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4. their leadership were tarred with the same brush. There are those who will tell you that this situation is no better today than it was fifty years ago. I am not among them. I believe that as a nation, and as a region, the caliber of our public leadership has much improved, at least in the post-World War I period. But I am suggesting that it has not improved enough. I am suggesting today that no longer should we leave our public affairs in the hands of the average grade school or high school graduate, or even college graduate. I am suggesting that young men and women such as yourselves, the graduates of our universities, must take an active part in the public affairs of their community, their state, and their nation. I must clarify one point: some of our more distinguished leaders, over the years, have been self-made men with little or no formal education. I do not believe that a man must be an honor graduate of a university to be a qualified and competent public servant. But I do believe that the self-made man is the exception rather than the rule. And I know, without question, that our world of tomorrow cannot survive unless a larger proportion of our best graduates will dedicate themselves to public service. We no longer live in the wonderful world of Uncle Remus, nor even in the 80-day world of Jules Verne. We live in a world where distances are measured...

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Commence and Go Forth - University of Arkansas Commencement Speeches

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University of Arkansas