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Municipal Auditorium
Sioux City, IA
Sioux City Municipal Auditorium - c.1950s
Sioux City, Iowa, is the head of navigation for the
Missouri River. Settled in 1849 and named after the Sioux people, it
expanded rapidly with the arrival of the railway in 1868.1
The Municipal Auditorium, at 401 Gordon Drive, was a 3,500 seat multi-purpose arena built
in 1952 and used to host local sporting events and concerts among other events.2
The new city auditorium is surrounded by water which reaches beyond into the
industrial and stockyard sections of the city - Apr. 13, 1952
Photo © Bettmann/CORBIS
In 1952, rapid melting of an above-normal snow cover in
eastern Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota caused major flooding in
the Missouri River basin. Many area communities were flooded and
downtown Sioux City was inundated by water which reached beyond into the
industrial and stockyard sections of the city.
Sioux City Auditorium surrounded by flooded Missouri River
waters - April 1952
Photo courtesy Harrison
County Iowa Genealogy
It was in the aftermath of the 1952
flood that numerous cases of polio were reported in Sioux City and
throughout the tri-state area. The polio epidemic hit this region of the
country especially hard and lasted until vaccine was developed to combat
the disease in the late 1950s.3
A Day With Nixon From
Ottumwa To Sioux City - 1952
Photo by Francis
Miller © Time Inc.
Later that year, while campaigning as the running mate
for Dwight D. Eisenhower's bid for the Presidency, Senator Richard M.
Nixon made his first visit to the Municipal Auditorium in Sioux City.
 On May 23, 1956, on yet another stop of a tour of the
Midwest, Elvis, Scotty, Bill and DJ made an appearance in Sioux City at
the Municipal Auditorium. They had performed in Des
Moines the previous night. Several pieces in the Sioux City Journal days
before announced the show and its performers:
 Singer Presley, Here Wednesday, Setting Records
Elvis Presley, the young hillbilly rock-and-roller who will be seen and
heard at the Sioux City Municipal auditorium Wednesday night, is
breaking all sorts of records and cutting quite a swath in the popular
music business.
Not only are his recent disks selling at fabulous rates, but he's
leading numerous imitators trying to climb the road to stardom with his
style, a mixture of corn and the blues.
Presley's Heartbreak Hotel has sold more than one million records in
only a few weeks on the market, while his latest release, I Want You, I
Need You, I Love You, and My Baby Left Me, has already sold more than
400,000 copies to distributors in advance. He also has sold more than
300,000 of his pop album, making it the all-time record holder in his
organization.
Sioux City Journal - May 20, 1956
courtesy
Sioux City
Public Library
 Presley Tops Varied Show
The nation's No. 1 popular recording artist, Elvis Presley, comes to
Sioux City tonight for a single performance at the municipal auditorium,
beginning at 8 p.m. Presley will head an allstar variety show in his
appearance here.
Sharing the bill with Presley will be two top vocalists formerly
associated with name bands - Frankie Connors, tenor, who sang with Tommy
Dorsey, and Jackie Little, who toured with Anson Weeks' orchestra.
Rock and roll fans will treat to the music of the Flaims, teenage group
of six from Chicago. The famed Jordanaires quartet, seen on the Eddie
Arnold radio and television show, will furnish a rollicking contrast to
young Presley's solos.
Comedy will be provided by clever Phil Maraquin, direct from appearances
on the Colgate Comedy hour and the Ed Sullivan show.
Hugh Jarret will be master-of-ceremonies.
Presley records now are selling at the rate of 50,000 a day , and he
leads all branches of the popular music field in this respect.
Heartbreak Hotel, which has lead all his disks, has sold more than a
million copies, with Blue Suede Shoes and I Was the One not far behind.
Presley also has appeared on the Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey television show,
the Milton Berle show and several other attractions. He recently
completed an engagement at the New Frontier in Las Vegas and next week
will go to Hollywood, where he has been signed to a seven-year motion
picture contract with Hal Wallis.
Sioux City Journal - May 23, 1956
courtesy
Sioux City
Public Library
The
review in the paper the next day panned the show, naturally, or rather Elvis
specifically, when Journal writer Marjorie Howe wrote:
An hysterical crowd of 5,000 gave Elvis Presley a screaming reception at
the auditorium Wednesday night. His performance was the most disgusting exhibition this reporter has
ever seen.
