two hundred years ago this nation was weak and poor. but even then, america was the hope of millions in the world.
today we have become the strongest and richest nation in the world, and the wheel of destiny has turned so that any hope the world has for survival of peace and freedom will be determined by whether the american people have the moral stamina and the courage to meet the challenge of free-world leadership.
let historians not record that, when america was the most powerful nation in the world, we passed on the other side of the road and allowed the last hopes for peace and freedom of millions of people to be suffocated by the forces of totalitarianism.
so tonight, to you, the great silent majority of my fellow americans, i ask for your support. i pledged in my campaign for the presidency to end the war in a way that we could win the peace.
i have initiated a plan of action which will enable me to keep that pledge. the more support i can have from the american people, the sooner that pledge can be redeemed. for the more divided we are at home, the less likely the enemy is to negotiate in paris.