Nelson Rockefeller for President 1968 Campaign Brochure

‘Rocky!’

Who he is.

"What our country needs now, and needs desperately, is a healer -- a man who can pull together the disparate elements, who can find solutions that are within our system and our traditions. I think I can do that."

Nelson Rockefeller, who spoke those words, has a way of bringing men together. He is a healer. He has no interest in bills that cannot be passed or laws that cannot be enforced. He doesn't believe in talk. He believes in action.

Rockefeller is a man born to wealth who refused to rest on his riches. He has worked furiously and imaginatively all his life, first in business and then -- for more than 25 years -- in public service.

Meeting him can be disturbing. He comes at you directly, openly, asking "What's on your mind? What's wrong with things around here? What can we change for the better?"

Nelson Rockefeller is one of the great political campaigners of our time. He is warm. He is tireless. He genuinely loves to meet people.

And he wins elections.

What he's done.

Nelson Rockefeller is in his tenth year as Governor of New York.

He's been elected 3 times, by wide margins, in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 4 to 3.

These victories are endorsements of his remarkable record as Governor:

He created, almost from nothing, a great state university, and launched a Scholar Incentive Program which now aids over 200,000 college students;

He sponsored an all-out attack on narcotics addiction, a prime source of crime;

His Transportation Bond Issue, overwhelmingly passed by the voters, is the first statewide attack on the tangle of cars and commuters that will face us in the '70s; his urban development program is enlisting private enterprise in rebuilding the slums.

Meeting these needs costs money, but the sooner we meet them, the less they cost. Governor Rockefeller has submitted a balanced budget every year. 58% of that state budget is now returned to local governments -- mostly as aid to education. In 26 other states, state taxes claim a larger share of residents' income than in New York.

Before his election as Governor, Rockefeller served in Washington under 3 Presidents.

He was President Roosevelt's Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America.

He took part in the forming of the United Nations and then, under President Truman, helped draft the Point 4 program of United States aid to developing countries.

He served President Eisenhower as Under Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and later as Special Assistant for foreign affairs.

What he says.

"In matters of human concern, I am a liberal. In matters of economic and fiscal concern, I am a conservative."

On America and the World

"Our concern for freedom in South Vietnam must relate to our concern for justice in South Chicago. An attack on the dollar in Paris can ultimately plague the life of the wage-earner in Pittsburgh."

On Americas Unity

"We somehow have contrived to be, at one and the same time, the Affluent Society and the Afflicted Society...The crisis of the American city is a crisis of the American conscience...We can choose a life of the jungle -- or a life of justice...I believe the time of wounding -- and of hate -- must pass. The time for healing -- and for hope -- has come."

On the Role of National Government

"It must become not the great monolith -- but the great catalyst. It must inspire rather than impose. And it must find its highest concern to be not supervision -- but vision...this means an investment of faith in the freedom and responsibility of state and local government."

On Vietnam and World Peace

"We have nothing to fear -- and all to gain -- from the careful and responsible quest for a negotiated settlement...We want peace. But we want a peace based on justice and the rights of all peoples to determine freely their own destinies...We will not accept -- as we shall not try to impose -- any solution dictated by form...We can and we must take this narrow road of war and make it lead into the wide highway toward world peace and progress."

What they say about him.

Governor Tom McCall of Oregon calls Rockefeller "the most potent vote getter in either party in the United States" and "our best problem solver."

Senator Charles Percy of Illinois says simply, "Rockefeller is the best-equipped man to be President."

William Miller, Republican Vice-Presidential nominee in 1964 says, Rockefeller "has proven to be a greater vote getter among a greater cross-section of Americans" than Richard Nixon.

Governor Raymond Shafer of Pennsylvania credits Rockefeller with "the wisdom, the patience, and the maturity" so essential to the achievement of permanent peace and human understanding.

Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts says, "His maturity and sturdy leadership can be invaluable in forging a stronger and better community here at home."

Governor George Romney of Michigan says, "No other candidate in either party can match his executive experience in national and state government."