A CASE 3mm

OF THE GEORGE w. Roma .

DOM TPOLSKT HALL SPEECH
1962 _

Thesis for the Degree of M. A,
MICHIGAN STATE UNTVERSTTY
LOU A. MacGREADY '
‘ 1958

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6-1177 70

ABSTRACT

A CASE STUDY
OF THE GEORGE W. ROMWEY
DOM POLSKI HALL SPEECH
1962

by Lou A. MacGready

George Wilkins Romney was a political figure,
being mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for
President, before he was ever elected to public office,
because of his leadership in Citizens for Michigan which
led to a Constitutional Convention for the State of
Michigan.

At the time this writer chose to do a study in
depth of a speech by George Romney, there were no existing
studies of the man and his public speaking ability.
Therefore, this thesis was undertaken to discover methods
used by Romney and personal qualities of the man that
would persuade his listeners to act as he desired.

In order to make this study, a true COpy of one
of his speeches had to be made. The COpy within this
thesis was taken from a tape recording of Romney in an
actual speech situation. The speech is an accurate
reproduction of the one he gave in September, 1962, at
Dom Polski Hall in Flint, Michigan. It includes all
pauses and speaking errors.

The analysis of the speech was concerned with

finding: (1) the reason for the speech, the type of

Lou A. MacGready

audience that attended the speech, and the listener
reaction to it; (2) the Materials of Development, Materials
of Experience, and Materials of Personal Proof used in the
speech, (3) the way in which the speech was arranged; and
(h) the way in which the man delivered this particular
speech.

Although no sweeping generalizations can be
made concerning all of Romney's speaking, these con-
clusions can be stated concerning this particular Speech.

1. Romney does have speaking ability which aids
in helping him present his ideas to his listening public.
In this particular speech, he relied upon materials of
personal proof to convince his audience that he was the
right man for the job.

2. Possibly Romney's greatest asset as a speaker
is his voice. It has strength and clarity, and the man
uses it to his advantage.

3. The man constructed this speech according to
current practices; an introduction, body, and conclusion,
and he adapted his material to this particular union

group.

A CASE STUDY
OF THE GEORGE W. ROMNEY
DOE";r POLSKI HALL SP‘JECH

1962

By

Lou A. MacGready

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Speech and Theatre

1968

Accepted by the faculty of the Department of
Speech and Theatre, College of Communication Arts,
Michigan State University, in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree.

’

Mafia/904

Director of Thesis ’

ii

iii

TO

JOHN,

MURRAY, LOANNA, ARNRTTR,
DR. DAVID RALPH,

DR. KENNETH HANCE,

and DR. FREDERICK ALEXANDER

THANK YOU

TA BLE O F CO NT HITS

AC‘TSPI‘A.I\ICE o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
ACKNOWLE‘G‘IJ'HIJ SUITS . . . . . . . . . . . . o o 0

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter
I. BIOGRAPHY OF THE MAN, GEORGE W. RONNCY

II. TH? HISTORIC/XL S1? 71‘? ENG L’JI‘I‘I‘III‘V ILItHIuHTI
19}+_)-1962 o o o o o o o o o o o o 0

III. THE OCCASION, AUDIhNCE, AND RESPONSES

["1

IV. THE SI

ECH O O O O O C O O O O O O O O

V. A REIETORICAL AT-IALYSIS OF THE NATJRIALS

OF SPEAKING . . . . . . . . . . . .

VI. THE ARdANGiC‘El-T OF TIM SP::1.CH . . . .
VII. THE DELIVERY OF THE SPEJECH . . . . . .
VIII. SUI-ETTARY AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . .

BIBLIOGRAPHY.................

iv

Page
ii

iii

66
88
102
128

138

INTRODUCTION

George Wilkins Romney was a political figure
before he was ever elected to public office. Before
declaring himself a candidate for governor of Michigan
in 1962, he was being mentioned as a possible Republican
candidate for President in 196R. This talk of possible
nomination was due to the man's obvious abilities in
leading groups of pe0ple to achieve a common goal. One
example is his organizing "Citizens for Michigan," the
main force in securing a Constitutional Convention for
iichigan.

At the present time, no studies have been made
of Romney that deal with his public speaking ability.
This writer feels it would be worthwhile to study his
speaking as Romney was being mentioned for public office
before 1962, when he was elected governor of Michigan,
and because his position as governor has helped make him
an important political figure.

Therefore, this thesis has been undertaken to
discover some of the methods of speech preparation and
presentation used by Romney and personal qualities of
the man, himself, that would aid in securing the public's

vote.

2

The text of this speech is complete. This writer
was able to tape the speech during its delivery by George
Romney at Dom Polski Hall, in Flint, Michigan, September,
1962. As accurately as possible, this writer has put in
written form, in Chapter IV, the spoken words of the
speaker.

Studying this one speech should give us insight
into this man who has been selling products for many
years and now was attempting to sell the voters of Mich-
igan on the idea that he was a good product for the
Governor's chair. At the age of fourteen he sold light
globes; since then he has dealt in aluminum, automobiles,
community projects, religion, and ideas.

His winning of the governorship in 1962 was his
chief work in persuasion -- he convinced l,h20,000
voters in Michigan to vote for him. Romney must have
been personally persuasive, as he was the only Republican
on the administrative ticket to win. Running on the
Republican ticket is not a guarantee of winning in Mich-
igan, as politicians estimate that the Democrats in Mich-
igan have about 200,000 more registered voters than the

.0.P. and that some 26% of the voters are independents.l

Q

Therefore, Romney had to convince the voters that he was

the man for the job.

 

lRelman Morin, The Flint Journal (December 12,
1962), p. 120

 

3

In order to understand why George Romney felt it
necessary to step into the political limelight and thus
use persuasive speaking in running for governor, this
thesis begins first with a biography of the man, how he
developed as a speaker and what in his formative years
may have influenced the ideas brought forth in his
speeches; and secondly with a look back over the last
fourteen years of Michigan political and economic life
under Democratic governors.

With this hackground we shall be able to under-
stand better the purposes and reasoning behind the par-
ticular speech we are studyinv.

Thus, the remainder of the thesis deals with
analyses of the parts encompassing the entire speech.

In other words: (I) The Audience, Occasion, and Respon-
ses; (2) A Rhetorical Analysis of the Materials of
Speaking used in the speech, including materials of
development, personal proof, and experience; (3) Arrange-
ment of the Speech, and (h) Delivery of the Speech.

These subjects will be considered in the follow-
ing chapters of the thesis:

Chapter I Biography of the Man,
George W. Romney

Chapter II The Historical Setting Within
Michigan, l9u5-1962

Chapter III The Occasion, Audience and
Responses

Chapter IV The Speech

Chapter V A Rhetorical Analysis of The
Materials of Speaking

Chapter VI The Arrangement of the Speech
Chapter VII The Delivery of the Speech
Chapter VIII Summary and Conclusions

Speaking to the voters is a way for a candidate
to persuade them to do as the speaker desires. With the
analyses of the parts listed above, we can study the
means by which Romney moved his listeners in this parti-
cular speech situation. A rhetorical appraisal, such as
this, may aid in understanding how this man has attempted

to handle peeple through speech.

"CHAPTER I"

BIOGRAPHY OF THE MAN

GEORGE W. ROMNEY

"Compact car with a 500 horsepower engine, the
Governor of Michigan, George Romney." In this manner,

George Romney was introduced at Time Magazine's fortieth

 

anniversary party by the Editor-in-Chief, Henry R. Luce,l

who in one short sentence summarized his feeling regard-
ing the energies possesed by Romney.

Since the time when George Romney introduced the
compact car while he was president of American Motors,
he has been in the public eye. He has developed into a
political phenomenon.

What makes Romney a truly remarkable political
phenomenon is that even before he won the Governorship of
Michigan, he was a leading candidate for the Republican
presidential nomination in 1964. Jean Shorley, a staff

writer for the Detroit Free Press has written: "They

 

say George Romney is on the way. The Governorship, maybe
the Presidency. These things may not come to pass . . .

but meeting Romney, listening to him, you get to thinking

 

l"Time's hOth. Anniversary Party," Time (May 17,

1963), p. 68.

6
he could handle them. He is relaxed, calm sure. He
seems to like peOple."2

Romney has the unique talent of being able to
take a simple idea and turning it into a doctrine and a
crusade. For example, the doctrine of the "compact car"
became the crusade against the "Gas-guzzling Dinosaurs."
He makes simple ideas become new, glittering, and excit-
ing.

George Romney has personal magnetism which has
certainly helped in furthering his political ambitions.
His personality reflects an almost overpowering impression
of earnestness, conviction, sincerity, and just plain
goodness. He is an intense man. He, himself, recog-
nizes this. He once said, "My natural tendency is toward
intensity. When we were first married, my wife, Lenore,
kept telling me to calm down, but now she realizes that's
just the way I am."3 With this intensity he has the asset
of physical good looks, including an athletic build.

With personal magnetism, Romney has been selling
himself and/or a product for many years. His biggest
sale came in November, 1962. He convinced l,h20,000
voters in Michigan that the state needed to "get rolling

again," a favorite expression of his in his campaign for

governor.

 

2Jean Shorley, The Detroit Free Press (January
1L1, 1962), Sac. 2B0

 

3Stewart Alsop, "George Romney: The G.O.P.'s
Fast Comer," Saturday Evening Post (May 26, 1962), p. 16.

 

It was obviously a personal, not a party (Re-
publican) triumph, since Romney was the only Republican
on the administrative ticket to win. The title "Repub-
lican" could not win for Romney: Democrats had held the
Governor's chair for the previous fourteen years. "Pol-

ticians estimate that the Democrats in Michigan have 8

Ho

bulge of about 200,000 over the GOP in registration, and
that some 26% of the voters are independents."u These
figures show that Romney had to convince people that he
was the man for the job.

Many significant events, which have helped to
mold him into the man and the speaker he is today, have
taken place in Romney's life. The Romney family was
driven out of Mexico by Pancho Villa five years after
George was born, July 8, 1907, in Colonia Dublan, Mexico.
The study of Astrology says about persons born in July:
"Those born in July are receptive to new ideas and adap-
ted to catering to public needs. In addition they are
fond of home and family; are industrious, frugal, grave,
tenacious and have a sense of value and dislike waste."S
And these traits certainly help in describing George
Romney.

Experts on constitutional law believe his birth

in Fexico i no bar to Romney's becoming a candidate for

(I)

 

uJohn Thomas Mahoney, The Story of George Romney
(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1960), p. 67.

5Carroll Righter, Astrology_and You (New York:
Permabooks, 1958), p. h6.

 

 

8

President regardless of the United States Constitution's
clause: "No person except a natural born citizen, or a
citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption
of this Constitution, shall be eligible for the office
of President." No court has interpreted this clause, but
children born abroad or at sea have been considered
"natural-born" citizens for passports and other privi-
leges.

After leaving Mexico the Romney's moved to El
Paso, Texas, then to Los Angeles, California, and finally
to Utah, where George spent his boyhood. At the age of
eleven, George earned his first money shocking wheat at
a dollar a day and thinning sugar beets at the same rate
per acre.

In 1921 George graduated from grammar school as
valedictorian. He asked his parents what he should talk
about at the exercises, but before they could answer he
decided to make the decision entirely his own. "If you
told me," he said, "then the speech wouldn't be mine,
would it?"6 He spoke to an audience of eleven hundred.
This was not his first speech, however, as public speak-
ing is part of a Mormon's education. The smallest chil-
dren are quuifud to give two-and-a-half minute talks as

part of their Sunday School training.

 

6Mahoney, op. cit., p. 6.

9

In the summer of 1921 the Romneys moved to Salt
Lake City, where George attended Roosevelt Junior High
School and the old Latter-day Saints University High
School and Junior College.

An important element in the growth of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to which five gen-
erations of Romneys have belonged, is the 6,000 mission-
aries which it sends forth each year. All the boys going
on mission pay their own expenses. The usual tour is two
years. Working at lathing or shingling, George earned
$630.00 towards mission expenses and went to the British
mission in 1926.

George was a great preacher, recalled Clinton

Mills, a fellow missionary, several years later.
Besides our Church Speaking assignments, we would
have invitations to speak to various clubs and
organizations. These always went to George because
he could handle them better than any other man we
had.

His voice could be heard ringing out a block
away. He was fearless and spoke with such clarity
that everyone could understand. The hecklers never
disturbed hit. With his sound reasoning and charm,
he won the hearts of many people.

George finished high school in Salt Lake City.

Lenore Romney, his wife, has said, "He attended night
classes at George Washington, spent a year at the Univer-
sity of Utah, and went to night school at the University

of Southern California. A job, and then our marriage

. . . , 8
prevented him from attending Harvard BuSiness Scnool."

 

7Ibid., p. 80.

8"An Interview With Lenore Romney," Good House-

keeping, Vol. lSh, No. 6 (June, 1962), p. 17h.

 

10
When he was attending George Washington University, he
worked for Senator David I. Walsh (D. Massachusetts)
during the day as a stenographer. Instead of doing
stenography work, however, George worked on tariff
matters for Walsh. Work on the floor of the United
States Senate at twenty-two was a priceless education
in the intricacies of government and the art of winning
and keeping friends.

The Aluminum Company of America hired Romney
in 1930. In 1939 he moved to Detroit, Michigan, as
Detroit manager of the Auto Manufacturer's Association.
From l9h2 to 19MB he was general manager of the asso-
ciation, and from 1956 to 1953 he served as president.

Joining Nash-Kelvinator Corporation on April 1,
l9h8, he became assistant to the president. In 1950,
he was elected a vice-president and in 1953, executive
vice-president, a position he held when Nash-Kelvinator
and Hudson Motor Car Co. merged on May 1, 195R to form
American Motors Corporation. Romney became chairman and
president of the company on October 12, l95h.

While Romney was with the Auto Manufacturer's
Association, he was named managing director of the Auto-
motive Council for War Production, which directed the co-
Operative, co-ordinated efforts of all companies associ-
ated with the automotive industry in producing more than
$30 billion dollars worth of war material.

During this same war period, he called a small

group of community leaders together to form the Detroit

11
Victory Council. Its purpose was to lend community wide
support to housing, transportation, and other problems
growing out of the war. Among the achievements of the
Council was de-segregation of public war plant housing
in metropolitan Detroit, which Romney supported vigor-
ously with Victor Reuther and others.

As the war neared its end, Romney was active in
seeking sound war contract termination legislation and
administration to facilitate post-war recovery and to
lessen problems of unemployment in Detroit which econ-
omists had predicted but which did not materialize.

As managing director of the Automotive Golden
Jubilee in l9h6, he helped bring management and labor
together for joint support of community endeavors in
one of the first significant unity efforts to emerge
from the strike-ridden post-war period.

From 19h6 to 19h9, Romney was United States
employer delegate to the eighteen nation conference of
the Metal Trades Industry of the International Labor
Office and was chairman of the employer delegates at
Toledo, Ohio; Stockholm, Sweden; and Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1953, Romney was chairman of a reorganized
Boy's Committee of Detroit and served for several years
as a director and vice-president of the committee.

Among the varied organizations in Detroit and
iichigan to which Romney has given leadership are the
Michigan Economic Development Commission; Detroit Tomor-

row Committee; The United Foundation; United Negro

12
College Fund; the Detroit Round Table of Christians and
Jews, and the School of Business Administration, Wayne
State University. He has also served as a member of
Region VII Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts of
America.

In 1956 and 1958, Romney served as chairman of
the 270 member Detroit Citizens Advisory Committee on
school needs.

Long concerned about basic problems confronting
the state, Romney, with a small group of individuals
sharing his concern, organized Citizens For Michigan,
(CFN) a non-partisan group, in September, 1959. CFM
provided leadership in calling public attention to the
need for a State Constitutional Convention which was
approved by the voters after an extensive campaign.
Romney was elected a delegate to the convention, and
served as a vice-president. The Constitution drawn up
by this Convention was then approved by the voters in
April, 1963.

George Romney was named industry's "Man of the
Year" by the Associated Press for four consecutive years
(1958-1961), as rec0gnition of his leadership abilities
and interest in the needs of others. Other awards in-

clude: Business Man of the Year Award from The Saturday

 

Review, Business Administration Award from Drexel Insti-
tute of Technology, American Democratic Living Award from

B'nai B'rith Association, Key Man of the Year Award from

13
the American Society of Association Executives, and the
Edward Lamb Management Award from Columbia University.

Through the years he has been honored by numerous
organizations in Michigan. In 1958 Romney received the
"Wolverine Frontiersman Award" during Michigan Week. In
1959 he received the "Civic Award" of the Detroit Edu-
cation Association and the "Distinguished Service Award"
of the Detroit Federation of Teachers. In 1960 he
received the "Distinguished Service Award" of the Michigan
Education Association.

Romney received honorary degrees from Wayne State
University and Brigham Young University in 1959; Univer-
sity of Utah in 1960; and Michigan State University,
George Washington University, and Nacalester College in
1961; and Albion College, Arizona State University, and
the Detroit Institute of Technology in 1962.

Long active in religious affairs, Romney served
as the president (Bishop in other denominations) of the
Detroit Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latteréday
Saints (Mormon), an ecclesiastical district covering
parts of Michigan, Ohio, and southern Ontario. The
church has played an important role in Romney's life,
from schooling in church schools, to going on a mission
to England for his church plus active leadership within
the church when he was most active in business and civic
affairs. Romney has stated, "My religion is my most

precious possession. Except for it, I could easily have

1i

become excessively occupied with industry. Sharing re-
sponsibility for church work has been a vital counter
balance in my life."9

And so Romney's religion, he feels, has helped
him to live a more balanced life between the work-a-day
world and the religious one. Religion is important to
him and has guided him through the work he has done for
society. "Religion has taught me to honor the convictions
and personal rights of others, to accept truth wherever I
find it, and to seek everywhere for 'anything vituous,
lovely or of good report or praiseworthy.'"10

Romney's wife, the former Lenore LeFount, is also
active in community affairs, serving as a member of the
National Advisory Board of the American Field Service
and as general chairman of the 1962 MetrOpolitan Opera
season in Detroit. The Romneys have four children.

Romney, after fasting for twenty-four hours,
which is usual in the Mormon belief when making an impor-
tant decision, announced February 10, 1962 that he
would be a Michigan gubernatorial candidate. In Novem-
ber he was elected governor of Michigan.

