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American Legion Michigan Department Fall Conference Banquet, Ann Arbor, MI, September 28, 1968
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American Legion Michigan Department Fall Conference Banquet, Ann Arbor, MI, September 28, 1968
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This file contains material relating to Neville Chamberlain.
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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The original documents are located in Box D25, folder "American Legion Michigan
Department Fall Conference Banquet, Ann Arbor, MI, September 28, 1968" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Memo: re: Ann Arbor Speaking Appearance
Ann Arbor News wants copy of the speech. I told them
you would give copies to George Harms, and they could
get it from him.
---
Here's a gag you may want to use before you get into
your speech proper.
--
You may point out that some people are saying 1968 is
like 1948 and that Republicans have to guard against
over-confidence. That reminds us of how Tom Dewey
GERALD FORD
tot was so sure of winning he told his wife she'd be
sleeping in the White House in January. WHEN BESS
TRUMAN HEARD ABOUT THIS, SHE WAS AWFULLY DAMNED MAD.
2/ Ann Arbor Notes
Another variation of the same gag is and you may want
to use both
After 1 om
Dewey lost, his wife reminded him that
he had told her she would wind up sleeping in the White
House and said:
"SHOULD I CALL HARRY,
OR IS HE GOING TO CALL ME?"
####
Digitized from Box D25 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
IN BRITAIN IT WAS WINSTON CHURCHILL WHO
RAISED THE MOST POIGNANT PROTEST WHEN HE
SPOKE TO COMMONS ON OCT. 5 OF WHAT HAD LED
TO MUNICH AND WHAT WAS TO COME HE SAID:
"IT IS THE MOST GRIEVOUS CONSEQUENCES
WHICH WE HAVE YET EXPERIENCED, OF WHAT WE
HAVE DONE, AND OF WHAT WE HAVE LEFT UNDONE
IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS -- FIVE YEARS OF
FORD
LIBRA
FUTILE GOOD INTENTIONS, FIVE YEARS OF EAGER
-2-
SEARCH FOR THE LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE,
FIVE YEARS OF UNINTERRUPTED RETREAT OF
BRITISH POWER, FIVE YEARS OF NEGLECT OF OUR
AIR DEFENSES... WE ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF
A DISASTER OF THE FIRST MAGNITUDE WHICH HAS
BEFALLEN GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE. DO NOT LET
US BLIND OURSELVES TO THAT. IT MUST NOW BE
ACCEPTED THAT ALL THE COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL
LIBRARY
AND EASTERN EUROPE WILL MAKE THE BEST TERMS
-3-
THEY CAN WITH THE TRIUMPHANT NAZI POWER.
THE SYSTEM OF ALLIANCES IN CENTRAL EUROPE
UPON WHICH FRANCE HAS RELIED FOR HER SAFETY
HAS BEEN SWEPT AWAY, AND I CAN SEE NO MEANS
BY WHICH IT CAN BE RECONSTITUTED. THE ROAD
DOWN THE DANUBE VALLEY TO THE BLACK SEA,
THE RESOURCES OF CORN AND OIL, THE ROAD
WHICH LEADS AS FAR AS TURKEY, HAS BEEN
GERALD R.FORD CIBRARY
OPENED."
AN ADDRESS AT THE AMERICAN LEGION MICHIGAN
DEPARTMENT FALL CONFERENCE BANQUET, 7 P.M.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 28, 1968, AT ANN ARBOR, MICH.
IT IS ONE OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF MAN
THAT HE IS ALWAYS DISSATISFIED WITH HIS LOT.
HE IS A QUESTING ANIMAL. AS ALEXANDER POPE
PUT IT, "HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL IN THE HUMAN
BREAST; MAN NEVER IS BUT ALWAYS TO BE BLEST."
AND SO ONE OF MAN'S FAVORITE
PASTIMES IS TO LOOK INTO THE FUTURE, TO PEER
INTO THE BEYOND AND HOPE FOR SOMETHING BETTER
THAN HE HAS KNOWN.
I HAVE LONG FELT THAT WHILE GREAT
EXPECTATIONS ARE MOST NORMAL, THE PAST IS
OFTEN MORE INSTRUCTIVE THAN THE FUTURE.
AS IT IS WRITTEN ON ONE OF THE
GREAT GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS IN WASHINGTON,
"WHAT'S PAST IS PROLOGUE" AND WE CAN LEARN
MUCH BY STUDYING IT.
BERRLD R.FORD LIBRARY
-2-
LET ME TAKE YOU BACK TO THE YEAR
1938. WHAT WERE YOU DOING THAT YEAR? I WAS
IN LAW SCHOOL AT YALE--AND DOING SOME COACHING
TO WORK MY WAY THROUGH SCHOOL. FOUR YEARS
LATER I JOINED THE NAVY. I DIDN'T SEE THE
WORLD, BUT I SAW A LOT OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN
BEFORE THE THIRD AND FIFTH FLEETS LET GO OF
ME.
GETTING BACK TO THE YEAR 1938, I
DON'T REMEMBER IT AS PARTICULARLY EARTH-
SHAKING FOR ME PERSONALLY. BUT IT WAS
FRIGHTENINGLY EVENTFUL--FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD.
THAT WAS THE YEAR THE SPANISH CIVIL
WAR MOVED TOWARD AN END, WITH THE INSURGENTS
BEGINNING THEIR FINAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST
BARCELONA.
