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, I , l ~ . \ ."'-, ~ ) l ~' l I J . I , I , ~ , - Letter from Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey to Senator Fred R. Harris, March 8,1968.

THE VICE PRESIDENT Washington, D.C., Manh 8, 1968. HoN. FRED R. HARRis, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR FRED: The results of the Com­ mission's Report have surely achieved the President's mandate that you "find the truth and express it." Due to your diligence and energy, but especially due to your sensitivity in understanding America's racial crisis, we now possess a document of immense value and impor­ tance. History will, I believe, come to view this Report as the turning point in This pamphlet reprints statements of America's longstanding commitment to Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey achieve a just and open society for all on the Report of the National ~· her citizens. Commission on Civil Disorders. All of us now face the task of eradicat­ Letter of March 8,1968 to ing the injustices and inequalities you Senator Fred R. Harris. have documented so dramatically. The Commission's eloquence and honesty Excerpts from a Question and Answer will be a crucial factor in the ultimate Session, May 14, 1968, with success of this effort. Michigan precinct delegates. Sincerely, Letter of June 15,1968 to the Rev. Dr. Ralph Abernathy.

Excerpts of Speech of June 20,1968. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY.

I Excerpts from a Question and Answer Session, May 14,1968. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Michigan precinct delegates.

Q. MR. KEN HYLTON, Vice Chair­ man, Michigan Democratic Party: The next question is: Many of us in the suburban area and in the inner city, are concerned about the racial crisis, and the The co-chairman of my campaign, recommendations of the President's Senator Harris of Oklahoma, was one of Commission on Civil Disorders, the the members of the Kerner Commission, Kerner Report. What do you think of and one of its most dedicated, effective it and what would you do about it? and alert members. I consider that the President for the next four years has the principal re­ A. VrcE PRESIDENT HuMPHREY: The sponsibility to see to it that the recom­ so-called Kerner Report, or the Riot mendations of the Kerner Report are Commission Report, should be under­ implemented and that they shall be im­ stood in this context: it is not an obitu­ plemented as soon as possible. ary of the American body politic, it is a We cannot tolerate nor permit two health report on the social, political and societies, separate and unequal. It vio­ economic condition of America. lates everything that this country stands The report gives warnings to a Nation for. that it has abused itself or permitted You cannot ask your children to go to itself to be abused just as a doctor's school and repeat the pledge of alle­ report, when you go to a clinic, will tell giance to the flag and ask their parents you that certain things are wrong, that to ignore everything that it means. you have certain ailments, certain ·weak­ You cannot talk about one nation nesses and, then, the doctor or the clinic under God, indivisible with liberty and prescribes certain corrective measures. justice for all, and then permit condi­ This report is a very significant docu­ tions to prevail in your country that ment and should be studied very care­ make it two nations. fully by every public official and under­ You just cannot do that. stood. And remember this, that there is no It is a constructive report. liberty for anyone unless there is liberty I believe that most of its recommenda­ for everyone and ultimately there is no tions, if not all, are essential for the justice for you unless there is justice economic and social health of this coun­ for the other fellow. try. It is just that simple and "\Ve have to I have been very close to the report. understand it.

2 3 Q. Mr. Vice President, what do you criticism for the failures of experimenta­ feel will be the future of the war on tion in the laboratory of medicine as poverty? those of us who are in political life have to take for the failures of experimenta­ A. The greatest thing about the war tion in the laboratories of social better­ on poverty is that it was started. And ment. it has a good start. For example, your nation spends bil­ The war on poverty in many ways is lions on trying to find a cure for cancer. like a laboratory experiment, and we I lost my brother from cancer last have been testing new techniques, new summer. I have a son who had cancer ways and means to combat a curse called of the lymphatic gland. I would give poverty that is afflicting-that has afflict­ anything if we could find a cure. ed-mankind since the beginning of We have spent millions, millions and civilization. ., millions of dollars and, yet, we have not Even the Scriptures say, "The poor found the answer to cancer. shall always be with us." You do not go around and burn down We are trying to find a way not merely the laboratories and you do not go to alleviate the pain of poverty but to around and say those doctors are no eliminate poverty itself, to eradicate its good and you do not call it a "boon­ causes. Quite frankly, we have had to doggle." experiment. Sometimes we have suc­ In fact, every year the Congress ap­ ceeded and sometimes we have not. propriates more, and every year private I often wondered what people would industry puts in more, and every year say, what the medical profession would there are more doctors assigning their feel like if they had to take as much lives to more research to find the cure

4 5 for heart disease, for arthritis, and for cancer. Many of them we have not even come close to. But you say "Try, keep at it." Now, my dear friends, more people die of broken hearts and disillusionment PRECINCT DELEGATE: Mr. Vice and frustration and despair from poverty Q. President) you speak in favor of expand­ than from cancer. ing programs to solve our domestic prob­ And we are experimenting. lems and then you are in favor also Some things work. now of cutting six billion dollars from For example, Project Headstart. It our budget. How do you reconcile the works, we know it works and we ought two? to do more of it. We know that the greatest learning period in a child's life comes between the ages of four and seven A. VICE PRESIDENT HUMPHREY: I and yet we know most children never was not in favor of cutting six billion have a school experience until after age dollars from our federal budget. SIX. I doubt that the Congressmen who We know that with poor children diet are here are in favor of it either. means everything: Protein deficiency I might say that these Congressmen means intellectual deficiency. vary uniquely from the coalition which We know these things. We have dis­ has plagued this country for years-that covered it in the War on Poverty. Republican coalition with a handful of We know that we can take a hard­ conservative Democrats. core unemployed person who never had The only way to offset that is to elect a job, who has lost his sense of motiva­ some more liberal Congressmen and a tion and his self-respect, and, through man like Humphrey President. training, through counseling, through I might just say one thing further. all sorts of efforts that are made, liter­ • Your President did not ask for a six ally bring back the spark of life and billion dollar cut either. The cut that hope to that person. We know we can we were willing to make consisted of make him into a productive citizen. We half in the military and half from with­ have proven it. holding projects that were not too ur­ If we know we can do it with a mil­ gent to our urban or social needs. lion, and we have, then we know we We were not going to cut back on can do it with two, three, four, five mil­ poverty and education and urban pro­ lion. grams, contrary to the attitude of the This is what I mean about the experi­ House of Representatives, which only a mentation that is going on in the War year ago was taking a dim view of these on Poverty. matters.

6 7 Letter from the blight of poverty, discrimination and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey human injustice. Indeed, no issue has to the Rev. Dr. Ralph Abernathy) demanded-and received-more of my President) Southern Christian energy, time, and concern during almost Leadership Conference 25 years of public service. june 15) 1968. Today these issues remain at the top of my personal agenda of action and I Dear Dr. Abernathy: will be discussing them in detail during This letter is in response to your re­ my campaign for the Presidency of the quest for my views on the issues critical United States. I believe, moreover, that to the poor which have been submittecl the overwhelming majority of Americans to me. are firmly committed to the proposition As one who has witnessed the effects that all men must have the chance to of poverty and economic injustice at participate in the processes of democracy first hand, my long-standing involvement and to share in the bounty of this land. and concern for these issues is grounded This commitment, however, has not in harsh reality. As mayor of a major always been fully achieved. Despite the city, as a U.S. Senator, and as Vice Pres­ substantial progress of recent years, de­ ident of the United States, I have worked spite the declarations that poverty can steadily toward the goal of overcoming be eradicated from America, millions of

8 9 our citizens still live in a nation apart, The time has come for a simple and separated from the affluence and security direct declaration of national policy: which most of us today enjoy. This is every American must be provided not acceptable. Vve must take every enough to eat. This is not a matter for possible step to remedy this denial of debate or argument; this is only a ques­ the promise of America. The National tion of basic humanity and concern for Commission on Civil Disorders' report our fellow man. to the nation set forth an agenda that is Food is essential for life, but life is both sensible and attainable. We must more than survival. We know that man begin to act on that agenda now if we only becomes whole when he has the are to remain a free and united people. ?pportunity to earn his daily bread. It First, we must act to eliminate the IS, moreover, clear that most persons spectre of hunger and malnutrition prefer to work and earn their way rather which for some people still stalks this than be passive recipients of welfare and land of plenty. Given our national relief. wealth and prosperity, given our agricul­ The past several years have witnessed tural productivity and abundance, we majo_r breakthroughs in our capacity to cannot justify in America on any pretext provide able-bodied Americans the skills whatsoever the fact of hunger, malnu­ and opportunity to become productive trition or starvation. I refuse to believe and self~s~fficient members of society. that a nation which has with generosity The stnkmg success of the National fed large portions of the world's people :Vliance o_f B~sinessmen, for example, is unable to provide adequate food for m generatmg JOb opportunities for the the relatively small number of needy hard-c~re unemployed is especially en­ Americans in our midst. couragmg. As Chairman of the Presi­ I support prompt administrative and dent's Council on Youth Opportunity, legislative action to establish food stamp I have worked intensively on the chal­ and commodity distribution programs lenge of providing disadvantaged young in every county where severe problems people With meaningful jobs in the sum­ of hunger exist. And I support the ad­ mer and during the school year. justments and changes that might be We must, however, recognize that required in our food distribution pro­ further steps are required. As a com­ grams to assure an adequate, wholesome plement, not as a replacement, for our and nutritious diet for those in need. current manpower efforts, we should School lunches on a year-round basis ackno_wledge the need for a program of must be provided every needy child as selective public service employment. rapidly as possible. Administrative ar­ Numerous surveys have documented the rangements must also be developed to social utility of additional workers in insure that all eligible persons can, in public service occupations such as hos­ fact, receive the benefits of these pro­ pital, school, library, recreation and sani­ grams. tation aides and other para-professional

