December 16, 1963

MEMORANDUM

TO: THE GOVERNOR

FROM: Henry A. Kissinger

SUBJECT: Draft of a post-moratorium speech or statement

I am enclosing a draft of a statement or an outline of a
speech which you might consider making fairly soon after the end of
the moratorium.

It was drafted by my associate, Douglas Bailey, and myself
(with Bailey deserving most of the credit).

(with Burley desiring most of the credits).

It was drafted by my associate, Douglas Bailey, and myself
the moratorium.

A speech which you might consider making fairly soon after the end of
I am enclosing a draft of a statement or an outline of a

FROM: Henry V. Kiebler
TO: THE GOVERNOR

MEMORANDUM

December 16, 1963

December 16, 1963

Draft of Post-Moratorium Speech

For the past forty days our country has been in a deep shock.
Whatever our differences, the President is the President of all the
people. The senseless and violent attack on President Kennedy was therefore
a violation of all of us.

Whenever immorality and brutality exact a toll, the loss is deep.
But it is also in the nature of a tragedy that it reminds us of the things
that really matter. We have had occasion to think of fundamentals and of
the values that give our lives meaning.

We have seen that men can vanish but our institutions survive. No
bullets can destroy our constitutional process. There could be no question
of succession, no challenge to the legitimacy of the new President. Let
us hope that others can learn from our tragedy -- those at home who preach
hatred that a violent act never serves its purpose; those abroad now
learning the art of self-government that one source of a nation's strength
is the continuity of its governing institutions.

We have suffered a loss. But life goes on. The challenges before us
are as great as they were before the senseless act of November 22. The
outpouring of grief all over the world showed that what happens here never
concerns America alone. We are the conscience of freedom everywhere. We are
the hope for security from the onslaught of Communist totalitarianism. We
can never stand still. We must fulfill our ideals at home so that they may
serve humanity.

serve humanity.

can never stand still. We must fulfill our ideals at home so that they may
the hope for security from the assurance of Communist totalitarianism. We
concern America alone. We are the conscience of freedom everywhere. We are
outstanding of grief all over the world exposed that what happens here never
are as great as they were before the senseless act of November 13. The
We have offset a loss, but it goes on. The challenges before us
is the consistency of its governing institutions.

learning the art of self-government that one source of a nation's strength
rested that a violent act never serves its purpose; those spread now
as hope that others can learn from our tragedy -- those at home who breach
of succession, no challenge to the legitimacy of the new President. Let
pulldoms can destroy our constitutional process. There could be no question
We have seen that men can vanish put our institutions survive. No
the values that give our lives meaning.

that really matter. We have had occasion to think of fundamental and of
But it is also in the nature of a tragedy that it reminds us of the things
Whenever immorality and brutality exact a toll, the loss is deep.
a violation of all of us.

people. The senseless and violent attack on President Kennedy was therefore
Whatever our differences, the President is the President of all the
to the best forty days our country has been in a deep funk.

December 10, 1963

page 2

Throughout its long history, America has been a home to the persecuted of the world. We were founded by peoples suffering religious intolerance. We were nourished by new emigrants from 19th century economic, social and political oppression. And the malevolent athism of this century has brought new peoples and new strengths to our shores. The brave have found their home in the land of the free.

We must continue to build here the home which all of these people have sought. And we must begin by recognizing that the history of some of those among us was not to leave oppression to come here, but to find themselves bound in the chains of slavery -- and later in the chains of ignorant prejudice. The wrongs that have been committed can not be undone. But we can right them -- by securing for all Americans an equal opportunity to education, to employment, to participation in the enjoyments of life as well as its necessities. Civil rights have been our heritage. To extend them to all our citizens is our obligation.

There are others in this land who do not know the full blessings of freedom. Those without a job are not as free as the rest of us. Those without the means to health are not as free as the rest of us. Those who are poorly fed; those who are poorly housed; those who are poorly educated are not as free as the rest of us. To do less than we can to assure their freedom would be to turn our back on the dreams of all those who came to these shores in search of something better. And it would be to turn our back to those throughout

today's world whose choice for their own future may rest on our ability to
make real the American dream.

We know in this land a great experience shared by no other people.
This is the only nation which has successfully sought to solve its most
critical social and economic problems through the initiative of its private
citizens. In recent years we have benefitted as the government has strived
to assure economic security to all Americans. But our true greatness as a
people is that we have not relied on government primarily to assure well-being.
Practically none of our industry is owned by government. Most of our great
institutions of higher education are supported largely through private
contributions. The physical health of most of our people is entrusted to
doctors employed by hospitals supported by private contributions. Our great
libraries and music halls and cultural centers are endowed from private funds.
Thousands of our local welfare institutions, created for the purpose of
physical, social and economic health, are financed largely through private
donations.

