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AN ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SPEECHES
OF G1 MENNEN WILLIAMS

BY
PAUL HOUSLER

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
1957

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer is deeply appreciative of the
guidance, assistance, and encouragement given by Dr.
Gordon L. Thomas, Dr. David Ralph, and Dr. Kenneth
Hance. The writer also wishes to express his
thanks to Governor Williams and the members of his
staff, who were helpful in supplying information

and speech manuscripts.

ii

AN ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SPEECHES
OF G. MENNEN WILLIAMS

BY
PAUL HOUSLER

An Abstract of a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

Department of Speech
Michigan State University
1957

 

t
Approved (7%;07I M44/

Major Professor

Paul Housler

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to describe, analyze,
and interpret the speaking of G. Mennen Williams, primarily
through the analysis of five of his speeches, in an effort
to contribute to an understanding of the nature of his speak-
ing.

The writer feels that G. Mennen Williams is worthy
of study because he has an unprecedented record of five terms
as Democratic governor of Michigan, a state that has normally
been considered Republican. In addition, he has been men-
tioned as a candidate for national offices, including those
of United States senator, vice-president, and president of
the United States.

An analysis of Williams through his speechmaking was
undertaken because it has been stated that Williams relies
on public speaking to help him win elections. Such an anal-
ysis has not previously been made, and it is hOped that these
preliminary efforts will prove to be a worthwhile pilot proj-
ect.

The main sources of information used in this study
were periodicals, newspapers, and interviews with the subject
and with those associated with him. The material has been
organized into the following chapters: Chapter I is the in-
troductory chapter; Chapter II deals with the political and

economic history of Michigan, providing a background against

Paul Housler
2

which to consider Williams; Chapter III is concerned with
Williams' background and training; Chapter IV attempts to
give a picture of Williams as a speaker; Chapter V contains
the analyses of the selected speeches; and Chapter VI pre-
sents a summary and draws conclusions.

The speeches for analysis were selected with respect
to the dates on which they were delivered during Williams'
career as governor, the subject matter of the speeches, the
audiences who attended the speeches, and the places where
the speeches were delivered. The technique for analyzing
the speeches was adapted from the tenets of speech criticism
handed down to us by the critics of antiquity and includes a
description, analysis, and interpretation of the speeches
with regard to the following tOpios: (1) ideas, (2) organi-
zation, (3) evidence and reasoning, (A) psychological and
emotional appeals, and (5) style.

Following is a summary of the conclusions in each of
the five areas: Igggg. The ideas expressed in the speeches
analyzed seem to correspond to those of the New Deal philos-
Ophy, a basic concept of which includes using government as
an active agent Operating for the benefit of individuals in
society. In each of the five speeches some evidence was
found to support the conclusion that Williams believes in
this concept. Organization. In each of the speeches ana-
lyzed Williams employed a definite introduction, body, and
conclusion. In the bodies of the speeches he seemed to favor

what may be termed a 10gical organization--that is, the group-

ing tOgether of the ideas which are a part of the reasoning

Paul Housler

3
process. ggidence and reasoning. Williams used a consider-
able body of evidence, employing statistics in all Of the
Speeches analyzed except one. In addition to this use of
evidence, Williams used quotations from authority, favoring
citations from Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin
D. Roosevelt. Williams used this evidence of fact and Opin-
ion as a basis for several types Of deductive and inductive
reasoning. In four Of the speeches Williams seemed to use
deductive reasoning to a greater extent than inductive. Egy-
chological and emotional appeals. In the five speeches ana-
lyzed, Williams used psychological and emotional appeals
sparingly. One consistent psychological appeal employed was
the use of personal pronouns, a device which seemed likely
to emphasize the good will of the speaker. There were ap-
peals made to the listener's sense of patriotism, duty, love,
and oo-Operation. Spylg. Williams used parallel construc-
tion in each Of the five speeches, while other stylistic de-
vices-~such as alliteration, analogy, rhetorical questions,
and figures of speechp-were used less consistently. One sty-
listic device which Williams employed with frequency was the
use of personal pronouns.

The writer's Opinion is that Williams' speeches con-
tain considerable evidence of fact and Opinion. They are
well-organized and logical. They may not be stylistically
imaginative; but, though they are generally not marked by
wide use of psychological and emotional appeals, they enable
Williams to present himself favorably to the listener. It is

the writer‘s Opinion that the listener accepts first the

Paul Housler
1;,
speaker, then the ideas. What the Democrats in Michigan

needed in 1948 was a leader who could visualize changes
which had taken place within the state and who could capi-
talize upon them. Williams seemed able to impress the voters
Of the state with his qualifications, and certainly an im-
portant means of creating this impression was his speech-

making.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTI ON 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 1
II 0 BACKGROIIND o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 5

III. WILLIAMS, THE MAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
IV. WILLIAMS, THE SPEAKER. . . . . . . . . . . 39

V. .ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SPEECHES. . . . . . . #9
VI. CONCLUSIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lh3

111

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

gtatement oprroblem. One may examine many facets
of an individual in an attempt to discover the sources of
his leadership. It is difficult to isolate these sources
because they are often interrelated, but throughout history
speechmaking has been an integral part of the make-up of
many individuals and an important source of their leader-
ship. The purpose Of this study is todescribe, analyze,
and interpret G. Mennen Williams, governor of Michigan, as
a speaker--primarily through the analysis of five speeches--
in an attempt to contribute to an understanding of the na-
ture Of his speaking.

égmitations imposed. The number of speeches ana-
lyzed will be limited to five. A complete study of the
speaking of Williams would, of course, involve the examina-
tion of all the speeches that he has delivered in his career.
This would be an impossible task, however desirable it might
be. Within limits of time and space available, the writer
decided to select five speeches Which he felt would be rep-
resentative of the speaking of Williams in terms of the sub-
Ject matter on which he speaks, the audiences to whom he
speaks, and the places and dates of delivery. The selection

of five speeches is even more Justifiable in view of the

1

fact that many, if not most, of Williams' speeches are the
result of a Joint effort on the part of many peOple closely
connected with the governor. Some speeches, however, are
almost entirely the work Of Williams alone. It is from
these speeches that the ones analyzed in this thesis have
been selected; what is set forth in the following study is
essentially a case study Of a selected group of Williams'
speeches.

This study will not attempt to make explicit, de-
tailed value Judgments for two reasons. First, the task
of doing the research and detailed analysis necessary to
Justify such explicit Judgments would require more time
than the writer has available. Second, in order to Judge
in true perspective the speechmaking of any individual, it
seems to the writer that time should mellow his accomplish.
ments.

Justification. G. Mennen Williams is worthy of
study because he has an unprecedented record of five terms
as Democratic governor of Michigan, a state that has nor-
mally been considered Republican. In addition, he has been
mentioned as a candidate for national offices, including

those of United States senator, vice-president, and president.1

 

1Newspapers carried accounts Of Williams' possible
candidacy for presidency prior to the 1956 nominating con-
ventions. The Courier:§uffalo ggpress, November 18, 1955,
stated: “The tall forty-four year old shaving cream heir
who frequently has been mentioned as a possible Democratic
presidential nominee said he has been aware of the specula-
tion and has given the matter thought.” The Detroit Ere!
Press, November 29, 1955, summarized the situation in this
way: I'Some believe that the Michigan governor is not shoot-

3

Why, then, an analysis of Williams through his speech-
es? It has been stated that Williams relies on public speak-
ing in helping him to win elections. He has delivered a large
number of speeches on a variety of tOpics, and an analysis of
his speeches has not previously been undertaken; thus, it is
hOped that these preliminary efforts will prove to be a worth-
while pilot proJect.

Materials and sources. The main sources of informa-
tion used in this study were periodicals, newspapers, and
interviews with the subject and with those associated with
him. The only biographical material that the writer eduia
find concerning Williams was in news magazines, Current Bigg-
ggphy, occasional newspaper accounts, and a brief biography.
released by Williams' Office. The lack Of biOgraphical ma-
terial proved to be a difficult barrier in preparing the
chapters on "Williams, the Man“ and "Williams, the Speaker“.
It is suggested that this may be a fruitful area for a later
study.

Plan of organization. The material has been organ-
ized into the following chapters: Chapter II deals With the
political and economic history of Michigan, providing a back-
ground against which to consider Williams; Chapter III is
concerned with Williams' background and training; Chapter
IV attempts to give a picture of Williams as a speaker;

Chapter V contains the analyses of the five selected speech-

 

ing for the 1956 nomination for president but he hOpes to
emerge in four years as the party's liberal spokesman and
benefit from reaction four years later."

1+

e52; and Chapter VI presents a summary and draws conclusions.

 

2COpies of the speeches selected for analysis will
be found in the appendix.

CHAPTER II
BACKGROUND

The purpose Of this chapter is to trace briefly some
of the significant aspects of the political and economic
history of Michigan and to describe the gubernatorial eleca
tions in which'Williams has participated. Such information
will help place the Accomplishments of Governor Williams as
a speaker in their prOper perspective.

Political and Economic History of Michigan

Prom 185k until 1932 Michigan was almost solidly Re-
publican, electing only two Denocrats--Governcr‘Winans in
1890 and Governor Ferris in 1912 and 191#. This almost
solid Republican rule accounts for the fact that Michigan
is considered a 'Republican state“.

A post-Civil War boom in mining, manufacturing, and
lumbering was the harbinger.cf a new economy in Michigan,
which was to make a marked change in the political structure
of the state. Michigan's proximity to iron ore, adJacent
to cheap water transportation, was destined to produce an
industrial economy. Between 1890 and 1920 manufacturing in-
creased enormously, and the trend from a predominatly extrac-
tive economy to one of manufacturing began. This industrial

economy caused a shifting of population from rural to urban
5

areas and brought about a steady influx of workers to urban
areas from other states and from EurOpe. Detroit, for example,
had nearly a million inhabitants by 1920, five times as many
as in 1890. The papulation of Flint increased ninefold during
that same thirtybyear period. In 1890 only thirty-five per
cent of the inhabitants of Michigan lived in towns or cities
of 2500 or more. However, by 1920 sixty-one per cent of the
peeple lived in towns or cities of 2500 or more, while thirtyb
nine per cent lived in villages or on farms. As will be ex-
plained later in this chapter, this shift of pepulation to
urban areas was an important basic factor in the rejuvenation
of the Democratic party, under whose banner 0. Mennen Williams
was to become a five-time governor.

At the top of the manufacturing hierarchy, as far
as the state and the nation were concerned, was the manufac-
ture of automobiles. The introduction of this industry to
the state scene marked the end of an era and the beginning
of a new era which was to exert marked changes, not only in
the economy of the state but in the political structure of
the state as well. These changes became evident during the
world-wide depression of the 1930's. The depression brought
about significant shifting in the political thinking of the
people of the United States. Because of its highly special-
ized industrial nature, Michigan suffered sooner and more
severely than most of the other states. It was the auto-
mobile industry in Michigan that had led the sWing to prom-
perity--due, in part, to a great demand for cars by those
who had made money during the first World War. Likewise,

it was the automobile industry which now caused widespread
unemployment, because of decreased production. Only two
million units were produced in 1933. as compared with five
million units in 1929.3

Politically, the depression was largely responsible
for the 1932 national landslide for the Democrats. The
factors which influenced peOple to vote for Franklin D.
Roosevelt in the 1932 election likewise influenced them to
vote for many other Democrats throughout the nation. In
Michigan, the Democratic candidate for governor, William A.
Comstock, was elected by an overwhelming margin. He re-
ceived 15,072 more votes than did Roosevelt in Michigan and
190,000 more than his Republican Opponent, Wilbur M. Brucker.
For the first time since the Civil War, the Democrats
elected a majority of representatives in the state legisla-
ture.“

The New Deal philosOphy5 of the Roosevelt administra-
tion was reflected in Michigan by the action taken by Governor

 

3F. Clever Bald, Michigan in Four Centuries, (New
York: Harper and Brothers, 1954,) p. 188.

4Ibid., p. 406.

5In his book Americanggolitics and the Party:§xstem,
(New York: McGraw Hill Company, Inc., 19u9), pp. 320-31,
Hugh.A. Bone, Professor of American Government and Politics
at the University 0 .Washington, states: ”The role of the
federal government in the New Deailbecame to regulate pri-
vate economic forces, engage ifl~economic planning especially
for social security, plan several economic enterprises under
public ownership, and extend public services to private in-
dividuals and groups...w1thin four years after the inaugura-
tion of Roosevelt, a federal public works and Job security
pragram, a federal-state system of old age pensions, unem-
ployment compensation, and various health and.welfare serve

Comstock to solve problems brought on by the depression.
He was one of the first governors in the United States to
declare a bank holiday, due to the fear-inspired rush by
the people to withdraw their savings. In line with general
New Deal practices, Comstock instituted a pregram of soil
conservation and reforestation in the state. It was during
Governor Comstock's term of office that the three per cent
sales tax was started in Michigan and the Old Age.Assistance
Act was passed.6

Concurrent with these deve10pments, another important
influence upon the political situation in Michigan appeared
during the administration of the New Deal: the growth of
labor unions, which became important political forces, par-
ticularly in Michigan. Unions were not unknown in Michigan
before the 1930's, for there had been considerable labor
unionization even before the Civil War. It was not until
1936, however, that the automobile workers in Michigan union-
ized under the American Federation of Labor banner, which

in 1938 became the Congress of Industrial Organization.7

 

5iees were established. Credit was extended to home-
owners, farmers, and business. Investors and consumers
were given a larger degree of protection and the under-
privileged were helped by public power projects. An under-
lying concept of the New Deal, as enunciated byfleaders of
the New Deaflin its earlier days, was that the people had
been made less secure because they were 'regimented into
the service of the privileged few'. By curbing these few,
the Rooseveltian philosophy held, greater freedom, liberty,
and security for the average man would result“.

6F. Clever Bald, 22. cit., pp. hoe-16.
71bid., p. bzu

By 1936 the automobile workers' union had become a
potent political force in Michigan. The Political Action
Committee of the C.I.O. was formed in 1938 to support the
political party which initiated legislation favorable to
the union movement. Since the inception of the P.A.C., the
union has consistently supported the Democratic party in
Michigan. Likewise, since l9h8 it has backed Gm Mennen
Williams in his election campaigns. The support of the labor
vote, especially that of the 0.1.0. members, has had an_im-
portant bearing on the elections from 1950 through 1956.

Throughout the depression years, Michigan residents,
as well as workers from the other states, continued to
stream into the cities of southeastern Michigan. Wayne,
Oakland, and Macomb counties were particularly high in the
number of new residents who migrated to places within their
borders. Many of these people came from the Democratic
South; the heavily papulated area of Wayne County has been,
since the depression, overwhelmingly Democratic, while the
more sparsely settled rural areas of the state support the
Republican Party.8

Michigan's experience since the beginning of the
depression demonstrates that Democratic appeal is greatest

in the areas with dense pOpulation.

 

~———r——-——

8Joseph G. LaPalombara, ‘guide to Michigan Politicg,
(Prepared for the Citizenship Clearing House, affiliated
with the Law Center of New York Union, Washington Square,
New York,_3, New York), p. 7.

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Urban voting trends are essentially Democratic trends.9

One can see that industrialization and a pOpulation increase
have combined to produce a considerable Democratic shift.
This is well-illustrated by the abrupt changes in seat dis-
tribution in the state legislature in 1933-1934. In 1931-
1932 there were thirty-one Republicans and one Democrat in
the State Senate and ninety-eight Republicans and two
Democrats in the House of Representatives. In 1933-1934
there were fifteen Republican state senators and seventeen
Democratic state senators, while in the House of Rep-
resentatives there were fortybfive Republicans and fifty-
five Democrats. This turning point seems to have been
permanent, for, while the Republicans, except for the 1933-
193k session, continue to dominate in both houses of the
legislature, there has been only one brief return to the
lap-sided majorities that prevailed in the earlier part
of the century.10

It is significant to note that in all of the state's
political regions, Republican and Democrat, a large independ-
ent vote exists which patently has influenced the course of
political trends. At least a quarter of the state's voters

are not committed to any one party.11

 

9sazauiel J. Eldersveld and James K. Pollock, Miohi an
Politics in Transition (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press, 1932), p. E3. 1

1°Joseph s. LaPalombara, op. cit., p. 16.

6 11Samuel J. Eldersveld and James K. Pollock, gp;_g;§a.
p— 5.

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11
Therefore, the candidate, whatever his political party, who
can make the most favorable impression on this segment of
the voters has a good chance of being elected to office.

To give a clearer view of the political picture in
Michigan, it should be known that the state is divided into
four political regions.12 They are:

1. The six strong Democratic counties: Wayne, Bay,
Delta, Presque Isle, Macomb, and Monroe, all of which have
been the most inflexibly Democratic in recent years. Here,
then, is the core of the Democratic strength. These six
counties, five in the Lower Peninsula and three of these
adjacent to each other in the Southeastern section of the
state, have forty-four per cent of the population of the
state.

2. The nineteen shifting Democratic counties--that
is, counties which have recently gone Democratic more often
than Republican: An analysis of these nineteen counties
reveals that the most pOpulous sections of the state had the
pronounced Democratic shifts. These counties include twenty-
two of the forty-three cities with a population of more than
ten thousand; likewise, these counties include eighty-five
per cent of the urban population of Michigan, which itself
is more than sixty-five per cent urban.

3. The fourteen safe Republican counties: Quite

the apposite of Democratic counties, these fourteen counties

 

121nm. . pp. 20-41.

12
are fairly uniform as far as their geographical, economic,
and pOpulational nature is concerned. Except Luce County,
in the Upper Peninsula, all are scattered in the Lower Pen—
insula but are situated mainly in the northern part. As
could be expected, they are predominantly rural, as a group--
more than eighty per cent so, despite the fact that Kalama-
zoo County has more than fifty per cent of its pOpulation in
the city of Kalamazoo. These counties have only about eight
per cent of the state's pOpulation, and their predominantly
rural character presents a consistent group picture.

h. The twelve doubtful counties: These counties,
unpredictable as to their voting preference, are located
generally in the rural north. Six of them are in the Upper
Peninsula, four being classified as “forest” counties and
two as llmineral”. Four of the Lower Peninsula counties are
forest, one (Berrien) is farm-urban, and one (Jackson) is
urban. There are no farm counties included in this category.
The sparsely settled character of this group of counties is
apparent from the fact that in 1940 it included no more than
five per cent of the pOpulation of the state. In these
twelve doubtful counties a high percentage of independent
or “non-organization“ vote exists.13

In order to bring us up to the point of Williams'
entry into the political scene, a brief review of the state

gubernatorial elections from the time of the depression

 

13Ibid., p. 41.

until 1948 will be given. It has already been noted that
William.A. Comstock, a Democrat, won the election of 1932,
when the Democrats swept the state administrative offices.

In the 1934 election the Republicans were victorious with
their candidate, Frank D. Fitzgerald. Then in the 1936
election the Democrats elected Frank Murphy as governor.
Frank Fitzgerald was returned to the governor's office by
the Republicans in 1938. .After serving two months of his
two-year term he died, and Lieutenant Governor Luren D.
Dickinson served out the rest of the term. In 1940, Murray
D. Van Wagoner, a Democrat, was elected governor. This
review of the elections serves to indicate the political
change that had taken place in Michigan since the depression:
the two-party character of the state government began to emerge
and the voters of the state were willing to vote for the
party which.showed itself capable of administering to their
best interests.

In the 1942 election, Harry F. Kelly, the Republican
Secretary of State, defeated Governor Van‘Wagoner. Kelly
was re-elected in 1944, the first incumbent in fourteen years
to succeed himself in the governor's office.1“ ,All the exp
ecutive offices in the state government were won by Republi-
cans in 1944, and the party had a strong majority in the
legislature. Two problems which faced the Michigan legis-
lature during Kelly's first term were reapportionment and

corruption. The first was the result of the movement to-

15F.Clever Bald, gp.cit., p. 451.

A‘

.a

.1

( .

14
ward the cities, increasing the pOpulation of the counties
in the southeastern part of the state and decreasing it
elsewhere. Under pressure of Governor Kelly, in 1943 the
House reapportioned the seats, improving considerably the
previous unfair apportionment, unchanged since 1925. The
Upper Peninsula lost two seats, and certain counties in the
Lower Peninsula lost ten. Of the twelve seats, six were
given to Wayne County and six were distributed among Oak-
land, Genesee, Ingham, Macomb, and washtenaw eounties.15
Since these counties are largely Democratic, the Democrats
were given a better chance for additional representation
in the state House of Representatives.

The problem of corruption in the legislature was at-
tacked by a grand jury and the courts. In 1943 there was
talk in Lansing that lobbyists were purchasing the votes of
legislators. Attorney General Herbert J. Rushton petitioned
the Ingham County Circuit Court for an inquiry into the
charges of bribery. Judge Leland H. Carr was named grand
juror to make the investigation, and Kim Sigler was appoint-
ed special prosecutor. The dramatic, crusading Sigler ob-
tained the conviction of twenty defendants in 1944.16

Sigler, this colorful prosecutor of the legislators
and businessmen who had been indicted by the grand juror,
became very papular with the citizens of Michigan. In

 

151bid., p. uu9.
161bid., p. 450.

15

1946 he sought and.won the Republican nomination for gov-
ernor. Formerly a Democrat himself, he defeated Van Wagon-
er by 350,000 votes. Encouraged by this overwhelming mar-
gin of victory, Sigler laid before the legislature a num-
ber of recommendations for improving the government of the
state. The legislature did enact part of his program; but,
even though the governor called the legislators into special
sessions, most of the recommendations were rejected. Gover-
nor Sigler's wrangles with the legislature split his party,
and his extensive travels during his term made many persons
believe that he was neglecting the business of the state.17

At this point, with the state Republican party split
over Governor Sigler, G. Mennen Williams decided he would
like to run for governor of Michigan. The announcement

l'Ivras received with a sensational state-wide wave of apathy."18
Williams' Political Campaigns

Gm Mennen Williams resigned a post in the Liquor
Control Commission to campaign for the governorship. He
traveled the state extensively during the ensuing campaign.

Saturday Evenigg Post reported;

The flamboyant cowboy from Nebraska . . . proved to
be Williams' best vote-getter. Kim Sigler . . . had
spent his two years as Republican governor in what
was apparently a determined effort to lose votes and
alienate his political supporters . . . Sigler had

171bid., p. 452

18R. Thruelsen, “When Michigan Woke Up He‘Was Gov-
ernor', Saturda Evenin Post, Vol. 221, No. 33. (February
12, 1949 , p. 2 .

16
displayed an astounding disregard for political
amenities . . . . By November, 1948, the governor
had little in either his legislative or executive
record to which he could point with pride, while
his Opponents had plenty they could view withalarm.19

This analysis seems to be verified, at least in part,
by the results of the 1948 election. Dewey, the Republican
nominee for the presidency, carried Michigan; the state's
Republican senator, Homer Ferguson, beat his Democratic rival.
Both branches of the statelegislature retained substantial
Republican majorities. Several Republican state officials
were re-elected to the administrative board, the governor's
unofficial cabinet. Yet Williams, the unknown political
figure, won the election over Sigler by 150,000 votes.

Williams' 1948 campaign was based upon a New Deal
platform, with a few local modifications.20 The nine points
he emphasized were:

1. He recommended that the state take an active
role in providing housing.

2. He advocated the increase of state unemployment
compensation.

3. He favored repeal of the Bonine-Tripp Act, which
labor union leaders called the "Little Taft-
Hartley'Act'.

4. He recommended improvements in the educational
system.

5. He suggested improvements in the civil rights
program.

6. He favored an expansion of the highway system.

 

191bid., p. 113.
2°Ibid., p. 114

17

7. He recommended the establishment of a Veterans'
Service Program.

8. He favored the establishment of a farm marketing
program.

9. He made the promise of a more efficient admin-
istration.

gigs describes Williams' strength in Michigan in 1948
as being built on a sort of right triangle. The base was
the powerful C.I.O. and Walter Reuther's UaA.W. in and
around Detroit. The vertical side extending far up-state
was the Michigan Democratic Club, founded by Williams and
his good friend and law partner, Hicks Griffith. The hy-
potenuse was the candidate himself. Each member of the
triangular coalition was essentially dependent on the other.21

The geographical character of the Williams' vote
coalition in 1948 was unique and in large part dictated the
nature of the gubernatorial campaign of 1950. Williams
had won only seventeen of the eighty-three counties in 1948,
but his pluralities in these counties were enough to off-
set Republican strength in the remaining sixty-six. The
seventeen counties were spread throughout the state and
included ten of the fifteen Upper Peninsula counties, three
west-central counties (Muskegon, Manistee, and Kent), and
four counties (Bay, Genesee, Macomb, and Wayne) in the south-
eastern section of the state. In Wayne County alone Williams
had a plurality of 237,027 votes, of which 205,394 came from

2;!155, Vol. LII, November 15, 1948, p. 27.