10 II occupations. These public services are needed; so are the jobs. The Federal government should not become the em­ ployer of last resort; it should, rather, act to generate the maximum number of jobs for the disadvantaged in both the public and private sectors. Since the early l 950's, when I held the first Congressional hearings on the subject, I have supported legislation to meet the special needs of migrant farm workers. Congress should act without delay to include farm workers under the National Labor Relations Act. The right of all workers to organize and the broad issue of income maintenance. bargain collectively is basic to our free We must also expand urban and rural enterprise system and the American health centers so that persons in need labor movement. can receive comprehensive medical care We must also recognize that many and health services in the neighborhoods millions of Americans are unable to where they reside. The striking success work for a variety of valid reasons, such of the OEO program of Neighborhood as age, physical disability, or family re­ Health Centers demonstrates the life­ sponsibilities. Society has long recog­ saving capabilities of these facilities. nized its obligation to assist these persons I am most sympathetic to your request through programs of public welfare, but for greater participation by the poor in the systems we have devised to provide the planning and administration of Fed­ this assistance have often been demean­ eral programs affecting them. As Presi­ ing to the recipients, destructive of per­ dent I would support various ways for sonal motivation and responsibility, and this participation to be achieved: for excessively costly to the nation. example, advisory and review panels in It is generally recognized that con­ Federal agencies, hiring of the poor as siderable revision of the welfare system consultants, and the employment of poor must be attempted in the near future. persons with demonstrated competence As a beginning, however, Congress as Federal employees. Indeed, the most should repeal this year the welfare active participation of all citizens would amendments added to the l 967 amend­ be sought in the operations of the Exec­ ments to the Social Security Act. The utive branch. next Congress should receive compre­ As Chairman of the National Council hensive recommendations for basic re­ on Indian Opportunity, I am acutely form of the entire welfare system and aware of the urgent problems of educa­ should be prepared to address itself to tion, housing, employment and welfare

12 13 confronted by our Indian Americans. If I am permitted to serve as President, I would recommend to Congress compre­ hensive legislation and expansion of ex­ isting programs designed to give every Indian adult and child the chance to become full participants in American society or to live in dignity and security Excerpts from speech of on Indian reservations according to his Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey own wishes. june 201 1968 We must, of course, recognize that the severe and deep-seated problems of poverty and deprivation-problems gen­ erations in the making-cannot be solved in any one session of Congress or by any here must be an Agenda for single Administration. We must also Social justice. take account of the substantial progress There is not time here to­ which has been achieved in recent years; ?ay to set out all the detailed indeed, it is precisely this progress which T Items on the Agenda for So­ makes the remaining poverty so unbear­ cial Justice. It is a longer agenda than able and unacceptable. Yet these reali­ the other. I outlined part of it last week­ ties must not keep us from achieving en~ in my letter to Reverend Abernathy. those objectives which are now within I w1ll present it in detail during the next our grasp. several weeks. In my view, the proposals outlined But its central elements-especially as above are realistic and, if achieved, they relate to civil order-must be made would constitute a significant step to­ clear here and now. ward building a more just and humane Most important of all: Every indi­ nation. And these achievements, as with vidual must be able to play a meaning­ those of recent years, will provide addi­ ful role in his community-have a stake tional incentive to complete the job. in what is going on ... be "part of the action." John Stuart Mill said it: "Let a man have nothing to do for his country and HUBERT H. HUMPHREY he will have no love for it."

14 15 TO EARN A LIVING f we want civil order we must recognize the civil right of every American to earn a living. The richest society man has I ever known cannot afford to per­ mit the festering frustration of unem- ENOUGH TO EAT , ployment which can so easily erupt into he survival of democracy s violence. Jobs bring dignity to the in­ community depends on every­ dividual and resources to his family­ one having a sense of c_om­ and wealth to the Nation. munity-or being part o~ It.. The idea of guaranteeing decent jobs T This means participatmg m to everybody who will work at them its decisions. . makes sense-with private employers It means contributing ~o I_ts progress. providing job opportunities to the full­ And it means sharing m Its bene~ts. est extent possible, and with the govern­ It means a man or a woman saymg ment making whatever back-up or fi­ this is my neighborhood-my home-my nancing arrangements are necessary. country-my job. . If we want civil order we must recog­ it that the recommendatwns ?f nize the civil right to a full education­ I su bm c· ·l D the President's Commission on tVt ts- from age four on through college-and orders are right-and that as they a:e the civil right to grow up in a decent carried out civil order-as <~ell as soctal home and neighborhood. justice-in America's cities wtll be served. We must act now to secure these I submit that those proposals of the rights. Poor People's Campaign relating to food, It won't come free. It isn't cheap. It jobs and human dignity are rea_sonable_­ will not come without change. that acting on them constructively will It will require federal, state, local, and contribute greatly to law and order, as private resources-not just in dollars but well as to social justice· in commitment. If we want civil order "\V'e mu.st_ reco?- But we know that every dollar we put nize the civil right of every ctttzen tn into the full education of those who are this nation to have enough to e~t. . now denied it .. . every dollar we put There is no reason in Amenca-with into the building of homes for those who its unequaled wealth and agricultural now live in hovels ... every dollar we productivity-for anyone to go h~ngry. put into the training of man or woman It is immoral to allow some babies to to perform a job will be repaid. And it suffer from malnutrition while othen. will be repaid partly in the reduction in our population ar~ concerned about of crime and violence. the dangers of overeatmg. 17 16 United Democrats for Humphrey I 100 17th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036

am an old hand at Methodist meetings, I should tell you. My father was a Methodist layman. He was preparing to give the lay­ I man's service on the day he was stricken and taken from us. I know what it means to attend a good Methodist camp meeting too. Today I think of the earlier conven­ tions held here in Philadelphia. One, I only know from the history books: the first convention of the Afri­ can Methodist Episcopal Church. That was in 1816, a half century back, in the night of slavery before the daybreak of emancipation. Richard Allen, your first Bishop had been born here, a slave who later bought his way out of bondage. And it was here in Philadelphia in the St. George Methodist Church that Rich­ ard Allen and Absars Jones, kneeling in prayer were asked to move to a special seat in a section set aside for Negroes. They left that service along with their Excerpts from a speech b·y brothers and sisters and the formation of Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey this great body the African Methodist to the African Methodist Episcopal Episcopal Church resulted from that Church Conference, action. Philadelphia, Penna., May 2, 1968 1 A PROUD HERITAGE o we speak of your heritage and you can be proud of it. Your heritage is from men and women who stood up for freedom before most people knew what it meant and from those who sustained it through a century and a half of its loneliness. A hundred and thirty years later at another convention in Philadelphia, this time of the Democratic Party, the issue was strangely the same. A group of us, a small group at first, demanded at that convention that humanity be placed above politics. We could not clear Richard Allen's courage. It was more than a century too late for that. Only our convictions matched his. The demands we made then seem mighty timid now. We asked CIVIL RIGHTS TURNING POINT for platform planks in the political par­ won that fight. Those ty's program that the poll tax be abol­ who disagreed left the ished; that lynching be made a federal convention. It was the crime; that segregation by race in the turning point in the Armed Forces be stopped. And that a history of Civil Rights. And we not only Fair Employment Practice Commission won the fight at the convention, we won be established. the election in November. But more im­ What modest requests. And yet, what portantly, we passed eventually those results! I was privileged to lead this fight very laws that we asked for and others to protest before that convention this far beyond them. nation's too little faith in the brother­ Yet, I speak of this today in more hood of man under the Fatherhood of humility than pride. For even now, an­ God and to answer when they said that other 20 years later, words spoken at that· we were rushing the issue of Civil convention in 1948 are still true. Peo­ Rights. I said we are already 172 years ple, human beings. This is the issue of late. the 20th century.

2 3 OUR CENTRAL ISSUE count this fulfillment of human rights, along with peace, the cen­ tral issue of our time. And I ex­ pect in the months ahead to con­ I tribute the best that is in me to the formulation through democracy's essential process of new and complete national commitment to human rights -a commitment to meet and to meet now the hard, tough problems two cen­ turies of the indecent denial of human equality in this country has created. I know the task is great. I know the diffi­ culties are many. All the more glorious our victory when we attain it. What I say means meeting the prob­ lems of the hard-core unemployment. WE SHALL ACT It means meeting the problems of rats and roaches and rotten houses. nd I propose at the same It means meeting the problems of dis­ time-and here today-to ease in the poor people of the ghetto call upon the forces of and ignorance in America's slums and good and decency that are in her rural areas. A at work in this society to It means listening closely as I have correct these inequities and this social this week to the demands of the poor injustice, and I call upon you for your people's marchers in Washington, for help. theirs is an authentic voice of the Amer­ I believe there are great forces of ica which has been left out, cast aside. good and decency in our country. I also It means dealing squarely, ·honestly, believe with that great English states­ effectively, with those who defeat their man, Edmund Burke, who once said: own cause by violence and riots, and "Evil triumphs when good men fail to civil disorders. For those who engage in act." So as good people, we shall act. such acts undermine the determined ef­ Now I did not mention idly either forts of all of us who are trying our your history or mine. I know what the hardest to make equal rights into equal African Methodist Episcopal Church results. stands for. I think you know, too, what It means doing everything possible to I stand for. We know each other. We serve the ends and to use the means set can say to one another what might be out in the report of the President's Com­ and what would be misunderstood if mission on Civil Disorders. others, either black or white, were to say it. 4 5 We can say just this: that the vast ing majority of Americans who do be­ majority-! repeat-the vast majority of lieve and believe deeply in each other, the people in this country who are who do think of people as people who white are not racists. love each other without the stain of The overwhelming majority of the prejudice, or the stain of self-conscious­ people in this country who are black are ness to say so and to let our voices be not rioters. heard. And most of us, black and white, are It's time to let our voices be heard praying today and working today for the above those who teach division, who same things for our children. We want preach despair, who advocate violence the same things. We want an educ~tion and destruction, and "\Vho prophesy for those children, we want a decent chaos and catastrophe. That's not what home in which to live, we want a good we want. income to provide a good standard of living, we want to be treated as men and

women, all of us, black or white. That's LET US UNDERSTAND what this country stands for. he sense that I find m this conference today is the sense TIME IS RUNNING OUT not of a Negro spokesman, or n all candor, we haven't done our a white spokesman, but of job well. But most of us are try­ American leaders, every one ing mighty hard to do our job of you here. well and to do it right. We know We are here not as white moderates or I that time is running out on us black moderates, but responsible people; now for meeting a crisis which has been not as racial militants, but social mili­ building up for two centuries. But we tants, not for black power, or white su­ know too, that there has been more premacy, but for social justice for every gained in the last five years than in the American. I sense in your commitment hundred years before. And we know in this conference not what they call the that action, hard action, prompt action other America, but the only America, has to be taken. our America. We know that the costs are high for Soul brothers, yes. Soul brothers in doing what has to be done, and we know the brotherhood of man. And remem­ that the costs are even higher for failing ber, it was God Almighty who gave to to do what has to be done. We know man-not the beasts in the field-to man these costs have to be paid; that the soul, spirit. And he gave it to every man. worst mistake will be to rely on words Of course we're soul brothers. We when deeds, national deeds, individual worship the same God, we live in the deeds, are called for. same country, we want the same things. But it is high time for that great work- Of course we belong together. And let

