Helping Speakers find Events – www.SpeakerLeads.com Launches for 2021.

New Service Provides Leads of Events Seeking Speakers.

Members Get Real Time Updates at https://twitter.com/SpeakerLeads

One of the most comprehensive speakers clearing house websites is the International Platform Association (PLATFORM®), which was founded in 1831 by Daniel Webster and is run in partnership with ExpertClick.com. Utilizing information and resources from all the top speaker bureaus, PLATFORM has multi-tiered membership programs, free and paid, and offers a wide variety of benefits. Many free and low-cost memberships are available at www.InternationalPLATFORM.org.  "PLATFORM" is a Registered US Trademark.

One may assume this is an impersonal catch-all information outlet, but that would be a mistake because Mitchell Davis, CEO of Expert Click, personally sends out appropriate events to his Expert Click members on a one-to-one basis when the event is 'just-right' for that expert. For instance, recently, he sent this notice on 2021 PR events seeking speakers to his experts about public relations, https://upraisepr.com/2021-marketing-and-public-relations-conferences/

Seeking to serve both sides of the equation, speaker bureaus are offered free memberships and encouraged to visit ExpertClick.com and scroll through expert listings by topics to find the appropriate person for a particular event.

"This partnership tries to fill the needs of everyone involved in public speaking, and that is why I welcome tips from anyone through our Twitter account at www.SpeakerLeads.com," says Mitchell Davis. "The ExpertClick.com universe contains top-notch speakers/experts for almost every topic you can think of, and so one hand feeds the other throughout this particular food chain. Within this carefully designed ecosystem lies the answers for all concerned." Evant managers can send event notices and speaker needs to: CEO@InternationalPLATFORM.org.

Davis shares a free monthly feed to those who subscribe to his News Release Wire feed—anyone can opt-in free at www.GetNewsReleases.com.

Paid Membership at the International Platform Association breaks down as follow: Professional speakers, TEDx speakers, experts, authorsm, and newsmakers are all welcome.

Standard membership for the Internatiional Plaform Association is $95 a year.

Special rates are offered for:

1) Speakers associated with our facilitator members—$75.

2) IPA Legacy members who joined before 2001—$45.

3) Senior membership for those 70 and over—$35.

4) Master Accounts with 12 seats at—$495.

5) Life membership—$1,000.

Join the www.InternationalPLATFORM.org page, without immediate payment – just click the JOIN tab. They will reach out to verify acceptance of membership and offer payment by credit card or billing by invoice if you prefer.

To interview Mitchell Davis about this, contact him at (202) 333-5000 or CEO@InternationalPLATFORM.org.

# 30 #

See full release here:

https://www.expertclick.com/NRWire/Releasedetails.aspx?id=240065

Thanks for the Twitter follow. 

Do you seek speaking opportunities? 

The International Platform Association is a speakers' association founded in 1831 by Daniel Webster. 

Due to your stature as a leading professional speaker you can join free. 

We promote you with a Platform page on the web that includes your social media and link to your website.

See more at our website: http://www.InternationalPlatform.org   Join free when you click on the "Join" button in the top bar of the site. 

Too busy to fill out forms? …simply reply with "Do it for me," and I'll set it up and send you your user id and password. 

Call me with any questions – (202) 333-5000 rings on my desk.  Mitchell P. Davis, CEO@InternationalPlatform.org

Click here to register: www.187.EventBrite.com

International Platform Association® holds 187th annual meeting on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.

Venue is The Lyceum, Alexandria's history museum.

Agenda:

1) Annual business meeting.

2) Demo of the new IPA website -- this will be the first public presentation of it.

3) Networking & hors d’oeuvres.

4) Speakers Ladder. - presentations by 12 interesting speakers.

5) Platfrom Incubator -- six presentations for venture capital investors. Our version of “Shark Tank.”

It will be at the Lyceum at: 201 S Washington St, Alexandria, VA. 

There will be the annual association business meeting at 5 PM. 