18

the city of Detroit.22

In the 1950 campaign for governor, the Republicans
nominated Harry F. Kelly, who had been governor from 1942
to 1946, as their candidate; the Democrats re-nominated
Williams. The campaign was Michigan's major political
spectacle of the year. Since this was an “off-year“ elec-
tion, it was presumably a Republican year, and it was gen-
erally expected that most state-wide Democratic candidates
would be unsuccessful. Such a concession was not made in
the race for governor, which.was strictly a personal polit-
ical battle, Kelly Ié- Williams. The ensuing campaign was
intense, bitter, and exhausting, with both political machines
blanketing the state with publications. Political organiza-
tional efforts were at their peaks, and the itineraries of
both candidates were extensive, carrying them into all parts
of the state. Interest in the election was heightened be-
cause two political traditions were at stake. First, not
since 1849 had Michigan voters returned a former governor
to the capitol after a two-term retirement; and, second,
the last time that a Democrat had been able to succeed him-
self in an “off-year“ was in 1914.23

Not until November 27 were the final results of the
election announced: Williams, 935.152; Kelly, 933,998. The

closeness of the original count had occasioned a re-count, at

 

22Samuel J. Eldersveld and Albert A. Applegate,
Michégan Recounts for Governor 1 0-1 2, (Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 19 , p. .

23Ibid., pp. 1-2.

 

19
the end of which.Ke11y conceded the victory to Williams.

In 1952 Governor Williams again was unopposed for
nomination for re-election by the Democrats. The Republicans,
however, waged a vigorous three-way battle among Secretary
of State Fred M. Alger, Jr., retired State Police Commissioner
Donald S. Leonard, and Lieutenant-Governor William C. Van-
denberg. In the primary Alger won a plurality victory over
his Opponents, and in the ensuing campaign both he and W111-
iams 'traveled throughout the state extensively...and exp
plored a wide variety of campaign tactics, arguments, and
media.'2“ Williams retained his urban and Upper peninsula
support, carrying thirteen of the eighty-three counties, as
he did in 1950; his Wayne County plurality was 110,000
larger than in 1950.25 Although a recount was again nec-
essary, Williams became Michigan's first consecutive three-
term Democratic governor.

In 1954 the gubernatorial election followed the same
general pattern as in the previous three elections. Williams,
as strong as ever in the Upper Peninsula and in Wayne County,
defeated Donald 8. Leonard, Republican nominee. The Democrats,
in addition to winning the governor's office, captured all
of the key state offices and elected a significant number of
representatives to the’state legislature, although the Re-
publicans retained their majority. In 1956 Williams again

was elected governor over his Republican Opponent, Albert

 

2"11:111., p. 121.

251bid., p. 122.

20

Cobo, Mayor of Detroit.

It may be possible to account in.part for Williams'
election to unprecedented third, fourth, and fifth terms
by revealing that there may have been deep undercurrents of
discontent within the ranks of the Republican party in
Michigan. This disorganization has historical precedent,
for the Republicans have showed themselves to be predisposed
to split at several instances in the past. A notable ex-
ample eecurred when Theodore Roosevelt split from the Re-
publican party in 1912 and formed the Progressive Party,
winning a plurality of the pOpular vote in Michigan as well
as the electoral vote of the state. In addition, it has been
noted that the New Deal may have caused a general shift in
the political thinking of the voters of the United States.
Thus, it may be conjectured that there were factions in both
the Republican and Democratic parties which.supported to some
degree the principles of the New Deal; likewise, there were
factions in both.parties which did not wish to change party
policies. These factions, within the Republican party, were
brought into sharp focus in the presidential election of 1952,
when one segment of Michigan Republicans supported the presi-
dential nomination of Robert A. Taft while the other segment
supported the nomination of General Eisenhower. Since Eisen-
hower won the nomination, seeds of dis-union may have been
sowed. Among the older Republicans, a number of men, including
Harlow Curtice, president of General Motors, were for Eisen-

hower. There was also in 1952 a very vociferous Old Guard,

21
which included Homer Ferguson, Michigan's senator, which
backed the presidential candidacy of Robert Taft. The effects
of the split in the Republican ranks is difficult to assess;
however, it seems to have resulted in the loss of support of
erstwhile active Republicans.26

Thus, we can see that after eighty years of almost
solid Republican rule, the Democrats began in 1932 to emerge
as a power in Michigan. The reasons for the rise in strength
of the Democrats are varied and interrelated, but may be
summarized as follows: (1) Because of the rise in industry
in Michigan, urban pOpulations increased; these urban areas
became predominantly Democratic, partly as a result of the
stand of the labor unions which grew up with industry. (2)
The Republican party became weaker in Michigan, perhaps due
to a split in its ranks. (3) The fact that the Republicans
waged bitter primary battles for gubernatorial nominations
may have created a segment of discontented and apathetic
Republicans.

From 1932 on, the Democrats have become progressively
stronger in Michigan, to such a degree that by 1956 they had
not only significantly increased the prOportion of Democratic
state legislators, but five times they had run successfully
their candidate, G. Mennen Williams, who, in 1954 and 1956,

carried the complete state Democratic ticket with him. Some

26For further information about dissension within
Republican ranks, see Duncan Norton-Taylor's Article,
"What's Wrong with Michigan?“, Fortune Magazine, January
1955, p. 142. _—

of the impetus given to the resurgence of the Democratic
party in Michigan may be due to the leadership of G. Mennen
Williams. Let us next take a look at Williams, the man.

22

to

8'3

1'1

CHAPTER III
WILLIAMS, THE MAN

In analysing a speech, the critic must necessarily
be familiar with the speaker's family background, with his
education, with peOple who had influence on the speaker,
with.his career, and with his personality. In view of the
fact that no one has yet written a biography of G. Mennen
Williams, it is difficult and beyond the scOpe of this study
to accumulate in detail all the desired information. Howe.
ever, the salient features of Williams' background are horse
with given. Most of the information has come from period;
icals, newspapers, personal correspondence, and personal

interviews.

Family Background

Gerhardt Mennen Williams was born in Grosse Pointe,
Michigan, a fashionably exclusive city near Detroit, on
February 23, 1911. He is the son of Henry P. Williams, now
deceased, and Alla Mennen Williams. His father came from
old American pro-Revolutionary stock.’ His mother is the
daughter of Gerhardt Mennen, who came from Germany.27

. One of the most paradoxical facts concerning Williams'

2 .
7Anna. Bethe (ed.), Current BiOgraphy (Newark: H.
W. Wilson 00., 1949), p. 636.

, 23

24
background is that he was born into a wealthy;Republican

family and later became a leader of the Michigan Democrats.
His father had built up a comfortable income in the pickle
business and in Detroit real estate. His mother is a Mennen,
sharing‘with her brother control of the Mennen Company,
manufacturers of soaps and toiletries, worth an estimated
twelve million dollars.28 The family was socially very
prominent. pggp reports that Williams was “born into a
family which had made its mark long before the v-8 engine
was conceived, and.which stood socially a cut above the
car makers.“29 It can be seen, then, that “though.he was
no crown prince of economic royalty, as he has sometimes
been pictured, [Williams] knew his way around the fashionable
circles of Detroit's automobile dynasty, and, in college,
he surely never needed to worry where his next pair of gray
flannels were coming from.“30

Williams' family was Republican, so much so that when
he announced his intention in 1948 to campaign for Democrat-
ic governor of Michigan, gig; reported: “Mrs. Williams is
a devout Republican who could not bring herself to finance
what she thought was a big foolishness on Soapy's 31

283122, Vol. LX, No. 2, September 15, 1952, p. 27.

29Robert Wallace, “'Soapy' Williams“, Life, Vol. 26,
No. 10, March 7, 1949, p. 111.

30R. Thruelsen, Op. cit., p. 27.

31According to Life, March 7, 1949, p. 112, at a
tender age and for plain reasons young Williams picked up
his nickname, “Soapy', which has stuck with him. His two
younger brothers, “Lathers“ and “Suds“, shook off their
titles with age.

25
part.'32 Williams himself later said for publication, “I

was brought up in the Republican tradition and know all about
that.'33

From this family background of wealth and affiliation
with big business, Williams was to make, in 1954, a political
speech containing the following statements which seem to be
a fair indication of his political philosphy:

It‘s an ill Wind that blows nobody good-~and
the nation's experience with Republican leadership
has accomplished one good thing. It has demon-
strated that the interests of farmers, workers,
and businessmen are basically the same. The Re-
publican recession has hurt all three without dis-
tinction or discrimination.

The only group that hasn't been seriously
affected as yet by the Republican recession is the
big business group. And that is the reason why
the Republican party leaders have taken such a
tolerant view of unemployment, farm distress, and
small business failures. They won't get excited
about economic troubles until the profits of big
business begin to feel the serious effects from
the loss of purchasing power. That time hasn't
come yet.

But unless the national economic policies are
changed, big business will eventually suffer along

with everggne else, as it did in the depression of
the 30's.

Although the family influence on Williams's political
philosophy may have been negative, such information as has
been recorded indicates that early in his life he possessed
certain personality characteristics which contributed to

 

32Robert Wallace, op. cit., p. 117
33Ibid., p. 111.

3L‘Wanublished speech delivered at Alpena, Michigan,
October 18, 195“.

26

his later political accomplishments. The following anecdotes,
recalled by G. Mennen Williams' brother, Henry Williams, now
a Republican District Committeeman and a rancher in Glen
Wood Springs, Colorado, indicate two such characteristics--
his leadership qualities and his determination. Henry recalls:
He's Just the kind of guy who had to lead.
Soapy was president of the choir at St. Paul's in
Detroit. He used to kick me out all the time. I
made the kids laugh and Soapy would run me out.
Luckily I had pull: Fatggr was a vestryman and
he would get me back in.
Henry was perhaps the first victim of Soapy's grim
determination; he recalls that:
Soapy was a muscle-man when we were kids. Soapy
used to get all of those muscle courses and all the
gadgets. He used to use me to practice his wrest-
ling holds. He would prep the book up in front of
him and then get a horrible armlOck on me. I would
wriggle out of it and Soapy would check the book
again and mutter, “I'm suge that is the right hold,
Hank. Let's try again'.3
The aforementioned anecdotes give insight into Will-
iams' personality as a youth. We shall see in the section
of this chapter labeled ”Personality" that these char-
acteristics of leadership and determination have been re-
tained throughout Williams' adult life.
Other aspects of Williams' family life are difficult
to assay. For example, it is impossible to determine the
influence of Williams' mother and father because no revealing

information has been written about them. It is known, how-

 

35glpg, Vol. LX, No. 2, September 15, 1952, p. 27.
361bid., p. 27.

2?
ever, that Mrs. Williams had her own positive notions about
bringing up her three sons, Mennen, Henry, and Richard.

“We used to wear our hair in those Dutch bobs,“ Hank recalls,
“and we used to have to wear these Buster Brown collars.

But the kids in school in the seats behind us would write
all over them, and when Mother saw what they wrote we didn't

wear them any more.“37

Education

An evaluation of Williams“ education gives us a clear-
er picture of the man. Throughout his formal education at
Detroit University School, Salisbury (Connecticut) School,
Princeton University, and the University of Michigan, Williams
showed himself to be intelligent, tenacious, and industrious.
In addition, he displayed qualities of leadership; and re-
ports indicate that he was a.well-rounded individual.

Williams received a very thorough education, and he
took full advantage of his educational Opportunities. Ac-
cording to gigs, “At Salisbury he gravely determined to get
good grades. To the regular curriculum he added a special
course in Greek.“38 One of his teachers, Edmund Samuel
Carr, in a letter to the writer stated: “In each of these
five years [at Salisbury; he Elilliamsflwas the top scholar in
his form and usually (it may have been always, I do not
happen to remember this surely) the t0p scholar of the entire
school. But I do know that in his last year, his average

 

37Ibia., p. 27.

381bid., P. 27

28
was about 95: which still stands as the record tOp in

Salisbury's fifty-five years of existence, as an average
for a whole year.“39 Iimg further reported a recollection
Of Mr. Carr's: “Most schoolboys, when they excel, are Just
precocious. But withfililliamg it was a little different.
He'was very thorough. He Just thought things through.”0
As further evidence of Williams' intelligence and
industry, in 1929, when he enrolled in the School of Public
and International Affairs at Princeton University, l'he de-
liberately shut himself Off without a roommate so he would
not have to waste study time in senseless gabbling.“u1
This application to study was profitable, for he received
a Phi Beta Kappa key before graduation from Princeton in
1933. ‘Lifg carried an interesting account of this matter:
“Most of his classmates thought of him only as an affable,
sleepy young man, but when the Phi Beta Kappa list was
posted, there stood Soapy's name.“’2 But it can also be
seen that Williams was not a “book-worm“, for he put aside
his studies long enough to earn varsity letters as a member
of the Princeton Crew and as a football player. He also
participated in baseball, basketball, skiing, and wrestling.
It was during his college days that some of Williams'
political ideas began to take shape. While still at Prince-

 

39Edmund Samuel Carr, personal letter, July 10,1956
“Orine, Vol. Lx, NO. 2, September 15, 1952, p. 27
“libid., p. 27

“zRobert Wallace, Op. cit., p. 112.

29
ton, Williams made up his mind that he would like to enter
politics. One summer he wrote a friend, Stan Beckus, “If
God and man are willing, I am going to play some part in
government."l'3

Williams' entered law school at the University of
Michigan in 1933 and graduated with a Doctor of Juris-

prudence degree in l936.hu

During the college years, Will-
iams' leadership qualities, mentioned by his brother Henry
as a characteristic of Williams' youth, are evidenced. While
at Princeton, he headed two important organizations: he was
preshient Of the Student Senate and president of the Young
Republican Club, the latter position to serve subsequently
as a source of embarrassment to him. ,At the University of
Michigan he worked on the Univergity Law Review and became
a member of the Order of Coif.u5

It was also during these college years that Williams'
political philosOphy apparently became clear in his mind.
While at the University of Michigan he engaged, as it is
customary for students, in informal discussions with his
classmates. The University of Michigan students, like the
peOple of the entire United States, were in a turmoil over
the New Deal--a tOpic which furnished fuel for their heated
debates. At this time Williams considered himself a

 

“3Time, vOl. LX, No. 2, September 15, 1952, p. 27

M“The top ten per cent Of the students of a gradua-
ting law class are given a Doctor Of Jurisprudence degree.

“5Anna Rothe, (ed.) Op. cit., p. 636.

liberal Republican, but a fellow law student convinced him
that there could be no such thing as a liberal Republican

and so “Soapy flipped resoundingly into the New Deal camp,
much to the distress Of his family.“46

Persons Who Influenced Williams

During his law school years, Williams met two per-
sons who undoubtedly exerted considerable influence on his
future career.

One Of these persons was Frank Murphy. It was
rumored that when Williams successfully ran for governor
in 19#8 he did so as the result Of Murphy's suggestion and
under Murphy's tutelage. The truth of this rumor is im-
possible to substantiate at this time, but Ligp reported
that “hefWilliamélwas a friend and protege of Frank Murphy.“l‘"7
Also, it is well-known that Williams and Murphy worked
closely tOgether, as will be seen, from the time of their
meeting until Murphy's appointment to the Supreme Court.
One of the questions asked by this writer, in conferring
with.persons close to the governor, was, “What peeple have
had influence upon Williams?“ Invariably the first person
mentioned was Frank Murphy.

Thus, it should prove profitable to examine briefly
Frank Murphy's beliefs and his career. Murphy was a part

of the New Deal “brain trust“. He was a poor boy who made

 

“Time, Vol. Lx, NO. 2, September 15, 1952, p. 27.
“7aobert Wallace, pp. cit., p. 112.

31
good in the American tradition. He was a self-avowed pub-
lic servant who said, “I should like to belong tolthat
small company Of public servants and others who are content
to do some of the homely and modest tasks of perfecting in-
tegrity in government and making government more efficient
and orderly“.l+8 Murphy began his career of public service
in 1924, when he was elected to a Judgeship in Detroit, han-
dling criminal cases. In 1930 he became mayor Of the city of
Detroit, and in 1932 he was appointed Governor General Of
the Philippine Islands. In 1936 these experiences culminated
in his election as governor of Michigan. In 1938 he was
defeated for the governorship, and in that same year he was
appointed United States Attorney General by Roosevelt.

Murphy inspired the Department of Justice to more'activity
than ever before, ferreting out crime and successfully
prosecuting the members of the Prendergast political machine
in Missouri.“9

It was in 1936, while Murphy was governor of Michigan,
that young Democrat Williams, Just out Of law school, and
Murphy met. Williams, at that time an attorney with the
Social Security Board in Washington, Was brought back to
Michigan by the governor as Assistant Attorney General of
the state. When Murphy was defeated in the next guberna-
torial election, Williams followed him to Washington as the

Attorney General's assistant and personal aide.

 

usAnna Rothe, (ed.) Op. cit., p. 611.
“9F. Clever Bald, op. cit., p. #32.

32

It can be seen that Murphy was influential in pro-
viding Williams with the Opportunity for employment. It
would seem safe to conclude that much more was assimilated
from this important contact than merely Job Opportunities.50

Williams said in a eulogy of Murphy after his death:
“Personally, I am losing a warm friend who at every turn in
the road gave me a helping hand and who took every occasion
to instill in me a devotion to the cause of the common man.“51

The other person whom.Williams met WhO‘WaS to have an
influence on his future career was Nancy Quirk, “the tall,
attractive daughter of Daniel L. Quirk, a banker, industrial-
ist and yeoman Republican Of Ypsilanti [Michigaxifisz Nancy,
attending the University of Michigan and working at the
Detroit Children's Aid “was delighted to find in Soapy an-
other refugee from Republicanism.'53 c. Mennen Williams and
Nancy Quirk were married in 1937.

That his wife has had a significant influence on
Williams“ career can be seen from the fact that, during his
first campaign for the governorship of Michigan, Nancy
traveled with him and talked to groups of peOple in her hus-
band's behalf. ‘gipp reported that “Soapy called square

5°In a personal interview on July 8, 1956, Williams
stated to this writer that Murphy had been very helpful to
him and that he has adepted Murphy's philosophy of service
as his guide in his administrative duties as governor.

512mm“? Prgas. July 20. 1949.

52R. Thruelsen, Op. cit., p. 27.

53“Clean—up for SOapy“, Time, Vol. LII, No. 20.
November 15, l9h8, p. 28. _

33
dances at every cross-road and he and Nancy out-polkaed the
PolishpAmericans in Hamtramck.“5“ It is worthy of note that
today, after having been elected and re-elected to the gov»
ernor's chair five times, Williams is accompanied by his

wife on most important trips and speech occasions.

Career

In order to get as complete a picture as possible Of
Williams, an account will be given of his military experience
and his employment up to the time he became governor.

When Frank Murphy was appointed to the Supreme Court
on February 6, 19hO, Williams remained in the Justice Depart-
ment as Special Assistant to the Attorney General. He was
assigned to aid in the Federal Grand Jury Investigation of
the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. Afterward, he worked
in the enforcement division of the Office of Price Adminis-
tration.

In l9h2 Williams entered Military service and was
commissioned a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the United States
Naval Reserve, serving as Air Combat Intelligence Officer
on the carriers Bunker gil , §§§2;,.gggpg§, and Yorktown.

He had two and one-half years' service in the Pacific and
was discharged in 1946 as a Lieutenant Commander, after
earning the Legion Of Merit award, ten battle stars, and
three presidential citations.

Following his discharge from service, Williams re-
turned to Michigan as Deputy Director of the Office Of Price

5"Ibid. , p. 28.

3h
Administration. In 1947 he entered private law practice in
the firm of Griffith, Williams, and Griffith, and the same
year he Was appointed by Governor Kim Sigler as the Democratic
member of the State Liquor Control Commission. Williams re-
signed from the Liquor Control Commission and ran for gov-
ernor in 1948, winning Over his Opponent, Kim Sigler, by
150,000 votes. Williams was re-elected in 1950, 1952, 1954,
and 1956.

Personality

Some of the more tangible aspects of Williams, the
man, have been presented, and certain of his personality
characteristics as a youth have been mentioned. What of
his personality as an adult?

Williams exhibits qualities of good sportsmanship,
and he shows a sincere interest in people. The use of an-
ecdotes may best make clear these personality characteristics,
which in turn provide a key to an understanding of Williams'
political accomplishments. The following anecdote related
by the superintendent of schools in Atlanta, Michigan, a
small northern town, provides Some insight into Williams'
principles of good sportsmanship.

Williams participated in a wild-cat hunt near Atlanta,
but objected to the usual procedure of shooting the animal
while it was held at bay in a tree. He felt that such tactics
were not fair to the quarry and insisted that, after the cat
was treed, it should be allowed to run. Williams shot the

wild-cat on the run; but only after the cat was tracked down

35
and treed three timOS‘was Williams successful in hitting the
target. The peeple Of Atlanta were impressed by this dis-
play of good sportsmanship.

There are many anecdotes illustrative of Williams'
interest in peeple. The two which follow concern happenings
observed personally by this writer.

In September, 1952, Williams made his customary day-
long visit to the annual Saginaw (Michigan) County Fair.

The gaginaw yggg, which carried an account of his activities
at the fair reported:

Saginaw County Democratic party leaders had ex»
pected Williams to station himself at their booth
near the Manufacturing Building. However, Williams,
arriving at the Ray Street gate and realizing few
candidates ever won an election by waiting for the
voters to come to them, took exactly two hours to
walk the not-tOO—far distance to the Democratic
party booth.

While Democratic party leaders sweltered in
the heat and trudged down the midway at his side,
Williams, who seemingly never tired, never missed
a chance to shake hands with all comers. The only
time he looked straight ahead was when he passed
the girls' dancing shows. Even then, he cocked a
wayward eye, something like a husband in tow with
his wife at the bathing beach.

The governor even had a few words with the
volunteer workers at the Republican party booth,
much to their amazement and concern, and also took
time to sign a few autographs.5
.At the annual Maple Syrup Festival, held in the small
village of Vermontville, Michigan, Williams customarily makes
the Opening address, afterward mingling with the crowd and

taking’part in the activities. His manner of meeting people,

 

55Saginaw weep, September 12, 1952.

36
as observed by this author, seems to consist of the following
procedure: Approaching an individual, Williams holds out
his hand and says, “How are you!“ In one instance, the
governor made a special effort to greet a little, old,
shabbily-dressed country lady. After shaking hands with
her and making his customary greeting, he realized by her
puzzled expression that she had no idea who he was. Williams
explained that he was the governor of Michigan, whereupon
the lady became visibly excited. The rest of the conversation
was lost to the writer, but upon cOmpletion of their conver-
sation, as the governor was walking away, the lady was heard
to say, “My, isn't he a wonderful man!“

Another facet of Williams“ personality is his dem-
ecratic manner, which is exhibited in the way he runs the
governor's office. According to ggpg, “From his office on
the second floor of the State Capitol in Lansing, Governor
Williams runs Michigan with a fine air of democracy and
honest folksiness.“56 The doors to the governor's office
are never closed; and, although the Office is usually hum-
ming with activity, the governor frequently takes time to
greet individuals and groups who happen to be in the capitol.

Further testimony Of Williams“ democratic attitude
is the fact that “he lives well within his $22,000 a year
salary. There is only one maid to help run their rambling

house. He frequently answers his own telephone.“57 Further-

 

56'01ean-up for Scapy“, Time, Vol. LII, No. 20, No.
vember 15, 1948, p. 28.

522£222 V01. LX, No. 2, September 15, 1952, p. 27,

37

more, Williams sends his three youngsters to public schools.
’ Another aspect of Williams“ personality which is

worthy Of mention is his intelligence. It has already been
noted that as a student Williams exhibited above-average
intelligence. Williams“ intellectual superiority has not
gone unnoticed as an adult. pggg gave a hint of his in-
telligence in saying: “Although he makes decisions slowly,
he has brains.“58 The Detroit M m, which has not
always agreed with Williams“ political stands, had this to
say about his intelligence: “The governor is a most intel-
ligent man. His I.Q. is one of the highest among holders
of the Office.“59

Coupled with his intelligence, Williams has a prodi-
gious memory and often surprises his aides by recalling in-
formation which to them is quite Obscure. Once when Williams
was preparing an outline for a speech, he wrote from memory
a passage from The Odysgzz. The aide, whose responsibility
it was to look up the passage in order to make sure that
it was complete and correct, reported that he was surprised
to find that Williams had written the passage exactly as it
was in The Odyssey.60 Williams“ memory helps him, too, in
remembering peeple and their names, thus serving as an im-

portant aid in adapting his speeches to the audience.

58Robert'Wallace, Op. cit., p. 116.

59Detroit Free Prepg, editorial, October 12, l9h9.