6 7 no one divide us, my friends. Remem­ ber what Benjamin Franklin said once in this city: we either hang together or we'll hang separately. It's vitally important that we under- stand our unity. It's vitally important '} that we be clear about the basic elements } in the essential understanding among us. We find no satisfaction in the super­ ficialities of opportunity that is equal in form but not in fact. Jobs are impor- tant, but they aren't enough if they mean only the right of the person who is black to work for a person who is white.

FREEDOM TO WORK he Freedom to work has to include also the opportunity nothing to do for his country, he shall to own, to be the proprietor, have no love for it." Let me put it an­ to be the boss as well as the other way: if a man has something to employee. do with his country, if he has a stake in That means developing an active it, he will love it, he will defend it and working partnership between Govern­ he'll take care of it. ment and business to make financing, You know about open housing. I insurance, and training and business fought for it, this Congressional delega­ techniques available in the inner-city tion fought for it, your Mayor Tate has neighborhoods where private enterprise taken a magnificent stand for it. has too often meant the exploitation of But open housing doesn't count un­ the people there by somebody else. less it is in an open neighborhood and in In most of our cities, it means help­ an open economy. It has to be open all ing to build a whole structure of new ) the way. And it doesn't count unless it locally-owned businesses that commu­ is in a neighborhood in the fullest sense nities will value and protect because ] -a neighborhood of neighbors-not they are their own. One sure way of pre­ strangers, a neighborhood of friends­ venting destruction of property is when not enemies. I think our cities must the people themselves own it. once again become clusters of neighbor­ A great British philosopher, John hoods where a good life is really possible Stuart Mill, once said, "If a man has for all.

8 9 Government of the people and by the people-all of the people. We need not only the arousing of people's emotions but also responsibility -responsibility such as this beloved Bishop and the others who are with him represent in this country. Through his work and his prayers he has done more for social justice in this country than many people who shout from the housetops. I didn't have that written in here, Bishop, but I sure feel it in here, I'll tell you that. And it came out honestly and sincerely.

MORE INVOLVEMENT NEEDED he trouble with most of the Government programs today is that they are all too often REAL OPPORTUNITY ESSENTIAL based on somebody's doing n integrated school is of something for somebody else. little good to a child who But the programs that show the greatest comes there with an promise are those that permit the largest empty stomach or who participation of the people and respon­ A comes from an environ- sibility on the part of those who are ment of insecurity and tension or IS principally involved. In other words, taught by inferior teachers. programs to help you help yourself. Equal opportunity is a fraud unless This is proven by the 0 I C program it includes the full opportunity to de­ of my good friend, Dr. Leon Sullivan, velop everything that contributes to right here in Philadelphia, established self-respect and human dignity. here in this city by the Urban League's The true measure of opportunity m recruitment and training programs and this land of ours is what it permits of by such projects as Pride, Inc. in Wash­ pride-pride in yourselves, pride in your ington, D.C. people, pride in your name, your family, The Negro community should have, and your country, humble pride in be­ and should take, a far larger part than ing an American. That's what we want. it has up to now in the operation of Be a participant, be in on it. We need the necessary machinery of law and not only Government for the people but order. We must move swiftly and imag-

10 11 PROTEST AND PROGRESS ou know there is much more than amusement in the re­ cent proposal of one Civil Rights organization to start an "Adopt a Cop" program­ adopt a police officer, to become ac­ inatively to give Negroes a major share quainted. in the protection of their neighborhoods It is especially with the younger gen­ and other neighborhoods as well. We're eration that there must be joint partici­ making progress but we need to make pation and responsibility in meeting it faster. today's situation. Let me tell you a little story. You Our appeal must be to our young, know I moved into southwest Washing­ above all others. We must have the pa­ ton. Northwest Washington was pretty tience to talk wiith them, the patience much an all white community. South­ to work with them, and we must have west Washington is where the slums the performance to show them that we used to be and they cleaned them out are honest men and women and that under an urban renewal plan. We have we keep our word. . high-income housing, medium-_income Every major industry is today recrmt­ housing and low-income housmg all ing talent, and many are giving speci~l within three blocks. consideration to the hard core, the mi- The little fellows from the public nority group unemployed. . . housing units ony three blocks down Opportunities are expa_ndmg, thmgs the street come to see me on Sunday are changing. We're movmg from pro­ morning. I take them up into my apart­ test to progress and we're moving faster ment and we have Coca-Cola together. than most people ever dreamed. And I want to show how things work. You right here in this audience can Now I moved into that neighborhood best find the young men and women which was predominantly Negro and, who are still angry, estranged, and you know, the property values didn't hostile. You can match them up to the go down one nickel. And the folks right program and then provide_ th:m haven't told me to leave. We're getting with that encouragement and asp1rat10n along just beautifully. As a matter of that is missing and without which the fact, it can be that way in every city case is lost. in the U nitecl States of America. 13 12 •

•• .,

A ROLE OF SALVATION In 1856, before the Land Grant Act, want you to be the missionaries you bought a building and 13 acres, in for opportunity. Get that old Green County, Ohio to open up the religious spirit and get on out and door of opportunity to the slaves who find a young person and help him found their way across the Ohio River. find his way to decency. You named it Wilberforce University You didn't build this great church by after that great British foe of the slave sitting on the laurels of yesterday. Not trade. For over 100 years you have been one bit. You built this church, you guiding your young through the fog created this church by a determination and the mist of ignorance to the mar­ to save souls. Well, there are souls to velous light of knowledge and oppor­ be saved by the thousands and some tunity. of those souls can be saved if you talk Today, more than ever before, when to them and help them find a job, bring the prophets of despair would divide them back to school, get them to be our country into warring camps, our proud. You can do it better than I can young people need the assurance that do it and I come to you to ask you to education pays, that jobs are available make this conference a conference of to the prepared mind and that America dedication, a conference to help the needs them desperately and needs their youth of America, your youth, to be­ skills and their productivity as much come proud of their country, to be­ as they need a job and a meaningful come part of it and to have a place career. The nation needs them and they in their country. This is your tradition. need the nation. Let's help them find it.

14 15 THE TASKS AHEAD have said that fulfillment of human rights is one of the two central issues of our time and as­ serted plainly that it requires I action going beyond what is being discussed here and that good will among good people is just not enough. I have sought at the same time today to assert the essential importance of recognizing fully the elements of com­ munity that we have established. I have proposed to face squarely every weakness we have-not to run from a single one-and to face up to every mis­ take that we have made. I propose also to lead from the strength that we have. This includes the moral and the spiritual imperatives that have been generated by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. And my clear friends, if you will but let me, I propose to marshal the spirit of that great working majority of all Americans who believe firmly that among the rights of man none is more important, more fundamental, more essential than the right to be respected because a man belongs to the human race. And now I leave you with these words: And the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard what things we can do wgether united, determined and un­ afraid.

16 United Democrats for Humphrey I I00 17th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036

17~t7

am going to talk to you a little bit about why I believe you ought to make the right decision as to who ought to be the nomi­ I nee of this party. Now, some of you have different points of view. We believe in freedom of discussion, free­ dom of debate, freedom of dissent, and after we believe in all that I want you to believe in Hubert Humphrey as well. And I'm going to speak very directly to you. The first thing I want to tell you is that I need you. And I'm proud to say so and I say it with both humility and with pride. I need your help. In fact there is no man in public life who can fulfill any of the great responsibili­ ties of public service without the help Excerpts from of others. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey's During my years in public life I've address to the Michigan State enjoyed the very closest of relationships Democratic Party Brunch, with Michigan Democrats and with the Detroit, Michigan Democratic leadership in this state. I June 1, 1968 was in this state when you were build­ ing your party. Just exactly as some of your people were in my state of Minne­ sota when we were building our party.

1 FOR OUR COUNTRY he Democratic Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota and the Democratic Party of l\lichi­ gan grew up as twins. We T came to life at the same time. We came into our adulthood, our ma­ turity at the same time. We came into political leadership at the same time. We've represented the same things in the councils of Government throughout our years of public service and public leadership. When you needed my help, I was here-in the dark days, in the difficult days. And I didn't come here for pur­ poses of self-ambition. I came here to help. I was not running for national office. I was attempting to help a politi­ cal leadership and young political lead­ ers and older ones to rebuild a political party, to put true liberalism into that party, to help elect people. I was there. We fought many battles together. We lost a few. We've won PARTY OF THE FUTURE more. But what we did we did because repeat to you what I've said to we thought it was good for our country. other audiences. I will not tear We thought it was good for the Ameri­ somebody else down in order to can people. build myself up. I do not come to you stating that I I happen to believe that the am a candidate of perfection. I come main contest and the main opponent is to you to say to you that I am one not in the Democratic Party. I believe who has worked in the vineyards of that the main contest is going to be with liberal democracy for a quarter of a the Republican nominee in the fall and century, has learned the difference be­ that is what we've got to wait for. And I tween promise and performance, has do not intend to go around tearing at the learned the difference between just put­ living political hide of my fellow Demo­ ting out political rhetoric and deliver­ crats, only to open wounds for a Repub­ ing the political goods. And we have lican nominee to exploit and infect in delivered. the following months.

