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Richard M.Nixon:The GreatSilent MajorityGoodevening,my fellow Americans.Tonight I want totalk to you on a subjectof deepconcern to all Americansand tomany peoplein allpartsof the world,the war in Vietnam.I believe that one of thereasons for the deep division aboutVietnam isthat manyAmericans havelostconfidence inwhat theirGovernment has told themabout ourpolicy.The American people cannot andshould not be askedto supporta policy which involvesthe overridingissues ofwar andpeace unlesstheyknow the truth aboutthat policy.Tonight,therefore,I would like to answer some of thequestions that I knoware on the mindsof many ofyou listeningto me.How andwhy didAmerica getinvolved in Vietnam in the first placeHow hasthis administrationchanged the policy of the previous AdministrationWhat hasreally happenedin thenegotiations inParis and on thebattlefront in VietnamWhat choicesdo we have if we are to end the warWhatare theprospects for peaceNow letme beginby describingthe situationI foundwhen I was inauguratedon January20:The warhadbeen goingon forfour years.Thirty-one thousandAmericans had been killedin action.The trainingprogram for the South Vietnamesewas beyond[behind]schedule.Five hundredand forty-thousandAmericans werein Vietnamwith noplans toreduce thenumber.No progresshadbeen made atthenegotiations inParis and the United States hadnot put forth acomprehensive peaceproposal.The warwas causingdeepdivision at homeand criticismfrom manyof ourfriends,as wellas ourenemies,abroad.In viewof thesecircumstances,there weresome whourged thatI end the warat onceby orderingtheimmediate withdrawal of all American forces.From apolitical standpoint,this wouldhave beenapopular andeasy courseto follow.After all,we becameinvolved in the warwhile mypredecessor wasinoffice.I couldblame thedefeat,which would be the result of my action,on him--and comeout as thepeacemaker.Some putit to me quitebluntly:This was the onlyway toavoid allowingJohnsons war tobecome Nixons war.But I had agreater obligationthan to think only of theyears of my Administration,and of the nextelection.Ihadtothinkof theeffect ofmy decision on thenext generation,andon the future of peace andfreedom inAmerica,and in the world.Let usall understandthat thequestion beforeus is not whethersome Americansare for peace andsomeAmericans are against peace.The questionat issueis notwhether Johnsonswar becomesNixonswar.The greatquestion is:How canwe winAmericas peaceWell,let usturn nowto thefundamental issue:Why andhow didthe United States becomeinvolved inVietnam in the firstplaceFifteen years ago North Vietnam,with thelogistical supportof CommunistChinaand the Soviet Union,launched acampaign toimpose aCommunist governmenton SouthVietnamby instigatingand supportinga revolution.In responseto therequest of the Governmentof South Vietnam,President Eisenhowersent economicaidand military equipment toassist the people of South Vietnamin theirefforts to prevent aCommunisttakeover.Seven yearsago,President Kennedysent16,000military personnelto Vietnamas combatadvisers.Four yearsago,President Johnsonsent Americancombat forcesto South Vietnam.Now manybelieve thatPresident Johnsonsdecision tosend Americancombat forcesto South Vietnamwas wrong.And manyothers,I amongthem,have beenstrongly criticalof theway the war has beenconducted.But thequestion facingus todayis:Now that we arein the war,what is the bestway to end itInJanuary Icould onlyconclude that the precipitate withdrawal of all Americanforces fromVietnamwould bea disasternot onlyfor SouthVietnam butfor the United Statesand for the causeof peace.For theSouth Vietnamese,our precipitatewithdrawal wouldinevitably allowthe Communiststo repeatthemassacres whichfollowed theirtakeover in the North15years before.They thenmurdered morethan50,000people andhundreds ofthousands moredied inslave laborcamps.We sawa preludeof whatwould