Remarks at Chicago, Illinois

Governor Ogilvie, Senator Percy, Congressman Arends, all of the distinguished candidates and other guests here on the platform, and all of you who have been so kind to, on such very short notice, come here to the airport to welcome Mrs. Nixon and me here:

I want to say to you that, first, to come to Illinois is always a very great pleasure for me. I want you to know, too, that to come here at a time that I know the city of Chicago is grieving for those who were the victims of the terrible accident ¹ last Tuesday, is one that is a very sad time. But in a way it, too, is a time for hope for all of us.

I want to thank and express my appreciation to all of those who, during that tragedy, handled themselves so magnificently-the people in the hospitals, the firemen, the policemen. Lees give them the hand they deserve.

I want to express also my admiration for the people of Chicago, for the way they have reacted with great compassion and great sincerity and great heart. You know, this part of the country is known as the heartland of America. Chicago is known as the capital of the heartland of America, and the way the people of Chicago responded to this tragedy proves that Chicago truly has a big heart. We thank you for that big heart.

I am very proud, too, today to be here on the platform with others who are candidates for office, as I am. I would like to mention them all by name, but time will not permit it. May I say, first, that on the national scene all of them have my support: Chuck Percy, who is one of the top men in the United States Senate, one of the leaders of the United States Senate; the entire delegation from the State of Illinois. There is only one thing wrong with it. We would like to have a few more just like them back there in Washington. And we support the candidates, as well.

But when, out of this one State, you have two men in the leadership--Les Arends, of course, the Whip of the House; John Anderson, who is the chairman of the [House Republican] Conference--it is truly a great delegation, and I express my appreciation in their home State for what they have done for Illinois, what they have done for their districts, and what they are doing for the Nation.

Now, at the State level I have so many old friends--Bill Scott, for example; Bernie Carey,² all the rest. They have my support. But could I say a very personal word about the man that I stood by 4 years ago and by whom I am proud to stand again, your Governor, Governor Dick Ogilvie.

As you know, at Independence Hall just a few days ago I signed an historic act, one which changes the flow of money and power to Washington back to the people, to the States and the cities of this country. Thirty billion dollars is going to go back into State government, into city government, and local government over the next 5 years.

Now, it isn't just enough to have that money go back. What is needed is to have leaders in the States, leaders in local governments, who will spend that money well for the people of this country, who will use it, for example, to reduce the burden of taxes rather than to increase it, which they could not have done until they received this revenue sharing.

I can tell you, I know every one of the 50 Governors in this Nation, Democrat and Republican. Without regard to partisanship, there are many who are very able men, but in the very top ranks of those that I would want to entrust my money to, to spend it well, to use it well for the people of a State, Dick Ogilvie ranks high. He deserves your support.

Now, having mentioned the other candidates, I would like to say a word for myself, if you don't mind, too.

I have been before the voters of Illinois now on five occasions: in 1952 and 1956, as a candidate for Vice President, and then in 1960 and 1968, and now in 1972, as a candidate for President.

I want to speak to you today about why I need your support. I am not going to ask for it in terms of Republicans versus Democrats, because this year we have an election, and what is important is not our party label, but what is important is what is going to happen to America.

I ask you as Democrats, as independents, and as Republicans to consider what you want for America. That is why we need a new American majority, to give us an overwhelming vote on November 7, and we would like to have it here in Illinois as well as in other States.

I could discuss at length many of the issues, the fact that we have moved toward prosperity without war and without inflation, a goal that we have not had in this country since President Eisenhower occupied the White House. I could speak to you of the progress that we have made in the fields like revenue sharing, in which power is returning from Washington to the people and to the States.

I could speak to you of what we have done in the field of the environment and health and education and all the many other areas in which we have worked. And I am very proud that during these past 4 years instead of running down the peace officers of this country, the President of the United States has stood back of them, and I stand back of them today, against those who would run them down.

That is why we have begun to turn the tide against crime and against dangerous drugs, because we need to respect those who are peace officers and those who have to carry out the law. Laws, of course, if they are to be respected, must deserve it. And we are going to have continually that kind of law, to have the increasing justice and opportunity that every American has as his due.

Today I would like particularly to discuss with you the issue that I know is uppermost in the minds of many of you because of recent developments. As you know, the major goal that I have had over these past 4 years is to build a structure of peace in the world, a peace not just for the next election, but peace for the next generation.

We have made very significant progress in that direction. I refer to the journey we took to Peking, where, after a quarter of a century of hardly any contact, finally the world's most prosperous nation and the world's most populous nation, with over one-fourth of the people of the world living there, now are communicating with each other.

Think what that means, not to this generation--ours---but to all of these wonderful young people here, because 20 years from now instead of being engaged in ugly and dangerous confrontation with a billion Chinese, they will be communicating with them. They have a chance for peace that we did not have.

We have made progress, too, in attempting to bring peace to the Mideast, in standing by our commitments to Israel, and we will continue to stand by those commitments, because that is the way to peace in that troubled area.

We have made progress, too, in many other areas in the world, particularly in dealing with the Soviet Union, where, as you know, we have had an historic arms control agreement, agreements in the field of trade and the environment and health and science and in many other areas.