Through his active role in his church, Romney has
had a great amount of speaking experience as a mission-

ary and leader. As has been pointed out, public speaking

.r ° ,0.
gr'iahonebr, Op. Clto, p. ‘4'.

10Ibid.

15

is part of Mormon education; this was the beginning of
Romney's training in speech which otherwise included
only one course in general speech at the high school
level.11

However, as a leader in both Civic and Industrial
affairs he has had to speak, to lead, to direct groups of
people. From Valedictorian to Governor of Michigan, he
has spoken and is still speaking to large and small

groups of people, in his roles as church, civic, and

political leader.

 

11"An Interview with Lenore Romney," 02° cit.,
p0 17h».

"CHAPTER II"

THE HISTORICAL SETTING WITHIN MICHIGAN

19MB - 1962

George W. Romney was campaigning for the gov-
ernorship of Michigan because he believed the state had
developed and experienced serious social and financial
problems since 19h}.

In order to understand why Mr. Romney was using
as a slogan in his campaign for governor in 1962, "Let's
Get Michigan Rolling," we must go back a few years to
the end of World War II, when Michigan was the arsenal
of democracy, a leading state in the union, and a dynamic
contributor to the world's economy.

If we can understand the problems pertaining to
politics, taxation, unemployment, and the state's fi-
nancial crisis, we can gain insight into why Romney felt
a change was needed within the state and within the
public's attitude.

In l9h5 Michigan was operating financially in
the black. Unemployment was practically non-existent
because of war-production. Through the years, however,
something happened. The pOpulation by 1960 was 7,8h8,000
persons, representing a 22.8 per-cent increase in the
ten year period 1950-1960. This was greater than the

16

17
national average.1 The growth in population was putting
a great strain on the educational facilities of the
state, and jobs had to be found for this expanding pop-
ulation when it was old enough to enter the job market.
Old industry was moving out or merging with out-state
companies, and new businesses were not being enticed to
locate within the state in numbers great enough to keep
the work force busy.

During this period the following political
pattern existed: "In a general election seventy-odd of
Michigan's eighty-three counties could cast about
1,200,000 Republican votes, 11 or 12 counties concen-
trated in the highly industrialized south-east could
cast about 1,500,000 Democratic votes."2 This resulted
in the Democrats having a simple majority and thus
being able to elect the governor and the state's admin-
istrative offices. But by what the Democrats denounced
as malaoportionment and by what the Republicans praised
as a balanced Legislature, the Republicans ended up with
as many representatives in the lower house as the Dem-
ocrats and with overwhelming control of the State
Senate. The result was a political stalemate. The
Republicans, representing the point of View of industry

and the conservative farm element, over a period of

 

l"Michigan: A Far Far Better Place," Industrial
Development and Manufacturers Records, 131 (September,
I9E2), pp. 33-ggo

 

 

2H. H. Martin, "Michigan the Problem State,"
Saturday Evening Post, 23h (February 25, 1961), p, 13.

 

18
twelve years wrecked liberal prOgrams advocated by a
Democratic Governor, G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams.
Williams proposed labor-backed social programs and tax
measures which he knew had slim chance of passage. The
hottest fight raged around the nature of the tax program
which should be passed to support Michigan's state ser-
vices. While all this argument existed, iichigan found
itself in a financial jam and slowly deteriorating from
its position of leadership. Through taxes on property,
business activities, franchises, and sales, the state
had been collecting about a billion dollars a year.
Over two-thirds of this, by law, was earmarked for
special purposes such as roads and schools and was un-
available for the routine operation of the state. By
law the state could not borrow more than $250,000
annually.

A huge state deficit built up. Williams advo-
cated a labor-backed corporation and income tax. The
Republicans favored a at Sales Tax. While they argued,
the Legislature used stOp gap measures to raise funds.
These measures took the form of: "(1) asking business to
prepay taxes, bringing in $30,000,000; (2) liquidating
part of the state liquor inVentory, bringing in mlo,000,
000; and (3) charging nuisance taxes on liquor, tobacco,

telephones and telegrams, bringing in $50,000,000."3

 

3Ibid., p. In

19
The deficit neared $100,000,000. Some State employees
experienced the problem of a payless payday, and so the
Veteran's Fund of $50,000,000 was tapped by the Legisla-
ture for $h0,§00,000 to pay the employees.LL

In order to get the state out of this predica-
ment, the legislature put on the ballot in the Fall elec-
tions of 1960 a referendum approving a constitutional
amendment for a hé sales tax. The people approved the
tax by voting for its enactment but at the same time
elected John B. Swainson, Governor, running on the
Democratic ticket, who did not favor the sales tax
increase.

Many persons felt that because Swainson was
elected governor the sales tax was approved as a tempor-
ary solution for Michigan's problems, and they hOped
that the legislature and the governor might get tOgether
and find a final solution to erase the state financial
deficit.

Although total revenue received from Michigan's
retail sales tax in its 29 year history amounted to
$9.? billion, this is less than federal taxes from
Michigan have been for each year since 1953 (with
the exception of 1959). . . . No month has equaled
1960 for total volume of taxable retail sales.

Surveys show that each passing year the Michigan
consumer is spending a higher percentage of his dis-

posable income on non-taxable services rather than
on taxable retail purchases.

 

uIbid.

 

5Michigan Department of Revenue, "Twenty-first
Annual Report, 1961-1962" (Lansing, Michigan: Speaker-
Hines and Thomas Inc.) p. 39.

20

As can be seen from the above, there could be
doubt as to the ability of the sales tax increase to
bring in enough revenue. This doubt proved to be cor-
rect.

By 1962, Michigan was still in trouble. As

H. H. Martin in the Saturday Evening Post so aptly put

 

it,

Michigan sorely fears that the rest of the nation
believes what her own citizens have been saying about
her, that high taxes, high wage rates and labor-
loving courts have created a climate in which industry
no longer feels comfortable and that pigheaded par-
tisan politics hag gotten the state's finances into
a fantastic mess.

Along with Michigan's financial problems, there
has been a persistent problem of unemployment since the
mid-1950's. "Over the past decade the number of unem-
ployed persons has ranged from 79,000 to over £100,000."7
Some of this unemployment can be traced to the heavy
concentration of manufacturing in the automotive and
associated equipment industry, and the inevitable out-
come has been an employment situation fluctuating accord-
ing to the fortunes of that industry.

The lack of new industrial growth has also
affected employment. "For over five years, Michigan's
growth pace has lagged behind the national average and

DC)

thus most other states. Since 19h6 the loss of indus-

 

6Martin, gp;_git., p. 15.

7"Michigan": A Far Far Better Place," op. cit.,

p. 36.

21

trial jobs has been more than any other state, 172,000

r"

or 16% per-cent."O

In addition to inadequate industrialization other
factors affecting employment have been: (1) auto-
mation, (2) decentralization of the automotive indus-
try and (3) diminishing defense procurement resulting
from the replacement of wheeled vehicles by elec-
tronics, aircraft and missles.9

Four basic reasons have been suggested as to
[Sid] the slow-down in Michigan's rate of indus-
trial growth: employment is heavily dependent upon
manufacturing, the decentralization of plants, loss
of defense jobs and increased productivity by fewer
employees aided by automation. 0

To erase some of the causes of unemployment due
to the fluctuations in the automobile industry,

Michigan is engaged in establishing the diverse
industrial pattern that has been so much needed in
recent years, and efforts are being made to increase
the rate of growth in the non-durable industries
where ample scope exists in pulp and paper, chemi-
cals, printing and publishing, and food processing.
There is also room for expansion in durables - in
instruments and related products, and in machinery
other than electrical. Intensive product research
is being undertaken and it is confidently expected
that current research and development programs will
lead to improved defense contracts for Michigan and
greater expenditure in the state by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Some business men have condemned the "strong

labor atmosphere in Michigan" as a deterrent to Mich-

 

8Kenneth A. Thompson, "Turning Point Possible in
'63 for Michigan," Detroit Free Press (January 6, 1963),
p. 18.

 

9H. C. Taylor and Samuel V. Bennett, "Michigan Is
Told How to Get Jobs," Detroit Free Press (January 6,

1963), p. 18.

 

lOIbid., p. 20.

11"Michigan: A Far Far Better Place," op. cit.,

p. 38.

22
igan's economic growth in the last five years, 1957 -
1962. There have been accusations of too much unioni-
zation, high labor costs, and excessive taxation.

Taxation to solve the state's debt has brought

unhappiness to business. Business complains that Mich-
igan's present taxes fall heavier on industry than on
other elements of the economy. An example of this is
that recently a major national company was faced with a
decision to consolidate in one location operations which
it performed in two plants -- one in Detroit and one in
Cleveland. The physical facilities, availability and
cost of labor, proximity to markets, etc., were appar-
ently about even. But the company's president wrote to
the governor in 1963:

Since taxes are one of our important cost
factors, comparisons were made between Michigan
and Ohio as to the tax factor.

When all the figures were in, the facts were so
overwhelming that we could make no other decision
than to consolidate at Cleveland.

In 1960, our total state and local taxes in
Michigan accounted for h.98% of our capital invest-
ment, while the same taxes in Ohio were 1.0u3.
These statistics included such taxes as franchise,
income, sales and use, payroll and prOperty.
PrOperty taxes alone amounted to 2.76% of original
cost at Detroit and .68% at Cleveland. Further in
comparing our total taxes as a percentage of revenue
shipments, for Michigan it was h.66$ and for Ohio
1.29%. This, of course, is the state and local tax

load on our finished product as determined by sales
revenue.

 

12Michigan Department of Revenue, "Some Aspects
of Tax Reform," 1963, p. u.

23

Property taxes, the franchise tax and the bus-
iness activities tax all add up to a heavier burden
in Michigan than in the competing industrial states
of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Business activity
tax also falls unequally on those businesses which
feel its bite. In essence, a "value-added tax," it
has hurt the small business which is just getting
started and the big business which is doing a lot of
selling and buying but showing little or no profit.13

"Value-added tax" can be explained in this
manner.

Business must pay the franchise tax on invested
capital whether or not it makes money. A major
portion of the Business Activities Tax base is pay-
roll, and payrolls go on and the taxes go on even
though the business may never have made a dollar.
Michigan's heavy reliance on these kinds of tax
sources imposes a particulafi burden on new businesses
struggling to get started.1

Labor unions are strong in Michigan, and many
businesses have left for states where they can pay lower
wages and taxes. Michigan's production worker's weekly
earnings are the highest in the nation.

By 1962 the financial crisis still existed in
Michigan. Unemployment was a problem, and business was
unhappy. The state deficit was at $85 million dollars.
There was a strong belief among peeple that the gover-
nor's office had become the symbol of voter frustration
over the impasse on tax and fiscal reform. Unemployment
was high, and citizens seemed just plainly disgusted, not

with the Republicans or the Democrats, but with the whole

"mess in Lansing."

 

l3Martin, op. cit., p. 1h.

1UMichigan Department of Revenue, op. cit., p. 5-

2A

One of the first evidences of voter concern about
the problems confronting Michigan appeared when a small
group of citizens, led by George W. Romney, organized a
state-wide, non-partisan group called Citizens for Mich-
igan (CFM), in September, 1959. CFM was organized to
provide each citizen with the Opportunity to participate
effectively in the identification and study of state-wide
problems and in the presentation of recommendations for
their solution.

Mr. Romney stated the beliefs of Citizens for

Michigan in this manner:

As Americans we believe that an effective demo-
cracy is dependent upon informed citizens who can
serve as a unifying force through which effective
political action can be secured, and thefieffective—
ness of the two-party system increased.19

CFM's chief accomplishment, along with the League

of Women Voters, was in organizing and sponsoring the
signing of petitions demanding that the legislature call
for a vote to be taken in Michigan to decide if a Consti-
tutional Convention should be called. The present Con-
stitution was adopted in 1908 and had been amended 69
times.

Con-Con, as the Constitutional Convention was

called, went on the ballot April 3, 1961, and the peeple

of Michigan voted for a convention. The delegates, num-

bering 1hh, were elected September 12, 1961.

 

15George W. Romney, What Can We Do For Michigan,
Remarks by George Romney, President American Motors Corpor-
ation before the League of Women Voters of Michigan
(Lansing, Michigan, May 17, 1961), p. 11.

 

25

One of the backers for the convention, through his
work in CFM, was George Romney, the President of American
Motors Corporation. He ran as a delegate to represent
Oakland County, was elected and at the convention became
a vice-president.

February 10, 1962, Romney announced his intention
of running for Governor of Michigan on the Republican
ticket.

Therefore, by the Fall of 1962 we see the State
of Michigan unhappy over its national reputation, unem-
ployment, and the financial debt. We also find a man
with no political background except that which he has
acquired in working on the new constitution, but who has
a national reputation because he saved American Motors,

a company that was almost bankrupt, with the compact car
idea, who believes he can help Michigan "to get rolling

again."

"CHAPTER III

THE OCCASION, AUDIENCE,

AND RESPONSE-S

In order best to understand the occasion for the
speech, the audience at the speech, and the audience's
responses, we have in the previous chapter presented a
background of Michigan's political and financial problems.
This material, along with Chapter I, Biography of the
Man, has provided information which gives to us a better
concept of Romney and his role in politics at the time of
the speech under study.

To communicate to an audience, for an occasion to
gain responses, there are three essential ingredients:
"(1) the person who speaks; (2) the speech that he pro-

1 In the thesis

duces and (3) the person who listens."
we shall discuss all ingredients; this chapter, however,
is concerned with the latter, the listeners or the aud-
ience.

In discussing the third ingredient of communi-

cation, however, we shall incorporate two other areas

which relate to the audience: (1) the occasion, i.e., why

 

1David K. Berlo, The Process of Communication
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 196OI,
p. 29.

 

26

27
the audience is listening to this speech; and (2) the
response, i.e., what the audience's reactions are to

the speech.

Occasion

The occasion for the speech studied in this
thesis developed in an unusual manner. It has been very
difficult in recent years for Republican gubernatorial
candidates to address union members as such in a union
meeting in Nichigan. For example, Romney tried to speak
to labor union members at the Labor Day Rally, 1962, at
the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit, Michigan and
was the recipient of boos and jeers led by union leaders
of the U.A.W. - C.I.O.2 Therefore, George Romney indi-
cated in the speech under study, it was a historical
moment.

We must clearly understand why Romney attended
this rally. He desired to present himself directly to
the working man (and what better chance to speak to labor
than on their own day?) Up to this time the man had been
given not one Opportunity to address union members, as a
group, and present his ideas and beliefs (free from dis-
tortion by those who opposed his plans for reform) di-
rectly to them. He felt that it was most important for
him to speak to these people in a face-to-face situation

so that he cauld answer any questions they might have.

 

H
Interview with George T. Trumbull Jr., Press
Secretary for George W. Romney, 1962.

28

Then, finally, George Romney was given a chance
to speak to union men when four hundred members of union
Local #326, Ternstedt Division, General Motor’s Corpor-
ation, petitioned their president, Marshall Steel, to
allow the Republican candidate for governor to speak to
them at a union meeting. Governor John B. Swainson had
already been asked to speak and a time set for his ap-
pearance. There were some men in the union who also
wanted to hear George Romney.

The Republican Party's campaign committee heard
of this petition and waited for an invitation for Romney
to speak. After waiting a few days, when Mr. Romney had
not been invited to speak to the union, the campaign
group arranged to rent Dom Polski Club in Flint, where
Romney could speak, and then issued an invitation to the
members of Local #326 to attend.

In other words, Romney was in the City of Flint
the evening of September 28, 1962 to speak to union
members because they wanted to hear his reasons for run-
ning for governor of Michigan. This, then, is the reason
for the occasion of Mr. Romney's speaking engagement in
Flint.

An interesting sidelight to this whole affair is
that after the campaign group made the announcement that
arrangements were completed for Romney to speak, then and
only then did Mr. Steel honor the petition and invite

George Romney to speak October 13, 1962, to the union

29
membership. This invitation is referred to by Romney in
the text of the speech.

For this particular occasion the weather was not
good. It was an evening of drizzly rain, which had been
falling off and on all day; it made the Dom Polski Club,
site of the speech, a one story brick building at 3970
North Saginaw, Flint, Michigan, look rain-washed but
rather dreary. Persons of Polish descent had built
this edifice for their personal use. They rented it to
the public as a means of raising money to aid in its
maintenance. The basement has a bar, pool tables, and
billard tables for recreation purposes for the members.
The main floor consists of the hall with a small stage
at one end which is often used for wedding receptions,
parties, and speeches such as the one of interest to us.
The hall has a wooden floor and appeared more apprOpriate
for a dance or a reception; for this occasion, however,
approximately hSO folding chairs were placed in it
for seating.

On the night in question, there were two chairs
and a speaker's stand on the stage. Also, one of the
local television stations, WHEN-TV, Channel 5, had set
up lights and a camera to take shots for their ll P.M.
news broadcast that evening.

A filming crew from WKYZ-TV, Channel 7, Detroit,
was also present with movie camera, taping machinery,

lights, and microphones, for Romney's campaign staff

30
had hired WXYZ-TV'S special department for filming
shorts. That night the photOgraphers were present making
films of audience members telling why they were going to
vote for George W. Romney; these films were to be used as
television commercials for Romney's campaign.

In front of the stage were two large cameras on
tripods approximately six feet in the air, micr0phones
taped or attached to the podium, many bright lights for
filming, and behind these, rows of chairs for the aud-
ience.

Since we have observed the occasion for the speech

and the setting for the affair let us look at another

essential ingredient, the audience.

The Audience

 

Whether the rain kept away the anticipated crowd
or not is difficult to say. Persons traveling with Mr.
Romney felt that this was the reason that only 200-225
persons appeared for the occasion. Mr. Romney expected
a large crowd, since the petition had been signed by
over MOO persons. He noticed the smallness of the crowd
because he did say, before his speech, that he wanted to
speak to the group from the floor as he would feel ra-
ther strange standing on the stage when the group was
small and he could join it by remaining on the floor of
the hall. However, he spoke from the stage, as micro-
phones, podium, and cameras had been set up with this

in mind.

31

By 8:00 p.m. the audience numbered almost 200
persons from the ages of approximately 25 to 50. There
was one child present. No older persons of retirement
age appeared in the group. A few women were in the aud-
ience, fifteen at the most. There were quite a few
Negroes, perhaps 50.

