WE THE PEOPLE

[Music] [Music] [Applause] here a century and a half ago our nation was born here was adopted the declaration of independence which proclaimed our freedom [Music] all men are created equal they are endowed by their creator with certain inanimal rights among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness near here was adopted the constitution of the united states which guarantees our freedom which determined that neither king nor dictator but only we the people shall rule dr franklin you've just come from the constitutional convention what have we got a republic of a monarchy a republic if you can keep it so a prophetic statement that of benjamin franklin as the constitutional convention ended its labors in september 1787 a republic if you can keep it so and it was here in philadelphia that george washington penned his immortal farewell address in which he established the great american tradition unbroken for 145 years and our safeguard against dictatorship and tyranny that no president should serve for a third term [Music] friends and fellow citizens the period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the united states being not far distant and the time already arrived when your thoughts must be occupied in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust it appears to me proper especially as it may conduce to a more distant expression of the public voice that i should now apprise you of the resolution i have formed to decline to be considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made and here in philadelphia in june 1940 members of another history-making convention open their sessions [Applause] the 22nd convention of the republican party will now come to order will they resolve that we will keep this national republic minnesota's youthful governor assassin keynotes the spirit of this assembly of free men fellow republican delegates even as we meet lights are going out in europe blackouts of dictators take the place of lighthouses of free men ours is the grave responsibility to keep burning brightly the light of liberty if we meet that responsibility the people will make the man that we here nominate their next president in november here are men and women from all the states and territories met to face another grave responsibility meant to preserve the constitution which the founders wrote meant to keep america free from dangers which washington and jefferson foresaw and which they discouraged by placing country above themselves these americans are determined to preserve representative republican government in this land no matter what happens elsewhere behind them in every part of the country are millions of americans giving voice to the great american truth that we the people are the government they refuse to believe that here the door of opportunity is closed they have faith in america [Applause] here their representatives bring the spirit of independence hall into the republican national convention here there are no big city forces no fixers no machine politicians in control here is no manipulated draft here is no manufactured cheering it comes from sincere men and women free men and women it does not come from men under the lash of corrupt city machines here we the people assert our will these representatives of the people demand a leader who is one of them a man who came up the hard way the greatest unboss convention in all history besides the people's demand is met mr chairman ohio moves that the nomination of wendell rookie be made unanimous are you in favor of making the nomination of when the wilkie unanimous finally say all right and here the following day wendell wilkie and mrs wilkie come to convention hall [Music] [Music] [Applause] i'm very thankful i'm also overwhelmed i don't think any man in my position could be but overwhelmed it's just the beginning of the fight a fight for the preservation of american ideals a fight to bring about unity in america for the restoration of our domestic economy and the building of a great defense so that no dictator may strike i thank the convention i thank all of the american people and as his vice presidential running mate these three representatives gave wendell wilkie another great american senator charles l mcnary of oregon [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and so wendell wilkie born 48 years ago in elwood indiana emerges in response to the greatest demonstration of spontaneous support that our country has ever known his grandparents like the ancestors of millions of americans fled the autocracy of europe to find liberty in this country here in elwood his parents first taught school and then practiced law wendell wilkie was born in a modest home like millions of americans he went to the public grade in high school just like millions of americans his hard-working parents moved later to this elwood home from which wendell wilkie went forth to win success in law and business [Music] the day we declared war on germany in 1917 wendell wilkie enlisted in the armed services of his country then fought in france with his two brothers promptly joining him in uniform he married edith wilk the attractive librarian in the neighboring town of rushville where he now owns fertile indiana farmland [Applause] he's learned our needs and our problems not from books not from brain trust reports not from boss ridden city machines but by living and working and talking with us face to face shoulder to shoulder and it is face to face that he'd like to meet you now to talk for a few minutes about the problems confronting our america [Music] i would like very much to talk to everybody in this country personally about the issues of this campaign but you understand that the size of the country and the time i have to devote to this campaign makes that impossible but i do take this method of presenting to you my views on some of the fundamental issues of this campaign upon which my convictions are very strong and very clear because i am a businessman of which incidentally i am very proud and was formally connected with a large company the doctrinaires of the opposition have attempted to picture me as an opponent of liberalism but i was a liberal before many of those men heard the word and i fought for the reforms of the elder lafallette and theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson before another roosevelt adopted and distorted the word liberal i believe that the forces of free enterprise must be regulated i'm opposed to business monopolies i believe in the right of collective bargaining by labor without any interference and full protection of that obvious right i believe in minimum standards for wages and maximum standards for ours and i believe that such standards should constantly improve i'm in favor of the regulation of interstate utilities of banking of the security markets i believe in federal pensions in adequate old age benefits and in unemployment allowances i believe that the federal government owes a duty to adjust the position of the farmer with that of the manufacturer if this cannot be done by parity prices then some other method must be found without too much regimentation of the farmer's affairs i believe in the encouragement of cooperative buying and selling and in the full extension of rural electrification and i believe that the federal government owes a very strong obligation to preserve our natural resources but i do not base my claim to liberalism solely upon my support and advocacy of such reforms american liberalism does not consist merely in reforming things it consists primarily in making things we must substitute for the philosophy of distributed scarcity the philosophy of unlimited productivity i stand for the restoration of full production and re-employment in american private enterprise present administration has spent 60 billion dollars the new deal stands for doing what has to be done by spending as much money as possible i propose to do it by spending as little as money as possible this is one issue in this campaign that i intend to make crystal clear before the conclusion of the campaign so that everybody in this country may understand the tremendous waste of their resources and money that have taken place in the last seven and a half years there is another very vital issue which i would like to debate with franklin d roosevelt face to face and that is the assumption by this president in seeking a third term of a greater public confidence that america accorded to its presidential giants washington jefferson jackson lincoln cleveland theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson we have not and i pray to god we may never reach the time in america when there is any such thing as the indispensable man we are engaged in a sacred cause the preservation of american democracy i cannot lead this cause alone i need the help of every american republican democrat independent jew protestant catholic people of every race creed and color if we all join together each doing his utmost getting paying ourselves to the principles of american liberty a revitalized and reunited america will triumph over every enemy within or without i thank you and god bless you [Music] remember that message america remember the man who made it remember that he knows our needs because his work worked with us teaching history in coffeeville kansas driving a bakery wagon in indiana working as a hotel barker at aberdeen south dakota and is a field hand harvesting wheat as a laborer in california and in steel mills in sugar fields we need him and we the people must and will elect wendell wilkie president preserving our great tradition against the third term paving the way toward jobs for our 10 million unemployed protecting our america from radicals at home and aggressors abroad we the people must work for the election of wendell wilkie and charles mcnary and every candidate who stands with them for the material spiritual and moral progress of america for its unity for the very life of its liberty [Music] so [Music] you