Remarks at a Public Rally in Roseville, Michigan

Thank you very, very much, Governor Bill Milliken, Senator Bob Griffin, my former colleagues in the House of Representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

Gee, it's great to be back home, and it's wonderful to be in Macomb County. They told me that it would be great to come back home and see a few friends, but from the minute we landed until here, the warmth of the reception and the enthusiasm is great. And let me tell you right now, I won't let you down for the next 4 years.

Now, in this campaign, we have heard a lot of rhetoric. We have had a lot of criticism. We have had a lot of quick-fix answers. But let me tell you this: Jerry Ford calls them straight, and Jerry Ford isn't going to promise you anything that he can't produce and he will produce everything he promises. Now, let me talk about three things--peace, prosperity, and trust.

As President of these United States, I am proud to be able to stand here and tell you that our country is at peace. We are at peace because we are strong, we are respected. And I can assure you that for the next 4 years, we are going to keep strong, we are going to keep at peace, and we are going to do it because we are respected.

But let me talk for a minute now about prosperity. Let's take just a minute to go back and find out what the circumstances were when I became President, 21 months ago. We were experiencing 12- to 14-percent inflation. Do you know what it was the first 3 months of 1976? Under 3 percent. That's a 75-percent cut.

Shortly after I became President, we started on this unfortunate bandwagon of a recession. But let me tell you, in the last 12 months, because we have had the right policies, because we didn't panic, because we did constructive things, we are making real headway towards prosperity on a permanent, solid basis. And give me 4 more years, and I will produce it for you.

Now I know the great State of Michigan, which I love, and the people that I really feel close to have had a tough time the last 12 months. But you have had great leadership in Governor Bill Milliken; you have had a good congressional delegation headed by Senator Bob Griffin. And then let me tell you, because of their help and cooperation, I have been able to do some things that kept us on the track from the depth of that recession to where we are going uphill and where we added 710,000 more jobs in this country in the last month and 3,300,000 more jobs in the last year. And we are going to get a lot more for Michigan in the months ahead.

But you know we have had a little trouble, or I have had, with some people down in Congress. When we started to go on this difficult economic situation, there were some people in Congress that said, "Spend a lot of taxpayers' money, add a lot of jobs to the Federal payroll, do all the things that might in the short run, but in the long run would be bad."

You know, they sent down 49 bills that I vetoed; 42 of those were sustained by Bob Griffin and some of the other people in the House of Representatives. We saved--listen to this now--we saved the taxpayers of this country, by those 42 vetoes which have been sustained, $13 billion. And if the Congress sends any more of those big spending bills that will add just billions and billions and billions to the deficit, increase the probability of inflation, this President will veto and veto and veto again and again and again.

One other thing. You know, with that $13 billion that we saved by those vetoes over a period of 21 months, that saved the average family $200. So, the Congress--the majority in the Congress, I should say--in my opinion, is finally learning a lesson, because they aren't going to roll over me in the next few months and they won't do it in the next 4 years, either.

But let me talk to you just a minute about trust. Let your mind go back to August of 1974. This country had gone through one terrible time. There was a loss of confidence in the Oval Office at the White House. There were scandals in the government. People had lost faith in this great country of ours and people in high places.

It wasn't easy to go in there after taking the oath of office, but I said at the outset, and if you will remember, I said we were going to be open, we were going to be straightforward, we were going to call them as we saw them, we were going to be candid and forthright. I have kept that pledge to you, and we'll keep that pledge for the next 4 years, just as well.

Now, as I look out through this audience and as I came in here from the outside, I saw some wonderful young people. And let me ask all of the parents here, what is our aim? What's our objective? What are we trying to do as we grow older and as we find our years slipping by? I know what I'm doing, and I think I can look at every parent right here and say to him, each and every one of us want to make a better world for our children and our grandchildren. That's what America is all about.

And when our forefathers came, or even when some of us in this audience might have come from foreign lands to the United States of America, the country of freedom and opportunity, the net result is that we have developed in America the greatest melting pot, the greatest mixture of people from all lands in the history of mankind.

There is an old saying, you know, that the beauty of Joseph's coat is its many colors. The strength of the character of America are the many people who come from many lands throughout this great world in which we live.

The ethnic heritage, the ethnic churches, the wonderful dedication that we have to our families and our churches and our clubs and our organizations, our schools, that tie to the things that we have been brought up to do and to love and to learn and to work at--and when you put it all in the pot and mix it up, we come from many backgrounds with many heritages. But that's what makes America the strong, powerful, kind, compassionate nation that we are, and that's why 215 million people can live in peace, can disagree, but still have that real depth of affection and love for America.

And let me say, if you will give me 4 more years, I'll promise you to go from the problems we had in August to the heights that America has never seen in the past, because that's what I want, that's what you want for your kids and my kids, and we can do it. I'll do it with your help.

Thank you very, very much.

You know, there is one thing I forgot to ask you. I need your votes next Tuesday. How many are going to vote for Jerry Ford?

I see a Democrat for Ford, an Independent for Ford, and there are a couple of Republicans for Ford here. But let me say, this is a crusade and the chips are down for next Tuesday. I'm counting on you, and I won't let you down.