Remarks at a White House Staff Meeting on the Second Anniversary of the President's Inauguration.
JOHN D. EHRLICHMAN (Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs). Mr. President, we are here to review next year's budget in general detail and the next year's legislative program. But we are delighted that you stopped by so that we can wish you many happy returns of the day.
If I could just be permitted a word before we have an opportunity to hear from you, I think, if I can speak for the group, that we appreciate the quality of life here at the White House in the sense of the-this is your phrase.
THE PRESIDENT. You mean particularly the night life? [Laughter] I don't mean that the way you think, either.
MR. EHRLICHMAN. Well, the days here are long but the years are short. They seem to fly by. In looking back on them and considering the climate and national conditions when we got here and things as we find them today, we are grateful for the progress that has been made. We are very grateful for your leadership and for your insistence on the principles that you set down for us.
We congratulate you on this anniversary and sincerely wish you many happy returns of the day.
THE PRESIDENT. I will say a word. I want the press pool to hear what I say about the staff when I am not speaking behind their backs.
I do want you to know that--the members of the press--that I am very proud of our White House Staff. What I have said about their night work was not said facetiously. I often do go over to the EOB, as you know, and after my lights go off over there, most of the members of the staff, many of them certainly, are still working.
It is a remarkable staff, remarkable in its quality, in its devotion. I was going to say also in its youth, apart from its years, it at least has the vigor, the determination, the imagination of youth, and, as the State of the Union and the legislative program will indicate, the boldness of youth. And that will be spelled out in considerable detail not only in the State of the Union but in our legislative program.
What I present this year in the State of the Union and in the legislative program will be by far the most comprehensive, the most far-reaching, the most bold program in the domestic field ever presented to an American Congress. I could not have done it, obviously, by myself. I couldn't have done it with my small group of associates, like John Ehrlichman and George Shultz and Cap Weinberger and others who come in day to day. It could only have been done because out through the Government in all the departments and here in the White House Staff, particularly over in the Executive Office Building, in the Bureau of the Budget, or the Office of Budget and Management as it is now called, in John Ehrlichman's Domestic Council, in all of the other activities that are represented here--there has been a great deal of midnight oil burned over not just the past 2 or 3 weeks--because this has been developing, as you know, for at least the past year and a half.
We began to pour the coal on 6 months ago after we met in San Clemente and I made the basic decisions. As you know, they were made then. That was a pretty well-kept secret. I didn't read it until the p.m. papers. [Laughter]
But since that time I know that you have been working in a way that we really couldn't compensate you. You know, they talk sometimes--I say "they," I mean critics of government, people--about the fact that people in government are drones, they don't work long enough, they are overpaid and all that. All that I say is that they haven't been on this White House Staff. There is not one person here that I could possibly employ on the basis of how much you are being paid, on the hours of work, and, despite how John describes it, on the basis of all the extras you are supposed to get. This is hard work. It is work that is certainly one that takes you away from your families a great deal. I know some of your wives call me from time to time just to be sure. I am never sure, but I always tell them the right thing, I can assure you. [Laughter]
Although, I really am sure. Your wives might hear what the TV says, then you would be in trouble. [Laughter]
And, Virginia, 1 I am not slighting you either, when I say that.
I want to say that we look at what you have done and we know those hours that have come in. And now, 2 days from now--if I can just get through the next a days, and now I have to kind of go into solitary and sit and struggle with all the drafts that are before me with regard to the final aspects of the State of the Union--and we will get it ready--I usually do get the speeches ready and deliver them. But when it is delivered you will see then the unveiling of the program that you have been working on all these years. It will be, however, only a beginning because then come the legislative proposals.
1 Virginia H. Knauer, Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs.
This State of the Union--and this could happen only because we now have been here 2 years and we have the experience and we have quite a backlog--this State of the Union as distinguished even from last year when we did, as you know, in the first 2 weeks send in a great deal of legislative material, in the first not only 2 weeks but even 2 months after the State of the Union; this State of the Union will be followed by a series of legislative proposals, again, that I think will be unprecedented in certainly the modern history of the Congress of the United States. But without you we couldn't have done it.
