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Rotary Club, Ionia, MI, September 2, 1970
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4526310
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Rotary Club, Ionia, MI, September 2, 1970
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975
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The original documents are located in Box D30, folder "Rotary Club, Ionia, MI, September
2, 1970" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald
R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
all Fifth District news media only
a ffice Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 12 NOON--
Wednesday, September 2, 1970
Excerpts from a Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford before the Ionia Rotary Club
We are steadily moving toward peace in Vietnam and the Middle East and
toward arms control in Vienna.
We are making real progress toward the goal of peace in Vietnam. It is not
a light at the end of a tunnel. It is a reality which we are in the process of
achieving. We are on the road to a peace that makes sense, a valid peace, a peace
which is in the best interests of the United States and the entire Free World.
We have withdrawn 115,000 men from Vietnam on the road to that peace, and we
will withdraw another 150,000 by next May. What this amounts to is that we will
end our front-line combat role in Vietnam by next spring. Meantime, our South
Vietnamese allies are growing ever stronger as they battle to thwart Communist
aggression in Indochina.
This is the best answer to those Americans who would have us chuck it all
for what they call "peace now." Their peace would destroy South Vietnam and lead to
the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of anti-Communist South Vietnamese. Their
peace would destroy American credibility throughout the world. America's word
would be worth no more than a shrug of the shoulders, and the barriers against
Communist expansionism would crumble all over the globe.
Consider the problem that Vietnam posed for President Nixon when he took
office in January 1969. He was faced with three alternatives. All of them were
bad.
One was further escalation of the war in an effort to "win" it. The American
patience at home was thin. If indeed the war was winnable, a policy of escalation
would have destroyed the new Administration before it got started.
A second choice was to build up the ability of the South Vietnamese to defend
themselves while American forces in Vietnam were withdrawn over a period of months.
This was a course which did not write off the previous investment of American lives
and treasure in Vietnam.
The third choice was immediate withdrawal. This almost surely would have
destroyed South Vietnam. And it would have caused the collapse of American
credibility among other nations whether it calmed the American people or not.
GERALD
The President chose the middle Vietnamization of the war. While
(more)
Digitized from Box D30 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
avoiding the catastrophic consequences of immediate withdrawal, it reflected the
majority view in America that U.S. ground fighting in Vietnam should be ended.
The effort to Vietnamize the war went well until the North Vietnamese
increased the tempo of their incursions into Cambodia down the Ho Chi Minh trail
through Laos and along the border between South Vietnam and Cambodia. This was a
clear move to outflank American troops in South Vietnam and raid them from the
sanctuary of so-called neutral territory. This territory was neutral only in a
technical sense because it was under the military control of the North Vietnamese.
The military situation of the Americans and South Vietnamese would have been
untenable if the North Vietnamese had succeeded, because they then would have had to
protect their whole western flank.
President Nixon, as Commander-in-Chief, made the difficult decision to save
his existing commitment of manpower in South Vietnam by protecting its flank. He
decided that American and South Vietnamese forces must keep the North Vietnamese
and Viet Cong from consolidating their positions in Cambodia. Only then could
Vietnamization proceed, along with American withdrawal.
President Nixon's lonely decision has proved wise. Vietnamization is
continuing with less external interruption. The level of fighting in Vietnam has
dropped to the lowest point in four years. And American withdrawals are continuing
as planned.
The Cambodian Operation was a great success despite the domestic furor it
caused. The Communists lost vast stores of supplies, a fact which is reflected in
the current low level of fighting in Vietnam. And now the Communists see a
marshalling of South Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai forces to resist the reestablish-
ment of Communist sanctuaries in Cambodia while U.S. air power continues to
interdict their supply routes.
Events in Cambodia have not widened the war. It has been an Indochina War
ever since the Communists violated the neutrality of Laos and Cambodia to pursue
thier designs on South Vietnam. What has been widened is the commitment of the
people of Cambodia and Thailand to resist a threat to their own security which had
been tolerated too long.
Those who shout "peace now" and would drop everything and run are wrong.
They mean well but they are choosing to ignore the dire consequences of such a
course. The so-called Amendment to End the War is really an Amendment to Lose the
Peace. I cannot be a party to that. It would be far more than a military defeat.