For Presley is the male counterpart of a hoochee koochee dancer in a
burlesque show.4
DJ, Elvis and Bill onstage at Sioux City Municipal
Auditorium - May 23, 1956
Photo courtesy Ger Rijff and Trevor Cajaio's "Talking
Elvis"
The writhing goes on while Presley is singing Blue Suede Shoes or Hound
Dog, but his frenzied singing and guitar strumming are only incidental
to the act. In fact, the singing can barely be heard above the crowd
noise for every paroxysm brings a fresh outbreak of shrieks from the
audience.
A formidable line of police officers kept the people away from the stage
but they jammed the aisles, moving ever closer. They were almost all
teenagers, with girls in the overwhelming majority.
Presley is not long out of the teen-age bracket himself. He has a sulkey
look and his infrequent smile is almost surly. He wears long sideburns
and is beginning to get fat.4
Scotty and Elvis onstage at Sioux City Municipal
Auditorium - May 23, 1956
Photo courtesy Ger Rijff and Trevor Cajaio's "Talking
Elvis"
The Elvis Presley performance took up only one fourth of the show, the
last fourth, but it was the part the audience was waiting for. They
showed their impatience at every delay. They were restless. They were
watching for a glimpse of Presley. The tension mounting.
They almost ignored some of the preliminary acts, which were fairly
good. They liked the comedian and the male quartet but talked all the
time some other singing was going on.
Scotty, DJ, Elvis and Bill onstage at Sioux City Municipal
Auditorium - May 23, 1956
Photo courtesy FECC/denon3910
Then there was an intermission and still further postponement and
finally Presley appeared and the contortions and the tumult began. The
act was merely variations on a single theme, except that every new
wiggle was a little more "low down," in Presley's own words, and quite
soon the orgy was ended.4
Elvis onstage at Sioux City Municipal Auditorium - May
23, 1956
Photo courtesy Ger Rijff and Trevor Cajaio's "Talking
Elvis"
The only consolation is a prediction that Elvis Presley's sensational
popularity will be short lived.4
As became evident, Ms. Howe was probably never consoled, since her prediction, like that of many others,
failed to be realized.
The tour moved on for a performance in
Kansas City the
following night.
Elvis receives the Salk vaccine - Oct 28, 1956
Photo courtesy FECC
Also in 1956, Elvis joined the ranks of celebrities like
Louis Armstrong, Marilyn Monroe, and Lucille Ball, who supported the
March of Dimes during the polio years. The March of Dimes was a grassroots campaign run primarily by volunteers.
The name came from comedian Eddie
Cantor’s comment that the donation of dimes from across the
country could become a “march of dimes,” a reference to the popular March
of Time newsreels of the era. Over the years, millions of people gave small amounts of money to support both the care of people who got polio
and research into prevention and treatment. Those contributions financed
Jonas
Salk, Albert
Sabin, and the other researchers who developed the polio vaccines that children around the world receive today.
5
Sen. Kennedy rode a white mule during his visit to Sioux
City stockyards - Sep. 22, 1960
Photo by Stanley Tretick © Bettmann/CORBIS
Later that year, Vice President Nixon made another
appearance at the Auditorium during Eisenhower's re-election campaign
the in 1960, while campaigning for the Presidency, the
Auditorium was used for visits by both candidates. Vice President
Nixon spoke
on September 17th followed on September
22nd by Senator John F.
Kennedy from Massachusetts. Coming from an era that was rampant with
the fear of the spread of Communism, both addressed those fears and the
needs and requirements to maintain peace and a free society.
Kennedy and Nixon following their nationally
televised debate - Sep. 26, 1960
AP Photo
Four days after Kennedy's visit in 1960, the two candidates
met for the first (of four) general election presidential
debates.
The Tyson Events Center
Photo courtesy Siouxland
Chamber of Commerce
Tyson/Gateway Center adjacent to the Auditorium - 2009
Photo © Microsoft EarthData
The Auditorium was later the home arena for ice hockey
teams the Sioux
City Musketeers, formed in 1972, and until 1982, the Briar Cliff College Chargers.2
In 2003 the 10,000 seat Gateway Arena inside the Tyson
Events Center was built adjacent to the Municipal Auditorium
replacing its use for large concerts and sporting events.
The Long Lines Family Recreation Center
Photo courtesy City
of Sioux City, IA
The Long Lines Family Recreation Center
Photo courtesy City
of Sioux City, IA
The auditorium and building was preserved and today is
the Long Lines Family Recreation
Center.