happenin SouthVietnam whenthe Communistsentered thecity ofHuelast year.During theirbrief rulethere,there was a bloodyreign ofterror in which3,000civilians wereclubbed,shot todeath,and buriedin massgraves.With thesudden collapseof oursupport,these atrocities at Huewould becomethe nightmareof theentirenation andparticularly for the million-and-a halfCatholic refugeeswho fledto SouthVietnamwhen the Communists tookover in the North.For the UnitedStatesthis firstdefeat in our nationshistory wouldresult in a collapseof confidenceinAmerican leadershipnot onlyin Asiabut throughoutthe world.Three AmericanPresidents haverecognized the great stakesinvolved in Vietnam andunderstood whathadto bedone.In1963President Kennedywith hischaracteristic eloquenceand claritysaid,nWe want to seea stableGovernment there/carrying on the[a]struggle tomaintain itsnationalindependence.We believestrongly inthat.We are not going to withdrawfrom thateffort.In myopinion,for usto withdrawfrom thateffort wouldmean acollapse not onlyof SouthVietnambut SoutheastAsia.So weregoingtostay there/1President Eisenhowerand PresidentJohnson expressedthe sameconclusion during their termsof office.For the futureof peace,precipitatewithdrawalwould bea disasterof immensemagnitude.A nationcannotremain greatif itbetrays itsallies andlets downits friends.Our defeatand humiliationin SouthVietnam without questionwould promoterecklessness in the councilsof thosegreat powerswho havenotyet abandonedtheir goalsof worldsconquest.This wouldspark violencewherever ourcommitmentshelp maintain the peace—intheMiddle East,in Berlin,eventually evenintheWestern Hemisphere.Ultimately,this wouldcost morelives.It wouldnot bring peace.It wouldbring morewar.For thesereasons Irejected therecommendation thatI shouldend the war byimmediately withdrawingall of ourforces.I choseinstead tochange Americanpolicy on both the negotiating frontand thebattlefront inorder to end the war foughton manyfronts.I initiateda pursuitfor peaceon manyfronts.In atelevisionspeech onMay14,in aspeech beforethe UnitedNations,onanumber ofother occasions,I setforth our peaceproposals ingreat detail.We haveoffered the complete withdrawal of alloutside forceswithin oneyear.We haveproposed aceasefire underinternational supervision.We haveoffered freeelections underinternational supervisionwith theCommunistsparticipating inthe organizationand conductof theelections as an organizedpoliticalforce.And theSaigon governmenthas pledgedto accepttheresult of theelection.We havenot putforthour proposals ona take-it-or-leave-it basis.We haveindicated that were willingtodiscuss theproposals thathave beenputforthby theother side.We havedeclared that anything isnegotiable,except the right of the people ofSouthVietnam todetermine theirown future.At the Paris peaceconference Ambassador Lodge hasdemonstrated ourflexibility and good faithin40public meetings.Hanoi hasrefused evento discussourproposals.They demand our unconditionalacceptanceof theirterms whichare thatwe withdraw allAmericanforces immediatelyandunconditionally andthatweoverthrow thegovernment ofSouthVietnamas weleave.We havenot limitedour peaceinitiatives topublic forumsand public statements.I recognizedin Januarythata long and bitterwar likethis usuallycannot besettled ina publicforum.That iswhy inaddition tothepublicstatementsand negotiations,I haveexplored everypossible privateavenue thatmight leadto asettlement.Tonight,I amtaking theunprecedented stepof disclosingto yousomeof our otherinitiatives forpeace,initiatives weundertook privatelyand secretlybecause wethought wethereby mightopen adoor whichpubliclywould beclosed.I did not waitfor myinauguration to begin myquest forpeace.Soon aftermy election,through anindividual who wasdirectly incontact ona personalbasis with the leaders of NorthVietnam,I madetwoprivate offersfor arapid,comprehensive settlement.Hanois repliescalled ineffect for our