Well, one of the strengths of our society is that any American has a right to reach that conclusion and to advocate that point of view. Bring the boys home."Īntiwar protesters seizedthe term "silent majority" and defined it anew. In San Francisco a few weeks ago, I saw demonstrators carrying signs reading, "Lose the war in Vietnam. Honest and patriotic Americans have reached different conclusions as to how peace should be achieved. I recognize that some of my fellow citizens disagree with the plan for peace that I have chosen. He repeated what he had argued before: the United States had to achieve "peace with honor" and to avoid an overly sudden withdrawal.Īt the end of the speech, he called for the "great silent majority" to support him in this goal: Instead of announcing the end to the war that he had promised in the campaign, Nixon outlined his policy of "Vietnamization," which provided for American troop reductions but a continuation of fighting. On November 3, the nation eagerly tuned in to a major Nixon television address on Vietnam policy. In October 1969, protesters staged a huge rally in Washington, D.C. Many Americans were unhappy when an end to the war did not materialize. Yet the President decided early in his administration that a quick withdrawal "would result in a collapse of confidence in American leadership.A nation cannot remain great if it betrays its allies and lets down its friends."
During his successful campaign for the Presidency in 1968, Richard Nixon promised he had a "secret plan" to end the war in Vietnam.
0 kommentar(er)