Since the meeting was aimed at attracting union
members, this writer questioned men in the audience to
find if the group did consist of union members. It was
found that the men belonged to the union and either
worked on the assembly line in unskilled and semi-skilled
positions or were involved in such work as highly skilled
labor in the tool and die rooms at Ternstedt.

An opportunity for a pre-designed Simple Random
Sample utilizing perscribed statistical proceedures as
in selected Probability Sampling did not present itself
because of the nature of the occasion and the time
requirements involved. However, a Quota Sample3 (a
form of judgement sampling where the interviewer is
required to question a pre-determined number of persons
with given characteristics) was taken of the individuals
present.

It was determined prior to the speech that a
sample of 10% of the audience (the population) would

represent a statistically accurate cross-section with

 

3John Neter and William Nasserman, Fundamental
Statistics for Business and Economics (Boston: Allyn and
Bacon, Inc., 1961), p;_H39.

 

 

32
respect to the characteristics of the population under
study as stated above.

Twenty-three persons were approached on a random
basis, either before or after the speech. This group
contained four Negro men, one white woman, and eighteen
white males.

These persons were asked the following six ques-
tions and their responses are indicated in the yes, no
or no comment columns, except for questions two and six
which could not be answered in this manner.

1. Do you belong to a union? Yes No No Comment
23 O O

2. Are you working on an assembly line?
assembly line 1?
tool and die 6

3. Did you complete the twelfth grade:
Yes No No Comment

17 6 O

h. Are you a skilled tradesman?
Yes No No Comment

6 l7 0
5. Have you completed any course work at General
Motor's Institute? Yes No No Comment
1 22 O
6. Are you a Democrat or a Republican?
Democrat lu
Republican
No Comment A

We find then that the audience was comprised of persons

for whom the meeting was intended, that is union members.

From the brief opportunity which presented itself,

a random sampling of the audience indicated that a major-

ity of the persons present had completed high school.

33

(See question 3 of survey questions.) Some had training
in apprentice schools or at the General Motors Institute
of Technology. (See questions A and S of survey ques-
tions.) The peOple were not broadly educated, in a
formal sense, but they brought to the meeting their ex-
periences in dealing with members of the union and col-
lective bargaining; they appeared to have some under-
standing of the problems facing Michigan.

Romney aimed his speech at those areas which
should have been of interest to this group; he comment-
ed upon unions, collective bargaining, unemployment and
the needs in the areas of education, care for the aged,
and inadequate facilities for the mentally retarded and/
or disturbed.

Because of the evidence of Romney favoritism,
this writer had concluded that the audience was predom-
inately Republican. This was an incorrect assumption.
Through talking with a number of the men, it became
apparent that they were "pro-Romney," not Republican,
intending to split their ticket and vote the remaining
Democratic. (See question 6 of survey questions.)

There were also a number present who were undecided and
attended mostly out of curiosity.

This group of union men represented a cross-
section of what the working man might wear to hear a
gubernatorial candidate speak. Not all fit the stereo-

typed picture of the average working man. Granted

3h

some men appeared to have come directly from the plant in
their work clothes; others wore dress pants and sport
shirts; and a few arrived in white shirt, tie, and suit.

The few women were dressed in skirts, blouses or
sweaters, hose and heels, except for one woman who was
definately noticeable in her mink coat. The man with her
was excellently dressed, causing this writer to wonder if
these two were actually representative of the average
working man, for whom this speech was to be presented. Of
course, one could always speculate that perhaps this man
was a "higher-up" in the union officialdom. Everyone
carried rain-coats or umbrellas to cope with the drizz-
ly, evening.

As was stated before, the group was, in the
main, "for Romney." When the man walked into the hall,
he received a standing ovation. Romney did not actually
walk -- he dashed in and went from person to person, up
and down the rows, shaking hands and giving a personal
word to each person, such as "Glad to see you." "Glad
you could come." "Hello, I'm George Romney, I'd appre-
ciate your vote."

How did the audience react to this approach and
to this man? When Romney was first seen by the group,
they greeted him warmly. The following section of this
chapter deals with this greeting and the other responses

of this group to George Romney.

35

Responses

 

The audience was the type that George Romney had
desired for so long to address -- union members who
seemed to want to hear what the other candidate had to
say, not just the candidate endorsed by the leaders of
labor unions in Michigan and thus agreeable to the Dem-
ocratic Party.

There was no precise method which we could use to
judge the responses of this audience to the speaker. We
can say that the group did such and so, but for every
speech critic considering audience responses in a
speaking situation there could be a different method in
approaching the problem.

However, Thonssen and Baird tell us, "An effec-
tive address . . . should elicit an early, favorable
response. . . . Manifestly, response is the key deter-
minant of effectiveness."u

In the case of this Romney speech, we can con-
sider the immediate response of the audience, which can-
not always be done as the critic is not always part of
the occasion. This writer was able to attend the address
and to record on tape the audience's response to the
speech. Because of this taping, we can study the re-

sponses to find what material contained in the speech

 

uLester Thonssen and A. Craig Baird, Speech
Criticism (New York: The Ronald Press 00., lQHdS,
p- 11.60-

 

36
elicited an audible response. We must then assume that

the material which elicited response was of interest to

this union audience.
However, to draw any conclu31ons as to the long

term effectiveness of the speech is difficult. This was

 

one of many speeches in the campaign. Whether this par-
ticular speech convinced voters to vote for Romney and
thus add to his margin of victory in the election cannot,
of course, be determined.

Mr. Romney was introduced by a union member who
was identified only by the name of Art. This marks the
beginning of the responses of the audience in the imme-
diate speech situation. The group greeted Romney by
standing and applauding vigorously as he approached the
podium. As we can see from the opening of the speech in
Chapter IV, Mr. Romney started five times to acknowledge
the introduction before the group settled down to listen
to him.

The audience was quiet and attentive through the
beginning of Mr. Romney's speech. It was apparent that
it was listening; eyes were to the front and there was
not a murmur. One received the feeling that these
people were present to hear certain things, and they
were waiting for George Romney to state his views.

Not until the fourth page of the speech do we
have any audible response from the group, but then, from

the following examples, we see that the audience was

37

listening and was responding to certain ideas of the
speaker.
Each one of these quotations was followed or
interrupted by some type of a response, as indicated.
1. . . . we've got to have at least one party

in this state that's a genuine citizen's party, not
a business party. (Applause)

 

2. . . . it is morally wrong for economic organ-
izations . . . whether they're employers or unions
to participate directly in the political parties.
They have no business there. (Applause)

Then we come to a quiet time for the audience
while Mr. Romney talks about brotherhood and Khruschev,
and enters into the "mess in Michigan." Then for section
after section of his talk, the audience responded as
follows:

3. . . . the answer to Michigan's job problems
has gotta be worked out in Michigan not in Washing-
ton. (Applause)

h. I think we're putting too much power in Wash-
inton but I don't think one state, . . . , can stOp
that flow of power to Washington. I think the only
way that can be done is for one state to spark other
states and build a coalition to to stop it. I think
that can be done too. (Applause)

5. Look Santa the next time I ask for money
send it direct, don't send it through Washington,
you sent me five and they kept h/S's of it. (Laugh-
ter and Applause)

6. Now you know they're organizing a Federal uh
rescue party for John Swainson. (Laughter)

7. . . . and uh they're sending in all of the
cabinet members and now I understand the President's
coming. (Laughter)

8. Well, I'm sure we're always happy to have the
President of the United States come to Michigan. I'm
sure he'll always be welcome. (Applause)

38

9. . . . this . . . rescue mission is just
evidence of the inability of the present occupant
of the governor's office to provide the leadership
we need in this state to settle our problems in
Michigan. (Applause)

 

 

10. A single individual in the sight of God is
more important. (Applause)

11. And I resent those who say that simply
because ya don't belong to their political party you
have a cruel heart and cold blood. (Applause and
comments‘such as I'Good")

 

12. Walter Reuther said that this contract of
American Motors was the most significant contract in
the history of collective bargaining in the United——
States. (Applause) __

 

 

 

 

13. (why Romney is running for office) . . . I
believe the greatest obligation we have, other than
our obligation to our creator and our families is
that of citizenship. And when we are in the (Ap-
plause) service of. . . .

1h. . . . plant goes down because of local work-
ing conditions or if it's a supply plant, the workers

thrown out of work ought to get unemployment com-
pensation. (Applause)

15. . . . in the five minutes. . . . (Laughter)

16. . . . I welcome this meeting. (Applause)

17. Thank you very much. (Applause)

We have discussed the type of audience Mr. Romney
was addressing in this speech. From the responses we can
say that the group was certainly interested in certain
sections of the talk. Let us again examine the examples.

The audience responded audibly to Mr. Romney,
after his Opening "Thank you's," 17 times, with applause
and/or laughter.

Discounting the applause following the intro—

duction of Mr. Romney and the ending of the speech which,

39
although very enthusiastic, is probably an example of
audience courtesy, this writer feels that for immediate
response, Mr. Romney's talk was greeted very enthusias-
tically. Many of the major divisions of his speech
evidently met with the audience's approval in such areas
as:

l. the importance of the citizen in a political
party,

2. the need for jobs,

3. the lack of leadership by John Swainson,

u. the importance of the individual,

5. the views of Romney concerning unemployment,
and especially

6. the fact that in the previous year Walter

Reuther (see quote 12 on previous page) was
praising Romney and now (see quote 11 on
previous page) was denouncing him, showing
an inconsistency of outlook.

This audience was responsive to Mr. Romney's
material. By their applause, laughter, and comments
it seems that he selected material of importance and
interest to the listeners. The immediate response to
Romney's speech was enthusiastic.

The speech lasted MO minutes, and then the
meeting was opened for questions from the floor. Members
of the group were quick to take this opportunity to
question Romney, again showing enthusiasm for the man and

evidently finding material in the speech which prompted

more questions from them.

to
Questions which were asked encompassed such
areas as:

l. reapportionment of the Senate either by
population or area,

2. difference between old line Democrats and
those in control of the party at the present
time, and

3. Romney's views for care of the aged.

In the question-and-answer period things were
moving along quite smoothly when one man was recognized
to ask his question. His hostility through impoliteness
and vocal tone was evident to all. He ranted on until
Romney finally called a halt, saying, "You‘ve asked your
question -- now give me a chance to answer it." The rest
of the audience clapped and cheered loudly when Romney
said this, putting the man in his place, not too politely,
but very effectively.

Not until Mr. Romney left the hall did anyone in
the audience attempt to leave. This is just a small
point, but it suggests that Romney held the audience's
attention so that they did not desire to jump up at the
conclusion of the speech proper and depart from the hall.

This speech occasion was prepared by Romney and
the Republican campaign group to afford union members a
chance to see and hear George Romney. This audience
composed of union men, was interested in matters near to
them. By responding to parts of the speech through
applause, laughter, and comments, they greeted enthu-

siastically the message Mr. Romney brought to them.

hl
We can conclude, therefore, that the audience was very

interested in this speech by George W. Romney.

"CHAPTER IV"
THE SPEECH

In the pages that follow we have transcribed the
only known manuscript of any speech given during the 1962
Michigan gubernatorial campaign by George Wilkins Romney.

Although the word "manuscript" is used here, we
must realize that a true c0py of a speech is not in the
form of an essay to be read. "A speech is very different
from an essay. To communicate with an audience a speaker
must use words to be heard, not words to be read. His
discourse must be planned so that his hearers will find
it easy to follow."1

From the manuscript that follows we can see that
a difference indeed does exist between a piece of oral
communication which is "put on paper" and a speech
written to be read by others. We have seen manuscripts
of speeches and realize that they are usually "fixed-
up" to appear "proper" in print and thus they lose
accuracy, meaning, and flavor in the editing.

Aristotle notes this difference by saying, "The

written [literary] style is the more finished; the con-

 

1Wi1bur E. Gilman, Bower Aly and Loren D. Reid,
The Fundamentals of Speaking (New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1951), p. 121.

 

Liz

LLB
troversial is far better adapted to dramatic delivery
whether for the kind of speaking that reflects charac-
ter, or the emotional kind."2

In other words, the speech that follows is just
that. It is not an essay to be read but it is a careful
cepy of what was spoken.

The speech was taped the evening of September 28,
1962, at Dom Polski Club in Flint, Michigan. The trans-
cription, by typing, has been done in an attempt to put
in written form what Mr. Romney said. Punctuation is
not always according to grammatical forms but is used as
an attempt to produce the structuring of words, phrases,
and sentences as delivered by Romney.

Two dashes (--) mean a noticeable pause, a comma
(,) a breathing pause, and words that are underlined
and/or in capitals were definitely stressed in relation
to surrounding material. When two words are typed
tOgether it is because Romney pronounced them as one.

We should realize that because this c0py of
Romney's speaking may look poorly as a literary piece of
work, it does not mean that his speech and speaking were
not well done. The man did not give this speech for the

reading public but for a listening public.

 

2Aristotle, The Rhetoric,trans. Lane Cooper
(New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1932), p. 8.

 

ALL

What we have here is a true c0py of a real speech,
not as James A. Winans has said, "an essay standing on

its hind legs."3

 

3William N. Brigance, Speech (New York: Appleton-
Century-Crofts, Inc.), p. 23, citing James A. Winans.

1+5

(Applause) Thank you very much. Thank you very
much. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause
ends)

Thank you very much, A1, and I certainly
appreciate the warmth of your reception. And I believe
this is a historic meeting. I think this is a historic
meeting because I think it represents a new, trend of
things -- in Michigan.

Now, fundamental to our way of life -- is the,
fact -- that we are all children of a Cre—a-tor. We're
all brothers and sisters, and uh children of a common
Creator, and as such we have certain inalienable rights.
And the men who founded this country decided that we
could have a better way of life -- if, the, responsi-
bility for making progress in our country was based on
ah individual responsibility in providing the opportunity
for individual citizens ah to control the government
rather than for the government to control individual
citizens.

Now recognizing that if individual citizens were
gonna control government, and if they were gonna exer-
cise sovereign power, they would have to be intelligent
and informed. Uh efforts have been made throughout the
history of the country to provide ways by which, all
citizens can ah exercise this sovereign power intell-
igently on and on the basis of information. On the

basis of being familiar, with, both viewpoints. You

ue
know Jefferson said that the only safe depository of the
ultimate power of society is the people themselves, and
if we consider them not sufficiently enlightened to
exercise their power with due discretion, the answer is
not to take it from them but to inform them.

Now, the most widely read newspaper correspondent
that I ever knew and probably the most widely read one
we've had in America was Ray Clapper. He was killed
during Wa World War II. In his office in Washington
he had just one sign on his wall, one thing on his wall
and it was a sign which said: "Never underestimate the
intelligence of peeple and never overestimate their
information."

Now I'm not one of those who believes that people
regardless of what what they do in life, whether they are
workers or whether they're uh farmers or whether they're

school teachers need to be shielded from information.

 

 

I don't believe that, that any group of of good Americans
can be misled by hearing both viewpoints. And I think
that the historic aspect of this meeting tonight is that
-- uh uOO members of the Ternstedt local uh on their own
uh petitioned for this meeting tonight. And I think this
represents a ah breakthrough in what has tended to be a
political curtain. And I think uh those who initiated
this meeting are not only to be thanked and are not only
to be, praised, for indicating their desire to hear both

sides and indicating that they recognize that as American

LL?
citizens they have a right to hear both sides, but also
for the fact that that your action has caused the local,
through Mr. Steel the president, uh to invite me to talk
to a meeting of the entire local a—a the week of the
fourteenth. And perhaps you have already noticed in the
papers that I have accepted that invitation because one
of my purposes in this campaign, was to find the Oppor-
tunity to talk with people in all fields of activity in
Michigan and particularly to talk to those who haven't
been receiving uh a con uh a complete presentation of
the state's problems and the state issues.

No one could, I believe, be more gggscious of the
important contribution made by collective bargaining and
unions than I am. I lixed in Washington from 19 uh 3O
uh to 1939 and a little before that too. I was away a
year, I started went there in '29. And -- I was there,
when this country, was governed importantly, politically,
and economically by business interests. There no question
about that. We had political col control in the country
that was essentially a coalition between Eastern business
and Western Agriculture. And a there had deve10ped a
concentration of political and economic power in this
country that needed to be balanced. And then the de-
pression came along as you know and Franklin Delano
Roosevelt was elected president. I heard Franklin Delano
Roosevelt make the talk that is referred to probably more

frequently than any, his "First Inaugural Address," in

LIB

which he said -- that the only thing we had to fear was
fear itself. And I know what his dramatic spirit of con-
fidence did for the nation in terms of changing our mood
at that point and then he went on and while he did some
things with which I do not agree, he did some things
with which I basically very much agree and one of the
things he did was to foster collective bargaining and he
fostered collective bargaining to bring about a better
distribution in this country of economic power -- on the
basis, that if we were going to have, industrial demo-
cracy, because that's what was being discussed in those
days, the great hOpe in connection with the fostering of
collective bargaining was that it would create a co-op-
erative relationship, a partnership between labor and man-
agement. And so collective bargaining was fostered to
permit workers to to organize so that they could bargain
collectively with employers and thus share more equi-
tably in the fruits of progress in this great country
of ours. And I consider this one of the great steps
forward in this century. There isn't any question but
that that uh fostering of collective bargaining has
helped to bring about a better distribution of the fruits
of progress of the economic results of our ah work and
effort. And I think this has contributed importantly to
the nation's high prosperity in the uO's and the 50's.

Now I whole heartedly believe in collective bar-

gaining on a sound basis. I think, some mistakes were

149

made. I think that his uh right to bargain collectively
ah was permitted -- on a basis that has permitted col-

lective bargaining power by employers or by unions to be

 

concentrated without limitation and this has created some
some concentrations of collective bargaining power on the
part of both unions and employers that is excessive. A
good example is the steel industry -- where the unions or
the employers in the steel industry can shut down a
practically a whole industry and create a national emer-
gency where the only power that can deal with the sit-
uation is the Federal Government and the result is the
result is the Federal Government's been stepping in more
and more. I think this is one of the problems.