2 3 'LET US MOVE FORWARD' ve rything that we have done is but a start toward what we know to be broader objec­ tives. Every program that E we've advocated is but a be­ ginning for the programs that we know must be broadened. John Kennedy said "Let us begin," Lyndon Johnson said "Let us continue," and Hubert Humphrey says "Let us move forward on that record." I do not believe that I need to be­ smirch that record. I do not believe that I need to tear at the very heart of that And may I say with equal candor, record to make my pronouncements and I don't intend to tear down my party or my program look better. Not on your the program of this party. life. I think that what this party has done I want to quote to you from a great in this last quarter of a century or American whose son is on this platform. longer-under Franklin Roosevelt, un­ Adlai Stevenson III has honored me by der Harry S Truman, under the leader­ his support, and few honors could mean ship of Adlai Stevenson, under the Pres­ more to me. Adlai Stevenson said: "Pa­ idency of John Kennedy, and under the triotism is not a short and frenzied out­ Presidency of Lyndon Johnson-is good burst of emotion but the steady dedica­ for America and good for the world. So tion of a lifetime." I want us to conduct ourselves in a I know that my dear friend Adlai way that will develop what we have would permit me to plagiarize just a bit. clone, that will advertise what we have Let me put it this way: Liberalism is accomplished, and then will point to not a short and frenzied outburst of the future-because this party is the emotion but the steady dedication of a party of the future. lifetime. That's my kind of liberalism.

4 5 THE HUMPHREY CREDE TIALS et me cite my credentials for liberalism, for a liberalism which is not a short and fren­ zied outburst of emotion but L the steady dedication of a life­ time. Let's start with my political career in ~Iinneapolis, Minnesota. The first Fair Employment Practices ordinance in the United States with enforcement power, FIGHTER FOR EDUCATION the first-that's where we started. When others didn't dare, in the year 1946, the et's look at the field of educa­ H umphrcy administration in ~Iinneap­ tion. The very first bill in the olis dared to have a human relations Senate of the United States to commission. Dared to fight bigotry and become public law with my intolerance. Dared to have a Fair Em­ L name attached to it, back in ployment Practices Commission. Dared, 1950, was for aid to school construction. if you please, to put that commission to The first vote I ever cast in the United work. That's the beginning. States Senate was for fed eral aid to And how long has my liberalism stood education. For l 6 years in the Senate the test? From 1946 to every year in and for almost 4 years in the Vice Presi­ my career in the United States Senate, dency I waged a constant battle to pro­ to the management of the Civil Rights vide greater funds and resources for Act of 1964, to help for the passage of the educational needs of our people. the Civil Rights Act that guaranteed I stand here as author of the first Fed­ votes in 1965. And on the Open Hous­ eral Aid to Education Act. I stand here ing Act of 1968 the Vice President was as the co-author of the National Defense there to help. Education Act. I stand here as the co­ Every year, all along the way when author of the National Science Founda­ the issue of one-man, one-vote was be­ tion Act. I stand here as the co-author fore the United States Senate, the Vice of our Vocational Education Act. President of the United States was there. There has been no outburst of emo­ He not only was there, he spoke on tele­ tional frenzy. There has been the hard. vision and radio and he said "I support day-to-clay work, the consistency of a one-man, one-vote" because it was neces­ lifetime of dedication to what every sary to realize the full meaning of Democrat and every liberal and every democracy. progressive ought to be for.

6 7 ,___ _ PERFORMANCE, NOT TALK let the record be equally clear. We do not think that what we designed is per­ fect. We look for the day ~when you not only provide hospital, medical care and nursing home l care for our senior citizens, but the kind of preventive health care and medical care for our children that this nation justly deserves. And we'll get this done if we work together. And then I hear people talking about unemployment and jobs. While others have been talking about it, we've been doing it. Even this week, attending to HEALTH GAINS my responsibilities as your Vice Presi­ et's take a look at the field of dent, I was meeting with labor leaders, health. I took all of the darts with business leaders, with mayors and and all of the arrows and all of with others across this country to see the blows because I stood up to it that hard-core unemployed get jobs, L for a program of Medicare, a get training, get a chance-to see to it program of health and hospital care un- that a million young people in America der terms of Social Security for our get a meaningful job, get training, and senior citizens. I introduced the Medi­ get their chance in life. Not talk, but care bill in the United States on the performance-that's what we're giving 17th day of May, 1949 and I was there you. for its passage. I went to Independence, When others ran away from it, I in­ Missouri with President Lyndon John­ troduced a Job Corps bill. I introduced son to see that bill signed in the pres­ I the first Youth Opportunity Act, and ence of Harry S Truman, the man who saw it become law. I saw that the poverty also put his political life and political program which was sponsored by this prestige behind it. Administration became the law of the We are no sunshine patriots. We've land. And before that, I consulted and been there when the going was tough. worked with its authors.

8 9 A RECORD OF LIBERALISM n urban affairs, as mayor of the ours is in change. It always is thus. And 15th largest city in this nation, I know that what has begun must be I learned the hard way about ur­ expanded. I know that much of what ban problems. And as Vice Pres­ 've've done has been an experiment. I ident of these United States I And I know now that these experiments have served as liaison with every mayor must be applied on a wider basis. in America. I know, for example, that Project I have had more meetings with muni­ Headstart must be not only an experi­ cipal officials, been to more cities, talked ment but must become the general prac­ with more of the people who have to tice throughout the land for our little come to grips with these problems than children. But when you hear phrases all of the other candidates on both and words like these-Project Upward tickets put together. Bound, Vista, Teacher Corps, Job So I come to you with a record of Corps, Headstart, Work Study, Model performance over some 20 years in pub­ Cities, Rent Supplements, just to men­ lic life, a record of a lifetime of dedica­ tion a few-these are not phrases that tion and of fulfillment of service in the are identified with yesterdays. They cause of liberalism. spell out the program of tomorrow. But we're not content. I know that These are the things that we've worked this nation of ours and this world of to make a reality in this country.

10 11 some way, some how, measures to slow clown the nuclear arms race. This has been my work. Not alone, but I've been in the midst of it. And I THE PURSUIT OF PEACE was there when others shunned that d now finally, let me con­ duty. I was there when others turned clude on what I know is their back. I was there when others closest to the heart of all of hushed their tongue. I was there when us, the ever-lasting, the con­ others ran away from it. A stant persevering search And success did not come cheaply for what should be mankind's noblest or quickly. But it came. And I was one objective-peace, peace at home, peace of those who went to Moscow in 1963 abroad, a more perfect union here at as a representative of this Government home and a more perfect world that to sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty surrounds us. with the Sovet Union. I was there, too, Trying to create the conditions which on the day of achievement as well as are conducive to a just and an enduring the day of birth. peace-this is a great challenge. And this Not only the Nuclear Test Ban purpose too has been the steady dedica­ Treaty but Food for Peace and the tion of a lifetime. Peace Corps were items of imagination I have pursued this goal as a delegate and creativity. And when I hear people to the United Nations, as one of the say today, I wonder if the Vice Presi­ original sponsors of the Nuclear Test dent, this fellow Hubert Humphrey, has Ban Treaty, as one who stood alongside the creativeness, the innovative char­ Adlai Stevenson in 1956 throughout this acter to be able to give some leadership country, advocating from every public to this nation, I have but one credential platform that we pursue relentlessly, to offer you: the record of performance.

12 13 A PROUD RECORD even build slowly this great cathedral, 'm proud of these building blocks this great structure of what we call the of peace, because peace does not hope of peace in our lifetime and maybe come for the wishing of it. Peace beyond our lifetime. docs not come merely out of John Kennedy said, " the search for I oratory or out of pledges or peace is a lonely struggle," and how right promises, or placards or marches. Peace he was. He also said that peace and free­ comes by the painful, slow, steady, sacri­ dom do not come cheap and he said ficial process of building a better world, furthermore, that we are destined, most of fighting the fight against want and of us , through the rest of our lives, to deprivation. live in a period of peril, of danger and As the beloved Pope John said to us, of change. And I think those words of where there is constant want there is truth uttered some seven years ago by no peace. And as his successor Pope Paul a fallen President arc still the fact o[ said to us, development is the new name our Lime. for peace. Peace, too, requires a lifetime of dedi­ So we build carefully, we build sacri­ cation. A lifetime of dedication to dis­ ficially. we build steadily, sometimes we armament-and you are looking at the

14 15 man that is the author of the Disarma­ ment Agency of this government, against all odds-lifetime of dedication to using our great resources to fight against pov­ erty, not only at home, but abroad. Food for Peace, education for peace, the Peace Corps, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Disarmament Agency, the arms control bill, and now the non-pro­ liferation treaty on nuclear weapons that lies before the United Nations, the treaty to ban weapons in outer space, the treaty to prevent the stationing of nuclear weapons in Central and Latin America-these were Humphrey initia­ tives, and I am proud of every last one of them. Those are my credentials, except for one other thing. If you help me get this nomination, I'll see to it that we win this election because we can beat these Republicans.

16 United Democrats for Humphrey 1100 17th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036

NATIONAL PRE SS CLUB /

t would be the bitterest irony if the purposes that Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy pur­ sued should be thwarted now­ not only by the fact of their death but even more its violent circumstance. These two men, whatever may be your partisan or personal views, stood first of all and foremost for social justice. And in a strange and unreasoning way, that goal has been set off, as though it were in opposition, to the purpose of achiev­ ing what we term "law and order."