IT WAS THE YEAR WHEN HITLER INVADED
AUSTRIA AND INITIATED THE DISMEMBERMENT OF
CZECHOSLOVAKIA.
IT WAS THE YEAR WHEN DOUGLAS
LIBRURY
-3-
"WRONG WAY" CORRIGAN FLEW FROM BROOKLYN, N.Y.,
TO DUBLIN, IRELAND WITHOUT A PERMIT OR A
PASSPORT...AND THAT WAS ABOUT THE ONLY "RIGHT"
THING THAT HAPPENED INTERNATIONALLY IN 1938.
THE MOST INFAMOUS EVENT OF 1938
WAS SYMBOLIZED BY A BRITON WITH AN UMBRELLA
WHO TWICE FLEW TO MEET ADOLF HITLER AND
RETURNED TO ENGLAND DECLARING HE HAD ACHIEVED
"PEACE WITH HONOR PEACE FOR OUR TIME."
IT WILL BE 30 YEARS AGO MONDAY,
SEPT. 30, THAT THE BRITISH PRIME MINISTER WITH
THE WING COLLAR / MOUSTACHE AND UMBRELLA
STEPPED OFF A PLANE AT HESTON AIRDROME OUTSIDE
LONDON AND WAVED HIS "PEACE FOR OUR TIME"
MEMORANDUM SIGNED BY ADOLF HITLER.
CHAMBERLAIN'S "PEACE FOR OUR TIME"
LASTED LESS THAN ONE YEAR. IT CULMINATED IN
A WAR WHICH ENGULFED THE WORLD AND RESULTED
IN 1,078,162 AMERICAN CASUALTIES, WITH
292,131 G.I. COMBAT DEATHS AND 115,185
-4-
AMERICAN DEATHS DUE TO OTHER CAUSES.
CHAMBERLAIN WAS WELL-INTENTIONED.
HE SINCERELY BELIEVED HE HAD BOUGHT PEACE BY
FORCING CZECH LEADERS TO DELIVER THAT PART OF
CZECHOSLOVAKIA KNOWN AS THE SUDETENLAND INTO
HITLER'S HANDS. THE FRENCH PREMIER, EDOUARD
DALADIER, HAD ACUTE MISGIVINGS BUT HE
COOPERATED.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE PUBLIC ACCLAIM
THAT WAS SHOWERED ON CHAMBERLAIN AND DALADIER?
THOUSANDS OF LONDONERS CHEERED CHAMBERLAIN
ON HIS RETURN FROM MUNICH WITH HIS SCRAP OF
PAPER, AND DALADIER RECEIVED A TUMULTUOUS
RECEPTION FROM THE FRENCH PEOPLE.
THERE ARE CURIOUS PARALLELS BETWEEN
1938 AND 1968. have -N/SM
CZECHOSLOVAKIA AGAIN HAS BEEN
OCCUPIED BY FOREIGN TROOPS THIS TIME BECAUSE
THE COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT FORCED ON
CZECHOSLOVAKIA BY THE SOVIET UNION IN 1948
-5-
ULTIMATELY PERMITTED THE CZECHOSLOVAKIAN
PEOPLE A DEGREE OF FREEDOM.
THERE ALSO ARE HINTS OF A SOVIET
PARTITIONING OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA--JUST AS
HAPPENED AT THE HANDS OF HITLER IN 1938.
THE JOHNSON-HUMPHREY ADMINISTRATION
PROTESTED IN THE UNITED NATIONS AGAINST THE
SOVIET-LED OCCUPATION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA BUT HAS
SINCE LET THE MATTER DROP. THIS IS REMINISCENT
OF THE MILD OBJECTIONS RAISED BY THE WESTERN
ALLIES WHEN HITLER INVADED AUSTRIA ON MARCH 11,
1938.
ONE PROMINENT UNITED STATES SENATOR
EVEN WENT SO FAR AS TO DISMISS THE SOVIET-LED
INVASION AND OCCUPATION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA AS
OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE. TO USE THE VERNACULAR
OF THE DAY, HE "KISSED IT OFF."
IN MY OPINION, THIS REACTION TO
THE SOVIET TAKEOVER IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
TRAGICALLY IGNORES THE LESSONS OF HISTORY.
GERAL
LIBRARY
-6-
EMBOLDENED BY THE RECENT SILENCE
OF THE ADMINISTRATION ON ITS OCCUPATION OF
CZECHOSLOVAKIA, THE SOVIET UNION HAS TALKED
OF INVADING AND OCCUPYING WEST GERMANY.
SO LITTLE ATTENTION HAS BEEN GIVEN
THIS DEVELOPMENT THAT I DARESAY SOME AMERICANS
MAY NOT EVEN BE AWARE OF SOVIET THREATS TO
SEND TROOPS INTO WEST GERMANY.
THE RUSSIANS KNOW THAT AMERICANS
VIVIDLY RECALL THE HORRORS OF NAZIISM--AND SO
THEY TALK OF A NEW RISE OF NAZIISM IN GERMANY
AND ASSERT THE SOVIET UNION MUST INTERVENE
MILITARILY IN WEST GERMANY TO STAMP IT OUT.
THEY EVEN GO SO FAR AS TO CONTEND
THAT TWO CLAUSES IN THE UNITED NATIONS CHARTER
GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO INTERVENE IN WEST
GERMANY.
THIS, OF COURSE, IS COMPLETELY
FALSE, AND OUR STATE DEPARTMENT HAS FIRMLY
SAID SO.