6OPersonal interview with members of Williams“ staff,

38

Williams“ press secretary, Paul Weber, supplied an
interesting thumbnail sketch of Williams: “He has a feel-
ing Of perSonal moral confidence that he is doing the right
thing. He has no personal doubts. His dominant characteris-
tic isequanimity. He never gets excited; he never runs
down, but Just rolls right along.“61

A1though.Williams was born into a.wealthy Republi-
can family, he became a Democrat, in part as the result of
ideas with which he came into contact while in college and
through associations with two people who had influence upon
him--his wife-tO—be, Nancy Quirk, and Frank Murphy. Under
Murphy's guidance, Williams began to realize his ambition
to “play some part in government“.

Reports from Various sources indicate that Williams
has intelligence, a good memory, a democratic manner, a
sincere interest in peeple, and a well-rounded personality.
These are qualities which should contribute to the effec-
tiveness of an individual as a speaker. Let us now examine

Williams, the speaker.

 

61Personal interview with Mr. Weber, July 10, 1956.

CHAPTER IV

WILLIAMS, THE SPEAKER

In providing a picture of G. Mennen Williams, as a
speaker, the writer will discuss five aspects of his speak-
ing: (1) appearance, (2) voice, (3) speech preparation, (4)
bodily activity, (5) mode of delivery.) These five factors
were suggested by Thonssen and Baird in their book, Speech
CriticismL62 in which they list the following five elements
that provide a fuller understanding of orators and oratory:
(1) the orator“s method of preparing his speeches, (2) his
method of delivery, (3) physical factors conducing to his
effectiveness as a speaker, (4) his bodily action in delivery,
(5) his use of the voice as an instrument of persuasion.63

The writer could find little recorded material in
either newspapers or periodicals pertaining to any of these
five specific aSpects of Williams“ style of speaking. The
writer has, however, had several Opportunities to listen to
Williams speak in person and has studied a tape recording of
one of Williams“ major addresses. In order that the ideas

contained in this section would not be solely the writer's

 

62In general the writer's five categories used to
describe Williams as a speaker cover the same areas as those
suggested by Thonssen and Baird. The terminology has been
simplified somewhat in an effort to better suit them to the
writer's purpose.

63Lester Thonssen and A. Craig Baird, Speech Criti-
cism (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1948), p. 435.

39

 

 

40

Opinion, hehad conferences with members of Williams“ personal
staff, in which specific aspects of Williams“ speaking style
were discussed. These personal observations have been inte-
grated with such newspaper and periodical comment as was
available, and the result is a compendium of thoughpcon-
cerning Williams“ appearance, voice, speech preparation,

bodily activity, and delivery.

Appearance

G. Mennen Williams is “a giant of a man“,6u standing
six feet three and one-half inches tall and weighing two
hundred and twenty pounds. He is trim and well-built, with
an athletic appearance. He has dark hair, blue eyes, and
regular facial features. ’Tgpp reports: “Williams is one of
the handsomest individuals in American politics.“65 'The
fact that he has a ready smile, which may be characterized
as a “boyish grin“, enhances his appearance.

Williams is neat and well-groomed. He wears well-
cut conservative clothing66 and customarily wears a green
polkaédot bow-tie which has become a kind of “Williams trade-
mark“. He commenced tO wear bow-ties partly through pref-
erence and partly through one bitter experience. After his
marriage to Nancy, and while he was Assistant Attorney General

Of Michigan, the newly-weds invited Governor Murphy and a few

 

6"Robert Wallace, Op. cit., p. 116
651bid., p. 116.

66He has, however, been known to appear at the capi-
tol wearing blue Jeans and a T-shirt, with tennis shoes.

41
other notables to dinner at their apartment; “the air was
heavy with dignity and Soapy began to feel that an Assistant
Attorney General is, after all, a man of some importance.

But as he sat down to dinner, beaming at his guests, he
lowered his four-in-hand into a plate of soup.“67

Williams“ well-groomed appearance and his towering
stature, tOpped with a friendly grin, no doubt contribute
materially to his effectiveness as a speaker.

Voice

Williams“ speaking equipment includes a voice which
“could perforate the average eardrum at one-hundred feet.“68
The voice, which is of a baritone pitch, seems to exhibit
a youthful, vigorous quality.

The thigtian:§cience Monitor, in an article which
commented upon Williams“ effectiveness as a speaker, used
the term “a nasal, gravel voice“.69 This nasality seems to
be present most pronouncedly when the governor is delivering
a speech from manuscript; it is not noticeable in conversation.
It should be noted, too, that Williams speaks in the accent
Of the mid-West, and that this type of speech is Often
marked by a nasality or “twang“ effect.

In speeches delivered from manuscript, Williams tends
to maintain the same tone throughout the entire course of a

Speech, seemingly without using to the fullest extent possible

 

67Robert Wallace, Op. cit., p. 115.
68Ibid., p. 117

69Christian Science Monitor, May 6, 1954.

42
the changes in pitch and time. One of Williams“ aides felt
that this lack of variety may result from the fact that Will-
iams seems to read “words“ instead of word groupings. This
possibly may be accounted for, in part, by the fact that Will-
iams has had little formal training in speechma‘king.7o

Williams“ pronunciation and enunciation are correct
and understandable, without affectation, according to mid-

West standards of speech.

Speech Preparation

Williams, in common with many men in public Office,
has a staff of assistants, each of Whom is a specialist in
a given area; at various times each of them has helped Will-
iams prepare speeches. This assistance may include writing
the speech and giving it to the governor ready to be used,
or Williams himself may prepare the entire speech. The
occasion and amount of time available seem to be the decid-
ing factors. For example, during a campaign when Williams
is doing a great deal Of speaking, delivering as many as
two speeches a day, the former type of preparation may be
used. The ideas for these campaign speeches are usually
determined in conference, and many Of the ideas originate

with Williams; all of the ideas have his approval.

 

7°While in the University of Detroit School, Williams
took a few lessons at the Detroit School of Elocution under
the tutelage of Mr. Sam Slade. While in law school Williams
was a member of the University of Michigan Toastmaster“s Club
which held regular meetings and which received criticism from
members of the University of Michigan English Department.
Thus, he had two extra-curricular experiences in speech mak-
ing but no formal speech training.

Other speeches, when the occasion demands a more
carefully prepared speech and when there is no particular
press for time, are prepared in quite a different manner.
Sometimes the ideas for the speech will originate in a staff
meeting, or at least be discussed by members of the staff.
From this formulation of ideas a rough draft is submitted
tO‘Williams, who makes corrections and suggestions as to
content, organization, and style. Next, a manuscript is
prepared by an assistant and is re-submitted to Williams,
who again edits the speech. Following this editing, the
final manuscript is prepared.

Still another manner of preparation is sometimes
used in which the governor makes an outline in ink, from which
one of the staff members prepares a manuscript. The manu»
script is submitted to Williams, who makes corrections and
revisions. The speech is then sent back to a secretary for
final manuscripting.

Whatever the manner of speech preparation, after the
final manuscript has been prepared, Williams frequently makes
changes and additions. In most speeches outside the realm
Of campaign speeches Williams is the originator Of the con-
tent and style of the speeches he delivers.71

Bodily Activity

”When speaking, Williams stands erect and at ease and

711nformation in this section was Obtained from in-
terviews with members Of Williams“ staff, July 2, 1956.

44

exhibits no distracting mannerisms. However, there are

those who feel that his gestures are somewhat ineffective.

In the writer's Opinion, the gestures are inclined to be un-
natural and studied, but the writer does not feel that they
serve as a distracting influence. When the writer has ob-
served Williams speaking, his gestures were few and unvaried--
generally sweeping movements of the arms.

Williams“ eye-contact is generally good. It has
been Observed, however, that occasionally when delivering
a speech from manuscript Williams tends to devote a dis-
prOportionate amount of attention to his manuscript, slighting
his audience in this respect.

It is the writer's Opinion that Williams“ facial
expression varies with the type of speaking. When presenting
impromptu remarks, as he does at the beginning of most
speeches, his facial expression exhibits animation and warmth--
usually through a broad smile and flashing eyes. When deé
livering a speech from manuscript, however, the spontaneity
of the facial expression diminishes and the expression then

varies from grave to impassive.

Mode of Delivery
Williams delivers most of his speeches from manuscript.
On some occasions he simply reads the manuscript; on other
occasions he uses the manuscript as a guide for an extempore
delivery. During his first campaign he delivered many
speeches extemporaneously, using only brief notes Jotted

down in transit from one speaking engagement to another.

45
Since then, however, the governor has largely delivered his
speeches from manuscript.

Williams“ preparation for the delivery of a speech
varies greatly, and the determining factors seem to be the
amount of time available and the Occasion.72 When there is
sufficient time and when the occasion warrants, Williams
devotes considerable attention to preparing for the delivery
of the speech. First, he marks the manuscript in places
where there Should be pauses and makes notations for other
purposes, such as emphasis, regulation of rate, and use of
gestures. The writer was unable to Obtain a cOpy of a
manuscript which had been so marked, but the governor's
aides indicated that he uses such a system. Next Williams
may practice the speech aloud. The amount of time spent on
practice will again vary according to the amount of time
available and with the OccaSion. While traveling to the
place where the speech is to be given, Williams reads the
manuscript over to himself, gesticulating where indicated
by the guide marks he has made on the manuscript. This
precedure on one Occasion proved to be somewhat embarassing
tO‘Williams. According to members of his staff, Williams
was traveling by plane to deliver a speech before the Con-
vention Of Young Democrats of Colorado and was practicing
the speech.while enroute. After the plane landed in Denver,

Williams continued to practice while waiting in the terminal

__‘

72The information that follows was Obtained from in-
terviews with members Of Williams“ staff, July 2, 1956.

46
for transportation to the convention. As he sat intently
rehearsing, oblivious to those around him, a lady whom he
knew saw him and inquired, “What on earth is the matter?“

Thus, we get the picture that the amount Of attention
given to delivery depends upon the amount of time available

and the importance of the speech occasion.

Newspaper and Periodical Comment

In two of the five areas discussed above, some ad;
verse comment was made regarding some of Williams“ specific
Speaking techniques. However, as a member of Williams“
audience, the writer has felt that a good rapport was estab-
lished between the speaker and the audience and that the
Speech was well received.

Newspaper and periodical comment lends credence to
this feeling. The Detroit Free nggg said: “During his
three years as governor, Williams has proved himself a for-
midable campaigner, a candidate who can get close to the
people and apply the charm and force of his personality at
the grass roots level.“73 The Detroit Free Press further
reported: “Both.the governor and his wife Nancy are warm-
blooded and hospitable. They like peOple. In response, even
the skeptics are warming up.“7h A report in pggp on.Williams“
first gubernatorial campaign contains the following statement:

“Williams actually believed every word he said, and could con;

 

73Detroit Frge Press, editorial, September 22, 1951
7“Detroit Free Press, January 9, 1949.

4?
vince others that he believed it“.75 The Saturday Evening
‘Pppg gave a somewhat similar report: “The audience at Will-
iams“ formal addresses found him a sincere speaker with well-
documented arguments, but not a Spell-binder“.76 The Lapeer
County Press reported: “Michigan's governor came to Lapeer
Thursday night and charmed the crowd of 325 that filled the
State Home dining room“.77 The Belding Banner stated:

“G. Mennen Williams, governor of the state of Michigan,
niched a new spot in the hearts of nearly 250 peOple who
heard him speak at the Junior Chamber of Commerce banquet
here last night“.78 The Mount Clemens Daily Monitor said:
“The 38-year-old governor, making his first Official

visit to Mt. Clemens, won hearty applause in a brief in— .
formal talk“.79 The Holland Newp reported: “The governor
earned the admiration of the crowd; almost to a man,

the comment was “The governor is a good sport““.80 The
Saginaw Newg reported, On another occasion: “The governor

arrived late,_but stole the Show with friendly charm“.81 The
S3. Petergburg Timeg said of Williams: “He is a master at making

 

75Robert Wallace, Op. cit., p. 116.
76R. Thruelsen, Op. cit., p. 114.
77ggpeer County Prggp, March 10, 1949,
78Belding Bapppg, June 30, 1949.

4 79Daily Monitor, [Mount Clemens, Michigan,] July
5. 19 9-

80Holland News, May 17, 1949.
81Saginaw News, July 31, 1949.

us

every group feel that he wants what it wants.“82 The Lansing
gtate Journgl summed up Williams' appeal in these words: IThe
answer to the paradox is simple; Williams likes peOple, and
people like him. He makes every woman think he is Just a
boy at heart. He can discuss the Bible, take a ski Jump,
sip a cocktail, call a square dance, or guy a law-maker with
all the boyish innocence and enthusiasm that a mother attrib-
utes to her children when they come home with a black eye."83

The comments above suggest that Williams makes a
good impression on his listeners and leaves them with the
desire to champion his cause. Let us now examine five

selected speeches of G. Mennen Williams.

 

825t. Peter burg_ loridalTimes, editorial,
January 29. 195 . a.

8
3Lansing State Journal, October 23, 1949.

CHAPTER V
ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SPEECHES

The purpose of this chapter is to give an analysis
of five selected speeches of G. Mennen.Williams. It is not
the writer's intent to give a definitive, detailed analysis;
rather, the intent is to give an analysis of a more general
nature which will better serve the purpose of this study.

This chapter will contain: (1) an explanation of
the selection of the speeches for analysis, (2) an explana-
tion of the techniques for analyzing the speeches, (3) the

analyses of the speeches.

Selection of Speeches

Most of Williams' speaking has been deliberative in
nature. His speeches have been concerned mainly with poli-
tics, both on a state and national level. He has delivered
speeches in all parts of the state of Michigan and a few
speeches outside of the state, to many types of audiences,
on many different subjects.

These factors both simplified and complicated the
task of selecting five speeches representative of those which
Williams has delivered. The fact that his principal speechp
es have been deliberative limited the selection to one cate-
gory, thus simplifying the task; but the fact that he has

delivered speeches on a variety of subjects and to a variety
#9

of audiences complicated the task. A further complication
arose when the author, intending to use only campaign speech-
es in this study, discovered that this type of speech is not
always prepared by Williams but may be prepared by members

of his staff. This, then, limited the selection still fur-
ther, making it necessary to choose political speeches out-
side the realm of campaign speeches or, at least, to locate
speeches of which.Williams had been the prime originator of
content and style.

From the governor's office the writer obtained cOp-
ies of speeches known to have been prepared largely by Will-
iams. From these, five speeches, which the author feels to
be representative of Williams' speaking, were selected. They
are largely concerned with political matters of the state or
nation. The dates of delivery were spread over the period
that Williams has been governor, and the speeches were deliv-
ered before different types and sizes of audiences.

The first speech analyzed is Williams' first inaug-
ural address,'which.was included because it was his first
major address as governor. The audience at the inaugural
ceremonies was made up of both Republicans and Democrats;
many in the audience came to hear other officials who were
being inaugurated. The second speech was Williams' part of
a debate before the Economic Club of Deuoit. The debate was
an intensely partisan contest between Williams and his Repub-
lican Opponent for governor. The speech took place in the

middle stage of Williams' governorship, to date. The aup

51
dience on this occasion was made up largely of peOple who
held political views Opposite to those of the governor. The
third speech, in which Williams expressed his ideas concerning
the role which the state should play in relation to penal
institutions, was delivered before a relatively small group
of Michigan Judges. The fourth speech is one delivered at
a convention of Young Democrats of Colorado and gave Williams
an Opportunity to express his views concerning national
politics, this time before a large group of peOple who held
political beliefs similar to those of Williams. The fifth
and last speech analyzed.was delivered before the National
convention of Catholic Charities, and here Williams ex-
pressed his Opinion of the role that the state should play
in religion. The audience this time was relatively small
and was made up of leaders in the Catholic faith.

Technique of Analyzing the Speeches
Since the purpose of this chapter is to give a general

analysis of the five speeches selected, the writer will in-
clude a description, analysis, and interpretation of the
speeches with regard to the following tOpics: (1) ideas,

(2) organization, (3) evidence and reasoning, (4) psycho-
lOgical and emotional appeals, and (5) style. This instru-
ment for analysis has been adapted from the tenets of speech
criticism handed down to us by the critics of antiquity who,
according to the classical tradition, divided all rhetoric

into five parts: invention, disposition, elocution, memory,

84

and delivery. In the classical conception of invention

three modes of persuasion were recognized: ethos, which
consisted of the moral character of the speaker; pathos,
which included emotional appeals; and logic, which was the
persuasiveness of the arguments by themselves. This writer's
instrument has been developed from the classical concept, and
the following changes have been made: First, the writer's
sections on ideas and on logic and evidence will contain
those elements of 10gic considered by the ancients as a part
of invention; second, the elements of pathos and ethos, also
considered by the ancients as part of invention, will be
combined and included in the writer's section on psychological
and emotional appeals; third, the section allotted to memory
by the ancients has been eliminated, because it is generally
conceded that memory no longer plays such a significant part
in modern speech-making; fourth, the material on delivery
will not be considered in the analysis because the subject
has already been covered in the chapter, 'Williams, the
Speaker'; last, the ancients' terminology, 'elocution', will
be termed “style, and “disposition' will be called "organi-
zation.’

gggg§.--This section will contain an isolation of
the ideas of the speeches, with an attempt to describe and
identify them. ,A further attempt will be made to point,
where possible, to items in the speaker's background which

 

8 8"Lester Thorium-t and A. Craig Baird, Op. ci .,
p. 7 . . .

relate to the ideas expressed, in an attempt to indicate
the derivation of these ideas.

0rganization.--In this section an attempt will be
made to determine Williams' method of organization, using

the analysis suggested by Brigance in his book Speech Com-

 

position.85 Brigance suggests three methods of arranging
speeches: (l) The chronological order, which arranges

events in their natural order of occurence. This method has
limited application, being used in such speeches as biograph-
ical essays. (2) The tOpical order, which breaks the speech
theme into various parts or tOpics and arranges them in

their most effective order. This type of organization, accor-
ding to Brigance, is most commonly used in speeches to in-
form and to stimulate. (3) The lOgical order, which is the
order inherent in the laws of reasoning. This type of order
is best fitted for speeches to convince and to persuade.

Since most of Williams' speaking falls into the
category of speeches to persuade, we will expect to find
this type of organization used by Williams.

Evidence and reasoning.--In this section the writer
will attempt to describe Williams' mode of substantiation by
isolating the factors of inductive reasoning, deductive rea-
soning, and the elements of testimony of fact and of Opinion.

.ggycholOgicalggnd emotional appeals.--This section
will deal with the elements of pathos and ethos which the

ancients included in invention. However, no attempt will

 

85William Norwood Brigance, §peech Composition,(New
York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1937). Pp. 90-100.

54
be made_to label these elements of emotion and moral char-
acter of the speaker with the terms I'pathos" and “ethos“.
Instead, the writer will combine these two elements in this
section and a functional description of each will be given.
In so doing, the writer will discuss the factors concerning
the character of the speaker (ethos) and audience adaption
and impelling motivational appeals86 (pathos).

,fitylg. In this section the writer will attempt to
describe the style of Williams' speech-making by isolating
such stylistic devices as alliteration, parallel construc-

tion, personal pronouns, humor, and figures of speech.
Analyses of Speeches

First Inaugural Address
Background.--At the time G. Mennen.Williams was elected
governor of Michigan in 19#8, there had been only five Dem-
ocratic governors in the state Capitol in Lansing since the
formation of the Republican party in 185h. We have examined,
in Chapter II, the political changes that had taken place in
Michigan since 1854 and have shown that the shift of pOpula-
tion within the state and the influx of peOple into the state
caused the growth of urban centers which tended to vote Dem-

ocratic. We have further noted the rise of the C.I.0., which

86As a guide to impelling motivational appeals, the

writer followed the lead of Lester Thonssen and A. Craig
Baird in their book, Speech Criticism (New York: The Hon-
ald Press Company, l9h8), p. 366, in which they list A.E.
Phillips' ten appeals: patriotism, fear, social responsi-
bility, fair play, expediency, personal honor, family life,
self-assertion, social recOgnition, and social approval.

 

55
aided Williams in his election battle. All of these factors,
plus the unpOpularity of the Republican candidate for gov-
ernor in 1948, culminated in the election of G. Mennen Will-
iams. Other than Williams, the only Democratic administra-
tive officials elected were Lt. Governor John W. Connolly and
Attorney General Stephen J. Roth. The state legislature was
controlled by the Republicans. There were nine Democrats
and twenty-three Republicans in the Senate, and in the House
there were thirty-nine Democrats and fifty-nine Republicans.
While this was a comfortable majority for the Republicans,
there were enough.Democrats in the House of Representatives
to uphold a governor's veto in that branch.of the legislature.

Williams was a political unknown who had done most
of his campaigning in a personal, face-to—face manner. Al-
though he had traveled 21,000 miles throughout the state,
there were many peOple who had never seen or heard him. The
newspapers had carried accounts of his wealthy Republican
background. He was the third youngest governor ever elected
by the peeple of Michigan. Factors such as these generated
much.public interest in the inaugural address.

Thh inaugural occasion was solemn, and.there was
much ceremony. The National Guard, Army units, and Naval
units paraded, and eight planes from the Grosse Isle Naval
Air Base zoomed overhead before the ceremonies began. Fif-
teen.hundred peeple gathered on the lawn of the Capitol, in
spite of the cold weather and the snow on the ground.

Hicks Griffiths, Williams' ex-law partner and campaign

56
manager, was the master of ceremonies. The inaugural cere-
mony, which went off according to schedule, was Opened by
the administering of the oath of office by Chief Justice of
the State Supreme Court Edward M. Sharpe. The National
Guard then fired a nineteen-gun salute.87 Following the
salute the other officials were sworn into office. Then
the new governor gave his inaugural address, which.was
followed by the benediction.

0n the speakers' platform with Williams were such
notables as Gus Scholle of the Michigan CIO; Frank x. Martel,
the'Wayne County AFL chief; Federal Judge Raymond W. Starr
of Grand Rapids; and the national Democratic committeeman
and committeewoman, George S. Fitzgerald of Detroit and Mrs.
Margaret Schwinger of Saginaw.

Text of speech; ,A cOpy of the First Inaugural.Ad-
dress was secured from.Williams' office. The writer checked
the text of the speech as reported in the ngging State
Journal88 and could find no discrepancies in the two cOpies.
However, it is not known that Williams stayed with the
manuscript exactly; it is possible that the Lgnsing State
Journal cOpy was a press release from the governor's office.
The writer believes the manuscript to be as accurate as can
be obtained.

gtgtsment ofgpggpose and sypogsis of speech. IQ
stating the purpose of this first inaugural address, Williams

__*

87The concussion from the exploding guns broke three
windows in the north end of the capitol.

88Lansing State Journal, January 1, 19u9.

57
formulateda sIOgan which he placed in the latter section of
the address. He said, in the third from the last paragraph:

I ask only that we all work together during these
two years, as a team--the Michigan team!

The following is a synOpsis of the speech:

1. The United States is a part of the Christian
world, which.was promised by Christ life
abundant. Inventive and productive genius
held a promise of fulfillment of this abun-
dant life in the twentieth century.

2. There are two obstacles to the fulfillment
of the promise.

3. Michigan has made prOgress toward the
formation of a better world.

#. Action should be taken to further this
prOgress.

5. Much can be done if everyone works
tOgether.

Ideas. In point four above, Williams advocated
policies in the following areas: improved housing for vet-
erans, assistance to the aged and to the unemployed, improved
educational facilities, promotion of first class citizen-
ship, better highways, conservation of water resourses, better
farm marketing, and promotion of better labor relations be-
tween workers and industrial leaders. These policies co-
incide with.the areas which.the Saturday Evening P0g§ declared
were 'New Deal prOposals".89 We would expect Williams' ideas
to be‘a reflection of the New Deal philosOphy90 for many
items in his background lead to this conclusion as indicated

 

89Sgpra, p. 16.
9°§upra, p. 7.

58
in the preceding chapters. He was indoctrinated into govern-
ment during the New Deal regime in Washington. He was the
protege of one of the New Deal's foremost practitioners,
Frank Murphy. He had the backing of labor.91

The ideas show a good understanding of the wants
and needs of the peeple of Michigan. Whether one agrees with
the proposals or not, it can be stated that the program in-
cludes nearly all of the peOple of the state in one way or
another.

Organization. The First Inaugural Address has an
introduction, body, and a conclusion. In the introduction
Williams attempted to predispose the audience to accept the
ideas in his address. He did so by making reference to the
holiday occasion. The first sentence of the speech.was:
'A.happy New Year to all the citizens of Michigan.“ Williams
then took the part of spokesman for all of the recently elec-
ted officials, and on their behalf offered further holiday
greetings.

The ideas in the body of the speech are organized in
a IOgical manner--that is, ”according to the continuity of
the reasoning process."92

In the conclusion, Williams gave a brief summary of

the main points in the speech. It is interesting to note

 

91The Political Action Committee of the 0.1.0. backs
candidates who support liberal political ideas, especially
liberal social policies.

92William Norwood Brigance, gp. cit., p. 9h.