ORDER AND JUSTICE he fact is that civil order and civil justice are twin impera­ tives, that they are interde­ pendent and that one with­ out the other diminishes the meaning of America. What must be brought into evidence, for trial by the jury of the people of Excerpts from a speech by this nation, are the full facts of today's Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey increasing commonplace of crime and National Press Club) Washington) D.C. violence: june 20) 1968 • The fact for example of 8,000 mur-

1 ders in this country every year, and more than four million major crimes. • The fact, reported in the headlines of every newspaper, that many of the streets of our cities are no longer safe to walk on at night, or many of our neighborhoods safe to live in. • The fact of an escalation of protest that has sometimes become a dangerous escalation of violence. • The fact that there are guns today in seven of every ten American homes­ and television sets showing every young­ ster how they are used in the unreal underworld that becomes his vivid daily reality and his entertainment. Yet these acts, and these statistics, and these facts, and these headlines, and these television programs are not the true story of the America that is yours and mine. They are, however, Amer­ ica's nightmare and they belie the essen­ tial truth of this country. order" on the one hand and "social I reject the casual and cynical talk justice" on the other must be made plain about America being a "sick society." to every American. I know of no group of people that has a greater responsibil­ ity to make it plain than those who are responsible for informing the American NO ESCAPE FROM RESPONSIBILITY public of the facts of our life-the media t is too often an escape from social -press, radio, television, publication. responsibility, or an attempt to Our generating idea as a nation was reduce the costs of responsibility to secure the right-the inalienable right by someone who believes in the as it was said in our Declaration of In­ I divine right of the fortunate. dependence-of life along with liberty It must be clear that violence, crime, and the pursuit of happiness. looting, burning cannot and will not be But this means two things. condoned and must be stopped. It means first protecting life-the It must be equally clear that the con­ breath of life itself, that precious gift of ditions that breed crime and violence God almighty. have to be sought out-rooted out with It means, equally, the fulfillment of the same tenacity and courage. life-giving life meaning and value and This relationship between "law and validity.

2 3 TO STOP RIOTS irst. The rioting in American cities cannot be condoned, can­ not be tolerated and it must stop. And if it breaks out F again, it must be put down promptly, effectively and firmly. We know how to do that. And it is the first duty of government to do that. Riots are cruelly wrong. Their toll of life and property is unconscionable. Their first and worst victims are the VIOLENCE HAUNTS LAND poor themselves-the inhabitants of the he right of life as a physical ghetto, the poorest of the poor, the most fact is in jeopardy today from deprived of the deprived. crime and violence. Our state laws regarding incitement And for millions of our fel­ to riot or to violation of law in any low Americans, there is jeop­ respect need to be strengthened and ardy to the right to life in the sense of broadened. And you need to help get life that is meaningful-a violence to these state laws improved and modern­ human dignity and self respect that ized. haunts this land, a violence in the filth Law in this country is not all out of and the degradation of our slums, the Congress. This is a government of the despair and the hopelessness of unem­ Federal government, and state and local ployment, the crippling and the debili­ governments. tating effects of illiteracy. If there is looting and burning it must Violence to the human spirit! The be treated and punished according to walking dead are amongst us-men and the laws against stealing and arson. women of despair and hopelessness. The prevention of crime and the en­ I propose, therefore, that we draw up, forcement of law against violence are in this year of national decision, two essentially state and local responsibilities. agenda: We do not want in a strong national • first, the Agenda for Civil Order, government a federal police force. • and an Agenda for Social Justice, But states and local communities need and that we pursue both simultaneously, and are entitled to generous help relentlessly. through federal funding of enlarged and I put these items at the top of the better trained law enforcement agencies Agenda for Civil Order: and personnel.

4 5 PUBLIC SUPPORT NEEDED w and order costs money-it's not cheap. I know; I served as the mayor of a great city. I expanded a police depart­ ment, I modernized it and I enforced the law. I didn't theorize about it, I did it. Law and order costs much more than we are presently spending. And it a~so requires public support for the pohce and respect and support for the courts. I have spent a great deal of my life defending civil liberties and civil rights -not just recently when they have be­ come rather popular, but over a long time when they weren't. But violence is the enemy of civil rights. It is the mortal ener:ny o.f civil CONTROL OF FIREARMS liberty. It is the total ant1thes1s and econd. I propose that the sale repudiation of it. It is the ally of reac­ and the possession of firearms tion-and it is frequently used as an and ammunition be governed excuse for not doing the things that by the sole consideration of need to be done in this country to make S what is necessary and effective it a decent country. to stop their criminal use. Now we've said repeatedly, and it can­ The President has urged the Congress not be said too often, that crime and to control the interstate shipment and violence cannot be tolerated. It must sale of rifles, shotguns, hand guns and be stopped. ammunition. This legislation must be But I disagree with those who sneer passed now, today. It's years late, inex­ at Constitutional guarantees and pro­ cusably late. pose shortcuts to justice across the quick­ And there's more to be done. If the sand of contempt for due process of law. states don't adopt, right away, legislation The due process of law is made for the requiring the registration of all firearms, rich and the poor. It's made for the then the Congress must. The laws against black and the white, for urban and carrying concealed weapons must be rural. Don't play 'vith it. It's your one greatly strengthened, the penalties for protection against powerful government. violation increased and the la'v enforced.

6 7 STOP DRUG TRAFFIC COMMUNITY COOPERATION hird. Federal, state and local ourth. Councils for Civil Peace agencies must be organized in must be organized at the state a massive effort to stop drug and metropolitan level. traffic in this country. Such Councils should in­ This means an increase in clude representation from all enforcement personnel. It means stiffer racial, religious and economic groups, penalties for the violation of laws pro­ the state attorney general's office, the hibiting the unlicensed sale of drugs. It National Guard, the law enforcement means a large-scale program for treating agencies and officials of state and local drug addiction and for rehabilitating the government- creating panels at a state victims of addiction once the habit is and local level such as we have here at broken. the federal level in the Security Council. It means finding out-instead of won­ Such a Council could and should pro­ dering and arguing-about the effects of vide a state community relations service manJuana. designed to prevent violence, to gain It means adopting the recommenda­ community cooperation, and to hear the tions of the President's Commission on voices of those who all too often have Law Enforcement regarding the sale and ) gone unheard. It could set up a coor­ the use of drugs. dinated early warning system, so that The drug addict, oftentimes a young­ coming disorders might be detected in ster in this day and age, is the most piti­ advance. And it could and it must set ful person in the world-and can be one up a central communications system of the most dangerous. vital to effective law enforcement.

8 9 FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE o there must be an Agenda for TELEVISION INFLUENCE Social Justice. Now, there isn't time here ifth. We must take a hard ~oday to set out all the detailed frank look at the effects of Items of that Agenda. It is a television on our children. S longer agenda than the other. I out- What happens when they are lined part of it in my letter to the Rev­ exposed to endless exercises in F erend Abernathy. the casual infliction of injury and death on television screens? I ask your un­ But its central elements-especially as they relate to civil order-must be made bi~sed, parental, human judgment of this. I ask you to be your own monitor clear here and now. Most important of all: Every indi­ for one week. vidual must be able to play a meaningful I do not propose government censor­ role in his community. He must have a ship. I am unalterably opposed to it. stake in what's going on. He must have But I do propose effective consideration a "part of the action." by the American public-and those re­ John Stuart Mill put it very well: sponsible for television programming­ "Let a man have nothing to do for his of how to understand and deal with this country and he will have no love for it." pervasive influence on the lives of our children. Far too many of our fellow citizens have had nothing to do for themselves or for Now, these are some of the items-and this country. And they are desperately only some-on the Agenda of Civil Order. Others must be added. But it is needed today. a minimum requirement of our society tod~y that government protect the right SENSE OF COMMUNITY to. hfe and property from violence and cnme. he survival of democracy's And if I am permitted to lead this community depends on every­ nation, I will know how to fulfill that one having a sense of com­ minimum requirement and will do so. munity, of belonging, of be­ But more must be done. And it can T ing a part of it. be done in conjunction with securing And this means participating m its the right to life with meaning-life that decisions. is worth living. It means contributing to its progress. We're human beings, my friends, not And it means sharing in its benefits. animals. Life is more than survival. Life It means a man or a woman saying is God's greatest gift. this is my neighborhood-this IS my

10 ll TO HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT f we want civil order we must recognize the civil right of every citizen in this nation to have enough to eat. There is no reason in America, with its unequaled wealth and agricul­ tural productivity, for anyone to go hungry. What a travesty! What irony! What an incredible situation! It is im­ moral to allow some babies to suffer from malnutrition while others in our population are concerned about the dan­ gers of overeating. home-this is my country-my property, I submit to this government and to my job, my family. this nation that we must take whatever And when they feel that way, they administrative and legislative steps are shall love America with all the passion required to provide every American with and devotion of the greatest of the a wholesome and nutritious diet. And patriots. we must take these steps now-not later This means devising new and creative on. Food stamps and commodity distri­ procedures and institutions to encourage bution programs should be in every low direct citizen participation in their gov­ income county by July 1. Let's use this ernment processes-from the neighbor­ food! Let's not try to make ourselves hood level to the councils of national the political squirrels of the twentieth government. And I shall offer proposals century by storing it. for such participation. Not to be a relief client! To work I submit that the recommendations of and to earn a living! To have a job, the President's Commission on Civil you know, brings dignity to the indi­ Disorders are right-and that as they are vidual, resources to his family and carried out civil order, as well as social wealth to this nation. justice, in America will be served. The idea of guaranteeing decent jobs I submit that the proposals of the to everyone who will work at them makes Poor People's Campaign relating to sense. This is a free enterprise economy, food, jobs, housing, education and hu­ with private employers providing job man dignity are reasonable. Say what opportunities and the government mak­ you want-if it's good for you, it's good ing whatever back-up or financing ar­ for them. And I submit that acting on rangements are necessary. And this them constructively will contribute means supporting the principal goals of greatly to law and order, as well as to the public service employment legisla­ social justice. tion now pending in Congress.

