A Congenial Job for the Vice President (NPG Footnote) 

• Lindsey Grant
• March 1, 1993
• Forum Papers
• Forum Paper
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A Congenial Job for the Vice President
An NPG Forum Paper
 (NPG Footnote) 
by Lindsey Grant
March 1993

Although it has escaped general notice, Vice President Gore, President Nixon, John D. Rockefeller 3rd and the Commission on Population and the American Future, Ambassador George Kennan, and the U.S. Department of State all have something in common. They all have expressed the belief that the United States’ population should stop growing, and some of them have stated the proposition in eloquent language.

President Nixon: “In 1917 the total number of Americans passed 100 million, after three full centuries of steady growth. In 1967 —just half a century later— the 200 million mark was passed. If the present rate of growth continues, the third hundred million persons will be added in roughly a thirty-year period. This means that by the year 2000, or shortly thereafter, there will be more than 300 million Americans.

“The growth will produce serious challenges for our society. I believe that many of our present social problems may be related to the fact that we have had only fifty years in which to accommodate the second hundred million Americans…

“Where, for example, will the next hundred million Americans live? …

“Other questions confront us. How, for example, will we house the next hundred million Americans? …

“How will we educate and employ such a large number of people? Will our transportation systems move them about as quickly and economically as necessary? How will we provide adequate health care when our population reaches 300 million? Will our political structures have to be reordered, too, when our society grows to such proportions? …

“… we should establish as a national goal the provision of adequate family planning services within the next five years to all those who want them but cannot afford them.”

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