The new IPA website will premiere at 5:15 PM 

Networking and hors d’oeuvres between 5:30 PM to 6:00 PM 

Speakers Ladder from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM 

Platfrom Incubator -- New business seeking seed funding 7:00 PM 

Adjourn 7:30 PM

This time of day is being chosen to: *** Allow members who prefer not to travel at night to drive and get home before sunset. *** Allow professionals to come for either the business meeting at 5 PM or the ladder at 6 PM, and not cut into their day or evening. *** Allow out of town people to make it a day trip. Reagan National Airport is 11 minutes away.

About the Speakers Ladder Contest - where 12 speakers each get five minutes, registration is by invitation of IPA, and several places are already taken by top speakers bureaus for their hot new talent.

About the Platform Incubator where 6 staru-up each get five minutes, registration is by invitation of IPA. Participation is by invitation of IPA.

Speakers and start-ups interested in platform time should apply ASAP. Call Mitchell P. Davis, IPA Director General at (202) 333-5000.

Who will attend? Postal invitations are being be sent to more than 500 CEOs at associations and corporate meeting planners in Alexandria. Plus many IPA members and business associates of Mr. Davis from his www.ExpertClick.com expert referral web site.

Mitchell P. Davis, Platform CEO at the trade show booth.

Who should be a member of Platform?   The International Platform Association welcomes all who can express their agenda as a platform in all formats from Platform Speaking to Online Portals.

 Advisers

Advocates

After-Dinner Speakers

Agents

Allies

Ambassadors

Announcers

Apostle

Arrangers

Artists

Authorities

Authors

Backers

Big-Time Operators

Bloggers

Board Members

Boosters

Bosses

Campaigner

Celebrities

Characters

Coaches

Comedians

Connoisseurs

Consiglieres

Consultants

Counsels

Curmudgeons

Defenders

Delegates

Developers

Docents

Educators

Elocutionists

Emcees

Endorsers

Entertainers

Experts

Exponent

Expounder

Facilitators

Gamesman

Guides

Gurus

Horse Traders

Hosts

Hot Shots

Humanists

Humorists

Influencers

Infomarketers

Infopreneurs

Instructors

Journalists

Keynoters

Leaders

Lecturers

Legislators

Lobbyists

Mavens

Mentors

Monitors

Motivators

Mouthpieces

Old Hands

Operators

Orators

Organizers

Peacemakers

Philanthropists

Planner

Pleader

Politicians

Powers-That-Be

Presidents

Problem-Solvers

Professionals

Professors

Promoters

Prophet

Proponent

Proposer

Protagonist

Publicists

Representative

Rhetoricians

Salespeople

Schemer

Scriveners

Speakers

Specialists

Speech-makers

Spokespersons

Sponsors

Stars

Storytellers

Strategists

Supporters

Talking Heads

Teachers

Thought-leaders

Trainers

Tweeters

Veterans

Virtuosos

Wheeler-Dealers

Whizzes

Wizards

In this modern world where middle men get cut our due to technology -- disinter-mediation is the term, one can often find direct contact information to reach speakers.   But should you?   Or can you be better served using an agency?

The first speaker to receive a fee is thought to be Daniel Webster, and the first bureau is thought to be the Redpath bureau so this industry is not quite the oldest profession -- This I learned from listening to a cassette deck by Dottie Walters and Sommers White titled: How to Start and Build a Successful Speakers Bureau. [ I have a original copy of the deck, and frankly it is the most frequently loaned out item the IPA offers as a member benefit. -- Dottie founded the IGAB -- The International Group of Agents and Bureaus.  Dottie has past away, Sommers White is still going strong, having keynoted the Institute of Management Consultant's 2013 convention. 

But speaking and the business of speaking has been compared the oldest profession.   At a recent meeting of IASB, the International Association of Speakers Bureaus, the successor group to Dottie's IGAB, there was a presentation of interest that piqued the imagination to suggest the comparison.   The authors of the book Freakanomics spoke of a chapter in their book about the decision of a prostitute to book direct via the internet or to engage the services of a pimp.  In speaking with the authors after the presentation, they grinned when it was suggested they were saying all the agents and bureau executive in the room were pimps for speakers

There are several types of Agents and Bureaus, what we here at IPA call Catalysts, that includes those who assist with speaker bookings.