-7-
MOREOVER, THE UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT HAS FORMALLY ASSURED THE GOVERNMENT
OF WEST GERMANY THAT ANY SOVIET INTERVENTION
IN WEST GERMANY WOULD BRING AN IMMEDIATE
RESPONSE FROM MEMBERS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC
TREATY ORGANIZATION.
THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A JOINT
AMERICAN-BRITISH-FRENCH RESPONSE TO THE SOVIET
CLAIM OF THE RIGHT TO INTERVENE IN WEST
GERMANY. I REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT
BUREAUCRATIC FUMBLING IN WASHINGTON PREVENTED
THIS.
THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A JOINT
ALLIED RESPONSE TO THE SOVIET THREAT DIRECTED
AT WEST GERMANY, JUST AS THERE SHOULD HAVE
BEEN A JOINT ALLIED RESPONSE TO COMMUNIST
AGGRESSION IN SOUTH VIETNAM.
THE FACT THAT WE HAVE ACTED
UNILATERALLY IN BOTH INSTANCES POINTS TO A
SERIOUS FLAW IN OUR FOREIGN POLICY.
-7A-
IT IS ALSO A FACT THAT THE SOVIET
THREAT TO INVADE WEST GERMANY IS A DIRECT
FOLLOWUP TO THE OCCUPATION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA
AND MILD U.S. REACTION TO IT. BELIEVE ME
/
WHEN I SAY THE DANGER FLAGS ARE FLYING IN
EUROPE.
I APPLAUD THE FIRM POSITION TAKEN
BY THE ADMINISTRATION ON THE SOVIET CLAIM TO
RIGHT OF INTERVENTION IN WEST GERMANY.
BUT I DISAGREE STRONGLY WITH THE
ADMINISTRATION TACK IN DROPPING ITS ATTEMPT
TO HAVE THE UNITED NATIONS DENOUNCE THE SOVIET-
LED INVASION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA.
IF WE FAIL TO MARSHAL FORMAL WORLD
OPINION AGAINST OCCUPATION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA
BY SOVIET-LED WARSAW PACT NATIONS, WE WILL BE
TELLING THE WORLD THAT MIGHT MAKES RIGHT,
THAT PRINCIPLES MEAN NOTHING, AND THAT FREEDOM
AND NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY ARE JUST WORDS.
FREEDOM CAN SURVIVE IN THE WORLD
-8-
ONLY IF FREE MEN ARE WILLING TO STAND UP FOR
IT.
I AM NOT SAYING THE NATO NATIONS
SHOULD HAVE ENGAGED IN OR EVEN THREATENED
MILITARY ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THE SOVIET-LED
INVASION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA.
BUT I AM SAYING THAT THE SOVIET
ACTION WAS WRONG AND WE SHOULD NOT LET THE
SOVIET UNION OR THE REST OF THE WORLD FORGET
IT. WE SHOULD PRESS FOR FORMAL UN. CONDEMNATION
OF THE INVASION.
IF WE DO NOT ADHERE TO THE
PRINCIPLES SET FORTH IN THE UNITED NATIONS
CHARTER, THEY SOON WILL NOT BE WORTH THE PAPER
THEY ARE PRINTED ON...ANY MORE THAN ADOLF
HITLER'S SIGNATURE ON THE MUNICH AGREEMENT
WAS WORTH ANYTHING IN 1938.
NORMALIZATION? THE ONLY TRUE NORMS
FOR ALL MEN ARE THE RIGHTS TO LIFE, LIBERTY,
AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
GERALD
LIBRARY
-9-
REVIVAL OF THE COLD WAR? I WOULD
BE THE LAST PERSON IN THE WORLD TO ADVOCATE
THAT. BUT TO ABANDON ALL PRINCIPLE IN PURSUIT
OF PEACE IS TO TAKE THE SUREST ROAD TO
ULTIMATE DISASTER.
I BELIEVE WE SHOULD SEEK A DETENTE
WITH THE SOVIET UNION. I STRONGLY BELIEVE
IN NEGOTIATION--NEGOTIATION FROM A POSITION
OF STRENGTH.
BUT I DO NOT BELIEVE WE HAVE TO
SCRAP OUR PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE A DETENTE.
NOR DO I BELIEVE IT IS HELPFUL TO
AMERICA'S QUEST FOR PEACE TO HAVE ITS
AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS LEVEL A
CRUDE, VICIOUS AND UNJUST ATTACK AGAINST A
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED
STATES WHILE IN THE PROCESS OF RESIGNING.
THIS IS A BLOT NOT ONLY ON THE RECORD OF THE
DIPLOMAT INVOLVED BUT ALSO ON THE WORLD IMAGE
OF OUR NATION.
-10-
THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT EAST-
WEST RELATIONS HAVE DETERIORATED--AND I DO
NOT BLAME OUR DEPARTING AMBASSADOR TO THE
UN. FOR THIS. THE RAPID WORSENING OF THE
WORLD SITUATION IS DIRECTLY DUE TO ACTIONS
TAKEN BY THE SOVIET UNION IN EASTERN EUROPE,
THE MIDDLE EAST AND VIETNAM.
IN THE MIDDLE EAST THE SOVIET
UNION IS CHALLENGING US FOR CONTROL OF THE
MEDITERRANEAN SEA. THE ADMINISTRATION HAS
DRAWN DOWN OUR STRENGTH IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
BECAUSE OF VIETNAM AND HAS NARROWED OUR MARGIN
OF MILITARY SUPERIORITY THERE.