It would be a defeat for Americans as a people who believe in justice and decency.
It would be a shattering blow to the principles on which our Nation was built.
###
Distribution
:
all
Fifth
District
news
Media
8/28/70
m
Office
Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 12 NOON--
Wednesday, September 2, 1970
Excerpts from a Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford before the Ionia Rotary Club
We are steadily moving toward peace in Vietnam and the Middle East and
toward arms control in Vienna.
We are making real progress toward the goal of peace in Vietnam. It is not
a light at the end of a tunnel. It is a reality which we are in the process of
achieving. We are on the road to a peace that makes sense, a valid peace, a peace
which is in the best interests of the United States and the entire Free World.
We have withdrawn 115,000 men from Vietnam on the road to that peace, and we
will withdraw another 150,000 by next May. What this amounts to is that we will
end our front-line combat role in Vietnam by next spring. Meantime, our South
Vietnamese allies are growing ever stronger as they battle to thwart Communist
aggression in Indochina.
This is the best answer to those Americans who would have us chuck it all
for what they call "peace now." Their peace would destroy South Vietnam and lead to
the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of anti-Communist South Vietnamese. Their
peace would destroy American credibility throughout the world. America's word
would be worth no more than a shrug of the shoulders, and the barriers against
Communist expansionism would crumble all over the globe.
Consider the problem that Vietnam posed for President Nixon when he took
office in January 1969. He was faced with three alternatives. All of them were
bad.
One was further escalation of the war in an effort to "win" it. The American
patience at home was thin. If indeed the war was winnable, a policy of escalation
would have destroyed the new Administration before it got started.
A second choice was to build up the ability of the South Vietnamese to defend
themselves while American forces in Vietnam were withdrawn over a period of months.
This was a course which did not write off the previous investment of American lives
and treasure in Vietnam.
The third choice was immediate withdrawal. This almost surely would have
destroyed South Vietnam. And it would have caused the collapse of American
credibility among other nations whether it calmed the American people or not.
CERALD
The President chose the middle course--Vietnamization of the war. While
(more)
avoiding the catastrophic consequences of immediate withdrawal, it reflected the
majority view in America that U.S. ground fighting in Vietnam should be ended.
The effort to Vietnamize the war went well until the North Vietnamese
increased the tempo of their incursions into Cambodia down the Ho Chi Minh trail
through Laos and along the border between South Vietnam and Cambodia. This was a
clear move to outflank American troops in South Vietnam and raid them from the
sanctuary of so-called neutral territory. This territory was neutral only in a
technical sense because it was under the military control of the North Vietnamese.
The military situation of the Americans and South Vietnamese would have been
untenable if the North Vietnamese had succeeded, because they then would have had to
protect their whole western flank.
President Nixon, as Commander-in-Chief, made the difficult decision to save
his existing commitment of manpower in South Vietnam by protecting its flank. He
decided that American and South Vietnamese forces must keep the North Vietnamese
and Viet Cong from consolidating their positions in Cambodia. Only then could
Vietnamization proceed, along with American withdrawal.
President Nixon's lonely decision has proved wise. Vietnamization is
continuing with less external interruption. The level of fighting in Vietnam has
dropped to the lowest point in four years. And American withdrawals are continuing
as planned.
The Cambodian Operation was a great success despite the domestic furor it
caused. The Communists lost vast stores of supplies, a fact which is reflected in
the current low level of fighting in Vietnam. And now the Communists see a
marshalling of South Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai forces to resist the reestablish-
ment of Communist sanctuaries in Cambodia while U.S. air power continues to
interdict their supply routes.
Events in Cambodia have not widened the war. It has been an Indochina War
ever since the Communists violated the neutrality of Laos and Cambodia to pursue
thier designs on South Vietnam. What has been widened is the commitment of the
people of Cambodia and Thailand to resist a threat to their own security which had
been tolerated too long.
Those who shout "peace now" and would drop everything and run are wrong.
They mean well but they are choosing to ignore the dire consequences of such a
course. The so-called Amendment to End the War is really an Amendment to Lose the
Peace. I cannot be a party to that. It would be far more than a military defeat.
It would be a defeat for Americans as a people who believe in justice and decency.
It would be a shattering blow to the principles on which our Nation was built.
###