I think another problem is that, that in order to
correct this imbalance politically that existed because
there was a political imbalance as well as an economic
imbalance, unions were encouraged to move directly into
the Democratic party. This was done under Sydney Hillman
and of course this spread into states and this is what --
on the basis there had to be uh uh a development of what's
described as counterveiling power politically as well as
economically. And the result is that union leaders have
tended to move move into political parties, and this has
been particularly true in Michigan -- and have tended to

create the idea that the heads of economic organizations

 

like unions and employers should speak for members and

employees in direct political activity. Now I think this

So

is wrong. I don't think that any economic organization
or the representatives of any economic organization
should represent it their individual members in direct
political party activity. I believe that this direct
participation in the political parties is a personal --
right associated with our personal individual citizen-
ship and that we should exercise this directly, as cit-
izans, and that union leaders and business leaders
should also participate, ESE as union leaders and 222 as
business leaders but as individual Citizens, with that
background.

Now, now I think that if we're gonna get America
get Michigan on the right track that we've got to have at

least one party in this state that's a genuine citizens

-—-

 

 

23321! not a business party. (Applause) NEE a business
party, ngt a union party, 23: an agriculture party, but a
party when where the citizens members as ah members con-
trol it, finance it, and direct it. And that's what I'm
out to create in the Republican Party and the Republican
Party in many parts of the state is already this sort of
a party.

Now, I think this is important because, if 33 333
going to have government of, by, and for the people, and
this is the ideal, this is what we're supposed to have,
then the peOple as citizens are the ones that must be
active directly in the political party. And I believe if

one political party becomes a genuine citizens party that

51
the other citizens that the other political party will
have to do the same same thing because it's the right
thing. I believe it is politically indefensible. I
believe it is socially, undesirable and I believe it is
morally wrong for economic organizations as economic
organizations whether they're employers or unions to
participate directly in the political parties. They have
no business there. (Applause)

Now let me make it perfectly clear. I'm not
talking about unions or employers -- representing their
members or their stockholders in presenting facts to
legislative bodies or to public officials or even to
party officials when party officials want to know their
views in developing programs to be shaped by citizen
members. I'm not talking about that. They do have an
important part to play in those areas, because public
officials and others need the benefit of the views of
economic organizations in shaping sound legislation and
so on. But I'm talking about this right of direct
participation in the political parties because the po-
litical party responsibility is to select candidates
for the responsibility of leadership and the respon-
sibility of governing. And so I welcome, I welc0me, this
evidence of the recognition on the part of workers as well
as others of the importance of reasserting in this great

state of ours the individual rights that we have, because

 

after all, after all, the thing that's made this country

52

is the fact that we do have these individual rights.

That there has been a greater opportunity for us indivi-
dually to do what what we thought we could do to help
make this a better country. And somebody has said that
America is great because she's good and that America will
cease to be good or great when she ceases to be good. And
I think this is right and I think we're citizens of a
great country because this country has been built, on the
deathless liberty, of the individual. And it's been
built on the matchless power of individual initiative and
voluntary cooperation. And it's been built on the price-
less right of equal Opportunity for all. And this goes
for a Negro in Mississippi in his right for education and
equal opportunity as well for as for Negroes and others
regardless of race, color, creed or national origin any-
place, because there mggt be equal rights for all, if we
are going to give adequate expression to the principles
of the Declaration of Independence, and our basic prin-
ciples. And also we premise this growth of ours on the

indestructible brotherhood of all of us.

 

You know when Khrushchev first came to this
country -- he did a gr-e-at prOpaganda job. He tried to
put the spotlight on us, on those things about us that
he wanted the rest of the world to think. Now one of the
things that he did instead in addition to putting the
spotlight on "Can Can" in Hollywood was down in the press

club in Washington, where the Washington correspondents

53
were at a luncheon. He started that his luncheon talk by
saying: "Comrades" and then he stopped himself and he said;
"Oh forgive me," he said, "in this country you don't con-
sider yourselves comrades. I'll start over again, Gen-
tlemen." Now, his obvious purpose was to create the idea
that over there they have a feeling of responsibility for
each other greater than we do here and that ours is kind
of a cold and indifferent relationship. As a matter of
fact they've argued with some of our leading people in
the postwar period, that theirs is a more idealistic
society than ours because under theirs you haze to sacri-
fice for the state whereas in our society the individual
is free to do whateveg hi wantg to do. Now we're apt
free to do whatever we want to do. -- We believe our
relationship is not that of "Gentlemen" or "Comrades" but
brothers and the responsibility of Brotherhood is infi-
nitely greater than the responsibility of comradeship.
And we believe in government by consent at the national,
the local, the state and the local level, and this means
we have the obligation of obeying government at the
national, state and local level. And we believe in
carrying this responsibility of brotherhood into the
economic and social areas, and thus we have created ob-
ligations that are infinitely greater than those in a
totalitarian society. And a-a-a- and that's what makes
our society a more idealistic one even though currently

-- people around the world are, in too many cases, incli-

ELL

ned to think of us as a materialistic society and the
Communist society as an idealistic society. This is one
of the paradoxes of the world at the present time.

Now here in Michigan we face some special prob-
lems. As a part of this country under these principles
we have been, a great state. We've been a leading state.

We wound up World War II as the number one state in the

 

nation. We used the industrial capacity we had built as

 

$3233 and management and as citizens to make Michigan the
arsenal of freedom. We did more in producing the things
our soldiers needed and their allies than any other state
in the union, during World War II. And yet in 17 short
years we've plunged from that position of lggdership to a
position of being described, generally, as a state with a
lot of problems and even a-a problem state. We've lost
our reputation. -- And we've got to rebuild Michigan.

We haven't been realizing the job increase we need in Mich-

 

igan. Because we we've had those in power who've been
hostile and one sided in their attitude and they've dis-
couraged expansion in this state and they've discouraged
employers from locating in this state and the result is we
have ESE had job increases approaching those in other in-
dustrial states in the East with whom we compete. And

the result is that we face not only a current situation
where our unemployment is higher than the national av-
erage, and where we have great pockets of unemployment

K.)

and a lack of uh enough economic strength to support

55

education, mental health and other things that we need on
the basis we need them, but we also face in the period
immediately ahead, as a result of the postwar baby ex-.
plosion, and the fact that l9h5 babies are gonna be
graduating from high school this spring and be on the

job market or the college, campuses, next fall, we face an

explosive increase in the need for jobs and education and

 

other public services. We have youngsters living in Mich-
igan now that make it necessary for us to have a million

more jobs in Michigan by 1970. And that means a a hun-

 

dred and 29 thousand more jobs a year between now and

1970. We're sitting on a delayed action economic BOMB OF

 

BLOCK BUSTER PROPORTIONS AND WE'RE NOT READY FOR IT.
Because we've created the impression through the country
that this is a bad place to locate business. And the
employers that are here feel that they're being perse-
cuted and not treated fairly. This is an unfortunate
situation and this answer and the answer to Michigan job
problems has gotta be worked out in Michigan not in Wash-
ington. (Applause) Because the only permanent solution
to Michigan's economic growth is private initiative, is
222212 who have idggb about bbbylbgb and products that
people will want to buy that they are willing to put
their time into develOping and putting on the market and
willing to put their funds or the funds of others for the
purpose of putting them on the market. And do you know

that it takes $11,000 on the average, to create an indus-

'56
trial job? So we've got to have an atmosphere in Nich-
igan that will attract people on who will be willing to
put invest $11,000 to develop our basic economy.

Now we need government assistance of course. And
that's important. And Michigan should fight for all the
defense contracts we can handle and take advantage of all
the Federal programs which we feel will help solve our
problem. And I've made it perfectly clear that I eXpect
to take advantage of all the federal programs that are on
the books. I think we're putting too much power in Wash-
ington but I don't think one state, singly by itself, can
stop that flow of power to Washington. I think the only
way that can be done is for one state to spark other
states and build a coalition to step it, I think that can
be done too. (Applause) But I think it's I think it's
a futile act of martyrdom to go out and refuse to take
advantage of programs that are on the Federal books.

And after all Michigan pays a lot more for every dollar it
gets back than it gets back. You know it reminds me of
the story of the little kid at Christmas, time, about
Christmas time, who didn't have enough money to buy
Christmas presents so he wrote Santa Claus and he didn't
know Santy Clause's address so he decided to address

the letter to the White House. And one of the clerks
down there got it. And he Opened it. And he decided to
show it to the president and the president said, "Well

golly let's send him a dollar," the youngster had asked

S7
for five dollars. And a when the youngster got the letter,
he decided to write another letter to Santy Claus and
again he didn't have the address so he sent it to the
White House and when they opened it, it said; "Look Santa
the next time I ask for money send it direct don't send
it through Washington, you send me five and they kept u/S's
of it." (Laughter and Applause)

Now while these figures are not exactly com-
parable, never-the-less we paid billions to Washington
and we get millions back. And we pay a good deal more
for every dollar we get back -- consequently we lose,
just economically, when we put things in Washington.
(Long Pause)

Now jobs come from peOple who are willing to do
what I've outlined. They come from employers. They
don't come from government. Look, government takes takes
taxes out of our pockets and hires some people but they
don't stimulate basic economic growth, with jobs, cre-
ation. And unions don't. Unions hire some people
people but they take dues from working members and hire
some people. Employers create jobs. And we need to
encourage jobs, those who produce jobs to locate here and
expand here and we need to treat them just as fairly as
others and no more fairly. I believe what we need is an
administration in this state that will treat employers
just like unions and unions just like employers in terms

of fairness. And that's all we should expect. (Pause)

58
Now you know they're organizing a Federal uh

rescue party for for John Swainson, (Laughter) and uh
they're sending in uh all of the cabinet members and now
I understand the President's coming. (Laughter) Well,
I'm sure we're always happy to have the President of the
United States come to Michigan. I'm sure he'll always
be welcome. (Applause)

But I'm also sure that, Michigan's problems are

 

not going to be solved by the peeple who come from Wash-
ington. What we need is leadership in this state that
can deal with our problems in this state because the

issues of this campaign are Michigan issues and Michigan

——-.-

 

must straighten out its own problems and put its own
house in order, and this federally organized rescue

mission is just evidence of the inability of the present

 

occupant of the governor's office to provide the leader-

 

ghip we need in this state tosettle our pggblemg in
Michigan. (Applause)

Now I believe we've got to put a cold an end to
the cold war in Michigan, to the excessive partisanship,
to the excessive economic conflict and to the excessive
sectional strife. And I believe management and labor
must stOp considering themselves as antagonists. They
should oppose the deliberate setting of one group against
another. The deliberate stimulation of conflict. Look
we've been through that period. Sure it took sit—down
strikes and other things to secure rec0gnition in the

bloodless revolution of collective bargaining. Sure

 

59
there was a period of problem in the accommodation be-
tween labor and management in the bargaining and contract
process. But I say we've reached the point where we need
to put an end to this sort of conflict and where we need
organized cooperation between labor and management to
achieve progress so we can increase the fruits of pro-
gress and we can all share in those fruits and benefit
our whole economy. And so I believe that we need to sub
sub substitute organized c00peration for what has become
in too many instances collective barg bludgeoning in the
collective bargaining in the so-called collective bar-
gaining process. Now certainly honest differences of
opinion need to be expressed and recognized. But it
doesn't have to be done in a spirit of antagonism and
with the kind of world challenge we face we cannot
afford the pitting of group of one group of a loyal of
loyal Americans against another. At the Labor Day cele-
bration, I heard too much talk that smacked of the 30's
and the u0's. Too much class hatred. I heard too much
of that on the television program last Sunday night.
And that isn't the spirit we need in Michigan. We need
a spirit of understanding and tolerance and a willingness
to talk our problems out. And we can tear American down
America down as as we have stymied Michigan if we con-
tinue to take for granted that conflict is the normal
relationship between labor and management. And unless

we concentrate on our mutual objectives, we'll be hag-

60
gling among ourselves while the Russians run off with the
world.

I firmly believe that labor and managment must
replace conflict with cooperation to provide the inner
strength Michigan and our country needs in today's era
of world challenge. And I believe that both labor and
management must remember that the main purpose of the

existence of both is the individual citizen. Look there

 

isn't any thing that counts as much as an individual.

 

 

This world isn't worth as much as uh a individual. A
single individual in the sight of God is more important.
(Applause)

And I resent those who say that simply because ya
don't belong to their political party you have a £333;

heart and cold blood. (Applause) Because that's class

 

 

ggnflict talk. That isn't American talk. And we ought

 

to put an end to it. And I believe that and I mean that
the individual citizen is a human being and not just as a
name on a membership roll or a payroll list or as a po-
tential consumer is the most important thing in the
earth. And we in Michigan especially need a new feeling
of unity and COOperation not only between a labor and
management but between all segments of society in our
economy. And all parts of our economy and our society
must work tOgether if Michigan is to prepare itself to
meet the vast problems that will accompany our burgeoning

population. This population explosion that lies imme-

61
diately ahead.

Now -- I've undertaken to develop collective bar-
gaining on that basis. -- The thing that saved American
Motors more than the Rambler and the compact car was pro-
gress sharing. Was recognizing that everybody associated
with that enterprise ought to participate in the results
of our effort. And this became last year as a result of
our initiative as management, a completely new thing in
collective bargaining.

We proposed a progress sharing contract to the
U.A.W. We prOposed -- that as our joint efforts, the
joint efforts of labor and management resulted in 233-
ggggg, that that progress would be shared first with
consumers, because only when progress is shared with all
can we have balanced economic growth, and then it should
be shared equitably between workers and owners. And we
proposed that 15% of profits before taxes be set aside to
be distributed among the workers. And that, and I'm con-
vinced that as a result of having worked with my hands in
all sorts of activities, from the time I was eight, that
any man, I don't care what his position in the plant, he
can be a sweeper he can can do anything in the plant, can

make a greater contribution if he has the right attitude

 

then and if and feels a part of what's going on than if
he just feels like he's uh an unimportant cog in the
machine. And we built our contract on that basis. And

the result is we've had tremendous results. And Walter

62

Reuther and the union leaders of the U.A.W. were praising

 

American Motors and me for this contract a year ago.
Walter Reuther said that this contract of American Motors

was the most significant contract 13 the history 3: col-

 

 

lective bargaining in the U.S. (Applause)

 

Now I haven't changed. I'm the same man I was
then, basically. But I'm being criticized today in
whispering campaigns and leaflets being spread in plants
that are full of untruths simply because as an American
citizen I felt it my obligation to make myself available
for public office in light of the fact that many citizens
wanted me to run for public office. And I've done this
because I believe the greatest obligation we have, other
than our obligation to our Creator and our families is
that of citizenship. And when we are in the (Applause)
and that when we are in the service of our fellow-men
we are in the service of our Creator. And having urged
citizens for years to get involved in public affairs, I
couldn't consistently refuse, to give up my position at
American Motors and give up other activities to see if
people want me to serve publically. I couldn't square it
with my conscience, because it would have been completely
inconsistent. And that's why I'm here tonight.

Now, I just want to say a few things quickly that
I think are of direct interest to some of the union peOple

present.

63

Number 1. I believe right to work laws are a
mistake and would be wrong and I would veto one if it
were passed by the legislature. I want to be perfectly
clear. Now a lot of reports have been spread to the con-
trary. I don't agree with the position on the Ford-
Canton case of some of the big business peOple. I think
we've got to work out a solution in between the Supreme
Court decision and this idea that if there's a strike in
one plant people in other plants who are thrown out of
work shouldn't get unemployment compensation. I think
that if that plant goes down because of local working
conditions of if it's a supplier plant, the workers
thrown out of work 2232B to get unemployment compensation.
(Applause) And I, and I regret that this improvement in
our unemployment compensation program has been tied up
with the solution in this Canton Ford-Canton controversy.
We do need to improve our unemployment compensation pay-
ments in this state. They are below what they oughta be.
And it's long past due that we improve them.

Now there are other problems in this area that I'd
like to discuss and I hope to discuss when I come to ah
Flint again on the fifteenth, (October, 1962) in the
five minutes I understand I'm gonna have uh before ah
your Ternstedt local.

But look, in conclusion, we need greater citizen

 

participation in this state. We need to make more people

 

 

recognize that they don't have to listen to anyone other

 

6’4
than those they want to listen to in making up their
minds as to what they're gonna do when they go into a
ballot box on November 6.
After all, every American, EXEEX American, has

the inalienable right to hear both sides, to vote as he

 

thinks he ought to vote. And this is something that
when men undertake to take it away from others they are
taking away something that even the founders of this
nation said was in an inalienable personable right and
they set up protections so that the government itself
shouldn't take it away, so why should we let economic
organizations try and take it away.

So again I welcome this meeting. (Applause)
I welcome this meeting and I believe that this meeting
plus the meeting later can begin to Open up ah meet-
ings where all citizens in this state can hear candidates
from both parties and hear them fully. And I'm convinced
that with good leadership in this state, with a public
administration, supported by citizens who are supporting
public officials rather than one-sided special interest
officials, with correction of our fis financial mess in
this state and with a reselling of this great state to
the nation, we can meet this job need in Michigan. We
can have the public services we need in higher education
and in other fields and we can again make this state
what it's been historically, namely a leading state of

this nation and the dynamic pr0gressive Michigan that

65
we've always wanted it to be.

Thank you very much. (Applause)

"CHAPTER V"

A RHETORICAL ANALVSIS OF THE MATJRIALS

OF SPEAKING

The purpose of any speech, according to
Aristotle, is to persuade the listener. Whether the
speaker wants the listener to buy a product, buckle
his seat belt or watch for warning signs of cancer, he
is trying to persuade his listener to some type of

action. Aristotle tells us in The Rhetoric that per-

 

suasion inherently has three parts. He states,

. . . of the means of persuasion supplied by
the speech itself there are three kinds. The first
reside in the character (ethos) of the speaker; the
second consist in producing a certain [the right]
attitude in the nearer; the third appertaining to
the argument prOper, in so far as it actually or
seemingly demonstrates.

In this way, Aristotle briefly explains the areas which
he later calls ethos, pathos, and logos.

Persuasion rests on these three modes of proof;

however, they cannot be completely separated as the
labeling would imply. It is sometimes very difficult

to determine whether or not a particular sentence or

group of sentences is part of logical or emotional proof;

 

lAristotle, The Rhetoric, trans. Lane Cooper
(New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1932), p. 8.

 

66

67

and what often might be considered by one person as
logical proof might be considered under style by another.

However, for the sake of more easily studying
different types of proof in this speech, we shall use the
labels listed below which are comparable in modern day
terminology to Aristotle's three divisions. The three
labels are:

1. Materials of Personal Proof

2. Materials of Experience

3. Materials of DeveIOpment

A broad definition for each of these areas

follows with a discussion of the way in which George

Romney used each area in his speech.

