尼克松演讲.docx

尼克松演讲.docx

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尼克松演讲

6.RichardNixon-Checkers

MyFellowAmericans,

Icomebeforeyou

tonightasacandidatefortheVicePresidencyandasamanwhosehonesty

andintegrityhasbeenquestioned.

Now,theusualpoliticalthingtodowhen

chargesaremadeagainstyouistoeitherignore

themortodenythemwithoutgivingdetails.Ibelievewe'vehadenoughofthat

intheUnitedStates,particularlywiththepresent

AdministrationinWashington,D.C.Tometheofficeof

theVicePresidencyoftheUnitedStatesisagreatoffice,andIfeel

thatthepeoplehavegottohaveconfidencein

theintegrityofthemenwhorunforthatofficeandwhomightobtain

it.

Ihaveatheory,too,thatthebestandonlyanswertoasmearortoan

honestmisunderstandingofthefactsisto

tellthetruth.Andthat'swhyI'mheretonight.Iwanttotellyou

mysideofthecase.I'msurethatyou

havereadthecharge,andyou'veheardit,that

I,SenatorNixon,took18,000dollarsfromagroupofmysupporters.

Now,wasthatwrong?

Andletmesaythatitwaswrong.

I'msaying,incidentally,thatitwas

wrong,notjustillegal,becauseitisn'taquestionofwhetheritwaslegalorillegal,that

isn'tenough.Thequestionis,wasitmorallywrong?

Isaythatitwasmorallywrongif

anyofthat18,000dollarswenttoSenatorNixon,formypersonaluse.Isaythatitwasmorally

wrongifitwassecretlygivenandsecretlyhandled.AndIsaythatitwasmorallywrongifany

ofthecontributorsgotspecialfavorsforthecontributionsthattheymade.

Andnowtoanswerthosequestionslet

mesaythis:

Notonecentofthe18,000dollarsorany

othermoneyofthattypeeverwentto

meformypersonaluse.Everypennyofitwasusedto

payforpoliticalexpensesthatIdidnotthinkshouldbechargedto

thetaxpayersoftheUnitedStates.Itwasnotasecret

fund.

Asamatteroffact,when

Iwason"MeetthePress"some

ofyoumayhaveseenitlastSundayPeter

Edsoncameuptomeaftertheprogram,andhe

said,"Dick,whatabout

this"fund"wehearabout?

"AndIsaid,"Well,there'sno

secretabout

it.GooutandseeDanaSmithwhowastheadministratorofthefund."AndIgavehim

[Edson]his[Smith's]address.AndIsaidyouwill

findthatthepurposeofthefundsimplywastodefraypolitical

expensesthatIdidnotfeelshouldbechargedto

theGovernment.

Andthird,letmepointout

andIwanttomakethisparticularlyclearthat

nocontributortothisfund,

nocontributortoanyofmycampaigns,haseverreceivedanyconsideration

thathewouldnothavereceivedasanordinaryconstituent.Ijustdon'tbelieveinthat,andIcan

saythatnever,whileI

havebeenintheSenate

oftheUnitedStates,asfarasthepeoplethat

contributedtothisfundareconcerned,

haveImadeatelephonecallforthemtoanagency,

orhaveIgonedown

toanagencyintheirbehalf.Andtherecordswillshowthat,therecords

whichareinthehandsoftheadministration.

Well,then,someofyouwillsay,andrightly,"Well,whatdidyouusethefundfor,Senator?

"

"Whydidyouhavetohaveit?

"Let

metellyouinjustawordhowaSenateofficeoperates.Firstofall,a

Senatorgets15,000dollarsayear

insalary.Hegetsenoughmoneytopayfor

onetripayeararoundtrip,

thatisforhimselfandhisfamilybetweenhishomeand

Washington,D.C.Andthenhegetsanallowanceto

handlethepeoplethatworkinhisoffice

tohandlehismail.AndtheallowanceformyStateofCaliforniaisenoughto

hire13people.Andletmesay,incidentally,that

thatallowanceisnotpaidtotheSenator.It'spaiddirectlyto

theindividualsthattheSenatorputsonhispayroll.

Butallofthesepeopleandallofthese

allowancesareforstrictlyofficialbusiness.business,forexample,whenaconstituentwrites

inandwantsyoutogodowntotheVeteran'sAdministrationandget

someinformationabouthisGIpolicyitemsofthattype,forexample.

But

thereareotherexpenseswhicharenot

coveredbytheGovernment.AndIthinkIcanbestdiscussthoseexpensesbyaskingyou

somequestions.

DoyouthinkthatwhenIoranyotherSenatormakesapolitical

speech,hasitprinted,

shouldchargetheprintingofthatspeechandthemailingofthatspeechto

thetaxpayers?

Doyou

think,forexample,when

IoranyotherSenatormakesatriptohishomeStatetomakea

purelypoliticalspeechthatthecostofthat

tripshouldbechargedto

thetaxpayers?

Do

youthinkwhenaSenatormakespoliticalbroadcastsorpoliticaltelevisionbroadcasts,radioor

television,thattheexpenseofthosebroadcastsshouldbechargedto

thetaxpayers?

