Remarks at a Buffet Dinner at the Texas Ranch of John B. Connally.

ALONG WITH a few of the others who are guests here tonight, my wife and I have had the honor and the privilege of having been guests before at this ranch, or affairs like this, where John and Nellie Connally were our hosts. We have enjoyed them. We have enjoyed the hospitality, the good fellowship, meeting their friends.

But I must say that there is one thing I have a complaint about, and that is that John Connally is awful hard to follow. [Laughter]

In following him, I first want to say something on a purely personal basis that may be of interest to you. We were trying to think of something to give you that you could take back in your luggage without having it searched at the airport, and so this is small enough you can carry it in a purse. But in any event, I hope the men aren't carrying purses [laughter]--at least not over your shoulders. [Laughter] A few of you have these, but we have had developed by a very good friend of ours, some new Presidential cuff links. They are completely nonpartisan. They don't have my name on them, and there is no party label. [Laughter] All it has is the seal of the President of the United States; it is in living color. And so for the men you have the Presidential cuff links, and, since ladies do not wear cuffs--although I have seen that some of them now are wearing them--but since you do not have them, we have for the ladies a seal in a pin. We have cuff links and a pin for all of you here tonight, for those who are here with your wives. And for those whose wives could not come, we will give you one of these to take home to prove where you were. [Laughter]

Now, if I could say a word about John Connally before speaking just briefly with regard to my appreciation of your support and your friendship.

I was thinking tonight as I read the morning news summary of how much this country and this Administration owes to John Cornnally. A year ago, on August 15, as you know, we initiated a new economic policy.¹ He was the architect of that policy. If you picked up your newspapers today you found that in that year since August 15 we have seen this economy take off, take off in the right direction, and we have seen also inflation go down, inflation cut in half, real spendable earnings-and that is what really counts for 80 million American wage earners-finally going up for the first time significantly in 5 years.

¹ See 1971 volume, Item 064.

We have seen our gross national product move up. We have seen income for all Americans move up. We have seen this economy strong and vibrant and moving in the direction of becoming less affected by inflation than it has ever been in recent years.

If you want to put it comparatively, when we look at all the great industrial nations of the world--and I have seen them all, visited them all, and know them all--whether it is Japan and the Far East or whether it is any of the countries of Western Europe, of all the free nations in the world, the United States today has the lowest rate of inflation. We have the most jobs at the highest real wages. We have more opportunity, more freedom than in any country in the world, and we have the fastest rate of growth. And John Connally deserves a great deal of the credit for that.

Of course, he was the Secretary of the Treasury, but as the Secretary of the Treasury he also sat on the National Security Council. He spoke of decisions. He was there. He helped in giving his advice when those decisions were made.

Some of you may have noted another piece of good news yesterday. For the first time since 1965, since the long and very difficult war in Vietnam began, no American was killed in action in Vietnam. But what is more important is that that has been accomplished--the withdrawal of over half a million Americans and the reduction of our casualties--it has been accomplished without staining the honor of the United States of America.

And over this year--it was more than a year that John Connally was in the position as Secretary of the Treasury and served on the National Security Council-we had some hard decisions. I will never forget, however, his participation in one of the most difficult ones--May 8 this year, just before the Soviet summit.

In order to stop the Communist invasion of South Vietnam, it was necessary to do something and do it effectively. I decided that we had to mine the harbors of Haiphong and bomb military installations in North Vietnam. There was much disagreement within the Administration, honest disagreement. Some wavered. But John Connally was like a rock. He is the kind of man that you really wanted in such a crisis.

So after all that you know about him, just let me say that this country has been fortunate to have had him in its service in many capacities. I have been fortunate to have had him as an adviser in this Administration, and, certainly, as we look to the future, this is a man who is destined for great service to his Nation in the years ahead.

I come now to this organization. It is called Democrats for Nixon. I think it should have another name. Tonight I would like to talk to you in terms of not "Democrats for Nixon," which puts it in highly personal terms, but I would like to talk to you in terms of "Democrats for America," which really puts it where it belongs.

What I say now will deal therefore not with partisanship and not with personal matters--those really do not belong in a great Presidential campaign. In this particular instance, the only matters that we should consider are what is best for America, because when an individual, be he a man or a woman, has been proud to be a member of one of the two great political parties for many, many years, when, as has been the case with most of the people here, of individuals who have always supported the candidates of their party for local office, for State office, for national office, and for the Presidency, when individuals then decide in a critical election year that they are going to support a candidate of the other party, it cannot be simply on personal terms, it cannot be simply on selfish terms, it must be on terms of whether America's interest requires it.

That is the basis on which I speak to you, you my friends, the Democrats for Nixon. I would like to call you "Democrats for America" tonight.

