Now, if I could turn to the campaign, to the
issues, and of course, on this particular occasion I have the problem that
always a presidential candidate has to select an issue to discuss of the
great number that the American people are interested in, an issue of overriding
importance, which will be one that all of you will want to know the position
that I take, and I select tonight the issue that I discussed with Senator
Kennedy last night. I select it because I believe it is the most important
issue not only of this campaign, but of our time, of our generation, of
this country.
I select it because I know that the people
of this State as the people of the other 49 States of the Union, want leadership
which will continue to do what President Eisenhower has done, and for which
the American people will be forever grateful to him, leadership that will
keep the peace, keep it without surrender, leadership that will extend
freedom, extend it without war, leadership which will make us proud of
our Nation in the council of nations, leadership in which the President
of the United States, when he goes to the United Nations, as a man of dignity,
standing for disarmament, standing for progress, standing for helping the
unfortunate people of the world, and gaining respect rather than making
a fool out of himself as did Mr. Khrushchev when he was there at the United
Nations - and I know that everybody in this audience, everybody listening
to me on television and radio, recognizes that the problems are difficult,
difficult not because of our choosing, difficult not because of the other
peace-loving nations - and, fortunately, my friends, they are most of the
nations in this world, our allies in Europe and in Asia, the so-called
neutrals in Africa, and in South America, and in other countries. Certainly
in this period we realize that the problems are difficult only because
there is on the loose in the world a great aggressive force, a force which
is fanatical which is ruthless, whose leaders do not follow the rules of
international diplomacy, as we would like them to be followed, whose leaders
- and I know them, and I speak from knowledge - are men who have one objective,
and one only, and that is to conquer the world, conquer it without war,
if they can, but willing to use any means, if that becomes necessary, and
because when we have this kind of leadership, aggressive, always probing,
always attempting to embarrass, always moving against us around the world,
the period ahead is going to be a difficult one.
I'm not going to stand before this or any
other audience and say, "Lo I am the great leader who will solve all your
problems. Just elect me and you can be sure that we're not going to have
any more problems in Africa, Asia, Latin America. Elect me and give us
enough money to spend and we'll solve all these problems." It isn't going
to happen that way. It isn't going to happen that way, because when we
deal with the problems that we have in the world today, we're going to
have troubles. We're going to have them because they're going to make them,
but the question is not whether we have troubles. The question is how we
handle them, and we have been handling them well, and we're going to continue
to handle them well in the next four years, if you give us the chance.
Now, the major qualification of whoever is
to be the next President of the United States is this: If he is going to
keep the peace without surrender, and if we are going to be able to extend
freedom without war, it is whether he understands our enemy. I mean those
who are the enemies of peace and the enemies of freedom around the world.
It is whether he understands their tactics and knows how to deal with them,
because unless he has that understanding all the good intentions in the
world will be nothing, because the road to war and the road to surrender
on the other side have been paved with good intentions where dictators
were concerned. It was true with Hitler. It was true with Stalin. It will
also be true with Khrushchev. We not only need good intention, but we need
the tough-minded understanding of the kind of people we're dealing with
and that's what we offer, and that's what I say raises a grave question
tonight in the minds of the American people with regard to our opponents.
I'm going to talk very frankly about it. I
feel it is my responsibility, my responsibility to the country, my responsibility
also as a candidate for public office to tell you exactly why I think Cabot
Lodge and I do offer some qualifications here that are needed to lead the
world in this period.
I don't mean that we have them all. I don't
mean that we are supermen, but that we do offer some of those qualifications,
and it is my responsibility also, as it is my opponent's, to point out
those areas where I think he may lack the qualifications that the world
needs, particularly in this time.
There have been three great issues in which
a grave doubt has been raised in the minds of the American people and in
the minds of the people of the world as to whether my opponent in this
campaign, the candidate of the other party, can keep the peace without
surrender, can extend freedom throughout the world, and I give you those
three examples in order of priority, but particularly; I would say not
so much in order of priority as in order of historical sequence.
First, there was a problem confronting the
President of the United States in the year 1955. It didn't seem very important
certainly to the people here, I imagine, in Allentown Pa., not very important
to the people even in San Francisco, Calif.; but it was vitally important
to the cause of peace and freedom in the world, because he the President
of the United States, made a mistake in handling this problem, it could
have led to the same tragic course of events that resulted in a war in
Korea.
Let me explain it briefly, the position my
opponent took, the position the President and I took, why he was wrong,
why we were right, and why we must go forward on our line and not on his.
