August 15, 1952
I CERTAINLY appreciate that statement, Phil. I have of course tried to be fair to every segment of this population of ours. That is what fair Deal means. I don't think in the history of the country, or any other country, for that matter, has there been an approach to a fair distribution of the economic good things as are in effect today. And that hasn't been brought about by accident. And I did not come here to brag about what has been accomplished in this period for which I have been the responsible head of the Government of the United States.
I just handed to Phil and Jack the legislative record of the fair Deal administration, and it is really a remarkable one--I was surprised at it myself, when I got it put together.
I want to say to you people that I saw on the front page of just one metropolitan daily what you had done and said about the Democratic platform and what the Democratic Party stands for. I didn't find that on the front pages of the largest number of metropolitan dailies--I found it on the third or the back page, or one of those places. And that is the situation with which we are faced.
If you remember, in 1948, 87 percent of the medium--what they call the free press-was in the other corner, and it became necessary for the candidate to see that the majority of the people knew the facts and the truth.
Now we are going to be faced with exactly the same situation this time, and with your help, and with the help of the people who believe in right for everybody, we are going to do exactly again what we did in 1948, and we are going to make them like it.
We have an honorable man and a progressive man as the candidate for the election by the Democrats. We have a platform--as you said in your endorsement--which is as liberal and as forward-looking as any platform that any party has ever adopted. And if you remember the record to which I referred awhile ago, I don't believe that platforms are scraps of paper; I think they are something to live up to and fight for when you go out and get elected on them, and that is exactly the policy I have followed.
I hope you have had a successful meeting here, and that your meetings will continue to be successful. I think this organization has made a contribution to the welfare of the country, and I know that that is just exactly what it is going to keep on doing.
Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 12:35 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House. In his opening remarks he referred to Philip Murray, president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, who had introduced the President to the assembly as "the greatest friend that labor has had in my lifetime." Later the President referred to Jack Kroll, director of the Political Action Committee of the CIO.
I CERTAINLY appreciate that statement, Phil. I have of course tried to be fair to every segment of this population of ours. That is what fair Deal means. I don't think in the history of the country, or any other country, for that matter, has there been an approach to a fair distribution of the economic good things as are in effect today. And that hasn't been brought about by accident. And I did not come here to brag about what has been accomplished in this period for which I have been the responsible head of the Government of the United States.
I just handed to Phil and Jack the legislative record of the fair Deal administration, and it is really a remarkable one--I was surprised at it myself, when I got it put together.
I want to say to you people that I saw on the front page of just one metropolitan daily what you had done and said about the Democratic platform and what the Democratic Party stands for. I didn't find that on the front pages of the largest number of metropolitan dailies--I found it on the third or the back page, or one of those places. And that is the situation with which we are faced.
If you remember, in 1948, 87 percent of the medium--what they call the free press-was in the other corner, and it became necessary for the candidate to see that the majority of the people knew the facts and the truth.
Now we are going to be faced with exactly the same situation this time, and with your help, and with the help of the people who believe in right for everybody, we are going to do exactly again what we did in 1948, and we are going to make them like it.
We have an honorable man and a progressive man as the candidate for the election by the Democrats. We have a platform--as you said in your endorsement--which is as liberal and as forward-looking as any platform that any party has ever adopted. And if you remember the record to which I referred awhile ago, I don't believe that platforms are scraps of paper; I think they are something to live up to and fight for when you go out and get elected on them, and that is exactly the policy I have followed.
I hope you have had a successful meeting here, and that your meetings will continue to be successful. I think this organization has made a contribution to the welfare of the country, and I know that that is just exactly what it is going to keep on doing.
Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 12:35 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House. In his opening remarks he referred to Philip Murray, president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, who had introduced the President to the assembly as "the greatest friend that labor has had in my lifetime." Later the President referred to Jack Kroll, director of the Political Action Committee of the CIO.