I stress this, not as a Republican philosophy, but as an American
philosophy, for it is an experience which is unique to America. It must be
a goal of the political leadership of our nation to help release the energies
of the free enterprise and private initiative system so that the needs of our
fellow men can and will be met through the public spirit of our fellow men.

As private citizens we have but two alternatives -- to give of ourselves
to the cause of real freedom for every man or to let others do it. And those

of us in government -- those of us who seek to lead -- have but two alternatives. We can rely on your devotion to our common heritage or we can turn to the impersonal hand of public bureaucracy. But if we continually assume that only government can meet the needs of our people, we shall have failed -- in the pursuit of our most precious dream -- a land of free people, where man's humanity to his fellow man shall stand as irrevocable proof that government of the people shall never perish.

Freedom and well-being are indivisible. We cannot survive as an island of plenty in a world of misery. We cannot have peace without assuming the responsibilities of international order. The peoples of the world desire peace, none more than the American people. But we will not purchase peace at the expense of freedom.

This places two obligations upon us. We must be steadfast in resisting aggression wherever it may occur. But we must also help devise the international structure which would enable free peoples to grow and be vital. The disorder of our time is caused in part by the aggressive nature of world Communism; in part by the collapse of the international system which regulated affairs through the better part of the 19th century. In the world of nuclear weapons and interdependent economies, no society can realize the aspirations of its peoples in isolation. None can achieve security alone. America has a duty to do more than deal with crises as they appear; we must help construct an international system worthy of free peoples.

Throughout two long decades, since the end of the Second World War, we have been told and have told others, time and again, that we did not seek leadership -- that only reluctantly did we assume the leadership of the free world that chance had thrust upon us.

Mine was the role of critic of John Kennedy and there remain differences which not even this great tragedy can remove. But his contributions were great, and none greater than the decision that this nation shall no longer lead merely by chance, but shall lead by choice. His challenge -- whether we agree with all his remedies or not -- is whether we will ignore the problems that beset us or solve them, whether we shall ignore our responsibilities or seek to serve the cause of free democracy in future generations around the globe by serving our own human needs at home and by dedicating ourselves to the defense and enlargement of freedom abroad.

To the members of my own Party I say that we must choose to lead. We must choose to lead in the fight for civil rights. We must choose to lead in securing a better education, a decent job, a safe home and a healthy body for all men. We must choose to do so because the dignity of each of us is incomplete if we allow the dignity of any to be circumscribed by misfortune. And we must choose, finally, through the strength of purpose and the strength of arms to struggle for the world's peace -- as an opportunity for free men everywhere to secure the blessings with which our God has been so generous.

- 2 -

that the diversity which has raised intense passions in our land is,
as well, a source of great national strength. This nation is, above
all, the home of diverse peoples -- a nation of many nationalities,
of many religions, of many creeds, of many colors. Our success in
democracy can truly be the guiding light for our brethren in family, in
religion, in creed, in color, throughout the world who still have the
choice to accept or reject our way of life. Our stake in the peace of
the world is no greater than the stake of the world's people in our
success.

But this land is more than a mere melting pot. Throughout its
long history, America has been a home to the persecuted of the world.
We were founded by peoples suffering religious intolerance. We were
nourished by new emigrants from 19th century economic, social and political
oppression. And the malevolent atheism of this century has brought
new peoples and new strengths to our shores. And on they come still
from a new atheism, from a new despotism. The brave have found their home
in the land of the free.

We must continue to build here the home which all of these
people have sought. And surely we must begin by recognizing that the
history of some of those among us was not to leave oppression to come
here, but to find themselves bound in the chains of slavery -- and later
in the chains of ignorant prejudice. The wrongs we have committed can
not be forgotten, but we can try to right them -- try to secure for all

Americans an equal opportunity to education, to employment, to participation
in the enjoyments of life as well as its necessities. Civil rights have
been our heritage. They must now be our obligation.

We know in this land one great experience shared by no other
people. This is truly the only nation on earth which has successfully
sought to solve its most critical social and economic problems through
the initiative of its private citizens. In recent years we have benefitted
as the government has strived to assure economic security to all Americans,
But our true greatness as a people is that we have not relied on government
primarily to assure well-being. Practically none of our industry is owned by
government. Most of our great institutions of higher education are supported
largely through private contributions. The physical health of most of our
people is entrusted to doctors employed by hospitals supported by private
contributions. Our great libraries and music halls and cultural centers are

endowed from private funds. Thousands of our local welfare insti-
tutions, created for the purpose of physical, social and economic
health, are financed largely through private donations.