THE RUSSIANS HAVE FLOODED THE ARAB
NATIONS WITH ARMS AND MILITARY ADVISERS SINCE
THE ARAB-ISRAELI WAR AND ARE USING THIS AS
A LEVER TO GAIN POLITICAL CONTROL OF THAT
REGION OF THE WORLD.
IT IS RIDICULOUS TO BELIEVE THAT
THE TREMENDOUS GROWTH WE ARE SEEING IN
-11-
RUSSIAN NAVAL POWER IS DEFENSIVE.
THE TRUTH IS THAT THE RUSSIANS ARE
CHALLENGING OUR NAVAL SUPERIORITY EVERYWHERE
IN THE WORLD.
AND THE TRUTH ALSO IS THAT TO
SURVIVE WE MUST CONTINUE TO BE THE WORLD'S
GREATEST SEA POWER.
THIS IS NOT "HARDLINER" TALK. THIS
IS HONESTY. THIS IS REALISM IN THE GAME OF
INTERNATIONAL BIG POWER POLITICS, WHICH WE
ARE FORCED TO PLAY WHETHER WE WANT TO OR NOT.
WHAT ABOUT VIETNAM? I WILL SAY
NOTHING THAT MIGHT INJURE THE PEACE TALKS
IN PARIS. BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THIS. MY
INFORMATION IS THAT THE WAR IN VIETNAM IS
GOING MUCH BETTER FOR US THAN MOST PRESS
REPORTS INDICATE.
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SINGLE
DEVELOPMENT IN RECENT MONTHS HAS BEEN AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE SOUTHVIETNAMESE ARMY AS A
-12-
FIGHTING UNIT. I WHOLEHEARTEDLY APPLAUD
THIS DEVELOPMENT. IN THIS CONNECTION, IT
SHOULD BE NOTED THAT NEARLY ALL THE
SOUTHVIETNAMESE INFANTRYMEN NOW HAVE THE
M-16 RIFLE. THIS GIVES THEM FIREPOWER AT
LEAST EQUAL TO THAT OF THE ENEMY, WHICH HAS
ALWAYS HAD THE EXTREMELY GOOD RUSSIAN AK-47.
IF YOU ARE WONDERING WHY IT TOOK
SO LONG TO EQUIP THE SOUTHVIETNAMESE ARMY
WITH THE M-16, YOU WILL HAVE TO ASK THE
ADMINISTRATION. I SIMPLY DON'T KNOW.
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ALLIED TROOPS
IN VIETNAM, INCLUDING THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE
PARAMILITARY FORCES, IS NOW ABOUT FIVE TIMES
THAT OF THE COMMUNIST REGULAR AND IRREGULAR
FORCES.
THE NUMBER OF NORTH VIETNAMESE
REGULARS HAS INCREASED TO ROUGHLY ONE-THIRD
OF ALL COMMUNIST FORCES IN THE SOUTH, BUT
NORTHVIETNAM HAS DEFINITELY ENCOUNTERED
FORD LIBRARY
-13-
MANPOWER REPLACEMENT PROBLEMS SINCE THE TET
OFFENSIVE LAST JANUARY. NEW RECRUITS ARE
BEING THROWN INTO BATTLE WITH LITTLE TRAINING.
BUT THE NORTHVIETNAMESE HAVE
NO SUPPLY PROBLEMS--AND THEY ARE TRYING TO
OFFSET THEIR MANPOWER DIFFICULTIES WITH A
STEPUP IN HEAVY ARTILLERY AND ROCKETRY.
THE VIRTUALLY UNIMPEDED FLOW OF
SUPPLIES TO THE ENEMY THROUGH THE PORT OF
HAIPHONG IS ONE OF THE TRAGEDIES OF THE
VIETNAM WAR.
Soint y min
AMERICANS MAY DISAGREE--AND--DO
ABOUT OUR ORIGINAL INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM,
BUT IT SEEMS CLEAR THAT THE WAR HAS BEEN
FOUGHT IN THE WRONG WAY.
I PERSONALLY BELIEVE THAT IF WE
HAD FOUGHT THE VIETNAM WAR IN LINE WITH SOUND
MILITARY STRATEGY, THE WAR WOULD HAVE ENDED
BEFORE THIS TIME OR WOULD HAVE BEEN GREATLY
SHORTENED.
-14-
NOW WE HEAR DEMANDS FOR AN
UNCONDITIONAL HALT TO ALL BOMBING OF NORTH
VIETNAM. HIGHLY VOCAL DEMONSTRATORS CRY,
"STOP THE WAR."
IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL IF WE COULD
JUST "STOP THE WAR," WOULDN'T IT? BUT IT
JUST IS NOT THAT SIMPLE. Bushamail
PEACE IS POPULAR. WE ALL LOVE
PEACE. BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN MEN MUST
FIGHT.
THE GREAT BRITISH PHILOSOPHER
JOHN STUART MILL ONCE SAID: "WAR IS AN UGLY
THING, BUT NOT THE UGLIEST OF THINGS; THE
DECAYED AND DEGRADED STATE OF MORAL AND
PATRIOTIC FEELING WHICH THINKS NOTHING WORTH
A WAR IS WORSE."