Here's what it was. The Chinese Communists
were shelling some islands off the coast of China, Quemoy and Matsu, not
very big islands, not very many people on them, but they were free. They
were also military outposts for the island of Formosa, with which we have
and the Government of Formosa has a pact to defend. And, so, my opponent
in 1955 joined with a group, fortunately a very small one, of only 12 Senators
out of the 96 Members of the Senate at that time in attempting to deny
to the President of the United States the right to use the forces of this
country to defend those islands in the event an attack were launched on
them, and the President considered that an attack was actually an attack
aimed at Formosa. In effect, they said, draw a line, draw a line excluding
these islands, because we don't want to get into a war over those islands,
and they said this would be the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong
time.
And now what was the President's answer?
The answer is one that all of us will understand. Is there a right war,
at the right place, at the right time? The answer also is this: We had
history here to look at. We went back to 1950, in 1950 exactly this same
kind of muddy, woolly, thinking took place. Secretary Acheson, a very able
man in many respects, particularly with his policies to Europe, but a man
again who was blind in his policies to Asia - what did he do? He drew a
line. He said, we will draw a line in the Pacific, and we will leave Korea
out, this peninsula a militarily and potentially a very bad place to fight
a war, the wrong war, the wrong place, the wrong time.
And what happened? It didn't mean peace, but
it led to war, because when you're dealing with a dictator and when you
have an area of freedom and when you slice a bit off and say you can have
this, if you leave us alone, it doesn't satisfy him. It only encourages
him to push you again, and to ask for more. It led to war in Korea then,
and so, the President of the United States, remembering that experience
with the Communists, said, "No; we will not take the advice of those who
say we will draw a line excluding two islands of freedom."
We say that freedom, in effect, is indivisible
when it comes to defense, particularly when the Communists say that these
islands are, as they did say, certainly only an intermediate objective
and that their real objective was Formosa, with whom we had our treaty.
And, so, the President's position prevailed;
the position Senator Kennedy took with the other 11 Senators was voted
down, and for 5 years we have kept the peace in that area. For 5 years
the Communists have dared not to attack Formosa. For 5 years it has worked,
and yet again my opponent in 1959, in a speech, twice in our television
debate, said, we should draw a line excluding these islands, draw a line
because we don't want to get into a war about them. And, so, my first charge
tonight is this: That a man who made a mistake in 1955, that it would have
been tragic, which would have led to war or surrender, or both, in my opinion,
who repeated it again in 1959, when the policy had been working, who repeated
it again in 1960 when the policy had been working - that this raises a
very grave question in the minds of the American people as to whether he
understands what peace demands in dealing with the Communists.
I'll tell you what it demands. You must never
make a concession to them figuring that this is going to satisfy them.
You must never do it because this kind of a concession only encourages
them to blackmail you, and when you are dealing with men like this international
blackmail eventually leads to war. So, on this score I say the American
people raise a doubt.
The second point: We come to the Paris Conference.
The Paris Conference, you remember, was the one that Mr. Khrushchev broke
up. He said he broke it up at the time because the President had ordered
the U-2 flights, you recall, which were ordered to protect the security
of the United States, to get information about whether there was a surprise
attack being mounted against the United States, and at that time Mr. Khrushchev
demanded that the President of the United States apologize or express regrets
for those flights. The President of the United States refused.
What did my opponent say? He said the President
could have apologized or could have expressed regrets for those flights.
He was wrong then. I'll tell you why he was wrong. He was wrong because
an apology or expressing regrets to Khrushchev for something that we were
doing to defend our own country would be wrong for any President, Republican
or Democrat, and certainly it was wrong for President Eisenhower.
He was wrong then because again this kind
of tactic, you see, in dealing with a man like Khrushchev wouldn't have
satisfied him. It wouldn't have saved the Conference. It would only have
encouraged him to stomp on us again, because that's the way he operates.
I know this. I have dealt with him. The President knows this. He has dealt
with him. Again the President was right. Our opponent was wrong.
So, here is a second point that raises a question
about our opponent's judgment when these great problems come before him.
The third is a current one. I want to discuss
it in some detail tonight, because it's very close to the United States.
