Correspondence Between President Harry S. Truman and Former President Herbert Hoover, with Related Material

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so ARCHWES AND RECORDS DRAFT STATEMENT FOR THE PRESIDENT IN REPLY TO QUESTIONS ON MR. HOOVER'S SPEECH My views on foreign policy are well known and I restated them as recently as two weeks ago in my radio speech. Furthermore, Secretary Acheson in his press conference last Friday again stated the case for our present policy so clearly that no one could misunderstand how this admini- stration feels about protecting American security and freedom. Everybody agrees that we must build up our strength as rapidly as possible. However it is imperative that we also build the defensive strength of the rest of the free world. The welfare and safety of the United States depends not only on our own strength but also in large part on the collective strength of other free nations. We are not ready to give up because this road is rough. We have been helping our allies to help themselves and we will continue to do so. The recent Brussels meeting is further proof that the members of the North Atlantic Community are working together to in- crease their collective strengths. Together we can produce the kind of strength which will deter any aggressor from attacking and defeat him if he does attack.