IT WAS ANOTHER GREAT BRITISHER,
WINSTON CHURCHILL, WHO ROSE IN THE HOUSE OFFORD
COMMONS WHILE THE ENGLISH WERE CHEERING
LIBRARY
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN 30 YEARS AGO FOR ACHIEVING
-15-
WHAT CHAMBERLAIN CALLED "PEACE FOR OUR TIME"
AND DECLARED:
"IT IS THE MOST GRIEVOUS
CONSEQUENCES WHICH WE HAVE YET EXPERIENCED,
OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE, AND OF WHAT WE HAVE
LEFT UNDONE IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS--FIVE
YEARS OF FUTILE GOOD INTENTIONS, FIVE YEARS
OF EAGER SEARCH FOR THE LINE OF LEAST
RESISTANCE".
DOES ANY AMERICAN TODAY REALLY
BELIEVE THAT THE LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE
IS THE PATH TO LASTING PEACE?
I DON'T WANT A PEACE THAT WILL MAKE
A MOCKERY OF THE PRICE PAID BY THE MORE THAN
200,000 AMERICANS ON THE VIETNAM CASUALTY
LIST. I DON'T WANT A PEACE THAT WILL
DESECRATE THE MEMORIES OF THE MORE THAN
28,000 AMERICANS WHO HAVE DIED IN COMBAT IN
VIETNAM. I DON'T WANT A PEACE THAT WILL
INEVITABLY LEAD TO A COMMUNIST TAKEOVER OF
-16-
SOUTH VIETNAM.
LET'S STAND FIRM--AND HOLD OUT
FOR THE WINSTON CHURCHILL KIND OF PEACE. A
NEGOTIATED PEACE? YES, BUT A PEACE BASED ON
PRINCIPLES, A PEACE THAT STICKS, A PEACE THAT
WILL ENDURE.
THIS IS THE KIND OF PEACE I WANT
IN VIETNAM. I PERSONALLY WOULD SETTLE FOR NO
LESS.
- END -
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH., MINORITY LEADER OF THE U.S. HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES, at the AMERICAN LEGION MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT FALL
CONFERENCE BANQUET, 7 p.m. SATURDAY, SEPT. 28, 1968, at ANN ARBOR, MICH.
It is one of the attributes of man that he is always dissatisfied with
his lot. He is a questing animal. As Alexander Pope put it, "Hope springs
eternal in the human breast; man never is but always to be blest."
And so one of man's favorite pastimes is to look into the future, to peer
into the beyond and hope for something better than he has known.
I have long felt that while great expectations are most normal, the past
is often more instructive than the future.
As it is written on one of the great government buildings in Washington,
"What's past is prologue" and we can learn much by studying it.
Let me take you back to the year 1938. What were you doing that year?
I was in Law School at Yale--and doing some coaching to work my way through
school. Four years later I joined the Navy. I didn't see the world, but I saw
a lot of the Pacific Ocean before the Third and Fifth Fleets let go of me.
Getting back to the year 1938, I don't remember it as particularly
earth-shaking for me personally. But it was frighteningly eventful--for the
entire world.
That was the year the Spanish civil war moved toward an end, with the
insurgents beginning their final campaign against Barcelona.
It was the year when Hitler invaded Austria and initiated the dismember-
ment of Czechoslovakia.
It was the year when Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan flew from Brooklyn, N.Y.,
to Dublin, Ireland without a permit or a passport and that was about the only
"right" thing that happened internationally in 1938.
The most infamous event of 1938 was symbolized by a Briton with an
umbrella who twice flew to meet Adolf Hitler and returned to England declaring
he had achieved "peace with honor peace for our time."
It will be 30 years ago Monday, Sept. 30, that the British prime minister
with the wing collar, moustache and umbrella stepped off a plane at Heston
Airdrome outside London and waved his "peace for our time" memorandum signed by
Adolf Hitler.
Chamberlain's "peace for our time" lasted less than one year. It
culminated in a war which engulfed the world and resulted in 1,078,162 American
casualties, with 292, 131 G.I. combat deaths and 115,185 American deaths due to
other causes.
(more)
-2-
Chamberlain was well-intentioned. He sincerely believed he had bought
peace by forcing Czech leaders to deliver that part of Czechoslovakia known as
the Sudentenland into Hitler's hands. The French premier, Edouard Daladier, had
acute misgivings but he cooperated.
Do you remember the public acclaim that was showered on Chamberlain and
Daladier? Thousands of Londoners cheered Chamberlain on his return from Munich
with his scrap of paper, and Daladier received a tumultuous reception from the
French people.
There are curious parallels between 1938 and 1968.
Czechoslovakia again has been occupied by foreign troops this time
because the Communist government forced on Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union
in 1948 ultimately permitted the Czechoslovakian people a degree of freedom.
There also are hints of a Soviet partitioning of Czechoslovakia- just as
happened at the hands of Hitler in 1938.
The Johnson-Humphrey Administration protested in the United Nations
against the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia but has since let the matter
drop. This is reminiscent of the mild objections raised by the Western allies
when Hitler invaded Austria on March 11, 1938.
One prominent United States senator even went so far as to dismiss the
Soviet-led invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia as of little consequence.
To use the vernacular of the day, he "kissed it off."
In my opinion, this reaction to the Soviet takeover in Czechoslovakia
tragically ignores the lessons of history.
Emboldened by the recent silence of the Administration on its occupation
of Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union has talked of invading and occupying West
Germany.
So little attention has been given this development that I daresay some
Americans may not even be aware of Soviet threats to send troops into West
Germany.
