By Staff
"Speech indicates new strategy" was the headline over the Daily News account of President Gerald R. Ford's remarks in Niles on Saturday, May 15, 1976, as he campaigned for Tuesday's Michigan primary.
After Ford defeated fellow Republican Ronald Reagan of California in the Texas primary, advisers decided to reassess his campaign strategy.
He was urged to be more "presidential" and to spend more time talking about the accomplishments of his administration and to spend less time defending himself against Reagan and Democratic frontrunner Jimmy Carter.
The new strategy was never more in evidence than it was that Saturday in Niles during Ford's 10-minute whistlestop speech.
The president focused almost entirely on the accomplishments of his presidency, openly seeking voter support in the critical primary election on Tuesday, but making no mention of either Reagan or Carter.
Following is the complete text of President Ford's remarks in Niles:
"Betty and I have had a wonderful day, starting in Flint and ending up here in Niles on this whistlestop tour through the heartland of Michigan. The idea of this trip today, I think, took me back to a campaign by the great Democratic president, Harry S Truman, when he whistlestopped across the country, and a great Republican president like Eisenhower, and both of them were successful, so this train trip through the heartland of Michigan is going right on to Kansas City, and from Kansas City we're going to win in November.
"Now we've got a big election next Tuesday. I think we've done a good job and I want your vote Tuesday. We'll tell you what we've done in the 21 months I've been president. Let your mind go back to the tough days in August of 1974. There had been a tremendous loss of confidence by the American people in our government, in the White House. We were on the brink of an economic recession, the worst in 40 years. Inflation was at the rate of 12 percent a year. In foreign policy, our allies were uncertain as to what we were going to do. Our adversaries were in a position where they might have taken advantage of the uncertainty here at home.
"When I took that oath of office of Aug. 8, the United States needed some leadership, both at home and abroad. We started out by setting forth what we were going to do to correct our economic problem. We've set a very steady course and the net result was that inflation, which was 12 percent in 1974, is under 3 percent today. That's a good record and we ought to be proud of it.
"Then a year ago, we were in the depths of a recession. Again, there were those throughout the country that wanted us to press the panic button, add a lot of people to the federal payroll, approve budget-busting bills that would have increased inflationary pressures, but instead, I decided that the right thing to do was to hold firm, veto the legislation that was sent down from Capitol Hill. As you know, I vetoed 49 bills – 42 of them have been sustained, and we have saved the American taxpayers $13 billion. That's a darn good record.
"Then a year ago, we started our climb out of the recession, and 12 months from last May to this May, we added 3.3 million more jobs, including 710,000 in May 1976. The net result is that in May of this year we have 87 million people gainfully employed in this country – an all-time record, and we ought to be proud of that.
But the third point, the United States is at peace today. We have military capability, diplomatic skill to convince our allies that we're strong and adversaries know they ought to be respectful of the United States, which they are.
"May God keep the faith, and if you give me four more years, we'll keep it for four more. As you know, I had the great privilege of representing the 5th congressional District just a few miles north of here for almost 26 years. The policy that I followed for that period of time was that we had an open door, we were candid, we emphasized integrity, we were forthright and we called them as we saw them. We never promised more than we could deliver and we delivered everything we promised. That's the way we have run the White House the last 21 months and that's the way it will be run for the next 48 months if you give me the support that we need on Tuesday and the support that we'll get between now and November.
"Betty and I can't thank you all enough for being here at Niles and for welcoming us warmly, giving us the opportunity to say a few words to you. We hope we've earned your support. We believe we've done a good job, and I ask you for your support next Tuesday so I can be the Republican representative in the great contest that will end on Nov. 2.
"I've worked hard. We've done the right thing. We've got America on the right track. We'll keep it there. I can assure you that if you give me your support next Tuesday and in November, I won't let you down for the next four years. Thank you very much," the nation's 38th president said.