1. Agents that directly and exclusively represent a speaker --- Think of the Harry Walker Agency representing President Bill Clinton.  http://www.harrywalker.com/
2. Speaker Bureaus  who doe not have a large number of exclusive speakers, like EaglesTalent Speakers Bureau.   http://www.eaglestalent.com/
3. Speaker Offices, who represent and partner with a limited number of speakers who are sponsors of the 'office." like the one aptly named Speakers' Office.  http://www.speakersoffice.com/
4. Then there are the websites and associations that offer direct access to find speakers -- where you can directly contact speakers for booking.  SpeakerMatch.com is good example.
5. Groups that cater to finding spokespersons, and can be engaged for a fee to find a famous person to do more than speak, but be a partner is your mission.  Rita Tateel from Celebrity Source is a good example --  CelebritySource.com
6. Direct only speakers like Rudy Giuliani whose office only books direct, and does not share commission, so his bureaus is his office.

But the better model to understand the economics of speaker bureaus are sort of like Realtors, in that some are listing agents who have exclusive contracts with speakers, while most are buyers' agents who represent buyers.

Agents and bureaus often share commission when they jointly make a deal to book a speaker from the Agent, to a client represented by the Speakers Bureau.  There are not set commissions, so part or any arrangement is the negotiation between the agent and bureau. Typically in standard practice the speaker offers a discount that is paid to the agents and bureaus that bring them the business.  

There are lots of speakers, and most of the best have exclusive arrangements , so the real action are the Speaker Bureaus who work tirelessly to find meeting planners who will hire them.  The are several ugly things that have come from this arrangement of middle men.

Bureaus will advertise and promote with the names of speakers they do not have under contract as a way to attract meeting planners then offer other speakers that they may make more commission on.  This seem innocuous but as the real money is made by bureaus when they get both sides of the deal it is a common occurrence. .  Think of it this way, if you ask a bureau for the cost of Hillary Clinton, only Harry Walker knows they get both sides of the deal,  But a crafty speaker bureau knows they will only get a smaller shared commission from Harry Walker.  So right off the bat hundreds of speaker bureaus are motivated to not book an exclusive, and will suggest to the client other speakers where they can earn both sides of the deal.

So the question is -- should you hire an agent or bureau -- our answer is an unequivocal -- YES  

But we really suggest meeting planners hire from two places.

1)   If the speaker you want is exclusive, by all means contact that agent, for they will give you the best access.  Or use your regular bureau if the speaker you want is not exclusive.

Then 2)  Hire a local bureau near where your convention will be for they give you two great things: 1)  Boots on ground at your event from the bureau so you are assured that all goes as planned.  2)  Local contacts and local speakers who can quickly and affordable ensure your event stays on track and on budget.

Should you hire speakers directly -- Yes, if you have the relationship, you should, but for speakers you don't know having the help of professionals can be instrumental to a great events.  .... and the services of the agents and bureaus are most often, free as paid for from the fees collected from the gross booking fee.   Some agent and bureaus are now upfront about showing their costs as part of the transaction, and this can be of great value for your are being shown what you, the meeting planner is a paying for.  

It just pays to ask, who is being paid from the fees you pay.  Otherwise they may be players at the table you don't know.

As the International Platform Association is not a bureau, but we are often asked to suggest speakers or asked advice on how to reach a speaker, we always try to suggest the best way to reach a speaker is use a bureau.

---Mitchell P. Davis, September 27, 2014

We are working on a list of infamous speakers

1)   Actual living speakers.

2)   Deceased speakers

3)   Homage performance speaker

https://www.google.com/search?num=100&newwindow=1&es_sm=122&q=top+ten+infamous+people&oq=top+ten+infamous+people&gs_l=serp.3...22891.26942.0.27396.16.12.4.0.0.1.144.693.11j1.12.0....0...1c.1.53.serp..5.11.499.8gkV0UbjjOg

Tammy Fay Baker

Valerie Plame

Gary Hart

G.Gordon Liddy

John Edwards

Oliver North

Eliot Spitzer

John Hinkley

Have you heard people complain about a lack of courage and character in politics and government? I’m sure you have! You need to meet President John Tyler, the first President to be kicked out of his own party for standing up for his principles.