12 13 The future hinges on our realizing this oneness-not only as a moral prin­ ciple but as a matter of our survival as a free society. There is no choice today but to be tough-minded, hard-headed and fair­

RIGHT TO FULL EDUCATION minded about stopping crime and vio­ lence in this country. f we want civil order we must And there is no alternative to being recognize the civil right to a full tough-minded, hard-headed and warm­ education-from age four through hearted about establishing social justice college to adult education-and in this country. I the civil right to grow up in a That's what makes us Americans-to decent home and a decent neighborhood. be able to do both, and as rapidly as And we must act now to secure these possible. rights. It won't come free. I know it. It isn't cheap. I know it. It will not come without change. NEW TERMS OF REFERENCE But I submit-just as those who fought ow there is the whole con­ for the independence of this country text of the time that we pledged their lives, their fortunes and live in. their sacred honor to those inalienable The next President of the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of United States will face new happiness-that if we do less as we ap­ terms of reference-a whole new set of proach the two hundredth anniversary problems and conditions, not just in of our independence, we will lose the America but worldwide. meaning of our independence. He will face a new period in human All that I've said will require federal, history-a period in which the old prem­ state, local, and private resources-not ises, the old policies, the old ways of just in dollars but in commitment. doing things are being brought into There will be resources available in a question. growing economy and after Vietnam. He will face not only a new world map And those resources must be immediate­ but a world containing dozens of coun­ ly directed to the needs of this nation, tries and millions of people who have, to a Marshall Plan for our cities. I shall until now, almost literally lived outside offer such a plan in detail that will work of history. for America just as it did for Europe. I He will face what modern communi­ think we can do it. cation and technology have wrought­ Civil order and civil justice-those are namely, a highly sensitized, "in touch" the twin goals of a free people. And and impatient family of people and na­ they are not two goals, but they are one. tions who will no longer accept the

14 15 status quo when that status quo sustains hunger, injustice, and lack of participa­ tion, or the subjugation of one man by another. No continent or country will be im­ FREEDOM ON TRIAL mune from this rising tide. Rising ex­ hat I mean to do now pectations do not belong to Africa and and what I ask you to Asia alone. They belong here too. help me to do is to And no weapons system will suffice to rally those people who maintain security in the context of these feel the same, who are conditions. War, like slums, is becom­ willing to accept the challenge this new ing obsolete, far too dangerous for mod­ world environment, who understand ern man. that we are in the last third of the twen­ Will we be able to cope with all of tieth century and that freedom itself is this? on trial. The answer, I think, is quite evident. I want to rally those who have the We must, and we will) if we fully recog­ courage to do whatever is necessary­ nize now the nature of what lies ahead. pragmatic people-to make this demo­ cratic system of ours bend and shape to REEXAMINE PRIORITIES new conditions, as it always has before. here is nothing less in this And I mean to oppose those people than the need to reexamine who are already invoking the nostalgia and to change, wherever nec­ of the past, escapism, and the inward essary, our national priori­ look as the means by which this country ties. We must constantly re­ can meet the future. examine the allocation of our resources I want our America to reach out and and the structures and the framework seize the future rather than to retreat in which we work. from it. I want it to be the student of If America has stood for anything in living conditions and not the historian its relatively short history-and it has of the past. stood for much-it has symbolized the And I want its leadership to accept as future. It's the other name for hope, an opportunity the challenges that are the promise of a better day. presented to us and not to flee from All the doctrinaire arguments about responsibility. the yesterdays, all the rightful pride in I have a feeling that if we just settle our accomplishments mean very little down to the problems the best days of against the challenge of the next decade this Republic are yet to be lived. And or the year 2000. when we celebrate our two hundredth I've spent most of my life working and birthday on July 4, 1976, we shall be planning for the future. Some of you able to report to God and man that the know it has cost me some hard knocks inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the and even some rough names. pursuit of happiness have in a large But I have no regret. measure been fulfilled.

16 17 United Democrats for Humphrey I I00 17th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036

17~17

want to take this opportunity­ in the words of a very great Amer­ ican-to talk sense to our fellow citizens and our fellow DFLers. I It was my high honor, sad duty, and privilege to go to London about two years ago this month and bring back the remains of a great old spirit, Adlai Stevenson-a personal friend, a dedi­ cated, devoted public servant. Adlai Stevenson said these words and I wish to use them as the text of my message today: "I venture to suggest that patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but a tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." I knew the man who said these words well enough to know of his deep com­ mitment to liberal thought and philoso­ phy. And I think I would do no dis­ service to his memory or to his being tQ put in one different word and read it to you again. "I venture to suggest that liberalism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." And I come before the members of a party that I helped build to say that there has been a lifetime of tranquil and steady dedica­ tion to the cause of liberalism-which is a banner that we raise high and hon­ orably in this great state. It's time, my fellow Americans, that we face the realities of our time and not the fiction. John F. Kennedy once Excerpts from a speech by Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey said, among his many moving and great Democratic-Farmer-Labor State statements: "peace and freedom do not Convention, Minneapolis, Minnesota come cheap and we are destined to live june 22, 1968 out most if not all of our lives in uncer­ tainty, challenge and peril."

1 BE DEMOCRATS nd if I have one plea to this convention it is this: I know of your differences. I am well aware of the A emotion that exists and the deep-commitment that exists. But I ask my partisan friends, my fellow Americans at this convention, to conduct themselves in such a way that when the

FIRST REALITY business of this day is done, you will be able to walk out of this door-not as hat's the first reality of the enemies, not even as critics, but rather last third of the 20th century. as free men and women who have spoken The cause of peace is not an freely your thoughts and your views and emotional outburst of utter­ are willing to go forth and do battle ance in its behalf, but the against the common opposition party. steady stone-by-stone building of the Be Democrats! cathedral of peace, which has been the Yes, be Democrats. More importantly highest hope and aspiration of mankind be the kind of an American who will to all civilization. bring respect and who will bring honor John Kennedy put it right on the line to the title of citizen of this country. -peace and freedom do not come cheap. And then he backed it up by these words: "Let every nation know-wheth­ SECOND REALITY er it wish us well or ill-that we shall The second reality which is one that pay any price, bear any burden, meet we much accept is that the answers to any hardship, support any friend, op­ problems that are sometimes centuries pose any foe, to assure the survival and old-difficulties that have plagued us success of liberty." for generations: difficulties of poverty The words of a patriot. And let it be and racism, of deprivation and frustra­ crystal clear among those who are con­ tion-those answers are not simple, nor testants in this assembly-my supporters, do they come in the frenzied outburst those of my friend, Sen. McCarthy-let of emotion. it be crystal clear that none of us has a They come through hard thought, monopoly on patriotism. None of us has dedication, commitment, programs, a monopoly on the cause of peace. Each policies, argument, debate, and finally, in his own way is doing what he thinks is through the refiner's fire of thought, give the right things to do. and take, and solution.

2 3 THIRD REALITY d the_ thi_rd reality is that Amenca IS a grown up na­ tion, young at heart, young in spirit, if we wish it that A way. But it is grown up and NO MONOLITH it must act its age, assuming not only e have never asked in the honors that come with leadership this party for unanim­ but the responsibilities-assuming not ity. We have never only the privileges that come with our thought that a lib­ wealth but the responsibilities-assuming eral political institu­ not only the glories that come with. tion should be a monolith. We believe strength and po·wer but responsibilities in a pluralistic society for our nation and to ourselves and others. we believe in a wide variety of views for Young in spirit, but mature in judg­ our people. What is more important to ment. That must be the third reality in know is that life is made up of many our time. things. A political party has many in­ terests and it does a disservice to the FOURTH REALITY cause of good government if it has but And the fourth reality that I would one interest. place before you is: That we in this coun­ And might I suggest that those of us try with all of our shortcoming~-and who think we are so very right-and we are prone to list them often-w1th all we 're all guilty of it-might pause mo­ our limitations-and some take even mentarily to ask ourselves a question­ joy in reciting them-that we in this could "\Ve be wrong? country have more chance to overcome the problems that bes~t us than any people at any time, at any place and DISCOVER TRUTH ever before. We have the resources, we I don't believe that any man, any mor­ have the know-how, we have the skills, tal has a hammerlock on truth. I be­ we have the wealth. lieve that what we seek to do out of The only question is, do we have the argument and debate, out of the free will? I come here to say to you that we processes of democracy is to discover the have it. The American people can do truth, to seek it, to find out what is what they need to do. right.

4 5 It is not difficult, my friends, to do what is right if you know what is right. The problem is to find out what is right; and then to do it to the best of your ability. Last evening I put the highest prior­ ities for our nation-priority No. 1 for the next President of the United States; priority No. 1 for the next administra­ tion at Washington; and it should be priority No. 1 in the United Nations and every state capital and every city, NO TIMID CAUSE town and township: the relaxation of ow let me talk to you about tensions and the everlasting pursuit of peace at home and the a just and honorable peace at home and search for peace abroad. abroad. And let me put it on the line again that the search for peace is not the cause of the timid. RECO CILE DIFFERENCES Winning peace is a lonely battle. he next President of the When I arose here I heard somebody United States must be dedi­ say "1948." That's right. And I am proud cated above everything else to of every minute of my participation. But reconcile those among us who my fellow Americans, it wasn't just a T seem to have such strong frenzied outburst of emotion in Phila­ views and try to find a common ground, delphia at the Democratic Convention. and more importantly, to move ahead I came home to this state to lead the as we search for that important ground. party. I went on to the Congress of the And to reconcile the differences in United States and for 16 years, year in this world; to bind up the wounds, to and year out, with scorn and ridicule strengthen the spirit, to mobilize the heaped upon me, fought the good fight resources for development-human, ma­ for the battle of human rights and civil terial, national, international-because, rights. And it was my privilege to be as the great spiritual leader Pope Paul the floor leader, and to be the successful VI said: "Development is the new name floor leader at long last in 1964, for the for peace and there is no peace without most comprehensive program of civil development and there is no develop­ rights ever enacted in any country. ment ultimately without peace. They A good idea requires putting it to are one and inseparable." work. And did we quit in 1964? Never.

