President John F. Kennedy's "Peace Speech"

President Anderson Members of the Faculty Board of Trustees distinguished guests my former colleague Senator Bob Bird, who earned his degree over many years attending night law school, while I am earning mine in the next 30 distinguished minutes guests ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pride that I participate in this ceremony of the American University sponsored by the Methodist Church founded by Bishop John Fletcher Hurst and first inaugurated by President Woodro Wilson in 1914. This is a young university and in growth, but has already fulfilled Bishop Hurst's enlightened hope for the study of history and public affairs in a city dedicated to the making of history and the conduct of public affairs by sponsoring this institution of higher learning for all who wish to learn, whoever Whether their color or creed, the Methodists of this area and the nation deserve the thanks of the nation and I congratulate all those who graduate today.

Professor Woodro Wilson once said that every man who emerges from a university must be a man of his nation as well as a man of his time and I am sure that the men and women who bear the honor of graduating from this institution will continue to give from their lives from their talents a high measure of public service and public support there are few earthly things more beautiful than a university wrote John Mayfield in his tribute to English universities and their The words are equally true today, he did not refer to the towers or to the campuses he admired.

The splendid beauty of a university because it was, he said, a place where those who hate ignorance can strive to know where those who perceive the truth can strive to make others see. Therefore, we have chosen this time and place to discuss a topic on which ignorance abounds too often and truth too rarely perceived and which is the most important topic on Earth. Peace: what kind of

peace

am I talking about and what kind of

peace

are we looking for? not a Pax Americana imposed on the world by American weapons of war, not the Peace of the Tomb or the safety of the slave.

I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on Earth worth living and that allows men and nations to grow, have hope and build a better life for their children, not just peace for Americans, but peace for all men and women, not just peace in our time, but peace in all times. I speak of peace because of the new face of war, total war. It makes no sense in an era when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resorting to those forces. It makes no sense in a time when a single nuclear weapon contains nearly ten times the explosive force delivered by the entire Allied Air Force in World War II.

It makes no sense in a time when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be transported by wind, water, soil and seeds to the farthest corners of the world and to today's unborn generations spending billions of dollars each year on acquired weapons in order to ensure that we never need them It is essential for the maintenance of peace, but surely the acquisition of such inactive arsenals that can only destroy and never create is not the only option, much less the most efficient. means to ensure peace I speak of Peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men.

I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war and often the words of the persecutors fall on deaf ears, but we have no more urgent task. Some say that it is useless to talk about peace or world law or world disarmament and that it will be useless until the leaders of the Soviet Union adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they do it. I think we can help them do it, but I also think. that we must reexamine our own attitudes as individuals and as a nation because our attitude is as essential as theirs and every graduate of this school, every thoughtful citizen who despairs of war and wishes to bring about peace must begin by looking inward by examining his own attitude . towards the possibilities of peace towards the Soviet Union towards the cost of the Cold War and towards freedom and peace here at home let us first examine our attitude towards peace itself many of us think it is impossible many think it is unreal but it is dangerous Defecate ourselves The belief leads us to the conclusion that war is inevitable that humanity is doomed that we are trapped by forces we cannot control we do not need to accept that view our problems are created by man therefore they can be solved by man and the man can be as great as he wants no human problem destiny is beyond human beings reason and spirit of man have often solved the seemingly unsolvable and we believe they can do it again.

I am not referring to the absolute infinite concept of universal peace and Goodwill of which some fantasies and fanatics dream. I don't deny the value of hopes and dreams, but we simply invite discouragement and disbelief by making that our sole and immediate goal. Let us focus instead on a more practical and achievable piece based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution of human institutions over a series of concrete actions and effective agreements that are in the interest of all concerned; There is no single, simple key for this piece; there is no great magic formula that one or two Powers can adopt; the product must be a genuine peace of many nations, the sum of many acts must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation, because peace is a process, a way of solving problems with that peace, yet there will be disputes and conflicting interests, as there are within. families and nations World peace like community peace does not require that each man love his neighbor, it only requires that they live together in mutual tolerance submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful solution and history teaches us that unions between nations as between individuals They don't last No matter how fixed our likes and dislikes may seem, the tide of time and events will often bring surprising changes in the relationships between nations and neighbors, so let us persevere, peace does not have to be impractical and war does not have to be impractical.

