Word: laird
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Most of the Platform Committee hoopla came over the appearances of the presidential candidates and their top supporters. But during its preconvention week the committee, chaired by Wisconsin's Representative Melvin Laird, also took testimony from spokesmen for some 170 organizations, ranging from Americans for Democratic Action to the Izaak Walton League and the American Committee for the Independence of Armenia...
...Laird was serving as vice chairman of the G.O.P. Platform Committee when Richard Nixon flew to Manhattan, huddled with Nelson Rockefeller, and arrived at the famed "Treaty of Fifth Avenue," which considerably liberalized a platform already drafted. Incumbent President Eisenhower was irked by its implied criticism of his defense policies. Conservatives on the platform went into open revolt, and the situation got so out of hand that Laird had to step in and take over the chairman's gavel from Illinois' inexperienced Charles Percy. Within 20 hours, acting both as cop and conciliator, Laird worked things out. Again...
Pinpointing the Principles. This year, to avoid a disruptive clash, Laird consulted frequently with Rockefeller and Goldwater, more recently with Scranton, to pinpoint principles upon which all can agree. He has pleaded with state leaders to name reasonable, rather than emotional delegates to the 106-member Platform Committee (each state selects one man and one woman, as does the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands). The committee will include 16 members of Congress-largest number in the party's history-and Laird is high on its overall competence...
...CIVIL RIGHTS. Goldwater's vote against the civil rights bill set this up as the key issue. If there is to be a major platform battle, Laird believes that it will be between Goldwater delegates who insist that the party advocate repeal of parts of the new bill and moderates who may propose much tougher measures than are included in the bill. Already, Pennsylvania's Senator Hugh Scott, the Scranton spokesman on the Platform Committee, has urged a flat statement that the party considers the bill constitutional, which would go directly against Goldwater's declaration...
...SCHOOL PRAYERS. Laird reports that he has had more requests to be heard by witnesses who want to condemn the 1963 Supreme Court decision banning a state-sponsored recitation of prayer in public schools than on any other issue in contention. He considers the issue a real "sleeper." Conservatives may seek blunt criticism of the decision. Laird himself is sympathetic to the complaints, has warned: "In this world, it is becoming more and more unpopular to be a Christian. Soon it may become dangerous...