6 7 IS GREA T IN '6'8

GETTING THE JOB DONE have had the privilege in this gov­ NOT FRENZY BUT WORK ernment to coordinate these civil he first bill I ever voted on at rights activities for the needy, for the Congress of the United the minorities of our land, for States was the aid to education I the black people, for the poor, -each year that bill for years every day of my life. was killed and crucified on I stood alongside the President when the cause of racism or religion. we went to the Congress and asked for Finally a President came to the White the guarantee of voting rights. I stood House and the majority whip from the alongside Senator Monda1e in the Con­ state of Minnesota-the man speaking to gress of the United States even this past you-stood on the floor of the Senate year as we passed the open housing law and we passed the most comprehensive, that permits people to have freedom of the broadest program of federal aid to choice in their housing. Freedom of education this nation has ever known. choice-the essence of a free society. Not an emotional frenzy but hard work. It didn't come easy. The Vice Presi­ Nineteen years ago this May-May dent of the United States helped get 17, 1941-as Junior Senator from Min­ those extra three votes to break that nesota, I offered a bill to provide filibuster-the Vice President of the health, hospital and nursing home care United States helped get those hearings under the terms of Social Security for that started that legislation-not an emo­ persons age 65 and over. I suffered tional outburst of frenzy-but hard, ridicule and scorn of many. I was called steady, sometimes unknown, anonymous every name that anybody could con­ work that gets the job done. ceive. And we haven't even come close to Every year through my public life I getting the job done. There is so much stayed with that legislation, sought new more yet to do. sponsors and co-sponsors. And I was

8 9 ONLY A BEGINNING o, ladies and gentlemen, I am not about ready to apologize for what we have privileged as the Vice President of the done. I am only saying to United States to go to Independence, S you that what we have Missouri, and sit alongside the President done is only a beginning. We have and former President Harry Truman, so much more to do. We have only and see President Lyndon Johnson sign begun to plow the furrow. We've only the bill that is known as Medicare. I begun to open up the opportunities, and helped bring it about. I call upon the DFL Party to help us When others stood by and condemned make these programs work far better the surpluses that were gathering in than they have today. our granaries; when others complained Somebody said to me when I came about the cost of our agricultural pro­ into this hall, "Mr. Vice President, be gram-four years before it ever became specific." I have been and I shall be. law, and then when it did become law­ This party helped elect John Ken­ I'm happy to tell you that my name was nedy. This party helped elect Lyndon on as one of the sponsors-one of the Johnson. And I've helped with both. original sponsors-to put the abundance This state was one of the few states of of our fields and our farms to work to the Midwest that in 1960 went for John save lives in the Food for Peace pro­ Kennedy. gram which bears my name. I campaigned in the primaries of that Five years before the Congress of the year with Mr. Kennedy. He won and United States was able to pass a Job there was no rancor. I came back to this Corps program and an anti-poverty pro­ state to lead the fight for that man in gram, I went before the committees of the state of Minnesota; I came back to the Congress and introduced the legisla­ this midwest to lead the fight for John tion to provide for a Youth Opportunity Kennedy. I went on to Congress to be­ Act, to provide for a Job Corps, to pro­ come the majority whip, one of his lead­ vide for a War on Poverty. ers in the Congress, and let me tell you I was there with Sargent Shriver and one of the happiest days of my political John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to life was when I stood alongside that help write the legislation that today rep­ man when he said, "let's get this country resents our War on Poverty. moving, let's begin."

10 11 AN ACCOUNTING tion and the support of the Democratic ut possibly an accounting Party. might be somewhat helpful. A word about health. There's an old I believe that I am talking phrase that "he who has health has hope, to people who are concerned and he who has hope, has everything." B about such things as educa­ This Vice President, this Congress, two tion and health, consumers, and jobs Presidents-Kennedy and Johnson-did and the needy and youth. something for the nation's health. Thomas Jefferson said, "You cannot We have increased the investment in be both free and ignorant." And let me our health programs at the federal level assure you that the test of freedom is the from $4 billion to $14 billion in the last education of its people. Four years ago, four years. this government was expending less than 4 billions of dollars on aid to education. This year we're spending 12 billions CONSERVATIVES CUT of dollars. he conservatives think that's Nine million underprivileged chil­ far too much. And even the dren, victims of separate but unequal majority now in the Congress schools-nine million of the poor in of the United States wants to 19,000 school districts-are today receiv­ T cut it back. But your Presi­ ing substantial aid because a President, dent and your Vice President worked a government cared. Because there was long hours to see that whatever cuts a Democratic majority that cared in the come in this budget due to congressional Congress of the United States. That's directing shall not come out of the poor; quite a record. those reductions shall not come from the One and one-half million college stu­ needy. We're going to see that those dents are receiving federal loans and reductions come from those who can grants. Two billion dollars of federal best afford the reductions rather than funds last year plmved into our univer­ those who can least afford the reduc­ sities for purposes of expansion of facili­ tions. ties and grants for scientific research. Six I gather we care about life. $4 billion hundred thousand crippled boys and to $14 billion. Twenty million people girls last year aided by vocational re­ covered by Medicare; seven million last habilitation. Two million children in year received its benefits. Thirty-one the last three years in Project Head Start million children vaccinated to be spared -the first time they ever had a chance. from the scourge of polio. Twenty mil­ I submit to you that this record is not lion from the scourge of measles. all we would want it to be. It represents Three million needy children from only a beginning. Yet it is far better the ghettos and the slums and the hills than our opposition ever dreamed it and the valleys of rural poverty receiv­ could be and it deserves the commenda- ing health care under Medicaid. 286

12 13 LIVING LIBERALISM ou know, you can talk lib­ community mental health centers-and eralism, but it's better to live some of them here in Minnesota-serving it, to work for it, to sacrifice forty-seven million Americans. One hun­ for it. dred thirty-seven new mental retardation Y Yes, I hear about the great centers. There wasn't one of them three commitments that we must make to our years ago. Not one. One out of every needy. This has been my life-making 400 babies born in this land mentally those commitments-and it will continue retarded. to be my life, in or out of public life. In 1963, 75,000 of the unemployed CARE FOR THE LEAST of this country-and there were many y fellow Democrats, you unemployed-were in job training. In people say you believe in 1968, as of this month: 1,100,000 in government, how can you training. turn your back upon this One million with new skills under the kind of legislation? I would Manpower-Defense Training Act. And think you would raise your voices in one million youthful hard-core unem­ praise and in jubilation because this gov­ ployed at one time with new skills under ernment has cared for the least of these. the Youth Act. Four hundred twenty thousand chil­ A budget this year for manpower de­ dren under the crippled children's pro­ velopment for the first time to advance gram, six hundred eighty thousand new training to 1,300,000 people who infants this past year, receiving care have never had a job in their lives. through the Maternal and Child Health The mobilization of the private busi­ Care Act. ness sector, the labor movement and gov­ They say, what have you done? Work­ ernment in partnership in the greatest ing ceaselessly, working with everything single effort that has ever been made to we have in the vineyards of liberal bring dignity to a human: to give him democracy. Every one of these things the chance to earn and to learn and to came the hard way. stand on his own two feet. I heard from this platform today about housing. Ladies and gentlemen, while NEVER ENOUGH men were campaigning, we passed the That's what we are doing and don't greatest housing legislation and the let it go unnoticed. I heard we are not greatest housing program that was ever doing enough on the War on Poverty. passed in the history of this country. A I agree. But I remind you that four $5 billion housing program for the peo­ years ago there wasn't any War on ple of America. Poverty.

14 15 THE BETTER IDEA t seems to me we made some prog­ ress. Notenough. Butjustenough to tell you that we can do it. Now, my fellow Americans, I I ask you for the chance to move this country along. America is the land of tomorrow. It always has been. And the highest destiny of this nation is yet I've been told we haven't been doing to be achieved. enough in pollution control. I remind I ask you to join together in trying to you that two years ago there wasn't any. fashion even better policies and pro­ I've been told that we're not doing grams to correct the inequities and the enough about federal aid to education. injustices. To help other people stand We've done more in the last four years tall without tearing somebody else down. than in the preceeding l 00. I do not come to this convention seek­ I've been told that we haven't done ing your support by denouncing my enough for the poor. And indeed we friends. I come here to this convention haven't. But let me tell you what we seeking your support on the basis of a have done. record of accomplishment and on a 5, 700,000 families of the poor in the promise of fulfillment of things yet last four years have been raised by their undone. efforts and the programs of this govern­ No one is asking that dissent be sup­ ment and industry. From the pits and pressed. But people are saying it is n?t the slums of poverty to the high ground enough to dissent. It is enough to dis­ of jobs and dignity: 5,700,000. sent to find a better idea and then to put These are statistics and facts and I've that better idea to work. always been reminded that they're not And I am going to ask you to help me. very interesting. I'm going to ask you to help me put that But let me tell you they are the only better idea to work. And that better way that you find what's been done, not idea is to make America to make Amer­ what's been said. ica what Lincoln said it once was and Unemployment rates: January 1961, what it will ever continue to be: the last 5.8%; January 1963, 4.4%; April, 1968, best hope of this earth. To make that 2.1 %· White unemployment: 5.2% in America, by precept and example, a 1961 , 3.9% in 1963, 1.9% in 1968. place that offers opportunity, a place that Non-white unemployment-the tough offers dignity and a nation that offers problem and the one that we must get hope and opportunity not only to itself at-1961, 11.2%; 1963, 9.7%; April but to people everywhere. 1968, 4.0%. Thank you very much.

