[This text is machine generated and may contain errors.]

Speaker 1 [0:00]
Presidential Campaign for Senator Kennedy the Democratic Presidential Campaign as the only swing to the South, the Coliseum is about full. There are a few vacant seats about 100 I suppose. Up in the very front of the Coliseum where we are located here at the press box. And at the very rear of the Coliseum. The there's an estimated crowd tonight of around 15,000 people to be packed into this wonderful Coliseum here. I'll be back in just a moment with more on Senator Kennedy's campaign from Raleigh. The governor of North Carolina is now taking his place on the on the stand, the crowd is now standing, given him a standing ovation. And you can hear the crowd roar in the background. Governor Hodges will introduce Senator Kennedy who has not yet arrived I do not believe.

Governor Hodges [1:13]
I am pleased to present to you, a man I am confident will be the next President of the United States. My faith in this prediction is based partly on realization of the crisis that our country faces, in critical periods in the past, competent leaders have arisen to see us safely through I think we are facing one of those periods. It seems to me that it has never been before so vitally important as it is now that we have a man greatly devoted to truth on principle, and dedicated to serve his country, as this man has for 14 years in the Congress, in the Senate, our democratic candidate for president has faced in complete frankness, every question that has been raised in this campaign as to his qualifications for the presidency, and has been discussing the issues with deep understanding of what these issues mean, in order to ensure his victory in November in North Carolina and the nation, we need to do nothing more than to make clear to the voters of this country, the quality of his leadership for the country, and his concern for its welfare and his vision about its danger and it's destiny. We will need greatness in the White House in the years just ahead of us if the United States and the free world how to survive and grow stronger. Believing in the ability of our own people in North Carolina, to see greatness in leadership and to discriminate intelligently among those who offer those sales for high place. I feel confident that North Carolina will help elect this great American in November. I proudly present a gallant soldier, a profound student of law and statesmanship and a statesman himself to this audience of my fellow North Carolinian who are well qualified to sense strength and devotion behind the simply spoken word of Senator John F. Kennedy. I present to you the next President of the United States.

Speaker 1 [3:49]
The Honorable Luther Hodges has just introduced Senator Kennedy and he is now coming down the aisle here in the Coliseum tonight, there are about somewhere between 15 and 20,000 people here which are packed into the Coliseum. The this is on a statewide hook up, television and radio, the local television in Raleigh, here he comes now ladies and gentlemen. He's coming up now walking up on the platform. As you can hear the crowd roar. The gubernatorial nominee for North Carolina Terry Sanford is beside him. The mayor, the governor Hodges has just shook his hand and he has stepped up to the platform. You can hear the enthusiasm of this crowd as newsman from NBC News. All local and, and state hook up radio, TV, are around with the clamors everyone is shaking hands. So quite an enthusiastic crowd here tonight. There are banners all over the place. It says that the Southern Baptist are for Kennedy says the South is for Kennedy. Everyone has got their Kennedy for President banners flying high as the balloons. Many balloons are in the in the are flying around.

John F. Kennedy [5:25]
Chairman, Governor Hodges.

Speaker 1 [5:30]
Here is Senator Kennedy,

John F. Kennedy [5:32]
I am proud tonight to be here in a great democratic state, as the standard bearer for the oldest political party in the United States, the Democratic Party. The great strength in my opinion of the Democratic Party has been that it's not only survived every crisis in the history of our country, but it also represents every section of the United States, every group within our country, and therefore representing the people, it speaks for the people. I am proud tonight to be introduced by my friend, your distinguished Governor Luther Hodges, who has led this state and who has been associated with us intimately in this campaign, and by your next Governor Terry Sanford.

I serve in the United States Senate, with two distinguished Democrats from North Carolina, Senator Ervin with whom I served on the rackets committee for three years. And Senator Jordan who speaks powerfully for the interests of this state, and for the nation, and the members of your congressional delegation, such as Congressman Cooley, the chairman of the Agricultural Committee of the House, and other members who speak for their districts and speak for their country. North Carolina has put its confidence in the Democratic Party. And I come here tonight as the standard bearer for that great body and ask your support, ask your help in this campaign.