President Tyler was "first" in many things; the first Vice President to ascend to the Presidency through the death of a President, the first to lose his wife, the First Lady, while in office and then to remarry in the White House. He was certainly one of the first to travel employing the very newest technology...railroads. He was definitely the last of the “Jeffersonians” having known and been given the honor of delivering the official eulogy to the “great man” following his death on the 4th of July in 1826.

Seen live across the country and featured in “Meetings & Conventions” and “Successful Meetings” magazines, Dick Cheatham’s memorable presentations for meetings, corporate and special events around the country and internationally have thrilled all types of audiences.
“proved to be the highlight of the evening. It was just the right balance of entertainment and information for the event.”

Mark R. Warner, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia - Host of the 2004 State Dinner for the Southern Governors’ Association
"Dick Cheatham is a MASTER STORY TELLER, a SUPERB TEACHER, and a MOST GIFTED DRAMATIST all rolled up into one magnificent package!”

Bob Pettit – President, KRHP TV 14
“I again want to thank you for your performance at the White House Reunion this past November. Staff are still talking about the Saturday evening performance.”

Joni Stevens - Chief Concierge, Colonial Williamsburg Company & Executive Assistant to the Military Assistant to the President of the USA
“History comes alive” Meetings and Conventions Magazine

Living History Associates, Ltd.
P.O. Box 27272
Richmond, Virginia 23261
(804) 262-4542
www.LHALtd.com

For more information on how to book Mr. Cheatham for your next event please call or email us at… Info@LHALtd.com

President John Tyler to Address IPA by Mitchell Davis

How to Break into the Big $$$ Speaking Market ….. A special two hour exclusive program on the 7^th of August is being sponsored by the International Platform Association and is FREE to friends and members of the Association.

Bill Clinton makes up to $750,000 a speech, Hillary gets $300,000, George Bush gets $200,000.

You may not be an Ex-President or a known celebrity, however even if  you get a fraction of these fees, you are still doing pretty well!

Plus, you get visibility, excitement, recognition, influence and you can make a difference.

Arnold Sanow has delivered over 2,500 paid presentations around the world, authored 6 books, and has been a professional speaking business coach to everyone from beginning speakers to those making a million dollars a year. Arnold who charges thousands of dollars to help people like yourself to grow their speaking and training businesses and will share with you real life, “how-to” tips, tools and solutions to propel you to the lucrative speaking circuit.

You will walk away with:

• 4 key competencies you must follow to get on the fast track to making money in speaking
• How to partner and form alliances with companies and associations to sell your programs
• Where to find independent agents to sell your services
• 2 ways to get speakers bureaus to take you seriously
• How to use article marketing to boost your visibility
• Why ezines still work
• Sure fire tips on what to do before, during and after a presentation to generate more business
• One sure way to get responses from linkedin
• Sample forms and marketing materials that work!

Plus … Everyone who attends will get a FREE copy of Arnold’s extensive checklist of what to do before, during and after your presentation to generate more speaking engagements. This alone is worth the price of admission!

Arnold is known for providing high value with relevant “how-to” content that is easy to understand and implement.  Don’t miss this opportunity to get real life tips, tools and solutions that work.

Here’s a couple of comments from those he has coached:  

 My income has increased 3 times in the short time that I have been working with you”Ron Culberson, LCSW, CSP, 2012 – 2013 President of the National Speakers Association

Thanks for all your help. It has made a HUGE difference and will affect what I do for the rest of my career". Steven Gaffney CSP, NSA Million Dollar Speakers Group

Still not convinced to attend?  Feel free to contact Arnold at 703-255-3133 orspeaker@arnoldsanow.com – He’d love to talk with you!