16 17 United Democrats for Humphrey I 100 I 7th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036

17~17

he distinguishing characteris­ tic of American democracy has been its capacity for dynamic-but at the same time orderly-change. We have always been impatient with the status quo. Restless, rarely satisfied, always de­ manding more of ourselves-raising our standards: These characteristics have kept America young, even as we ap­ proach our 200th anniversary. We have invited controversy of ideas, and used disagreement and dissent as testing, tempering forces. But there has been the other side to it. Self-criticism, as Adlai Stevenson once The text of a speech by said, has been democracy's secret weap­ Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey on. jJ-rejJared for Town Hall Luncheon, But so has self-respect. I~ os Angeles, California, So has self-confidence. july II, 1968 1 DEMANDS ON PRESIDENT hoever becomes Presi­ dent next January will discharge the tradi­ tional demands upon that office: To build BALA CE CHALLE GED consent, to magnify the people's con­ his balance has given Ameri­ science, to cause them to see what they can democracy an uncommon might otherwise avoid, to recommend to degree of responsiveness and Congress measures for the redress of stability. Today this balance grievances and injustices, and then fight is challenged. for their passage, to conduct internation­ Established institutions-public and al discussions directed toward a more private-are being tested by the rush of peaceful world, to counter threats to events and the demands of a new day, domestic tranquility and national se­ and a new generation. curity. But the reasoned dialogue which de­ He will face, as have few before him, mocracy requires is too often interrupted the insistent demand now for one citi­ by the shouters and the walkers-out. zenship for all Americans-one birth­ Confrontations and ultimata can never right of freedom and opportunity to substitute for free-swinging debate, how­ which all may claim equal inheritance. ever spirited. We shall know in our time whether Our political debate is too much fo­ this democratic ideal can be won-or cused on personalities and not enough whether America, despite her momen­ on the critical issues which confront tous achievements and her promise, ·will America. become another of history's false starts. It is time to restore this balance be­ Realizing the fullness of our democ­ tween self-criticism and self-confidence, racy will depend, first and foremost, between dissent and dialogue. upon our abilit·y to extend the promise This does not permit any closing of of American society to every citizen in democracy's processes. an environment where the rights of all It requires, on the contrary, increased are preserved-peacefully and without vigor in assuring even fuller opportuni­ violence. ty for the citizen to take part in the af­ The next President will strive partic­ fairs of his government. It requires the candidates for the Pres­ ularly to reach the people whose disap­ pointment over America is keenest-in­ idency to speak precisely of their plans for the conduct of this high office and cluding the most idealistic of our young how, as President, they would take ac­ people-because their basic hope for count of our present circumstances in America is perhaps deepest. America. The next President must be America's

2 3 teacher and leader-expressing our high­ America to complete the attack on ur­ est aspirations for justice and peace, at ban decay, illiteracy, unemployment, home or abroad. He must simultaneous­ disease, hunger. ly be student and follower -learning Open in the sense of a readiness to use from the people of their most profound the Presidency as the instrument not for hopes and their deepest concerns. the enlargement of the federal executive Teacher and student, leader and fol­ function, but the distribution of such lower: The Presidency demands that responsibility to states and localities both sides of the equation be kept in ready to accept it. balance. To gravitate toward either ex­ Open in the sense of greater access to treme for any period of time invites all the people. either tyranny or chaos-oppression or An Open Presidency must be a strong license. Presidency, one that draws its strength from direct and daily closeness to the people. And part of that strength will be found in reshaping the Executive De­ partment to make it more responsive to individual, as well as "national," needs. I suggest these more specific courses of action to develop the concept of the Open Presidency: Fi1·st. There must !Je new channels of communications with the President for those fJersons fJreviously excluded from m,eaningfu/ particifJation in our national OPEN PRESIDENCY life because of race, poverty, geography, ur circumstances today call or modern technology and industrializa­ increasingly for an Open tion. Presidency. This is especially needed in the Exec­ Open in the sense of. as- utive branch of government. Today the suring the fullest poSSlble Presidency provides principal initiative use of that office to inform the American in drawing up America's agenda of ac­ people of the problems and, even more, tion-Congress then responds and re­ the prospects we face. . . views the President's proposals. Open in the sense of s~lmula.tmg ~he It is vitally important that popular frankest and widest poss1ble d1scusswn involvement occur !Jefore governmental and ventilation of America's problems­ programs reach the legislature. And both inside and outside government. there is need for greater popular partic­ Open in the sense of marshali~g the ipation once the executive departments spirit and mobilizing the energ1es of come to administer acts of Congress.

4 5 speak up, sound-off, or simply register COUNCILS OF CITIZENS their opinions. e should consider es­ Neighborhood Councils can dispel tablishing Councils of fears. They can start people talking, and Citizens in the Execu­ knowing each other better. Some form of tive Office of the Pres­ financial incentive or assistance to en­ ident and in each ma­ courage the formation of local councils jor executive department-to promote should be considered. the broadest range of public discussion, Second. We must encourage new and debate and popular consultation. imaginative combinations of govern­ Members of these Councils could so­ ments, groups, and individuals com­ licit ideas, reactions, and grievances mitted to solving our critical domestic from all segments of the general public. problems-combinations of power and Prior to any major departmental de­ 1 interest which go far beyond the tradi­ cision, such as the promulgation of ad­ tional interest groups of American life. ministrative guidelines, persons affected 1 The past decade has taught us how by the decision could be fully consulted. the challenges of urban life, of poverty, In like manner, Neighborhood Coun­ of mass education, of employment, are cils of Citizens could be established in insufficiently met by governments acting metropolitan and rural areas. Local de­ alone, or by private action if its immedi­ cisions have national dimensions. Citi­ ate interests are pursued in isolation zens need a place near their home to from society's broader goals.

6 7 PRESIDENCY A FORUM ---..... he Presidency should con- tinue to develop as a forum for the private groups and in­ dividuals whose talents are es­ sential to success. Boards, commissions, task forces, or advisory panels: These and similar devices help the President take the nation's pulse, and then prescribe necessary remedies. The Presidency must be a distribu­ tion point for the new forces of construc­ tive change-whatever their origins or specific areas of interest. And he must NEW INSTITUTIONS take special pains to relate these forces hese problems demand the constructively to the more established commitment of society's full institutions of government, particularly resources applied in ways the Congress. which produce maximum im­ Whoever our next President may be, pact-and often these combi­ he will soon realize the crucial impor­ nations will occur outside the established tance of his dealing effectively with the channels of "government" or "business." Congress. These are not the times for We are only beginning to understand stalemate between the White House and the new institutions and procedures Capitol Hill. which can do the job. Third. The President must encourage The National Alliance of Business­ the new spirit of localism already at work men-private business leaders who are in this country .. . combined with a new carrying forward a major part of the fed­ openness of government to I he concerns eral government's assault on hard-core of the jJeojJle. unemployment-not only illustrates a partnership of public and private mem­ bers, but also one which operates on na­ tional, regional and local levels. LOCAL INITIATIVE The Urban Coalition represents a dif­ he paradox of the contempo­ ferent but equally creative approach to rary Presidency is precisely marshalling society's resources in the this need to build local initi­ struggle to rebuild and renew the Amer­ ative and responsibility ican city-a common front of concerned T through the creative and ju­ private citizens polling their energies dicious use of national power. and talent on the national and local We know that federal funds must be levels. used increasingly to stimulate state, local

8 9 and private energies to develop new and indigenous responses to our unsolved domestic issues. We know, too, that local, state and federal structures for administering pro­ grams of human development must be reordered and simplified. Fourth. A National Domestic Policy Council should be estaiJlished to provide COORDINATE DOMESTIC POLICY I he same comprehensive, systematic and he establishment of a Nation­ reliable analyses of domestic problems al Domestic Policy Council which the National Sewrity Council is centrally important to the and its staff produce on foreign policy idea of an Open Presidency. and national defense issues. Today there is an almost The National Domestic Policy would hopeless cobweb of relationships that include the heads of Cabinet and other have developed between some ten or a agencies dealing primarily with domestic dozen federal agencies, on the one hand, concerns. and 50 states, thousands of cities, and The Vice President might be desig­ tens of thousands of private organiza­ nated to act for the President in chair­ tions, on the other. ing the National Domestic Policy Coun­ There won't be effective federal-state­ cil. local relationships until there is a fuller The establishment of such a Council integration of federal domestic activ­ would expand in a real way the Presi­ ities. dent's capacity to foresee and deal ra­ There won't be an effective mobiliza­ tionally with the crush of domestic prob­ tion of private resources for government lems, to sharpen priorities and identify as long as so many different federal agen­ the full implications of alternative do­ cies are making separate demands on mestic policy decisions, to determine those resources. how federal programs interrelate, sup­ Conversely, once there is this integra­ port, or diminish the effectiveness of tion and coordination of federal domes­ other programs, to develop a system of tic agencies, there can be an effective Social Indicators leading annually to a demand on state and local governments President's Social Report, such as today to take those administrative actions at we have a system of Economic Indicators their end which permit coordination of leading to an Economic Report. the total government effort.

10 II OPEN SOCIETY ohn F. Kennedy said: "The history of this nation ... has been written largely in terms of the different views our Presidents have had of the Presidency itself." The proposals I have made bear upon the Presidency in the same way that the restless mood of social change bears upon the entire nation. For a nation in search of an Open Society, the Chief Executive must be committed to an Open Presidency. In an Open Presidency, one question is paramount: Do existing institutions or traditions help the individual to a freer and more meaningful life? If they do not, they must be changed. The Open Presidency demands the exposure of ideas-all ideas which relate to the fundamental workings of our society, exposed to the maximum num­ ber of people. The Open Presidency means broader responsibilities upon every American, and the broadest demands of morality upon those chosen to lead. The American Presidency is the prize possession of all the people. And the Open Presidency is a cease­ less reminder of their domain.

12 Citizens for Humphrey I 025 Connecticut Avenue Washington, D.C. 20036 Minnesota Historical Society

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