The greatness comes not when things go always good for you, but the greatness comes when you are really tested, when you take some knocks, some disap… - Richard Nixon

Good evening, my fellow Americans: I have requested this television and radio time tonight to give you a progress report on our plan to bring a just peace to Vietnam. When I first outlined our program last June, I stated that the rate of American withdrawals from Vietnam would depend on three criteria: progress in the training of the South Vietnamese, progress in the Paris negotiations, and the level of enemy activity. Tonight I am pleased to report that progress in training and equipping South Vietnamese forces has substantially exceeded our original expectations last June. Very significant advances have also been made in pacification. Although we recognize that problems remain, these are encouraging trends. However, I must report with regret that no progress has taken place on the negotiating front. The enemy still demands that we unilaterally and unconditionally withdraw all American forces, that in the process we overthrow the elected Government of South Vietnam, and that the United States accept a political settlement that would have the practical consequence of the forcible imposition of a Communist government upon the people of South Vietnam. That would mean humiliation and defeat for the United States. This we cannot and will not accept.

Isn't it better to talk about the relative merits of washing machines than the relative strength of rockets? Isn't this the kind of competition you want?

The new strategy for the seventies also requires a strategy for peace--and I pledge to you tonight that we will have an effective strategy for peace. Let me tell you what that strategy means and what it does not mean. It means maintaining defense forces strong enough to keep the peace, but not allowing wasteful expenditures to drain away resources we need for progress. It means limiting our commitments abroad to those we can prudently and realistically keep. It means helping other free nations maintain their own security, but not rushing in to do for them what they can and should do for themselves. It does not mean laying down our leadership. It does not mean abandoning our allies. It does mean forging a new structure of world stability in which the burdens as well as the benefits are fairly shared--a structure that does not rely on the strength of one nation but that draws strength from all nations. An effective strategy for peace abroad makes possible an effective strategy for meeting our domestic problems at home.