As I see America in these next few years, I see a time of enormous challenge and of enormous opportunity. John Connally has spoken of what has happened around the world. One of the great difficulties an individual has when he lives through great events is that he really doesn't realize how much is happening, how much the world is changing. And only when the history books are written, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years later, does he look back and realize, "I was there. I helped to make it happen."

Tonight I say to all of you here gathered in Texas that we have witnessed in these past few months, and particularly over this past year, and we are witnessing and are going to witness over these next 3 to 4 years, very great changes in the world and changes in America.

What is important for us is to help to make those changes move in the right direction, make them move in the direction of peace for America, make them move in the direction of freedom for America and peace and freedom for all peoples in the world, wherever they can have it. That is our responsibility.

You are all aware--several of you as you came through the receiving line mentioned that you were aware--of the trips that had occurred this past year to Peking and to Moscow. I should point out that they are only a beginning. I should point out that we have begun a new relationship with the People's Republic of China, which controls one-fourth of all the people in this world.

But having begun it, now the real challenge begins. How does it develop? How does it develop in a way that it will be to the advantage of the United States and to the advantage of the Chinese people? This is the question. How does it develop in a way that it will contribute to peace in the Pacific, rather than unrest in the Pacific? This is the question.

And so we look at the Soviet Union and we see some striking things that have happened. We see an arms control agreement. We see agreements developing in the field of trade and the environment and health and many, many other areas--in cooperation in space, for example. But again I point out, they are simply a beginning, because in the field of arms control, for example, all that we have done is simply to provide for the limitation of arms in certain areas, defensive nuclear weapons and certain classes of offensive weapons.

In the future, in the next few months, over the next few years, we will move on to new negotiations with the Soviet Union, between these two great super powers. Those negotiations will not be easy. They will not depend simply on personal friendship, although there will be and might be personal friendship between the leaders of the two great powers. They will not depend on simply good will, although we hope there may be good will, but they will depend upon how each of the great nations consults its own interests and defends those interests in such negotiations.

I know, because I have been through it. And as I look at that challenge in the future, I realize, and I want all of you to realize, all of the American people to realize, that what we must do is, of course, to negotiate with those who might be our adversaries, but to negotiate in a way that builds a lasting peace, negotiate in a way that does not weaken the United States of America in its role of being the major free world country that can keep the peace and defend freedom around the world.

Let me put it quite bluntly. The military strength of the United States, the economic strength of the United States, and, even more important, the moral strength, the unity, the character of the United States will determine whether peace and freedom survive in this last part of this century. And it is the responsibility of all Americans, whether they be Democrats or Republicans, to see to it that the United States remains strong in all these areas, strong not for the purpose of being simply stronger than somebody else-there is no jingoism in this--but strong because in the whole free world today there is no one else, no one else that can do the job.

In the Pacific there is no other power that has the strength or the potential. In Europe there is no other free world power that has that potential. And that is why one of the planks in my campaign program, one of the things I have fought for in the past, that I will fight for in the future is this:

I believe, of course, that we should always do everything that we can to see that the burden of expenditures for the American people is as low as possible. I believe, of course, that we should see to it that in the field of military expenditures that we should not spend more than is necessary. But I also believe that it is vital and essential to the survival of the United States, to the survival of peace and freedom in the world, that we reject the arguments of those who say that we should cut our defenses so that we become the second strongest nation in the world.

So a strong national defense is the beginning. We will negotiate reduction in arms, but you cannot negotiate from a position of weakness. It is very simple, and this is a point, of course, that we are all quite aware of.

We come now to the question of our economic strength. Without that we couldn't, of course, have the military strength that we need. And as far as our economic strength is concerned, we have to realize where it comes from. What has made America the economic wonder of the world is not what government did for people, but what people did for themselves, and that is the way we have to build this country in the future.

And that is why, even though it might be politically, shall we say, somewhat appealing in some quarters to call for a redistribution of income, to see that those who do not work are rewarded more than those who do, I say that it is vital for us to remember that in this country, what brought us where we are is the fact that we have always recognized that an individual who works will receive what he is entitled to, that his government will not take more than is necessary. But above everything else, we must always remember that once any government goes to the point that its taxes become so high that an individual is working more for the government than he is working for himself, then we have gone too far. We must not go that far in the United States.

I spoke about character. I am going to use an example, perhaps an example right here from this State of Texas to prove it.

As some of you know, I stopped in Laredo earlier today, and then we paid a visit to a little high school, the Rio Grande High School, in the valley between here and Laredo. Many of those from the national press who were following us probably wondered, why Rio Grande High School?

It is a very small high school, only a thousand students. It is in a district which is so hopelessly Democratic that they don't even have a Republican running for Congress this year. [Laughter] It is a district, incidentally, in which 80 percent of those who live in it are of Mexican background, and generally speaking Republican candidates, except for John Connally, have not done very well in that particular district. [Laughter]

So the question is, why? Why stop at Rio Grande? Let me tell you why. Because Rio Grande, that little high school and its students, had a message for me and a message for America in April of 1971.