59
that he used a Biblical quotation to begin the speech and

that he closed with another reference to the Deity, tending
to give unity to the over-all organizational pattern.
glidence and reasoning. In substantiating his ideas,
Williams in this speech used evidence in the form of tes-
timony of fact and of Opinion as a basis for his argumenta-
tion. He used deductive reasoning (reasoning from a general
truth to a particular conclusion) to a greater degree than
inductive reasoning (reasoning from a particular truth to
a general conclusion), although both types are present in
the address. The speech is tied tOgether with exposition-—
that is, statements designed to make the ideas clear.
Williams' method of handling exposition is shown in the
section indicating the action he felt should be taken. Will-

iams stated:

We have been somewhat callous to the just require-
ments of our aged citizens, of those injured in
industrial accidents, and of those who are out of
jobs through no fault of their own.

We have not succeeded in maintaining educational
Opportunity at the high standards to which the
children of Michigan are entitled.

We have fallen short in guaranteeing first class
citizenship to all of our peOple.

We have abused our rich water resources.

We have not succeeded in making rural Michigan
famous for its fruits and foods, as industrial
Michigan is famous for its automobiles and
other factory products.

We have failed to establish the legal and govern-
mental basis for harmonious co-Operation of work-
ers and employers.

It seems probable to the writer that this list of items

60

serves the purpose of informing the auditors of the kind of
legislation.whdch their new governor favors, and as such may
be considered exposition.

Williams' preference for deductive reasoning over
inductive reasoning is apparent in the introduction to the

section quoted above. He said:

,All of us, regardless of party, want to make pro-
gress. If there has been, in the Opinion of some
of us, a relaxation of effort in the last several
years, it has surely been due not to lack of good
will, but to disagreements as to the course we
should follow.

This introduction may be considered a deductive en-
thymeme. Williams used deductive reasoning in at least four
other places throughout the speech. In the main introduc-
tion, he used deductive reasoning when he stated:

Not quite 2,000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth said
that he came into this world so that men might

have life and life abundant. He spoke, it is true,
of the life of the spirit. But he enjoined all
men to have a care for another, not only in matters
of the spirit, but in the production and dis-
tribution of the necessary goods of this world.

Thus he reasoned: Jesus promised abundant spiritual
and material life. The Western World is based upon the
teachings of Jesus. Therefore, the West should have an
abundant spiritual and material life. This Biblical syllo-
gism is the first of a series of syllogisms,‘which lead to
the substantiation of the conclusion that everyone should
cOOperate in the improvement of state government.

Williams used inductive reasoning next when he assert-

ed that ‘the very material prOgress which held this bright

promise created problems which challenge the depth of our

61
spiritual strength.“ As proof of the assertion, he cited

the “great depression”. Then he related the problem to
Michigan by referring to the growth in the size of the
cities and the growth in industrial complexity. He used
induction to establish the considerable prOgress that has
been made.

In introducing the areas which still demand legisla-
tive action to achieve “prOgress”, Williams started a chain
of reasoning, the salient features of which are:

1. None of these problems is insoluble.

2. The solutions can be found if we all work
tOgether.

3. The solution rests upon all the people.

b. In order to arrive at the best solutions, the
peOple must keep themselves informed.

5. The media of information must inform truth-
fully.

Through this chain of reasoning Williams apparently
hoped to establish the idea of co-Operation in the minds
of the listeners; at the same time he issued a veiled threat
--that if the legislators fail to co-Operate they would have
to answer to the electors.

Egychologicalfgnd emotional appeg_§. In this speech
Williams attempted to adapt his remarks to the audience by
referring to the holiday occasion. Another important means
of audience adaption was the extensive use of personal pro—
nouns. In the first paragraph he used nine personal pronouns,
and throughout the rest of his address he used many others.
This use of pronouns probably had the effect of creating

62
rapport between the speaker and the auditors, making the
audience disposed to accept the speaker in a favorable light.
For example, in the conclusion Williams stated:

In this task I plead for and expect the co-
Operation of every official, and every citizen.
I am conscious of my responsibility and of my

limitations. I ask no man to wear my collar,
or to sacrifice his honest convictions.

Here is a plea to accept the speaker as a reasonable
person. There are few other examples of emotional appeals
in the speech, but in the following passage we can detect
an appeal to the patriotism of the listeners:

The continued active interest of the people of
Michigan in good government, in fair government,
in government for the public interest, is the
keystone of hOpes with.which all of your officials
today take up the burden of government.

The use of “we” throughout the speech implies a shared
responsibility, thereby presumably making easier for the

listener the decision to accept the proposals.

Iggylg. Stylistically, some of the speech has a ”Roose-
veltian“ flavor. For example, in the first part of the speech
Williams used the term “arsenal of democracy" in describing
the industrial composition of Michigan. On December 29,

1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt said in a Fireside Chat: 'We
must be the great arsenal of democracy‘.93 Later in the
speech Williams used the term “mandate“ in reference to the
circumstances of his being elected governor; Roosevelt used

the term in a similar manner on March 4, 1933, in his first

 

93B. D. Zevin (ed.), Nothing to Fear (Cambridge:
The Riverside Press, 1946), p. 257. A

63
inaugural address.9u
Williams' use of particularization, at least in one
place, is reminiscent of the frequent use that Roosevelt
made of this device. Williams stated:
You must constantly discuss these matters in
the shOps, the farms, the market places, the

halls of business, and the Union meetings of
the commonwealth.

The style of the above quotation is similar to that
which Franklin Roosevelt used on December 29, 1940, in a
Fireside Chat on national security:

' I saw the workmen in the mills, the mines,
the factory, the girl behind the counter;
the small shcpkeeper; the farmer doing his
spring plowing; the widows and the 01 men
wondering about their life's savings.

,Another example of the Roosevelt influence may be
seen in the use of the term, 'I pledge you“, which williams
used in his speech. Roosevelt said, in his acceptance
speech before the Democratic National Convention at Chicago,
Illinois, on July 2, 1932:

I pledge you, I pledge mggelf to a new deal
for the American peOple.

That Williams was influenced by Roosevelt in speech-
making is not to be wondered at, for again it can be remem-
bered that Williams obtained his basic training in gov-

ernment during the years just previous to the Second World

 

9"raid” p. 17.

95Ibid., p. 248.

961bid., p. 12.

64
War and was associated with Roosevelt and other New Deal
leaders of the day.

At one point in the speech Williams paraphrased
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. He stated:

We have been forced to fight two great wars,

testing our belief that all men are created

equal, and to ensure that government of the

peeple, by the peeple, and for the peOple

shall not perish from this earth.
At another point Williams said, “so today we here highly
resolve . . . “

Williams made frequent use of the device of parallel
construmtion. He made quite an extended parallelism in the
section devoted to “things“ to be done to insure prOgress.
In seven successive paragraphs, “We have“ was used as an
introduction, and Williams employed the term “You must“ six
times in succession. This passage illustrates another
aspect of Williams' style--the use of personal pronouns.
Finally, Williams' used alliteration when he said “workshop
of the western world“ and “famous for its fruits and foods.“

Summary. As we might have suspected from.Williams'
background, the ideas in this speech are similar in charac-
ter to those of the New Deal. The ideas are inclusive; that
is, they are directed to all of the peeple of the state.

The speech is organized in a lOgical manner and each point
in the speech is a natural introduction of the succeeding
point, giving the speech an over-all organizational unity.

In this speech the evidence and reasoning used as

proof would seem to be satisfying to the listener. Most of

65
the reasoning seems to be deductive. There are very few
psychological appeals in the speech; the most frequently
used appeal is the use of personal pronouns, which tends
to place the speaker favorably in the Opinion of the

auditors.

Debate before the Economic Club of Detroit

Background. The candidates for governor of Michigan,
chosen in the primary elections, customarily start their
campaigns by debating before the Economic Club of Detroit.
Each nominee presents a constructive argument followed by
a five-minute rebuttal. Following this exchange of views,
there is a question and answer period in which each contest-
ant is allowed six minutes. The questions come from the
floor.

Williams had been unOpposed for the Democratic nomin-
ation; Donald S. Leonard had won the Republican nomination
after a hotly contested battle in the primary elections.

There was much interest in this campaign in Michigan
since the Republicans were determined to return the gover-
nor's office to their party. In Donald 5. Leonard they had
put their best foot forward. He had been the pOpular head
of the State Police. He had just resigned as chief of the
Detroit police department upon accepting the nomination to
run for governor. Since he had held two state posts it was
felt by the Republicans that Leonard would make a strong
candidate. They felt he would run well in Wayne County since

he had been chief of the Detroit police department, and they

66
reasoned that his experience as head of the State Police
would make him an attractive candidate for the independent
voter.

The face-to-face clash of the two nominees for gov-
ernor occurred at Veterans' Memorial Building in Detroit,
on September 20, 1954. More than a thousand members of
the club jammed into the ball-room. Tap-flight Democrats
and Republicans and most of the Administrative Board can-
didates were on hand. Federal Judge Arthur F. Lederle,
former Democratic County Chairman, moderated the debate.
One ex-governor, Murray D. VanWagoner, was among the guests.
The moderator was introduced by Allen B. Crow, the presi-
dent of the club. Lederle, the moderator, presented the
contestants.97

The members of the Economic Club are businessmen
from the Detroit area, but it would be misleading to say
that the debate was aimed solely at the audience assembled.
It can safely be assumed that the debaters hOped their re-
marks would reach a wider audience than had assembled. The
speeches were delivered during the lunch hour, strict time
limits were imposed, and there was a time-keeper.

Text of Speech. The text of this speech was obtained
by the writer from the governor's office. The following
notation is made at the bottom of the manuscript:

The above transcript has been repared from a wire
recording of what was said at this meeting. Gov-

 

97Detroit Free Pregg, September 21, 1954.

67
ernor G. Mennen Williams, however, has not re-
turned his edited cOpy, so that it might be in-
corporated in this record.

From this we can infer that Leonard may have edited
his remarks, while Williams did not. The cOpy of the
speech, insofar as Williams' remarks are concerned, was
checked by the author with the transcript reported in the
.Qstroit Free Pres§98 and no significant differences in the
two cOpies could be found. This transcript, however, does
not contain the entire account of the proceedings, since
some of the introduction was deleted. For example, Mr.
Allen B. Crow, upen‘ introducing the moderator, made some
remarks to the effect that the club was growing rapidly
and concluded with this statement:

The officers of this c ub do ot,know the lo-
cation of next week's luncheorlhmeeting.

It is necessary to quote Mr. Crow's remark in order

to understand Williams' reply in the introduction to his

speech when he said:

Gentlemen, all this plays right into the hands
of the Democrats. Here before me are a thousand
of the city's best known businessmen. And you
don't know where you're going to eatrext week.

Statement of_purpose and synopsis of speech. Will-
iams states the purpose of the Speech in the first sentence

following the introduction. He said:

It is difficult enough to discuss the most im-
portant issues in the coming state campaign with-

 

981bid.

68

out a start like that,99 but I will try and be-
gin by saying that I earnestly believe that the
peOple of Michigan want to see continued the
forward drive to meeting the growing needs and
problems of our great community of Michigan.

Thus, the basic purpose of the debate was to discuss

the important issues in the coming campaign. Williams

followed the statement of purpose with an analysis of what

he considered to be the peOple's wants. After the state-

ment of purpose, the body of the speech, as shown by this

synOpsis, followed:

1.

Michigan's historic needs are many.

The fulfillment of the needs was not effectively
met by the Republicans.

The Democrats have already effected certain
solutions.

The Democrats hOpe to effect further solutions.

Ideas. As in the speeches already analyzed, the

cast of Williams' political philosOphy can be detected.

In point four above he suggested the following solutions:

1.

Kn)

Developing harbors, roads, and port facilities
of Michigan.

Expanding the program for colleges and univer-
sities.

Building schools and recruiting more teachers.
Improving the Unemployment Compensation Law.

Continuing and expanding the work of the State
Department of Economic DevelOpment.

Expanding the work of the Emergency Industrial
Production Committee.

 

99Williams referred to the humorous remarks which

preceded in the introduction.

69

7. Continuing and expanding the farm marketing
program.

8. Using the influence of the state to reduce
or eliminate the excise tax on automobiles.

9. Working with the Democrats in the United

States Congress to place the automobile on

the “write-off“ list for income tax purposes.

The correspondence to New Deal social legislation
can be noted; and, again, the inclusiveness of the program
seems evident.

Organiggtion. This speech is divided into intro-
duction, body, and conclusion. In the introduction Will-
iams prepared.the audience for the remarks Which followed
by using humor. He said:

It is a great pleasure once again to have the
Opportunity to address this particular meeting
--and it goes without saying, I am looking
forward to doing it again in the future.

Williams utilized humor again in relating the plight
of the members of the club to the aims of the Democratic
party. Through this use of humor, which in both instances
is directly related to the members of the club and the
situation, he attempted to make the members of the club,
most of whom may have been on the Opposite side of the
political picture, more receptive to his remarks.

The arrangement of the body of the speech is lOgical
in nature--that is, the points are steps in the reasoning
process.

Epidence and reasoning. The purpOse of this speech

was to give Williams' program for the 1954 gubernatorial

electipn; thus, much of the speech was in the form of an

7O
exposition of the platform. He prepared a base upon which
to rest the exposition by saying:

They, the peOple, do not want to see, and return
to, the good old days of Republican one-party rule,
when the problems and needs of greater Michigan
loomed too big for the timid and quarreling leaders
to tackle.

To substantiate the above example, Williams pointed
out needs which he said the Republicans had ignored--the
most dramatic example, perhaps, being the need for a bridge
over the Straits of Mackinac. He pointed out other examples,
such as the need for mental hospitals, tuberculosis hospi-
tals, a tuberculosis prevention prOgram, and better medical
schools. He gave more examples of such needs by pointing
to workman's compensation, old age assistance, and unemploys
ment insurance laws. These examples, bulWarked with fact,
culminated in the conclusion that the Republicans did not
recognize and solve these problems when they were in office.

In.Williams' remaining constructive remarks he used
exposition, in an effort to make clear the program which he
and his party advocated. In his exposition he used consid-
erable factual evidence in the form of statistics to show
the need for the programs he prOposed. For example, he
said he proposed to have schools built and to have teachers
recruited and trained. To show the need for this action,
he said: '

Every year from sixty to seventy thousand addi-
tional children come knocking at the doors of
. public schools.
Williams used statistics further when he dealt with

the subject of building roads. He said: QAnd next year

71
we should have done the $500 million revenue bond issue“.
When he stated his intention of bringing more federal con-
tracts into the state, he used statistical evidence for the
purpose of substantiating the need for this program. He
said: “Two hundred thousand of our peOple are out of work."
The debate contained much of this type of statistical
evidence, which appeared to lend weight to Williams' argu-
ments. _

The clash of ideas in the rebuttal was lively and
interesting. One of the most important points made by
Leonard in his constructive remarks had been that if the
people were to elect a Republican legislature, they should
also elect a Republican governor. Williams spent the en-
tire amount of rebuttal time in answering this argument.

He said: IHaving a Republican governor and a Republican
legislature is no guarantee of action.‘ Following this
statement he gave examples of Republican governors and
Republican legislatures which had not worked harmoniously.
Then he asserted that Democratic governors and Republican
legislatures have accomplished much, using as an example
the term of Democratic Governor VanWagoner and the Repub-
lican state legislature with which he served. He concluded
this argument with evidence from his own administration,
which has always had a Republican legislature.

Leonard stated in his constructive speech that
Michigan's Unemployment Compensation Law was the best of
its kind in the nation. Williams presented a convincing

72
argument when he pointed out that the passing of this exe
cellent law was done under his regime with a Democratic

governor and a Republican legislature.

Psychological and emotional apoealg. This speech
contains little of an emotional nature, the only notable
emotional devices being the use of personal pronouns and
humor. Williams used the pronoun l'we" extensively in
setting forth the prOgram which the Democrats prOposed to
follow. Using pronouns in this way may be considered an
emotional factor, for by doing so the speaker tends to place
himself in favorable light before the listeners.

In initiating the rebuttal, Williams employed humor
by saying:

Well, Don, I don't know whether you have the
better of the argument, or there are more
Republicans here, but I would rather assume
that these gentlemen when they return home,
Don, will say that their three dollars or

two dollars wasn't[sie]too much for the show
we put on.

In another place in the rebuttal Williams used humor
in order to cover an embarassing mistake. He said:

I think we will have a Re ublican--or Dem-
ocratic rather--(laughter . After all these
years it is pretty hard to say a Democratic
House (laughter), but it is going to happen
nonetheless.

gtzle. In style the speech has little variation.
Although.the language for the most part is plain, there are
some examples of adornment. Williams said, for example:
They said that the winds at the Straits were
too fierce, the ice was too thick, the water

was too deep and the rocks under the Straits
too thin.

73
Through the use of 'too' in the paragraph an effective
parallel construction was set up. There are other examples
of parallel construction in the speech. In the exposition
of the program proposed by the Democrats, Williams used an
extensive four-paragraph parallel construction, each para-
graph beginning with.the phrase “We propose.' In the last
section of the body of the speech he used another parallel
construction starting with the words “We will."

One interesting figurative analogy made its appear-
ance in the previously quoted paragraph, when Williams
continued:

It wasn't the rocks under the Straits of Mackinac
that were too soft. It was the spirm and the
will of those in the one-party control of the
state.

Summa 1° Williams' ideas, which correspond to those
of the New Deal philosophy, are presented in a lOgical order.
In this speech, in which exposition is widely used, con-
siderable use of inductive reasoning, based on statistical
evidence, is made. Williams used personal pronouns and
humor as psychological and emotional devices. The style
was characterized by the use of parallel construction,

figurative ana10gy, and personal pronouns.

Speech Before Michigan Judges' Association
gackground. Governor Williams was one of the guest-
speakers who addressed the members of the Michigan Judges'
Association at their annual banquet on September 2, 1954,
in Charleviox, Michigan. The principal speaker of the

evening was former United States Senator Prentice M. Brown.

7h
Other outstanding guests introduced to the capacity crowd
of over two hundred persons were United States Senator
Homer Ferguson and the Honorable Harry F. Kelly, Justice
of the Supreme Court of Michigan.

Eggt of_§p§ech. The Manuscript of this speech was
given to the writer by one of Williams' assistants. The
newspapers did not publish a transcript of the speech.

Statement of_purpose and synppsis of speech. Willé
iams withheld the statement of the purpose of the speech
until the conclusion of his speech, when he said:

My chief purpose in reviewing these points is
to seek your co-Operation and to offer mine in

the extension and improvement of our probation
services.

In preparing the ground for this statement, Williams
organized the speech into four divisions, as can be seen
from the following synOpsis:

l. Probation is an effective sociological and
economic device.

2. The use of probation in Michigan can be
increased.

3. We are not dependent on probation alone in the
salvaging of young people from a life of crime.

A. We have been doing a good job, but we can do
better.

Igegg. In this speech.Williams gave his conception
of the role the state government should play concerning its
penal institutions. He showed himself to be concerned about
the rehabilitation of young criminals. He showed a willingb
ness for the state to assume more responsibility in the mat-

ter of rehabilitation, for he said: ''I will recommend an

75

increase of at least twenty-five probation officers for
next year and for the coming years, until we come closer
to this desirable standard“. This quotation reveals Will-
iams' belief that the government should provide for the
well-being of individuals.

Organization. This speech is divided into an intro-
duction, body, and conclusion. In the introduction, which
is brief, Williams quoted an adage and then plunged into
the heart of the Speech.

The body is organized in a logical manner. The
main points are in the form of a chain of reasoning. They
are:

l. Probation is effective sociolOgically and
economically.

2. Probation can be increased.
3. We aren't depending on probation alone.

In the conclusion Williams summarized his beliefs
concerning probation and reaffirmed his desire to salvage
as many youthful criminals as possible-~a desire expressed
in the introduction. Williams' closing remark was a definite
appeal for support from his listeners.

ggidence and reasoning. The Opening argument is in
the form of‘a hypothetical syllogism. Williams said:

If we can prevent one young man from becoming
a hardened criminal, the social and economic
savings to society are great and multiplied
many times...However, at our present state of
knowledge about what makes peOple criminals, we
cannot expect to reach the desired goal of

completely preventing crime. We must, therefore,
direct our attention towards salvaging as many

youthful offenders as we can as we go along.

76

Thus, he Opened the speech by reasoning: If we
can prevent one youth from a life of crime, society will
benefit; we can't prevent all crime; therefore, we must
salvage as many youthful criminals as we can. Through the
use of this syllOgism Williams initiated his argument. He
continued the speech by using a balance of deductive ar-
gument and exposition, in making a clear statement of the
system of parole which he favored for youthful offenders.

Williams' use of statistics is illustrated by the
following example:

An inmate at Marquette costs Michigan tax-
payers $l,734 a year. At Jackson this cost
would be $1,007. On probation, the cost
would average about $100 per case.

Later in his speech.Williams used evidence based
upon the McCormick report, which.was issued following riots
at the State Prison of Southern Michigan, in Jackson.
Following this, Williams used statistics to show the exe
tent to which.probation has been used in Michigan over
the years. He said: “The number of felons on probation
has risen from 5,5“2 to 9,278..

These examples serve to indicate the manner in which
Williams used evidence to substantiate his ideas. With the
exception of the McCormick report, no source for the statis-
tics was given.

Psychological and emotional appeals. Williams made
an emotional appeal during his analysis of the probation
system as it has been used in Michigan. He said:

The record of its [probation's] performance is

7?

written clearly and demonstrates that courts

possessed of the prOper tools can do a fine

Job of rehabilitation and correction espec-

ially of the youthful offenders.
A kind Of psycholOgical appeal is contained in this state-
ment since the remark was directed to a group of Judges--
men who administer the probation system. For this reason,
the statement may be an appeal to the listeners‘sense of
self-assertion because it shows how well they have done
with the toOls they have and implies that they could do
better with better tools.

The only other examples of psychological appeal that
may be detected in this speech are the use of references to
personages who had been active in the field of administering
Judges, and the use of personal pronouns. As an example of
the use of reference to persons, Williams says: 'A sponsor-
ing committee of citizens, headed by Judge Stephen J. Roth,
was set up to give advice.I Later he referred to a leader
in the effort to get legislative approval of a prOposed
probation system; he said: 'Judge Pugsley of Hart, and
his efforts, I am sure, are Well—known to all of you."
Through references to these well-known men, who had the
respect of the Judges assembled, Williams created a kind of
psychological appeal.

Through the use of “I“, and “we“, and “you“, Williams
attempted to place himself favorably before the audience.
The following list of phrases illustrates Williams' use of

personal pronouns, which have been underlined by the writer:

1. If h; [the youthful Offender] turns out well,

78

and most of them do, 33 have saved a good
future citizen.

2. At my suggestion last year . . .

3. We in Michigan have made increased use of
probation over the years.

b. I recommended to the legislature that we
add seventeen probation officers to the
office staff.

5. I’will recommend an increase of at least
twenty-five probation officers for next
year.

6. ‘I can assure you that I will support this
idea.

7. I bespeak yggg comment and co-Operation.

By using personal pronouns Williams gave the lis-
teners an Opportunity to share in the conclusions. More
important, perhaps, their use tended to build up the pres-
tige Of the speaker.

figylg. Stylistically, this speech is devoid of many
of the techniques which make a speech varied and interesting.
There is little use of alliteration, parallel construction,
rhetorical questions, or figures of speech.

‘Williams introduced the speech with the adage, {An
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.“ From this
adage he draws a figurative analogy comparing 'An ounce of
preventionI to the use of probation in Michigan.

In general, the speech is simple in style and easy
to follow. The wording of the speech is clear; that is,
Williams did not use words that were difficult to understand

or confusing in context.

Summary. We may conclude that the speech, while not

79

particularly varied in style, seems to give a clear under-

standing of Williams' beliefs concerning probation.

Speech Delivered at Convention
of Young Democrats of Colorado

Iggckground. The occasion of this speech, as in-
dicated by the title, was a convention of the Young Democrats
of Colorado, which was held in Denver, Colorado, on November
26, 1955. Governor G. Mennen Williams was the main speaker.
His speech is one of the few he has given which is primarily
concerned with national issues.

Text of gpeech. The text used for analysis came
from the governor's office. A tape recording of the speech
had also been made, and the writer noted that the manuscript
copy of the speech did not contain all that Was said in the
actual speech. Williams delivered about three minutes of
impromptu remarks before beginning the manuscript cOpy of
the speech. In his impromptu remarks he mentioned or
greeted prominent peOple present, including former Secretary
of Agriculture Charles F. Brannan.

Statement of purpose and synopsis of speech. The
purpose of this speech was to present the speaker's views
on the national political situation existing within the
Democratic party. Prior to Williams' speech, Adlai E.
Stevenson, defeated Democratic presidential candidate of
1952, had declared from Chicago to a television audience
that he favored a moderate attitude in solving “national

80
problems, especially civil righte.'1°° Williams referred
to Stevenson's speech as the "Spirit of Chicago“; and he
expressed his viewpoints, which were at variance with those
held by Stevenson, the leader of the Democratic party.
A.synOpsis of Williams' speech follows:
1. The Democratic party stands for progress.

