South Bend, April 3, 1976
Only No.2
In a campaign speech, Ronald Reagan blamed the Ford Administration, as it follows the détente policy of Henry Kissinger, for having allowed the United States to fall back militarily to second place compared with the Soviet Union. The USSR has gained an advantage in almost all weapons categories - strength of troops, tanks, naval build-up, and even in certain areas of the nuclear arsenal. Criticizing détente introduces a volatile foreign policy topic into the campaign. Reagan wants to revise the Helsinki agreements, however, without saying how to do it.
South Bend, April 4, 1976
Fallout Shelter
Nearly at every street corner, in every school, post office or any other public building in America, one can see the yellow, somewhat faded triangle on a black background with the sign “Fallout Shelter.” These are radiation safe rooms, which, in case of a nuclear attack, provide protection for the civilian population. They were built in the ‘50s and early ‘60s when the danger of a nuclear war was taken seriously. Tons of crackers were stored in these shelters to secure the food supply in case of an emergency. Although these fallout shelters are continuously checked on their suitability, they have, as a result of détente, lost their urgency. Nobody is seriously thinking of a nuclear attack anymore. These signs on fallout shelters look like relics from an era long past. This may well be the case. But how innocent were those countries that had made no contingency plans at all to protect their civilian populations from radiation in the event of a nuclear war.
South Bend, April 6, 1976
Primaries in Wisconsin and New York
Although Morris Udall was at first declared the winner at yesterday’s Wisconsin primary, it turned out only in today’s morning hours that Carter had again won a close victory. The New York primary held at the same time was won by Henry Jackson before Udall, while Carter landed on fourth place. Still, it is becoming increasingly clearer that the Democratic nomination cannot be taken away from Carter.
The Candidate
The surprise in this election year in the United States is the former Governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter. He has gained the image of the candidate per se. Immediately after the primary in Wisconsin, Jimmy Carter came down to South Bend for a few hours this morning to start his campaign for the Indiana primary. His motorcade drove under heavy security through the Notre Dame Campus where he gave a campaign speech in the Stepan Center. As he drove by, his broad smile flashed up for a moment. The applause at the Stepan Center was good but far from being as enthusiastic as it had been for Robert Kennedy. The surprising thing about Carter is that, although he has not committed himself to a specific program, he nonetheless gets the votes. First and foremost, he stands for honesty in government, which has the strongest appeal after the Watergate scandal. It has also become clear that neither the extreme left nor the extreme right have a chance in this campaign.
[The press reports on Jimmy Carter’s visit to the Notre Dame Campus on April 6, 1976, mentioned that his strongest persuasive power lay in “telling the truth.” They also pointed out that the popularity of George Wallace was dwindling. Carter told the press that he considered the Pennsylvania primary on April 27 as the decisive test in the confrontation with Henry Jackson. Cf. University of Notre Dame Archives, Jimmy Carter Visits, UDIS, Box 81/13 and 14.]