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Drawing a distinction between his kind of fight against Communism and Joe McCarthy's, Eisenhower warned against "violent vigilantism. To defend freedom," said he, "is—first of all —to respect freedom . . . That respect demands another, quite simple kind of respect—respect for the integrity of fellow citizens who enjoy their right to disagree with us. The right to challenge a man's judgment carries with it no automatic right to question his honor." (Joe McCarthy, on the platform, did not applaud these sentences—although the crowd did.)
"No Grant of Privilege." Eisenhower outlined his own counterattack against Communist infiltration: "To begin with: all of us ... must remember that the Bill of Rights contains no grant of privilege for a group of people to destroy the Bill of Rights. A group—like the Communist conspiracy—dedicated to the ultimate destruction of all civil liberties cannnot be allowed to claim civil liberties as its privileged sanctuary from which to carry on subversion of the Government . . .
"Let every person or organization distributing political literature through the mails be made to disclose its source of funds and its membership. Let every organization affecting our political life be compelled to make public its finances, membership and affiliations . . .
"Having done this, let us make one more fact plain: to work for the United States Government is a privilege, not a right . . . Every official of the Federal Government—on every level —must ever be ready to answer any question from appropriate sources touching upon his loyalty and devotion to the United States of America . . .
"We have all had enough, I believe, of those who have sneered at the warnings of men trying to drive Communists from high places . . . We have all had enough, I believe, of men who seem to feel that freedom can do nothing but fret and whine as it watches its own slow, sure death.
"The future of this country belongs to more courageous men . . . The future belongs to men who know—in their hearts and minds, their souls and very bones—that freedom can be strong."