2. Due to automation and advances in science,
we are on the threshold of many changes.

3. The changes facing us bring many problems
in education, peace, and prosperity.

h. Large segments of population do not agree
with moderation policies in dealing with
the problems and issues facing us.

Ideas. In this speech, delivered in 1955, we can
see that Williams throughout his years in public life has
steadfastly maintained a single point of view. He said:

If we can produce goods--as surely we can, and
as we surely will in even more staggering flow
under the new technologya-then it seems to me
that, given the will, given the energy, given
the imagination, we also can devise a technique
for distributing real income, real prosperity,
rather than a prosperity which is borrowing on
the prospects of earnings to come, betting
against the possibility of accident, ill health,
lay-offs, other hazards which so few escaped in
the years the nation's leaders should remember,
but apparently do not.

By this statement, Williams again established the
trend of his political philosOphy and showed the tenacity
with which he maintains a single point of view.

Organization. This speech has a definite introduction,

body, and conclusion.

 

1oogaginaw NGW§, August 5, 1956.

81

In the introduction Williams delivered about three
minutes of impromptu remarks. These remarks were designed
to put the audience at ease and to dispose them to accept
the ideas of his speech. The remarks were personal and
inclusive. The remainder of the introduction contained
quotations from Patrick Henry, after which Williams compared
the importance of the occasion in Patrick Henry's time with
that of the present time. By so doing, Williams estab-
lished a base upon which to rest his observations.

The body of the speech is arranged in a IOgical
manner. 'To establish his central theme, that we should
not accept a council of moderation, Williams made several
points as were shown in the synOpsis. The points are steps
in the reasoning process.

In the conclusion Williams paraphrased the famous
plea of Patrick Henry's “Give me liberty or give me death'I
statement. He said:

,At this moment I am not sure who stands where
in the fight for social Justice and human
betterment. I know not what course others
may take. But as for me, I would rather be
hanged as a rebel in the ranks of those
fighting for a fuller life for all of our
peOple than to hold a commission in the army
of General Apathy and General Despair.

Following this paraphrasing, Williams reiterated
his theme and concluded the speech with these words: “This
is the spirit of Democracyb-the spirit of America--the'
spirit of victory in '56J‘

Evidence and reasoning; ‘Williams used statistical

evidence as a basis for his reasoning.

82

As explained, Williams introduced his speech.with
a quotation from Patrick Henry from which he drew an analOgy
comparing the need for responsibility to God and country in
1775 to the same need in 1955. He carried the anaIOgy on
with the idea that there were in 1775 those who counseled
moderation as there are in 1955, and that if the moderates
had carried the day then the United States would not have
been able to rise to such great heights of achievement. He
then asserted that I'we are expected--indeed obliged--to
express ourselves fully and freely and to fight to the end
for the things in which we believe with all of our hearts.‘

Inherent in this analogy is the deductive argument
that if the moderates had carried the day in 1775 we woudd
not have prOgressed. The moderates did not carry the day;
therefore, we did progress. By implication Williams reasoned:
If the moderates carry the day now, we will not prOgress.

There are other examples of deductive argument in
the speech. Following the introduction discussed above,
Williams said:

These debates are the one time above all when
the greatest and the very least of us are exp
pected--are obligated to express ourselves
fully and freely and to fight to the end for
the things in which we believe with all of our
hearts.

Here, in reference to the presidential nominations
which were impending, Williams said, in effect: Our dem-
ocracy is built on free discussion by the members of
society. I am a member of society; therefore, I should

discuss.

83

In further preparation for the substance of the
speech, Williams used a series of arguments based upon deduc-
tive reasoning. He asserted that the “Spirit of Chicago“ is
moderation, and that moderation will not solve immediate or
future problems. He further asserted that we have been
resting (an obvious slap at the Republican regime) for three
years. He also asserted that the “Spirit of Chicago“ would
not give the electorate a choice in the forthcoming elec-
tion. Following this reasoning‘Williams presented proof to
substantiate his claims. He pointed to the splitting of
the atom and the imminence of automation, which he summarized
as a revolution in technology and science.

Arguing from the premise that we are in the midst
of a social and political revolution the whole world over,
Williams concluded that our immediate prOgram must be to
the third quarter of the twentieth century what Woodrow
Wilson's program‘was to the first quarter and what Franklin
D. Roosevelt's and Harry S. Truman's prOgrams were to the
second quarter-~all of which served as a reminder to this
group of Democrats of the tradition of the Democratic party.

To give substance to his remarks, Williams pointed
up some of the problems of the day, the first being in the
field of education. He used this statistical evidence:
300,000 classrooms and 160,000 teachers are needed. Will-
iams did not use many statistics but had a good balance be-
tween statistical evidence and example. To point up the
need in the field of education, Williams used the dramatic

84
examples that some schools are Operated in buildings which
are "fire-traps“ and others do not have toilet facilities
of any kind. He then pointed to the amount of money necess-
ary to meet educational needs, sixteen billion dollars.
Following this, Williams reviewed the Republican educational
program, which provided one-hundred million dollars. He
compared the Republican solution to the educational problem
with the solution offered by the ”Spirit of Chicago“, and
he concluded that greater expenditures and effort were
necessary.

Williams used the same type of argument, from de-
duction with an admixture of induction and based upon evi-
dence of fact, to expound his views upon peace, agriculture,
labor, and social legislation in general. Throughout the
speech he used deduction enough to give the speech a logical,
reasonable tone; he used statistical and factual proof which
he hOped would satisfy the listeners.

Psychological and emotional proof . or the five
speeches analyzed, this speech has the greatest number of
psychOIOgical appeals. Most of them are appeals to the
listeners' feelings of patriotism and sense of duty. Will-
iams made references to such historical events as "our
struggle for independence" and ”unrest, rebellion, killings,
destruction and despair in much of Africa, the Near East,
and the Far East.“ Thus he used these emotional elements to
give additional appeal to ideas expressed. The speech is
colored with figurative language, which may be considered as

85
having an emotional impact.

Williams used two quotations from Patrick Henry,
one at the beginning of the speech and one at the closing;
he used one quotation from Franklin D. Roosevelt. We have
already noted one of the quotations from Patrick Henry.

In quoting Roosevelt's famous words, Williams said:

We must have no smaller courage, no lesser

vision. Let us remember the words of Franklin

Delano Roosevelt--“The only thing we have to

fear is fear itself-~nameless, unreasoning,

unjustified terror which paralyzes needed

efforts to convert retreat into advance.“
These quotations have an emotional connotation, since the
men quoted were prominent figures in United States history.
The use of Franklin D. Roosevelt's name is emotion-packed,
especially when uttered in Democratic circles.

'ggylg. Williams employed many techniques of style
in this speech. He used figures of speech, alliteration,
and the figurative anaIOgy.

Williams made wide use of figures of speech, such
as, “harbor of destiny“ and “rocks of disaster.“ He con-
stantly referred to the speech of Adlai StevensOn as the
“Spirit of Chicago“. He used the term, “incinerated by
this great new power“. Later he referred to “electronic
brains, the electronic hands, and the electronic backs.“
He referred to “the uncharted sea of the over-extension of
consumer credit.“ He referred to the farmers as being
“plowed under.“ In the conclusion, when he paraphrased

the famous remarks of Patrick Henry, he used the term,

“army of General Apathy and General Despair.“

86

These figures of speech may be considered original
and somewhat different from the general tone Of many of the
speeches delivered by Williams. In any event, they serve
to enliven the speech and to make it more “listenable.“

There are many examples of alliteration in this
speech. 'A few are: “the timid, the temporizers,“ “craven
cowardice,“ “spineless and self-defeating“, and “fully and
freely to fight to the end.“

The use of alliteration to such an extent is some-
what novel in Williams' speeches, but even more novel is
the use of the rhetorical question. He asks:

For how much longer does the Spirit of Chicago
urge that we continue resting? How long does
the Spirit of Chicago estimate that it takes

a vigorous and aspiring peOple to catch its
breath?

Williams used the figurative analOgy in this speech.
He compared the political and social revolution that the
United States and the world is experiencing to a storm at

sea. The boat represents the political institutions. He
said:

It is not the moment to speak fearfully of
rocking the boat. The boat is already tossing
like a cork on the waves of such revolution as
man never before in his whole history has ex-
perienced until now. It is not for us fear-
fully to whimper about rocking the boat. It
is for us determinedly and fearlessly to chart
a course toward the harbor of the great poten-
tial which is ours, rather than cower fear-
fully in dark uncertainty.

This is the only example of a figurative analOgy
in this speech, and it is one of the few that Williams has
used in speeches which the writer has read or heard.

87

Williams made full use of parallel construction.

In the latter portion of the speech he began five successive
paragraphs with the phrase, “If it means.“ Later, he began
five paragraphs with the word, “Certainly.“ Earlier in the
speech he had used parallel construction when he said:

I am made heartsick by those in my own party,

who do not militantly resist the spurious

doctrine that, so long as our aged have some

security--so long as the most indigent get

some medical care-~so long as unemployment is

below the critical level part of the time,--

our Job is done, we can rest.

Thus, through the use of the rhetorical question,
alliteration, parallel construction, and figurative analOgy,
Williams gave more variety to this speech than any of the
other speeches that the author analyzed.

Summary. In this speech the conformity of Williams'
ideas to those of the New Deal is evident; he showed him-
self ready to use the facilities of the government to give
security to individuals. The ideas seem to be well-arranged
in a logical manner. As proof, Williams used a consider-
able body of statistical and other factual evidence, to-
gether with a variety of inductive and deductive methods
of reasoning, particularly example and analogy. His emo-
tional appeals were largely appeals to patriotism and duty.
He referred often to well-known historical events. In style

there is considerable variation; such devices as figures of

speech, alliteration, and figurative analogies are employed.

88
Speech Before the National Conference
of Catholic Charities and Annual Meeting
of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul
'Background. The National Conference of Catholic
Charities met in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 9,
1955, at sixethirty o'clock in the evening. The meeting,
at which G. Mennen Williams spoke, was also the annual
national meeting of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul;
and many important national figures of the Catholic faith
were present. Williams' speech dealti with a subJect that
is very important to him: religion.
Text of speech. The manuscript of this speech.was
given to the writer by one of the governor's aides. In
the legend at the top of the manuscript is the word, “ex-
cerpts“, which may mean that part of the speech is missing.
The aide assured the writer, however, that the only part
that may be missing would be impromptu remarks at the begin-
ning of the speech. The aide who made the cOpy available
to the writer said that the speech.was prepared principally
by Williams, and that the ideas expressed are an expres-
sion of Williams' views on religion, as related to politics.
‘gggtgment of paypose and gyngpgis of speeghg This
speech is an exposition of Williams' beliefs concerning the
role of government in relation to religion.
The following is a synOpsis of the speech:
1. Each man is his brother's keeper.

2. Modern technOIOgy is providing a new life of
more abundant living.

89

,. Greater emphasis must be placed on the spirit
of brotherhood and on neighborliness.

Igggg. In this speech.we can get a picture of the
religious and philosOphical convictions upon which.Williams
rests his political philOSOphy. He gives a clear elucidation
of the relationship of the church and government. He feels
that the underlying significance of religion is to help man-
kind seek a brotherhood, and that the role of government is

to further this attempt. Williams said:

Without this neighborliness, this friendliness,
this constant concern of all these groups for
all others, GOVERNMENT, at whatever level, and

however strong, would be a helpless and frustrated
thing.

In making clear his conception of the relationship
of God to government, Williams made a clear statement of
his beliefs concerning government when he said:

They and you together are the government. That
government is not some kind of amorphous thing,
a cancerous growth on the body politic, but that
government and the peOple are, or ought to be,
synonomous. We, all of us together, are the
government, and we must not permit ourselves to
be split apart, divided, to be driven to cross-
purposes.

Later, Williams used a quotation from.Abraham Lincoln
to make clear the kinds of activities in which he feels the

government should engage. He said:

To do, of course, is one of government's main
functions: to do, as Lincoln said, “to do
for a community of peOple whatever they need
to have done but cannot do at all--or cannot
do so well-for themselves, in their separate
and individual capacities.“ The tragedy lies
in the fact that a situation has develOped in
which the government has had to step in.

Thus, we can see that Williams' conception of govern-

90
ment is one that is active on behalf of the individuals of
society.

This speech illustrates an aspect of Williams speaking
which is of particular interest. He is able to make each
group to Which he talks feel that it is engaged in worth-
while activities, and he gives the group assurance that
he is supporting it. He said, for example:

It is heart-warming and inspiring to participate

in the activities of such groups as are assembled

here tonight. I thank you for counting me in.

Organization. The over-all organization follows
the usual pattern: introduction, body, and conclusion.

In the introduction Williams attempted to make the
audience accept his ideas by thanking the group for the
Opportunity to participate in its activities.

The body of the speech is organized in such a way
that the points when listed form a causal relatiOnship.
The ideas of the body of the speech are arranged in this
Way:

1. Each man is ruled by a spirit of Christianity.

2. Modern technology is providing a new life of
more abundant living.

3. Therefore, greater emphasis must be placed on
the spirit of Christianity.

The conclusion contains a summary of Williams' be
liefs concerning the respective roles of government and re-
ligion in democracy. He said:

The work which government, which the professionals

do, is a good and necessary work. The Job must be
done. But other groups, such as those represented

 

91
here tonight, supply the pulsating heart, the Chris-
tian, as distinguished from the merely charitable,
drive.

Williams' concluding sentence is tantamount to a prayer.
He said: ”May our good Lord bless you in all of your under;
takings, as I pray that he will guide and inspire me.“
Evidence and reasoning. In this speech Williams
used logic and citation of authority. The most frequent
form of logic employed is deductive. As can be seen from
the preceding section on organization, the body of the
speech is organized in the form of a causal relationship.
Thus, Williams reasons: (1) Each man is his brother's
. keeper. (2) Modern technology is providing a new life which
threatens to I'whet our old avarice.' (3) Greater emphasis,
therefore, must be placed on spiritual matters.
Each.of the above statements is a link in the
causal chain. For example, the Christian philosOphy is
that each of us is our brother's keeper; we live in a
Christian world; therefore, we are our brother's keeper.
This speech, an exposition of Williams' conception
of the relationship of government and religion,makes little
use of factual proof. In citing the advances of modern
technolOgy, Williams reasoned that automation, atomic energy,
and solar energy should make available more leisure time.

He said:

It is a gateway not only to a new, richer fuller
way of life;it is a gateway tO‘What almost might
be called a new culture, so splendid in its pros-
pect-~the push button prospect, the solar en-
ergized, automation-organized prospect of an
economy of great leisure.

92

He again reasoned:

We are equally hampered by those who are ignorant

of the legitimacy and necessity of our purposes,

and hence are frightened by them. We are ham-

pered by sloth, We are hampered by a strange and

truly alarming kind of dissolution of our fun-

damental institutions--the family, respect for

authority, the acceptance of responsibility.

We are hampered even by our misunderstanding of

each other.

Thus, through the use of logic, as shown by the
two examples above, Williams offered proof for his ideas.
An example of the use of deductive argument as support for
his contention should suffice to make clear his use of this
type of proof. To support the contention that religious
groups must help prepare mankind to accept the new culture
promoted by technological advances, Williams said:

If the new abundance is permitted to whet our
old aVarice, we are lost, economically as well
as spiritually.

And it is for this reason that new and greater
emphasis must be placed now and forever hence-

forth on the spirit of brotherhood, the spirit
of neighborliness.

Proof takes the form of logic or citation of authori-
ty. Williams, at the point in the speech following the
previOusly mentioned sleOgism, stated his theme: “Withp
out this neighborliness . . . government, at whatever level,
and however strong, would be a helpless and frustrated
thing.“ To substantiate this theme, Williams used a quo-
tation frOm a well-known priest, Father Mark Fitzgerald
of Sacred Heart Church at Notre Dame University. Williams
said:

Father Mark Fitzgerald . . . argued that the

93

reverse, of course, is true also. The best of
us in our noblest pursuits . . . would be thor—
oughly and utterly frustrated, if it were not
for the civil authority.

Williams used other citations from authority to

substantiate his speech. To establish his conception of
the main functions of government, he used a quotation from
Lincoln. Another quotation used by Williams originated
with Monsignor O'Grady, a member of the group which Williams
Was addressing. He said:

Your own Monsignor O'Grady has put forth the

suggestion that it would be tragic were gov-

ernment to usurp or intrude upon the services

which the various religious organizations

should provide, and would provide, did they
have adequate support of an adequate number

of peeple.
ngcho;0gica1 and emotional appg g. In this speech

 

Williams made an appeal to the patriotic instincts of the

listeners when he said:

Ours is a great and much blest nation. Much of
its strength lies in the activities and the
cohesion and the philosophy of Just such groups
as are represented at this conference of Catholic
Charities.

Underlying this appeal to patriotism, there was an
appeal to the groups sense of accomplishment, since Will-
iams made a direct statement of the good work and the nec-
essary work that such Christian organizations do.

Williams appealed to the listeners' sense of co-
Operation When he said:

You, in your field, are doing a great and
charitable work in help you are able to give
to your government, and the help you freely

accept from your government, in providing
such care for[mentallyuretardedlchildren as

94
both of us tOgether are able to give.

He appealed to the listeners' sense of love and

compassion when he said:

But where are the hearts, where is the Chris-
tian charity of those others, who profess not
to understand what we are about in the current
crisis, who would provide us, for crass dollars
and cents reasons, with facilities which at
best are grossly inadequate to do the Job?

Williams used many personal pronouns throughout the
speech. It is through the use of pronouns that he made his
major attempt at audience adaption. For example, he said:

We are hampered, both of us--you in your
charities and the government in its respon-
sibilities--by those who do not know that
THEY and YOU together are the government.
.....We, all of us tOgether, are the gov—
ernment, and we must not permit ourselves to
be split apart, divided, to be driven to
cross purposes.

He continued to use many personal pronouns, par-
ticularly 'we' in combination with I'you", “your“, and “our“.
Williams attempted to place himself in a favorable
light in the eyes of this audience by using the pronoun
'I'. In reference to the statement of Monsignor O'Grady,

he said:

With this I am in fullest agreement. And I
am sure the Monsignor also will be in full
agreement with me, when I assert that the
tragedy lies not so much in the fact that
government tries to do what it prOperly can
do in this field.

Finally, the numerous religious references have
considerable emotional appeal. The psychological appeal
results from the fact that Williams was talking to a group
of persons who had devoted their lives to the betterment

95
of mankind, through the dissemination of information con-
cerning Christian principles. Williams, by affirming his
own deep convictions concerning these Christian principles,
placed himself favorably before the group.

Style. In general the style of this speech is more
adorned than are Williams' speeches delivered prior to 1955.
The sentence structure in some instances is rather complica-
ted. Williams said, for example:

We cannot, of course, inquire into God's purpose,
but it is perhaps permissible to wonder if it
may not be because he wishes to show us at long
last that there is such little reason for so
much of our blundering, wishes to demonstrate
that the earth all of these centuries has been
planted with sufficient fruit for all, wishes
to show that fipoverty and depression we do not
always have to have with us, wishes to show
that He has provided for even us the least of
His children, and that for all of our darkness
there is in each of us a God-given light which
can show through if we will but let it.

Williams contrived to make the above sentence con-
tain a number of ideas. As a result, some of the ideas
may be difficult to grasp because of the length of the
sentence.

The sentence quoted above contains an extended
parallel construction, having four ideas introduced with
the term “wished to.I Another example of parallel con-
struction is Williams use of the words "We are hampered”
at the beginning of five separate sentences in one par-
agraph.

There are a limited number of figures of speech in

this address. In the Opening argument, Williams referred

96
to automation and the use of solar and atomic energies as
'a gateway”. He referred to the abundance with which nature
has endowed the world as “fruit“. He referred to the efforts
of mankind as Idarkness“, which he contrasted.with the God-
given light. He referred to the villages of the country as
"crossroads.'I

At one point in the speech Williams employed humor.
He stated that the civil government and the religious in-
stitutions were mutually interdependent. He continued:

Even were our temporal society composed ex-
clusively of the sanctified, it still would
need a civil authority to coordinate and
direct the efforts of its citizens toward a
common goal. Even the saints do not think
as one. (As a Democratic governor who
currently is embattled with certain Republi-
can legislators in the State Senate, I might
perhaps be excused for venturing here the
thought that certainly the unsanctified do
not always think as one.)

There were other stylistic devices employed in the
speech. Williams used alliteration, for example, when he
said “push-button prosperityI and “current crisis“. In
addition, he used two rhetorical questions in the speech.
Finally, the extensive use of pronouns, in addition to the
psychOIOgical function they serve, may be considered an
aspect of style-~one which.Williams employs extensively in
speechpmaking.

Summary. This speech is an exposition of Williams'
beliefs concerningthe relationship of religion and govern-
ment. The ideas are organized in a legical manner; in

fact, the ideas of the body of the speech are arranged in

97

the form of a chain of reasoning. The reasoning is largely
of a deductive nature. The psychological appeals are to
patriotism and social approval. Williams frequently used
personal pronouns. The style of the speech is somewhat
adorned, through the use of alliteration, figures of speech,

and rhetorical questions.

CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSIONS

Specific Conclusions Regarding the Rhetorical
Nature of the Five Selected Speeches

The purpose Of this study was to describe, analyze
and interpret the speaking Of G. Mennen Williams, primarily
through the analysis Of five selected speeches. Let us
first summarize the findings in each Of the areas selected
for making the speech analysis.

Igggg. The ideas expressed in Williams' speeches
seem to correspond with those of the New Deal philosOphy,
a basic concept Of which includes using government as an
active agent Operating for the benefit of individuals in
society. In the first Inaugural Address, for example,
Williams stated that the state government should act on
behalf of the individual in the areas Of housing, labor,
assistance to the aged, and conservation of natural re-
sources. In the speech delivered before the Young Democrats
Of Colorado, Williams made a prOposal that the national gov;
ernment act on behalf of individuals in similar areas. In
the speech before the Michigan Judges' Association, Williams
suggested using the state's resources for the benefit of
individuals in society to expand the use of probation. In
the two other speeches analyzed Williams gave definite in-

98

99
dication that he favors using government to benefit indiva
iduals.

nganization. In all Of the speeches analyzed Will-
iams employed a definite introduction, body, and conclusion.
His introductions were designed to make his listeners dis-
posed to accept his ideas. He attempted to accomplish this
goal by using references to the occasions and to individuals
present or known by those present.

In the bodies of the speeches Williams favored.what
may be termed a logical organization--that is, grouping tO-
gether the ideas which are closely associated in such a.way
that the points become a part of the reasoning process.
Usually the last point was the conclusion of the foregoing
points. This logical organization is exemplified by the
speech delivered before the National Conference of Catholic
Charities, which was arranged in the form Of a chain of
reasoning.

In the conclusions Williams gave unity to the speech-
es by relating the conclusions to the introductions. In the
First Inaugural Address, for example, Williams used a Bibli-
cal quotation in the introduction and another in the con-
clusion. In the speech before the Young Democrats Of
Colorado he used a quotation from Patrick Henry in the
introduction and another quotation from Patrick Henry in the
conclusion. In the other speeches we find the introductions
and conclusions related, although not so specifically. For

example, in the speech.before the Michigan Judges' Associa—

100
tion, in the introduction Williams affirms his belief in
salvaging youthful criminals; in the conclusion he reit-
erates this belief.

Evidence and reasoning. Williams used a consid-
erable volume of evidence, employing statistics in each Of
the speeches analyzed except the speech before the National
Conference Of Catholic Charities. In addition to this use
of statistical evidence, Williams used quotations from
authority, favoring citations from Patrick Henry, Abraham
Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Williams used this
evidence of fact and Opinion as a basis for several types
of deductive and inductive reasoning. In four Of the five
speeches analyzed, Williams seemed to use deductive rea-
soning to a greater extent than inductive; in the speech
before the Economic Club of Detroit he seemed to favor
inductive reasoning.

Psychological and emotional appeals. In the five
speeches analyzed, Williams used psychological and emotional
appeals sparingly. One consistent psychological appeal ems
ployed was the use Of personal pronouns, a device which
seemed likely to emphasize the good will of the speaker.
There were appeals made to the listener's sense of patriot-
ism, duty, love, and cO-Operation. Judging by newspaper
comment, some examples of which may be found in Chapter III
of this paper, the appeals apparently leave the listener
with the feeling that the speaker has sincerity and integrity.

S3113. Williams used parallel construction in each

101

Of the five speeches, While other stylistic devices, such
as alliteration, analOgy, rhetorical questions, and figures
Of speech, were used less consistently. One device which
Williams employed with frequency was the use Of personal
pronouns. Two Of the speeches, the one delivered before
the Conference of Catholic Charities and the one delivered
before the Convention Of Young Democrats of Colorado, were
somewhat more adorned than were the other three. These .
two speeches were delivered much later, chronologically,
than were the other three.