The Long Lines Family Recreation Center
Photo courtesy City
of Sioux City, IA
The Long Lines Family Recreation Center
Photo courtesy City
of Sioux City, IA
The Center serves a multitude of events, from
volleyball and basketball to meetings and wedding receptions. In addition
to meeting rooms and courts available for rental, the Recreation Center also has a batting cage and the area's only climbing wall.
The Long Lines Family Recreation Center
Photo © Microsoft EarthData
page added October 21, 2009
Special thanks to David Mook
and the Sioux City
Public Library for their assistance with all 1956 ads and articles.
1 from Sioux
City - The Hutchinson Encyclopedia article about Sioux City
2 according to Wikipedia
3 from
Wikipedia - The
History of Sioux
City
4 from
"Teenagers Like Presley's Antics--But Others Do Not!" by Marjorie Howe,
Sioux City Journal - May 24, 1956
5 from "What
ever happened to Polio?" by the Smithsonian National Museum of
American History
John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in Florida - 1960
Photo courtesy mptvimages.com
Remarks of Vice President Nixon, Municipal
Auditorium, Sioux City, IA
September 17, 1960
Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your welcome and may I
thank all of those who have participated in this program for their very
kind words and for the work they have done in arranging this meeting
today.
I have been looking forward to coming back to Sioux City for a number of
reasons - one of them, of course, somewhat personal. You know in sports,
any kind of a contest whether it's baseball, or football, or anything
like that, you kind of get an idea sometimes that luck plays a part.
When a certain play works one time you think maybe it may help you
another time. And the same is true to a certain extent in politics. You
like to repeat the things that worked out before.
I was here first in this auditorium in 1952 - I think one of the first
meetings ever held in it. I was here next in 1956 and I'm here again in
1960. We won in 1952. We won in 1956. Three is a charm; we're going to
win in 1960, too. [Cheers.]
Now I didn't think it was possible to top the two meetings we had those
years, particularly when we were coming in the middle of the day and
Saturday when I suppose a lot of people would like to be out hunting or
out with some sort of recreation on a weekend - beginning it. And to
have this wonderful crowd, which I think tops the crowds in 1952 and
1956, if that was possible, really warms our hearts on our last meeting
in Iowa on this swing. And we thank you, therefore, for making it such a
wonderful meeting. We thank the bands and all of the organizations that
have participated. I just wish we could meet each of you personally and
tell you how deeply we appreciate your giving your time to us as you
have.
There are other reasons too, incidentally. Coming back to Sioux City is
something I've been looking forward to. Every year Charlie Hoeven has a
party in Washington. Now whoever is elected Vice President isn't going
to have any difficulty getting invitations to parties, I can assure you.
The problem is to know which ones that you don't have to go to so that
you'll have enough time to spend at least one night a week with your
family. But there is one party that I never miss and that is the party
that Charlie Hoeven has in which the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce
comes down and has steaks. [Applause.] I see Fred Seaton and Bourke
Hickenlooper clapping over there too because they know what I'm going to
talk about.
Each year they've been promising that they're going to bring us a steak
that we can really finish off and eat. This year they said they had
small steaks. I couldn't see the plate for the steak, it was that big.
And all I can say is that it's one of the most enjoyable functions we've
ever had. The Democrats and Republicans of the House and Senate
Agricultural Committees come. The leaders of both parties come. And it's
a time when we always appreciate this great city in the heart of America
and I want to express appreciation to all of you who have made it
possible.
May I say this, Charlie, that if you have a Sioux City steak feed next
year, however this election comes out I hope to be invited in
Washington, D.C. [Applause.]
Then, of course, the other reasons that I am happy to be here I think
are quite obvious to you. The fact that this is Charlie Hoeven's
hometown, or home district. He has, as you know, represented you so
magnificently but more than that, he's represented his party in the
Nation so splendidly, particularly in the field of agriculture.
I made a speech yesterday in Guthrie Center, Iowa, and I'm going to make
another one next week in South Dakota, on farm programs. I am setting
forth in these two speeches some proposals, new proposals, to deal with
the farm program that I think will make an asset rather than a liability
out of the ability of the farmers of America to produce more than any
farmers in the world have ever produced and to make us the richest
country in the world from the standpoint of their tremendous production.
