see people who foi.low the line of the John Birchers, all o~t there ~igor6u~ly day in and day out fan~tically supporting the candidate and the candidacy of the Republican candidate, it bnthers me . I don't say that he enJ..fusted that support. I don't want to have to be on this record. I don't say he asked for it. I simply cay he hasn't repudiated it. And I simply say that it is there, and it bothers me. I do not want the Yoices of hate and bigotry and intolerance in America to have a respectable platform. I don't want it. (Applause) Very frankly, I think this is why many of the traditional Republicans have left their candidate and their Party. They ha~e done it with sadness at heart. They are maybe not fully happy with the Democratic candidate but they have to make a choice and we have to make choices in elections. That is what they are about, to make ~hoices. And you are going to influence people in making that choice. Some of you are going to make that choice. And you are going to influence your parents and are going to influence the people in your community, in your circle of friends, and when you do make that choice or influence, you have a heavy responsibility. I notice that in 1960 the Republican platform of that year reflected the eight years of regponsibility of the Republican leadership in the Executive Branch of Government. When Dwight Eisenhower became President and those who were associated with him served in the Executive Branch, took on the responsibilities of g~verning thio nation, they had to come to grips with the ne;l~:Hii:~.~t<; of the nation, no-t with mythology, not with fiction, but they had to deal with the problems that beset the world. And the Republican platform of 1960 was an authentie Republican platform. Now, frankly it was maybe more conservative than Hubert Humphrey would have liked. I think that is fact . But I want to make it q~it~ · clear it was an authentic conservative Republican platform that was built upon and predicated upon the experience;:; of Dwight Eisenhower and his cabinef and the Republican Administration and that platform made 25 specific commibilanlU· · to the Ameri can people, and 25 spe~ific commitments were brought'~p on the basis of votes in the Senate of the United ~tates, every"·o:ne ·of' them, and of those 25 commitments in the RepYblican platform, the leaders of the Republican Party had an opportunity to vote them in the Senate of the United States; the leader of the Republican Party, Senator Everitt Dirksen -- now, he is a middle-of-the-reader, I would say a rather conservative man but he is a full-fledged Republican. HiG Whip.is S'enator Kuchel of California, I ·think one of the most gif'ted coagre~.;men the Republicans have. Your own Senator Saltonstall, Conference Chairman . And I want to make it crystal clear that both Mrs. Humphrey and myself not only look on Senator Saltonstall as a friend, we admire him. I don 't expect him to vote for the Democrats. I don't expect him to say a kind word in a campaign. Yet I admire his courage, his intellect, his integrity. And then there is Senator Hickenlooper of Iowa who is the Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee. This is another middle-of-the-road conserva tive, you might say Republican, authentic Republican, a man that served for years in the Senate on the Committee on Foreign Relations. Now, what is the record? What is t~ record on 25 issues? On 25 issues, oenator Kuchel voted 25 times to support his platform. Now, remember, he was elected by the Republicans of the Senate to be their Whip, Mt. Holyoke - 3 - just as I was elected by the Democrats in the Senate to be the Democratic Whip. 25 times Senator K;Jchel voted yes~ 20 times Senator -- 21, I believe it was, Senator ODaltonstall voted yes. Now, of course, Mr . Goldwater displeases Mr . ~~chel as an extremist and he says so. (Laughter) And he had something to say about easterners in general. He oaid that the Eastern Seaboard might be better off if we just sawed it off and let it float to sea. Yes, it sounds ridiculous, I know, incredible, but it was actually said; I hope it was said in jest. (Laughter) But might I add that Senator Saltonstall voted, let's say, 20 times,to be on the conservative side,for the Republican platform • Senator Dirksen, the leader, voted 18 times.