surrenderbeforenegotiations.Since theSoviet Unionfurnishes most of themilitaryequipmentfor NorthVietnam,Secretary ofState Rogers,my assistantfor nationalsecurity affairs,Dr.Kissinger,Ambassador Lodgeand I personallyhave metonanumber ofoccasions withrepresentatives of theSovietGovernment toenlisttheir assistancein gettingmeaningful negotiationsstarted.In addition,we havehad extendeddiscussionsdirected towardthat sameend withrepresentatives ofother governmentswhich havediplomaticrelations withNorthVietnam.None of these initiativeshave todate producedresults.In mid-July Ibecame convinced that itwasnecessary tomake amajor moveto breakthe deadlockintheParis talks.I spokedirectly in this office,where Imnow sitting,with anindividualwhohad knownHo Chi Minh ona personalbasis fbr25years.Through himI senta letterto Ho ChiMinh.I didthis outside of theusual diplomaticchannels with thehope thatwiththenecessity ofmaking statementsfor propagandaremoved,there mightbe constructiveprogresstoward bringingthe war toan end.Let meread fromthat letterto younow:Dear Mr.President:I realizethat it is difficultto communicatemeaningfully acrossthe gulfof fouryears ofwar.Butprecisely becauseof thisgulf I wanted to take thisopportunity toreaffirm in all solemnitymy desiretowork fora just peace.I deeplybelievethat the war in Vietnamhas goneon toolonganddelay in bringingit toan endcan benefitno one,least of all the people ofVietnam.The timehas cometo moveforward attheconference table toward anearly resolutionof thistragic war.You willfind usforthcoming andopen-minded ina commoneffort tobring theblessings of peace to the bravepeopleofVietnam.Lethistory recordthat atthis criticaljuncture bothsides turnedtheir facetoward peacerather than towardconflict andwar.”I receivedHoChiMinhs replyon August30,three daysbefore hisdeath.It simplyreiterated thepublicposition NorthVietnam hadtaken atParis andflatly rejectedmy initiative.The fulltext ofboth lettersisbeing releasedto thepress.In additionto thepublic meetingsthatI have referredto,AmbassadorLodgehas metwith Vietnamschiefnegotiator inParis in11private sessions.And we have takenother significantinitiatives whichmustremain secretto keepopen somechannels ofcommunications whichmay stillprove to beproductive.But theeffect of all thepublic,private,and secretnegotiations whichhave beenundertaken sincethebombing halta yearago,and since this Administrationcame intooffice onJanuary20th,can besummedup in one sentence:No progresswhatever hasbeenmadeexcept agreementon theshape of thebargaining table.Well,now,who*satfault Itsbecome clearthat theobstacle innegotiating anend to the waris not thePresident ofthe UnitedStates.It isnot theSouth VietnameseGovernment.The obstacleis theothersides absoluterefusal toshow theleast willingnessto joinus inseeking ajust peace.And it will notdo sowhileitisconvincedthatall ithas to do is to waitfor ournext concession,andournext concessionafterthat one,until itgets everythingit wants.There cannow beno longerany questionthat progressin negotiationdepends onlyon Hanoifs decidingto negotiate-to negotiateseriously.I realizethat thisreport onour effortsonthediplomatic frontisdiscouraging to the American people,but theAmericanpeopleare entitledto knowthetruth-the badnewsas wellasthegood news—where the lives of our youngmen areinvolved.Now letme turn,however,toamore encouragingreport onanother front.At thetime welaunched oursearch forpeace,I recognizedwe mightnot succeedinbringinganendto the war throughnegotiations.I thereforeput intoeffect anotherplan tobringpeace—a plan which willbring thewartoan endregardlessof whathappens onthenegotiatingfront.It isin linewiththemajor shiftin U.S.foreignpolicy whichI describedin mypress conferenceat Guamon July