Arnold Sanow, MBA, CSP works with companies and organizations to build stronger customer and workplace relationships by improving communication and interpersonal relationships. He is a professional speaker/trainer with over 2,500 paid presentations. He is the author of 6 books to include, “Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” and “Present with Power, Punch and Pizzazz.” He is a frequent guest and commentator in the media (CBS evening news, ABC world morning news, Wall Street Journal). He was recently named by Successful Meetings Magazine as one of the top 5 “best bang for the buck” speakers in the USA”  www.arnoldsanow.com –speaker@arnoldsanow.com – 703-255-3133

Sign up for Arnold’s 2 minute tips newsletter at speaker@arnoldsanow.com

Want to start your own speaking and training business?  Contact Arnold at 703-255-3133

Your trademark application (Serial No.86083796) is scheduled to publish in the Official Gazette on Jul 29, 2014. To preview the Notice of Publication, go to http://tdr.uspto.gov/search.action?sn=86083796. If you have difficulty accessing the Notice of Publication, contact TDR@uspto.gov.

 PLEASE NOTE:

  1.  The Notice of Publication may not be immediately available but will be viewable within 24 hours of this e-mail notification.

   2.  You will receive a second e-mail on the actual "Publication Date," which will include a link to the issue of the Official Gazette in which the mark has published.


 Do NOT hit "Reply" to this e-mail notification. If you have any questions about the content of the Notice of Publication, contact TMPostPubQuery@uspto.gov.

Please opt-in to our e-mail list at the right for the full advance program.

--Mitchell Davis

184th Annual Meeting & Chautauqua -- August 7, 2014 http://t.co/P4wxol5zFG

— Int'l Platform (@IntlPlatform) June 6, 2014

184th Annual Meeting & Chautauqua

Thursday, August 7, 2014, 3:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036

The 184th Theme:  IPA – Past, Present and Future

Distinguished Guests: Ambassadors, Current and Former IPA Members, Board of Governors, Silver Bowl Award Recipients, Meeting Planners, Speaker Bureau Executives and Professional Speakers.  Gratis for IPA Invited Meeting Planners & Silver Bowl Winners as guest speakers.

3:00-6:00 p.m.:  The IPA Chautauqua Sessions with Arnold Sanow, Cynthia Lett, and Jim Feldman
6:30 p.m.:  Introduction and welcome to Washington, DC, by Jan Du Plain, IPA Embassy Liaison
6:40 p.m.:  Salute to Luvie Owens, IPA Executive Director Emeritus
6:45 p.m.:  IPA Annual Report, Alan Schlaifer, Executive Director, & Mitchell P. Davis, Director General
7:00 p.m.:  Gala Dinner with Social
7:30 p.m.:  Speaker Showcase, with Invited Silver Bowl Award winners 
8:45 p.m.:  Silver Bowl Award Ceremony
9:00 p.m.:  The legacy and history of IPA, introduced by Delmas Wood, Director Emeritus, with member presentations

IPA 2014 Final Program Front by Mitchell Davis

IPA 2014 Final Program Back by Mitchell Davis

Meeting and Convention Industry Associations to Be Sent 2014 Speaker Yearbook by Mitchell Davis

IPA Web Site now shows Speaker Profiles

To register or see full event offer online, please click on image above for the EventBrite attend link.

Attend the event free when you join IPA.

IPA Second Friday Lunch: Collaboration and Business Etiquette Friday, January 10, 2014 from 12:00 PM to 1:3... by Mitchell Davis

SUCCESSFUL COLLEGE ADMISSIONS: STUDENTS & FAMILIES WORKING TOGETHER

	Steve Goodman, Top Educational Consultant

IPA LBJ Gets Award by Mitchell Davis

Mr. Pearson, delegates, and friends:

I am delighted that we could meet here together in the first house of our land this morning.

I am very indebted to you for this attractive silver bowl and I shall remember this occasion with a great deal of pleasure. I am sure through the years the folks that come to my little library will be reminded of your generosity and of the recognition of the International Platform Association Award.

I did have to travel until about 2:30 this morning to get back for this engagement, but I thought that the honor you would do me was great enough and the debt I felt to you was strong enough that I should be here.

Perhaps I should have come to listen instead of talk and, really, I haven't come to talk much. I did not anticipate that this would be an address. I came because Mr. Pearson, in passing the other day, asked me to his farm. And I just spent about all my life on a farm and I don't want to go back there until I have to, and I thought you would probably enjoy coming to the White House equally as much.

Your organization was founded by William Jennings Bryan, Bob LaFollette, William Howard Taft, and Paul Pearson, and I think it has a very special meaning for a former debate coach, like the one speaking to you this morning.

