"Let Me Assure You..."

Key remarks from Goldwater's talk at Hershey last week:

WAR & PEACE. "If I were asked to name the No. 1 problem facing the Republican Party at the national level in this election, I would say it is the totally wrong view our opponents will try to din into the minds of every American voter--namely, that the election of a Republican President in November will somehow lead to war. This is the supreme political lie, and we've got to label it for what it is. Let me assure you here and now that a Goldwater-Miller Administration will mean an immediate return to the proven policy of peace through strength, which was the hallmark of the Eisenhower years. The Eisenhower-Dulles approach to foreign affairs is our approach."

IM ULSIVENESS. "We will hear over and over again until November such words as 'impulsive,' 'trigger-happy,' 'imprudent,' 'hip-shooting' and the like. Now, I wonder if the really 'impulsive' and 'imprudent' President isn't the one who is so indecisive and vacillating that he has no policy at all--with the result that potential aggressors are prompted to move because they know we have no policy. However, I can assure you that I would not appoint anyone to the offices of Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense or other critical national security posts until I had first discussed my plans for those appointments with General Eisenhower, Dick Nixon and other experienced leaders seasoned in world affairs. If all this amounts to an impulsive and trigger-happy approach to foreign policy, then I fear the English language has lost its meaning."

UNITED NATIONS. "I support unconditionally the purposes the U.N. was originally intended to serve. I believe we must make the fullest possible use of the U.N. and work hard to improve it. And while the U.N. was never designed to be a substitute for a clear and resolute U.S. foreign policy, we must take all reasonable steps to help the U.N. become a more effective instrument for peace among nations."

SOCIAL SECURITY, WELFARE. "And let me also repeat--for perhaps the one-millionth time, lest there be any doubt in anyone's mind--that I support the Social Security system, and I want to see it strengthened. Under a Goldwater-Miller Administration, every American will be assured of a compassionate and understanding approach by the Federal Government to the human problems growing out of automation, the rising costs incident to catastrophic illness, unemployment, the costs of education and the like."

CIVIL RIGHTS. "A Goldwater-Miller Administration pledges faithful execution of the 1964 Civil Rights Law. For myself, I reject any suggestion that I would do otherwise based on my individual vote as a Senator when the 1964 act was approved by the Senate. Further, I will use the great moral influence of the presidency to promote prompt and peaceful observance of civil rights laws."

EXTREMISM. "I seek the support of no extremist--of the left or the right. We repudiate character assassins, vigilantes, Communists and any group such as the Ku Klux Klan that seeks to impose its views through terror or threat or violence."

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