The Russians know that Americans vividly recall the horrors of Naziism--
and so they talk of a new rise of Naziism in Germany and assert the Soviet Union
must intervene in West Germany.
This, of course, is completely false, and our State Department has firmly
said SO.
Moreover, the United States Government has formally assured the government
of West Germany that any Soviet intervention in West Germany would bring an
(more)
-3-
immediate response from members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
There should have been a joint American-British-French response to the
Soviet claim of the right to intervene in West Germany. I regret to inform you
that bureaucratic fumbling in Washington prevented this.
There should have been a joint allied response to the Soviet threat
directed at West Germany, just as there should have been a joint allied response
to Communist aggression in South Vietnam.
The fact that we have acted unilaterally in both instances points to a
serious flaw in our foreign policy.
It is also a fact that the Soviet threat to invade West Germany is a
direct followup to the occupation of Czechoslovakia and mild U.S. reaction to it.
Believe me when I say the danger flags are flying in Europe.
I applaud the firm position taken by the Administration on the Soviet
claim to right of intervention in West Germany.
But I disagree strongly with the Administration tack in dropping its
attempt to have the United Nations denounce the Soviet-led invasion of
Czechoslovakia.
If we fail to marshal formal world opinion against occupation of
Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led Warsaw Pact nations, we will be telling the world
that might makes right, that principles mean nothing, and that freedom and
national sovereignty are just words.
Freedom can survive in the world only if free men are willing to stand
up for it.
I am not saying the NATO nations should have engaged in or even threatened
military action in response to the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.
But I am saying that the Soviet action was wrong and we should not let
the Soviet Union or the rest of the world forget it. We should press for formal
UN condemnation of the invasion.
If we do not adhere to the principles set forth in the United Nations
Charter, they soon will not be worth the paper they are printed on any more than
Adolf Hitler's signature on the Munich Agreement was worth anything in 1938.
Normalization? The only true norms for all men are the rights to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Revival of the Cold War? I would be the last person in the world to
advocate that. But to abandon all principle in pursuit of peace is to take the
surest road to ultimate disaster.
(more)
-4-
I believe we should seek a detente with the Soviet Union. I strongly
believe in negotiation--negotiation from a position of strength.
But I do not believe we have to scrap our principles to achieve a detente.
Nor do I believe it is helpful to America's quest for peace to have its
ambassador to the United Nations level a crude, vicious and unjust attack against
a candidate for the Presidency of the United States while in the process of
resigning. This is a blot not only on the record of the diplomat involved but
also on the world image of our Nation.
There is no question that East-West relations have deteriorated- and I
do not blame our departing ambassador to the UN for this. The rapid worsening
of the world situation is directly due to actions taken by the Soviet Union in
Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Vietnam.
In the Middle East the Soviet Union is challenging us for control of the
Mediterranean Sea. The Administration has drawn down our strength in the
Mediterranean because of Vietnam and has narrowed our margin of military superior-
ity there.
The Russians have flooded the Arab nations with arms and military advisers
since the Arab-Israeli War and are using this as a lever to gain political
control of that region of the world.
It is ridiculous to believe that the tremendous growth we are seeing in
Russian naval power is defensive.
The truth is that the Russians are challenging our naval superiority
everywhere in the world.
And the truth also is that to survive we must continue to be the world's
greatest sea power.
This is not "hardliner" talk. This is honesty. This is realism in the
game of international big power politics, which we are forced to play whether
we want to or not.
What about Vietnam? I will say nothing that might injure the peace talks
in Paris. But I would like to say this. My information is that the war in
Vietnam is going much better for us than most press reports indicate.
The most significant single development in recent months has been an
improvement in the Southvietnamese Army as a fighting unit. I wholeheartedly
applaud this development. In this connection, it should be noted that nearly
all the Southvietnamese infantrymen now have the M-16 rifle. This gives them
firepower at least equal to that of the enemy, which has always had the extremely
good Russian AK-47.
(more)
-5-
If you are wondering why it took so long to equip the Southvietnamese Army
with the M-16, you will have to ask the Administration. I simply don't know.
The total number of allied troops in Vietnam, including the South
Vietnamese paramilitary forces, is now about five times that of the Communist
regular and irregular forces.
The number of North Vietnamese regulars has increased to roughly one-third
of all Communist forces in the South, but Northvietnam has definitely encountered
manpower replacement problems since the Tet offensive last January. New
recruits are being thrown into battle with little training.
But the Northvietnamese have no supply problems--and they are trying to
offset their manpower difficulties with a stepup in heavy artillery and rocketry.
The virtually unimpeded flow of supplies to the enemy through the port of
Haiphong is one of the tragedies of the Vietnam War.
Americans may disagree--and do--about our original involvement in Vietnam,
but it seems clear that the war has been fought in the wrong way.
I personally believe that if we had fought the Vietnam War in line with
sound military strategy, the war would have ended before this time or would have
been greatly shortened.
Now we hear demands for an unconditional halt to all bombing of North
Vietnam. Highly vocal demonstrators cry, "Stop the war."
It would be wonderful if we could just "stop the war," wouldn't it?
But it just is not that simple.
Peace is popular. We all love peace. But there are times when men must
fight.
The great British philosopher John Stuart Mill once said: "War is an
ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of
moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war is worse.