It's very complex. It's terribly difficult. It involves a people, wonderful
people, that are among the best friends Americans have. I don't know how
many of you have ever been to Havana. My wife and I have been there several
times, and each time we always marvel at the great friendship that the
people of Havana, the Cuban people, have for the people of the United States,
and yet what have we found there? The people of Cuba, the most misgoverned
people perhaps in the American Hemisphere, or one of the worst governed;
Batista, a dictator who came into power long before President Eisenhower
came in, who was inherited by us from the previous administration, and
as a result there were revolutionary forces that wanted to get rid of him,
and Mr. Castro took over these revolutionary forces and a lot of well-intentioned
people in the United States felt that Mr. Castro was the answer to Cuba's
problem. He would get rid of this dictator, Batista. And, so, they thought
this was going to mean the end of the dictatorship in Cuba; it would mean
a real revolution for the Cuban people, the 5 million; it would give them
the good things of life, which they deserve, and it would give it to them
in freedom. But what happened? Mr. Castro was not a man truly interested
in the Cuban people. He was not a man who brought a true revolution to
the Cuban people. He was a man who brought and is bringing to the Cuban
people a dictatorship, a slavery, which in some respects is even worse
than that of Mr. Batista, the man that he threw out and deposed. So, now
the question is: What are we going to do about Mr. Castro? How do we get
rid of Mr. Castro? And here you have to have some statesmanship. Here you
have to have some responsibility, and I want to say this: The easy thing
for me to say would be to say, "We'll put the Marines down in Cuba and
we'll get rid of Castro," and we could do it in 24 hours. You know what
would happen if we did that? We'd lose every friend we have in Latin America.
We would lose our moral position in the world, and the 5 million Cuban
people would be the victims. So, we don't do that.
And others say: "Well, why can't we do something
else to get rid of this fellow, something stronger than we've been doing?"
And again I say there are things that we can do, things that I have called
for , things that the Government of the United States,
fortunately, is doing, but there are some things that we can't do and
shouldn't do, for reasons that I will mention, things that seem to be logical.
Senator Kennedy called for such a course of
action. You heard it briefly discussed in our debate last night. He called
for - and get this - the U.S. Government to support a revolution in Cuba,
and I say that this is the most shockingly reckless proposal ever made
in our history by a presidential candidate during a campaign - and I'll
tell you why.
Now, before we go into this question, many
people will say, "But, Mr. Nixon, are you for Castro? Don't you think we
ought to support the people that are against him?"
The question is not whether you're for or
against Castro. The question is: What do you do? What can you properly
do? What can the great United States of America legally and properly do
to help the people of Cuba get the kind of government they deserve?
And this isn't easy. It isn't the easy shooting-from-the-hip
way that Senator Kennedy has suggested.
As far as who is for or against Castro, let's
look at the record. On that score, my record, as you might imagine, is
crystal clear. I happen to have had a little experience in dealing with
the Communists, and I seldom have been wrong in judging who they were or
who were following that particular line. On that score I have been urging
within the Government, for example, long before Castro came to power, and
ever since he came to power, that we must recognize him either as a Communist
or as a hopeless captive of the Communists. He's one or the other.
On the other hand, what is Senator Kennedy's
record on that score Well, he wrote a book, "Strategy for Peace," and in
that he makes this naive and almost unbelievable statement: "Castro is
part of the legacy of Bolivar."
Now, all of the students here will know who
Bolivar is. As a matter of fact, my first eighth-grade daughter knows.
They studied Latin America. Most Americans know. He was the great liberator
of the people of Latin America, a great hero, a fighter for freedom. To
mention Castro and Bolivar in the same breath is blasphemy of the true
fighters for freedom in Latin America, because, while Bolivar was a liberator,
Castro is nothing but a cheap, egotistical enslaver - and that's what he
is.
And, so, the question is not who is for or
against Castro. I don't question that Senator Kennedy is against him. Certainly
he wouldn't question that I am against him. The question is: How do you
get rid of this man, this cancer among the American Republics?
Well, in that respect, we first have to look
to our treaty commitment. We also have to look to our United Nations Charter,
because the United States, if it means anything in the world, stands for
doing the right thing. We do not break our treaties. We do not work against
the United Nations. For example, in the Congo, instead of attempting to
move in there unilaterally, as did Khrushchev, to take over that country,
we have supported the U.N. and we have gained in prestige in the world
despite what some of those people running down the United States have been
saying in the past few weeks.
Now, here is the way we handle Castro: What
we must do is quarantine him. This is what I recommended, as you may recall,
in a speech I made in Miami a few days ago - quarantine him diplomatically;
quarantine him economically. This means shutting him off from communication,
in effect, diplomatically and economically from the United States. Now,
this we have done. This we will continue to do, and I have been repeatedly
urging it within the Government. It's been done, incidentally, over the
objection of some well-intentioned, but hopelessly naive Castro apologists
within the United States - and all that I can say with regard to Senator
Kennedy's position is that he apparently is attempting to obscure his association
with the views of this pro-Castro group as indicated in the book that I
mentioned a moment ago or he must have thought now that there would be
political advantage in taking a stronger position than I have taken, a
radical position, instead of the strong and sound position that the administration
has taken. And, so, what does he suggest? He comes up, as I pointed up,
with the fantastic recommendation that the U.S. Government shall
directly aid the anti-Castro forces both in and out of Cuba.
