Speeches of Richard Nixon - Address To The Nation on the War In Vietnam.
Speeches of Richard Nixon - Address To The Nation on the War In Vietnam.
Address To The Nation on the War In Vietnam. President RICHARD NIXON delivers the Silent Majority speech regarding Vietnam, November 3, 1969 Color images of U.S. & ARVN soldiers fighting in Vietnam, Tet offensive, GIs wearing flak jackets; American fighter-bombers dropping napalm bombs; GI patrolling through jungle w/ M-60 hoisted over his head; aerial of soldiers deploying from Huey helicopter in field. "Good evening My Fellow Americans. Tonight I want to talk to you on a subject of deep concern to all Americans & to many people in all parts of the world, the war in Vietnam. I believe that one of the reasons for the deep division about Vietnam is that many Americans have lost confidence in what their government has told them about our policy. The American people cannot & should not be asked to support a policy which involves the overriding issues of war and peace unless they know the truth about that policy. Tonight therefoe, I would like to answer some of the questions that I know are on the minds of many of you listening to me. How & why did America get involved in Vietnam in the first place? How has this administration changed the policy of the previous administration? What has really happened in the negotiations in Paris and on the battlefront in Vietnam?" Cut to MS of Mr. Nixon speaking, "Let us turn now to the fundamental issue. Why and how did the United States become involved in Vietnam in the first place? 15 years ago North Vietnam, with the logistical support of communist China & the Soviet Union, launched a campaign to impose a communist government on South Vietnam by instigating & supporting a revolution. In response to the request of the government of South Vietnam, President Eisenhower sent economic aid & military equipment to assist the people of South Vietnam in their efforts to prevent a communist takeover. 7 years ago, President Kennedy sent 16,000 military personnel to Vietnam as combat advisers. 4 years ago, President Johnson sent American combat forces to South Vietnam. Many believe that President Johnson's decision to send combat forces to was wrong. And many others, I among them, have been strongly critical of the way the war has been conducted. But the question facing us today is, now that we are in the war, what is the best way to end it? In January I could only conclude that precipitate withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam would be a disaster not only for South Vietnam but for the U.S. & for the cause of peace. For the South Vietnamese, our precipitate withdrawal would inevitably allow the Communists to repeat the massacres which followed their takeover in the North 15 years before. They then murdered more than 50,000 people and 100s of 1000s more died in slave labor camps. We saw a prelude of what would happen in South Vietnam when the Communists entered the city of Hue last year. During their brief rule, there was a bloody reign of terror in which 3,000 civilians were clubbed, shot to death, & buried in mass graves. With the sudden collapse of our support, these atrocities of Hue would become the nightmare of the entire nation and particularly for the million and a half Catholic refugees who fled to South Vietnam when the Communists took over in the North. For the United States, this first defeat in our nation's history would result in a collapse of confidence in American leadership, not only in Asia but throughout the world. Three America Presidents have recognized the great stakes involved in Vietnam and understoof what had to be done. In 1963, Presidnet Kenndey with his charastic eloquence and clarity said, '...we want to see a stable government there, carrying on a struggle to maintain its national independence. We believe strongly in that. We are not going to withdraw from that effort. In my opinion for us to withdraw from the effort would mean a collapse, not only of South Vietnam, but Southeast Asia. So we are going to stay there.'" "A nation cannot remain great if it betrays its allies & lets down its friends. Our defeat & humiliation in South Vietnam without question would promote recklessness in the councils of those great powers who have not yet abandoned their goals of world conquest. This would spark violence wherever our commitments help maintain the peace, in the Middle East, in Berlin, eventually even in the Western Hemisphere. Ultimately, this would cost more lives. It would not bring peace. It would bring more war."