Materials of DevelOpment

 

Materials which a speaker finds outside himself
are in the area of development. These materials of
develonment are those which Aristotle called the facts,
and the way in which the speaker welds them tOgether,
the reasoning.

Hance, Ralph, and Wiksell state in their book,

Principles of Speaking, that Materials of Development

 

include: (1) examples, (2) narratives, (3) statistics,
and (h) quotations which a speaker can obtain from out-

side himself, in other words from outside sources.

 

PKenneth G. Hance, David C. Ralph, and Milton J.
Wiksell, Principles of Speaking (Belmont, California:
Wadsworthfifublishing Company, Inc.), pp. 36-88.

 

68
If the speaker, as Romney is -- is trying to
persuade the audience, he reasons (draws conclusions)
from the material he is presenting. Various methods of
reasoning are by Analogy, Cause and Effect, Sign, and

Example.

Evidence
Evidence is the raw material used to establish
proof. It may include testimony of individuals, tables
of statistics, illustrative examples, and facts gained
from outside sources which induce in the mind of the
hearer a state of belief for the material offered by
the speaker.
Romney offers figures in this speech as proof
for an idea he is offering to his audience. He states:
We have youngsters living in Michigan now that
make it necessary for us to have a million more
jobs in Michigan by 1970. And that means a a hun-
dred and 39 thousand more jobs a year between now
and l§7 .

To the casual listener this could be considered a fact.

 

But as evidence it is not an acceptable fact. Evidence
used by a speaker to support his line of argument (in
this case more job opportunities required in Michigan)
must be identified as to source. The speaker must tell
where he found these figures so the audience will know
that such a statement as ". . . 30 thousand more jobs

by 1970." is not just an assertion by the speaker to

support his own ideas.

69

This same type of error, apparent factual material
which in reality is not, was made by Romney when he offers
a statistic. That an audience could easily accept the
statement as evidence because Romney participated in
union negotiations is quite possible -- but in the
Statement, "And we prOposed that 15% of profits before
taxes be set aside to be distributed among the workers,"
he is not eXplicit enough. When and where this was done
and how the percentage was found are not told to the
listeners, and so doubt can exist as to the authenticity
of the statistic.

Telling a story to an audience is a good attention
getter. If the story can also emphasize a point in the
speech it is of greater usefulness, since a story, or a
narrative as it can be called, helps to further explain
a speaker's ideas. This technique is used by Romney in
the story of the little boy sending the letter to Santa
via the White House. He asked for $5.00, received $1.00,
and advised Santa not to send money through Washington
again as they kept four-fifths of it. Romney used this
narrative to develop the idea of too much tax money
being kept in washington. This is a material of devel-
Opment but it is not evidence.

However, Romney does use one acceptable form of
evidence in this speech. In the speech, Romney refers to
a statement made by Kruschev saying: "Comrades . . . oh

forgive me, in this country you don't consider yourselves

70
comrades. I'll start over again, Gentlemen." Then
Romney ties this quotation from Kruschev into the idea
he is developing of Brotherhood among men. This is a
direct quotation used to develop an argument and so can
be considered an example of evidence.

Romney uses this one example of acceptable
evidence forming materials of develOpment concerning
his ideas that all men are brothers. But this type of
proof is sparse in this particular speech. Romney
does not use evidence to draw specific conclusions for
the audience. It seems that he speaks his feelings and
beliefs, rather than rely on the use of evidence; and
then it is left to the listener to draw his own con-
clusions on the material presented for him.

Perhaps Romney relies on reasoning, more than on
evidence, in transmitting his ideas to the listeners.
We have seen that, even if sparsely, Romney has used
evidence, but what does he do with it? In what way
does he put together his presentation of evidence, called
reasoning, so as to clarify his material? A part of
development is reasoning, so let us look at the second

area of Materials of Development, reasoning.

Reasoning
The reasoning process is often structured into
the four basic divisions which follow:

1. Example. - the process of inferring con-
clusions from specific cases of instances,

71

2. Analogy. - the process of making a comparison
between two cases, in one of which a certain
factor is known to exist while in the other
this same factor is under question and is
inferred from the comparison,

3. Cause. - the process of proceeding from a
phenomenon which is called a cause to an
inferred effect or result, or of proceeding
from a phenomenon called an effect to an
inferred cause,

u. Sign. - the process of inferring associations
or relations which are not truly causal in
nature - of proceeding from substance to at-
tribute or from attribute to substance.3

All four of these methods of reasoning can be

found in this speech of Mr. Romney's. Let us look at

them in the order in which we defined them.

Example

As we said in defining the term Example, we infer
a conclusion or conclusions from specific instances.
Romney uses examples throughout the speech. Let us look
at one of them. He states, "I believe the greatest ob-
ligation we have, other than our obligation to our Creator
and our families is that of citizenship." This is a
statement or conclusion of what he believes. Then he
gives as examples these feelings. ". . . when we are in
the service of our fellowmen we are in the service of our
Creator. And having urged citizens for years to get

involved in public affairs, I couldn't consistently

refuse, to give up my position at American Motors and

 

3Adapted from mimeogranhed class notes of Dr.
K. Hence and Dr. D. Ralph, Professors of Speech, Michigan
State University.

72
give up other activities to see if people want me to

serve publically. I couldn't square it with my

conscience. . . ."

In backing his statement that he feels this is

a historic meeting he gives these two points. ". . .

MOO members of the Ternstedt local uh on their own uh
petitioned for this meeting tonight. And I think this
represents a ah breakthrough in what has tended to be a
political curtain."

And so in at least two parts of the speech, Mr.
Romney gives a conclusion from what he states as specific
instances. This is the form of reasoning classified as

example.

Analogy

Nr. Romney uses reasoning by analogy. The example
of this type of reasoning, which brought delighted
responses from the audience was the one involving a
letter to Santa. It is as follows:

You know it reminds me of the story of the little
kid at Christmas, time, about Christmas time, who
didn't have enough money to buy Christmas presents
so he wrote Santa Claus and didn't know Santy
Clause's address so he decided to address the letter
to the White House. And one of the clerks down there
got it. And he opened it. And he decided to show it
to the President and the President said, 'Well, golly
let's send him a dollar.’ The youngster had asked for
five dollars. And a when the youngster got the
letter, he decided to write another letter to Santy
Claus and again he didn't have the address so he sent
it to the White House and when they Opened it, it
said, 'Look Santa the next tine I ask for money send
it direct don't send it throagh Washington, you sent
me five and they kept h/S's of it.’

73
(Laughter and Applause)

Now while these figures are not exactly com-
parable, never-the-less we paid billions to Wash-
ington and we get millions back.

This analogy between a letter to Santa and the

money paid to Washington in taxes brought taxation closer
to home and clarified in familiar terms Romney's views of

money being paid to the national government by citizens

of Michigan.

Causal Relationships

 

Romney frequently uses causal relationships,
building his cause to effect and effect to cause
reasoning upon a stated fact or personal Opinion.
Therefore, at times, his reasoning is based upon a
clearly acceptable premise and at other times is inac-
curate unless the base of the argument is acceptable to
the listener. Also, in this area of reasoning, Romney
will have one cause with which he will follow with more
than one effect, sometimes two, three and at least four
effects were given for the same cause.

A typical example of this reasoning is on page
as of the manuscript. The passage is as follows:

Now, I'm not one of those who believes that
people regardless of what wnat they do in life,
whether they are workers or whether they're uh
farmers or whether they're school teachers need to
be shielded from information. I don't believe that,
that any group of of good Americans can be misled by
hearing both vieWpoints. And I think that the his-
toric aspect of this meeting tonight is that -- h00
members of the Ternstedt local uh on their own uh

petitioned for this meeting tonight. And I think this
meeting represents a ah breakthrough in what has

7h

tended to be a political curtain. And I think uh
those who initiated this meeting are not only to be
thanked and are not only to be, praised, for indi-
cating their desire to hear both sides and indicating
that they recognize that as American citizens they
have a right to hear both sides, but also for the fact
that your action has caused the local, through Mr.
Steel, the president, uh to invite me to talk to a
meeting of the entire local a-a the week of the four-
teenth. And perhaps you have already noticed in the
papers that I have accepted that invitation because
one of my purposes in this campaign, was to find the
Opportunity to talk with peOple in all fields of
activity in Michigan and particularly to talk to
those who haven't been receiving uh a con uh a com-
plete presentation of the state's problems and the
state issues.

As we can see in this particular section, Romney
uses rather intricate reasoning. We find (1) reference
back to the introduction, (2) cause to effect rela-
tionship, and (3) causes based on fact but effects which
may not be valid as they are personal beliefs of the

speaker.

 

The following quotation gives us an example of
Mr. Romney using sign reasoning to clarify a point. He
states first,

Now you know they're organizing a Federal uh
rescue party for for John Swainson, and uh they're
sending in uh all of the cabinet members and now I
understand the President's coming. (Laughter)

Well, I'm sure we're always happy to have the Presi-
dent of the United States come to Michigan. I'm
sure he'll always be welcome. (Applause)

Then Mr. Romney follows with this statement which
shows the sign relationship.
. . . this federally organized rescue mission is

just evidence of the inability of the present Occupant
of the ggvernor's offiCe to provide the leadership we

 

 

 

75

ed in this state to settle our problems in
chi 1g

:3
H0 m

t- :1

I
With this example of reasoning by sign we find
that Mr. Romney used the four basic divisions of reasoning

processes in this particular speech.

All the above ways of reasoning have been iden-
tified and labeled for many years, but Romney also
employs "reasoning" for which we iave no particular label.
These are assertions without proof or support.

The examples of reasoning that follow could be
accepted as fact by the listener if the listener accepts
the speaker's reputation for expertness. Because of
Romney's background in manufacturing, discussed in Chapter
I, we know that this man might be considered an expert in
manufacturing, particularly the automobile industry.

We also realize that Mr. Romney could be con-
sidered an expert in other areas related to manufacturing.
He held a most important position in the industrial field
as President of American Rotors. In order to have
achieved this position we must consider him to be know-
ledgeable in such areas as: (1) economics, (2) labor
relations, (3) management of individuals, and (h) ex-
ecutive decision making.

This man might also be considered an eXpert in

on. Signs of his faith appear in

.3

another area, religi
the position he held in the church, comparable to Bishop,
and the way in which he follows the tenets of his

religion.

76

We find, then, that Mr. Romney, because of pre-
vious experience, might be considered an authority in
many areas and so uses this experience upon which to
base his reasoning.

This type of material, which a listener might
accept as factual, abounds in this speech. Such state-
ments as the following fall into a classification which
we can title "assertions without proof or support," upon

which Romney bases much of his reasoning.

l. The thing that saved American Motors more
than the Rambler and the compact car idea was
progress sharing.

2. (Collective Bargaining) . . . contributed
importantly to the nation's high prosperity in the
uO's and the 50's.

3. . . . when we are in the service of our
fellow-men we are in the service of our Creator.

Mr. Romney relied, in this speech, very heavily
on reasoning by causal relationships. The causal re-
lationships were at times based upon evidence not ac-
ceptable as valid, thus limiting the reasoning that
would be considered as "good reasoning".

We must realize, however, that Mr. Romney states
near the beginning of this talk that he wants the op-
portunity to inform all citizens of Michigan and in this
speech that is what he is doing. He informs the group of
his beliefs, his feelings, and of the problems in the
state. He is attempting to persuade the listeners that
Michigan needs a change. The lack of a great quantity

of evidence is probably not a flaw in the speech, because

77

this man is apparently acceptable to his audience; and he
did not necessarily have to back up everything he said

through the entire speech with evidence.

Materials of Experience

 

We stated that this chapter on modes of proof
would be divided into three sections. This second
section is concerned with materials of experience.
Thonssen and Baird state:

. . . the process of persuasion is complex, and
that the materials and methods employed to achieve
the end of influencing listeners is varied.

Then they continue by discussing the mode of

proof traditionally called pathos, which includes:

All those materials and devices calculated to
put the audience in a frame of mind suitable for
the reception of the speaker's idea.

Aristotle states this same idea in this manner:

. . . the speaker must not merely see to it
that his speech shall be convincing and persuasive,
but he must give the right impression of himself,
and get his judge (audience) into the right state
of mind.

In other words, in using materials of experience,

the speaker attempts to adapt his material to a particular

audience both prior to the speaking situation and during

the speech situation. These -

 

“Thonssen and Baird, op. cit., p. 358.
SIbid.

6Aristotle, 0p. cit., p. 91.

78
materials of experience are designed to appeal
primarily to the listener's basic motives, his
sensory experiences and memories of them, and his
needs, hepes, fears, and desires. These materials
are used to make the message more real to the
listener and to sustain his interest.7

We discussed in Chapter III the particular
audience to whom Romney did speak. From the content of
the speech we can assume that Er. Romney did decide that
certain tooics would be more suitable for his audience.

He must have considered that this group would be
principally composed of union hen from the factories,
concerned with those things that concern the union. In
other words, this group had a common bond, their union
membership.

Mr. Romney spoke in a central area of interest
to these men, dealing with the strength of unions, col-
lective bargaining, and economic groups involved in
government. In other words, as part of his use of
materials of experience, Romney adapted his material to
this audience during the preparation of the speech.

We know that Mr. Romney did not speak from a
manuscript for this speech. He held a notecard to which
he referred only when he was ready to switch to another
interest area. Because of the lack of anything written
down we can conclude that he dealt with topics that

seemed to elicit favorable responses from the group.

When they did applaud or laugh, he would pause until this

 

7Hance, Ralph, and Wiksell, 0p. cit., p. 71.

79
died down so he could again be heard.
The one thing that makes us realize that Mr.
Romney tried to adjust to his audience during the pre-
sentation of his speech was in his searching, quite a few
times, for the prOper word or words to convey his idea to
the group. The following are examples of this:

And I think this represents ah ah break
through. . . .

. . . in too many instances collective barg
bludgeoning. . . .

. . . in the five minutes I understand I'm
gonna have uh before ah your Ternstedt local.

In other words, before and during the speech
Mr. Romney was adjusting his material to this particular
audience.

There are other materials considered to be im-
portant in this area of experience. Speakers in ad-
justing their material to the audience will employ
motive appeals.

Assuming the preper conditions, the appeals

that speakers can make are manifold. Aen are

excited to belief or action by different motives

at different times. . . . Aristotle postulated‘

happiness as the end of man's efforts; . . . .b
Appeals to achieve happiness may be made to such things
as happy old age, patriotism, fear, fame, fair play, shame,
anger, personal honor and the like.

Romney does make appeals to certain tendencies

which he apparently assumes his listeners might possess.

 

8Thonssen and Baird, op. cit., p. 366.

80
He appeals to the audience's belief that they are in-
telligent humans by using this phrase; it also appeals
to the belief, perhaps, that they are always seeking
knowledge.

Never underestimate the intelligence of the
people and never overestimate their information.

He makes an appeal to a better life with these
lines:

. . . we need organized cooperation between labor
and management to achieve progress so we can increase
the fruits of progress and we can all share in those
fruits and benefit our whole economy.

Appeal to fair play, because of the manner in
which union leaders had been behaving, is made in this
way:

And Walter Reuther and the union leaders of the

U.A.W. were praising American Motors and me for this
contract a year ago. . . . Now I haven't changed.

. . . But I'm being crticized today in whispering
campaigns and leaflets. . . .

 

 

Just from these three quotations, picked at
random from the speech, we can see that Romney does use
emotional appeals to help motivate his listeners. He
also appeals to the self-preservation motive by such a
statement as follows (by emphasizing "ought" he insures
no mistake in the group's understanding the idea being
transmitted):

I don't agree with the position of the Ford-

Canton case of some of the big business peeple. I
think that if a plant goes down because of local
working conditions or if it's a supplier plant, the

workers thrown out of work ought to get unemployment
compensation.

81

One point we should stress: Romney did not have
to adjust to a hostile or indifferent audience. They
were evidently in the mood to be informed; they were
already persuaded to vote for Romney. And so he adapted
his material to this group to inform them about his view-
points concerning interests the group had in common.

We can conclude that Romney does use materials of
experience as he does adjust his speech to this union
audience and appeals to various motives which these men

could be thought to hold.

Materials of Personal Proof

 

In this third and last section of the chapter
we are considering materials of personal proof, which
take into consideration the character of the speaker
and how this is revealed in the speech itself.

Aristotle believed that the character (ethos)
of the speaker was a cause of persuasion. He stated,
"It is not true, . . . that the probity of the speaker
contributes nothing to his persuasiveness; on the con-
trary, we might almost affirm that his character (ethos)
is the most potent of all the means to persuasion."9

So we can reach the understanding that materials
of personal proof denote qualities appearing in the speech
which might convince an audience that the speaker is of

good character. When this occurs, the material can be

 

9Aristotle, op. cit., p. 8.

82
classified under the third mode of proof, materials of
personal proof.

Statements such as follow help to explain this:

I firmly believe that both labor and manage-
ment must replace conflict with cooperation to
provide the inner strength Michigan and our country
needs in today's era of world challenge.

I think this is a historic meeting because I
think it represents a new, trend of things -— in
Michigan.

Now, I think this is important because, if we are
going to have government of, by, and for the people,
and this is the ideal, this is what we're supposed to
have, then the people as citizens are the ones that
must be active directly in the political party.

These statements may appear as fact to some
listeners but they are, by definition, Mr. Romney's
personal beliefs and thus are helping to build his ethos.

These statements do give us an inkling into the
character of the man. We can conclude that Romney does
not like conflict, that his character and personality is
one that works for COOperation.

There are other aspects of personal proof that
may lead the listeners to form the right impression of
the speaker. Three qualities or virtues are: (l) in-
tellect, (2) high character, and (3) goodwill. Let us
look at each division and find examples of George W.
Romney's using these as materials of personal proof. It
must be indicated here that many examples of this method
of persuasion can be found in the speech; however, only a

few of them are quoted to clarify the use of materials of

personal proof by Romney.

83
According to Thonssen and Baird's book, Speech

Criticism, there are various ways for a speaker to show

 

his intellect, high character, and goodwill. The fol-
lowing examples demonstrate some of the ways in which

Romney tried to show his.

Intellect
One way in which a speaker can infer he is an
intelligent being is by revealing that he is familiar
with what is important in the news. Romney does this
by stating:

I think that if that plant goes down because of
local working conditions or if it's a supplier plant,
the workers thrown out of work ought to get unem-
ployment compensation. And I, and I regret that this
improvement in our unemployment compensation program
has been tied up with the solution in this Canton
Ford-Canton controversy. We do need to improve our
unemployment compensation payments in this state.