Now, every freedom-loving person in the United
States - let's make it clear - is in sympathy with the democratic anti-Castro
forces in Cuba and outside Cuba. We want them to win. We want them to win
because we want the people to have the kind of government they deserve.
We want them to realize their revolution, the things that Castro talked
about, in freedom, but individual support is one thing. For the Government
of the United States to aid revolutionary forces in another country would
be intervention in the internal affairs of another nation - in this case,
one of our sister Republics in the Organization of American States. You
know what this would mean? We would violate right off the bat five treaties
with the American States, including the Treaty of Bogota of 1948. We would
also violate our solemn commitments to the United Nations, articles 1 and
2 as I pointed out in our debate last night - and already this statement
has produced shock and dismay among the U.N. delegates from the Latin American
countries. But the most dangerous implication which flows from Senator
Kennedy's recommendation, if he does not immediately withdraw it - and
I urge him to do s0 - is that this, as you can see, is a direct invitation
for the Soviet Union to intervene militarily on the side of Castro. This
gives them the excuse they have been waiting for, because now they can
very easily say: "What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander."
We can't play it both ways. They can say we can't object to the Soviet
Union moving into Cuba under the Monroe Doctrine - we could at the present
time - if the United States is attempting to intervene and move into the
internal affairs of Cuba. Let's suppose the Soviet Union does move into
Cuba. Suppose they do move in to help Castro. A major portion of the blame,
I say, will rest on Mr. Kennedy, who two weeks before an election has made
a statement which not only is provocative, but will be interpreted by the
Soviets as an express invitation to do exactly that. And if they do come
in you know what the result is? It can only mean a civil war in Cuba, which
the United States would not avoid entering, and this result could easily
be spread into a conflict, into a world war, that every American of both
parties wants to avoid; and I say that Senator Kennedy owes it to the Nation
to put the cause of peace and freedom before political consideration and
to retract this immature, rash, and dangerous suggestion that he has made.
Now, some of you who heard the debate, though,
will remember that he said: "But, after all, this is nothing new," that
we helped, he said, the Castro forces get arms and ammunition in the United
States when they were supporting their revolution against Batista. This
is one of the most sophomoric comments, incidentally, that he has made
in any of these debates, because what he says is true, but this was not
action by the U.S. Government. This was action by individual Americans.
What he is calling for is the U.S. Government, not individual Americans,
to support a revolution - and that is an entirely different thing, and
the most tragic part of the episode is that this was not necessary. The
quarantine proposal will work. It worked with the Arbenz Communist government
in Guatemala which we inherited from our predecessors. It will work, I
believe, with Cuba.
And on the other side there is the wrong and
demagogic way - the right that I have pointed out, the wrong which Senator
Kennedy has advocated - and I say this is a way of shooting from the hip
on matters gravely affecting the security of the United States.
And, so, finally, let's look at the record,
all three, the position on Quemoy and Matsu - slice off a bit of freedom;
maybe it will lead to peace; the position on the summit conference - express
regrets to Khrushchev; maybe we can save the conference, and then this
latest episode with regard to Cuba. I think when you look at these three
episodes that this should convince many Americans that they could not rest
well at night with a man with such a total lack of judgment as Commander
in Chief of our Armed Forces in this critical period.
These are strong words, but these are difficult
times, and strong words are necessary, and I intend to speak them from
now on throughout this campaign so that the American people know---
It is President Eisenhower's judgment, his
avoidance of mistakes of the kind I have just described - that's why we
have been able to keep the peace, and if a President were to make mistakes
like those Senator Kennedy would have made in these three incidents the
result could only lead to disaster for ourselves and the free world; in
my opinion, to war or surrender.
Now, so much for his position. Let me turn
briefly to ours.
What do we offer?
Well, first, I have spoken of my experience.
I want to say a word about my running mate's. I don't think that any man
in the world today has had more experience or could have done a better
job in fighting for the cause of peace and freedom than has Cabot Lodge,
our Ambassador to the United Nations.
Now, why is this important?
Because he is going to work with me as a partner
in strengthening the instruments of peace, in strengthening the United
Nations, as he pointed out in his speech just a couple of days ago, in
developing new instruments of peace. He also will be able to undertake
the direction on a day-to-day basis of winning the struggle for freedom
in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America, to which I have often referred.
