Richard Nixon photo

Remarks to Delegates to the 15th Biennial Convention of the National Federation of Republican Women.

September 26, 1969

THAT IS the best introduction I have had in a long time.

I want to join Pat in welcoming all of you to this house, which belongs to the whole Nation, but which we presently are occupying, thanks to you. We realize that this is the first time in 8 years that the Republican Women's Federation could come here. We are glad you are here.

That does not mean you could not come always in any year, just as a tourist, but you are going to get a real, special tour today, believe me.

We are so delighted, too, that it was one of those days in the fall in Washington when the weather is good, when we could have, for the first time, these grounds fixed as they are. We hope you have enjoyed the punch and the cookies. I don't see much left.

But anyway, it is so colorful to see it and we are glad that your coming allowed us to set it up in this way and that no rain bothered us.

I would like to say, too, that having had this introduction, and since this is a group of the Women's Federation which has meant so much to us through the years, to the party, going back through campaigns, as far as we are concerned. to 1946--anybody here that old? Never admit it!--that on this occasion I would like to say a word about the role of the women in this house, in this administration.

I know you always read about what the President does, and mostly about what he doesn't do. And some of it is true and some of it isn't. But you make up your own minds.

In any event, what the women do, I think, does not get the credit it really deserves. You are going to see this great house. And the First Ladies through the years have contributed to it. This First Lady, the First Lady in our house and in the White House, she has, of course, been engaged in a program, which is the responsibility of every First Lady, for redecoration. I hope you will like it. I hope you will like what she does. I certainly do. Of course, if I didn't, I wouldn't say so, but I like it.

She picked this tie, too, and I like it. But that isn't all. I was just thinking, when Pat mentioned our two girls, the things that they do that you perhaps don't hear anything about. Let me brag a little on them.

For example, Tricia yesterday, a couple of days ago, was in Philadelphia--anybody here from Pennsylvania? Right-helping to open an exhibition of Romanian art there in Philadelphia. She represented us in a very unofficial but a very effective way at the investiture of the prince of Wales in England a little earlier.

And Julie, while she is in school at the present time, still has found the time to go to Chicago. Anybody here from Illinois?

She has had time to go to Illinois with David for a meeting there, a Republican meeting, and then to New Mexico for a very historic meeting involving the Indians and job opportunities that are being provided in that area.

All that I want to say is this: We get a lot of invitations over there in that West Wing of the White House, but if you really want the stars of this outfit, you invite the girls or invite Pat, because they are the ones that can bring the message to you.

Now a word about the First Lady. Naturally, her first responsibility is to preside over a great dinner such as we had last night for Mrs. [Golda] Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel, and also this house with all of the responsibilities entailed in that.

But, as you know, she has been active in volunteer activities around the Nation, and there are more trips of that type that are planned. In addition, she has to travel with me. I say "has to" because, in a sense, she is such a great asset, as any wife can be to her husband when there are responsibilities that go far beyond what a husband is able to undertake.

I don't know whether any of you--I am sure some of you--had an opportunity to see Nancy Dickerson's [of NBC News] program on our trip around the world. I know that all of you heard the news commentators describing the hard schedule that I was going through, all the talks we were having, the hot weather and the rest. But I can tell you what I did was nothing compared to what she did.

As I look out over these grounds, I think halfway around the world to a wonderful reception that we had in Pakistan. On the occasion of that reception in Pakistan, in Lahore, out there on the parade grounds, we saw over 200 bagpipes in a great band, the best in the world, playing, that the Government of Pakistan arranged for us. There were awnings like this in the great style that the British through the years have had, and now those that are formerly British colonies have continued to perpetuate now that they have become independent.

We sat there in this particular place, and it was about 120 degree right under the awning. I was sitting there with the sweat pouring down my face. I didn't think, really, that the afternoon would be one that I could get through. I looked over at Pat, and she sat there just as cool as she could possibly be.

So I wondered about the mystery of that. You know, they talk about the weaker sex and the stronger sex. I found in studying a little prior to Mrs. Meir's visit here that there is an old Hebrew proverb to this effect: that man was made out of soft earth, and woman was made out of a hard rib.

Now, I only indicate that to say that in our family, certainly, I am very proud of the role the women have played, and in saying that I am very proud, in the Republican family, of the role the women have played. Without you, we couldn't win. With you, we will win.

Incidentally, if I could just make, for a minute, a couple of political comments. Anybody here from Virginia? All right, we w-ant a Governor down there. How about it? And how about New Jersey? Right. We want a Governor in New Jersey, and we can get one.

And, of course, there are many other contests across the country.

I see you have a Holton1 button right there.

There are many others across the country. We will not go into those now. I simply want to say that I know that with your help, the victories we have been working to achieve can be achieved in the years ahead.

1A. Linwood Holton was Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia in the 1969 elections.

Then just a word about some of the great issues in which you are interested. I know all of you are carrying not only your programs, but I see here the story on the issues and the rest.

You remember the campaign of 1968. You remember the things that all the candidates talked about. First and foremost was the issue of peace. The second issue was the issue of crime and reestablishing respect for law in this country. The third issue was the issue of inflation and high prices, and what we did about that. And the fourth, if we were to add a fourth, was the whole problem of the poor, welfare, and what we were going to do about that terrible mess, the way it had been handled.

I just want to give you a report very briefly on those four issues. I would like to say that we have solved them all, but the war still goes on. But I will say this: After 5 years of more and more men going to Vietnam, after 5 years of higher and higher draft calls, we have turned it around. We are bringing men home from Vietnam and we have reduced the draft calls.