Another sign of a person's intellect is when he

acts with tact and moderation. Although Romney is running
on the Republican ticket, he praises one of the most
famous Democrats of all time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
and in a way associates himself with the man, which might
aid in making him more appealing to this labor audience.

I heard Franklin Delano Roosevelt make the talk
that is referred to probably more frequently than any,
his "First Inaugural Address," in which he said --
that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself.
And I know what his dramatic spirit of confidence did
for the nation in terms of changing our mood at that
point and then he went on and while he did some things
with which I do not agree. . . .

From these two examples, we can see that, in this

speech, Mr. Romney does show his intellect within

8h

materials of personal proof.

Good Character
The good character of a speaker may be shown
within the speech in various ways, two of which are:
(l) relying upon personal experiences to give authority
to some statement -- if the listener accepts the au-
thority he will also accept the character of the speaker
-— and (2) praising oneself but not to an extreme.
One of these, Mr. Romney relying upon his per-
sonal knowledge, is carried out in this manner:
Because the only permanent solution to Mich-
igan's economic growth is private initiative. . . .
And do you know that it takes $11,000 on the average,
to create an industrial job?
Romney also uses the technique of self-praise:
And Walter Reuther and the union leaders of the
U.A.W. were praising American Motors and me for this
contract a year ago. Walter Reuther said that this
contract of American Motors was the most significant
contract in the history of collective bargaining in

the U.S. —fiow I haven't changed. I'm the same man—I
was then, basically.

 

 

 

 

This clearly shows Romney using the technique

of self-praise, but it is done in moderation. It actually

H H

is showing that we (union and management) of a year ago

"me

are now split into " and "they." Romney feels that the
way he is being treated by members of the U.A.W. is not
reasonable. Through the above quotations, we can see that
Romney does use a method of persuasion which shows his

good character in establishing personal proof.

85

Goodwill

Three divisions were given as a means of dis-
cussing materials of personal proof. The last one to be
mentioned is the way in which the speaker aids the
audience in becoming aware that he is a man of goodwill.

One way in which a speaker can bring out this
awareness is to offset any personal reasons he may have
for giving the speech, and this Romney does in the sen-
tences which follow:

And having urged citizens for years to get in-
volved in public affairs, I couldn't consistently
refuse to give up my position at American Motors
and give up other activities to see if people want
me to serve publically. I couldn't square it with
my conscience. Because it would have been completely
inconsistent. And that's why I'm here tonight.

This statement also reveals another technique
used to measure the goodwill of the speaker. If he
associates himself with that that is virtuous and ele-
vated, he is revealing this trait. This statement does
this. In other words, Romney is doing what he has
urged others to do and that is to become active in
politics.

Romney also attempted to show sincerity, since
this is a means of goodwill:

Now we're not free to do whatever we want to do.

We have the obligation of obeying our Creator's com-
mandments as we understand them. We believe our re-
lationship is not that of Gentlemen or Comrades but
brothers and the responsibility of Brotherhood is
infinitely greater than the responsibility of

comradship .

Romney uses many techniques to show goodwill.

86
One more example is in praising the audience -- he does
not indulge in this practice to an extreme, but still he
involves his listeners in the speech in a praiseworthy
manner.

And I think uh those who initiated this meeting
are not only to be thanked and are not only to be
praised, for indicating their desire to hear both
sides and indicating that they recognize that as
American citizens they have a right to hear both
sides. . . .

We can see that Kr. Romney deveIOped in this
speech forms of proof that aid in showing he is an
intelligent being, of good character, and goodwill; a
person who does not like conflict and believes in co-
Oper tion of persons to meet objectives in government.
The use of materials of personal proof makes up a good
share of the total proof within this speech.

Some rhetorical critics believe that only the
proof within the speech can be considered as materials of
personal proof. However, we must realize that a person's
reputation precedes him to the speech situation; and thus
this type of proof is already having its effect even
before the audience gathers to hear a speaker. The
listeners have preconceived Opinions about the speaker's
intellect, character and goodwill. With modern day
communications, especially on-the-spot coverage of events
by the television industry, this cannot be prevented.

Therefore, because Romney's name has never been

linked with corruption, because he is a leader in indusé

try, and because he has led many groups to further the

vi
well being of the community, we say that even before this
_articular speech situation, George W. Romney's ethos was
already at work assisting the audience to believe that he
was a man of good character, intelligence, and goodwill.

In conclusion, we can state that in this speech
Mr. Romney certainly used the three main divisions of
proof: (1) Materials of DeveIOpment, (2) Materials of
Experience, and (3) Materials of Personal Proof.
Materials of Personal Proof and Materials of Experience
certainly dominate in this speech. The man also uses
reasoning but not what we can consider "good" reasoning
in the speech since his reasoning is based upon his own
ideas and feelings rather than upon evidence. Evidence
is almost totally lacking in this speech. The use of
examples is very scanty and those statistics which are
used are not identified as to source. In this type of
speech, where Romney is attempting to reveal himself and
his ideas to an audience, the lack of factual material is

not as important as it might otherwise have been.

"CHAPTER VI"
THE ARRANGEKENT OF THE SPEECH

Through the ages, rhetoricians have held various
beliefs about the art of arranging a speech. They have
all agreed that a speech is composed of parts but dis-
agreed as to just how many.

Aristotle stated:

The provinces of study which concern the making
of a speech are three: (1) the means of effecting
persuasion; (2) the style[:language, dictiofil;

(3) the right ordering of the several divisions of
the whole.

This third step, as listed by Aristotle, is what
we are considering within this chapter under "The Ar-
rangement of The Speech."

In discussing the arrangement of the speech,
Aristotle tells us that a speech has two parts, the
statement of the case and the proof. In rhetoric these
two processes are called "The Statement" and "The Argu-
ment." "These are the essential elements of a Speech; at
most, the parts cannot exceed four - Proem, Statement,

. 2
Argument, and Epilogue."

 

lIbid., p. 182.

21bid., p. 220.

88

89

Of course, as Cicero writes in De Oratore,

 

arranging the particulars of a speech in order to prove,
to inform or to persuade is actually up to the orator's
discretion. However, he does state that there is a
mode of speaking that nature herself prescribes. He
says,
For, to premise something before we come to
the main point; then to explain the matter in ques-
tion; then to support it by strengthening our own

arguments, and refuting those on the other side;
next, to sum up and come to the peroration. . . .

3

From the above we can see that Cicero felt that
an orator would build his speech on a basis of six parts,
not the statement of the case and the proof which
Aristotle advocated.

Modern rhetoric deviates from that of the early
rhetoricians, who divided speeches into as many as six
parts, by usually arranging the speech into three di-
visions or parts. These "Speeches ordinarily have three
parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion."LL
Also the speech will usually include a central theme,
or according to Aristotle's definition "the statement
of purpose."

This brings us to the realization that a speech
may be arranged in a number of ways - depending upon

what text book concerning rhetoric we might consult.

 

3Lester Thonssen, Selected Readings in Rhetoric
and Public Speaking (New York: The H. W. Wilson Company,
TOME), p. 80.

 

 

"Gilman, Aly, and Reid, op. cit., p. oh.

90

Therefore, instead of trying to apply a particular
textbook's manner of arrangement to a speech we should
be more concerned with what actually is done in arranging
a particular speech.

In discussing the arrangement of the speech by
Mr. Romney, we must consider the arrangement of the speech
from two View points; (1) the basic construction of the
speech, and (7) the total organization of the speech with
reference to the particular audience which George Romney

was addressing.

The Ba i

03
0

Construction of The Speech

 

While listening to this speech and in reading
and re-reading the manuscript duplicating the tape

recording, it is soon evident that Mr. Romney is devel-

op ng a main idea or central theme. This theme is

woven through the fabric of the entire speech.

Central Theme
What is this cehtral theme? Let us look at the
following quotations and see just what point Mr. Romney
is developing and emphasizing in his speech text.

. . . the responsibility for making pregress in
our country was based on ah individual responsibility
in providing the Opportunity for individual citizens
ah to control the government. . . .

. . . union leaders . . . have tended to create
the idea that the heads of economic orfanlzations like
unions and employers should speak for members and
employees in direct political activity. how I think
this is wrong.

 

91

And I've done this because I believe the
greatest obligation we have, other than our ob-
ligation to our Creator and our families is that of
citizenship.

. . . we need greater citizen participation in
this stateT_ We need to make more people recognize
that they donTt have to listen to anyone other than
those they want to listen to in making up their minds
as to what they're gonna do when they go into a
ballot box on November 6.

 

These five examples are only a few which develop
the main idea that citizens should be active, informed
participants in a political party instead of being un-
informed, passive human beings led by economic organ-
izations.

Various ideas are developed by Hr. Romney in
various sections of the speech, yet all tie in with this
central idea. He selected other areas important to this
audience, wove them around and through his central theme.
His other areas were concerned with: (l) collective bar-
gaininm; (2) brotherhood of man; (3) Michigan's problems:
leadership hostile and one sided, the need for jobs and
government assistance; and (h) reasons for his candidacy.

All four of these ideas are included in the body
of the speech with the central heme, and all are again
mentioned in a summary form at the end of the speech.

Within the speech are found these examples of
each of these divisions.

l. Collective bargaining is dealt with quite
extensively in this speech. Since the audience was a

?

union group, Mr. Romney's views on this tepic would be

92
of importance. At one point in his speech he makes his

position clear with this statement.
There isn't any question but that that uh fos-
tering of collective bargaining has helped to bring

about a better distribution of the fruits of pregress
of the economic results of our ah work and effort.

2. Brotherhood of man is rather a general term,
perhaps, but union men are organized into brotherhoods of
workers and as citizens of the United States should have
some conceptions concerning this terminology. Mr. Romney
approached this by saying:

We believe our relationship is not that of

'Gentlemcn' or 'Comrades' brothers and the respon-

sibility of Brotherhood is ihfinitely greater than
the responsibility of comradeship.

3. Problems of Michigan, which Romney feels exist,
are spoken of within the speech. Since these men are
citizens of Michigan they should be interested in Mr.
Romney's view-point and ideas for solutions to problems
if Romney has any solutions. Romney covers many prob-

lem areas he believes are apparent and states them

thusly:

We've lost our reputation. . . . We haven't
been realizing the job increase we need in Michigan.
. . . Those in power who've been hostile and one
sided. . . . We face an explosive increase in the
need for iobs and education—End otHEr public ser-

ViCeS o

 

h. Reasons for candidacy should certainly

nterest any voter in Michigan who is interested in the

H-

Viewpoints of the candidate concerned with the above

three topics. Therefore, a declaration by any candidate

93
of his reasons for aspiring to a government position should
be stated and thus Mr. Romney does.

. . . many citizens wanted me to run for public
office. . . . I believe the greatest obligation we
have, other than our obligation to our Creator and
our families is that of citizenship.

With the examples given we can see that George

Romney did deveIOp a central theme or main idea which is
that citizens should be active, informed participants in
a political party.

Tieing in with this main theme were ideas which
we can call lesser themes in that they were not apparent
throughout the Speech. These fall into four main
sections: (1) collective bargaining, (2) brotherhood of
man, (3) problems of Michigan, and (h) reasons for
Romney's candidacy, which are topics important to this

audience, and which dove-tail into the central theme of

"informed citizen participation."

The Method of Arrangement

Just having a mind full of ideas is not enough on
which to build a speech. These ideas must be placed in
an order which aids in making them understandable and
listenable to the hearer. As an example, history books
are usually organized in what is called historical order
or "first things coming first."

Mr. Romney did not use this method of arrangement
in his speech. What method of arrangement did he use?

The speech materials are placed in an order that we can

9‘4

call "logical." In other words, according to issues, as
Romney sees them, and his beliefs.

Romney builds issues around the central theme.
These issues deal with his beliefs as to the need for a
change in the Status Quo.

To build these issues in a logical manner, he
separated his speech into divisions which are discussed

in this next section.

The Order of Development

As we stated at the beginning of this chapter,
since the time of Aristotle, many ways have been advo-
cated for develOping a speech. This particular one
falls into the most usual way which is advocated by
Thonssen and Baird and that is into a beginning, a
middle, and an end. These divisions are usually called
an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction
of this speech is very brief, consisting of these two
sentences.

Thank you very much, Al, and I certainly
appreciate the warmth of your reception and I believe
this is a historic meeting. I think this is a his-
toric meeting because I think it represents a new,
trend of things -- in Michigan.

From this point Mr. Romney develops the body or
main sections of his speech. These sections start with
a topic sentence and usually a "transition word." By
"transition word" we mean that Mr. Romney switches from

one idea to another, many times, with just one word.

That word is "now." "Now" becomes an automatic signal

95
that a new idea is being introduced. When this word,
"now," is heard, the sentence which it usually introduces
will lead us to the topic of thinking to be discussed
next in the speech.
The following are examples of this "transition

word" introducing topic statements which lead to new
ideas in the speech.

Now, fundamental to our way of life -- is the,

fact, —- that we are all children of a Cre-a—tor.

Now recognizing that if individual citizens were
gonnaficontrol government, and if they were gonna
exercise sovereign power, they would have to be in-
telligent and informed.

Now, now I think that if we‘re gonna get America
get Nichigan on the right track that we've got to
have at least one party in this state that's a gen-
uine citizens party, not a business party.

 

 

Now, here in Michigan we face some special
problems.

Now we need government assistance of course.

Now you know they're organizing a Federal uh
rescue party for for John Swainson. . . .

Now -- I've undertaken to develop collective
bargaining on that basis.

NEE, I haven't changed.

Now, I just want to say a few things quickly. . .

We can see from just these nine quotations listed
above that Mr. Romney has used a particular word to in-

troduce transition sentences, and that word is "now."9

 

SThe underlining of the word "now" in these in-
stances is done by this writer to emphasize the use of
this particular word.

96

Within the topics or sections of the body of the
speech, Romney also used another "pet" word. This word
is used to connect thoughts and to tie many ideas to-
gether instead of starting new sentences. One can see
in the transcript of this speech many many uses of the
familiar word "and." For example, Romney uses "and"
in these ways:

1. to start sentences within a single paragraph,

And I think. . . . And I think. . . . And I
think uh. . . . And perhaps you. . . .

2. to connect ideas without forming a new
sentence,

And I know . . . and then . . . and while . . .
and one . . . and he. . . .

If this speech had been placed in writing to be
read, literary critics could have, and rightfully so,
condemned the technique of repetition of phrases and
words for shifting from thought or idea to another
thought or idea. There is certainly an overabundance of
the word "and" to start new sentences and new ideas. But
this may not have been a detriment to this speech which
was not given to be read.

This speech was prepared to be h ard. This can-
not be emphasized enough. Through the use of repetition
of words and ideas, Mr. Romney used a technique which is
necessary in Speaking, that of repeating ideas and

H H

leading the listeners by cue words, such as now and

phrases such as "and I think," from one tOpic to

97
another so they can more easily grasp the thoughts being
transmitted by the speaker.
Emphasis is obtained by meaningful repetition
of a word or phrase until it is indelibly impressed
upon the listener's mind. The key worg is not
repeated for lack of a synonymn. . . .
This technique, repetition, may prove monoto-
nous when contained in material being read, but the use

of repetition to aid the listener constitutes a good

speaking technique.

Analysis of The Total Speech Organization

 

for This Particular Audience

 

In considering the arrangement of the speech,
the critic must "examine the speech as an instance of
craftsmanship, and he evaluates the total organizational
plan with reference to existing audience conditions."7
This second part, discussing the speech with re-
ference to this particular audience is our concern within
this part of the chapter.

Mr. Romney did not deviate from the normal
construction of a speech, namely the introduction, body,
and conclusion. Using the traditional scheme he success-
fully adapted his material to his audience. This conclu-
sion is based upon the audiences spontaneous reaction to
the speech, both vocally and physically (hand clapping

and foot stomping) during and after Romney spoke.

 

6Gilman, Aly, and Reid, op. cit., p. 91.

7Thonssen, op. cit., p. hOl.

98

Introduction

We did state that the introduction was very short,
allowing Mr. Romney to utilize the time he had to deal
with topics of specific interest to this group. In three
sentences the man aroused the audience's attention by
actually involving them in what he felt was an historic
occasion.8 This introduction then proceeded very
smoothly into the body of the speech.

Whether Mr. Romney uses such a short introduction
in other speeches is not answerable here. The purpose of
the introduction is to make contact with the audience, to
gain their attention and interest. One reason the intro-
duction could be so short in this instance is because
a purpose did not exist for an introduction. The very
nature of the group, the fact that they asked for Romney
to speak and were obviously partisan for him,9 made it
unnecessary for him to use a long introduction to gain
their attention and interest. Therefore, Mr. Romney
dealt with his time in a sensible manner by concentrating

upon tOpics of concern to the listeners.

Body
Mr. Romney does not seem to have disposed of

his materials in any certain form to present to this

 

8As stated in Chapter III, this was the first
time in many years that a Republican had been able to
address an union audience.

9See Chapter III, The Occasion, Audience, and
Responses.

99

group, except in a form that seemed logical to him. He
jumped from one idea to another using the word "now" for
transition. It is evident that the man worked from a
very incomplete set of notes, as the transition from
idea to idea in the body of the speech is certainly
not done very smoothly. We know without really having
to listen that the topic under discussion is going to
be changed when Romney pauses and then again talks, start-
ing with the word "now."

Although this is really not too confusing to
the listener, organization of the body of the speech
certainly could have been improved upon to the listener's
advantage.

Romney does backtrack, repeating the same idea
over and over, blending his ideas with each other so
that we meet particular ideas in different parts of the
speech. An example of this is the topic of collective
bargaining. We first meet with collective bargaining in
reference to Washington in the 1920's and F. D. Roosevelt,
page M? of the manuscript. Then, again, collective bar-
gaining is mentioned in connection with the excessive
partisanship in Michigan of management and labor, page he
of the manuscript. The success of progress sharing at
American Votors, page 61, also ties in the idea of
collective bargaining. Thus we see a basic theme

appearing throughout the speech.

100

All of the themes were of equal importance to the
audience and Romney dealt with all of them. If the man's
organization of material had been better planned, in
other words, if more than just a word on a notecard had
been used to prompt him into a new stream of thought,
these tOpics might have been separated into individual
sections, then related to each other through smoother
transition -— all of which would have helped the lis-

tener.