It was another great Britisher, Winston Churchill, who rose in the House
of Commons while the English were cheering Neville Chamberlain 30 years ago for
achieving what Chamberlain called "peace for our time" and declared:
"It is the most grievous consequences which we have yet experienced, of
what we have done, and of what we have left undone in the last five years--five
years of futile good intentions, five years of eager search for the line of
least resistance"
Does any American today really believe that the line of least resistance
is the path to lasting peace?
I don't want a peace that will make a mockery of the price paid by the
(more)
-6-
more than 200,000 Americans on the Vietnam casualty list. I don't want a peace
that will desecrate the memories of the more than 28,000 Americans who have died
in combat in Vietnam. I don't want a peace that will inevitably lead to a
Communist takeover of South Vietnam.
Let's stand firm--and hold out for the Winston Churchill kind of peace.
A negotiated peace? Yes, but a peace based on principles, a peace that sticks,
a peace that will endure.
This is the kind of peace I want in Vietnam. I personally would settle
for no less.
# # #
distribution 20 Capies Mr Ford
M Office Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH., MINORITY LEADER OF THE U.S. HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES, at the AMERICAN LEGION MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT FALL
CONFERENCE BANQUET, 7 p.m. SATURDAY, SEPT. 28, 1968, at ANN ARBOR, MICH.
It is one of the attributes of man that he is always dissatisfied with
his lot. He is a questing animal. As Alexander Pope put it, "Hope springs
eternal in the human breast; man never is but always to be blest."
And so one of man's favorite pastimes is to look into the future, to peer
into the beyond and hope for something better than he has known.
I have long felt that while great expectations are most normal, the past
is often more instructive than the future.
As it is written on one of the great government buildings in Washington,
"What's past is prologue" and we can learn much by studying it.
Let me take you back to the year 1938. What were you doing that year?
I was in Law School at Yale--and doing some coaching to work my way through
school. Four years later I joined the Navy. I didn't see the world, but I saw
a lot of the Pacific Ocean before the Third and Fifth Fleets let go of me.
Getting back to the year 1938, I don't remember it as particularly
earth-shaking for me personally. But it was frighteningly eventful--for the
entire world.
That was the year the Spanish civil war moved toward an end, with the
insurgents beginning their final campaign against Barcelona.
It was the year when Hitler invaded Austria and initiated the dismember-
ment of Czechoslovakia.
It was the year when Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan flew from Brooklyn, N.Y.,
to Dublin, Ireland without a permit or a passport
and
that
was
about
the
only
"right" thing that happened internationally in 1938.
The most infamous event of 1938 was symbolized by a Briton with an
umbrella who twice flew to meet Adolf Hitler and returned to England declaring
he had achieved "peace with honor peace for our time."
It will be 30 years ago Monday, Sept. 30, that the British prime minister
with the wing collar, moustache and umbrella stepped off a plane at Heston
Airdrome outside London and waved his "peace for our time" memorandum signed by
Adolf Hitler.
Chamberlain's "peace for our time" lasted less than one year. It
culminated in a war which engulfed the world and resulted in 1,078, 162 American
casualties, with 292, 131 G.I. combat deaths and 115, 185 American deaths due to
other causes.
(more)
LIBRARY
-2-
Chamberlain was well-intentioned. He sincerely believed he had bought
peace by forcing Czech leaders to deliver that part of Czechoslovakia known as
the Sudentenland into Hitler's hands. The French premier, Edouard Daladier, had
acute misgivings but he cooperated.
Do you remember the public acclaim that was showered on Chamberlain and
Daladier? Thousands of Londoners cheered Chamberlain on his return from Munich
with his scrap of paper, and Daladier received a tumultuous reception from the
French people.
There are curious parallels between 1938 and 1968.
Czechoslovakia again has been occupied by foreign troops this time
because the Communist government forced on Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union
in 1948 ultimately permitted the Czechoslovakian people a degree of freedom.
There also are hints of a Soviet partitioning of Czechoslovakia- just as
happened at the hands of Hitler in 1938.
The Johnson-Humphrey Administration protested in the United Nations
against the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia but has since let the matter
drop. This is reminiscent of the mild objections raised by the Western allies
when Hitler invaded Austria on March 11, 1938.
One prominent United States senator even went so far as to dismiss the
Soviet-led invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia as of little consequence.
To use the vernacular of the day, he "kissed it off."
In my opinion, this reaction to the Soviet takeover in Czechoslovakia
tragically ignores the lessons of history.
Emboldened by the recent silence of the Administration on its occupation
of Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union has talked of invading and occupying West
Germany.
So little attention has been given this development that I daresay some
Americans may not even be aware of Soviet threats to send troops into West
Germany.
The Russians know that Americans vividly recall the horrors of Naziism--
and so they talk of a new rise of Naziism in Germany and assert the Soviet Union
must intervene in West Germany.
This, of course, is completely false, and our State Department has firmly
said SO.
Moreover, the United States Government has formally assured the government
of West Germany that any Soviet intervention in West Germany would bring an
(more)
-3-
immediate response from members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
There should have been a joint American-British-French response to the
Soviet claim of the right to intervene in West Germany. I regret to inform you
that bureaucratic fumbling in Washington prevented this.
There should have been a joint allied response to the Soviet threat
directed at West Germany, just as there should have been a joint allied response
to Communist aggression in South Vietnam.
The fact that we have acted unilaterally in both instances points to a
serious flaw in our foreign policy.
It is also a fact that the Soviet threat to invade West Germany is a
direct followup to the occupation of Czechoslovakia and mild U.S. reaction to it.