North Carolina must make a decision this year, as they have in other great years of crisis in the past, which road they will take. I think the decision is quite clear. Because I think the alternatives are clear. Mr. Nixon, and I did not suddenly spring out of nowhere. We have not been frozen in ice, or collected an amber since the national conventions. We are part of two great political parties, which stretch back in history like rivers. And you can judge the river and its future course. By studying its past flow, where it rose, where it ran, how fast it moved. When we compare the record of the Republican and Democratic parties in this century, I don't think that there is any question at a time when it is most important that the United States begin to move again, that it will turn for a progressive future to the Democratic Party as it has in the past. Contrast the political slogans which our two parties have used in this century. Stand pat with McKinley return to normalcy with Harding, keep cool with Coolidge and social security with Landon. It's time for a change with Dewey. And you never had it so good. Today. I point with pride. I point with pride to the slogans of the Democratic Party in this century. Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, Harry Truman's Fair Deal. And now we present in this century and this decade of the 60s, we present a New Frontier.

I hope that anyone in this state who feels that things are as good as they can be, textile workers and textile manufacturers, tobacco growers, farmers, those who live in this state, those who may be satisfied with things as they are those who are satisfied at the prestige and power of the United States is increasing faster than that of the communist, then I agree they should vote for the Republican Party. But those who want to move ahead, those who believe that the United States has a great role to fulfill those who believe that the future belongs to us, that it requires our dedicated effort in this state and in this country, I hope you will come with us, I hope you will stay with us.

I think Franklin Roosevelt put it to us in 1936, when he accepted the second presidential nomination, and in that speech before 100,000 people at Franklin Field Philadelphia, he said governments can earn, presidents to make mistakes. But the immortal Dottie tells us that divine justice weighs the sins of the cold blooded, and the sins of the warm hearted in a different scale, better the occasional faults of a government living in the spirit of charity, then the consistent omissions of a government, frozen in the ice of its own indifference, I think for the past eight years. I don't think that the American people want in the 60s, a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference. I think they want this country to move again. I feel that the 1960s will be a difficult and challenging time for us all. Senator Johnson and I run, recognizing that the responsibilities which may be placed upon us, will be more pressing and burdensome that have been placed upon any president in this century. I think the Democratic Party must be used for a greater national purpose in these trying days. And I think there are four things that we must do if we're going to meet our destiny in the 1960s. First, the United States must rebuild its strength here at home, if it's going to maintain its position in the world. Last year, the United States had an economic growth 1/3, that of the Soviet Union, and it had the lowest rate of economic growth of any major industrialized society in the world. Here's the United States a powerful and vigorous country, a country which used to be the model for all countries who wanted to trod the same road that we're treading. And now we've seen in the 50s, where countries which we helped at the end of World War Two, now move ahead at a far faster rate of growth than we do. I think that it's most important that we recognize that as long as there are nearly 5 million people out of work, as long as our steel mills are producing at 44% of capacity. As long as we produce food that we can't use usefully. And that we do not distribute to those who can use it, I think we must recognize that there's unfinished business for us here in the United States.

Secondly, we cannot be satisfied with the fact that the Soviet Union is turning out today. Twice as many scientists and engineers as we are, that it's accepting from Africa and Asia, and Moscow and Peiping are both doing it. 1000s of more Native students who come to Moscow and Peiping and go back and carry the message. Here in North Carolina, which has more children probably for its population than any place in the United States, you must recognize above all other states the importance of maintaining a strong and viable educational system.

Third, I think it's vitally important, if the next President of the United States is going to be faced with the necessity in 1961 of negotiating with the Soviet Union over Berlin, or defending the commitments we've made in Southeast Asia against the Chinese Communist, I think it's important that he has as Commander in Chief, a military force second to none. I do not think that there is any sense, I do not think that there is any sense in having the second best defense. It's as useless as the second best poker hand. We want to be first, not first, if not first, but not first, when, but first, and that is our object and that is our policy.