Conclusion

A conclusion, as one speech teacher has said, is
for the purpose of telling your listeners what you have
just told them in the body of the speech.9

Gilman, Aly, and Reid state the purpose of the
conclusion in a little more dignified manner.

The conclusion should not merely break off at

the end of the last point in the body of your speech.
Your hearers will expect you to reinterpret your
ideas for clarity and emphasis. Since the final
impression is likely to prevail, you should use the
conclusion to re-inforce your purpose.

In other words, as an excellent cook knows, if
one concludes a meal with a good dessert, no one will
remember if the main course was truly outstanding or not.

Mr. Romney uses his conclusions as a means of

bringing tOgether in one area of the speech the ideas he

has stressed in the body of the speech. Thus the con-

 

9Miss Sally Adams, Speech teacher at Pontiac
High School, 1957.

10Gilman, Alv, and Reid, op. cit., p. 66.

a.)

lOl
clusion is long, in comparison to the introduction,
occupying two pages of the speech manuscript.
He stresses again the points he established in the
body, which were of importance to this union audience.

He actually led the group into the final phase of his

speech by saying, "But look, in conclusion. . . . "

Then he goes on to again relate to them, in a shortened
form, those points that should be of primary interest to

them.
This is the manner in which it is done.

. . . we need greater citizen participation in
this state.

. . . every American, every American, has the
inalienable right to hear both sides. . . .

And I'm convinced that with good leadership in
this state, with a public administration, supported
by citizens who are supporting public officials
rather than one-sided special interest officials,
with correction of our fis financial mess in this
state and with a reselling of this great state to the
nation, we can meet this job need in Michigan. We
can have the public services we need in higher ed-
‘ucation and in other fields and we can again make
this state what its been historically, namely a
leading state of this nation and the dynamic pro-
gressive Michigan that we've always wanted it to be.

This speech does not deviate from the usual ar-

t is constructed on this basis: an

H.

rangement; instead
introduction, a body, and a conclusion. We can state
that this arrangement is used successfully to present
issues of interest to this union audience, as the aud-

ence reacted favorably to the man by their applause, at-

Ho

tention to him, and comments and questions at the close of

the speech.

"CHAPTER VII"
THE DELIVERY OF PH”? SPEECH

The importance of delivery cannot be minimized
by any rhetorician; even Aristotle admitted to its sig-
nificance. He does not give much space to the subject,

delivery, in The Rhetoric, as he felt that audiences

 

should not be influenced by the appearance or vocal
quality of the speaker, only in his evidence and re-
asoning. However, Aristotle states that delivery is
important, in this way:

. . . it is not enough to know what to say --
one must also know how to say it. . . . Now,
plainly, for the art of rhetoric delivery is of as
much concern as it is for the art of poetry,

- - - the case should in justice, be fought on the
strength of the facts alone so that all else besides
demonstration of fact is superfluous. Nevertheless,
as we have said, external matters do account for
much, because of the sorry nature of an audience.

According to Thonssen and Baird, the delivery of

a speech should embrace five areas. These five areas,
which are discussed in this chapter, include: (1) the
orator's methods of preparing his speeches, (2) the

method of delivery, (3) the physical factors conducive

to his effectiveness as a speaker, (h) the speaker's

 

lAristotle, 0p. cit., pp. 152-18h.

102

103
bodily action in delivery, and (S) the use of the voice

as an instrument of persuasion.2

Preparation of Speeches

 

The first section of this chapter is concerned
with the speaker's method of preparing his speeches,
although we have discussed this slightly in other
chapters of this thesis, let us here view the important
aspects of George Romney's speech preparation.3

Mr. Romney usually speaks extemporaneously from
brief notes, gathering his material from his own vast
experiences, from eXperts, and at times in consultation
with others.

Romney prepares his own speeches, in note form,
unless the speech situation is a commencement address,
and speeches for this type of occasion he writes in man-
uscript form. He accepted, until the gubernatorial
campaign, 30 to hO invitations for speaking each year,
for such occasions as: Kiwanis International Convention,
Annual Employee's Product Reviews, National Business

Publisher's Dinner, New York Society of Security

 

2Thonssen and Baird, op. cit., p. #35.

3Personal information that follows has two sources:
(1) interview with John Conde by John Kirn, November 1h,
1961, at Conde's office in the headquarters of American
Motors, Detroit, Michigan. Conde was then assistant
Director of Public Relations, and (2) Interview with
George T. Trumbull, Jr., Press Secretary for Governor
George W. Romney, Capitol Building, Lansing, Michigan,
January 17, l96h, by this writer.

10h
Analysts, Executive Clubs, Junior Chamber of Commerce
Convention, and Economic Club of Detroit.

It is said, in connection with his various
speaking engagements, that when an American Motors'
executive showed up at an automobile manufacturer's meet-
ing in place of Romney (who was then president of American
Motors) a Big Three auto official asked: "Where's the
boss?" Said the substitute: "He's making a speech."
Yawned the Big Three man: "So what else is new?"LL

If practice makes perfect we can see that
Romney has not lacked speaking situations in which to
perfect his speaking techniques. He has made it a prac-
tice to speak only at national or state-wide events,
excepting when the speech would take place in a plant
city. (In a city involved in American Notors' pro-
duction.) Once he did refuse a National Association of
Margarine Workers request for a speech, because American
Notors' main plants are located in the dairy state of
Wisconsin.

When Romney is preparing a speech, his wife,
Lenore, aides with her criticism. He feels that she is
a great help. She works with him on delivery and se-
lection of words to achieve a clear meaning. Romney is
eager for her ideas, since he feels that she is the

better speaker of the two.

 

LL"The Dinosaur Hunter," Time, April 6’ 1959’
13- 1+2.

105

The man has a remarkable memory, using quotations
and statistics after one exposure to them. He has recall
on statistical information from two or three years pre-
viously which aids tremendously when speaking extemp-
oraneously. The quotations he employs are usually
accurate in detail to each word, unless the quotations are
of unusual length -- then they are usually paraphrased.

Romney believes in using quotations to stress or
emphasize an important point. If Franklin D. Roosevelt
can be quoted to fit a topic of current interest, Romney
will use the quotation. For moral principles he refers
quite often to Thomas Jefferson. More modern personages
whom he quotes quite often are: Helen Keller, K. T.
Keller, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower is usually
quoted with regard to anything of a political nature.
Romney feels that the religious beliefs of Thomas Paine
are questionable and therefore will not quote from his
writings.

Probably the greatest molder of Mr. Romney's
character is his Mormon Church background, which places
deep importance on fundamental values and individual
self-reliance. Early speech training within the church
has certainly been a great help in molding Romney as a
speaker. Mormon youth are required to give sermons to
the entire congregation. From earliest youth they give
little talks within their Sunday School classes. This

is practical experience. Thinking on one's feet and

106
learning by doing, to c0pe with an audience, -- there is
no better training for a speaker than this. Undoubtedly
this church speaking was the most important factor in
Romney's becoming the capable speaker he is today.
Religion is considered by many to be the key to this man.
If and when he does something unusual he is usually doing

what The Book of Mormon says. For example before making

 

any large decision he usually fasts for twenty-four hours,
which is one of the ways Mormons approach great decisions.

Romney believes that his self-reliance was fully
developed when he was sent by his church on a two year
mission to Scotland and England in 1928. There he
learned to c0pe with hecklers when speaking from a soap
box in England's Trafalgar Square. Again he was learning
to speak oy actually doing it and learning to adapt to
his audiences at the same time.

In the preparation of a speech, Romney notes the
ideas about which he wants to speak. His material is
drawn from recall and from persons who are experts in
various areas, along Jith consultations and conferences
with people he believes can help him secure the correct

information he needs.

Method of Delivery

 

After Mr. Romney works with the materials of the
speech, he puts them in brief note form on filing cards.

These notes are very brief, consisting of just a word

or two for each idea. He delivers his talks extemp-

107
oraneously from these notes. He does not make these cards
available after a speech has been given; therefore no
observations can be made as to the relation of these notes
to the finished speech product. The speech which was
taped for this paper was given from the type of note card
described above.

Persons may say that they have seen many complete
manuscripts of speeches given by Mr. Romney. If the
cepy of the speech is other than a commencement address,
then the speech was edited from a tape recording or notes
taken by listeners during the actual speaking situation.
and is not a true and accurate copy of the content and
deliVery of the speech. In other words, it has been
dressed up to look better in print.

It is certainly evident, from this writer's
research, that "dressing up" of a speech might be needed
when it is printed. Simply reading the literal tran-
scription of this speech, we can see that some re-writing,
especially deletions, would be necessary. Perhaps a more
detailed outline, rather than ideas just jotted down on
a note card, would have resulted in a smoother delivery.
Then some of the errors as those listed here might have
been avoided.

One of the most common errors in speech-making
occurs when the speaker is searching, mentally, for a
word and so, to fill the pause while he searches, (instead

of just stopping until he finds the prOper word), he

108
says "ah" or "uh." Romney had this fault:
. . . and uh children of a common Creator. . . .
. . . based on ah individual responsibility.
And 3:313 and that's what makes our society. . . .
. . . there had to be uh uh a development. . . .

I think that his uh right to bargain collectively
32 was permitted. . . .

Romney might also have avoided tripping over
words, repetition of words, and the use of the wrong word,
had his speech been better organized. His mind actually
seemed to be going faster than his tongue and verbally he
could not keep up. Troubles with words showed in this
manner:

. . . any economic organization should represent
it their individual members.

 

Now, now I think that if we're gonna get America

get Michigan. . . .

 

 

 

. . . I believe that we need to sub sub substi-
tute. O O O

. . . too many instances collective barg blud-

geoning. . . .

And I believe that and I mean that the in-
dividual. . . .

 

 

 

Most of these errors are probably avoided when
Mr. Romney does speak from a manuscript or at least from
a detailed outline.

We did discover, however, that when Mr. Romney
does speak from a manuscript, he writes notations on the
text and uses a slash (/) line to denote a pause and with
this mark:C3 designates when he wants to run words to-

gether in his speaking.

109

Since this study is limited to one campaign
speech by Mr. Romney, we cannot tell if he uses in his
speaking favorite phrases or words. However, Mr. Trum-
bull did state that very frequently Mr. Romney uses
two favorite connective phrases "after all" and "now
look." These are in addition to those mentioned in
Chapter VI, "now" and "and" as found in the speech
studied for this thesis.

Stewart Alsop commented once upon Romney's think-
ing and speaking. He felt that Romney's ideas are based
upon what he calls Romney's five basic "RomneVisms."

He stated that Romney, when Romneyizing, is articulate,
always filled with a passionate conviction.S These so-
called Romneyisms do appear in the particular speech with
which we are concerned. They seem to be essential to
George Romney's speaking.

The Romneyisms, in very brief form, are the
following:

The American political system is "divinely
H

2. Despite its divine inspiration, Romney
believes that the American system is endangered. The
danger springs from the fact that "the political par-
ties are not run by citizens any more."

3. The Romney cure for the "low status" of pol-
itics, envisages "voluntary cooperation" and "citi-
zens' participation" in the affairs of state.

A. The American economic system is not capi-
talism - it is "consumerism."

 

SAlSOp, Op. Cite, pp. 13-21.

110

5. The economic system of consumerism is en-
dangered, just as the political system is endangered.

Therefore, we can state that Romney's delivery is
extemporaneous from brief notes prepared by himself. But
evidently he does base his thinking upon certain themes
which, apparent to Mr. Alsop in May of 1962, are also
evident in this particular campaign speech given in

September of 1962.

Physical Factors in Delivegy

 

A speaker's appearance is bound to have some in-
fluence on his reception by an audience. The following,
of course, is a woman's View, but in various writings
about Romney in national magazines, one may find that
males have stated approximately the same things regarding
George Romney's physical make-up.

Stewart Alsop wrote these three phrases about
the man:

1. . . . personal magnetism. . . .

2. . . . personality which conveys an almost
overpowering impression of earnestness, conviction
and just plain goodness.

3. . . . visible sincerity and goodness.6

In 1959 an article in Time stated the following
about Romney's physical characteristics when speaking:

1. Back and forth he rocks, clenching his
fists, screwing his handsome face into an intense
mask. Out shoot the words in evangelical organlike

tones; down flies his fist to shake the dust from
the table.

 

61bid.

Ill

2. . . . juts his formidable jaw.

3. . . . wagging his finger at them.7

All of the above statements help to describe
George Romney's speaking appearance. It must also be
stated that he is handsome. The man is tall with dark
hair graying at the temples. His face is lined, but the
lines seem to be those of laughter and smiles, at peace
with the world. This is not a face of unhappiness.

Romney's personality reflects a healthy, vigorous
body which can well be the result of his athletic life.

' which is six holes

He terms his golf game "compact ld,’
of golf played every morning with three balls used for
each hole. The Mormon precepts of never smoking or
drinking anything stronger than milk have also aided in
his physical well being.

The evening upon which Romney gave the speech dis-
cussed in this thesis, started at six that morning. He
had driven, with three campaign aides, from his home in
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, to Flint and spent the day
shaking hands with persons at factory entrances all over
the city. He had also attended many coffee klatches. He
had been campaigning all day when he dashed into Dom
Polski Club at 8:00 P.M. to give his speech.

Yet the man looked as if he had just showered and
shaved and was greeting the day with a smile. Not a hair

was out of place, the press was in his suit, his white

 

7"The Dinosaur Hunter," 0p. cit., p. M2.

ll2

shirt looked immaculate, and his shoes were shining. A
big smile was on his face, and not one hint of weariness
showed. Truly a striking person.

This man's face is very expressive, which can
be seen in the pictures in the next section concerned
with bodily action.

If his voice and face convey one emotion above
all others, it is the emotion of intensity. The man is
intense about everything. Whatever beliefs Romney holds,

they automatically become intense beliefs.

Bodily Action in Delivery

 

When we are discussing bodily action in delivery
of a speech, we are concerned with all parts of the body
and their uses. The movements of the body can be termed
as the gestures. Mr. Romney used gestures involving his
whole body: head, arms, face, and trunk, during his
speaking. He kept contact with his audience, looking
them directly in the eye and shifting frequently from
one part of the group to another during the speech. He
had excellent eye contact, never leaving his audience
except to consult his notes.

We have all heard the old, old saying "a picture
is better than a thousand words." Therefore, in the
next few pages we find pictures depicting Romney as he
was giving his speech.

Under each picture is the excerpt from the speech

which the gesturing accompanied. As we can see, Mr.

113

Romney uses gestures which fittingly match the idea being
expressed. Many gestures were used in this speech; in
fact it may be said that Mr. Romney speaks with his body
as well as with words. Because of these meaningful
movements by him, his whole speech gained force and
clarity.

When noting the hand and body gestures, also ob~
serve the man's facial expressions. His face is very
expressive, which certainly aids in the physical delivery

of the speech.

 

It‘llllll

"Thank you very much, Al."

"And . . . I was there when this country.

 

_ _ .

"In his office in Washington,
. . . one thinr on his well

 

" , 1 , , _ , _'
. . . where the unions

.. _> . ,1 \ o .
the cxmiloyers . . sun . . 'On f11> oas113 there lwui
' . . H ‘,- ._
down . . . indus ry. . . . to he JUanopment. . . .

H

 

[‘1
. uomrades ,

116

and then
1'

"We're sitting on a delayed

action economic BONE.

 

H

ll?

 

". . . you sent me five

and they kept Ii/)' 8 of it."

 

 

". . . to provide the leader- ". . . cruel heart and

 

ship we need. . . ." cold blood.ll

 

"How I haven't changed."

"I sculdn't square it with my ". . . workers thrown out

 

 

The heckler
during the question and answer period.

in response to the heckler
in back of the room.

 

120

Voice in Persuasion

 

A voice in its vocal qualities can be persuasive,
not because the speaker is speaking logic or sense to the
hearer but because, from the harshness or softness or
other variations of tone, the listener knows what reaction
is expected of him. An example of this can certainly be
found in the youngster being called by a parent for
dinner. The child may be too far away to hear the words
the parent is sending out, but the child still says,
"Boy, I better get going, Dad really sounds angry."

In other words, the vocal tone, not the words, has per-
suaded the child to action. The voice, in this instance,
was very important in the art of persuasion.

Mr. Romney's voice is a factor to be considered
when discussing the man's persuasiveness within this
speech. Vocal tone, quality, pitch, range, etc. are
most important in adding to his persuasiveness as a
speaker. Many of us have tuned a speaker out of our lis-
tening mind, perhaps in church, or at a school assembly,
or at a P.T.A. meeting, not because we were disinterested
in the speaker's subject matter but we could not listen
to the speaker's voice. An example of a voice we might
not listen to, is one which is a monotone.

Therefore, we know that the voice itself is im-
portant in the speaking performance as a whole. What is
there in the vocal quality of George Romney's voice that

aids in his speaking?

121

There are at least four conditions which help to
make a good speaking voice. By asking the following
questions and then attempting to answer them, we can
learn about the voice of George Romney. The questions
are: (1) can the voice be heard, (2) can the voice be
understood, (3) is the voice pleasant, and (h) is the
voice flexible? Let us look at each of these four areas
which constitute the make-up of vocalization and by which
we can determine if a voice can be classified as lis-

tenable or not.

1. Can the Voice be Heard?8
George Romney has excellent vocal resonance
which is included with tonal depth. The man is capable
of speaking in many variations of softness or loudness.
His softest voice can be heard because the voice is so
resonant. In a hall the size of Dom Polski there was no
need for a microphone because Romney could project his

voice to every part of the room.

2. Can the Voice be Understood?9
Sometimes persons can be heard but not under-

stood because they do not form their words distinctly

 

8At the time of the speech, this writer moved
about the hall to determine if Romney could be heard and
understood; also by playing the tape of the speech over
and over the writer's first impressions were further con-
firmed.

91bid.

 

122 1
enough for the listener. This can be true both in face-
to-face conversation or in a speaking situation.

Articulation is said to be good when the sounds
are distinct, accurate, and harmoniously blended into
one another. Articulation is no more acceptable
when it is overly precise and Bedantic than when it
lacks clearness and accuracy.1

Romney's voice fulfills the needs of good artic-

ulation, thereby being understandable. His pronunciation
of words is distinct, usually accurate, and these words
are blended into one another.

