October 29, 1952
[1.] WATERLOO, IOWA ( Rear platform, 9:10 a.m.)
You know, I certainly do appreciate this turnout, and I hope it means this town is going to be as good to Adlai Stevenson as it was to me 4 years ago when I was running for office. You know, I had a personal and kindly feeling--you know, when I went to the farm, after being educated in the high school in Independence, Missouri, I had a little experience in the bank in Kansas City. So about 1906 I went back to the farm, and my father and brother and I ran that farm for many, many years. My brother and sister and I still own it. And we bought our first manure spreader from Waterloo, Iowa, in 1906. I heard Bill Bryan make a statement, one time, at a country meeting. They didn't have any platform for old Bill to stand on, so they wheeled out a manure spreader, and he said that was the first time he ever made a speech from the Republican platform.
I understand that the Republican vice presidential candidate was here in Waterloo just a week or so ago. I have been told that the trend has been strongly Democratic ever since. Now I would be delighted to have Mr. Nixon continue his campaign in our behalf, but I am afraid there isn't time enough left for him to let all the voters find out just exactly what he is like. Besides, I want to be sure that the people of this country understand all the real issues in the campaign.
Next Tuesday, the voters are to participate in the most important election, in my opinion, since the Civil War. They are to decide whether the progressive programs of the New and the fair Deals are to continue to bring the country the greatest prosperity in its history. If the reactionary Old Guard now running the Republican campaign and the Republican candidate get into power in Washington, you can't count on them to keep the country prosperous. They are against measures that are of direct benefit to the farmers and to the workingmen; and you can't count on them to keep us out of the danger of a general war.
We are in a fight to stay out of world war III, but if we follow the Old Guard Republicans as they vote in Congress, we would lose our allies, and we would be face to face with the Russians, all alone. We just can't put ourselves in that position. You can see that the Republicans never learn anything.
Ever since 1932 the Republican Old Guard has been voting against progress--progress in the mutual aid programs. And that story never changes. Take farm price supports. The farmers in this area are bringing in a record corn crop this year, and the Democratic farm price support program will establish a floor for corn prices at $1.60 a bushel. But over half of the House Republicans this year voted against this price support level. And if Senator Taft has his way--and will if the Republican candidate for President is elected--the price support will go down to $1.18 a bushel under the sliding scale provision invented by that awful "do-nothing" 80th Congress.
Take the country's labor laws. The American workingman gained security and higher wages through the Wagner Act. But the 80th Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which is a constant threat to the gains the workers have made under the New Deal and the fair Deal. The Taft-Hartley Act is another invention of that Republican 80th Congress.
And believe it or not, the Republican platform this year brags about the accomplishments of that 80th Congress, and endorses the Taft-Hartley law. It says we should set parity in the marketplace. Now, what does that mean? What do you think it means? It shows you how the Republicans would act if they obtained control of the Government in this election.
You can't expect anything better from the Republicans when it comes to foreign policy. Our troops are fighting in Korea today. They are fighting in Korea to keep war away from our own borders, to prevent having to fight in Waterloo, Iowa. They are fighting to keep an attack on one country from developing into another world war. So far, that is what we have done. We will finish the job and put down this danger in Korea without plunging the whole world into war. But it's a hard struggle, and it costs us some bitter losses. We can't come through unless we help our allies and help them to defend themselves. Strong allies are an important part of our national defense. They will help prevent world conflict. They will save the lives of American soldiers.
But if we let the Republican Old Guard run things, we will be left without a single ally in this struggle. The Republican Old Guard in Congress voted time and again to slash the appropriations for the very programs that have strengthened the free nations and kept them on our side and enabled them to defend themselves. If we cut out that aid to foreign nations, we would have to fight the Russians alone. That's the fix the Republican Old Guard will put us in.
All I ask the people of this country is to inform themselves on the facts. I wish you would get the record. I wish you would get the record and inform yourselves on just exactly how the votes in Congress have been by the Democrats and the Republicans. I wouldn't have to talk to you if you would do that. You owe it to yourselves to look at the voting records of both parties. Study the qualifications of all the candidates. Find out which party works in the interest of all the people and which party faces up to the responsibility of leadership for world peace.