We need an invulnerable atomic force, a retaliatory force and also conventional forces, which can maintain the peace of the world without resorting to nuclear struggle on both sides. And lastly, we must be prepared to reassert our initiative in foreign policy. The United States has had less than 100 people working on the complicated and scientific subject of modern disarmament, 100 people scattered throughout the entire federal government, which has meant that we've had no position that our negotiators have gone in unprepared and that the United States has lost a psychological advantage, we must regain the initiative as a peace loving country, which is second to none, which is powerful, which talks quietly and carries a big stick, I see no sense.

I don't think words are a substitute for action. I don't think the United States is going to protect the peace of the world, and our own security, by kitchen debates, all by arguments in conference, we're going to maintain the peace by being strong here in the United States, by attracting the imagination of people all over the world, who stand today on the razor edge of decision, attempting to determine whether the world is moving with the communists, or moving with the West and the United States. Mr. Khrushchev once said, the old and the rotten will always fight with the newly emerged. But it is a law in history that the new will always win. I think we're the new, I think his system is as old as Egypt, and just as rotten. And therefore if we maintain our position here, if we maintain our strength, if we maintain our economic and political and social vitality here in the United States, then it will spread through the world. And the people who watch today will determine that our high noon is in the future, and not in the past. That's what we want to do. Our strength here in the United States, as in the days of Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom, and Franklin Roosevelt, who was strong here at home, and therefore strong abroad, and Harry Truman, whose Fair Deal had its accompany in his policy around the world point for the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, NATO, unless you are moving at home, you're not moving abroad. I asked your help in this election, not promising that if we're successful, life will be easy. But saying that we can move again in this country, we can fulfill our former promises. We can assure today on the 173rd anniversary of the ratification of the United States Constitution, we can assure another 173 years if we in our generation recognize that we to have a rendezvous with destiny, if we're prepared to bear the burdens and responsibilities, which go with freedom after the defense of Thermopylae 2000 years ago, when a few Spartans defended the past against the masses of Persians, you will recall that above their grave, there was carved in stone, passerby tell Sparta we fell, faithful to her service. We today want to live faithful to the service of the United States. The greatest system of government ever devised and it requires the best from all of us. And I am confident that if we meet our responsibilities in this year of decision of 1960, this country will be free and it will be known as the home of the brave. Thank you.

Speaker 1 [19:41]
You had just heard the address by Senator Kennedy here before this packed William Neal Reynolds Coliseum tonight. There is an estimated 20,000 persons here it is it is packed to the brim there's not a seat empty. The crowd is now standing up, giving him a standing ovation. The Honorable Luther Hodges the governor of North Carolina and the the Democratic nominee, gubernatorial candidate Harry Sanford are all three and Senator Kennedy are in the center of the stage now, responding to the crowd. In just a moment, Senator Kennedy will answer questions asked from the floor. I submitted a question to Senator Kennedy. I do not know if I would get a chance to ask him tonight. But I was told that he would contact me directly for an answer sometime after the meeting. The Luther Hodges I see is up to the platform again, I think he is one to ask a few questions. As I said before the WRAL TV here in Raleigh.

WRAL TV in Raleigh is pairing this program tonight on a statewide television basis. There are radio engineers and and reporters here. Plus all people from the press are about 150 press members tonight setting with us here in the press box. Governor Hodges just introduced Terry Sanford and he has stepped up to the platform and is about ready to speak. Let's see what he has to say.

Governor Hodges [21:49]
Earlier this evening as the audience here in the Coliseum nose, question plaques were given out to anyone here who wanted to ask a question of Senator Kennedy. And the limited time we have available left for television, you can understand that Senator Kennedy cannot answer all of these questions. As a result, we are going to start asking those questions which were asked most frequently by the audience. And in a moment, we will get those questions directly from the audience. But first, Jack, I'd like to ask a question. I have traveled all over North Carolina, since the Los Angeles Convention, and I'm convinced of all of the things on the people's minds today and North Carolina, that for most that the dominant issue, the dominant question is the sinking prestige of America and the world. And I would like to ask you as a national view, what is your opinion of the dominant issue of your campaign?