Believe me when I say the danger flags are flying in Europe.
I applaud the firm position taken by the Administration on the Soviet
claim to right of intervention in West Germany.
But I disagree strongly with the Administration tack in dropping its
attempt to have the United Nations denounce the Soviet-led invasion of
Czechoslovakia.
If we fail to marshal formal world opinion against occupation of
Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led Warsaw Pact nations, we will be telling the world
that might makes right, that principles mean nothing, and that freedom and
national sovereignty are just words.
Freedom can survive in the world only if free men are willing to stand
up for it.
I am not saying the NATO nations should have engaged in or even threatened
military action in response to the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.
But I am saying that the Soviet action was wrong and we should not let
the Soviet Union or the rest of the world forget it. We should press for formal
UN condemnation of the invasion.
If we do not adhere to the principles set forth in the United Nations
Charter, they soon will not be worth the paper they are printed on any more than
Adolf Hitler's signature on the Munich Agreement was worth anything in 1938.
Normalization? The only true norms for all men are the rights to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Revival of the Cold War? I would be the last person in the world to
advocate that. But to abandon all principle in pursuit of peace is to take the
surest road to ultimate disaster.
(more)
-4-
I believe we should seek a detente with the Soviet Union. I strongly
believe in negotiation--negotiation from a position of strength.
But I do not believe we have to scrap our principles to achieve a detente.
Nor do I believe it is helpful to America's quest for peace to have its
ambassador to the United Nations level a crude, vicious and unjust attack against
a candidate for the Presidency of the United States while in the process of
resigning. This is a blot not only on the record of the diplomat involved but
also on the world image of our Nation.
There is no question that East-West relations have deteriorated-- and
I
do not blame our departing ambassador to the UN for this. The rapid worsening
of the world situation is directly due to actions taken by the Soviet Union in
Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Vietnam.
In the Middle East the Soviet Union is challenging us for control of the
Mediterranean Sea. The Administration has drawn down our strength in the
Mediterranean because of Vietnam and has narrowed our margin of military superior-
ity there.
The Russians have flooded the Arab nations with arms and military advisers
since the Arab-Israeli War and are using this as a lever to gain political
control of that region of the world.
It is ridiculous to believe that the tremendous growth we are seeing in
Russian naval power is defensive.
The truth is that the Russians are challenging our naval superiority
everywhere in the world.
And the truth also is that to survive we must continue to be the world's
greatest sea power.
This is not "hardliner" talk. This is honesty. This is realism in the
game of international big power politics, which we are forced to play whether
we want to or not.
What about Vietnam? I will say nothing that might injure the peace talks
in Paris. But I would like to say this. My information is that the war in
Vietnam is going much better for us than most press reports indicate.
The most significant single development in recent months has been an
improvement in the Southvietnamese Army as a fighting unit. I wholeheartedly
applaud this development. In this connection, it should be noted that nearly
all the Southvietnamese infantrymen now have the M-16 rifle. This gives them
firepower at least equal to that of the enemy, which has always had the extremely
good Russian AK-47.
(more)
-5-
If you are wondering why it took so long to equip the Southvietnamese Army
with the M-16, you will have to ask the Administration. I simply don't know.
The total number of allied troops in Vietnam, including the South
Vietnamese paramilitary forces, is now about five times that of the Communist
regular and irregular forces.
The number of North Vietnamese regulars has increased to roughly one-third
of all Communist forces in the South, but Northvietnam has definitely encountered
manpower replacement problems since the Tet offensive last January. New
recruits are being thrown into battle with little training.
But the Northvietnamese have no supply problems--and they are trying to
offset their manpower difficulties with a stepup in heavy artillery and rocketry.
The virtually unimpeded flow of supplies to the enemy through the port of
Haiphong is one of the tragedies of the Vietnam War.
Americans may disagree--and do--about our original involvement in Vietnam,
but it seems clear that the war has been fought in the wrong way.
I personally believe that if we had fought the Vietnam War in line with
sound military strategy, the war would have ended before this time or would have
been greatly shortened.
Now we hear demands for an unconditional halt to all bombing of North
Vietnam. Highly vocal demonstrators cry, "Stop the war."
It would be wonderful if we could just "stop the war," wouldn't it?
But it just is not that simple.
Peace is popular. We all love peace. But there are times when men must
fight.
The great British philosopher John Stuart Mill once said: "War is an
ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of
moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war is worse."
It was another great Britisher, Winston Churchill, who rose in the House
of Commons while the English were cheering Neville Chamberlain 30 years ago for
achieving what Chamberlain called "peace for our time" and declared:
"It is the most grievous consequences which we have yet experienced, of
what we have done, and of what we have left undone in the last five years--five
years of futile good intentions, five years of eager search for the line of
least resistance"
Does any American today really believe that the line of least resistance
is the path to lasting peace?
I don't want a peace that will make a mockery of the price paid by the
(more)
-6-
more than 200,000 Americans on the Vietnam casualty list. I don't want a peace
that will desecrate the memories of the more than 28,000 Americans who have died
in combat in Vietnam. I don't want a peace that will inevitably lead to a
Communist takeover of South Vietnam.
Let's stand firm--and hold out for the Winston Churchill kind of peace.
A negotiated peace? Yes, but a peace based on principles, a peace that sticks,
a peace that will endure.
This is the kind of peace I want in Vietnam. I personally would settle
for no less.
# # #