Senator brewster, senate eor tidings. Members of the john hopkins student body. Last week 17 nations sent their views to some two dozen countries having an interest in Southeast Asia. Were joining those 17 countries and stating our american policy tonight which we believe will contribute toward peace in this area of the world. I have come here to review, once again, with my own people the views of the american government. Tonight americans and asians are dieing for a world where each people may choose their own path to change. This is the principal for which our an ses sors fought in the valleys of pennsylvania. It is a principal for which our sons fight tonight in the jungles of vietnam. Vietnam is far away from this campus. We have no territory there. Nor do we seek any. The war is dirty and brutal and difficult. And some 400 young men, born into an america that is bursting with opportunity and promise, have ended their lives on vietnams testeaming soil. Why must we take this painful road . Why must this nation hazard its ease and its interests and its power for the sake of a people so far away . We fight because we must fight. If were to live in a world where every country can shape its own destiny. And only in such a world will our own freedom be finally secure. This kind of a world will never be built by bombs or bullets. Yet the infirmities of man are such that force must proceed reason and the waste of war, the works of peace. We wish that this were not so. But we must deal with the world as it is if it will ever be as we wish. The world as is it in asia is not a serine or peaceful place. The first reality is that North Vietnam has attacked the independent nation of South Vietnam. Its object is total conquest. Of course some of the people are participating in an attack on their own government, but trained men and supplies, orders and arms, flow in a constant stream from north to south. This support is the heart beat of the war. And it is a war of unparallel brutali brutality. Simple farmers are the targets of killings. Women and children are strangled in the night because their men are loyal to their government. And helpless villages are ravaged by sneak attacks. Large scale raids are conducted on towns and terror strikes in the heart of cities. The confused nature of this conflict cost mask the fact that it is the new face of an old ene enemy. Over this war, and all of asia is another realitity. The rulers in hanoi are urged on. This is a regime that has destroyed freedom in tibet that has attacked india and been condemned by the United Nations for our aggression in korea. It is a nation that is helping the forces of violence and almost every continent. The contest in vietnam is part of a wider pattern of aggressive purposes. Why are these realities our concern . Why are we in South Vietnam . Were there because we have a promise to keep. Since 1954 every american president has offered support to the people of South Vietnam. We have helped to build and we have helped to defend. Thus, over many years we have made a National Pledge to help South Vietnam defend its independence. And i intend to keep that promise. To dishonor that pledge, to abandon this small and brave nation to its enemieenemies, a terror that must follow, were also there to strengthen world order around the globe from berlin to thailand. Our peoples wellbeing rests in part on the belief they can count on us if theyre attacked. To leave vietnam to its fate would shake the confidence of all of these people in the value of an american commitment and in the value of americas word. The ultimate would be increased unrest and instability and wider war. Were also there because there are great states in the ballots. Let no one think for a moment that retreat from vietnam would bring an end to con flingt of it withdraw from one battlefield means only to prepare for the next. We must say, in Southeast Asia, as we did in europe, in the words of the bible, hitherto shall thall come. But no further. There are nose who say that all of our effort there will be futile. That chinas power is such that it is bound to dominate all Southeast Asia. But there is no end to that argument until all of the nations of asia are swallowed up. There are those that wonder where we have a responsibility there. We have it there for the same reason that we have a possibility for the defense of europe. World war two was fought in both europe and asia. And when it ended, we found ourselves with continued responsibility for the defense of freedom. Our objective is the independence of South Vietnam and its freedom from attack. We want nothing for ourselves. Only that the people of South Vietnam be allowed to guide their own country in their own way. We will do everything necessary to reach that objective. And we will do only what is absolutely necessary. In recent months attacks on south vehicle nam were stepped up. Thus it became necessary for us to increase our response. And to make attacks by air. This is not a change of purpose. It is a change in what we believe that purpose requires. We do this in order to slow down aggression. We do this to increase the confidence of the braf people of South Vietnam who have bravely born this brutal battle for so many years with so many casualties. And we do this to convince the leaders of North Vietnam and all who seek to share their conquest of a very simple fact. We will not be defeated. We will not grow tired. We will not withdraw openly or under the cloak of a meaningless agreement. We know that our attacks alone will not accomplish all of these purposes. But it is our best and prayerful judgment that they are a necessary part of the surest road to peace. We hope that peace will come swiftly. But that is in the hands of others besides ourselves. And we must be prepared for a long, continued conflict. It will require patience and bravery. The will to endure as well as the will to resist. I wish it were possible to convince others with words of what we now find it necessary to say with guns and planes. Armed hostility is futile. Our resources are equal to any challenge. Because we fight for values. And we fight for principals. Rather than territory or colonies. Our patient and we are unfeendi. The only past for a reasonable man is the path of peaceful settlement. Such Peace Demands an independent South Vietnam, securely guaranteed and able to shape its rips to all others. Free from outside interference. A military base for no country. These are the essentials of any final settlement. We will never be second in the search for such a peaceful settlement in vietnam. There may be many ways to this kind of peace. In discussion or negotiation with the governments concern. In large groups or in small ones. In the reaffirmation of old agreements or the strengthenning of new ones. We have stated this other and over again. And we remain ready with this purpose for uncondition discussions. And until that right and necessary day of peace, we will try to keep conflict from spreading. We have no dire to see thousands die in battle. Asians or americans. We have no dire to devastate that which the people North Vietnam have built. We will use our hour with restraint and all of the wisdom that we can command. But we will use it. This war, like most wars, is filled with terrible irony. For what do the people of North Vietnam want . They want their naebs, what they want their neighbors also desire. A chance to learn, progress for their country, and an end to the bondage of material misery. And they would find all of these things far more readily than in the endless course of battle. These