I wanted the members of the press to hear this. I believe it very strongly. It is a devoted staff, an intelligent staff, with a very high IQ and with a much higher, if that is possible, DQ, a dedication quotient. And the IQ sometimes can come out of a university or a college or out of your own background, unless you believe in the behavioristic analysis of how people become as bright as all of you have become. But, on the other hand, that dedication quotient can only come from your hearts, from the fact that you really believe in this country, you believe in what this Administration is trying to do for this country, and you are willing to give that extra hour or hours of devotion so that we can get it done. I just hope we don't let you down as we make the presentation.
Note: The President spoke at 9:42 a.m. in the Family Theater at the White House.
A summary of additional remarks made by the President to the staff was read by Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler during his regular news briefing at the White House on January 20, 1971, as follows:
The President, in his discussion with the staff, expressed what his feelings were about the country and what he feels has to be done to deal with problems effectively. He expressed his faith in people.
He talked about the various programs which had been presented to the staff, and I think he referred to those in the previous material which you have been given. He talked about the boldness of the new program and so forth.
He said that the new domestic program has a lot of innovations, and he told the staff that some of the new programs which will be put forth will be opposed by those who do not want to change. But he went on to say we must keep in mind that anything worthwhile doing will be opposed by some.
He then went on to say to the staff that we must not be discouraged because what we are doing and what we are going to do is right and needs to be done and needs to be done now.
Then in the context of discussing revenue sharing and expressing his feelings about the role of government and the other programs, he said that the idea that a small group at the top is the only group fit to govern, and a small group at the top--just a very few, he said--are the ones that should make all of the decisions, is foreign to America and foreign to the principles of America. He said, "Because what America really was in the beginning and what I think it is about is that we do have confidence in people."
Going on in a discussion of revenue sharing and other programs, he said--referring specifically to revenue sharing--that if we are really going to get the job done that needs to be done in America, "We need many centers of power," so that "more people have a chance to have a part of the action out across the country."
Then he went on to make the point so that more will have a real chance to contribute and realize what they do does matter, and realize that they can participate and that their participation can be productive and meaningful.
Then he goes on to follow up on that point by saying that: "To me one of the reasons revenue sharing is so important"--and here he went specifically to talking about revenue sharing--"is because it is going to make a difference for people. It is going to mean that the people at the local level who are not in government are going to feel that they do count."
He then went on to talk about his goals, achieving peace for a generation, having America at peace throughout the world, dealing with the economy, to have something we have not had since 1957--prosperity in peacetime-the environment, crime, equal opportunity, and noting the progress we have made on these and, referring to the proposals he intends to put forth in the State of the Union, he said, "It is time to seize this moment and present the American people a new approach to government, one that is relevant to our times."
Then he went back over the reference to the goals and dealing with the problems, basically the way I outlined them to you, and said: If the Administration did these things--and he said I feel we will make progress and great progress on them all---this would be a record to point to with pride. He said, however, these are goals that any Administration would work for and want to achieve.
He said, however, he thinks this is the time to do more even than solving and dealing with these problems. He said as well as doing all of this, he thinks this is a time for a revolutionary approach to government relevant to our times which will leave a legacy to be proud of, not for just the immediate future but for generations to come.
He went on to conclude that he feels that he has a group of devoted, dedicated, and strong people who will put something forward they believe in, and who, by so doing, will start a process of change.
Those are the notes that I was able to pull out of what he said. He spoke for about 35 minutes. Some of the things I cannot refer to here, where he referred specifically to the new programs and made reference to the budget, and so forth. But I think this gives you a general feeling as to what he said and the tone of what he said.
I think I can conclude that the President is very optimistic. He was very optimistic with the staff as to what can be accomplished next year.
Richard Nixon, Remarks at a White House Staff Meeting on the Second Anniversary of the President's Inauguration. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/240306