But let me say, all the programs that I might advocate aren't going to
mean a thing unless we can get them through the Congress. I believe this
problem is so important that it should be taken up very early in the
next Congress so that the decisions on the program can be made having in
mind farmers' plans for their 1961 crops. But in order to get early
action in the next Congress, we're going to have to have just as much
support as we possibly can from those who will stand for this program.
Now, the fact that we will have received a mandate in effect from the
people by electing the national ticket will get us some of that support.
But it would also help immensely if we could have in the House enough
Republicans, that Charlie Hoeven of this district was the chairman
rather than the minority member and leader of the House Agricultural
Committee. So I hope that that's what happens. [Applause.]
Now, I had a lot of nice things to say about your own Jack Miller. But I
was listening out there in the wings and everything that I was going to
say has already been said. I only add this:
Bourke Hickenlooper has been one of my closest advisers since I have
been a candidate for office and when I first came to the Senate he was
one with whom I often consulted, not only on agricultural matters but
particularly in matters involving foreign affairs where, as you know, he
has had a tremendous amount of experience, and in the field of atomic
energy where he is one of the few acknowledged experts in the House and
in the Senate of the United States. And certainly he would agree with me
when I say that we have a very thin line, a very courageous line of
Republican Senators at the present time in the U.S. Senate and we need
to have with Bourke Hickenlooper to work with him as Tom Martin has
worked with him in the past 6 years this young, vigorous, intelligent
man from your own city, a man who can bring great articulate ability to
the greatest debating society that the world has ever seen - and I'm not
speaking just of length but I trust also of ability in the U.S. Senate -
but a man also that can bring expertness in the tax field. And there
isn't any more important field that the Senate takes up.
So I urge to you a tremendous vote of confidence for your own Jack
Miller so that we can have him down there in Washington working with
Bourke Hickenlooper in the next Senate of the United States. [Applause.]
Now as you folks all know, this has been Iowa day as far as Pat and I
are concerned. It really started 24 hours ago in Omaha, Nebr., and
incidentally, I understand that because of the strategic location of
Sioux City that we have people from Nebraska here, and South Dakota as
well. And we welcome you and what I say is [applause] thank you very
much. I think there are some over there.
Now in traveling from Omaha, Nebr., yesterday morning through the
heartland of Iowa to Des Moines, and then flying by plane today to this
great city in Iowa, we've had an opportunity to talk literally to
thousands of people and persons, as we are talking today. We've had an
opportunity to meet hundreds and shake hands, chat with them briefly.
I've had a chance to be on television to speak to the people of Iowa
through the television last night. And as I have talked and as I have
had the opportunity to discuss issues with the people of this State, I
have reached some conclusions with regard to the issues in which you are
primarily interested. And I'd like to discuss those issues today with
you if I might, not in terms of my party's affiliation, not in terms
simply of saying, as is usually the case, I am a Republican, vote
Republican if you're a Republican because this happens to be a
Republican district. But I am going to present the case in this way.
I'd like for everybody in this great audience for just a few minutes, as
long as I'm talking, to forget whether you're a Republican or a Democrat
or an independent. I would like for you to think only of the fact that
you're an American citizen and that you're a very powerful person with
the most powerful weapon that the world has ever known in your hands -
and that's the ability to go into a polling booth next November the 8
and put an X after the name of the man who will run, and who will be the
next President of the United States, as well as the next Senator, and
Congressman, and Governor. And incidentally, may I say I'm tremendously
pleased with the fine candidate we have for Governor here and your
candidates for State office. I share your approval of them and I expect
Iowa to return to the Republican fold for Governor in this State in this
election. [Applause.]
But as you go into that polling booth, as I have indicated, think of
yourself as an American citizen with this great power in your hands to
determine who will lead America and who will lead the free world in the
next 4 years. And then as you determine that, ask yourself some
questions. What do you want from your Government in Washington? What do
you want from the President of the United States? What leadership do you
think will be best for you? And that, of course, means what leadership
will be best for America. And then make your decision today and in the
weeks ahead, and on November 8 on that basis. Let me tell you why I ask
you to do that.
In my study of American history I have found, as I'm sure you have
found, that all of our great Presidents have not been members of one
party. Some of them have been Democrats; some of them have been
Republicans. And the American people in their wisdom picked the
President who at the time, whether he's a Democrat or Republican, can
best provide the leadership the country needs. And that's why I ask you
to make your decision in that spirit.
