Eugene McCarthy for President 1972 Campaign Brochure

‘The only man who can make a difference’

1968. When the Democratic Party nominated a candidate they couldn't elect, on a platform supporting a war America didn't want, with a campaign they couldn't afford, America gradually lost touch with Eugene McCarthy. 

For some it happened when he waited months to endorse a candidate who waited years to realize a war was wrong.

Or when he refused to become a candidate himself with no better prospects than being a perpetual talk show guest.

Or when he left the Senate that sometimes said the right things but seldom did any of them. 

But Gene McCarthy never lost touch with America.

He never stopped speaking out on the issues concerning our country.  Hundreds of speeches-33 states in the last year alone. 

And he never left the principles others left in the name of "good politics." The same principles that made him a lay his career on the line in 1967, to tell America they were in a war that was wrong. 

It's still the same Eugene J. McCarthy, Gene McCarthy,…Gene.

The man who should have been President. 

1972. President of the United States of America.  The most powerful nation in the history of the world.  206 million people.  A trillion dollar economy.  We have the power to destroy a country when it makes a mistake.  Incredible.  There's never been anything like it.

What kind of man will have that job?  What kind of man will wield the power that could make all the difference in the world?  Will his vision be clear enough to solve the problems of the future?  Will he know the difference between his advisers and his advice?  Maybe you haven't put your finger on it, but that's why you're still a little worried about 1972.  Is the toughest job in the world, and you really don't feel right about any of the men running.  You're really not sure any of them could make a difference. 

Well we think one of them can. 

Eugene J. McCarthy, professor of government, economist, U.S. Senator, poet, candidate for President of the United States of America.  "The most complex and talented man in American politics"

Read what he has to say.  And think about it.  And then see what the others have to say.  And think about it. 

Because when you get right down to it, this is still a democracy. So when you get right down to it, the toughest job in the world may be yours.

McCarthy makes sense.

Eugene McCarthy's vision of America isn't built up of slicker slogans, impossible dreams or vague generalities. It's an America founded on hard realities and genuine potential.

It's an American with one a single objective-the best interest of all its citizens. It's the kind of philosophy you'd expect from a President.

Foreign Affairs

No court review of America's role in the world has a firm commitment to "the limits of power as well as its possibilities."

South East Asia

"When the Nixon administration announced its policy of Vietnamization, I warned that it was a bare disguise for continuing a cruel war with other means: Asians would still be dying, crops destroyed, villages decimated, refugees 'generated.' This, of course, has proven to be so. I pointed out that when the level of our troop presence became insufficient to avoid defeat, we would escalate once again and use more bombs to save a bankrupt policy.  And this too, has now happened. We need a President who, we can be certain, will as his first act bring this war to when end. Not at a date certain in the future, but as soon as he is an inaugurated."

Bangladesh

Eugene McCarthy was the first American political figure to call for the United States recognition of Bangladesh. (July 1971). He has been consistently critical of State Department support for Pakistan. “Support for Pakistan against Bengali people and against India both puts us in the wrong and exacerbates an already tragic situation.”

Military Aid

The dominance of the military in our foreign policy has lead America into major misjudgments.  It has furthered neither peace, prosperity, nor freedom.  It has institutionalized our involvement with repressive regimes-and Southeast Asia, Spain, Pakistan, Greece and in South America.

McCarthy favors a total restructuring of policy, concentrating on more productive forms of foreign aid.  He would make exceptions only in exceptional circumstances-such as Israel.

The Economic Challenge

A Social Liberal and a Fiscal Conservative

Eugene McCarthy is the only economist running for President.  His view of America's complex economic problems considers both human values and economic realities. The result is a simple consistent policy aimed at making the American economic system profitable for all its participants. 

"We must redirect the resources of our economy to meet the needs of this country.  And this means some rather obvious things."

McCarthy sees multi-billion dollar opportunities to save money in non-productive expenditures.  He sees the savings as crucial if we are to have the resources to solve our social problems.  In addition, he would overhaul an incredibly expensive and inefficient bureaucratic structure. For example, we have spent over one billion on a housing program for the poor that has left us with less housing than when it began!

Full Employment

"A profitable economic system must be obliged to provide jobs for people who can work." McCarthy states we should enlarge our view of corporations, and their responsibilities. We can no longer accept that the basic institutions of our economic system can operate only for the purpose of profit, and for the particular interest of those involved, leaving the rest to be taken care of on welfare."

"We should expect by law that corporations profitable in the long run be responsible for certain level of employment. McCarthy would generate additional jobs by investment into: housing, mass transit, educational facilities (emphasizing urban areas and useful vocational training), medical facilities, environmental reclamation, and recycling. The economy is not a value-free instrument of production.  It must be organized for social ends and public goods."