I only wish that my college teacher could be here to see what is happening now. Because in my first term in college, when I made the debating team as a freshman-which was slightly unusual--when I got my grade cards my teacher gave me the lowest grade I ever received in college--and in just the course that you would expect him to give it to me in. He gave me a "D" in argumentation!

We appreciate very much your coming here. Except for one of your members, as I stated, I might have come out to enjoy your air-conditioned hotel room with you today. But your former president, Drew Pearson, said that he believed in government being transacted out in the open, and if he does, why, you qualify out there in the sun this morning.

Drew, if you will pardon the expression, I predict--now I don't have an 83 percent prediction record--but I predict that some of your colleagues are going to get hot under the collar this morning out there in the sun. But I am proud to be associated with all of you on this occasion because you are the real champions of free speech. You believe in free and full discussion. You believe in the right to be heard.

President Eisenhower told me an interesting story after he returned from World War II. He said before he went out there, before he went to Europe to take command, they met at his mother's home out in Kansas. And some of his brothers were there, and his mother told him goodby, and his brothers told him goodby as he went away to war.

And he said, one day one of the Russian generals came in and complained to him about a story that an American newspaperman had written about him which he felt was not fully in keeping with the facts, and that he demanded that this newspaperman be punished, and that he be refused the privileges of a press correspondent.

President Eisenhower said he thought it over and told him to come back the next day. The next day he came back and he showed the Russian general a big scrapbook of unfair things and unkind things that had been said about him, because his plans went astray on occasion, too, and a lot of American soldiers had died.

And he said to the general, "Now let me tell you this story." He said, "lust before I came over here f met at my mother's home in Kansas with four of my brothers, and they were there to tell me goodby." And he said, "My father was a railroad man and he had married my mother as a young girl and out of this union had come these boys." And he said one of them was there and said he was a constitutional lawyer and a very conservative fellow, and nearly everything that came up he would quote the Constitution. Another one of them was a college professor--college president Milton Eisenhower of Johns Hopkins now--and, he said, he was very liberal. And he said, "Another one of my brothers is a conservative banker, and another is an engineer that is more liberal." And he said, "The fifth boy is General of the Armies."

And he said, "The real reason I'm over here, General, fighting this war is so that a railroad man can marry a little American girl and out of that union come five boys, two that are conservatives, two that are liberals, and one that is General of the Army ."

That is what America stands for, and we want to keep it that way.

So, I think, that story rather well emphasizes that these are rights that we ought to keep sacred. These rights were not come by easily. They were hammered into our Bill of Rights, and they were put there by men who knew what it was to be jailed and to be beaten, and to be banished and to be ostracized for what they said or what they thought, or what they preached or what they published.

Our forefathers knew what these rights meant, and they exercised them. And we must exercise our rights, too. We must never allow ourselves to be cowed by conformity.

I don't think, from what I know about the fellow that introduced me, that he's likely to have that happen to him because I have never seen him conform very much. But all of us, collectively, must never be cowed by conformity. We must never be afraid to discuss or to challenge, or to innovate or to stimulate new ideas and new approaches.

This year, I sent to the Congress a rather novel and unique suggestion, and I must say that my prediction was wrong. It wasn't 83 percent wrong--it was 100 percent wrong. I thought the Congress would debate it 10 years before they acted on it--and we got it passed the first session. We're going to sign it this week.

It was a rent supplement that provides that when a fellow pays 25 percent of his rent--if he makes $200 a month and he pays $50 for rent, then the Government, if his rent is $60, can pay $10 of that $60. He pays $50 and the Government pays $10. If the Government paid $10 a month, that would be $120 a year, and that would be a lot cheaper than building big public housing that would cost $34,000 for him to live in. And it takes care of many more hundreds of thousands of families at less cost.

Now, we hope that it works out. We're going to try. But it is a new idea. And new ideas like that--at times passed in some States--just couldn't be suggested if they didn't conform. And in some places in the world today they can't be suggested.