It is this generosity of the American people to which we must
now turn once more to meet our most critical needs. And it must be
a goal of the political leadership of our nation in a partnership with
the people, to release the energies of the free enterprise and private
initiative system so that the needs of our fellow men can and will be
met through the generosity of our fellow men.

As private citizens we have but two alternatives -- to give of
ourselves to the cause of real freedom for every man or to let others do
it. And those of us in government -- those of us who seek to lead -- have
but two alternatives. We can rely on your devotion to our common heritage
or we can turn to the impersonal hand of public bureaucracy. But it must
be our firm conviction that, if forced continually to assume that only
government can meet the human needs of mankind, we shall have failed --
failed in the pursuit of our most precious dream -- a land of free people,
where man's humanity to his fellow man shall stand as irrevocable proof
that government of the people shall indeed never perish.

- 5 -

not seek leadership -- that only reluctantly did we assume the
leadership of the free world that chance had thrust upon us. Mine was
the role of critic of John Kennedy and there remain differences which
not even this great tragedy can remove. But his contributions were
great, and none greater than the decision that this nation shall no
longer lead merely by chance, but shall lead by choice. His challenge
-- whether we age with all miseries or not --
to his own Party, and to mine, is whether we will ignore the problems
that beset us or solve them, whether we shall ignore our responsibilities
or seek to serve the cause of free democracy in future generations
around the globe by serving our own human needs at home -- now.

To the members of my own Party I say that we must choose to
lead. We must choose to lead in the fight for civil rights. We must
choose to lead in securing a better education, a decent job, a safe home
and a healthy body for all men. We must choose to do so because the
dignity of each of us is incomplete if we allow the dignity of any to be
circumscribed by misfortune. And we must choose, finally, through the
strength of purpose and the strength of arms to guarantee the world's
peace -- peace not as an end in itself but as an opportunity for free men
everywhere to secure the blessings with which our God has been so generous.

December 4, 1963

MEMORANDUM

TO: HAK

FROM: DLB

SUBJECT: Draft of NAR post-moratorium speech

1. In line with our conversation on November 27th with Perkins and Deardourff, I submit the following as a potential draft of NAR's first speech following the thirty-day moratorium. In view of the fact that, as the attached press release shows, there remains the tendency to talk solely of "the Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God," it seems very important to me that we bite off this job. I would hope that whatever eventually is sent to New York for this purpose is in as final form as possible. (In the past, some of the speeches on foreign policy have had to be technically checked by June in New York, which, it seems to me, has given an added opportunity to others to contribute changes.)

2. Frankly I visualize this in a manner which may not be compatible with the NAR Organization thinking at the moment. It should be, in my view, delivered as a television address, either to the people of New York or to the people of New Hampshire without a studio audience. I think it would be preferable to deliver it after January 1st, and to give significant publicity to it in advance -- i.e. that the Governor will make a major pronouncement.

* * * * *

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1963

ROBERT L. McMANUS, PRESS SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNOR

STATE OF NEW YORK
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER
ALBANY

STATEMENT BY GOVERNOR NELSON A. ROCKEFELLER

In these hours of national shock and grief, I know of no fuller,
more effective way for the men and women of America. to demonstrate
their respect for the President who is gone and their sympathy for
the loved ones he has left than to dedicate themselves anew --
united before the world -- to the Biblical concepts of the Fatherhood
of God and the Brotherhood of Man, basic concepts upon which our nation
had its founding and from which, in its darkest hours, we have drawn
our greatest strength.

There can be no room in our hearts and minds today for hatred,
malice, distrust or petty passions. Freed of these baser emotions
and united by that freedom, we will be better armed to meet whatever
threats and to solve whatever problems may lie ahead.

In this spirit and as Governor of the State of New York, I
extend to President Johnson my cooperation in every responsible way
during the difficult time of trial immediately before us.

Consistent with my proclamation officially designating for
New York State and its people thirty days of mourning in memory of
the tragically slain President, I shall not participate, personally --
during that period -- in any public activity in connection with the
Republican Presidential nomination, nor in any other public
activities with the exception of those falling within my official
duties as Governor of the State of New York.

Following is a list of the engagements which are being cancelled:

Nov. 26 -- Annual Membership Meeting, Westchester County
Association, Scarsdale, New York.

Dec. 4 -- National Press Club luncheon, Washington, D. C.

Dec. 4 -- Johns Hopkins University meeting, Baltimore, Maryland.

Dec. 5 -- Rotary Club luncheon, Wilmington, Delaware.

