○  1964 republican national convention address  ○

and because of this administration we are tonight a world divided; we are a nation becalmed. we have lost the brisk pace of diversity and the genius of individual creativity. we are plodding along at a pace set by centralized planning, red tape, rules without responsibility, and regimentation without recourse.

rather than useful jobs in our country, our people have been offered bureaucratic "make work"; rather than moral leadership, they have been given bread and circuses. they have been given spectacles, and, yes, they've even been given scandals.

tonight, there is violence in our streets, corruption in our highest offices, aimlessness amongst our youth, anxiety among our elders, and there's a virtual despair among the many who look beyond material success for the inner meaning of their lives. and where examples of morality should be set, the opposite is seen. small men, seeking great wealth or power, have too often and too long turned even the highest levels of public service into mere personal opportunity.

now, certainly, simple honesty is not too much to demand of men in government. we find it in most. republicans demand it from everyone. they demand it from everyone no matter how exalted or protected his position might be. now the -- the growing menace in our country tonight, to personal safety, to life, to limb and property, in homes, in churches, on the playgrounds, and places of business, particularly in our great cities, is the mounting concern, or should be, of every thoughtful citizen in the united states.

security from domestic violence, no less than from foreign aggression, is the most elementary and fundamental purpose of any government, and a government that cannot fulfill this purpose is one that cannot long command the loyalty of its citizens.

history shows us -- it demonstrates that nothing, nothing prepares the way for tyranny more than the failure of public officials to keep

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