25.Let mebriefly explainwhat hasbeendescribed asthe NixonDoctrine—a policywhich notonly willhelp endthewar in Vietnambutwhich isan essentialelement of our programtopreventfuture Vietnams.We Americansareado-it-yourself people-were animpatient people.Instead ofteaching someoneelseto doa job,we liketodoit ourselves.And thistrait hasbeen carriedover into our foreignpolicy.InKorea,and again inVietnam,the UnitedStates furnishedmost ofthe money,mostofthe arms,and mostofthe mento helpthepeopleof thosecountries defendtheir freedomagainst Communistaggression.Before anyAmerican troopswere committedto Vietnam,a leaderof anotherAsian countryexpressedthis opinionto mewhen Iwas travelingin Asiaas aprivate citizen.He said:When youare tryingtoassist anothernation defend its freedom,U.S.policy shouldbe tohelp themfight thewar,but notto fightthewar forthem.Well in accordance withthis wisecounsel,I laiddown inGuam threeprinciples asguidelines forfutureAmerican policytoward Asia.First,theUnitedStates willkeep allof itstreaty commitments.Second,we shallprovide ashield ifa nuclearpower threatensthe freedom of anation alliedwith us,or ofa nationwhosesurvival weconsider vitalto oursecurity.Third,in casesinvolving othertypes ofaggression weshallfurnish militaryand economicassistance whenrequested inaccordance withour treatycommitments.But weshall looktothenation directlythreatened to assume the primary responsibilityofproviding themanpower forits defense.After Iannounced thispolicy,I foundthattheleadersofthe Philippines,Thailand,Vietnam,SouthKorea,other nationswhich mightbe threatenedby Communistaggression,welcomed thisnew directionin American foreignpolicy.The defenseof freedomis everybody*s business—not justAmericas business.And itis particularlytheresponsibility ofthepeoplewhose freedomis threatened.In theprevious Administration,weAmericanized thewarinVietnam.In thisAdministration,we areVietnamizing thesearchforpeace.The policyofthepreviousAdministrationnotonlyresulted inour assumingthe primaryresponsibilityfor fightingthewar,but evenmore significantdidnotadequately stressthe goalof strengtheningtheSouth Vietnameseso thatthey coulddefend themselveswhen weleft.The Vietnamizationplan waslaunched followingSecretary Lairdsvisit toVietnaminMarch.Under theplan,I orderedfirst asubstantial increaseinthetraining andequipment ofSouth Vietnamese forces.InJuly,on myvisit toVietnam,I changedGeneral Abrams*s orders,so thatthey wereconsistent withtheobjectives of our newpolicies.Under thenew orders,theprimarymission of our troopsis toenable theSouth Vietnamese forcestoassumethe fullresponsibility forthe securityofSouthVietnam.Our airoperationshave beenreduced byover20per cent.And nowwehavebegun tosee theresults of this long-overdue changeinAmericanpolicy inVietnam.After fiveyears of Americans goinginto Vietnamwe arefinally bringingAmerican menhome.ByDecember15over60,000men willhave beenwithdrawn fromSouthVietnam,including20percent ofallofourcombat forces.The South Vietnamese havecontinued togaininstrength.As aresult,theyvebeen abletotakeover combatresponsibilities fromour Americantroops.Two othersignificant developmentshave occurredsincethisAdministration tookoffice.Enemyinfiltration,infiltration whichis essentialif they aretolaunch amajor attackover the last threemonths,isless than20percent ofwhat itwas overthe sameperiod lastyear.And mostimportant,United Statescasualtieshave declinedduringthelast twomonths tothe lowestpoint inthree years.Let menow turnto our programforthefuture.We haveadopted a planwhichwehaveworked outincooperation withtheSouth Vietnameseforthecompletewithdrawalofall U.S.combat groundforcesand theirreplacement bySouthVietnamese forces onan orderlyscheduled timetable.This withdrawalwill be madefrom strengthand notfrom weakness.As SouthVietnameseforcesbecome stronger,therate ofAmerican withdrawalcan becomegreater.I havenot,and donot,intend toannounce thetimetable forour program,and thereare obviousreasonsfor thisdecision whichIm sure you willunderstand.As Iveindicated onseveral occasions,the rateofwithdrawal willdepend ondevelopments onthree fronts.One