It was not too many years ago that a Midwestern newspaper circulated a petition at a Fourth of July rally. Now what do you think that petition contained? This is an interesting story. That petition was composed of extracts from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. And every member but two in the entire crowd refused to sign it because they said it was too radical and they were too cowed to think for themselves.

So, free speech, free press, free religion, the right of free assembly, yes, the right of petition, the right to buy ads and to have teachins, and sit-ins, and parades and marches and demonstrations--well, they are still radical ideas. And so are secret ballots, and so are free elections, and so is the principle of equal dignity, and so is the principle of equal rights for all the sons and daughters of man.

But all of these things are what America stands for, and all of these things are what you and all other Americans need to stand up for today.

Now, it is a new idea, and a somewhat radical one, that the people of small nations have a right to live in peace without fear of their neighbors.

Today, the most difficult problem that confronts your President is how to keep an agreement that I did not initiate--I inherited it--but an agreement to help a small nation remain independent, free of aggression-the nation of South Viet-Nam. Now, in 1954 we agreed to that. We signed a solemn treaty, just as binding a contract as a sovereign nation can enter into, and it said we will help you to remain independent, free of aggression.

Now, I don't hear any people worrying much about this word aggression. They talk about the bombs. They talk about intervention. They talk about fighting a war in rice paddies. They talk about what sacrifices we are required to make. But during all of our history we have died in order to keep our contracts, in order to protect human beings.

The point I want to make is why--oh, why--oh, why don't people concern themselves sometimes with a country that is trying to maintain her independence from aggression, that is being invaded, that is trying not to be swallowed up, that is trying not to have an ideology imposed upon her?

Now, we saw it happen in Greece, we saw it happen in Turkey, and we saw it happen in Iran. We have seen it happen in other places in the world. And America has come and said, "We believe in a choice, in the right of people themselves to choose, and we have agreed to help you resist aggression."

Now, my problem is how to help them resist aggression and keep them from being swallowed up, and still have peace in the world. If I resist them, if I deter them, if we keep our commitment that the Senate made in the treaty, 82 to 1, that three Presidents have made--President Eisenhower, President Kennedy, and the present President-then the people say, "Well, you should come on home. What happens there doesn't matter." If you stay there, there are some that say, "You ought to get it over with in a hurry."

So, some want to go and blow up everything. Some want to come and blow up nothing, and leave and get out, and forget them. We are trying to do the reasonable thing to see that power and brute force and aggression are not going to prevail. You can't do this thing by force. Now, let's sit down and reason it out, and let's try to allow these people a choice. That is what I'm trying so hard to do, and that is what I need your help on.

We don't want war with anyone. In 20 months we have agreed to 15 different approaches to try to bring peace, and each one of them has been turned down by the other side.

I was reminded this morning of something last week--I did not count it up-that said I left nine ways open to sit down and reason our problems out, to use words instead of guns, to use logic instead of bombs. But you can't have an agreement with just one man. You can't do it by yourself. We have said, "We will go anywhere, talk to any government at any time, and if you will just name the place we'll be in the right chair."

Now, I don't know what else you can do, how much further you can go. With the help of the Secretary of State, Ambassador Goldberg, and our diplomats around the world, we are going to do everything we can with our left hand to negotiate an agreement that will allow people to breathe free independently, independent of any ideology of ours or of anyone else--give them the right of choice. And if we do that we'll come home tomorrow.

We don't want an inch of territory. We don't want a single base. We don't want anything except to help those people do what we agreed to do. And this is an idea that we cherish and we champion, and that all through the years we have been willing to die to uphold for ourselves, and for other people throughout the world.

There are 114 nations in the United Nations and all the big powers can be counted on one hand. Now, if this little nation goes down the drain and can't maintain her independence, ask yourselves, what is going to happen to all the other little nations? So somebody must stand there and try to help the little nations protect themselves from the nations who would provoke aggression.

Now, the United States' strength rests not on our missiles. Our strength rests not on our men. Our strength rests not on our money, or our means. Our strength rests on the might of the ideas and the ideals which give America her meaning.

We hope, and we envision, and we plan, and we pray for the day when every child born in the world can have all the education that he or she can take; that they will be protected in their body and their mind from disease; that they will have a chance to rise out of the poverty that enslaves them and subjugates them; that under leadership of man they can throw off the yokes of the ancient enemies of mankind.