Distinct pronunciation is given to words without

his being too precise. We know when words end in "t"

' These endings are not slurred. The

or "ed" or "ing.'
word "because" is that, not "becuz."
Mr. Romney does slur one set of words, resulting

" for "going to" and makes one of the oldest

in "gonna
mistakes of saying "jest" for "just." These errors are
evident throughout the speech but do not detract from
the speaLing itself.

The blending of words in this speech is rather
amazing in that Romney will use a long series of words
without pausing, and yet all are understandable, because

the words, although flowing together, are distinct, one

from the other. The man has good breath control; thus

 

lOElsie Hahn, Donald E. Hargis, Charles W.
Lomas, and Daniel Vandraegen, Basic Voice Training
For Speech (New York: McGraw-Hillfifio., Inc., 1952),
p. 135.

 

 

123

he is not choppy in develOping his speech sentences.

'2

J.

Is the Voice Pleasant?

Romney's voice is deep, smooth, mellow and
rich, which certainly makes it pleasant to listen to.

He speaks smoothly and, in this particular speech, paced
his flow of words in a slow conversational voice which
flowed along with enough variety not to be boring.

As the pace of the speech quickened, Romney still
maintained the smoothness and richness of voice.

The man, himself, seemed confident and sure when
starting to address the audience. He never lost this
poise, and his voice showed confidence which added to
the awareness of this listener that he was sure of

himself.

A. Is the Voice Flexible?

Many items can add to the flexibility of a
voice. We must consider those which help to form George
Romney's very flexible speaking voice.

Probably the most effective part of his delivery
is the way in which he stresses words. He does use all
the usual ways, loudness or softness, pause before or
after a word or phrase, and lengthening of the word,
and rhythm patterns. He also uses another means which
we shall term partial emphasis within a word or group
of words. Examples of these constituents of flexibility
involving word stress are available from this speech. It

is difficult to transcribe on paper that which is audible

12h
to the ear, but with the following examples we shall make

this attempt.

Loudness or softness

 

First, Mr. Romney uses loudness or softness.

. . . on a basis that has permitted collective
collective bargaining power by employers or by
un.‘50nso O O O

 

This particular group of words was started in a normal
voice and the loudness increased until "by employers"
and "by unions" are very loud to the ear in the context

of the speech.

Pauses before or after and lengthening of words

 

Pauses before or after and lengthening of a

word are also used effectively. One sentence shows the

(i

use oi all three of these techniques.

Now, fundamental to our way of life -- is the,
fact -- that we are all children of a Cre—a-tor.

Partial emphasis of words

 

Very catching to the listening ear is the partial
emphasis of words which points to vocal flexibility.
Romney used these words which illustrate this point.

adequate, ipfinitely, and shielded

Rhythm for emphasis

 

The man does not speak in a noticeable rhythm
pattern, but there are tires in the delivery of the
speech where he establishes a rhythm for empnasis which

is indicative of flexibility with the voice. Examples

 

 

125

are listed below:

. . . is people who have ideas about services
and products. . . .

. . . and Walter Reuther and the union leaders
of the U.A.W. were praising American Motors and
me. O O O

 

 

 

After all, every American, every American. . . .

 

At times the rhythm or pace is quickened or slackened,

which adds to the listenability of the speech.

Slowness or fastness of pace

 

One sentence in the speech denotes the slowness
of the pace of the beginning of the speech.
And the men who founded this country decided
that we could have a better way of life -- if,
the, responsibility for making progress. . . .
A fast pace is evident in just the transcription of these
words.
We're sittinz on a delayed action economic BOMB

or BLOCK BvsTea raoPORTIoNs AND vz'as Nor acADY FOR
IT.

 

Range as seen in sentences

 

Also included in vocal flexibility should be the
use of the speaking range. By Speaking range we mean the
flexibility of the voice as it could be measured on the
musical scale. Romney has quite a vocal range. This
sentence is an example of the use of vocal range in
pitch.

I think, some mistakes were made.

On a musical scale the words would shift in this

pattern, not necessarily on these pitches.

126

 

 

 

 

”ix 0
(TU C
O —O—

I think some mis-takes were made

 

 

 

 

 

By putting the words on the staff it is obvious

that there is no monotone in this speaking voice.

Range as seen with just one word

 

Mr. Romney has a distinct way of sliding on one
word which is observable in the above example with the
word "think." This is perfectly seen in his pronun-
ciation of "ideal" in the sentence, "This is the ideal."

Ideal in this context reads:

 

 

 

 

 

 

d

i de al
Romney's use of this sliding on the scale is
evident with the word "Comrades." It appears like this:

5'

 

 

 

 

 

Com rades
With this concluding example we see that Romney's
voice is indeed very flexible, as can be observed
through these seven means of which we gave examples.
(1) Loudness or softness

(2) Pauses before or after and lengthening
of words

(3) Partial emphasis of words

127
(h) Rhythm for emphasis
(3) Slowness or fastness of pace

(6) Range, compared to the musical scale, as
seen in sentences, and

(7) Range, compared to the musical scale, as
seen within one word.

This flexibility of voice increases in importance when
discussed with the first three points we considered in
the use of this voice in persuasion. Because Romney has
sucn a flexible voice with which to work, he can better
fulfill the needs of having a pleasant voice, a voice
that is understandable, and a voice that can be heard.
In brief, we can state that George Romney's
delivery of his speech certainly did not detract but
added to the content. The fact that he uses note cards
and thus does not need to be tied to a manuscript adds
to eye contact and physical freedom at the lectern.
These brief note cards, however, are a hindrance in that
Mr. Romney might make less mistakes as far as tripping
over words, repetition of words, and the use of the wrong
word had his speech been better outlined or in manu-
script form. He is a good looking man, well dressed,
thus his initial appearance to an audience is in his
favor. All these factors coupled with good body action
and a strong dynamic voice are assets for this man in

the delivery of a speech.

"CHAPTER VIII"

SUITE-”IA RY AND CON CLUS IONS

The purpose of this thesis was to discover
speaking techniques of George Wilkins Romney, as
revealed in one speech, that might aid him in securing
the public's vote as a candidate for governor of Michigan.

To do this we first had to know about the man --
what in his background influenced him as a speaker. It
was learned that the Mormon Church was certainly a major
factor in his speech training. As a small boy he was
required to give two-and-a-half minute talks in Sunday
School. The two years he spent on mission in Britain,
1926-1928, certainly aided in his learning how to c0pe
with crowds and how to attract and hold their attention
with his speaking ability. Then, of course, his role as
a leader in his church and in industry gave him many
opportunities to speak.

For many years, Romney believed that citizens
should be active in their government. His political role
began in earnest with "Citizens for Michigan" and as a
member of the Michigan Constitutional Convention. In
1962, Romney stated that he was running for governor

because of the "financial mess" in Michigan.

128

129

In Chapter III we tried to determine if there was
a "financial mess" within Michigan's economy, which would
have develoned since lghS, when Michigan was financially
stable. It was clear that Romney was running because he
could see that since the end of World War II, many
problems had developed in the state concerning taxation,
3 lack of money, unemployment, and party politics.

It was found that there was a state deficit;
unemployment was increasing; and industry was so heavily
taxed that it was finding expansion within the state
impossible and, as an alternative, was moving out of the
state. Because of these problems, both economic and
political, Romney believed he should run for governor.

He believed that he was the man needed to help straighten
out the state.

Thus, a study of Romney the man and of Michigan's
recent history helped in attaining a better understanding
of Geo ge Romney the speaker, a devout man who believes
in citizen participation in government; and it explained
why he believed he should run for governor of the State
of Michigan.

Since this study is limited to one speech in
Romney's first gubernatorial campaign, we cannot make
generalizations about his speaking in any situation; but

we can draw specific conclusions about this one speech,

130
and these conclusions may be of value to the researcher
who seeks broader answers to the questions about Romney's
speaking.

For the sake of clarity and convenience, the
emainder of the thesis was divided into four areas of
study concerned with this speech. Now it is our purpose
to weld together the findings of these four areas in
a summary and to conclude our findings as to Romney's

Speaking in this one particular speech.
Chapter III, "The Occasion, Audience, and

n 0

Responses," was llPSt pr sented in detail so that we

(0

could understand the factors "outside" of the speech

text, which is transcribed in Chapter IV. Because this
transcription was made from a tape of the actual speech,
it includes every pause, every mispronounced word, and

all other mistakes which could be reproduced in printed
form. The text of the speech was then followed by
chapters divided into a consideration of the three factors
of the text itself: Analysis, Arrangement, and Delivery

of the Speech.

Now we must take these four areas; The Occasion,
Audience and Responses; Rhetorical Analysis of the
Materials of the Speech; Arrangement of the Speech; and
.elivery of the Speech, and bring them together in this
chapter. In other words, let us look at the speech as

an entirety and not in parts as was necessary at first.

131

Chapter III

 

It was found in Chapter III, "The Occasion,
Audience, and Responses," that the reason for this
speech situation was unusual in that union men had

)etitioned to hear Romney. The audience to whom he

k.

spoke was an union group which responded warmly to
Romney and the contents of his speech. By their im-
mediate responses, applause, and verbal comments, it was
found that they were interested in:
1. Citizens working in a political party,
2. Job needs,
. Governor John Swainson's lack of leadership,

A. The importance of the individual,
5. Romney's views concerning unemployment,
6

. Walter Reuther's animosity towards George
Romney.

Chapter IV

 

Chapter IV is concerned with a rhetorical analysis
of the Materials of Speaking. The chapter was divided
into three areas: Materials of Development, Experience,

and Personal Proof.

Materials of Development
Materials of DeveIOpment can be divided into two

major categories: 1. Evidence and 2. Reasoning.

1. Evidence

 

Mr. Romney used very little "evidence" in this

132
speech, in the normal sense of the word. Although he
stated figures and percentages, and used uotations,
rarely were any of these identified as to source; there-
!

fore, they cannot be considered 'good" evidence. Mr.

Romney did use a type of "evidence" -- at least this
writer believes that Mr. Romney considered it "evidence."
A more accurate term would be "unsupported assertions."
Unsupported assertions were acceptable to the
listener as true evidence, if he accepted Romney as an
expert in industry and religion. In other words, if
Romney was a credible person to his listeners, then the
listeners could accept this "evidence" as from a reliable
source -- that source being Romney because of his past
experiences. In the case of this speech situation, the
lack of "good evidence" was probably not a flaw, since
Romney was acceptable to the audience and he was there

to inform each person about his beliefs and feelings in

order for the audience better to understand him.

2. Reasoning

 

Mr. Romney used all four of the forms of
reasoning; Example, Analogy, Cause, and Sign. The use of
Example, however was very sparse. Only two uses of this
form of reasoning could be found in this speech.

Analogy, cause, and Sign reasoning were used throughout
the speech, usually based upon Mr. Romney's unsupported

assertions.

133

Materials of Experience

The material which Romney presented to this
union audience was picked to be of interest to them.
The speech dealt with the strength of unions, collective
bargaining, and economic groups involved in government.
Romney also appealed to various inner motives which the
audience could be believed to hold, such as personal
intelligence, desire for a better way of life, a belief
in fair play, and self-preservation. As the speech was
delivered, Romney could judge what was of interest to
the audience, as he relied on immediate feed-back; and,
since he was not confined to a manuscript, with the
responses of the listeners as a guide, he could shift

from one idea to another.

Materials of Personal Proof

It was found that Materials of Personal Proof
comprised the main type of proof used by George Romney
within Materials of Speaking. Romney gave to his audience
an inkling into his own character, which is of importance
in a speech in which this man was attempting to inform and
also persuade his audience that he was the best man for
the job of governor of Michigan.

Through analysis of the material which he used,
the following characteristics which should aid in making
the speaker more acceptable as a person to his audience

were found: (1) Romney does not like conflict amongst

13h
groups in government, (2) he wants co-Operation between
people and economic groups, (3) he is a man of intellect,
good-will, and good-character.

In summary of Romney's use of Materials of Speak-
ing, it was found that his use of evidence was slight.
Instead, Romney based his reasoning upon unsupported
assertions. These assertions aided in revealing to the
listener the background and experiences of the man.
Romney appeared to rely more upon Materials of Personal

Proof than upon the other two areas of proof.

Chapter VI

The analysis of the arrangement of Romney's
address revealed that the speaker employed the most
common form of organization: Introduction (very short),
Body (quite long), and Conclusion (relatively short).

The speech was constructed upon the central
theme of informed citizen participation, and expanded
with the incorporation of ideas concerned with: (1) col-
lective bargaining, (2) brotherhood of man, (3) Mich-
igan's problems, and (h) reasons for Romney's candidacy.

The conclusion of this speech is a strong one,
re-establishing the main points and central theme of the
talk for the audience, leaving the group with the idea
that this man can aid in solving of the problems

which he discussed.

135

Chapter VII

 

Where Mr. Romney shone in this speech, however,
although he effectively used the three main divisions of
proof and good, solid arrangement, was in his presentation
or delivery of the speech.

As we found, the man goes to experts in various
areas for assistance in locating ideas and factual mater-
ial, but he prepares the text of a speech, himself. He
usually speaks extemporaneously from very short notes
jotted on file cards, just as he did the evening of this
particular talk.

Romney's delivery finds strength in his force-
fulness of physical and vocal activity while speaking.

His physical appearance is commanding. He is tall and
very well-groomed. He is, to this writer, a handsome
man; and his appearance is that of an athletically
active person.

When Romney begins to speak, his physical vigor
becomes even more apparent, as he is physically active
through gestures and bodily movement at the lecturn. As
we can see by the pictures in Chapter VII,, he is
speaking, not only with his voice, but with all of his
body. He gestures with his hands; his face is very
expressive; and from the pictures we can see the use he
makes of his arms. His entire body is used in trans-
mitting to his listeners the ideas which he is intensely

presenting to them.

 

136

Because the man uses his entire body so meaning-
fully within the context of the speech, his speech gained
force and clarity.

Probably, Romney's greatest asset as a speaker is
his voice. It has strength and clarity, and the man uses
it to his advantage. From anywhere in the hall his voice
could be heard and understood. Because of its flexibility
and Romney's use of emphasis in pronunciation of words,
the speech was easy to listen to -- the voice helped

greatly to hold the audience's attention.

Conclusion

 

In conclusion, we can say the following about
the speaking techniques of George w. Romney:

1. Technically, the man's speech was constructed
according to current practice. During the speech and in
its preparation, he did consider his listeners; and he
adapted his material for these listeners. He used little
evidence but relied more upon unsupported assertions,
which he used as evidence.

2. In this particular speech, Romney relied
upon the use of Materials of Personal Proof which would
aid in presenting him as the right person for the job of
governor, and aid in suggesting that he was the right
person to provide the change from the status quo.

3. Romney's greatest asset -- the one factor
which certainly aided in holding the holding the

audience's attention for forty-five minutes -- was the

137
man's speaking voice. This is a voice of great flex-
ibility which adds to -- does not distract from --
the message being delivered.

Because of the limitations of the study, we
cannot say that this particular speech was influential
in helping Romney gain the gubernatorial chair in Mich-
igan. However, it is this writer's Opinion that this
man, with his speaking ability, certainly is an able
persuader and during this campaign must have convinced
many voters to vote for him. In November, 1962, he
received l,h20,000 votes in Michigan. This was in a
state which for the previous fourteen years had elected
a governor from the Democratic Party and where the
Democratic Party out numbers the GOP registration by
200,000 and twenty-six percent of the voters are inde-
pendants.l

In other words, to win the election, George
Wilkins Romney had to convince more voters to vote for
him. This he did, and it appears very likely that
speeches such as the one delivered to the members of the

Ternstedt local union were a factor in this victory.

 

 

1Mahoney, 0p. cit., p. 67.

 

jl'lllllljlrl
ll

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aristotle. The Rhetoric. Translated by Lane Cooper.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1932.

 

Rerlo, David K. The Process of Communication. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1960.

 

Brigance, William N. Speech. New York: Appleton-Century
Crofts, Inc., 1952.

Gilman, Wilbur E., Aly, Bower, and Reid, Loren D. The
Fundamentals of Speakipg. New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1951.

 

Hahn, Elsie., et a1. Basic Voice Trainirggfor Speech.
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1932.

 

Mahoney, John Thomas. The St ry of George Romney. New
York: Harper & rrothers, 1960.

 

Neter, John and Wasserman, William. Fundamental
Statistics for Business and Economics. Boston:
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Righter, Carroll. Astrology and You. New York: Perma-
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Thonssen, Lester and Baird, A. Craig. Speech Criticism.
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Thonssen, Lester. Selected Readings in Rhetoric and
Public Speaking. New York: The H. W. Wilson
Company, 19h2.

 

 

Articles and Periodicals

 

Alsop, Stewart. "George Romney: The G.O.P.'s Fast Comer,"
Saturday Evening Post (May 26, 1362) 16.

 

"An Interview with Lenore Romney," Good Housekeeping,
Vol. 15h, No. 6 (June, 1962f, 17h.

 

138

139

Martin, H. H. "Michigan The Problem State," Saturda
Evening Post, 3h (February 25, 19615, 13.

 

"Michigan: A Far Far Better Place," Industrial Develpp-
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Morin, Relman. The Flint Journal (December, 1962) 12.

 

Shorley, Jean. The Detroit Free Press (January 1h, 1962),
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Taylor, R. C. and Bennett, Samuel V. "Michigan Is Told
How To Get Jobs," Detroit Free Press (January
6, 1(963) 18. ‘

"The Dinosaur Hunter." Time (April 6, 1959) M2.

 

Thompson, Kenneth A. "Turning Point Possible in '63
for Michigan," Detroit Free Press (January 6,

1963) 18.

 

Reports

Romney, George W. What Can We Do For Michigan. Lansing,
Michigan: May 17, 1961.

 

Michigan Department of Revenue. Twenty-first Annual
Report, 1961-1962. Lansing, Michigan: Speaker-
Hines and Thomas, Inc.

 

Michigan Department of Revenue. Some Aspects of Tax
Reform. 1963.

Other Sources

 

. Interview with George T. Trumbull, Jr., Press
Secretary for George Romney. 1962.

. Interview with John Conde, Assistant Director of
Public Relations, American Motors, by John Kirn,
November 1h, 1961

. Interview with George T. Trumbull, Jr. Press
Secretary for Governor George N. Romney. Capitol
Building, Lansing Michigan: January 17, 196M.

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