I could stop here and talk about those agreements and also the progress that we have made in bringing the war in Vietnam to an honorable conclusion.

But my purpose in coming to Chicago is to ask your votes, not because of what we have done over the past 4 years, but to give me the chance that I need to complete the job and to build a structure of peace in the next 4 years.

Before coming to Chicago today I met for an hour in the Oval Office with Ambassador Dobrynin of the Soviet Union and the science minister from the Soviet Union [Dr. Mistislav V. Keldysh]. We spoke about the recent summit in Moscow, but we spoke about the future, how we could cooperate more in the future, and we also spoke about the new agreements with regard to the limitation of nuclear weapons, in which the negotiations will start at the end of November.

We spoke of the other negotiations which we have already begun, but which we must continue in the next Administration. I realized, as I talked to him, that it was important to go to the country and get the people of this country to give to the President of the United States the backing that he needs, to give to the President of the United States and to give a message to all the leaders of the world that when the President of the United States goes abroad, he speaks not from weakness, but from strength. Let's not have the President ever represent the second strongest nation in this world.

Let us also be sure that when the President of the United States goes abroad over these next 4 years, he speaks on the basis of pragmatism and reality and not on naive sentimentality that has always led us into war, or worse, in times past.

And let us also remember this thing: When we speak of peace, we want it; when we speak of ending a war, we want it; but let us remember we have ended wars before. The important thing is to end a war in a way that will build a lasting peace, and that is why I say, rather than peace with surrender, let's have peace with honor for the United States of America.

As I reported last night on television, we have made a very significant breakthrough in achieving that goal in our negotiations with the North Vietnamese. We have already reached basic agreement on the three major conditions that I laid down in the speech that I made to the Nation on May 8 when I ordered the bombing and the mining of Haiphong and North Vietnam, and those three agreements that we have already reached basic agreement on are these:

One, a return of all of our prisoners of war and an accounting for the MIA's; two, a cease-fire throughout not just Vietnam, but throughout all of Indochina, Cambodia, and Laos; and three, the right of the people of South Vietnam to determine their own future without having a Communist government or a coalition government imposed upon them against their will.

There are some details of the agreement that are still to be negotiated. I am confident they will be negotiated. I am confident that we will make an agreement. Let me address myself, however, to a question that one member of my staff raised this morning, to the effect that, "Why are details important? Why not just make an agreement and sign it, because that would be really great just before the election?"

Let me tell you something. Rather than having simply an agreement before an election, we want to have a peace for the next generation, and that is what we are working for. I can assure you that as far as an election is concerned, it will not delay an agreement. I can assure you, however, it will not hasten it. The main thing is, we are going to have one, and it is going to be the right kind. I think the American people want the right kind of an agreement--peace with honor and not surrender. That is what we are standing for and that is what we will achieve.

Looking far to the future, we think of the younger people here and the older people, people who are black and who are white, people who are rich and poor, people who are employers and employees. We think of those that are respectful when they come to a meeting and all those that are disrespectful. All of them have their right to be heard, and so have I. But in that respect, I would simply say this word to all of you who are here: These next 4 years are years in which America has an opportunity such as I have not seen in my lifetime or that America has not witnessed in this century.

We can build a world of peace, real peace; something we have not had in a generation, and for a generation in this whole century. We can have prosperity without war and without inflation. We can have increased opportunities for all Americans to go as high as their abilities will take them without being limited in any respect.

We can have also a new period in this country of respect for the rights of others, of civility in our dealings with others, of decency, of carrying on our campaigns in a way in which we present the issues, in which we listen to what somebody else has to say, and then speak what we have to say.

Let me say finally to this great crowd in Chicago, it has been very proud, in terms of an experience for me, my wife, my family, to live in that great house that you saw on television last night. It has been a very proud experience to travel to all the 50 States over these last 4 years.

It has been a very proud experience to travel to 22 countries abroad, including four capitals that no President has ever been to before--to Peking, to Moscow, to Bucharest, to Warsaw. But I want you to know, in terms of that pride, what is even greater is the pride that I would feel if we can move forward on the beginning that we have made.

We are proud of our record. But we have so much more to do. We want to build a real peace. We want to build that real prosperity, and we need your support.

Let me say finally in that respect, I have noted that some have said--well, they look at the polls and they wonder really if their vote really matters.

You bet it does. First, the only poll that counts is the one that they do on November 7. Second, this is a great decision for the American people. It is the clearest choice this country has had in this century.

I say to the people of Illinois, Democrats, independents, Republicans alike, don't sit on the sidelines, don't have this great choice made by simply a minority that manage or bother to go out to vote.

Everybody vote, and as far as I am concerned, let me tell you this--and this has always been my attitude in politics--I have won some elections, I have lost some. When I have won them, I have tried to do the best I could. When I have lost them, I have pledged my support to this country and I will continue to do so in all the years ahead.

The important thing for you: Let us make this vote on November 7 a vote of a majority of the American people, and let the new majority in America speak out-speak out for peace with honor, speak out for a strong United States, speak out for prosperity without war, speak out for progress that means not bigger government in Washington, but better government, and government that belongs to you.

Let's make these next 4 years the best 4 years in America's history.

Thank you.