○  renunciation speech  ○

, far wider wars, far more destruction, than this one. the peace that will bring them home someday will come. tonight, i have offered the first in what i hope will be a series of mutual moves toward peace.

i pray that it will not be rejected by the leaders of north vietnam. i pray that they will accept it as a means by which the sacrifices of their own people may be ended. and i ask your help and your support, my fellow citizens, for this effort to reach across the battlefield toward an early peace.

finally, my fellow americans, let me say this:

of those to whom much is given, much is asked. i cannot say -- and no man could say -- that no more will be asked of us. yet i believe that now, no less than when the decade began, this generation of americans is willing to pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival, and the success, of liberty.

since those words were spoken by john f. kennedy, the people of america have kept that compact with mankind's noblest cause. and we shall continue to keep it.

yet, i believe that we must always be mindful of this one thing -- whatever the trials and the tests ahead, the ultimate strength of our country and our cause will lie, not in powerful weapons or infinite resources or boundless wealth, but will lie in the unity of our people.

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