A Minimum Standard of Living

For years, McCarthy has favored a guaranteed annual income as part of a minimum standard of living. It was a part of his platform in 1968 when he recommended a base of $5500 for a family of four. McCarthy views most current proposals as clearly inadequate. In addition, this policy should be combined with a health and medical program that recognizes the nature of most minimum income recipients-the young, the elderly, and the disabled.

Agriculture

Gene McCarthy may be the only candidate who really knows how to milk a cow.

His father was a farmer, and he represented a large farm state in Congress for 20 years.

He advocates continued use of price supports and other programs which help family farms stay in business.

But with virtual elimination of massive payments to large "agribusiness" corporations, and "hobby" farms that are used primarily for tax advantages.

He has supported and spoken on behalf of decent wages and working conditions for migrant workers since 1952.

Freedom and Justice

The Right to Know

"In releasing the pentagon papers, Daniel Ellsberg was asserting not so much his right to speak but the right of the people to know.  This is a right which the executive branch has tended to ignore or to disdain in recent years.  But it is essential to a democratic government."

Amnesty

McCarthy has favored amnesty for war exiles since 1967.

The Rights of the Poor

"When you hear these people talk of the indignities they suffer, and the hopes they dare not have, you know that we must move decisively to a guaranteed adequate income for all our citizens. Without that, we will continue to have a colonial people exploited and abandoned within our midsts."

McCarthy notes further that our whole system of justice operates unjustly upon the poor while providing immunity to those in power. It's the same kind of justice an enlisted man receives from the military. He advocates major reforms in these areas. 

Democratic Party Reform

Understanding McCarthy's position on Democratic Party reform is one of the keys to understanding McCarthy as a candidate. His commitment to principle takes precedence over his own candidacy-something we're not much used to in our politicians…or Presidents. This was true well before 1968. It is keep to understanding his actions since then.

"We look principally now in 1972 to the party, the political processes, and the consideration of Presidential candidates. And the order of the important is that very order: first, that the party stands for something; secondly that we respect in protect the political process; third is selection of the candidates…

"I think 1968 should have been the year of the people, but I hope we can make 1972 that you're the people."

While many of our American institutions can be improved with new levels of efficiency, judgment, and restrains. McCarthy notes that new values must total a reorganize some of the ways we view our society … and ourselves.

The Quality of Life

A New Civil Right

Concern for "the pursuit of happiness" is nothing new in America, yet the degree to which this is Eugene McCarthy's concern is unique. McCarthy views happiness and individual fulfillment as a major priority of public policy.

Here are some examples:

On maintaining full employment. .."This could be done by a shorter work day, a shorter work week, or a shorter work year-this is, longer vacations. I am inclined to think the last of these is the better answer, both increasing the need for a longer work force and enriching the quality of life for working people."

On poverty…"It is time that the Democratic Party recognize that one essential cure for poverty is money.

"To do this would be to recognize that the right not to be poor, not to go hungry, not to be diseased, not to be without hope for oneself and one's children is now really a natural right, denied only by the barbarous."

Women's Rights

McCarthy takes women seriously.

He has always employed women in top executive capacities. And paid them accordingly-about half the staff, about half the payroll.  He would actively involve women throughout his Administration, using quotas as a temporary measure. He would seek out qualified women for Administrative positions up to and including the Cabinet level.

Medical and Health Reform

McCarthy's view is clear and simple. The maintenance of health is not free enterprise. The health and welfare of citizens is the business and responsibility of government. "Sickness was not invented for the doctors. The entire medical profession must be made to confront the reality of inadequate health care.  We need a federally subsidized program of insurance that guarantees every citizen both preventative and a curator of health care. But such a program is not realistic unless it moves on to deal with the structure and demography of the medical profession. And it is equally unrealistic unless insurance and extends to care for the mentally ill."

Ecology and the Automobile Culture

"The automobile feeds one of the most wasteful expenditures of society-the highway building program.

We have super highways going from one congested city to another, from one polluted stream to another, from one ill-equipped hospital to another, from one inadequate school to another.

We can develop public transportation that does not disrupt established neighborhoods, and meets the needs of people much more efficiently. In a positive way, we can regulate the production of automobiles, which are larger than they need to be, use more fuel than they have to, and are not as safe as they can be.

Certainly it is not sensible to stimulate the economy by inducing automobile consumption which adds to our problems."

And that is how "the most complex and talented man in American politics" looks at America.

We've tried to show you why we think McCarthy makes sense. We hope it's made you think so too. And we hope we can share together a hopeful thought.

This man could be our President.