Milton Shapp for President 1976 Campaign Brochure

‘Meet Governor Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania

Candidate for the Democratic Presidential Nomination’

Milton Shapp

Two-term Governor of the nations’ 4th largest state

Businessman

Engineer

Problem Solver

Vote Getter

Lifelong Democrat

“...one of the most candid of politicians.” -R.W. Apple The New York Times June 12, 1975

"It was Governor Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania who stepped in where federal bureaucrats feared to tread in the truck strike negotiations." -David Broder The Washington Post February 22, 1974

Of all the candidates for the Presidency, Milton Shapp probably has the most executive experience and demonstrated capacity for national leadership:

In 1960, Shapp began his public career by personally taking a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal urging businessmen to support John F. Kennedy.

During the Kennedy Administration, he served as a consultant on economic development to the Secretary of Commerce and as an advisor to the Peace Corps.

He alone foresaw the disastrous economic consequences of the merger of the Penn Central Railroad and fought it all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court. A short time later, the merger went bankrupt.

As Governor, Shapp led Pennsylvania to recovery from Hurricane Agnes, the greatest natural disaster in the nation’s history.

He averted a national calamity in mediating the truckers’ strike in 1974.

He then played the key role in preventing a threatened national strike of service station dealers at the height of the energy crisis.

As the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorialized: “Shapp has earned the gratitude of the nation and established himself as an exceedingly tall man politically by his performance in the independent truckers’ strike.”

A professional engineer, Shapp founded Jerrold Electronics with a $500 initial investment and turned it into a multimillion dollar corporation which pioneered the cable television industry in the United States.

“It will never be known whether Mr. Nixon would ever have put government officials into contact with truckers had not Governor Milton Shapp barged into Washington...there is no doubt the Governor wisely forced the White House to talk to the truckers.” -Evans & Novak February 15, 1974

Shapp brought business efficiency and new programs to the people of Pennsylvania:

A nationally recognized bank delivery system of welfare checks has virtually eliminated fraud and duplication in the welfare system.

He introduced the only statewide program of free public transit for senior citizens.

Businesslike economies were put into effect which saved Pennsylvania taxpayers $165 million annually and helped lead to tax cuts of $360 million a year.

$50 million each year in property tax relief is being given half a million senior citizens.

New, innovative programs of drug and alcohol treatment and control were adopted.

Accelerated industrial development programs have created thousands of new jobs in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania now has streamlined programs for working people, including the most progressive workmen’s and unemployment compensation systems in the country.

New opportunities for women, minorities and young people have been created. Students are now members of state college boards of trustees.

Landmark efforts in environmental control (Shapp got national acclaim for his fight against the tourist tower at Gettysburg National Shrine), health delivery, consumer protection and veterans’ programs have characterized the Shapp Administration.

I consider Milton Shapp, as one of the most qualified men to be President of the United States...the nation needs a man who will act, who can respond to the challenge of economic adversity. Milton Shapp is willing to do something.”

-U. S. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.) First U. S. Senator to announce support for a Democratic Presidential hopeful.

Shapp brings practical solutions to national problems:

In June of 1975, the National Governors’ Conference endorsed Shapp’s proposal for a

National Rail Trust Fund to save the nation’s railroads and provide thousands of new jobs.

Shapp’s proposal for an Education Trust Fund, to take the financing of education off the backs of property owners and improve its quality, was called the most dramatic new proposal presented to the Education Association of the States in 1972.

As a businessman, Shapp will bring the kind of cost-cutting economies to Washington that he introduced in Pennsylvania.

But, also as a businessman, he believes in the power of public investment -- in people, natural resources, energy sources, transportation systems, housing and health.

Shapp has a detailed national investments program which will help bring full employment without increasing inflation.

Shapp’s a vote getter

In the nation’s fourth largest state, Milton Shapp has twice won the Governorship, both times by the largest margins ever accorded a Democratic candidate for that office.

Democrats must carry the nation’s cities big

In 1974, Shapp carried Philadelphia by 225,000 votes, the largest margin ever for a candidate for Governor, sweeping 65 of the city’s 66 wards, its blue collar, working class, black, liberal and independent sections.

Democrats must win the suburbs

The four Philadelphia suburban counties have a whopping Republican registration margin of 325,000. In 1974, Shapp carried this region despite overwhelming Republican strength.

Democrats must have a united campaign effort

In 1974, Milton Shapp had the virtually unanimous support of labor. He had the backing of the regular Democratic organization and the full support of liberal, independent groups within the party constituency. He had broad backing in the black community, among young people, women and the elderly.

Shapp can build the kind of coalition which spells national victory for the Democratic Party:

Pennsylvania, with its blend of urban, suburban and rural areas, and with its balance of ethnic and religious heritage, is a microcosm of the nation. Shapp has a proven, vote-getting record applicable to the nation at large.

A personal note:

openness...simplicity...integrity

In 1971, long before simplicity in government became fashionable, Milton Shapp opened the Governor’s Mansion in Harrisburg as a center for senior citizens and as a school for brain-damaged children.

A World War II veteran of the Army Signal Corps In Europe, Shapp and his wife, Muriel, still live in the home near Philadelphia they bought on the GI Bill. In the state’s capital, they personally pay the rent on their modest residence.

The Governor’s wife is deeply involved in human service programs. The Shapps have one son, Richard, two daughters, Mrs. Peter Brill (Joanne) and Mrs. Dolores Graham and one grandson, Alec.

Long before Watergate, Governor Shapp pioneered such government reform measures as full financial disclosure and a strict code of government ethic,

Shapp adhered voluntarily to rigid fund-raising reforms in his campaign for re-election.

He became the first Governor in history to appear, at his own insistence, before investigating committees of the General Assembly.

He and his wife have travelled widely throughout the world. They were accorded more time to travel in the People’s Republic of China than any other private American citizen as of December, 1974.