|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
1974 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
| |
1974 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients
Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Melvin R. Laird
March 26, 1974
IF THE honoree will please step forward, we will baptize him. [Laughter]
I suppose, incidentally, that the midshipmen here, this is the first time you have seen the Medal of Freedom awarded. It is not an award that is given lightly; it is one that is given to distinguished former members of the Cabinet, to leaders of the Nation in many fields. It is the highest civilian award that this Government can provide.
[At this point, the President read the following citation:
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AWARDS THIS
PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM
TO
MELVIN R. LAIRD
Few men have served America better than Melvin R. Laird. As a promising young State Senator, as an outstanding member of the United States Congress for sixteen years, as Secretary of Defense and as Presidential Counsellor for Domestic Affairs, he has superbly demonstrated a love of country, a strong capability for leadership and a brilliant understanding of people and ideas. Lawmaker, administrator, theorist and master of the American political process, Melvin Laird has helped to preserve a strong, free United States and has left an indelible mark on the history of our times.]
NOTE: The President spoke at 10:30 p.m. in the East Room at the White House. Prior to the President's remarks, members of the United States Naval Academy Glee Club had entertained guests at a dinner honoring Mr. Laird.
On the same day, the White House released a fact sheet on the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Mr. Laird responded to the President's remarks as follows:
Mr. President, Mrs. Nixon, Vice President Ford, Mrs. Ford, friends:
I am very proud, Mr. President, of this presentation which you have made to me tonight, but I would like to make several acknowledgments.
First, I would like to acknowledge the strong support and help that you gave to me as Secretary of Defense for those 4 years. No President or Commander in Chief of our military forces could have given stronger, more understanding support than I received as Secretary of Defense.
Secondly, I would like to acknowledge the support and help of the Congress of the United States. For those 4 years, as we went to the House and to the Senate, on not a single occasion did the House and the Senate vote against us on a request, and we had many roll calls in the House and in the Senate. Several were close, but we always had a majority vote, and this majority was made up of Republicans and Democrats alike that understood what we were doing in the Administration and in the Department of Defense in our efforts to restore peace and to be able to maintain peace in the future.
And third, I would like to acknowledge the civilian-military team that made up the Department of Defense. In December of 1968, Dave Packard and I went down to the Carlton Hotel, and we locked ourselves up for almost 2 weeks to look at the problems not only that confronted our Department but the men and women that made up that Department, to go over the personnel and to try to put together a program and a team that would be able to carry forward on the pledges that the President of the United States made in the 1968 campaign to the people of America.
Dave and I spent a great deal of time interviewing people and going over the various programs that we would be presenting to the Congress for the new Administration.
We like to think we had a Nixon-Laird-Packard team that understood what participatory management was all about between civilians and the military. And we like to think that we were a Department, 5 million strong, that was implementing the Nixon Doctrine of strength, partnership, and a willingness to negotiate. And we felt that the people of that Department, working together, understanding one another, gave the kind of leadership and the kind of understanding to the problems that faced us as we tried to Vietnamize a war that had been Americanized for some 4 years.
We changed policy there, and we carried out the pledge that was the pledge of the President of the United States to do away with the draft and move towards volunteerism in the military service, do away with conscript labor and start paying the young men and women who served in our service an adequate wage. And we were, I believe, successful in instilling that philosophy of the Nixon Doctrine throughout that Department.
And so, to these men and women, civilian and military alike, in all four of the services, this award means a great deal to all of them.
And the fourth credit is the credit that I would like to pay to my family: to Barbara; to John, who cannot be with us tonight, who is teaching school out in Los Angeles; to my daughter Alison; to our son David.
Barbara and I have been here in Washington for a good many years, but we will look back with a great deal of pleasure and a great deal of happiness to the years that we have served the Nixon Administration.
And I believe that in acknowledging the fine support that I have had from my family, I am joined by all of us in the Department of Defense tonight, Mr. President, in thanking you for recognizing what I think was a Department effort from 1969 through 1973, in changing some directions as far as America was concerned, in making it possible for us to look forward to a period in which the Nixon Doctrine will be truly a great reality of the 1970'S and the 1980's.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charles LeRoy Lowman
July 27, 1974
Ladies and gentlemen:
We are gathered here today for the purpose of presenting the Medal of Freedom to Dr. Charles Lowman. I shall read a citation in just a moment, but it is very difficult on such an occasion like this not to mention the distinguished career of this very distinguished Californian and distinguished American without going into a little more length than the citation itself.
First, he is 94 years of age and in magnificent health, as you can see. Second, in his 94 years, he has been eminently successful as a doctor, but he has devoted most of his time in that 94 years helping other people, free of charge. He is particularly known for his work in orthopedics and, in that field, especially known for his work with young people.
There are thousands and thousands of children, for example, today in California and in other parts of this Nation who are walking who otherwise would be crippled except for Dr. Lowman. There are thousands and thousands of adults who are standing straighter, feeling better, who do not suffer from the various ailments involved in this kind of medicine because of Dr. Lowman's hard work and also his real genius.
He is, as we know, a distinguished man in his field. He will be remembered by his colleagues for what he has written, for what he has said, for what he has done, for his great technical skill. But he will be remembered by those he has helped and, I think, by his fellow Americans by the millions, because he has a great heart. He is a very fine human being, generous with his time, concerned about those less fortunate than he is, and it is this kind of man who deserves the Medal of Freedom, the highest recognition that our Government can give to an individual who is not in the Armed Forces of the United States.
I will now read the citation, and we will present the Medal of Freedom:
[At this point, the President read the citation, the text of which follows:
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AWARDS THIS PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM
TO
CHARLES LEROY LOWMAN, M.D.
A pioneer in medicine, a physician of surpassing skill, and a great humanitarian, Dr. Charles LeRoy Lowman has devoted his life to the service of his fellow man. His good works have enriched the lives of thousands of patients, but none more so than the generations of handicapped children who have been treated at the hospital that he founded in Los Angeles early in this century. The world will long be indebted to this distinguished and noble American.]
NOTE: The President spoke at 11:07 a.m. at the Western White House, San Clemente, Calif.
On the same day, the White House released biographical data on Dr. Lowman and a fact sheet on the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Dr. Lowman responded to the President's remarks as follows:
Mr. President:
I can't thank you enough. This is probably the crowning achievement of my life, and we shall always remember it. I can't help but feel that in honoring me, you are realizing the background at the Orthopedic Hospital, and all the hundreds who have been my helpers are the ones who are responsible for much of the results of what we have attained today.
We started in with about $500 and 509 patients, and we moved into an old stable at the Orthopedic Hospital, and we stayed in that stable and held a clinic up until 1929. And we registered, to start with, 509 patients, and I checked the other day and there are pretty close to 207,000 in the Orthopedic Hospital, to say nothing of all the private cases that I have had.
Of course, at my age, I am getting many cases that are 40 and 50 years of follow-ups, which you have to live quite a while to get the types of people I have had.
The most important thing that I call the payoff is the fact that these people--who many of them are adults that I took care of when they were babies and made them walk again, clubfooted children, and then when I realize what they are accomplishing--they are not on the welfare rolls, and they are holding down good jobs and having families and one thing and another, and that is what I call the payoff.
No amount of money can ever give you the satisfaction that that does.
I want to thank you again very much.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Medal History
