“Let’s knock off the slogans and concentrate on the work”

Abstract

In preparing for this address, I went back and read the Presidential Addresses given by the last six presidents. For a while, I toyed with the idea of cutting and pasting bits and pieces out of each, adding a few appendices, having it published in the Journal with ninety days for comment, and calling it an “implementation speech.” But I passed up that opportunity. I did note that Presidential Addresses come in a limited variety of styles. There is the one whose theme is “serving you as President has been a period of great personal satisfaction and pride.” There is the one that refers to all the things that happened in APCA during the year of the term with suggestions for what should happen in the next few years, or the State of the Association speech. There is the speech that deplores and decries something about the Clean Air Act or the way air pollution control is going in the country, or the way it should go. And of course, there is the simple exhortation for us all to pull together and clean up the atmosphere for future generations, the APCA Statesman speech. None of those fit my mood.