I pledge to you we are on a path that we believe can bring an end to that war, bring the kind of an end to the war that will discourage that kind of aggression in the future--the real peace that we want, the peace that will be not only for this generation, but for the generations to come. I believe that we are on the right path, and I pledge the continued effort of this administration working toward that end.

On the issue of inflation, we have had to do some things that are rather unpopular, unpopular in this sense: You know, it would be very easy to sit back and blame business for raising prices, and then turn to the labor unions and say: "You are responsible. You are asking for too much wages." That is what the other administration did.

You know what happened. It didn't work. Prices went up 5 percent a year in 1966, 5 percent a year in 1967, 5 percent a year in 1968. So when we came in, we recognized that the problem, as far as high prices were concerned, was not either the demands of labor or business raising prices. But if you want to talk about the cause of the high cost of living, it is the high cost of Government, and we have done something about that.

We have cut the Federal budget by $7 billion. While that means that we are not able to give a lot of people the projects they want, and we would like to do it, while that means that we can't go as far as we would like to go on many of the programs that all of you are interested in at this time, it does mean this: As interested as anybody may be in this project or that one, or another one, in one part of the country, the overriding concern every person here has to have is in how we can reduce the cost of living for millions of people, and this affects every American-how we can enable people to balance the family budget.

We are trying to deal with that. If we have to make some unpopular decisions now, we are going to make it so that you are able to balance your family budgets all across America.

Now, on this whole field of law enforcement, I suppose that one would say: "Now, we have been in here 8 months. Why hasn't crime stopped?" The answer is: Crime will never stop. All we can do is slow it down. All we can do eventually, we hope, is to turn it around so that the statistics will be going down rather than up.

We have slowed the rate in the increase in crime. But I can tell you this: Not only in Washington, but all over this country, we have a new attitude with regard to law enforcement and respect for law, and we are going to continue that kind of an attitude in America.

I can also tell you: We have laid bills before the Congress, and if you really want action, ask the Congress to act on our bills, asking for stronger control of narcotics. Ask the Congress to act on our bills for control of obscenity. Ask the Congress to act on our bills for organized crime.

If Congress will give us the tools, we will control crime. That is what you want and that is what we are going to give you, so give us that chance.

And now, finally, in this field that everybody here is concerned about, the field of those who don't have that equal chance that I am sure all of you have had, or otherwise you wouldn't be here in Washington. I want to say that we have decided that it was time for a new approach. It would have been easy to go on just the way we have been going, to just say: "Well, we have got a welfare program. We are just going to pile on more and more and more as the previous administration did."

But this is what we found, and this is what I concluded: After spending billions of dollars more, and finding that we had made no progress on the problems of the poor, that there were more people on welfare, and more frustration, we decided that was the wrong road; we better get off of it and get on another road. So we have taken a new road to deal with this problem.

That is why we have set forth the boldest, the most imaginative--yes, controversial, but it is the right way--a new program in which we are going to get people off of welfare rolls and onto payrolls in this country.

That is why, in addition to helping those and providing a minimum floor under our family assistance program for all of those who are poor and cannot find work, we are going to see to it that there are work incentives, and work requirements, and that the working poor are helped as well as those who do not work. We believe that is the kind of approach that Americans want.

I want to say finally that in this whole field we could go on, but this is no time for the laundry list of everything we have done and all of the hopes that we have. I simply want to say on the 20th of this month we concluded 8 months in office. I wish that we could have had solutions for all of these problems, but of this I am sure: We have turned this country around--we have turned this country around--we have turned this country around in terms of a new hope, not only for ending the war in Vietnam, but for avoiding other Vietnams. We have a new Asian policy, one in which we will help other countries, but help them in the event that they have a problem, help them fight the war rather than fight the war for them, and we think that Americans support that kind of a proposition.

We have a new approach and new hope that we are going to be able to get this great problem of crime under control, so that we can have a new attitude toward respect for law in this country.

We have turned the situation around with regard to inflation. The first statistics, and these are the first hopeful ones we have had, coming in August, indicate that the hope for the future is a good one, provided we just stay on course. We couldn't have done it unless we had had your support.

All that I can say is, we are grateful for the chance to live in this great house. I know that some who have been President have spoken of the awesome burdens and how lonely you are, and all of those things. Well, I am never lonely here, I can assure you.

Of course, I know others have said: "Well, why is it that a President goes away? Why does he go to California? Why does he go around the world? Why does he go to Key Biscayne? Why does he go to Camp David?"

I just want to say one thing in a very personal sense: A President can leave Washington; he never leaves the job. I can assure you that we will never leave the job.

I also want you to know that in terms of the future that we enjoy the privilege of living in this house. We welcome the challenge of meeting these great problems. We know how hard all of you worked to get us here and we are not going to let you down.

Thank you very much.

In saying goodby, you probably wonder, "Now, what is he going to do now?" I am going back over to that Oval Office which I hope many of you have an opportunity to see, at least sometime. And this afternoon, first I meet the Postmaster General. And incidentally, we need postal reform. We need better postal service. I will tell him you want it. That will really buck him up.

Then I will have a final meeting, a very important meeting, with the Prime Minister of Israel, one of the great leaders of the world, and one of the great women of the world as well.

And then I have a meeting of our national security group.

Let me see--what do I have after that? Well, I am just suggesting that we do have some responsibilities, otherwise I would just love to stay here and greet every one of you personally.

Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 3:15 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White House to some 3,000 members of the Federation.

Preceding the President's remarks, Mrs. Nixon addressed the group. Her remarks are printed in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (vol. 5, P. 1332 ).

Richard Nixon, Remarks to Delegates to the 15th Biennial Convention of the National Federation of Republican Women. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239706

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