What interpretation can be made as the result Of
analyzing the five selected speeches? In general, it can
be said that Williams' speeches contain considerable evi-
dence of fact and Opinion. They are well-organized and
lOgical. They may not be stylistically imaginative; and,
though they are generally not marked by wide use Of psycho-
logical and emotional appeals, they enable Williams to pre-
sent himself favorably to the listener. It is the author's
Opinion that the listener accepts first the speaker, then
the ideas.

General Conclusions Regarding the Role
Of Williams as a Speech-maker .

The writer believes that Michigan was ready to ac-
cept a Democratic governor in 1948. The political complexa
ion of the state had changed in 1932, after the depression,
When the Democrats swept the nation and the state. Subtle

102

changes, however, had been taking place previous to that
time, Because of the growth of industry, people collected
in urban areas, Which became centers of Democratic strength
in the state. Labor unions became a political force in
Michigan. At present, the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tion, more commonly known as the 0.1.0., has been politi-
cally active on behalf of G. Mennen Williams and the Demo-
cratic party. The split that existed within the Republi-
can ranks, although difficult to assay, produced effects
favorable to the Democrats. Further, the change in the
political complexion of Michigan produced a large number

of independent or non-organization voters. The independent
voters base their votes not upon party affiliation but upon
the personal qualifications of the office-seeker. Finally,
the unpOpularity of Kim Sigler enhanced the chances for a
Democrat to be elected. All Of these factors, combined.with
Williams' particular personal characteristics, produced the
success Which the Democrats have enjoyed.

In spite of these many factors which produced changes
favorable to the Democrats, Michigan was in 1948, as today,
considered a Republican state. ‘What the Democrats needed in
1948 was a leader who could visualize these changes which
had evolved and capitalize upon them. Williams seemed able
to impress the voters of Michigan with his qualifications,
and certainly an important means of creating this impression

was his speechpmaking.

APPENDIX

First Inaugural Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .loh
Debate before Economic Club of Detroit. . . . . . . . l09
Speech before Michigan Judges' Association. . . . . . 125

Address before Convention of Young Democrats
of Colorado. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Speech before the National Conference of
Catholic Charities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

103

10”

January 1, l9h9

INAUGURAL ADDRESS
BY
GOVERNOR G. MENNEN WILLIAMS

,A Heppy New Year to all the citizens of Michigan!

I am sure that the greetings of your new Governor
are Joined in by your outgoing Governor, who is here today
in a fine spirit of coOperation and good sportsmanship; I
am confident that your Judiciary, your new legislature and
all of the men and women of your new state administration,
Join me in wishing you all a Happy New Year.

The term of office to which you have elected your
legislature and executive will mark the end of the first
half of the TWentieth Century.

Not quite 2,000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth said
that He came into this world so that men might have life and
life abundant. He spoke, it is true, of the life of the
spirit. But he enjoined all men to have a care for another,
not only in matters of the spirit, but in the production
and distribution of the necessary goods of this world.

We of the Western democracies live in a civilization
built upon the teachings of the Man of Nazareth.- It is for
this purpose---that men may in fact live together as brothers
having a care one for another---that modern democratic states
exist.

Our century began with great promise of abundance
for all mankind and with high hOpes that the tradition of
Moses and Jesus might finally flower in our lifetime in true
freedom for all men. The inventive and productive genius of
the American people-~nowhere more strongly manifest than in
Michigan---seemed to promise that everyone, everywhere, might
have a sufficiency of the good things in life.

But the very material progress which held this bright
promise created problems which challenge the depths of our
spiritual strength. We have passed through a great depression
because we had not discovered how to distribute abundance.

We have been forced to fight two great wars, testing our be-
lief that all men are created equal, and to ensure that gov-
ernment of the peOple, by the people and for’the peOple shall
not perish from this earth.

105

In Michigan, as nowhere else in the world, we have
felt the impact of these new problems. Where once a few
hundred men were employed in wagon factories, great indus-
trial complexes now lift their smoking chimneys to the skies.
Once a rural community of small towns, Michigan has become
the arsenal of democracy and the great workshop of the
western world.

It is not surprising that we have met with difficul—
ties and disappointments, in adjusting our government to
the problems of this new industrial civilization.

We have, indeed, made considerable progress. We
have started to improve the machinery of our government so
that it can be more responsive to the people's needs. We
have made beginnings, in other fields, recognizing the respon-
sibility of government for the aged, for the support of
those thrown out of employment, for the peaceful solutions
of quarrels between management and labor.

All of us, regardless of party, want to make pro-
gress. If there has been, in the cpinion of some of us, a
relaxation of effort in the last several years, it has surely
been due not to lack of good will, but to disagreements as
to the course we should follow.

In certain areas, it seems plain that we have not
kept up with our times, or with the progress of sister states.

{any of our returning veterans who fought to defend
our homes, have been unable to find homes of their own.
The cost of this failure, in individual and public morale,
health and decency cannot be calculated.

We have been somewhat callous to the just require-
ments of our aged citizens, of those injuried in industrial
accidents, and of those who are out of jobs through no
fault of their own.

We have not succeeded in maintaining educational
Opportunity at the high standards to which the children of
Michigan are entitled.

We have fallen short in guaranteeing first class

citizenship to all of our peOple, regardless of creed 6r
color.

. We have permitted our highway system, the basic
transportation medium of the peOple, to deteriorate.

We have abused our rich water resources upon which

the prosperity of farms and factories as well as public health
and recreation depend.

106

We have not succeeded in making rural Michigan fa-
mous for its fruits and foods, as industrial Michigan is
famous for its automobiles and other factory products.

We have failed to establish the legal and governmen-
tal basis for harmonious co-Operation of workers and employers.

But let us not waste time asking why these things
have not been accomplished. The responsibility in the final
analysis lies not upon any man or group of men, but upon
all of us, the people of Michigan.

But none of these problems is insoluble. All of them
can be solved-~or substantial progress made toward a solution--
if we will make up our minds to work together. I am sure
that the peOple of Michigan have elected men and woman who
WILL work tOgether in all the branches of the government.

I want to speak plainly to my colleagues on this
point. Under our democratic system, political campaigns are
basic and fruitful. Without the give and take of partisan
debate, the issues would never become clear, the peOple _
could not choose their course, and we should soon find our-
selves under the heel of a one-party dictatorship.

But another thing is equally true:

. Our democratic system also requires that partisans
be broad-minded enough to forget partisanship, after the
election, in all matters effecting the public welfare. This
principle applies with special force in our present circum-
stances. The peOple of Michigan have NOT chosen to give
their trust completely into the hands of any one party.

They have elected a bi-partisan administration!

The meaning of the peOple's decision is plain. They
believe that we, whom they have elected, possess the moral
strength to subordinate partisan interests to the common
good. The peOple expect that all of their officals Will
co-Operate in the public interest.

I believe the people are right, that we CAN, regard-
less of party differences, work together for good government.
I pledge you to do my part to carry out this the most un-
mistakeable mandate we have been given.

The peeple of Michigan have a right to expect this
type of co-Operation. But there exists no right without a
corresponding duty. To the peOple of Michigan I say: You
have a duty to us; your elected leaders, and to yourselves.

It is your duty to continue, without relaxation, the
high interest you have shown in the affairs of your state.

Whatever success your legislature and your exechtive may

107

achieve in your behalf during the coming two years, will
depend, finally, upon youl

The continued active interest of the peOple of
Michigan in good government, in fair government, in gov-
ernment for the public interest, is the keystone of the
hOpes with which all of your officials today take up the
burden of government.

You must be eternally vigilant if you would be free.
You must observe closely what is being done--or not done--
beneath the dome of this venerable capitol. You must under-
stand the vital and often complex issues which come before
the legislature. You must weigh the recommendations of
your Governor. You must constantly discuss and debate these
matters in the shOps, the farms, the market places, the
halls of business, and the union meetings of this common-
wealth. You must judge for yourselves whether you are
getting the kind of government for which you voted.

Of course, the peOple cannot judge intelligently
unless they know the facts. To you, the press and radio
and other information media of Michigan, I say you too have
a duty.

In this land, thank God you are free--free to report
the truth, free to distort the truth, if that is your pleas-
ure.

The protecting arm of the peOple keeps you free, and
informing the peOple fully and truthfully is your sole final
title to profit on your Operations.

I know that you, too, will co-Operate, and I pledge
you, that I will do my part. No fact of public interest
shall be withheld from you, no avenue of public information
shall be closed to you, if I, as governor, can prevent it.

There are, of course, the great problems of public
morality which transcend real political issues. The
morality and health of our state is the job of the churches
and the schools. I know that these great agencies, with-
out which good government cannot exist, will continue to
teach and preach those basic principles upon which all sound
legislation must be founded.

So today we here highly resolve that we shall work
tOgether in a mighty cause, to advance our commonwealth
along the path to a better life for all its people.

In this task I plead for and expect the co-operation
of every official, and every citizen. I am conscious of my
responsibility and of my limitations. I ask no man to wear
my collar, or to sacrifice his honest convictions.

108

I ask only that we all work together during these
two years, as a team--as the Michigan Team!

To all of the peOple of Michigan on behalf of all
of us in whom you have reposed your trust, I say thanks,
thanks, and thanks again!

We shall do our best to be worthy of the honor you
have given us, so help us God!

109
“WHAT ARE THE DETERMINING

‘ , . STATE ISSUES
IN THE NOVEMBER ELECTION?"

Guest Speaker

THE HONORABLE G. MENNEN WILLIAMS
Governor
State of Michigan

DONALD S. LEONARD
Former Commissioner of Police
City of Detroit and State of Michigan

BEFORE THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF DETROIT

Monday Noon, September 20, 195%
Veterans Memorial Building
12:15 P.M.

PRESIDING OFFICER

THE HONORABLE ARTHUR F. LEDERLE, LL.D. ALLEN B.
‘ Chief Judge

United States District Court '
Eastern District of Michigan

CROW
President

The Economic Club
.of Detroit

110
(The meeting was Opened by President Allen B. Crow.)

HON. ARTHUR F. LEDERLE: Thank you, Allen, for that
nice introduction. I'm going to move around here a bit and
see if we can get this micrOphone in the right place so that
we can start both of these contestants off here about even.

I suppose I should especially thank Allen for that
advertising he gave me, but I can assure all of you now that
I have definitely decided that I wouldn't even be a candidate
for reelection as Judge at the expiration of my present
term. (Laughter)

I assume that all of you have read the fine biOgraphy
ical sketches of our speakers today. It occurred to me that
if we had kept all of these announcements up to the present
time, we would have a very fine biOgraphy of the leaders
not only of Michigan and the United States, but many of the
leaders of the world, who have come to us to deliver their
messages. I doubt whether there was ever an occasion, how-
ever, that was more important than the present one. I am
not going to say a word about what is printed in the announce-
ment, but I hOpe you will pardon me for a little personal
pride that I take in both of these young men who are here
today. Perhaps you might want to know how I know they're
young. I know that I'm young, and they're younger than I
am, and.therefore they must be young.

Governor Williams came into my court room about 20
years ago. He was just starting out in the practice of law.
He made an impression upon me. I decided he was going places.
I haven't been disappointed in his career, and I'm proud
that he belongs to the legal profession. And I want to
thank you at this time, Governor, for that nice letter that
you sent me when you were just a nice young boy.

It is a pleasure indeed to present the Governor of
the State of Michigan, The Honorable G. Mennen Williams.

(Applause)

HON. G. MENNEN WILLIAMS: Thank you very much, Judge
Lederle, Commissioner Leonard, distinguished guests, members
of the Economic club of Detroit and friends:

It is a great pleasure once again to have the Oppor-
tunity to address this particular meeting -- and it goes
without saying, I am looking forward to doing it again in
the future. (Laughter)

Mr. Allen Crow, know1ngly or not, has given aid and
comfort to the Democratic Party. After this lunch, we Demo-
crats will be able to report that he said -- and what he
says carries a lot of weight -- that things are so confused

111

among businessmen that a thousand of the most prominent
peOple of Detroit don't know where they are going to eat
lunch next week. (Laughter)

It is difficult enough to discuss the most important
issues in the coming State campaign without a start like
that, but I will try and begin by saying that I earnestly
believe that the peOple of Michigan want to see continued
the forward drive to meeting the growing needs and problems
of our great community of Michigan. They do not want to
see, and return, to the good old days of Republican one
party rule, when the problems and needs of greater Michigan
just loomed too big for timid and quarreling leaders to
tackle.

The record shows very clearly that many of these
major needs were ignored, and shoved under the bed during
the period of Republican one-party rule; that these
problems have received an effective answer only during
the last few years.

Perhaps the most dramatic example of this is the
Mackinac Straits Bridge. Everyone knows that the bridge
was abondoned by a Republican Legislature and a Republican
Governor. Everyone knows that when it was revived in 1949
it met with ridicule. They called it “Soapy's Folly“ and
came up with many reasons why the job was too big for the
peOple of Michigan. They said that the winds at the Straits
were too fierce, the ice was too thick, the water was too
deep, and the rocks under the straits were too thin. Even
up to the day the bonds were successfully sold, there was
Opposition from Republican sources, including one of the
candidates now running with my Opponent on the Republican
ticket. Today the bridge is under construction. It wasn't
the rocks under the Straits of Mackinac that were too soft.
It Was the spirit and the will of those in one-party control
of the state. The peOple of Michigan will decide in November
whether to return to that kind of government, and I think
their decision will be in favor of continued prOgress.

It had been apparent that we needed a great expan-
sion of our mental hospital system, more tuberculosis
hospitals, a TB prevention program and better medical
schools. We needed to improve our Workmen's compensation,
Old Age Assistance and Unemployment Insurance laws. These
great public needs, which.were obvious long ago, remained
unfilled during the years when the Republican Party had
the full responsibility it now seeks to gain again.

Today many of these needs have been met. If Michigan
goes Democratic this Fall, and I hOpe and believe it will,
what are the major tasks we prOpose to carry out?

We prOpose to develop the harbors, roads and port

112

facilities of Michigan, so that when the St. Lawrence Sea-
way comes to our shores we can take the full advantage of
it. I have already appointed a state-wide commission,
headed by one of your colleagues here, C. Allen Harlan,
which will get this major job under way.

We prOpose to build roads. Neither the bridge nor
the Seaway can produce their full benefits to Michigan with-
out a better highway system. Steps are already under way
to end the Highway Department's present system of hit-and-
miss, patchwork, planless construction, and to get our road-
building on the basis of the 2-year prOgram required by
Michigan's laws. And next year we should have done the
$500 million revenue bond issue, which will enable us to
catch up on our present lag by building tomorrow's roads
tOday.

We prOpose a new program for the expansion of our
colleges and universities. Already a committee of educators
is at work, at my request, drafting a long-range higher
education building program.

We prOpose to build schools and train and recruit
more teachers. Every year from sixty to seventy thousand
additional children come knocking at the doors of our public
schools. The state must lead in the next two years in
developing a state-wide prOgram of school expansion.

Those are just some of the highlights of the Demo-
cratic prOgram. Obviously I cannot in the time alloted here
give a complete prOgram statement. Our plans will be out-
lined in more detail to the people during the campaign.

My candidacy for reelection is based on the con-
viction that the peOple appreciate the job that we have
already done. We Democrats hOpe and believe that they
will entrust their future to the party whose leadership
has bro ht results in the last five and a half years.

t would be wonderful indeed if these were the only
problems which confront the peOple of Michigan. But
Michigan also has serious problems which do not originate
in our own state. They were made in Washington. Mistaken
Federal economic policies have put more than 200,000 of
our people out of work, causing a huge loss in purchasing
power which is adversely affecting Michigan's business.

Our Administration policies have caused distress
and disillusionment on the farmers.

It is not my intention to run for Governor against
the National Administration, but the fact is that these
issues are state as well as national issues. Michigan has
been hurt more severely by Washington's mistakes than most
other states. Because our economy is a barometer of the

113

national economic weather, we felt more keenly than most
states the chill winds of Republican recession. Whatever
may be said Of Federal policies in the national picture --
and I think they have hurt the nation -- it is undeniable
that they have brought unemployment, reduced business
activity and brought farm distress to Michigan.

Our efforts to get Federal contracts into Michigan
plants have been hampered and frustrated. Our pleas for
aid to the auto industry through reduced excise taxes have
fallen on deaf ears. Our protests against such policies as
reduction of dairy price supports to 75 per cent of parity
have been ignored. Under such circumstances, Michigan not
only needs Patrick V. McNamara in the United States Senate
and more Democratic Congressmen in Washington, Michigan
also needs an Administration in Lansing which is ready and
able to stand up for the interests of our state.

No man who seeks to serve the State of Michigan in
a high office can decently sidestep these bread and butter
questions.

Now, this would be a good occasion for my Opponent
here to tell where he stands on some of these issues. Do
you concede, sir, that we have serious unemployment in
Michigan since the Republicans took over in Washington, or
do you stand with the Administration spokesmen who are telling
us that everything is all right. Do you defend, sir, the
Administration's reduction of dairy supports to 75 per cent
of parity, which seriously damaged Michigan's dairy farmers?
DO you defend, sir, the Republican decision to keep automo-
bile taxes high, at a time when Michigan desperately needs
to sell cars? These are questions to Which the people seek
answers. These are things that can be done in Lansing.

We Democrats have been actively doing these things
and we prOpose to do more in the next two years. We prOpose
to improve further our Unemployment Compensation Law, which
the President himself has called our first line of defense
against depression. We will continue and expand the work
of the State Department of Economic DevelOpment, which has
helped to locate 66 new industrial plants here in Michigan.
Our state must build a diversified industry to replace the
losses resulting from automobile decentralization. We pro-
pose tO expand and continue the work of the Emergency In-
dustrial Production Commission which has done so much under
the able leadership of another of your colleagues here,
Walker Cisler, to get Michigan a fair share of defense and
other Federal contracts.

We will cbntinue and expand the farm marketing pro-
gram which Was approved by the last Legislature to help
Michigan farmers recover some of their lost income, and we
will carry forward without hesitation or delay the prOgram

11#

now under way to improve the state parks and otherwise attract
business for the tourist industry.

We will put the full influence of the state behind
a move to reduce or eliminate the excise tax on automobiles,
and.we prOpose to work with Michigan Democrats in Congress
for a revision of the income tax law so that the family
car -- a necessary piece of equipment in earning a living
these days -- may be written off like any other income-
producing machinery. That is the kind of a prOgram we
Democrats stand for, and I believe the desire of the peOple
for the vigorous carrying out of such a program will prove
to be the determining issue Of this election.

(Applause)

HON. ARTHUR F. LEDERLE: Thank you, Governor Williams.
As citizens of Michigan we are proud of our industry, proud
of our tourist attractions and proud of all of the other
natural resources we have, but I think that we should be
especially grateful for our human resources.

Detroit is not the automobile center because it was
strategically located for that industry, but rather because
we had men of vision in our community. I think Michigan is
especially fortunate at this particular time to have two
such outstanding candrdates for Governor. They are both
men of character, ability, independence, courage, and they
are both industrious.

Just a word about the next speaker. I have known
him for about a quarter of a century. I knew his good
mother before him. I had the good fortune of having him
in my classes in law school, and of course whatever success
he has achieved -- and it has been very marked -- I am sure
that he knows he owes in no small degree to the teaching
that he received at my hands. (Laughter)

I have been proud of you, Don, and it is a pleasure
indeed to present our former Police Commissioner, former
Commissioner of the State Police Department, The Honorable
Donald S. Leonard.

(Applause)

HON. DONALD S. LEONARD: Judge Lederle, Mr. Crow,
Governor Williams, distinguished guests and good citizens all:

I deeply appreciate the privilege of being invited
to appear and speak before such a distinguished assemblage
of fellow Detroiters and Michiganders.

Two years ago it was my privilege to sit with you
during the Alger-Williams debate. At that time Mr. Crow

115

announced that Mayor Cobo had just appointed me as Detroit's
Police Commissioner. It has been a real pleasure and an.
Opportunity for me to be a part of Mayor Cobo's outstanding
administration in the City of Detroit, and I have considered
it an honor to be the head of the finest municipal police
organization in the United States -- that of the Detroit
Police Department. (Applause)

I wish also to take this Opportunity of thanking not
only you and the other citizens of Detroit and Wayne County,
but also those of outstate Michigan, in selecting me as
the Republican gubernatorial nominee. Let me assure you,
gentlemen, that if I am elected your Chief Executive on
November 2nd, I shall put full time on the job of Governor
of the State of Michigan, serving all of the poo le of the
state to the very best of my ability. (Applause)

To serve as Governor Of a great state such as
Michigan is an honor that falls to but few. It is a
privilege that I would never forget. I would do my utmost
to serve in the public interest. But I want to tell you
right here and now that there are some prices that I do
not intend to pay for that high honor.

I do not intend, for example, to engage in any cam-
paign of attempted character villification or assassination.
I don't intend to say goodbye to any of my friends. I don't
intend to do anything from a political expediency viewpoint
that will be a sacrifice to principles that have remained
steadfast with me during over 30 years of governmental ser—
vice, and would put me in a position of embarrassment in
explanation to my four-year old, eight-year old and ten-
year old children or to my wife and to my friends of this
great city in which I have aIWays resided. (Applause)

Although there are many, many problems confronting
state government today -- and we can only discuss a few of
them because of time limitations -- we must bear in mind
that there is but one crucial and predominant issue and
that is to send to Lansing a governor of the same political
faith as the legislature. Ufibss and until this is done,
we can't even have an approach towards the solution of
these problems. Frankly and in good conscience, gentlemen,
I would tell you that if the peOple of Michigan sent a
Democratic majority to the Legislature, then by all means
they ought to send a Democrat to occupy the Governor's chair
in Lansing. But Michigan has been and will continue to be
a predominatly Republican state. It willsgnd this time a
Republican majority to the Legislature. This being the case,
if we are interested in progress, in a solution of our many
serious problems, and in the welfare of our citizenry, then
it is imperative to send to Lansing a governor of the Re-
publican party faith.who will work in co-Operation and in
harmony with the Republican majority in the Legislature and

the Democrats who make up the balance. We just cannot afford

116

to have a continuance of the stalemate and deadlock that
has existed in Lansing for nigh onto the past six years.

The Governor has referred to some accomplishments,
but I want to tell you gentlemen that at no time during the
past session of the Legislature, for example, did the pres-
ent Governor meet or attempt to meet with any of the im-
portant leaders of the Legislature on the Republican ticket
in an honest attempt to bring about a solution of the prob-
lems confronting state government.

Oh yes, there has been reference to unemployment.
I agree with the Governor and the rest of you, as all good
peOple should, if there is a single case in Michigan where
a person who is able and willing to work cannot find em—
ployment, it is a most serious problem; but it has been
brought about -- not as the Governor suggested, because
of the recent entry into Washington of a Republican Admin-
istration trying to make up for the fumbling of 20 years
of Democratic rule -- but rather because -- (Applause) --
there has been a transition from a war-time to a peace-time
economy. And let's be honest about that.

Unemployment cannot be attributed to either of the
great political parties. It has existed in Democratic as
well as Republican administrations. Unemployment in l9h9-
50-51 was ended only by our involvement in the Korean War.
It is indeed a sad commentary, and rather an indictment on
civilization itself, to think that we must depend upon war
and destruction in order to bolster our economy and provide
employment. Thank God the Korean War has been ended. (Ap-
plause)

Only last week I was in Iron Mountain in the Upper
Peninsula, and there talked with a druggist. He said to me,
“Oh, things up here aren't just what they should be. My
business isn't quite as good as it should be. But my
neighbors and I thank God that the Korean War has ended,
that the slaughter has been stOpped. I for one am willing
to tighten my belt a little bit, and I think all ood
Americans feel the same way about it.I (Applause?

Things are getting better.

Our economic situation in this Detroit area, for
example, has been aggravated because there has been a change-
over in models by some of our great automobile plants. With
the new models coming out, employment will be better. The
condition of employment one month from today will be much
better than it is at the present time.

Last year our legislature, with full realization of
this problem, broadened the base of Unemployment Compensation
and extended the benefits, until today Michigan has the most

117

liberal unemployment benefit compensation features of any
state in the Union, and this, my friends, was brought into
reality by a Republican Legislature.

I want to say, too, that there are many things that
we can do in connection with unemplbyment compensation. I
think that we should extend the benefits to those employees
of plants where the employment is limited to h instead of
8 or more employees. We could give the small businessmen
and the small employers the immediate advantage of merit-
rating provisions of the law, so that, according to employ-
ment experience, they can have a tax rate of one-tenth of
one per cent, instead of the present three per cent.

Yes, I agree that we should have an office in Wash,
ington. I think it would be helpful. If we Open up an
office there, the small businessmen would have an agency
that would be constantly on the lookout for business that
could be brought into Michigan. 'As long as we have the
threat of aggressor nations, we're going to have to have
defense contracts; and as long as Michigan is the Arsenal
of Democracy, we should see to it that we have an alert
office staff in Washington bringing that business into
the State of Michigan. But the sad part of it is that we
have not had that office. There has been dereliction in
that respect. Galifornia and New York have gotten the bulk
Of defense contracts. Certainly I would want to see to it
that we could do this.