Well

Iknowwhatyouransweris.It'sthesameanswerthataudiencesgivemewheneverIdiscuss

thisparticularproblem:

Theanswerisno.Thetaxpayersshouldn'tberequiredtofinance

itemswhicharenotofficialbusinessbutwhichareprimarilypoliticalbusiness.

Well,thenthequestionarises,you

say,"Well,howdoyoupayfortheseandhow

canyoudoitlegally?

"Andthereareseveralwaysthatitcanbedone,

incidentally,andthatitisdone

legallyintheUnitedStatesSenateandintheCongress.Thefirstwayistobearichman.I

don'thappentobearichman,so

Icouldn'tusethatone.

Anotherwaythatisusedistoputyourwifeon

thepayroll.Let

mesay,incidentally,that

myopponent,myoppositenumberfortheVicePresidencyon

theDemocraticticket,doeshave

hiswifeon

thepayrollandhashaditheronhispayrollforthetenyearsfor

thepasttenyears.Nowjust

letmesaythis:

That'shisbusiness,andI'mnotcriticalofhimfordoing

that.Youwillhavetopassjudgmentonthatparticularpoint.

ButIhaveneverdonethat

forthisreason:

Ihavefoundthatthereareso

manydeserving

stenographersandsecretariesinWashingtonthatneededtheworkthatIjustdidn'tfeel

itwasrighttoput

mywifeonthepayroll.Mywife'ssittingoverhere.She'sawonderful

stenographer.Sheusedtoteachstenographyandsheusedtoteachshorthandinhighschool.

ThatwaswhenImether.AndIcan

tellyoufolksthatshe'sworkedmanyhoursatnightand

manyhoursonSaturdaysandSundaysinmyoffice,andshe'sdoneafinejob,andIam

proudtosaytonightthatinthesixyearsI'vebeen

intheHouseandtheSenateoftheUnited

States,PatNixonhasneverbeenontheGovernmentpayroll.

Whatareotherwaysthatthesefinancescanbetakencareof?

Somewhoarelawyers,andI

happentobealawyer,continuetopracticelaw,butIhaven'tbeenabletodothat.I'msofar

awayfromCaliforniathatI'vebeen

sobusywithmysenatorialworkthat

Ihavenotengaged

inanylegalpractice.And,also,asfaraslawpracticeisconcerned,itseemedtomethat

therelationshipbetweenanattorneyandtheclient

wassopersonalthatyoucouldn'tpossibly

representamanasanattorneyandthen

haveanunbiasedviewwhenhepresentedhiscase

toyouintheeventthathehadonebeforeGovernment.

AndsoIfeltthatthebestwaytohandlethesenecessarypolitical

expensesofgettingmymessagetotheAmerican

peopleandthespeechesImadethe

speechesthatIhadprinted

forthemostpartconcernedthisonemessageofexposingthisAdministration,the

Communisminit,thecorruptioninittheonlywaythat

Icoulddothatwastoacceptthe

aidwhichpeopleinmyhomeStateofCalifornia,whocontributedto

mycampaignandwhocontinuedto

makethesecontributionsafterIwaselected,weregladto

make.

AndletmesayI'mproudofthefact

thatnotoneofthemhaseveraskedmeforaspecial

favor.I'mproudofthefactthatnotoneofthemhaseveraskedmetovoteonabillother

thanofmyownconsciencewoulddictate.AndI

amproudofthefactthatthetaxpayers,by

subterfugeorotherwise,haveneverpaidonedimeforexpenseswhichI

thoughtwerepolitical

andshouldn'tbechargedto

thetaxpayers.

Letmesay,incidentally,thatsomeofyoumay

say,"Well,that'sallright,Senator,that'syour

explanation,but

haveyougotanyproof?

"AndI'dliketotellyou

thiseveningthatjustan

houragowereceivedan

independentauditofthisentirefund.Isuggestedto

GovernorSherman

Adams,whoistheChiefofStaffoftheDwight

Eisenhowercampaign,thatan

independentauditandlegalreportbeobtained,

andIhavethataudithereinmyhands.It's

anauditmadebythePriceWaterhouse&Company

firm,andthelegalopinionbyGibson,Dunn,&Crutcher,lawyersinLosAngeles,thebiggestlaw

firm,andincidentally,oneofthebestonesinLosAngeles.

Iamproudtobeabletoreport

toyoutonightthatthisauditandthislegalopinionisbeing

forwardedtoGeneral

Eisenhower.AndI'dliketoreadtoyoutheopinionthatwaspreparedby

Gibson,Dunn,&Crutcher,andbasedonallthepertinent

lawsandstatutes,togetherwiththeauditreport

preparedbythecertifiedpublicaccountants.Quote:

Itisourconclusionthat

SenatorNixondidnotobtainanyfinancialgainfromthecollection

anddisbursementofthefundbyDanaSmith.thatSenatorNixondidnotviolateanyfederal

orstatelawbyreasonoftheoperationofthefund.andthat

neithertheportionofthefund

paidbyDanaSmithdirectlytothirdpersons,northeportionpaidtoSenatorNixon,to

reimbursehimfordesignatedofficeexpenses,constitutedincometo

theSenatorwhichwas

eitherreportableortaxableasincomeunderapplicabletaxlaws.

（signed）

Gibson,Dunn,&Crutcher,

byElmo

H.Conley

Nowthat,myfriends,

isnotNixon

speaking,butthat'sanindependentau