If you will just do that, I know very well what you will do. You will vote the Democratic ticket on Tuesday. You will have Representatives in Congress who were just introduced to you--you will elect Herschel Loveless to be Governor of the great State of Iowa, and this country will have 4 years of good government under the leadership of John Sparkman and Adlai Stevenson.
[2.] CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA (Rear platform, 10:30 a.m.)
I appreciate very much this fine turnout here this morning. I have been greeted by crowds like this all over this great Nation, even though I am not a candidate for office in this campaign. I have made more than 180 appearances since I set out on these campaign trips this fall. And every day the mail pouch from Washington has brought my regular work to me as President of the United States. I do the same amount of work as if I were sitting at the desk in Washington, and do this on the side.
So I have done a lot of extra work and speech-making for a man who is not running for office. But I will tell you why I am working so hard in this campaign, because I consider the election that takes place next Tuesday the most important one this country has had since the Civil War. I am doing everything in my power to see that the people of this country understand what the stake is in this election.
I have been in the White House for 7 years now in one of the most difficult periods in the history of the country. We have had to face up to the tasks of keeping our economy sound and strong, and of avoiding a depression that has followed every war in the past. We have succeeded in that task.
We have had to face up to a new threat of aggression from abroad, at a time when our people were still recovering from the great sacrifices of the Second World War. We have had to mobilize our strength at home and give help to the other free nations of the world. And we have done just that.
We have had to meet armed aggression by fighting in Korea. And we are fighting there so that we won't have to fight closer to home--so we won't have to fight in San Francisco or Wichita--or Cedar Rapids.
But our tasks are far from completed. We are still in danger. We have to bring this Korean conflict to an end without appeasement, and without bringing on a general war. I believe we are going to do just that. But we won't succeed if we turn the Congress over to isolationists who don't see our danger, and the White House over to a man whose professional training is for war.
We need courageous, farsighted leadership to continue our fight for lasting prosperity at home, and security and peace throughout the world.
All I ask is that before the people of this country cast their ballots on next Tuesday, they look at the records of both parties and both candidates, so they can choose the right leaders for the 4 tough years that are ahead of us.
We cannot trust the Republican Party to keep the country prosperous.
I don't believe the farmers of this country will put their trust in the Old Guard Republicans. These are the men who voted time after time to cripple rural electrification programs. Only this year they voted for slashes in soil conservation funds, and voted against price supports at 90 percent of parity. That's their record. Don't take my word for it--read the record and convince yourselves that your friends are not in the Republican Party.
I don't believe the workers of this country will place their confidence in the Old Guard Republicans who put the Taft-Hartley Act on the statute books in the 80th Congress, and voted against the bill that would increase social security payments this very year.
I don't believe the housewives of this country will look to the Old Guard Republicans to protect their family pocketbooks. For the past 2 years these men have been wrecking price controls with crippling amendments and budget slashes every time they got a chance.
I don't believe the people of this country will rely upon the statesmanship and vision of the Old Guard Republicans to keep us out of war. These are the men who have fought our efforts to strengthen the defenses of the free world against communism. They would lose us our allies. And we need allies for the purpose of preventing war and saving the lives of our own men.
But you are the people who must make the decision. You owe it to yourselves to study the record and the issues. Find out which party has worked for the plain, everyday people all the time, and has led the fight for world peace.
If you do that, you will vote the straight Democratic ticket next Tuesday. You will send T. W. Mullaney to Congress. You will elect Herschel Loveless to be your new Governor. And this great country of ours will go on to 4 years of good government under the leadership of Adlai Stevenson of Illinois.
[3.] WEST LIBERTY, IOWA (Rear platform, 11:28 a.m.)
It's nice to see you--a pleasure to see you. Thank you very, very much--it is nice to see you young people. You may have guessed, I judge, the purpose of my visit. I am campaigning for the Democratic ticket, and I am campaigning as hard as I can because this is one of the most important elections in the history of the country. I am out trying to get you people to do a little thinking for yourselves. I am trying to get you young people to understand that we are faced with either turning the clock back, or going forward; and I want you to do a little thinking on this subject.