Time is going on. I believe I have only two minutes
more. Reference was made to highways. Certainly we all
agree that we must have highways, but the Legislature very
prOperly refused to pass on a pigbin-a-poke for the decision
of the electorate. They refused to buy a $500 million bond
issue suggested in the dying days of the Legislature for a
decision by the peOple, without the facts relating to the
decision. Instead they created a Study Commission. It
would be my intention, if elected governor, to add some
members to that Study Commission, so that when the Legis-
lature convened on January lst we could have the reports of
that Study Commission and build our highways where they are
needed. We can't build political roads in the state of
Michigan. I would do my utmost to co-Operate in a prOper
roadbuilding prOgram for the state.

We have a very serious problem in the field of edup
cation. There are over one and one-quarter million students
who returned to school the week before last, representing one-
fifth of our Michigan pOpulation. Certainly, they must be
brought up with the prOper training, in good classrooms.

There should be equal educational Opportunities throughout
the state, regardless of the area in.which the child is
located. And in order to give him the equal Opportunity and

118

the prOper education it is necessary that we staff the schools
-- and we're badly in need of more school construction and
more classrooms -- with teachers who are paid as high as any
teachers are paid in the entire country. Michigan is not a
poor state. We should be able to create incentive for teach-
ers to remain in the system and for others to join our edup
cational system by prOper pay and prOper annuities, geared

to our present economy, instead of that of 30 or 40 years ago.

The Conlin Plan will be a step in the right direction.
Time doesn't permit a discussion of it. It is a method of
payment, and guarantees funds in the annuity system that
are not now guaranteed.

Certainly I think that Federal aid money should be-
-brought into the State of Michigan; and that I would advocate
to the Congress of the United States, so that construction
can proceed in Michigan on a matching basis with local funds.

I would say, too, that by all means we should develOp
the community colleges in Michigan. I would prOpose that the
State itself finance the community colleges in Michigan
rather than make it a local burden. It is a state responsi—
bility. This would then relieve the localities of this
obligation and would enable them to divert the money they
now use for higher education into the primary school fund.

My time has been called. I will try to work in a

few more suggestions during the rebuttal period. Thank you
very much.

(Applause)

HON. ARTHUR F. LEDERLE: Thank you, Don. We provided
for a timekeeper -- we didn't provide for any knockdown
timekeeper. I take it that some of you haven't been watching
the prizefights. The reason for that is that our guests are
not that kind of peOple. They can disagree without being
disagreeable. Under the arrangements, each of the speakers
will now have five minutes for rebuttal. Governor Williams
will take over first. Governor Williams.

(Applause)

HON. G. MENNEN WILLIAMS: Well Don, I don't know
whether you have the better of the argument, or there are
more Republicans here, (Laughter) but I would rather assume
that these gentlemen when they return home, Don, will say
that their three dollars or two dollars wasn't too much for
the show that we put on. (Laughter)

Friends, there are just a couple of points that I
would like to make rebuttal to, and I probably better serve

ll9

notice that since Don is going to make some more suggestions
in his rebuttal, the first question that is asked me will
probably have some rebuttal too. The most interesting argu-
ment that Don has advanced is that he wouldn't go for a
Republican Governor and a Democratic Legislature. Now Don,
I don't think that you ought to follow the same precedent
set by the Vice-President of making predictions before the
ballots are counted, as in Manna because I think the first
good argument against that prOposition which you raised is
that I am quite confident that while we may not, because of
Constitutional gerrymandering, have a Republican Senate, I
think we will have a Republican -- or Democratic rather --
(Laughter) After all these ears it is pretty hard to say a
Democratic House, (Laughter) but it is going to happen none-
theless.

I think your prOposition falls on another point and
that is, having a Republican Governor and a Republican Legis-
lature is no guarantee of action, well at least, necessarily
forward action. My predecessor happened to be a Republican.
His Legislature was Republican, and I think there were more
good dog fights during those two years than Michigan has had
for a long time. I don't mean that there wasn't some good
legislation. There was some good legislation. A Republican
Governor fought through against the wishes of a Republican
Legislature, the Department of Administration Act -- and all
you have to do is read your paper to verify that.

The Governor preceding that was Governor Kelly, an
excellent friend of mine, but if some of you gentlemen would
go back into the newspaper files of that time, you will see
that at least at the end of his first administration, the
editorials were virulent that nothing had happened. Well,
something is happening to me. However, I think that we
better get to the end of this argument and I will leave the
few other things to later on.

The other branch of the argument doesn't hold water
either because Democratic governors and Republican legislators
have gotten tOgether, and I have the beaming face of your
friend, Pat Van Wagoner, as witness to that. But further-
more, one of the greatest periods of Michigan's achievements
was under Governor Ferris, who was a Democrat, with a
Republican Legislature. As a matter Of fact, we very seldom
have a Democratic governor with anything but a Republican
Legislature.

Now I was afraid that Don would indict not only me
but a Republican Legislature for having done nothing during
the last five and half years. Our list of accomplishments
is long and rather than give you a speech, I have left a
pamphlet out in back, which will indicate for example that
during the last five and a half years we have built more
hospitals than in any comparable period in the history of

120

our state. This is a good time for me to say that I have
to quit, because I could give you a lot of other firsts
during that period of time. And I am glad that Don called
attention himself to one achievement that this Unemployment
Compensation Law, which he says is the best in the country,
Was passed under a Democratic Governor and a Republican
Legislature.

(Applause)

HON. ARTHUR F. LEDERLE: Time is passing. Commis-
sioner Leonard. , _

HON. DONALD S. LEONARD: I am going to be forced to
give a few examples here, gentlemen:

Several years ago Mayor Cobo tried to get prOper action
in Lansing for authorization of Detroit's expressway bond
program issue. The matter was taken up with the Governor at
that time. The Governor balked at the prOposal and insisted
-- or, rather, raised the question ~- as to Why the Mayor
would not get behind his prOposal for a corporation tax,
indicating that some $18,500,000 then would be available
for the purpose of enabling Detroit to build its express-
ways and road construction. The Legislature gave author-
ization to the City of Detroit, not because Of, but in spite
of, the Governor.

And Detroit's expressways will be built With no
credit to the Governor of Michigan, whatsoever.

During the last session of the Legislature, when
the Legislature was considering the dire financial status
of the state and considered several revenue measures, it
prOposed a business receipts tax. The Governor ridiculed
their every effort. He sat on the sidelines as a complete
heckler. It was not until the Legislature took the bull
by the horns and passed the Business Receipts Act, that
the Governor, instead of having the fortitude to veto it,
or the nerve to approve it, allowed the Bill to become a
Law without any action on his part whatsoever. Then a year
later when his own Controller established the fact that
Michigan was selvent, had been brought out of the red, and
was $3 million or more in the black, the Governor had the
unmitigated gall to say, FEE have solved the state's
financial dilemma.I (Applause)

One of our leading newspapers editorially said:

“Politics at its cheapest. 'We,' said Governor
Williams, 'have wiped out the state's deficit and
put a $3 million surplus in the Treasury.' The
'we' in Mr. Williams' statement represents what
might and should have been. It does not represent

121

the facts in the case. His spending prOposals for
the fiscal year recently closed were almostSSO
million in excess of the then anticipated revenues.
His only suggested remedy was renewed urging of a
corporation profits tax, already rejected by the
Legislature out of fear that a tax burden so con—
centrated would drive industry out of the state. It
was not Williams but the Legislature which trimmed
his budget by $6,500,000. It was not Williams but
the Legislature Which hit upon the idea of a gross
receipts tax spread thinly over all business for a
minimum adverse effect on Michigan's employment.
Governor Williams' role in solving the state's
budget crisis was that of a bystander and a heckler.
When wise counsel and effective leadership were the
need, his attention was elsewhere.“

I submit, gentlemen, that you can have co-Operation.

The Governor referred to one—party and two-party
systems, but we're involved in a split-party system. And it
is important that we have leadership of the right kind. You
can't make headway until there is a disposition on the part
of the Governor to work with other peOple instead of insist-
ing solely that his own program should be fulfilled. This
is not in the public interest.

(Applause)

HON. ARTHUR F. LEDERLE: Thank you, Don. We're
going to have a few minutes for questions here, and Mr.
Crow will present the questions.

ALLEN B. CROW: When we came,into this building,
there was a sign in the lobby that said, ”No Sleeping Here".
I turned it around because I didn't think we would need
that precaution. I see that we didn't.

We have some questions addressed about equally to
each of the guest speakers. I think it would be well to
limit the replies to one minute each because it is 1:h5.
If some of you find it necessary to go, perhaps now would
be a good time. We will try to finish the meeting not
later than two o'clock with these questions. The first
question is directed to Governor Williams.

(Reading Question) "GOVERNOR, THE BUSINESS RECEIPTS
TAX PASSED BY THE REPUBLICAN LEGISLATURE IN 1953 PROVIDED
THE REVENUE WHICH BALANCED MICHIGAN'S BUDGET. YOU CAMPAIGNED
AGAINST THIS MEASURE AND REFUSED TO SIGN THE BILL. UPON
WHAT BASIS DO YOU TAKE CREDIT FOR HAVING BALANCED THE BUDGET?"

HON. G. MENNEN WILLIAMS: Well, somebody saved me
the time of making a rebuttal here. Let me before I answer

122
that, very briefly set two pointsof fact straight.

One, the State of Michigan does have an office in
Washington of the Economic Development Commission. It isn't
as large as we would like it to be, but it is as large as
present funds permit.

Secondly, these expressWays that you ride over did
not happen in spite of the Governor. The Governor had a
meeting in his office where the Mayor appeared, and where
the mayors of several other cities appeared. A Joint pro-
gram was worked out to the approval of all concerned, and
passed by the Legislature.

Now, the Governor claiming credit for balancing the
budget is even a longer story than I thought we would get
in today, so I will have to tax my memory a bit.

In l9h8, when I Was elected Governor, I conferred
with Governor Sigler's Controller and asked him what the
financial condition of the State of Michigan was. He said
that we had money in the bank, but that we had an annual
deficit position and that in order to become solvent on a
regular basis it would be necessary to have additional taxes
as the state Was spending more money each year than it was
taking in. He then gave me a list of possible taxes, in-
cluding a list of nuisance taxes and a list including an
income tax, a corporation profits tax and possibly one other.
He said, “If'you took all of these nuisance taxes and put
them together they would not provide sufficient funds with
which to balance our outgo. From the other, you can choose,
but either one will provide sufficient funds.“ We checked
into the situation and discovered that the State of Michigan
Was slightly out of balance with other states in the pro-
portion of taxes which went to the consumer in sales and
excise taxes. For that reason, in the message to the Legis-
lature of that year, I called the Legislature's attention
to the fact that Michigan was in this deficit position.

And I recommended as a solution a corporation profits tax.
Those of you whose memory is long, (and I'm sorry; I Just
want to take time to answer this; I think that the peeple
want it), will remember that the Republican legislators,
some of whom are here, said, "The Governor sees a deficit
under his bed,“ and it took us two years to convince the
Legislature that we were running into difficulty.

When we did, the Legislature came up with a program
of taxes such as the soda pap tax, tax on beer, tax on hotels,
motels and the like. As you recall, we fought an election
on that particular issue, as to whether we would have that
kind of a tax, or a corporation profits tax. Perhaps the
issue was a draw because more Republicans went to the Legis-
lature, and the Democratic Governor was returned.

123

We then looked at the tax situation again, as there
were several measures prOposed, and eventually the corpor-
ation franchise tax was increased and then it was advanced.
Now to say that anybody campaigned against the gross receipts
tax is a complete fallacy because that tax Was passed within
a period of ten days and nobody could have campaigned against
that during that time. SO, when I say “we balanced the
budget“, I think it is a pretty accurate statement, because
the Republicans in the Legislature didn't end up with their
prOpOsal Of excise taxes, nuisance taxes; the Governor didn't
end up with his proposal of a corporation profits tax; but
instead you ended up with a tax Which really falls on profits
and wages. SO, I don't think that anybody can say, in the
Legislature or in the Governor's office, that they prOposed
that particular Bill. The reason why the thing was signed,
although the Governor didn't like that particular tax, was
that it was more important that the processes of government
continue than for the state to go bankrupt. And as a
consequence the Governor chose the way of permitting the
Bill to become a law without signing it and giving it his
approval. He approved of the idea of balancing the budget
but not of the specific tax. I'm sorry I have taken so long.

(Applause)

ALLEN B. CROW: Gentlemen, we have many questions.
We shall direct one to Commissioner Leonard, and then allow
him the corresponding six minutes that Governor Williams
has Just taken. (Laughter) Also, Commissioner, understand
that your answer to this question will be within the six
minutes. (Laughter)Then we shall adjourn the meeting be-
cause we shall have between now and the first Tuesday in
November to continue this discussion. Commissioner Leonard,
the question is:

(Reading Question) I'THE DEMOCRATS HAVE STATED THAT
THEIR PARTY IS THE ONLY PARTY INTERESTED IN LABOR AND LABOR
PROGRAMS. How DO YOU FEEL ABOUT. THIS?"

HON. DONALD S. LEONARD:' Well, that is a very fair
question, Mr. Crow.

During my long service with the Michigan State Police
and with the Detroit Police Department, there was not a time
when I thought that I did anything else but protect the
public interest. My relationships with the working man and
the labor union officials were always most cordial. There
is nothing that would prevent me from having -- and I would
insist upon it -- an Open door policy to the front office
of Lansing, for not only labor, but also for all other sega
ments Of Michigan's pOpulation.

I think at times that the average working man has
been sold a bill of goods by his union leader, that the

124

Democratic Party is the only party interested in his wel-
fare. That is decidedly not the case. I have been a working
man all of my life, and have personally earned every dime
that I have. Incidentally I am unemployed at the present
time,_too! I'm trying to remedy that situation after January
1st. Ifthought it was the prOper thing to do, to quit as
Police Commissioner, instead of campaigning on the public
payroll.

But at any rate, coming back to the question, I
want the working man to know that the Republican Party does
have his interest at heart. One of the things that grieved
me during the campaign was to pick up the papers of the
labor unions. They had the slates of candidates with the
recommended candidates -- and they Just had the Democratic
candidates and the Democratic Party. They didn't even
indicate who the Republican candidates were, and this Was
in a primary. Certainly, I think that they would be en-
titled to show a preference between the Republican and
Democratic nominees in the run-off in the elation, but in
a primary I think that the working man is entitled to
know from his union peOple who they consider on either party
would be a friend of the working man.

I want to assure labor in Michigan that if I an
Governor of the State of Michigan, at all times will I recOg-
nize the valid ObJectives of labor. The door of the Governor's
office will at all times be Open.

I think that that puts my position rather unequivo-
cably before you. And I do want to add that in situations
that involve labor disturbances, the thing that is generally
overlooked is that there is a public interest that is parse
mount to the selfish interest of either side of a labor
dispute. (Applause) As Governor of the state of Michigan
I would insist that the public interest be protected through-
out, and I would be fair to all parties concerned --
management, as well as labor. Thank you.

(Applause)

HON. ARTHUR F. LEDERLE: I know we are all grateful
to these_two busy men for coming here at this time. You
have been an excellent audience. The meeting is adJourned.

(Applause)

THE.ABOVE TRANSCRIPT HAS BEEN PREPARED FROM.A WIRE RECORDING
OF WHAT WAS MD AT THIS MEETING. GOVERNOR G. MENNEN WILLIAMS,
HOWEVER, HAS NOT RETURNED HIS EDITED COPY, SO THAT ItMIGHT
BE INCORPORATED IN THIS RECORD. _

125

Excerpts from Address by Governor Williams
Annual Meeting, Michigan Judges' Association
Charlevoix, Michigan

September 2, 1954

The old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth
a pound of cure finds its proof in no field more strongly
than in the field of corrections, for, if we can prevent
one young man from becoming a hardened criminal, the social
and economic savings to society are great and multiplied
many times. Such prevention would be a real blessing to
society.

However, at our present state of knowledge about
what makes peOple criminals, we cannot expect to reach the
desired goal of completely preventing crime. We must,
therefore, direct our attention towards salvaging as many
youthful offenders as we can as We go along.

The couns of the state have available to them.the
use of probation as a substitute for imprisonment. Under
the system of probation, we keep the offender out of an
institution, place him under the supervision of a probation
officer responsible to the court, and try to fashion a
prOgram of training and education to meet the needs of the
- probationer. If he turns out well, and most of them do,

we have saved a good future citizen. If the probationer
does not live up to his Opportunity, the court may still
sentence him to an institution.

Probation has been in use for many years now. The
records of its performance is written clearly and demonstrates
that courts possessed of the prOper tools can do a fine Job

of rehabilitation and correction, especially of the youth-
ful offender.

Aside from the sociological considerations that
point in the direction of keeping good probation risks
out of institutions where possible, the dollar and cents
considerations weigh heavily on the side of using probation.
This, of course, assumes adequate use of supervision so
that society may be protected.

It may interest you to know that, on the dollar and
cents side of the ledger alone, during the month Of June
1954, men on probation in Michigan who were permitted to
continue to be productive members of society earned over
$1,504,000 in salaries and wages. And this does not measure
the indirect savings -- the cost to the counties and the
state when homes are broken and, through our welfare in-
stitutions, we must accept the responsibility of supporting
dependent wives and children.

126

Looked at another way, in terms of dollars and cents
cost to the state, an inmate at Marquette costs Michigan
taxpayers $1,73h a year for his maintenance. At Jackson
this cost would be $1,007.

0n probation, the cost would average about $100
per case. ‘

On a nationwide basis, the best estimates available
indicate that our criminal courts throughout the country
are using probation in about 35 per cent of their felony
cases and in less than 10 per cent of the misdemeanor cases.
The rate of use of probation seems to go up where the pro-
bation services are readily available to the courts and
are of a high degree of competence.

The McCormick report which was issued following the
Jackson riots gives some basis for believing that probation
could be safely increased in Michigan while at the same
time protecting the community. In order to determine if
this is so and to what extent probation could be safely
increased and what this would require in the way of per-
sonnel, the Corrections Department, at my suggestion last
year, invited the National Probation and Parole Association
to make a thorough study of probation services throughout
Michigan. A sponsoring committee of citizens, headed by
Judge Stephen J. Roth, Was set up to give advice'and guid-
ance in this survey which is now nearing completion and the
results of which will be available before the end of the
year.

We in Michigan have made increased use of probation
over the years. Since l9h6 the number of felons on pro-
bation has risen from 5,542 to 9,278. This group has been
served by a probation staff of 122 county probation officers
and 13 state probation officers. According the recommen-
dations of the National Probation and Parole association,

a probation officer can give adequate guidance and super-
vision to 75 probationers or he can make 150 complete pre-
sentence investigations per year.

To reach the standards recommended, we in Michigan
are short approximately 100 probation officers. Recognizing
that the lack of qualified probation officers may be one
reason in limiting a further increase in the use of probation
in Michigan, I recommended to the Legislature that we add
17 probation officers to the state staff. This past session
of the Legislature approved an increase of six.

In order to increase the available trained staff,
as we sit down to prepare next year's budget, I will recommend
an increase of at least 25 probation officers for next year
and for the following years, until we come closer to this
desirable standard.

127

However, we are not depending upon probation officers
alone, and.we have also recommended the establishment of a
“pilot” probation recovery camp to handle those probationers
who might not be able to make the grade if kept in their
own community but who require a removal from their present
environment if they are to be given the chance to be re-
habilitated. The decision to move in the direction of
increasing the probation staffs and to set up such a camp
Was the outgrowth of a meeting held in 1953 which.was
attended by representatives of the Attorney General and the
associations of Judges, chiefs of police, prosecutors and
sheriffs. The leader in the effort to get legislative
approval of this idea has been Judge Pugsley of Hart, and
his efforts I am sure, are well known to all of you.

SO far the legislation to permit the establishment
of such camps passed the Senate but was not reported out of
the Ways and Means Committee in the House. In order to
move forward and obtain approval for this experiment, the
Corrections Department informs me that it will again
recommend the creation of a probation recovery camp, and
I can assure you that I will support this idea.

While we may be doing a good Job now, I am sure all
of you agree that we probably could do still better given
the tools with which to work.

Those young peOple, the first offenders, Who can be
Salvaged should be accorded that Opportunity, without sending
them to prison if at all possible. We have a moral obli-
gation to rehabilitate those first offenders who can be
made into decent citizens. In addition to the moral obli-
gation, the wise use of probation is a more economical use
of society's limited funds.

My chief purpose in reviewing these points is to
seek your co-Operation and to offer mine in the extension
and improvement of our probation services. I sincerely
request your comments as to how the state can be further
helpful to you, and I would like to know whether local
government can undertake to do more than they are already
doing.

The matter of saving or salvaging human lives by
this process is of supreme importance, and the possibility
of saving the taxpayer money in rendering greater service
is not unworthy of our consideration. So again, in thanking
you for your hospitality, I bespeak your comment and co-
Operation.

128

Excerpts from.Address
by
The Honorable G. Mennen Williams
Governor of Michigan

Convention of Young Democrats of Colorado
Denver, Colorado
November 26, 1955

One hundred and eighty years ago, when he was about
the age of you Young Democrats assembled here tonight,
Patrick Henry arose in Virginia's House of Burgesses and
pronounced the classic Justification for all honest dissent,
the classic challenge to those who would drift with the
current despite the direction of the harbor of destiny or
of the rocks of disaster.

The Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental
Congress, clearly foreshadowing our Revolutionary War,
were six months in the past at that moment, and the Declar-
ation of Independence was still six months in the future.
And, as Patrick Henry rose to speak, the timorous, the
temporizers, the moderate shifted uneasily in their seats.

“Mr. President,” said he. 'No man thinks more highly
than I do of the patriotism, as well as the abilities, of
the very worthy gentlemen who have Just addressed the House.
But different men often see the same subJects in different
lights; and, therefore, I hOpe that it will not be thought
disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as I do,
opinions of a character very Opposite to theirs, I shall
speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve.

“This is no time for ceremony. The question before
the House is one of awful moment to this country. In
prOportion to the magnitude of the subJect, ought to be
the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we
can hOpe to arrive at truth and fulfill the great respon-
sibility which.we hold to God and our Country.“

Thus spoke Patrick Henry, and thus, too, conscience
obliges each of us to speak.

Gentlemen, no man thinks more highly than I do of
the patriotism, as well as the abilities, of the very worthy
gentlemen and great Democrat who urged a course of moderation
when he addressed the nation on television from Chicago last
weekend. But unis is no time for ceremony, anymore than it
was 180 years ago. The question before us is one of awful
moment now as it was then. Responsibility to God and country
is no less compelling in 1955 than it was in 1775.

At the onset of our struggle for independence, there

129

undoubtedly were those who urged, as there are those who
urge now, that moderation should be the spirit of the times,
that our young nation should pause to catch its breath.

But I say to you what you must know already. If the
timid, the temporizers, the compromisers had carried the
day then, we would not be standing now where we stand to-
night, on the free and independent soil of the greatest
nation on earth -- a nation to whom the whole world so
eagerly looks --One half of it looking to us for leadership
and hOpe, the other with a calculating eye to take advantage
of our every slip, our every weakness.

Now our nation is beginning another of its quadrennial
debates. We would be guilty of the most craven cowardice
were we to permit this debate, through our own default, to
degenerate into a spineless and self-defeating formality.
These debates are the one time above all when the greatest
and the very least of us are expected -- are indeed obligated
-~ to express ourselves fully and freely and to fight to
the end for the things in which we believe with all of our
hearts.

I would remind you, however, that the temporizers,
those who look backward, those who are satisfied with the
status quo, those who today grudgingly yield to the neces-
sities of yesterday and hence never prOgress but always
and inexorably slide back, are traditionally on the other
side, not ours.

Democrats, traditionally and, God willing, forever,
in spite of all odds, push dOggedly ahead on the broad
highroad to a greater and still greater tomorrow. It is
upsetting now to hear from our side counsels for a pause
for breath-taking and moderation -- counsels which I find
difficult to believe can be seriously considered as
Democratic Party policy.

As the Governor of one of our large industrial states,
I have stood for seven years with my hat off to the deter-
mination, the courage and the capacity of our American peOple.
For seven years as Governor, and in other official capacities
before that, I have shared their hunger, not for bread --
they have that -- most of them -- but their hunger to begin
to achieve the unsatisfied potential which they know they
have in them -- their hunger for the fuller life God intended
for all his children.