ofthese isthe progresswhich can be,ormight be,made intheParistalks.An announcementofa fixed timetableforourwithdrawal wouldcompletelyremove anyincentive forthe enemytonegotiatean agreement.They wouldsimply waituntilour forceshad withdrawnand thenmove in.The othertwo factorson whichwe willbase ourwithdrawal decisionsare thelevel ofenemy activityandthe progressofthetraining programsoftheSouthVietnameseforces.And I am gladto beabletoreporttonight progressonbothofthesefronts hasbeen greaterthan weanticipated whenwe startedtheprogram in June for withdrawal.As aresult,our timetableforwithdrawalis moreoptimistic nowthanwhen wemade ourfirst estimatesinJune.Now thisclearly demonstrateswhy itisnotwise to be frozeninonafixedtimetable.We mustretain theflexibilityto baseeach withdrawaldecisiononthe situationas itis atthat time,rather thanon estimatesthatarenolonger valid.Along withthis optimisticestimate,I mustinallcandor leaveone noteofcaution.If thelevel ofenemy activitysignificantly increases,we mighthave toadjust ourtimetableaccordingly.However,I wantthe recordto becompletely clearon onepoint.At thetime ofthe bombinghalt justayear agothere wassome confusionastowhether therewas anunderstanding onthe part ofthe enemythat ifwe stoppedthe bombingof NorthVietnam,they wouldstop theshelling ofcities inSouthVietnam.I want tobesure thatthere isno misunderstandingonthepartofthe enemywith regard toourwithdrawalprogram.We havenoted thereduced level of infiltration,the reductionofour casualties andare basingourwithdrawal decisionspartially onthose factors.If thelevelofinfiltration orourcasualtiesincreasewhile we are tryingto scaledown thefighting,it will be theresultofa consciousdecision bytheenemy.Hanoi couldmake nogreater mistakethan toassume thatan increasein violencewillbeto itsadvantage.If Iconclude thatincreased enemyaction jeopardizesour remainingforces inVietnam,I shallnothesitate totake strongand effectivemeasures todeal withthat situation.This isnotathreat.This isastatement ofpolicywhichas Commander-in-Chief ofour armedforces Iam makingand meetingmyresponsibility forthe protectionofAmericanfighting menwherever theymay be.My fellowAmericans,Iamsureyoucan recognizefrom whatI havesaid thatwe reallyonly havetwochoices opento usifwewant to end thiswar.I canorder animmediate precipitatewithdrawalofallAmericans fromVietnamwithoutregardtothe effectsof thataction.Or wecan persistinoursearch forajustpeacethrough anegotiated settlement,if possible,or throughcontinued implementationofourplanfor Vietnamization,if necessary-a planinwhichwe willwithdrawallofourforces fromVietnam onaschedule inaccordance withourprogramastheSouthVietnamesebecome strongenough todefend theirownfreedom.I have chosen thissecond course.It isnottheeasy way.It isthe rightway.It isaplanwhich willend thewarand servethe causeofpeace,not justinVietnambut inthe Pacificand inthe world.In speakingofthe consequences ofa precipitouswithdrawal,I mentionedthat ourallies wouldloseconfidence inAmerica.Far moredangerous,we wouldlose confidencein ourselves.Oh,the immediatereactionwouldbea senseof reliefthat ourmen werecoming home.But aswe sawtheconsequencesofwhat wehad done,inevitable remorseand divisiverecrimination wouldscar ourspirit asa people.We havefaced othercrises inour historyand wehave becomestronger byrejecting theeasy wayout andtakingtherightway inmeeting ourchallenges.Our greatnessasanation hasbeen ourcapacity todowhat hastobedone whenwe knewour coursewas right.I recognizethat someofmyfellow citizensdisagreewiththeplan forpeace I havechosen.Honest andpatriotic Americanshave reacheddifferentconclusions asto howpeace shouldbe achieved.In SanFrancisco afew weeksago,I sawdemonstratorscarrying signsreading,Lose inVietnam,bring theboys home.Well,oneofthe strengthsofourfreesociety isthat anyAmerican hasa rightto reachthat conclusionand toadvocate that point of view.But asPresident oftheUnitedStates,I wouldbe