countries are homes for millions of impoverished people. Each day they rise at dawn and struggle through until the night to restle existence from the soil. Theyre often racked by disease, plagued by hunger, and death comes at the early age of 40. Neither indense or human deg anity will be won by arms alone. The American People have helped generously in times past, and now there must be a more massive effort to improve the life of man and that conflict torn corner of our world. The first the first step is for the countrys of Southeast Asia to associate themselves in a greatly expanded cooperative effort for development. We hope that they will take their place just as soon as peace is possible. The United States is actively engaged in development in this wear, and i conferred with our authorities in vietnam. About their work there. And i hope that tonight the secretary general could use the prestige of his great office and his deep knowledge of asia to initiate as soon as possible with the countries of that area, a plan for cooperation and increased development. For our part, i will ask the congress to join in a billion dollar investment this effort once it is under way. And i would hope that all other industrialed countries, including the soviet union, will join in this effort to replace despair with effort and error with progress. The task is nothing less than to increase the hopes of more than 100 million people. And there is much to be done. The wonders of modern medicine can be spread through villages where thousands die every year from lack of care. They can be trained for the skills needing to process the development and these obltives and more are in the reach of a cooperative development. I also inattend to expand and speed up an effort to make available our farm surpluses to assist in feeding and clothing the needy in asia. We should not allow people to go hungry. And wear rags while our o warehouses have corn and rice. And rice. [ applause ] so i will very shortly name a special team of outstanding patriotic distinguished americans to inaugerate our participation in these programs. This team will be headed by mr. Eugene black, the very able former president of the world bank. And areas that are still ripped by conflict, of course, development will not be easy. Peace will be necessary for final success. But we cannot and must not wait for peace to begin this job. [ applause ] this will be a disorderly planet for a long time, in asia as elsewhere that forces the modern world shaking their old ways and uprooting ancient civilizations. There will be turbulence and struggle and even violence. Great social change as we see in our own country now does not always come without conflict. We must also expect that nations will, on occasion, be in dispute with us. It may be because we are rich or powerful or because we have made some mistakes or because they honestly fear our intentions. However, no nation need ever fear that we desire their land or to impose our will or to dictate their institutions. [ applause ] but we will always oppose the efforts of one nation to conquer another nation. [ applause ] we will do this because our own security is at stake. But there is more to it than that. Our generation has a dream. It is a very old dream, but we have the power, and now we have the opportunity to make that dream come true. For centuries nations have struggled among each other, but we, we dream of a world where disputes are settled by law and reason. And we will try to make it so. For most of history, man have hated and killed one another in battle. But we dream of an end to war, and we will try to make it so. [ applause ] for all existence, most men have lived in poverty, threatened by hunger, but we dream of a world where all are fed and charged with hope, and we will help to make it so. [ applause ] the ordinary men and women of North Vietnam and South Vietnam, of china and india, of russian america, are brave people. They are filled with the same proportions of hate and fear, of love and hope. Most of them want the same things for themselves and their families. Most of them do not want their sons to ever die in battle or to see their homes or the homes of others destroyed. Well, this can be their world yet. Man now has the knowledge always before denied to make this planet serve the real needs of the people who live on it. I know this will not be easy. I know how difficult it is for a reason to guide passion and love to master hate. The complexities of this world do not bow easily to pure and consistent answers. But the Simple Truths are there just the same. We must all try to follow them as best we can. We often say how impressive power is, but i do not find it impressive at all. The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships are all symbols of human failure. They are necessary symbols. They protect what we cherish, but theyre a witness to human folly. A dam built across a great river is impressive. In the countryside where i was born and where i live, i have seen the night illuminated and the kitchens warmed and the homes heated where once the chilliest night and the ceaseless cold held sway. And all of this happened because electricity came to our area along the humming wires of the rea. Electrification of the countryside. Yes, that, too, is impressive. Electricity is impressive. A sight of a healthy child in a classroom is impressive. These, not mighty arms, are achievements which the nation believes to be impressive. And if we are steadfast, the time may come when all other nations will also find it so. Every night before i turn out the lights to sleep, i ask myself this question. Have i done everything that i can do to unite this country . Have i done everything i can to help unite the world, to try to bring peace and hope to all the peoples of the world . Have i done enough . Ask yourselves that question in your homes and in this hall tonight. Have we, each of us, all done all we could . Have we done enough . We may well be living in the time foretold many years ago when it was said, i call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that i have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both thou and thy seed may live. This generation the world must choose destroy or build, kill or aid, hate or understand. We can do all these things on a scale thats never dreamed of before. Well, we will choose life. And so doing, we will prevail over the enemies within man and over the natural enemies of all mankind. To dr. Eisenhower and mr. Garland, and this Great Institution johns hopkins, i thank you for this opportunity to convey my thoughts to you and to the American People. Good night. Announcer youre watching American History tv. Every weekend on cspan3, explore our nations past. Cspan3 created as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. The contenders about the men who ran for the presidency but lost but changed American History. Tonight hubert humphrey. The contenders, this week on 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan3. Every saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv on cspan3, go inside a Different College classroom and hear about topics ranging from the american revolution, civil rights and u. S. President s to 9 11. Thanks for your patience and for logging into class. With most College Classes closed due to the coronavirus, watch professors engage with their students. Gorbachev did most of the work to change the soviet union, but reagan met him halfway, reagan encouraged him, reagan supported him. I should just mention madison originally called freedom of the use of the