In candor, I must say that I was acutely disappointed
by the Spirit of Chicago -- the spirit of temporizing with
present problems, the spirit of doing nothing about burgeon-
ing problems of the future until they are upon us as over-
whelming emergencies, almost too great to handle -- the
spirit of seeing the vision of a bright new day not as an

130

Opportunity for a fuller life to be seized with gusto but

as a problem of which to be apprehensive as requiring
imagination and energy and courage -- a spirit of apprehene
sion which would bed down and tuck in this great and aspiring
peOple, urging upon them a tired and weary counsel of rest.

We have been resting for three years now, and have
another year of rest ahead of us. For how much longer does
the Spirit of Chicago urge that we continue resting? How
long does the Spirit of Chicago estimate that it takes a
vigorous and aspiring peOple to catch its breath?

If we followed the counsel of Chicago, I suspect
we would find that we had relaxed ourselves into a position
where we would have lost the last shred of our Democratic
Party's identity as the nation's great and moving force --
a force without which this nation of ours never would have
advanced, as it has advanced, from one great plateau to
another in a long succession of ever higher and higher
plateaus to the great height of our present eminence.

The Spirit of Chicago could bring us to the point
where the American electorate, as it goes to the ballot box
next November, could be hard put to distinguish between the
parties -- even harder put to find the reason for making
the change which must be made if we are not to turn flabby
from resting.

This, far from being a fit time for resting, is a
time which demands of our peOple some of the most far-reaching

decisions any people anywhere ever has been called upon to
make.

Our peOple may not yet know -— but it is tneumbent
upon their leaders to know -- that at this very moment we
are on the threshold of the most astounding changes which
man ever has made in his Whole mode of living.

We have split the atom. But we, who must be the
masters of the incredible power we have released, have not
yet assured that we will not be its slaves. We have not
yet assured that we will not be incinerated by this great
new power which waits to be converted to peaceful and pro-
ductive purposes in our factories, farms and homes.

Automation, for the first time in the history of man,
Opens our eyes to the possibility of freeing man from the
back-breaking, sour-searing, animal tasks Which are an
affront to his dignity.

But we have not yet assured, we are far from assuring
-- that the electronic brains, the electronic hands, the
electronic backs now moving onto our assembly lines and into
our offices will not merely displace humans by the millions
without at the same time enabling them to enJoy the greater
abundance of all of the world's goods which ever poured forth

131

from any cornucOpia ever conceived this side of Heaven it-
self.

This is no time for resting, if we are to assure
that the great mass of men will be enriched by the new
techniques rather than impoverished, dislocated, and em-
bittered by them.

We are at the beginning of a revolution in all of
our sciences. We are at the beginning of a power revolution
in which the challenge is to make a somewhat better use of
the infinite power of the sun itself than it was in us to
make of Other, traditional, power sources.

We are at the beginning of a revolution in technology,
a revolution which must be channeled in such a way that it
will lead, for the first time in the history of man, to the
human use of human beings.

We are in the midst of a political and social revolu-
tion the whole world over, a revolution which will overrun
us with the rest of civilization -- maybe us first —- if we
do not now exert ourselves to channel it toward good and
noble ends rather than ends which are ignoble and unworthy.

The moment which faces us with the Obligation to
remold our political and social organizations in such a
manner that they will not be outdated by the changes which
already are coming to pass in science and technology. 18
not the moment to speak fearfully of rocking the boat.
The boat is already tossing like a cork on the waves of
such revolution as man never before in his whole history
has experienced until now. It is not for us fearfully to
whimper about rocking the boat. It is for us determinedly
and fearlessly to chart a course toward the harbor of the
great potential which is ours, rather than cower fearfully
in dark uncertainty.

Our program in 1956 must be, to the third quarter of
our century, what Woodrow Wilson's was to the first quarter
and what Franklin D. Roosevelt's and Harry S. Truman's was
to the second.

They were not timid men. They were not tired men.
They did not pause to catch their breaths. In the face of

great disaster or great Opportunity, they did not counsel
moderation.

We are a free peOple today, a going concern, only
because they were men of courage who dared to face up to
the problems of their time, men of vision who could see the
tomorrow which is our today. We must have no smaller
courage, no lesser vision. Let us remember the words of

132

Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- “The only thing we have to
fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unJustified
terror Which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat
into advance.“

Consider Just some of the problems of our day, and
tell me then whether you believe that this is a time for
resting.

Our school system is the despair of those to whom
we have entrusted the reSponsibility of preparing our
children for the real enJoyment of life and the duties of
citizenship.

Right now, after three years of conferences and
other meaningless gestures by a national government, which
has no intention of doin what needs to be done, we are
300,000 classrooms and 1 0,000 teachers short of current
needs.

At least one and one-half million children, a
minimum estimate, are getting only such education as can
be given them on double and triple sessions in temporary
barracks, unused garages, church basements; almost half
of the nation's school buildings are more than 30 years
old; more than one out of every five are a half a century
old or older.

It is estimated that more than a million children
are attending schools which have nothing better than out-
snde toilets, almost as many are going to schools which
have no toilets of any kind, either inside or out. Twenty
per cent of our children attend classes in buildings which
are recOgnized firetraps. All this in a nation whose
founders equated freedom with education, eventual slavery
with the lack of it.

The Republican administration, whose experts have
estimated that our construction needs in the elementary
and secondary categories alone total at least $16 billion
(a need for which.I will submit a rcposal to a White House
Conference next week, incidentally? contributes, at the
same time, the niggling sum of $100 million a year, or
one one hundred and sixtieth of the need.

The Spirit of Chicago is scarcely more effective or
munificent. It would tackle the problem with tools which
would do scarcely more than the next-to-nothing which the
Republican Administration is doing. Neither of them
appears to have any prOper realization of our children's
educational needs, let alone the needs of millions of our
adult citizens -- citizens who will be in no way prepared
to cOpe with the new civilization which right now is
dawning, until and unless they are educated or re-educated

133
in new techniques, upgraded in old skills.

We hear the fears expressed that we may not much
longer be able to maintain our lead over Russia in certain
technical skills on which the real life, not merely the
economic life, of the nation depends. The fact is that
the Russians already have passed us in several categories,
and right now are graduating twice as many students from
their technological schools as we are from ours. This does
not seem to me to be an instance in which moderation, or
comfortable resting, will quite fill the bill.

Nor does it seem to me that there is room for com-
plaisance elsewhere. I detect a disposition to be hypnotized
by the Republican chant of peace and prosperity.

But peace, to you and to me, means something more
tranquil, more hOpeful, than the current dissolution and
rumbling all over the world, including Korea, out of which
the Republicans reaped such a shameful and unconscionable
harvest in the last campaign.

Peace, to you and to me, means a Just peace, a peace
where peOple have the right freely to select governments of
their own choosing. A Republican peace which is a green-
house for the seeds of unrest, rebellion, killings, destruc-
tion and despair in much of Africa, the Near East and the
Far East is not the kind of peace that you.want or I want.

As to prosperity, of course the nation prospers on
a wide front. But the total production of goods and services
must not be permitted to become the sole yardstick for
measuring the prosperity of which this great nation is capable.

I for one do not believe there is any time for
resting, any time for moderation, any time for complaisance,
so long as millions of American families, even at the height
of our prosperity, are still forced to exist, in some manner
of their own miraculous devising, on wages which official
Washington itself admits are inadequate for anything more
than subsistence living.

It is not a resting time when some six mihlion people
have left the farm in the past decade to escape poverty, and

when those who remain face a constant and progressive drOp
in income.

So long as some fifteen million American families
are still housed in substandard dwellings, I would be
ashamed to harken to the counsels of those who have pro-
posed, in effect, that this is the ideal moment for a
national coffee break.

I am made heartsick by those in my own party, who

134

do not militantly resist the spurious doctrine that, so
long as our aged have some security -- so long as the most
indigent get some medical care —- so long as the most
uninhabitable of our tenements are torn down -- so long as
unemployment is below the critical level part of the time
-- our Job is done, we can rest.

There is no time for resting, there is time only
for doing, so long as the consumption of our great indus-
trial output can be floated only on an uncharted sea of
the overextension of consumer credit. Liberal credit, it
is true, is one of the essentials of our economy. But
if we can produce goods -- as we surely can, and as we
surely will in even more staggering flow under the new
technology -- then it seems to me that, given the will,
given the energy, given the imagination, we also can devise
a technique for distributing real income, real prosperity,
rather than a prosperity which is borrowing on the prospects
of earnings to come, betting against the possibility of
accident, ill health, layoffs, other hazards which so few
have escaped in the years the nation's leaders should
remember, but apparently do not.

If moderation means the building of inadequate little
dams instead of an adequate big one, as in your own neigh-
boring Hell's Canyon, then I for one am Opposed to moderation.

If it means hesitance in harnessing our great rivers
for the service of the whole nation, then I am Opposed to
it. I would be as energetic and as unawed as were our
forefathers, who in pursuit of a manifest destiny, hollowed
the mountains, cut the forests, plowed the prairies to build
a civilization from sea to shining sea.

If it means that our farmers must continue to be
plowed under, as they are being plowed under, merely be-
cause the glib and the ignorant have attached Opprobrious
names to such prOposals as the Brannan Plan -- probably
the best hOpe yet submitted for feeding both the hungry
and the farmer -- then I am Opposed to it.

If it means the support or retention of legislation,
such as the McCarran—Walter Act, Which is an affront to the
dignity of our own citizens and a continuing threat to our
esteem abroad, I am Opposed to it, for I do not see how a
man can subscribe both to the constitutional theory that
all men are born equal and, at the same time, to legislation
which is based on the Opposite theory that some of them
are more equal than others.

If it means anything less than constant drive, any-
thing less than the pushing of political<iemocracy into all
corners of the earth, anything less than the creation of
economic democracy, anything small When it is something big
which alone will suffice, then I am Opposed to it.

135

To me, the suggestion that we can coast along for
yet another little while is Just plain nonsense. There is
only one direction in which it is possible to coast --
down hill.

And what, I ask, is in store for the nation which
coasts down the hill instead of driving up? Who, then,
favors moderation, a pretty euphemism, but coasting, even
so? Certainly not the American farmer who has suffered
the whiplash of moderation and so-called flexibility until
he has been driven to desperation. Today the American
farmer demands not moderation but a prOgram of heroic
courage.

Certainly not American labor, as it now undertakes
the gigantic task of forming one single house for all the
organized workers of America: Certainly not labor, as it
drives ahead against all Odds to win for American working-
men the guaranteed annual wage which they should have had
long ago to help to assure against the hazards of unemploy-
ment, seasonal, sO-called, or otherwise.

Certainly American management has not espoused mod-
eration -- management which, in the last year, has invested
more in capital improvements than at any time in our history!

Certainly not management, which, next year, even
while the timid are urging moderation, will invest more
than thirty-three billion in capital outlay.

Certainly the American peOple do not espouse it --
the American peOple who look forward to the future with
such confidence that they are filling our great land with
more new and larger family units than ever before.

Certainly the Democratic Party should be the last
to espouse it! Certainly the Democratic Party should admit
no moderation in its devotion to the cause of human dignity.
Certainly, in these grandly adventurous and challenging
times, the Democratic Party should stand more firmly and
vigorously than ever for the principles which have brought

it the trust of the people and the responsibilities of
leadership.

At this moment I am not sure who stands where in
the fight for social Justice and human betterment. I know
not what course others may take. But as for me, I would
rather be hanged as a rebel in the ranks of those fighting
for a fuller life for all of our peOple than to hold a
commission in the army of General Apathy and General Despair.

This, I say to you, is not the time for moderation;
it is not the time for continued resting; it is not the time
for catching our breath.

136

This is the time for vision. This is the time for
courage. This is the time for action. It is the time for
getting up off the seat of our pants, and confidently and
courageously doing the Job that waits to be done.

This is the spirit of Democracy -- the spirit of
America v“ the spirit of victory in '56.

137

Excerpts from Address by Governor Williams

National Conference of Catholic Charities and
Annual Meeting, Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Grand Rapids, Michi an

November 9, 1955. :30 p.m.

For many reasons, including the contribution which
you will make to my own thinking on many matters, it is
heart-warming and inspiring to participate in the activities
of such groups as are assembled here tonight. I thank you
for counting me in.

Ours is a great and much blest nation. Much of
its strength lies in the activities and the cohesion and
the phiIOSOphy of Just such groups as are represented at
this conference of Catholic charities and meeting of the
St. Vincent de Paul Society -- great groups who proudly,
freely and fully assent to the Divine teaching that all
men, as children of God, are brothers one to another, and
that each of us is his brothers' keeper.

This is not always an easy concept, and I think
perhaps it needs to beexplored. It involves something of
a conflict in our very nature.

And it is for this reason -- the reason that we
are brothers no matter how we might sometimes wish to deny
it, and that we must stem our conflicts -- it is for this
reason that we might look tonight, I think, through a gate—
way which has not yet been Opened all of the way to us,
but which is now on the verge of Opening. It will, I hOpe,
be a mutually profitable look -- profitable to you as
church and civic leaders in communities spread out over
all sections of this great land of ours, profitable to me
who prayerfully strives to merit the trust which our
people put in their Governors and other public servants.

It is a gateway not only to a new, richer, fuller
way of life; it is a gateway to what almost might be called
a new culture, so splendid is its prospect -- the push
button prospect, the solar energized, automation-organized
prospect of an economy of abundance rather than of scarcity,
an economy of great leisure rather than of the sweat of
men's backs and brows, an economy in which man, for the
first time since Adam's fall, will have the Opportunity to
spend less of their concern on the earning of the mere where-
withal of life and more on spiritual things and the legit-
imate Joys of living.

It is a remarkable prospect which Opens; so remark-

138

able that even the most reverent --(perhaps it is BECAUSE
they are reverent) -- will wonder why it is that the
Creator Of all things has picked this particular moment
in man's history for blessing us as we can be blessed in
this new day which is dawning.

Can it be because we have proved ourselves worthy?
In some Ways, it seems tO me that ours may be one of the
least worthy Of all Of the ages Of Man. We cannot, Of
course, inquire into God's purpose, but it is perhaps
permissible to wonder if it may not be because he wishes
to show us, at long last, that there is such little reason
for so much Of our blundering, wishes to demonstrate that
the earth all Of these centuries has been planted with
sufficient fruit for all, wishes to show that 'poverty and
depression we do NOT always have to have with us, wishes
to Show that He has provided for even us the least of His
children, and that for all Of our darkness there is in
each Of us a God-given light which can Show through if we
will but let it.

It is not at all certain that we have yet prepared
either our minds or our hearts for tomorrow's great promise.
If the new abundance is permitted to whet our Old avarice,
we are lost, economically as well as spiritually.

And it is for this reason that new and greater
emphasis must be placed now and forever henceforth on the
spirit Of BROTHERHOOD, the spirit Of NEIGHBORLINESS. May
you continue to foster this spirit around our churches
and other religious organizations, (not only of your own,
but of all denominations), around our civic groups as well,
and, even more particularly, around that most important of
all Of the units Of our society, the family unit.

Without this neighborliness, this friendliness,
this constant concern Of all of these groups for all others,
GOVERNMENT, at whatever level, and however strong, would
be a helpless and frustrated thing. One Of your own great
priests, Father Mark Fitzgerald, at Sacred Heart Church
at Notre Dame a few years ago, argued that the REVERSE,
Of course, is true also. -

The best Of us in our noblest pursuits -- (and even
if we ALL were noble) --would be thoroughly and utterly
frustrated, if it were not for the civil authority. He
shocked some, I think, with his cOgent and certainly not
humorless argument, that even were our temporal society
composed exclusively Of the sanctified, it still would
need a civil authority to coordinate and direct the efforts
of its citizens toward the common good, it being his point
that even the saints do not think as one. (As a Democratic
Governor who currently is embattled with certain Republican
leaders in the State Senate, I might perhaps be excused

139

for venturing, here, the thought that certainly the UN-
sanctified do not always think as one.)

The point which the good priest wished to make was
simply the point that WE ARE mutually dependent -- you, in
the church and civic groups to which you give so much of
your time, and your President, your Governors, your legis-
lators and others who have been vested.with the civil
authority.

Here let me pause both for example and for tribute
to a great leader Of the church and an outstanding citizen
Of our state and nation, the late well-beloved Bishop Haas.

As you well know, the presence, at long last, of a
Fair Employment Practices law on the statute books Of the
state is in no small measure due to his inspiration and
efforts. FEPC legislation is, of course, legislative
promotion Of brotherhood. As we all recOgnize only too
well, one can LEGISLATE neither BROTHERHOOD nor MORALS,
but by legislation one can help PROMOTE the spirit of
BROTHERHOOD and MORALITY and can help DETER the forces of
DIVISION and AMORALITY. BiShOp Haas evidently believed
this, and his good works will continue to bless the people
Of Michigan not only through the love of God and man in-
stilled in countless hearts, but in the civil authority
and administration he set up to help keep men in the paths
of brotherhood.

It is this point of mutual dependence of yourselves
and the civil authority in reaching common Objectives which
I too would like to emphasize, for there are those who are
so curiously frightened by the NEIGHBORLINESS to Which you
in your private charities have dedicated your lives, and so
contemptuous of the efforts of government to attain this
selfsame kind of BROTHERHOOD amorgs't men, that they would
frustrate both Of us.)

They impede you by insisting that the responsibility
which you have shouldered is the state's responsibility.
They impede the state by the contrary insistence that the
responsibility rests in private hands outside of the state's
authority. By the impediment which they erect on all sides,
they hamper both of us in the full exercise Of that Chris-
tian charity with which all men have been charged by their
Creator.

We are hampered in all of our undertakings. And it
is not always by the rapacious. We are equally hampered by
those Who are ignorant of the legitimacy and necessity of our
purposes, and hence are frightened by them. We are hampered
by sloth. We are hampered by a strange and truly alarming
kind of dissolution of our fundamental institutions -- the

family, respect for authority, the acceptance of responsibilé

140

ity. We are hampered even by our misunderstandings of each
other.

We are hampered by those Who argue that Government
has grown too big and tOO powerful, yet forget that Govern-
ment is only a part Of ourselves and Operates only with
our help.

In the field of Juvenile delinquency, for example,
Government, without the active help of parents, is power-
less to do anything but Open its houses of detention, and
this, believe me, is not the cure for the hoodlumism that
is plaguing us not only in all of our big cities but at
our crossroads as well.

We are hampered, both of us -- you in your charities
and.the government in its responsibilities -- by those who
do not know that THEY and YOU tOgether are the government,
that government is not some kind of amorphous thing, a
cancerous growth on the body politic, but that government
and peOple ARE, or OUGHT to be, synonomous. We, all of
us tOgether, are the Government, and we must not permit
ourselves to be split apart, divided, to be driven to cross
purposes.

We have mutual responsibilities in more fields than
can be explored here tonight. Our responsibilities are
mutual, we need each other, in the field of CHILD care, to
name one Of these areas -- and even more particularly in
the field of MENTALLY RETARDED children, if you will for—
give me for coming right down to instant cases.

You, in your field, are doing a great and charitable
work in the help you are able to give to your government,
and the help you freely ACCEPT from your government, in
providing such care for these unfortunate children as both
of us tOgether are able to give. But where are the hearts,
where is the Christian charity of those others, who profess
not to understand what we are about in the current crisis,
who would provide us, for crass dollars and cents reasons,
with facilities which at best are grossly inadequate to do
the Job?

Your own Monsignor O'Grady has put forth the
suggestion that it would be tragic were government to usurp
or intrude upon the services Which the various religious
organizations should provide, and WOULD provide, did they
have adequate support of an adequate number Of peOple.

With this I am in fullest agreement.

And I am sure the Monsignor also will be in full
agreement with.me, when I assert that the tragedy lies not
so much in the fact that Government TRIES to do what it

lhl

prOperly can do in this field, but that in the field where
it prOperly can do things, it does less than, in humanity,
it should do.

To D0, of course, is one of Government's main func-
tions: to do, as Lincoln said, ”to do for a community of
peOple whatever they need to have done but cannot do at
all -4 or cannot do so well -- for themselves, in their
separate and individual capacities.“ The tragedy lies in
the fact that a situation has develOped in which the
Government has HAD to step in.

At the Other end of the scale, in the area of the
aged as distinguished from our children, the problem repeats
itself, as it does in so many other areas.

Government can do for the aged some of the things
which neither the aged themselves nor all Of the charitable
agencies in the nation can do so well. It can provide them,
in one degree or another and through one device or another
with the necessities of life, even.with a.sense of decency.

But it has not provided them with what they need
even more than bread: the satisfaction of their craving
to be useful, to do constructive work, to maintain their
independence, their initiative, their dignity.

Government cannot do all Of this alone, of course.
But Government policy should be to encourage rather than to
discourage. And we as a peOple should re-orient our thinking
and our customs to promote and establish such a situation.

It is you and your kind who can and DO so do to the
limits Which are possible.

The regret is that there ARE LIMITS beyond.which
even you cannot go , in the present GENERAL lack of the
Christian charity which you yourselves exercise.

What is lacking in all this -- what is lacking in
so many and such influential places in this otherwise great
land Of ours -— what is lacking, indeed, throughout the
world -- is the lack Of a prOper understanding Of a concept
set forth so beautifully by Monsignor O'Grady in a letter to
to my Office last week.

IThat conceptI -- and I am quoting here from his
letter -- “is the fundamental Christian concept that all
Christians are members Of the Mystical Body Of Christ, and
that the neighborhood personal service or charity is the
great bond that Joins them together; it is in fact the bond
that Joins ALL men tOgether, whether they know it or not.”

1&2

Your own Monsignor O'Grady, again, has suggested
that the kind of help Which Government can give to our
peOple, the kind Of service which the professionals in
the field can Offer, may not supply the kind Of dynamism
which is necessary for a truly democratic American
community Of organized brotherhood. This must come from
volunteer groups such as your Own, from our families,
from the teachings with.which our children are imbued in
their earliest beginnings.

This can perhaps be put another way.

The work which GOVERNMENT, which the PROFESSIONALS,
do, is a good and necessary work. The Job must be done.
But other groups, such as those represented here tonight,
supply the pulsating heart, the CHRISTIAN, as distinguished
from the merely CHARITABLE, drive.

May our good Lord bless you in all of your under-
takings, as I pray that he will guide and inspire me.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Acheson, Dean. A Democrat Looks at His Party. New York:

Harper and Brothers, 1955.

Bald, F. Clever. Michigan in Four Centuries. New York:
Harper and; Brothers, 1954.

Bone, Hugh A. American Politics and the Party System.
New York: McGraw Hill Company, Inc., l9h9.

Brigance, William Norwood. Speech Composition. New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1937.

Eldersveld, Samuel J., and Applegate, Albert A. Michigan
Recounts for Governor, 1950-1952. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 1 5h.

Eldersveld, Samuel J., and Pollock, James K. Michigan Pol-

itics in Transition. Ann Arbor: University Of
Michigan Press, 19E2.

 

 

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

Gray, Giles W., and Wise, Claude M. The Bases of_§peech.
New York: Harper and Brothers, 1946.

Herring, Pendleton. The Politics of Democracy. New York:
W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1940.

LaPalombara, Joseph. Guide to Michigan Politics. Pre-
pared for the Citizenship Clearing House, affilia-
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ton Square, New York 3, New York.

Oliver, Robert T. The Psychology Of Persuasive Speech.
New York: Longmans, Green and COmpany, 1946.

Rothe, Anna (ed.). Current BiOgraphy. Newark: H. H.
Wilson Company, 1939.

Thonssen, Lester, and Baird, A. Craig. Speech Criticism.
New York: The Ronald Press Company, l9h8.

143

144
Zevin, B. D. (ed.). Nothing to Fear. Cambridge: The Riv-
erside Press, 1946.
fifticles and Periodicals

Norton—Taylor, Duncan. "What's Wrong with Michigan?“ For-
tune Magazine. January, 1955.

Thruelsen, R. “When Michigan Woke Up He Was Governor,“
SaturdaygEvening Post, February 12, 1949.

Time. September 15, 1952, and November 15, 1948.

 

Wallace, Robert. “Soapy' Williams,” Life, March 7, 1949.

Newspapegs

Belding fiMichigan) Banner. June 30, 1949.
Chrigtian Science Monitor. May 6, 1954.
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Daily Monitor (Mount Clemens, Michigan). July 5, 1949.
Detroit Free grgss. November 29 1955.

July 20, 1949.

September 22, 1951.

January 9, 1949-

September 21, 1954.
Holland (Michigan) News. May 17, 1949.

Lansing (Michigan)_§tate Journal. January 1, 1949.
October 23, 1949.

Lgpeer CountyPresg (Lapeer, Michigan). March 10, 1949.
SaginaW_LMichigan) News. September 12, 1952.

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Tuscola Countyggioneer Times (Vassar, Michigan). August 5,1949.

145

Other Sources

Carr, Edmund Samuel. Personal letter, July 10, 1956.

Members of G. Mennen Williams' staff. Personal interviews,
July, 1956.

Weber, Paul. Personal interview, July 10, 1956.
Williams, G. Mennen. Personal interview, July 8, 1956.

. Manuscript of speech delivered at Alpena,
Michigan, October 18, 1954.

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