Announcer 1 through 20 years of wavering, wandering, through hot and cold wars, through corruption and cynicism, the American People have hungered for leadership founded on integrity and wisdom and courage. We need a leader who is of the people. A man to raise leadership by the people. A sturdy, humble heir to the respect and the affection all peoples felt for lincoln. Such a man is general ike, dwight d. Eisenhower, the man from abilene. Never have so Many Americans known so much about the very essence of one man. 100 million americans know eisenhower the way you know a neighbor. You know him by heart. Why do we care about him . Not because he is a general, but instinctively we believe in him. We hail him as a hometown boy who is the best of all americans. His roots are in the heartland, mainstreet usa. I come here first to thank you, to say the proudest thing i can claim is that im from abilene. [applause] i want to speak first of the dreams of a barefoot boy. Frequently they are to be a streetcar conductor, or he sees himself as the town policeman. Above all, he may reach the position of locomotive engineer. But always in his dreams is that day when finally he comes home. Comes home to a welcome from his own hometown. They claim he is a native son. From the cattle state of texas. Part of the Railroad Tracks in denison, texas. That is where he was born, on the red river, where texas shakes hands with oklahoma. Dwight David Eisenhower was one of seven sons of deeply religious parents, pennsylvania dutch who moved west and brought the bible with them. No matter where duty takes him, he always likes to get back to home cooking. Even in paris, his kitchen was keep close to the earth and the fresh water. Fishing was this farmer boys first love. Golf is a new love. Only with fish stories does ike exercise a fishermans right to stretch the truth a little. Golly, you should have seen the one that got away. Three feet long. If you ask eisenhower why he has dedicated his life to the service of america instead of retiring to take it easy on his little farm in gettysburg, he will point to a picture of this baby, a chip off the old block, and he will tell you i want my grandson and yours to grow up in a free america. He is proud of his grandchildren. There are three of them now. You can tell that eisenhower believes that our real first line of defense is the family, in an oldfashioned america, admired and the rest of the admired in the rest of the world. Especially in france. France was the first nation to hail eisenhower for his crusading. The french love liberty. Under hitler, they tasted slavery. The frenchman, ike liberated. This ally likes ike too. Across the English Channel which hitler could not cross, the people of battered london, who would never yield to the blitz, surrendered with a cheer to ike. To every londoner that has ever taken one of my soldiers into his home, i say you will always have my profound gratitude. To everyone who has smilingly directed one of my men to the albert hall, i yield thanks also. Churchill spoke for all history to remember. Ladies and gentlemen, you will have just seen and listened to the words of our great commander. [cheering] a man who has proved not only his capacity to organize and regulate the movements around him, but to stir mens hearts, and who has shown a capacity for making great nations march together. More truly united than they ever have before. And so by sincerity and simplicity, a kansan conquered britain. Mimi was the first to say i like ike. Bursting with pride, a great friend, a great guy who understands washington belongs not to a president , but to the people. I stand before the elected federal lawmakers of our great republic. The great cause of our political life and a symbol of those things we call the american heritage. [applause] and now watch what a country boy can do to the biggest city in the world, new york. [applause] [cheers] watch the women. Watch the young people. Watch all the people who make up the surging independent vote, which will mean victory in november. Watch them flock to cheer for mister american. New york simply cannot do this to a kansas farmer boy and [applause and cheers] and keep its reputation for sophistication. [laughter] [applause and cheers] theres another thing, mr. Mayor, that impressed me very much. As you and i look down through the cheering throngs this morning. First, the reason for the cheering. It was not because one individual, one american came back from the war a nasty job is done. One nasty job is finished. [applause and cheers] that nasty job, the crusade in europe, will be remembered by 3 million americans who fought there to keep the war from coming here. These americans will never forget that as allied leader, eisenhower was a fivestar g. I. , a soldier with his men, as well as a statesman who was the match even for churchill. A commander who suffered the shock of each casualty, a citizen soldier who knows the brutality of war, a man who hates war. From another general, macarthur, eisenhower learned about asia. When mcarthur wanted to go with him to the philippines in 1934, the man mcarthur picked for that tough job was eisenhower for his achievements, not political promises. Americans know the essence of eisenhower, the statesman, the executive, the man. The american system rests on the rights and dignity of the the american system rests on the rights and dignity of the individual. The success of that system depends on the assumption by each of personal, individual responsibility for the safety and welfare of the whole. No citizen or soldier can assume your responsibilities, else democracy will cease to exist. A united and determined american citizenry is, under god, the mightiest force the earth has seen. It can protect itself and lead the world to fight for justice and for peace. Goodbye. Good luck. [applause] out of uniform as president of columbia, eisenhower warned that communism must be fought on every front. In todays struggle, no free man, no Free Institution can be neutral. All must be joined in a common profession, that of democratic citizenship. There will no be administrative suppression or distortion of any subject that merits a place in this universitys curriculum. The facts of communism, for example, shall be taught here. Its ideological development. Its political message. Its economic effects, its probable course in the future. The truth about communism is today an indispensable requirement if the true values of our democratic system are to be properly assessed. [applause] a young american, a student, with a smile. Just as i am a student with you, so you are a soldier with me. [applause] because you are here, fundamentally to prepare yourselves to make this country a greater and better place for comeelves, your children all and all who may come after you. If we are going to have better ethics,etter working better of everything for the 140 Million People that make up america, then each of us has a responsibility to defend with his life the liberties, the rights that have brought all these things about and allowed us to enjoy them. By contrast, communism in flames. German youth. Against this threat in the world, eisenhower led another crusade in europe, this time to wage peace and prevent a war. To keep stalin from daring to start another war. This new force for freedom is nato, 14 nations strong. Stretching from norway to greece and turkey. We here, representatives of many nations, work day by day constantly with these intricate and difficult problems. We have absolute faith that you can do the job. Of course you can do the job. All that is necessary is that each country remember that it is served best by developing the Common Security for us all the task must have first priority. We require faith, selfconfidence, devotion, tenacity, always tenacity. In this atomic age and times far more explosive than anything in lincolns day, the world is divided once more, half slave and half free. Where now is there a leader who can sustain and inspire americans . A leader who can end that war with victory and prevent its spread into a bigger war . Where is the leader in america who can sustain and inspire our allies already fighting the common enemy on asias jungle front . In this age of hate and violence, the communists stir up riots that rip through the cities of europe. This one in italy. The reds rile the people. Where is there a leader with the skill and tenacity to teach the enemy to call each other neighbor again . Who can end the violence abroad and here at home, too . Who can unite instead of divide this nation . At a time where 80 of every americans budget dollar goes in defense of our freedom, where is the man with wisdom and experience who can get the most security for every military dollar . Enlighten the staggering burden of taxes, which could bankrupt americans. Save stalin the risk of starting a war. Who is the one man stalin most respects and fears as the leader of the united energies of this free nation . Instinctive to the people of america know the answer. Divided people thought lincoln a century ago, we seek eisenhower now. From every heart in horizon, from women and youth, farms and factories, even from democrats who place principle above party, for all the people of america, a sentry has brought the threat of a new slavery but there is a new lincoln to meet the challenge. Mr. American, dwight David Eisenhower. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] mrs. Eisenhower, your excellencies, the presence of dwight David Eisenhower in america and throughout the world. We gather today in mourning but also in gratitude. We mourn Dwight Eisenhowers death, but we are grateful for his life. We gather also conscious to the