Remarks at a President Ford Committee Volunteers Reception in Lincoln

First, I want to thank from the bottom of my heart Carl Curtis and Roman Hruska, both of them have been with me since I arrived in the State of Nebraska yesterday. They have not only been great Senators for you here in Nebraska but they have been giving great leadership to my campaign in Nebraska, and I thank Carl and Roman for their service to your State and to our country and their support for me.

But I also want to thank very deeply all of you who are volunteers, who have worked hard and are doing a good job in making sure that we win on Tuesday, and we are going to win.

But we have about 72 hours and that is not too much time to double and treble your efforts. I know you have worked hard. I know you probably are a little fatigued, but you win a ballgame by that last effort in the last quarter, and this countdown is vitally important. So, I urge you to maximize your efforts in the hours ahead. And as you meet your friends, talk to your neighbors, your farmer neighbors or your city neighbors, your professional friends or those who are in churches with you, let me give you in a capsule form what I think are the best selling points. They can be put in the label of prosperity, peace, and trust.

Let's take each one very quickly. Prosperity--refresh your memory--21 months ago this country was suffering inflation at the rate of 12 percent or more and for the first 3 months of 1976 the rate of inflation is 3 percent or less. That is a 75-percent reduction in the rate of inflation and that is not a bad batting average by any standard.

Refresh your memory--a year ago the doomsayers were saying we were on the brink of a depression. We were in a recession. We admitted that, but instead of panicking, instead of getting hysterical, we took a firm, steady, right course, and the net result is we are now having, according to the latest figures published yesterday, 86,400,000 people gainfully employed, the most in the history of the United States.

In those statistics that were released yesterday--two very impressive figures. We gained 700,000 jobs in one 30-day period, and in addition, from last April to this year we made a total gain of 3,300,000 jobs. The policies that we had, the programs that we followed, produced this kind of result.

So, the Ford administration can take credit for it, and we ought to be proud of it. It ought to be a big selling point for us when we go to the polls, or you all go to the polls on next Tuesday.

Now, one other point. I said indirectly to the students at Nebraska, the graduating class, they were the first class in 30 years--30 years--that could graduate and have a choice whether they wanted to go into the military or whether they didn't. This is the first time in 30 years that young people graduating from a university or a college would not be faced immediately with a mandatory obligation under selective service. And why have we been able to give them a choice--either they could volunteer or they could go into their occupation--was because we have the right military and diplomatic policy. We are at peace.

And let me give you another several points. I am the first President seeking election or reelection in the last 20 years who can say that the United States is at peace. So, when you put it all together, our policies diplomatically, militarily, have been right. We have the peace, and we are going to keep it because we are right.

And then if you will take the third word, trust. I think since I have been President, August of '74, we have had an open, we have had a candid, we have had a forthright administration. The door was never closed to any individual or to any group, we have been frank and honest with the American people, and the net result is there has been a restoration of confidence in the Presidency. And that is something that was necessary, something we can build on.

So, on the basis of those three words, prosperity, peace, and trust, I think you can talk to your friends and neighbors and say that Jerry Ford ought to be the President of the United States for the next 4 years.