Now, what do you want? What is the first thing that you want? I will
tell you what I believe it is from travels around this country and from
over the State of Iowa.
Out at the airport today greeting us were a number of very interesting
groups but one that particularly impressed me were 300 Boy Scouts in
uniform, standing at attention - not in the goose-step rigid attention
that you see in a totalitarian country like the Soviet Union in a
pioneer camp for youth - but standing in the way Boy Scout groups
usually stand, with the freedom of movement and expression that we
expect from an organization of that type. The thing that ran through my
mind I'm sure was what would run through your mind - that the most
important question and the most important responsibility for the next
President of the United States is to see that those boys and thousands
like them are always in uniforms of peace and never have to be in
uniforms of war. [Applause.]
And so I say to you today that the most important responsibility of the
next President is to keep the peace without surrender and that is the
question you should ask - which of the candidates - which of the two for
President and Vice President will best provide that leadership. I, of
course, believe we can provide it and I want to tell you why in a few
sentences.
One, because I think that on the record we have done a better job. Look
at our record. You've heard lots of criticisms about it, about the
things that are wrong with the foreign policy leadership of President
Eisenhower and his administration. But the results speak for themselves.
We have difficulties because we have had them and will continue to have
them as long as there are aggressive enemies of freedom on the loose in
the world. But the test of a policy is not whether you have difficulties
but whether you surmount those difficulties without becoming embroiled
in war. And I say that the people of the United States will be forever
grateful to Dwight Eisenhower for the fact that he ended one war, kept
this country out of other wars and we have peace without surrender today
for America and the world. [Applause.] And I believe that we can have,
and do have, the programs that will have the best chance to maintain
that peace. I don't say it's going to be easy. I don't say we're not
going to have troubles because I've been around the world enough and I
know the Communists well enough to know that they're going to stir up
trouble every place around the world when they have an opportunity. But
I do think that I know what we can do to contain that trouble, and not
only contain it and defend ourselves but to take the offensive and
extend freedom throughout the world. These things are necessary.
[Applause.]
First, we're going to keep this Nation as it is today the strongest in
all the world. Why? Not because we ever want to use that strength
against anybody else for aggressive purposes but because we know that as
long as we are the strongest nation that we together with other
peace-loving peoples will have strength that will deter anybody else who
may want to extend their power by the use of military force. We will
deter them from using that strength.
And may I say that this strength must come before everything else and
that America has the will, we have the resources and we will see to it
that we continue to stay ahead of any potential enemies of peace and
freedom in military strength. [Applause.]
Now second, we've got to combine that strength with a wise diplomatic
policy because strength when it's used improperly can produce exactly
the wrong results for which it was intended. And by a wise policy I mean
one that first, analyzes the Communists because they are the ones that
threaten the peace of the world and the only ones that threaten it
today, that analyzes how they think, and that then develops diplomatic
policies which will be designed to keep them from one, extending their
influence in the world and two, which will be designed to keep them from
using their military strength in a way that would threaten the peace of
the world. What's an example of that kind of a policy?
I think the way the President conducted himself, as I have often
indicated, as I said on television last night, the way he conducted
himself in Paris is an excellent example.
It's a fine line because it's the easy thing when you're dealing with
men like this to go to extremes. When you talk to a man like Mr.
Khrushchev as I did, when he insults you, when he is arrogant, the
temptation is to lose your temper and to come back and to answer him in
kind. But that's the wrong thing to do - wrong because the moment that
you do that you are first losing your dignity and the dignity of your
nation and when you're confident that you're right, you never have to
get down and answer insult for insult with a man like Mr. Khrushchev or
anybody else. [Applause.] And you never would want to risk what you
might risk by getting into a war of words with him, of having it develop
into another kind of war that you want to avoid.
So holding your temper, not answering insult for insult is necessary.
But then the fine line stops there. You must avoid another extreme and
that is because he is arrogant, because he does say I will use my
strength unless you give me what I want in Berlin, unless you give me
what I want in Asia, unless you give me what I want in South America or
Africa, I will use my strength to obtain it. There is also the
temptation that you might say well, maybe he means what he says and,
therefore, if we would give a little here or give a little there at the
conference table that this might save the peace. Or putting it another
way, if we don't give it, it might lead to war. And, my friends, that
would be just as great mistake as losing your temper and I'll tell you
why.