untrueto myoath ofoffice if I allowedthe policyof thisnationtobedictated bythe minoritywho holdthatpointofviewand whotry toimpose itonthenationby mountingdemonstrations inthe street.For almost200years,thepolicyof this nation hasbeen madeunderour Constitutionby thoseleaders inthe Congressand theWhite Houseelected byall thepeople.Ifa vocalminority,however ferventits cause,prevails overreason andthe willofthemajority,this nationhasno futureasafree society.And now,1wouldliketo addressa word,ifImay,totheyoung peopleofthisnation whoare particularlyconcerned,andIunderstand whytheyareconcerned,about thiswar.I respectyour idealism.I shareyourconcern forpeace.I wantpeace asmuch asyou do.There arepowerful personalreasons Iwant toendthis war.This weekI willhave tosign83letters tomothers,fathers,wives,and lovedones ofmen whohavegiven theirlives forAmerica inVietnam.Its verylittle satisfactiontomethat thisis onlyone-thirdas manyletters asI signedthefirstweek inoffice.There isnothing Iwant morethantosee theday comewhenI donot have to writeanyof those letters.Iwanttoendthewarto savethelivesofthosebrave youngmen inVietnam.But Iwanttoenditina waywhich willincrease thechance thattheir youngerbrothers andtheir sonswill nothavetofight insomefuture Vietnamsome placeintheworld.And Iwanttoendthewar foranother reason.Iwanttoendit sothattheenergy anddedication ofyou,our youngpeople,now toooften directedinto bitterhatred againstthose responsibleforthewar,can beturnedtothegreat challengesofpeace,a betterlife forall Americans,a betterlife forall peopleon thisearth.I havechosen aplan forpeace.I believeitwillsucceed.If it does notsucceed,what thecritics saynowwont matter.Or ifitdoessucceed,what thecritics saynow wont matter.If itdoes notsucceed,anything Isay thenwontmatter.I knowit maynotbefashionable tospeak ofpatriotism ornational destinythese days,but Ifeel itisappropriate todo soon thisoccasion.Two hundredyearsagothisnationwas weakand poor.But eventhen,America was the hopeof millionsintheworld.Today wehave becomethe strongestand richestnation intheworld,andthewheel ofdestiny hasturned sothatanyhope theworld hasforthesurvival ofpeaceand freedomwillbedetermined bywhether theAmericanpeoplehave themoral staminaand thecourageto meetthe challengeof free-world leadership.Let historiansnot recordthat,when Americawasthemost powerfulnationintheworld,we passedonthe othersideofthe roadand allowedthelasthopes forpeaceandfreedomofmillions ofpeople tobesuffocated bythe forcesof totalitarianism.So tonight,to you,thegreatsilent majorityofmyfellowAmericans,I askfor yoursupport.I pledgedinmy campaignforthePresidency toendthewarina waythatwecould winthe peace.Ihaveinitiated aplanof actionwhich willenable meto keepthat pledge.The moresupport Ican havefrom theAmericanpeople,the soonerthat pledgecanberedeemed.For themore dividedweareat home,the lesslikely theenemyistonegotiate atParis.Let usbe unitedforpeace.Let usalso beunited againstdefeat.Because letus understand—NorthVietnam cannotdefeat orhumiliate theUnitedStates.Only Americanscan dothat.Fifty yearsago,inthisroom,and atthis verydesk,President WoodrowWilson spokewords whichcaughtthe imaginationofawar-weary world.He said:This isthewartoend wars.His dreamfor peaceafterWorld WarIwasshattered onthe hardreality ofgreat powerpolitics.And WoodrowWilson diedabroken man.Tonight,I donot tellyou thatthewarinVietnamisthewartoendwars,but Ido saythis:Ihaveinitiateda planwhich willend thiswarinawaythat willbring uscloser tothat greatgoal towhich—to whichWoodrowWilson andevery AmericanPresident inour historyhasbeendedicated—the goalofajustand lastingpeace.As PresidentI holdthe responsibilityfor choosingthe bestpath forthat goaland thenleading thenationalong it.I pledgetoyoutonight thatI shallmeet thisresponsibility withallofthe strengthand wisdomI cancommand,inaccordancewith yourhopes,mindful ofyour concerns,sustained byyour prayers.Thank youandgoodnight.。