Dec. 7 -- Pennsylvania Society dinner, New York City.

Dec. 12-13 -- Trip to New Hampshire.

-30-

BRAIT

Each of us in those past forty days has sought the words to
give expression to our emotions. It seems small consolation, indeed,
that meaningful reflection comes to most only after we have suffered
a great loss. But we all have reflected on our nation's physical, legal
and spiritual strengths, all of which have survived, and have enabled us
to survive, this great tragedy. And we have reflected as well on the
sources of those strengths.

Among our strengths is the realization that at the very moment
of unparalleled crisis, there was no question that ours would remain a
government of law. John Kennedy was slain, but our government did not
fell with him. No bullets, no violence, no hatred can slay the insti-
tutions which serve our nation. There could be no revolt. There could
be no question of succession. Let us hope that others can learn from
our tragedy -- that those throughout the world who are only now learning
the ways of self-government will recognise that at least one source of
a nation's strength is the continuity of its governing institutions -- and
that those here at home who retain hatred in their hearts will see that
a violent act never serves its purpose.

We must hope that we all can see better than we have before that
hatred and those who preach it deserve our nation and our God alike.
But as we learn to be patient with our fellow men, we should learn also

that the diversity which has raised intense passions in our land is,
as well, a source of great national strength. This notion is, above
all, the home of diverse peoples -- a nation of many nationalities,
of many religions, of many creeds, of many colors. Our success in
democracy can truly be the guiding light for our brothers in family, in
religion, in creed, in color, throughout the world who still have the
choice to accept or reject our way of life. Our stake in the peace of
the world is no greater than the stake of the world's people in our
success.

But this land is more than a mere melting pot. Throughout its
long history, America has been a home to the persecuted of the world.
We were founded by peoples suffering religious intolerance. We were
nourished by new emigrants from 19th century economic, social and political
oppression. And the malevolent athlosm of our own country has brought
new peoples and new strengths to our shores. And on they come still --
from a new athlosm, from a new deopotim. The brave have found their home
in the land of the free.

We must continue to build here the home which all of these
people have sought. And surely we must begin by recognising that the
history of some of those among us was not to leave oppression to come
here, but to find themselves bound in the chains of slavery -- and later
in the chains of ignorant prejudice. The wrongs we have committed can
never be forgotten, but we can try to right them -- try to secure for all

There are others in this land who do not know the full blessings
of freedom. Those without a job are not as free as the rest of us. Those
without the means to health are not as free as the rest of us. Those who
are poorly fed; those who are poorly housed; those who are poorly educated
are not as free as the rest of us. To do less than we aim to assure
their freedom would be to turn our back on the dreams of all those who
dem to those shores in search of something better. And it would be to
turn our back to those throughout today's world whose choice for their
own future may rest on our ability to make real the American dream.

We know in this land one other great experience shared by no other
people. This is truly the only nation on earth which has successfully
sought to solve its most critical social and economic problems through
the initiative of its private citizens. In recent years we have benefited
as the government has strived to assure economic security to all Americans,
but our true greatness as a people is that we have not relied on government
alone to assure well-being. Practically none of our industry is owned by
government. Most of our great institutions of higher education are supported
largely through private contributions. The physical health of most of our
people is entrusted to doctors employed by hospitals supported by private
contributions. Our great libraries and music halls and cultural centers are

It is this generosity of the American people to which we must now turn once more to meet our most critical needs. And it must be a goal of the political leadership of our action in a partnership with the people, to release the energies of the free enterprise and private initiative system so that the needs of our fellow men can and will be met through the generosity of our fellow men.

not seek leadership -- that only reluctantly did we assume the
leadership of the free world that chance had thrust upon us. Mine was
the role of critic of John Kennedy and there remain differences which
not even this great tragedy can remove. But his contributions were
great, and none greater than the decision that this nation shall no
longer lead merely by chance, but shall lead by choice. His challenge
to his own party, and to mine, is whether we will ignore the problems
that beset us or solve them, whether we shall ignore our responsibilities
or seek to serve the cause of free democracy in future generations
around the globe by serving our own human needs at home -- now.

To the members of my own party I say that we must choose to
lead. We must choose to lead in the fight for civil rights. We must
choose to lead in securing a better education, a decent job, a safe home
and a healthy body for all men. We must choose to do so because the
dignity of each of us is incomplete if we allow the dignity of any to be
colonialized by misfortune. And we must choose, finally, through the
strength of purpose and the strength of arms to guarantee the world's
peace -- peace not as an end in itself but as an opportunity for free men
everywhere to secure the blessings with which our God has been so generous.