During the past 20 years we have made great social and economic progress in this United States of ours. This has been possible because you had a National Government that adopted specific programs to help bring it about--programs like farm price supports, minimum wage laws, social security, soil conservation, and rural electrification.
The Republican Party has fought us on all these programs every step of the way. They have always been against the New Deal and the fair Deal when it came to voting, although they are inclined to give you a little double-talk on the subject when the campaign for election comes around. They begin to get very good then, and want to love all the people. But the real attitude of the Republicans slips out sometimes, even in their campaign oratory. At their convention in Chicago last July, Senator Bricker said that the last vestiges of the New Deal and the fair Deal must be destroyed. The Republicans have some plans for doing that, too. For one thing, they are talking about selling the Government's big public power projects and other Government projects to private companies.
The magazine U.S. News and World Report tells about this plan in its issue of September 26, and it says "it may get a try if the Republicans control the White House and the Congress after next January 20th." Believe it or not, they are even talking about selling out the post office. I don't know about the post office, but I do know what will happen to your rates for electric power, if the private power monopoly ever gets its hands on the great Government dams. The rates will go up in a hurry.
One thing these birds are sure to go after, if they get a chance, is your REA co-ops. You know the private power companies always have been against REA, and whatever the private power companies are against, most of the Republicans are always against it, too.
The Republican candidate for President has been talking about removing what he calls, "the sticky hands of Federal bureaucrats" from the REA co-ops. Now I don't know what he means by that, but perhaps he thinks it would be better to turn your co-ops over to the tender mercies of the private power companies.
Now I believe the Old Guard Republicans in Congress are quite sincere in their opposition to the fair Deal. I think they really would set out to destroy all we have done for the last 20 years, if they had half a chance. I have just given you one example of how that would work, and I could give you many more. The result of the whole business would be to take us right back to the policies that brought on the Great Depression, the last time the Republicans controlled the National Government.
I want you to remember that. I want you to think about it. I
[1.] WATERLOO, IOWA ( Rear platform, 9:10 a.m.)
You know, I certainly do appreciate this turnout, and I hope it means this town is going to be as good to Adlai Stevenson as it was to me 4 years ago when I was running for office. You know, I had a personal and kindly feeling--you know, when I went to the farm, after being educated in the high school in Independence, Missouri, I had a little experience in the bank in Kansas City. So about 1906 I went back to the farm, and my father and brother and I ran that farm for many, many years. My brother and sister and I still own it. And we bought our first manure spreader from Waterloo, Iowa, in 1906. I heard Bill Bryan make a statement, one time, at a country meeting. They didn't have any platform for old Bill to stand on, so they wheeled out a manure spreader, and he said that was the first time he ever made a speech from the Republican platform.
I understand that the Republican vice presidential candidate was here in Waterloo just a week or so ago. I have been told that the trend has been strongly Democratic ever since. Now I would be delighted to have Mr. Nixon continue his campaign in our behalf, but I am afraid there isn't time enough left for him to let all the voters find out just exactly what he is like. Besides, I want to be sure that the people of this country understand all the real issues in the campaign.
Next Tuesday, the voters are to participate in the most important election, in my opinion, since the Civil War. They are to decide whether the progressive programs of the New and the fair Deals are to continue to bring the country the greatest prosperity in its history. If the reactionary Old Guard now running the Republican campaign and the Republican candidate get into power in Washington, you can't count on them to keep the country prosperous. They are against measures that are of direct benefit to the farmers and to the workingmen; and you can't count on them to keep us out of the danger of a general war.
We are in a fight to stay out of world war III, but if we follow the Old Guard Republicans as they vote in Congress, we would lose our allies, and we would be face to face with the Russians, all alone. We just can't put ourselves in that position. You can see that the Republicans never learn anything.