The next point that I should make: What else
do we offer?
We offer the experience that I have referred
to. We are men who know the Communist leaders. We have dealt with them,
and I think the American people know how we have dealt with them in the
past, and they want us to continue to deal with them that way in the future
because that is the way to peace without surrender.
Now, what are the things that we will do?
First, knowing those who oppose us, we will
keep this Nation the strongest in the world, recognizing that unless we
are the strongest in the world we cannot be the guardians of peace.
We will see that the economy of this Nation
moves forward, and I have made recommendations in this field that will
move her forward in many, many areas, move us forward in a way that America
will always maintain the tremendous advantage that we have economically
today over the Soviet Union.
Let me just mention one example that particularly
will be of interest on this campus. If we're to move forward, we cannot
afford to waste the talents of any young man or woman who has the ability
to go to college and to make a contribution through a college education
to his country.
Now, how do we accomplish that? The easy way
to accomplish that is to say: "Oh, the Federal Government should set up
a program to do it all." Now, the Federal Government should play a part,
but I say the best way to do it is this: The Federal Government should
set up scholarships, a limited number, for those who are unable to develop
the funds or to get the funds to borrow money and to repay a loan, scholarships
to be given out on the basis of both need and ability. Second, we should
continue and expand our loan program; but, third, we should add to that,
in the American tradition, a provision whereby the parents and others who
pay college tuitions and expenses can have tax deductions and credit for
those expenses.
With this three-pronged program, we will see
that young Americans get the education that they want; but, returning to
my basic theme again, keeping America strong militarily, keeping her strong
economically, and, in addition to that, the firm diplomacy, to which I
referred, the last point that I will make is one that I have often referred
to in our debates but I would not want to leave this great college campus
without emphasizing it for just a moment.
Too often in these discussions of foreign
affairs we become obsessed with the problems of the moment. It's Cuba or
Quemoy and Matsu. It's military power and missiles. It's the economic struggle,
whether or not our rate of growth is as fast as it ought to be. All of
these things are important, but, my friends, just remember this: Whether
America and the free world wins the struggle for peace and freedom is not
going to be decided in the final analysis by our military strength or our
economic strength or even by our diplomacy. All of these things can hold
the line, but remember that when we talk solely in terms of military strength
and economic strength we are meeting the enemies of freedom only on the
grounds that they choose. We have something more to offer. We have something
to offer to the world that we in America cherish, but too often we take
for granted.
I know what it means. When I was in Poland
- I have often described this - I remember a year ago coming into the streets
of Warsaw on a Sunday afternoon and seeing 250,000 Poles on the streets
that day, cheering at the tops of their voices, shouting "Niech zyje America"
- "Long live America" - stopping our car 8 times in the heart of Warsaw
and swarming around it, running up, grabbing our hands, singing, shouting,
and, looking into their eyes, over half of them were crying. Why? Not because
America was strong militarily. Khrushchev had bragged of that kind of strength.
He had been there a couple of weeks before and they didn't give him that
kind of reception. Not because we were a rich country. They knew that.
But because to them behind the Iron Curtain and to millions on this earth
America stands for more than military might, more than materialism. We
stand for ideals, for moral and spiritual strength, for a faith, for a
faith that caught the imagination of the world a hundred and eighty years
ago. It lives here. It lives in our hearts, and it is the hope of the world
today - our faith in God; our belief in the dignity of all men; our belief
that the rights that men have to be free, that nations have to be independent,
come not from men, but from God, and cannot be taken away by men.
Oh, these things may sound trite and old,
but remember this is what America stands for. It is as we project this
to the world that we will win this struggle, and this is where we need
your help. We need the help of the schools and the churches, the homes
of America, so that young Americans will be proud of our heritage; they
will know our heritage, and they will be strong in the faith that we have,
because if America is strong morally and spiritually whoever is President
of this country will be able to lead the free nations to victory, lead
them to victory without war. Why? Because we are on the right side. Because
we are on the side of freedom, on the side of justice, against the forces
of atheism, injustice, and slavery.
And this is what we ask tonight from you.
We say not that we offer an easy way. We say not that we have a panacea,
but my colleague and I say: We know who our enemies are. We have faith
in America. We don't think she's second rate. We believe that America can
lead the world and lead her and keep the peace without surrender. We believe
that we can extend freedom without war, and we believe, with your help,
we can do the job, and if you think that we can do the job then we ask
you to go out and work for us from now until election day.
Thank you.