John F. Kennedy [22:58]
Well, I would say, as I suggested in the speech, that I think the basic problem facing the United States, is to maintain the peace, maintain our vital interests and our national security, serve as the leader of the cause of freedom around the globe, and attempt to develop in this country, sufficient forward motion, so that we catch again, the imagination of the world, as a power and a system of government that represents the kind of government which all people want to endorse the kind of government under which all people want to live. In other words, if we do well, here, we enhance the prestige and power and influence of the cause of freedom around the world. If we fail, the cause of freedom fails, if we succeed, the cause of freedom succeeds. Our responsibility is to throw light and luster around that great cause around the globe.

Speaker 1 [23:58]
The question I asked the senator was, according to this morning's report in the newspaper, that it was printed in there that he said during before the National Democratic Convention that that he had would hope to win the nomination without a single vote from the South. Listen to what kind of answer we get from that question if it is asked tonight. Right now, a young lady in the back of the Coliseum here, just asked him a question. I'm sorry, I didn't get it. He is answering it right now. Just a moment. We'll have another question from the floor and answered by Senator Kennedy lets listen to part of his answer to this question.

John F. Kennedy [24:44]
I think they'll continue their struggle against us, but it will take the form of economic competition, subversion, and perhaps brushfire wars. For that reason, I think we should maintain our conventional forces. I think we should strengthen the kind of forces that you have at Strack here in North Carolina. Increase our airlift and be prepared to fight the kind of limited war. If we're prepared to fight, we may not have to, as Winston Churchill said 10 years ago, we armed a parley. If we're strong, then I think we can maintain the peace. I don't think it really, I would hope that it would not be a factor in the campaign. It seems to me that in 1960, the issues which I tried to discuss tonight, the future of this state, the future of the country, the security of the United States, the peace of the world, I would think that they would be a far greater interest to the people of North Carolina than we are I'm going to go to church tomorrow morning.

On the Labor Committee for 14 years in the House in the Senate, I'm chairman of the Subcommittee on Labor as well as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I feel that labor unions are honestly led, and I think the great majority are serve a useful function in protecting the interests of their members and building their wage level. Unless we have a strong wage level in the United States who's going to buy all the goods we produce? We can't sell them abroad.

My own feeling is that the Jimmy Hoffa's and the others and the Bridges who we investigated at some length during the racket committee hearing are a minority. My own feeling is that I will not be satisfied as long as Jimmy Hoffa remains at the head of the Teamsters Union. And I think I, what I like about the South, is that, firstly, it's a sense of history, and its identification with the history of the United States. Secondly, I think it's had a strong in its history, a strong internationalist viewpoint. It has stood for the defense of our country, its strength and prestige around the world. It has been willing to bear arms and war, and it's had a strong sense of public service in time of peace. Thirdly, or fourthly, I guess it's a growing section. I think the Franklin Roosevelt administration probably meant more to the development of the South than it did to any other section of the United States, I think the 60s. I hope that in the 60s, the South will continue to move ahead. And let me say what I like perhaps maybe should be first is the fact that the South has maintained in good times and bad the Democratic Party.

Speaker 1 [27:34]
That is a wrapping up now of the Democratic rally here tonight. Before everyone gets out. I'd like to ask a few questions sitting beside me here in the press box is Mrs. Henry Bell. Her husband is the editor of the Goldsboro News. And as you probably know, Mr. Bell, Mr. Henry Bell is also one of the trustees on the board of trustees at East Carolina College. Ms. Bell, I'd like to ask you what you think of the meeting here tonight.

Mrs. Bell [28:05]
Oh, it's been a thrilling experience to hear all their wonderful enthusiasm for candidate.

Speaker 1 [28:11]
Thank you, ma'am. And I like to ask you also, what do you think of his prospects of carrying this out and possibly carrying the election?

Mrs. Bell [28:19]
Well, I think right now he could carry anything after the speech. I've just heard him make.

Speaker 1 [28:24]
Thank you so much. I'm glad you feel so enthusiastic and and so faithful to Senator Kennedy and the Democratic Party in the South. This has been a special affairs broadcast of the campus radio Jerry [Banbury] here at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum reporting to you tonight. We take you back now to our campus radio control room.