There are literally thousands of classes from high schools who come to Washington in the spring. It is a wonderful thing to do. And they see the cherry blossoms and they go to the Capitol and they have tours of the White House and they call on their Congressmen and the Senators and the rest.

Of course, the President of the United States can see very, very few of them, because his schedule will not permit. One day I got a call from Senator Tower. He told me about a group from Rio Grande High School. He said they were going to be down there and he understood they might even have an opportunity to visit the Rose Garden.

I said, "Well, John, how can I make an exception and see this group and not some others?" Then he told me about it. This is the story.

This is a poor district. As a matter of fact, some describe it in terms of income as the poorest district in Texas. It may not be. It is irrelevant. It at least is not a rich district. But as far as the students from that district are concerned, they were the greatest. Let me tell you what happened: They wanted to come to Washington. They didn't run around to the rich businessmen and say, "Look, will you pay our way?" They didn't go to some foundation and say, "Look, will you put up the money for us?" They decided to earn their way, and for a year they washed cars, they did babysitting, they did all sorts of what are called menial chores in order to earn the money so that they could come to Washington. As a matter of fact, they even went into business. They made tamales and then they went house to house and sold those good Texas tamales for 50 cents apiece and they kept building up the kitty so that they could go.

Then, finally, on April 21, 1971, they stood in the Rose Garden on a beautiful spring day, proud because they had earned their way, and I stepped out and talked to them for a few minutes, and as I talked to them and I looked at them-young, idealistic, from working families for the most part--I realized they had the stuff that made this country great from several different standpoints.

I mentioned the fact that most of them were of Mexican background. You know, I often hear people say, "That fellow is a Mexican or this one is an Italian or this one may be a Jew or this one may be a Catholic or this one may be a Pole or this one may be a German." Let me tell you my attitude. They may have that kind of background, but to me every one of them is an American first, last, and always.

As I came back into the White House that day, one of the members of my staff said, "Isn't it a shame that those poor kids had to work all year in order to make that trip? Why couldn't one of those rich Texas oilmen put up the money so that they could come? Why didn't some foundation do it so that they could have had an easier time? Wouldn't it have been better?" And my answer was, "Not at all." Because they told us something about the strength of America. They wanted to earn their way. They didn't want something for nothing, and that is the kind of spirit we need in America if we are going to meet the challenges that face America today.

When we think of Texas, we think of a State that is primarily Protestant, with a rather heavy Mexican population. Did you know that within 50 miles of where you sit tonight there is a German settlement, there is a Polish settlement, there is one that was founded by a Jewish group, there is another that is Czechoslovakian? Of course, there are some that are Mexican and some of other groups. In fact, 26 different nationalities are represented within 100 miles of where we sit. That is Texas.

What is America? I have traveled, along with my wife, to most of the countries of the world, over 80, and when you really think of America, America is a great country because all of the nations of the world are right here, and we have taken the diversity, the qualifications, the character, the richness of all and have molded them into a great people.

What we must remember as we build America for the future is how we became what we did. And what we must remember is that those who came to these shores, and then those who, after they came to the eastern shore, moved across these prairies into Texas and then across the mountains into California, they were strong people, they were good people, they had character. Let's not destroy the character of the American people today. Let's keep it strong.

I said to you at the outset that instead of calling this organization "Democrats for Nixon," call it "Democrats for America." In 1947, I recall one of the first votes I cast as a freshman Congressman. At that time, as you remember, the Republicans had won the Congress in the elections of 1946. President Truman was in the White House. There was a threat to Greece and Turkey from the Communists. President Truman came before the Congress and asked for the enactment of the Greek-Turkish aid program.

It seems so long ago, but anyone who writes the history of those times will realize how tremendously important drawing that line at that time was, not simply in saving Greece and Turkey, but in also saving the rest of free Europe from what could have been an eventual Communist envelopment.

It was a hard vote for those of us who were Republicans. There was a Democratic President. We had just won the House of Representatives. There were great partisan appeals to us to vote the party and not vote the country.. I looked at the vote as it occurred and--it is recorded in the Congressional Record--just a few days ago. I saw the names of those who voted in the affirmative, voted with President Truman. There was a young Congressman from Texas who later became President of the United States, Lyndon Johnson. He was 40 years of age then. There was a young Congressman, a freshman Congressman from Massachusetts who later became President of the United States, John Kennedy. He was 31 years of age. And I am proud to say there was a young Congressman from California, who was 34 years of age, who later became President of the United States--but all put America above their party.

And I simply want to say to you tonight, speaking not in partisan terms, not in personal terms, but speaking of this country that we all love so much, that I am very proud to have the support of leaders of the Democratic Party from across this country. I know the risk that you have taken. I know the heat that you are taking. But I can only assure you that if we prevail in this election, I am going to do everything I possibly can to make your votes and your support look good for America.

Thank you.