Because in dealing with men like this you must remember that they don't
react like the leaders of the free world react. As far as they're
concerned when you make a concession to them without getting a
concession in return - and that's the only way that we can negotiate
with the men in the Kremlin and we will negotiate that way and we can I
think negotiate in the years ahead that way if we make it clear that
that is the basis for it - but when you give them the idea that they can
cram concessions without giving something in return, it doesn't satisfy
them. It only encourages them to ask for more. That's why it would have
been the greatest mistake in the world for President Eisenhower to have
taken the well-intentioned suggestions of those who said he might have
saved the summit conference by expressing regrets to Mr. Khrushchev for
the U-2 flights. This would have been a mistake one, because it wouldn't
have worked and two, for another reason, no President of the United
States can, of course ever consider expressing regrets for attempting to
defend the United States against surprise attacks. [Applause.]
So I say to you, we will keep this Nation stronger, the strongest in the
world. We will have a firm diplomatic policy. But we also must
strengthen the instruments of peace. We must be willing, as the
President has often indicated, to sit down at the conference table with
Mr. Khrushchev or anybody else whenever there are clear indications that
such a conference might relieve the tensions that hang over the world
today.
And we must strengthen the instruments of peace like the United Nations.
Why? Because when the United States has other free nations standing with
it, you see, we can be much stronger in furthering the cause of peace
and freedom than if we move unilaterally as some have suggested we might
in South America, in Africa, or some place else. And in that respect I'm
very proud to say today that as far as our ticket is concerned we have a
man in Henry Cabot Lodge, a man who can help immensely the next
President of the United States in this particular project of
strengthening the instruments of peace. [Applause.] I don't believe that
any man in the world today has had more experience and could have done a
better job than he has done at the United Nations defending the cause of
freedom, defending the position of the United Nations against the men in
the Kremlin.
So we present him, we present our ticket as one that from the standpoint
of our experience and our background and from what we stand can one,
keep the United States strong militarily, have our diplomatic policy
firm, and in addition to that, as a team which will not stay simply on
the defensive but which will extend the cause of freedom and strengthen
the instruments of peace.
Now may I turn to what else you want from your next President and your
next administration?
In addition to peace and freedom for ourselves we, of course, want a
good life. My dad always used to say to me when we were growing up - to
me and my four brothers - he said you know lots of people always talk
about the good old days. He said, "I remember the good old days. I
remember when I used to work for a dollar a day and I don't want to go
back." And he said, "Also, I never believe in talking about how good
things are even at the present time and being satisfied with them,
although you boys," he said, "should realize that you have had it a lot
better than we did." But he said, "In this country we must always think
of how we can have a better life in the future for our people and our
children than we've had for ourselves."
So what we want in America then is an administration in Washington under
which we can have a good life at home. What does this mean? One, good
jobs with good pay. Good schools. Medical care. Security in our old age.
So I'd like to present our case in this respect.
I say to you that I am proud first of the record in this respect. Oh I
know you've been reading the papers, I imagine, as I have and listening
to television and radio. And you've heard these charges to the effect
that for the seven Eisenhower years America has stood still, that we've
had no progress in our health and education, and in our jobs, and
income, and all these other fields. Well I'll tell you. Those people
that think America has been standing still just haven't been around this
country because if they do travel through America they'll find some
things. They'll find that we have built more schools in the 7 Eisenhower
years than were built in the 20 years which preceded it. [Applause.] And
they'll find that whatever comparison you take we will find the same
thing with regard to hospitals, with regard to social security, as far
as the wage earners of this country - 67 million of them - they will
find that real wages went up five times as much in the course of the
Eisenhower administration as they did in the 7 years of the Truman
administration.
So I say that as far as the record is concerned we have produced where
they have promised. [Applause.] What about the future?
Well, we've heard a lot of talk about new frontiers. All that I can say,
my friends, there are new frontiers for America but believe me, we're
not going to cross those new frontiers with the old jalopy that they say
they're going to put us in in the event that they get the White House
next November. [Applause.] Because you see, the economic policies that
they would advocate are not new. They're just as old as the ones we left
in 1953, the ones that we had during the course of the Truman
administration which did not produce the progress that we have had in
this administration. And I think I can sum up the difference in approach
in a word. The reason they will fail in creating great progress for
America that we need where we will succeed is that they begin with the
fallacious assumption that the primary source of progress in this
country is by sending everything to the Federal Government in
Washington, D.C., the Federal Government will do this and that and the
other thing and the people will follow along and do as they're told.
