Heading for Geneva: "We Have a Strength We Haven't Had Before"

I am opposed to the idea of a formal prayer in school and a dictated prayer by officialdom or school authorities or anyone else. What I am in favor of is eliminating a court decision that tells a generation of young people coming up through our schools that prayer is unacceptable in certain public areas. The Congress of the United States opens with prayer. I think the Supreme Court went beyond its province there.

I also believed in affirmative action and civil rights before there were any things called affirmative action and civil rights. I was raised in a household in which the way you could really get in trouble with your mother and father was if you showed any evidences of prejudice against anyone. When I was a sports announcer, I was one of a small coterie that was trying to open baseball up to other races.

And at the same time, I saw the misuse of quotas in the schools, hospitals and so forth. Today, affirmative action is being distorted to mean the reimplementation of quotas. That isn't what the civil-rights bill was all about. Anyone who wants to argue about that can just look at Hubert Humphrey's own words. He said the bill was not put into effect to militate against anyone. I would be willing to support changes to insure that there would not be quotas.

Q  Mr. President, you've been called a very lucky man. You've survived an assassination attempt and have come through a serious operation. But right now you're on the verge of what could be a turning point in your tenure. Will your luck hold in Geneva?
A  Sometimes I think you make your own luck. But then maybe what some people are calling luck are just answers to prayers.