Gerald R. Ford photo

Remarks at a Republican Party Fundraising Reception in Boston

November 07, 1975

Thank you very, very much, Ed.

I am most grateful for all that you have done for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and in the United States Senate. I am deeply grateful for all you have done for the United States in the United States Senate. You should be doggone proud you have a Senator like Ed Brooke, and I am.

Let me say I feel better that John Volpe is our Ambassador to Italy. Representing us in a tough situation, John, we thank you for the fine work you are doing on behalf of our country.

And I had the great privilege of serving in the House of Representatives with this young fellow and this very young lady, and I can tell you that they are quality, real topnotch fighting quality for what they represent in your State. The only problem is we need a little more quantity. [Laughter] So why don't you multiply the representation that Silvio and Margaret give by giving us a couple more Representatives in the House of Representatives from the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

I am honored and pleased to speak up on behalf of an outstanding State chairman and an outstanding young lady who has done a superb job, Nancy Sinnott and John Sears. I know a little bit about those people and the job they do, and they are first-class. And I hope you let them stay in there and fight for us in 1976.

And then we have had some great chairmen, Mrs. Cutler and Mrs. Logan. I am grateful for what they have done, and I appreciate all of you being here. This is great to come to Massachusetts and find this kind of a warm welcome and a sizable crowd. But we should thank Mrs. Logan and Mrs. Cutler for their part in it, too. Thank you very, very much.

Now can I say a word or two to get the record straight. A great Democratic Governor of New York once said, "Let's look at the record."

I am not going to abandon the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1976, and I want that very clearly understood. And let me give you some evidence of that. And I want you way in the back to listen. The best evidence of the fact that I want Massachusetts in and not out is the fact that in the Cabinet of 12 we have 4 from Massachusetts. We have Henry Kissinger, John Dunlop, Pat Moynihan, and Elliot Richardon--very soon. That is not bad representation.

And number two, I have been in the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts twice in about the last 4 or 5 months. I love it. I like the people, and I am going to come back in the spring of 1976 to win the primary.

Now, let me speak a little bit, if I might, about 1976. I know a fellow that is going to enter New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Florida, and every other primary. And I know he is going to win. He is going to stick it out, and he is going to win, if we have any competition, right up to the end in August of 1976. And don't forget it.

And then, I know a fellow that is going to win in 1976--in November. [Laughter] And I happen to think with the kind of leadership you have in Ed, Silvio, and Margaret and John and Nancy and all of you out there, and millions like you all throughout the Commonwealth, we are going to win in Massachusetts in 1976.

You know, I am delighted, I am really delighted to be in Massachusetts again tonight, the home of the world champion Boston Red Sox. That is right--the world champion Boston Red Sox. Like any good Republican and Boston Red Sox fan, we are thinking of 1976. [Laughter]

You know, coming to Massachusetts--now let's be quiet back there-[laughter]--it is great to come to Massachusetts again. I feel sorry for the Democrats in the Commonwealth. They have 188 seats out of 240 in your lower house; they have 33 out of 40 in your upper house; they have every constitutional office and look where they have left you. [Laughter] They have nobody to blame but themselves. And if we don't win in 1976, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.

Now let's talk a little practicality. The Republican Party has the right philosophy, but in order to win you have to come in first. Coming in second doesn't do any good. So, I say to you we should open the doors to everybody that believes fundamentally in our philosophy.

We are not a rich man's party. We are not a farmer's party. We are not a laborer's party. We are not a big city, we are not a small city party. We are a party of the people in this country. And let me assure you when I come, or this friend of mine comes back up here to campaign in 1976, he is going to prove to you that between now and then he had a great concern and compassion for the people in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

We don't like high unemployment. We don't like the difficulties that you face economically. I don't like them any better in Massachusetts than I do in my State of Michigan. But we are on the upgrade. We have turned the situation around economically. We are going to have more employment. We are going to have less unemployment. We are going to have far less in the rate of inflation. We are on the way in this country to a solid, cheaper, healthier economy.

But more importantly, because it involves all that we stand for, we are on the road to real progress overseas. We strengthened, as Ambassador Volpe knows, our relationships both militarily and economically in Western Europe. We made headway, despite a setback in Vietnam, in strengthening our ties in Japan and elsewhere out in the Pacific. We are making tremendous strides in the steps toward a just and permanent peace in the Middle East. We are moving forward in trying to find an answer to the problems between those behind the Iron Curtain and those on this side. We are going to push, under proper circumstances, for a way to lower our arms burden without interfering with our national security.

We are on the road to making real progress at home and abroad, and this is what the American people want--an affirmative, forward-moving program. And that is what the Republican Party stands for, and that is why we should open our doors to people from small towns, big cities, the people from the working class to the other people in our society who may be bankers or professional people. We should open our doors to people in all stratas of our society. We love people, and we want them in the Republican Party.

Really, it is just great to be in this great Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I was up here in April and had the opportunity and the pleasure to speak at the Old North Church ceremony, to speak at Concord and Lexington, and to feel in that environment and that atmosphere and those historic places a part of the great history of America. Those people fought early and they fought well and they left us a great heritage and a great tradition--something that we should stand for. They stood for something. They stood for freedom. They stood for what it is all about.

So, our mission in 1976 and in the years ahead is to look forward, not backward, to feel strongly about what is good at home and abroad, economically, within the realm of our possibility of achieving for the betterment of the young, the old, and all others.

And one of the things that impresses me about the strength of America and is what we need to make our party great--when I was very young I had a Sunday school teacher who said something to me one time that I will never forget. She said the beauty of Joseph's coat is its many colors. The strength of the United States of America is its diversity.

We have the heritage of many peoples and many religions and many nationalities in our blood, but that is what made America great. And we in the Republican Party welcome each and every one of them, young and old and all other. That is what made our country great, and that is what will make our party great, and I look forward to the opportunity of representing you and every one of the 50 States in 1976.

Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 8:15 p.m. in the International Departure Lounge at Logan International Airport.

Gerald R. Ford, Remarks at a Republican Party Fundraising Reception in Boston Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256955

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