And, my friends, that isn't the way America got to be the strongest
nation in the world, the richest nation in the world, the best country
in the world in which to live. The way we got where we are and the way
we're going to move into a brighter new future over these new frontiers
is not by relying on what the Federal Government does but by having
Federal and other policies which will encourage and stimulate the best
creative energy of 180 million free individual American citizens.
[Applause.]
And so I say to you, by whatever test that you make, consider what you
want from Government. Do you want peace? Jobs? Do you want from
Government the schools, hospitals, all these other things to which I
have referred? And I think that on the record this administration has a
case to present which is unbeatable, but more than that, we have a
program for the future, one which simply does not stand on this record,
but one which will recognize those areas where we haven't done as
effective a job as we have, such as I have recognized that as far as our
farm income is concerned that here we have not done as effective a job.
We have not done it, not because of the fault of Republicans as such, or
Democrats as such, but because we have not been imaginative enough,
we've been too negative, and we have not moved on this problem and made
it an asset, as I indicated at the beginning, rather than a liability.
But I am confident that we can do it and with your help and your support
we will do it. [Applause.]
And now finally may I mention one other point to this great audience in
Sioux City before we fly on to Minnesota and then on to Washington
tonight.
I would not want you to think that all that the American people want out
of life is military strength and the material things which go up to a
good living - amount to a good living. One of the things that has
encouraged me tremendously as I have traveled about this country is
this. We're not only the strongest nation militarily and economically,
but the American people are strong in their idealism. And let us never
forget that what really distinguishes America is not our military
strength or our economic might, but the fact that we believe in ideals,
the God-given dignity of men and women as individuals in moral and
spiritual values that have caught the imagination of the world 185 years
ago and still are a symbol of hope and liberty to the world.
And, my friends, I urge you today to recognize that as far as this moral
strength is concerned, no President can provide it. His leadership can
help but it must come from the hearts and the souls and the minds of the
American people. And as I see our churches, as I see our schools, as I
see great audiences like this, I know that America is sound and strong
in these areas and I urge you to continue to make this country strong
morally and spiritually as well as in the other fields that I mentioned.
So with that, thank you again for welcoming us. And if after what I have
said you believe that the leadership that Henry Cabot Lodge and I can
provide is the leadership that's best for America, if you believe that
the leadership that Jack Miller and Charlie Hoeven can provide is the
best that you can have in the Senate and the House of Representatives,
if you believe that the leadership that Norman Erbe and his colleagues
for State government is the best that Iowa can provide, then I say, "Go
to work. Work as you never have before remembering that you're working
not just for men as individuals and not just for a party, but that
you're working for what is best for America and that will be best for
you."
Thank you.
courtesy John T. Woolley and Gerhard
Peters,
The American Presidency Project
Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy,
Municipal Auditorium, Sioux City, Iowa
September 22, 1960
Governor Loveless, Mrs. Price, ladies and
gentlemen. I want to express my appreciation to you for your
hospitality. One of the interesting things in running for the Presidency
is that you have to be prepared to speak at 11 o'clock at night or 8 in
the morning. I am delighted to come. You have all contributed heavily.
You have been touched deeply by coming to this breakfast. But it is most
useful and most worthwhile. (Laughter) I don't think it is presumptuous
in thinking that this is an important election. The Congress has vast
powers. I suppose really since the Administration of Franklin Roosevelt,
every decision of government affects the lives of all of us. I would say
that that is more true in the Sixties than it has ever been before. It
deserves some of our attention, it deserves some of our lives, whether
you be farmers or small businessmen or professional men or housewives.
There is not any doubt that the decisions of the next President and the
next Senate and the next Congress, and the Governor of this state, will
affect for good or for bad not only your lives, but the lives of your
children, your education, your health, your income, your taxes, you
security, the peace of the world, housing, the kind of business we have
in this country.
We have been successful in maintaining a free society at the same time
the government, state and national, plays a great role in our lives. The
question that is before us in the Sixties is whether a free society can
compete unsuccessfully with a totalitarian society. When the Communists,
both Chinese and Russian, are able to mobilize all of the resources to
serve the state, when they operate a garrison state, when they are fully
mobilized for the cold war, whether we can pursue a free society and
pursue our own lives, and yet have sufficient public purpose to maintain
our freedom, I think that is the big question that is before the United
States, which transcends party differences.
