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323154604
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War Department 8/7/89 [OA 8748]
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323154604
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War Department 8/7/89 [OA 8748]
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13875-006
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Mark Davis Subject Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Davis, Mark, Files
Subseries:
Subject File, 1989-1991
OA/ID Number:
13875
Folder ID Number:
13875-006
Folder Title:
War Department, 8/7/89
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
19
2
7
1
August 4, 1989
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
DAVID DEMAREST
FROM:
MARK DAVIS
SUBJECT:
200th ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT
I. SUMMARY
On Monday, August 7, at 9:35 a.m., you will commemorate the
200th anniversary of the Department of War (now incorporated
within the Department of Defense) at Fort Myer. With you will be
Defense Secretary Richard Cheney, Army Secretary Jack Marsh and
Undersecretary Michael Stone. (Mr. Stone's nomination to replace
Secretary Marsh is on track, and could receive Senate approval
before the speech. We will keep you apprised.)
To your left and right will be DOD employees. Before you
will be a review of troops and the press. Since the remarks are
between five and seven minutes, no telepromter is planned.
II. DISCUSSION
This draft uses this opportunity to discuss current defense
systems before Congress. In addition, please note the reference
to Lt. Col. William R. Higgins. Care has been taken not to try
to guess his fate. If you deem it appropriate as Commander-in-
Chief, you might consider giving Lt. Col. Higgins an actual
salute after giving him a rhetorical one.
#
#
#
Davis/Wallace
Aug. 4, 1989
Title: DOD
Draft: Three
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: DEPARTMENT OF WAR/FORT MYERS
Aug. 7, 1989/9:35
Secretary Cheney -- Dick -- I want to thank you for the
splendid job you are doing at DOD. ((And by the way, Dick, I
hope you are learning how to find your way from the E-ring to
your car without getting lost
Perhaps now you know why they
made a movie about the Pentagon and called it "No Way Out. "))
And Secretary Marsh -- Jack -- I want to thank you for your
splendid performance in your service to the U.S. Army, and to
your country. And finally, I want to congratulate Michael Stone,
whom I have chosen to lead the Army into the 1990s.
I am pleased to join with you all in celebrating the 200th
anniversary of an historic department, now part of the Department
of Defense. In honoring the bicentennial of this Department, we
are also honoring the heroes of America's past and present.
The Department of War
The very name sounds antiquated,
even bellicose. Certainly, today the title Department of Defense
is more appropriate, since the purpose of our armed forces is to
deter war, not to seek it.
And yet, the title was undeniably forthright, for the War
Department fought and won six wars in its 158-year history. It
was the War Department that waged the most tragic conflict in
American history, a Civil War in which one secretary, Edwin
2
Stanton, was pitted against one of his predecessors, Jefferson
Davis. It was also the War Department that trained and
dispatched vast armies of Doughboys to France. And it was the
War Department that served as America's nerve center in the
struggle against the Axis powers, leading to the greatest
military and moral victory in our history.
Winston Churchill gave much of the credit for this to Army
Chief of Staff George Marshall, calling him the "true organizer
of victory." We all remember George Marshall as a great
Secretary of State. He deserves no less credit for his service
to the Army, and later as Secretary of Defense.
None of us who served in the Second World War will ever
forget the great leaders of the War Department. Nor we will
forget the great lesson of those years -- only the strong can
keep the peace.
It is no discredit to the War Department that at the
outbreak of the Second World War our armed forces were still
drilling with wooden rifles, hauling massive, but useless radios,
and planning to wage land warfare with horse cavalry.
Today, of course, it is not a shortage of rifles that
threatens to undermine America's ability to keep the peace. To
preserve the peace today, we must be strong in other ways. This
means we must rely on advanced technology, not the strategic
equivalent of horse calvary.
The United States today requires a closely integrated
strategic program designed to enhance our strength, bolster
3
deterrence and facilitate arms control. It demands that we
modernize our ICBM force, redeploying the Peacekeeper missile in
rail-garrison now. ((PAUSE)) And it means completing the
development of the new small ICBM, and its deployment when ready.
These mobile systems will bring improved survivability and
stability to the land-based leg of our strategic triad.
A strong defense also means something else -- sufficient
funding for the Stealth Bomber. ((PAUSE))
And it means one thing more -- support for the Strategic
Defense Initiative. ((PAUSE)) SDI offers the promise of a
stable nuclear balance that relies increasingly on defense. It
provides an incentive for the Soviets to return to the
negotiating table, and it will make any START treaty more
effective. It represents a firm step toward stability -- the
same goal we seek through modernization of our nuclear arsenal,
and arms control. This is the program the country needs, and I
will work to see that this is the program that the country gets.
Just as critical to our nation's defense are the men and
women of the Department of Defense. You are called upon to do a
difficult, often dangerous, job. And you perform your duty with
distinction.
The history of this department is nothing less than the
history of American bravery. Whether we call it the Department
of War or the Department of Defense, this tradition of service to
country lives on in each of you.
4
So, today, in commemorating the Department of War, we also
salute you and every brave American who ever served in the
original War Department, in the U.S. Army, and your Air Force and
Navy compatriots, now with you in the Department of Defense. We
also salute those who served in the two great conflicts of this
century, and those who served in Korea and Vietnam. And we
cannot leave here today without pausing to salute one who stands
as a symbol of the courage that burns in the breast of every
American in uniform -- one Marine who has been very much in our
thoughts and prayers -- Lieutenant Colonel William Richard
Higgins. ((PAUSE))
It is an inspiration to be among America's finest. And to
honor a great department and it's great traditions. God bless
you, and God bless the United States of America.
#
#
#