US Presidency
1956

I merely want to say this: that whatever dedication to country, loyalty and patriotism and great ability can do for America, he will do, and that I know. Ladies and gentlemen, when Abraham Lincoln was nominated in 1860, and a committee brought the news to him at his home in Springfield, Illinois, his reply was two sentences long. Then, while his friends and neighbors waited in the street, and while bonfires lit up the May evening, he said simply, And now I will not longer defer the pleasure of taking you, and each of you, by the hand. I wish I could do the same, speak two sentences, and then take each one of you by the hand, all of you who are in sound of my voice. If I could do so, I would first thank you individually for your confidence and your trust. Then, as I am sure Lincoln did as he moved among his friends in the light of the bonfires, we could pause and talk a while about the questions that are uppermost in your mind.