I think it is to that question that the next administration and the next
Congress will have to devote itself. How can we survive in a dangerous
world and still maintain our freedom? I think we can. I think the free
system happens to fit the best with the desires of the people very place
[sic]. I think the experience in many ways of Africa in the last three
or four years, and the experience of Eastern Europe, gives me the most
encouragement, in spite of all the difficulties in the Congo, and that
is because of the desire of these people to be free and independent. In
the last two or three months we have had eight countries, or more, break
away and become independent. We had a tremendous number join the United
Nations the other day. In other words, there is a basic, strong passion
running through the world to be free and independent. We saw it in East
Germany, we saw it in Hungary, we saw it in Poland, and we saw it in
Africa. In Eastern Europe it was operating against the Communists. In
Africa it was operating against the colonial powers. We have seen it in
our own history. We have seen it in Latin America. How can people who
desire to be free and independent, who will stop at nothing to gain
their own independence, how can they possibly submit themselves to the
tyranny of the Communists in the next three or four years? I consider
this desire to be independent the strongest force for freedom of our
security in the world. We support that cause or at least we should.
One of the real criticisms that I have of the United States foreign
policy has been that we have not associated ourselves strongly enough
since the end of World War II with this tremendous force which is
sweeping the world. I thought we should have in Indochina. I thought we
should have in North Africa. I think we should in all of Africa. These
people may not be able successfully to maintain the kind of democracy
that we have, but their desire to be free is our most valuable weapon.
We do not wish to dominate them; the Communists do. Therefore, I look to
the future with some trepidation and concern, but also with some hope. I
think this is the strong force that I think is going to favor the cause
of freedom with which we are intimately associated. I think we need an
administration, which is alert to these kinds of changes. When the Congo
difficulty began, and I don't know why I am talking about Africa at
Sioux City, except this is the kind of problem we will have to deal
with, we offered 300 scholarships to the Congo, for young men to come
over here, even though there are less than 15 college graduates in all
of the Congo, to operate a free society. Why should we suddenly offer
300 scholarships to the Congo when we have not offered nearly that
number to all of Africa? We do it in the point of turmoil. Proposals are
made for the relief of Latin America because of our difficulties with
Castro; proposals are made for aid to the Congo because of our
difficulties with Lumumba. Couldn't we look to the future? Couldn't we
look through the veil of tomorrow and make some decision which would
make it possible for us to foresee events?
The number of students here from Africa, by the government, number less
than 200. There are a number here on private scholarships, many more
than that. But it indicates a handful of students from all of these
countries where the need is for greater education. I think this
administration has not looked to the future and recognized the kind of
needs we will have to have in foreign policy.
And what is true of foreign policy is true in domestic policy.
Therefore, while I feel these are sophisticated issues, and while people
talk about foreign policy and the issue of peace and security, and that
is the basic issue, nevertheless, to get peace, to get security, I think
we have to have an administration with imagination, and with a consuming
interest in the problems that face us.
I hope that if we are successful - and it is not, as I said before, a
fight merely between Mr. Nixon and myself, we lead two parties, two
forces, two sources of energy. I happen to think that the Democratic
Party has the kind of vitality, curiosity, that attracts people who
happen to have new ideas and be associated with the future. It always
has.
If you are a standpatter, you don't join the Democratic Party; you go
over to the Republican Party. And they have, for the last 100 years,
since Lincoln's death, with the exception of Theodore Roosevelt. But if
you look to the future, if you have concern, if you have a vague sense
of satisfaction with what is going on and a feeling we can do better, I
think you should be with our party, whether it is the agricultural
policy in this country, whether it is the needs of the State of Iowa,
whether it is the problems facing the United States, I happen to think
that the Democratic Party has a contribution to make in the Sixties.
Your presence here indicates that you feel the same I think Iowa and
this district, this state, are gifted with exceptional candidates.
Governor Loveless' record is known. I have no doubt he is going to be
successful. Mr. McManus has been an exceptional young figure who has
come out of the state, and I think he will carry on strong. Mr. O'Brien,
I think, will speak strongly for this district and the country. And I
hope that if I am elected I will speak for this district, Iowa, the
United States, and the course of freedom.
Thank you. (Standing ovation)
courtesy the
John
F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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