Now, America wins the wars that she undertakes. Make no mistake about it. And we have declared war on ignorance and illiteracy, we have declared war on poverty, we have declared war on disease, and we have declared war on tyranny and aggression. We not only stand for these things but we are willing to stand up and die for these things.

We have been talking about them a long time in this country, but we are doing something about them today. This Congress has passed an education bill that is revolutionary, so comprehensive that in our fondest dreams we did not think that we could realize it this soon--$1.2 billion for elementary children.

This Congress this week will pass a voting rights bill that will give every American, regardless of his economic status, or where he lives, or what kind of a dress or suit he wears, or what his color is, or what his religion is-he will have that right that every free American ought to have of a secret ballot and to go and vote for his official, and it will be guaranteed to him by the United States flag in every precinct in this land.

This week we're going to have the most comprehensive housing bill in 50 years, to try to permit every person to have a roof over the head of his wife and his children.

Last week I sat down with that great humanitarian, Harry Truman, 81 years old, in Independence, Missouri. And with tears in his eyes, I saw his dream of 20 years ago come true when we signed the Medicare bill that not only provided hospital care and nurses' care and nurse home care and medicine, but also provided for doctors' bills that could be paid; and no longer made it necessary for a mother and a father, in the twilight of their career, to write their nephew or their niece or their son or their daughter and say, please come, send me some money so I won't starve, or so I can go to the doctor.

So, in the words of James Whitcomb Riley:

"Those days are gone and forgot,
The bridge of the railroad
Now crosses that spot;
And the old diving logs
Lay sunk and forgot."

Yes, education, poverty, housing, medical care, higher education, vocational education-all these things are just as necessary now as the three R's were when I was a child.

We cannot survive as leaders of this world, we cannot be first in the world if we are second in education, or health, or freedom. You have sent to Washington the best Congress I have ever seen. They have turned out more work on more far-reaching measures for more people. We have always had a Congress that could pass a bill for a few people if enough power got behind it-but these are for all the people.

I am so grateful that we have organizations such as yours upholding and encouraging free and unfettered debate that really supplies us the greatest source of our strength.

In these days we are all more responsible in what we say than Americans used to be. I remember one public figure once described another public man as, and I quote, "a mushtoed, spotted traitor to the Constitution and a political turkey buzzard."

Now, sometimes they try to get me involved in personalities. But we don't need name-calling and we don't need slander and we don't need libels and we don't need labels. You really don't gain much by getting into personalities and talking about a man or his wife or his dogs on a personal basis.

This is a great age. This is an age of knowledge. This is an age of ideas. And we don't respect ourselves unless we respect ideas and ideals. That is what makes our democracy live.

I want you to know that that is the first interest, that is the primary interest, that is the basic interest of all--all who live or work in that house, because that house is the house of all the American people, rich and poor, wise and learned, ignorant and illiterate.

If we have our way, and if we are successful, and if the American people will heed our call, the day will come in this century when we will have won our wars--wars against poverty and illiteracy, ignorance and disease. Then think about what a great and happy land it will be when all Americans are free and when all have equal rights and all have equal privileges, and there is no discrimination because of bank accounts or churches or voter restrictions or color or sex.

That is the kind of an America we look forward to,

Of course, we want to beautify it and plant some flowers--Mrs, Johnson does all along the way--but that is "America the Beautiful."

I hope that you of the IPA will go out into the hinterland and rouse the masses and blow the bugles and tell them that the hour has arrived and their day is here; that we are on the march against the ancient enemies and we are going to be successful.

Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:40 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White House before 200 members of the International Platform Association, a group of lecturers and speakers devoted to improving the quality of public speaking. In his opening words he referred to Drew Pearson, newspaper correspondent and columnist and former president of the association.

During his remarks the President referred to, among others, Paul Pearson, father of Drew Pearson, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and Arthur J. Goldberg, U.S. Representative to the United Nations.

Citation: Lyndon B. Johnson: "Remarks to the International Platform Association Upon Receiving the Association's Annual Award," August 3, 1965. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=27126.