So you are going to have to be the crusaders that lead the parade and you are going to have to be the ones that get us at least a few Republican vote… - Lyndon B. Johnson

No one can live daily, as I must do, with the dark realities of nuclear ruin, without seeking the guidance of God to find the path of peace. We have built this staggering strength that I have told you about not to destroy but to save, not to put an end to civilization but rather to try to put an end to conflict. Thus, in the past 3 years, as our strength rose--and, in large part, as a consequence of that rising strength--we have been able to take more tangible steps toward peace than at any time since the cold war began. We established an Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. We agreed with the Soviet Union on a statement of disarmament principles. We signed a test ban treaty. We established the "hot line." We supported a U.N. resolution prohibiting the orbiting of nuclear weapons. We cut back on nuclear production while the Soviet Union did the same. And we have just completed the negotiation of a new consular agreement. And, as the Geneva conference reconvenes, we have before it a series of proposals that I submitted, designed to freeze strategic nuclear delivery systems, to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and to prohibit the use of force to solve disputes. And we will welcome any other proposal by any nation which promises realistic progress toward peace.

Last year, within 6 months of each other, two of the great men of this century passed from this earth: President John F. Kennedy and Pope John XXIII. They both left a world transformed by their triumphs and lessened by their leaving. They both handed on a heritage of hope, a vision of the future which will occupy the thoughts and labors of men for generations yet to come. For a generation, Americans have struggled to keep the ambitions of nations from erupting into the annihilation of nuclear war. We have struggled to diminish hostility and to decrease tension, while battling aggression and building our power. The years will not dim, nor the burdens destroy, our resolve to seek and not to yield, to find a way to peace in a world where freedom grows. But even if we achieve such a world, we will only have taken a first step toward final fulfillment of the hopes of Pope John and President Kennedy. For just as the cold war has consumed our energies, it has often limited our horizons. We have tended to place every challenge in the context of conflict, to regard every difficulty as part of a struggle for domination.

I do not speak of the grave and immediate issues of foreign policy, although they concern me constantly. I speak of the great transcendent issues which affect the life of nearly every human being on this planet. We care that men are hungry--not only in Appalachia but in Asia and in Africa and in other spots in the world. We care that men are oppressed--not only among ourselves but wherever man is unjust to man. We care that men should govern themselves and shape their own destinies--not only in Kentucky but in every corner of every continent. We care for peace, not only for ourselves but for every country that is torn by conflict. George Washington fought for a Declaration of Independence which said "all men are created equal." It did not say "all Americans," or "all Westerners" or "all white men." All are equal in the eyes of God; and in the right to use their talents, and to provide for their families, and to enjoy freedom. This is our goal in America. This is our concern, not simply as a matter of national interest or national security. It is part of the moral purpose of the American Nation. So this is the measure of your responsibility. I know that you are willing to accept that responsibility and that you want to share in the life of America. We have always believed that each man could make a difference. This faith in each man's significance is at the root of human dignity. Yet, it is often difficult to see how an individual young person can make a difference in today's world.