Ever since 1932 the Republican Old Guard has been voting against progress--progress in the mutual aid programs. And that story never changes. Take farm price supports. The farmers in this area are bringing in a record corn crop this year, and the Democratic farm price support program will establish a floor for corn prices at $1.60 a bushel. But over half of the House Republicans this year voted against this price support level. And if Senator Taft has his way--and will if the Republican candidate for President is elected--the price support will go down to $1.18 a bushel under the sliding scale provision invented by that awful "do-nothing" 80th Congress.
Take the country's labor laws. The American workingman gained security and higher wages through the Wagner Act. But the 80th Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which is a constant threat to the gains the workers have made under the New Deal and the fair Deal. The Taft-Hartley Act is another invention of that Republican 80th Congress.
And believe it or not, the Republican platform this year brags about the accomplishments of that 80th Congress, and endorses the Taft-Hartley law. It says we should set parity in the marketplace. Now, what does that mean? What do you think it means? It shows you how the Republicans would act if they obtained control of the Government in this election.
You can't expect anything better from the Republicans when it comes to foreign policy. Our troops are fighting in Korea today. They are fighting in Korea to keep war away from our own borders, to prevent having to fight in Waterloo, Iowa. They are fighting to keep an attack on one country from developing into another world war. So far, that is what we have done. We will finish the job and put down this danger in Korea without plunging the whole world into war. But it's a hard struggle, and it costs us some bitter losses. We can't come through unless we help our allies and help them to defend themselves. Strong allies are an important part of our national defense. They will help prevent world conflict. They will save the lives of American soldiers.
But if we let the Republican Old Guard run things, we will be left without a single ally in this struggle. The Republican Old Guard in Congress voted time and again to slash the appropriations for the very programs that have strengthened the free nations and kept them on our side and enabled them to defend themselves. If we cut out that aid to foreign nations, we would have to fight the Russians alone. That's the fix the Republican Old Guard will put us in.
All I ask the people of this country is to inform themselves on the facts. I wish you would get the record. I wish you would get the record and inform yourselves on just exactly how the votes in Congress have been by the Democrats and the Republicans. I wouldn't have to talk to you if you would do that. You owe it to yourselves to look at the voting records of both parties. Study the qualifications of all the candidates. Find out which party works in the interest of all the people and which party faces up to the responsibility of leadership for world peace.
If you will just do that, I know very well what you will do. You will vote the Democratic ticket on Tuesday. You will have Representatives in Congress who were just introduced to you--you will elect Herschel Loveless to be Governor of the great State of Iowa, and this country will have 4 years of good government under the leadership of John Sparkman and Adlai Stevenson.
[2.] CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA (Rear platform, 10:30 a.m.)
I appreciate very much this fine turnout here this morning. I have been greeted by crowds like this all over this great Nation, even though I am not a candidate for office in this campaign. I have made more than 180 appearances since I set out on these campaign trips this fall. And every day the mail pouch from Washington has brought my regular work to me as President of the United States. I do the same amount of work as if I were sitting at the desk in Washington, and do this on the side.
So I have done a lot of extra work and speech-making for a man who is not running for office. But I will tell you why I am working so hard in this campaign, because I consider the election that takes place next Tuesday the most important one this country has had since the Civil War. I am doing everything in my power to see that the people of this country understand what the stake is in this election.
I have been in the White House for 7 years now in one of the most difficult periods in the history of the country. We have had to face up to the tasks of keeping our economy sound and strong, and of avoiding a depression that has followed every war in the past. We have succeeded in that task.
We have had to face up to a new threat of aggression from abroad, at a time when our people were still recovering from the great sacrifices of the Second World War. We have had to mobilize our strength at home and give help to the other free nations of the world. And we have done just that.
We have had to meet armed aggression by fighting in Korea. And we are fighting there so that we won't have to fight closer to home--so we won't have to fight in San Francisco or Wichita--or Cedar Rapids.
But our tasks are far from completed. We are still in danger. We have to bring this Korean conflict to an end without appeasement, and without bringing on a general war. I believe we are going to do just that. But we won't succeed if we turn the Congress over to isolationists who don't see our danger, and the White House over to a man whose professional training is for war.
We need courageous, farsighted leadership to continue our fight for lasting prosperity at home, and security and peace throughout the world.
