It is a privilege to be in Wisconsin tonight. It is always a privilege for any Democrat to be in Wisconsin – or more importantly, for any liberal. For if Boston is the cradle of American liberty, Wisconsin is the cradle of American liberalism.
This is the birthplace of the nation's first state-wide primary law, first workmen's compensation law, first complete labor code and first unemployment compensation act. This is the state that led the way on the regulation and fair taxation of railroads, on the progressive income tax, on vocational education and juvenile courts.
This is the home of the La Follettes – of fighting Bob La Follette who blazed the way in a sometimes indifferent Senate for all the reforms we enjoy today. This is the home of the University of Wisconsin, long famous for the contribution its noted teachers and students have made to liberal government. This is the home of the Progressive Magazine, the Madison Capital Times and the Milwaukee Journal, known throughout the country for their courage and independence.
And last but most fitting, this is the state that last year sent Bill Proxmire to the United States Senate – a man who has already earned the profound respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle – a man whose efforts and accomplishments have been remarkable for a freshman member of our body – a man who represents the very essence of the independent, progressive spirit for which Wisconsin has been famous – and the man whom I know Wisconsin is going to return to Washington in an overwhelming victory.
I repeat – I feel privileged to be in Wisconsin – in this ancestral home of the progressive movement. I think it is fitting that we pay tribute to those pioneer liberals of the past.
I am disappointed by those who say that all the battles have been won – that there are no longer any burning issues – that there is no longer any real need for liberal organizations, publications, and political action – that there is no longer any real differences between our two major parties – that there is no appeal in the Democrats assuming the role of the liberal party, that future elections will be decided more on personalities and public relations than on issues.
I cannot agree with such sentiments. I cannot agree that the issues are all gone or the problems all solved. This is no time for liberalism to be reflecting in its past glory. This is a time for action – a time to recapture the spirit of the progressive movement – a time to reform our ranks, restate our objectives and march ahead. And I can think of no more fitting place to submit this appeal than here in the birthplace of American liberalism – here where you can demonstrate the rebirth of liberalism by the election of Bill Proxmire and Gaylord Nelson this fall.
For the length of our agenda today is, if anything, longer than it was in the Thirties. We have not yet eliminated the malignant effects of poverty, discrimination, illness and injustice from the land. We have not yet met the needs of more than five million unemployed workers – of more than four million people driven from their farms – of the nearly seven million families still trying to get by on less than two thousand dollars a year. We have not yet ended the waste of our resources – reversed the decay of our cities – or, most tragic of all, found the means to stop man's destruction of man.
The economic battles of the 1930s are by no means over. Our farmers are still in debt, still being foreclosed, still fighting policies which drive their income down and down. Our labor organizations are still fighting repressive measures aimed at undermining their rights and bargaining power by those who seek to generalize from a few instances of wrongdoing. Our unemployed workers are still receiving benefits averaging less than one-third of their regular wages – for too short a time to enable them to find another job before turning to public charity. Millions of low-paid workers still lack the basic protection of our minimum wage laws. The American consumer is still denied the benefits that would result from the public development of some of our nation's greatest power dam sites – and even the TVA and the REA have been hamstrung, held back and harassed by bureaucrats of narrow vision. Too many of our people still lack decent homes in a decent neighborhood. And the growth of monopoly continues – big business gets bigger – and small business gets squeezed out.
No, the old economic battles of the past are not over. But more than that – there are still new pathways to be blazed, new frontiers to be extended: To enable our older citizens to live out their lives in good health, dignity and security – to enable our younger citizens to go to decent schools with well-paid teachers and adequate facilities. And we have as yet done little or nothing to solve the staggering problems of our nation's health, of not only wiping out our most ravaging diseases but of making medical care available to all who need it. We have in particular done very little for the mentally ill.
Consider the field of political reform, where we have not yet ended the greatest injustice of them all, the gerrymander, the mal-apportionment of Congressional and legislative seats.
Consider, finally, the area of human rights. We have felt in recent years that the pendulum has swung back to the side of liberty, that the bill of rights has been restored once again to its full dignity. But let us not deceive ourselves that these dangers have all passed away.
We face in the Senate today a violent attack upon the Supreme Court, the citadel of our liberties and the protector of our rights. We face new inroads on the public's right to know, new sacrifices to the twin fetishes of secrecy and security, new expansions instead of limitations on wire-tapping. A man can still be deported, denied a passport, or fired from the government without elementary due process. Our immigration laws are still a blot on the name of democracy. The civil rights act passed last year remains dormant – the curbs on filibustering, so widely promised a year ago, are still non-existent – and churches, schools and synagogues are still being bombed.
These are but a few of the reasons why I say that the spirit of the La Follettes must be recaptured in America today.
These are but some of the reasons why I insist that the Democratic Party must be the liberal party today.
I do not refer to the liberalism of the irresponsible spend-thrift or the rigid fanatic, but the liberalism of the open mind and human compassion. We cannot invoke the name of liberalism by merely adhering to the policies advanced by liberals in the past. That is not the kind of liberalism that made Wisconsin famous – and that is not the kind of liberalism we need today.
There may be some, perhaps, who will question whether the Democratic Party can lead this new liberal movement. It is true enough that Bob La Follette and Gifford Pinchot and George Norris were not Democrats. It is true enough that our Party appropriately includes many points of view in our ranks and leadership. But I insist nevertheless that in the great moments of our history the trademark of the Democratic Party has been progressive leadership – able, responsible and courageous.
I was sharply reminded of this Democratic tradition fifteen weeks ago this weekend. I was in New York to see the opening of a play about Franklin Roosevelt called "Sunrise at Campobello."
It is not a play about politics. It is not about the Presidency or the Democratic Party. It is a play about the triumph of one man and his family over disaster – the disaster of physical illness.
We urgently need real leadership again in Washington today. For this nation now enters a period of crisis of greater proportion than any we have ever endured. We are confronted with a deepening crisis in world affairs, in our relations with our allies, in our prestige with the uncommitted nations, in our military, scientific, political, and economic race with the Soviets. They have out-shown us in scientific achievement. Lebanon and the Middle East, Algeria and North Africa, Indonesia, Venezuela and Latin America – every part of the world is in flames or in ferment. The Lebanese Government is under attack for being pro-American. The Canadian Government wins reelection by being Anti-American. Our spokesmen abroad are in danger – our aid programs have won us few friends – our alliances are crumbling – our prestige is declining – and we lack firm, decisive leadership for peace.
Here at home, where the Republicans promised us prosperity to match their peace, the economic crisis I have already mentioned also cries out for leadership.
Since the end of World War II, we have never had so deep a recession – we have never had so high an inflation – and we have never had so much recession and so much inflation at the very same time.
We need something more in the way of leadership than those who talk blithely of a "breather" in the economy … or those who say everything will get better if we wait until the end of the year … or those who say reassuringly with Vice President Nixon: "There is nothing wrong with the economy that a good dose of confidence won't cure," and "It’s time to quit running America down." Well, my Democratic friends – I say it's time to start building America up.
The contrast between what we have and what we need, what the Democrats propose and the Republicans hold back, is reminiscent indeed of 1933. Today, we offer programs – they offer pronouncements. We offer vision – they offer vetoes. In 1933, the same kind of contrast was offered between the hesitant, moribund, outgoing Republican administration and the new dynamic drive of the New Deal.
And as the Republicans, 25 years ago this spring, packed to move out, Robert E. Sherwood contrasted the old and the new administrations in a brief, sardonic poem:
"Plodding feet
Tramp – tramp
The Grand Old Party's
Breaking Camp.
Blare of bugles
Din – din
The New Deal is moving in."
What we need in America today is not so much confidence in the economy, but confidence in our leadership.
We were told when the recession worsened in January to wait for the upturn in March. We waited – March arrived – and our confidence was diminished further. We see no new ideas, no bold action, no "blare of bugles." We see only "plodding feet … tramp, tramp" – and "the Grand Old Party … breaking camp."
Source: Papers of John F. Kennedy. Pre-Presidential Papers. Senate Files, Box 901, "Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 17 May 1958." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.