All I ask is that before the people of this country cast their ballots on next Tuesday, they look at the records of both parties and both candidates, so they can choose the right leaders for the 4 tough years that are ahead of us.
We cannot trust the Republican Party to keep the country prosperous.
I don't believe the farmers of this country will put their trust in the Old Guard Republicans. These are the men who voted time after time to cripple rural electrification programs. Only this year they voted for slashes in soil conservation funds, and voted against price supports at 90 percent of parity. That's their record. Don't take my word for it--read the record and convince yourselves that your friends are not in the Republican Party.
I don't believe the workers of this country will place their confidence in the Old Guard Republicans who put the Taft-Hartley Act on the statute books in the 80th Congress, and voted against the bill that would increase social security payments this very year.
I don't believe the housewives of this country will look to the Old Guard Republicans to protect their family pocketbooks. For the past 2 years these men have been wrecking price controls with crippling amendments and budget slashes every time they got a chance.
I don't believe the people of this country will rely upon the statesmanship and vision of the Old Guard Republicans to keep us out of war. These are the men who have fought our efforts to strengthen the defenses of the free world against communism. They would lose us our allies. And we need allies for the purpose of preventing war and saving the lives of our own men.
But you are the people who must make the decision. You owe it to yourselves to study the record and the issues. Find out which party has worked for the plain, everyday people all the time, and has led the fight for world peace.
If you do that, you will vote the straight Democratic ticket next Tuesday. You will send T. W. Mullaney to Congress. You will elect Herschel Loveless to be your new Governor. And this great country of ours will go on to 4 years of good government under the leadership of Adlai Stevenson of Illinois.
[3.] WEST LIBERTY, IOWA (Rear platform, 11:28 a.m.)
It's nice to see you--a pleasure to see you. Thank you very, very much--it is nice to see you young people. You may have guessed, I judge, the purpose of my visit. I am campaigning for the Democratic ticket, and I am campaigning as hard as I can because this is one of the most important elections in the history of the country. I am out trying to get you people to do a little thinking for yourselves. I am trying to get you young people to understand that we are faced with either turning the clock back, or going forward; and I want you to do a little thinking on this subject.
During the past 20 years we have made great social and economic progress in this United States of ours. This has been possible because you had a National Government that adopted specific programs to help bring it about--programs like farm price supports, minimum wage laws, social security, soil conservation, and rural electrification.
The Republican Party has fought us on all these programs every step of the way. They have always been against the New Deal and the fair Deal when it came to voting, although they are inclined to give you a little double-talk on the subject when the campaign for election comes around. They begin to get very good then, and want to love all the people. But the real attitude of the Republicans slips out sometimes, even in their campaign oratory. At their convention in Chicago last July, Senator Bricker said that the last vestiges of the New Deal and the fair Deal must be destroyed. The Republicans have some plans for doing that, too. For one thing, they are talking about selling the Government's big public power projects and other Government projects to private companies.
The magazine U.S. News and World Report tells about this plan in its issue of September 26, and it says "it may get a try if the Republicans control the White House and the Congress after next January 20th." Believe it or not, they are even talking about selling out the post office. I don't know about the post office, but I do know what will happen to your rates for electric power, if the private power monopoly ever gets its hands on the great Government dams. The rates will go up in a hurry.
One thing these birds are sure to go after, if they get a chance, is your REA co-ops. You know the private power companies always have been against REA, and whatever the private power companies are against, most of the Republicans are always against it, too.
The Republican candidate for President has been talking about removing what he calls, "the sticky hands of Federal bureaucrats" from the REA co-ops. Now I don't know what he means by that, but perhaps he thinks it would be better to turn your co-ops over to the tender mercies of the private power companies.
Now I believe the Old Guard Republicans in Congress are quite sincere in their opposition to the fair Deal. I think they really would set out to destroy all we have done for the last 20 years, if they had half a chance. I have just given you one example of how that would work, and I could give you many more. The result of the whole business would be to take us right back to the policies that brought on the Great Depression, the last time the Republicans controlled the National Government.
I want you to remember that. I want you to think about it. I