What is inevitable, by defining our objective more clearly making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all people to see it, to draw hope from it and to move irresistibly towards it and, secondly, let us reexamine our attitude towards the Soviet Union. It is disheartening to think that their leaders can actually believe what their propaganda is so correct, it is disheartening to read a recent, authoritative Soviet text on military strategy and find page after page of totally unfounded and incredible claims, such as the accusation that American imperialist circles are They are preparing to unleash different types of war, that there is a very real war. threat of a preventive war unleashed by the American imperialists against the Soviet Union and that the political pretensions (I quote) of the American imperialists are to economically and politically enslave the European countries and other capitalist countries and to achieve world domination through aggressive war, in quotes, truly.

As it was written a long time ago, the evil ones flee when no one is chasing them yet, it is sad to read these Soviet statements to realize the magnitude of the chasm between us, but it is also a warning, a warning so that the American people do not fall into same trap. like the Soviets, not seeing only a distorted and desperate vision of the other side, not seeing conflict as inevitable, adaptation impossible and communication as nothing more than an exchange of threats, no government or social system is so evil that its People should be regarded as lacking virtue.

As Americans, we find communism deeply repugnant as a denial of personal freedom and dignity, but we can still salute the Russian people for their numerous achievements in science, in space, in economic growth. and industrial, in culture, in acts of bravery, among the many traits that The peoples of our two countries have in common that no one is stronger than our mutual horor of war, almost unique among the major world powers, we have never been in war between us and no nation in the history of battle suffered more than the Soviet Union in the war. World War II At least 20 million lost their lives Countless millions of homes and families were burned or looted One third of the nation's territory, including 2 thirds of its industrial base, was turned into a wasteland, a loss equivalent to the destruction of this country east of Chicago today.

If Total War were to break out again, regardless of how our two countries will be the primary target, it is an ironic but accurate fact that the two strongest powers are the two most in danger of devastation. Everything we have built, everything we have worked for, would be destroyed in the first 24 hours and even in the Cold War, which brings burdens and dangers to so many countries, including this nation's closest allies, our two countries endure the heavier burdens because we are both devoting huge sums of money to weapons that could be better spent fighting ignorance, poverty and disease, we are both trapped in a vicious and dangerous cycle, in which suspicion on one side breeds suspicion on the other. another and new weapons are being obtained to counterattack, in short, both the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies have a deep mutual interest in a just and genuine peace and in maintaining agreements on the arms race to this end are in the interests of the Soviet Union as well as ours, and even the most hostile nations can be trusted to accept and fulfill those obligations and only those conventional obligations that are in their own interest, so let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also pay attention to our common interests and the means by which those differences can be resolved, and if we cannot end our differences now, we can at least help make the world safe for diversity because, ultimately, Our most basic common bond is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish the future of our children, and we are all a mortal third party.

Let us reexamine our attitude toward the Cold War, remembering that we are not engaged in a debate that seeks accumulate debate points we are not here Distributing blame or pointing the finger of judgment we must deal with the world as it is and not as it could have been if the history of the last 18 years has been different, therefore we must persevere in the In the pursuit of peace in the hope that constructive changes within the communist bloc can bring solutions within our reach that now seem beyond us, we must conduct our affairs in such a way that they prove useful. the communist interest in agreeing to a genuine peace and, above all, defending our own vital interests.

Nuclear powers must avoid those confrontations that lead an adversary to choose between a humiliating withdrawal or a nuclear war to adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age. It would only be evidence of the bankruptcy of our politics or of a collective death wish for the world to ensure these ends. America's weapons are non-provocative, carefully controlled, designed to deter, and capable of selective use. Our military forces are committed to peace and are disciplined. -moderation our diplomats are instructed to avoid unnecessary irritation and purely rhetorical hostilities because we can seek a relaxation of tensions without relaxing Our God and for our part we do not need to use threats to show that we are determined, we do not need to block foreigners.

Transmitted out of fear that our faith will be eroded, we are not willing to impose our system on any unwilling people, but we are willing and able to engage in peaceful competition with any people on Earth as we seek to strengthen the United Nations. to help solve your financial problems. to make it a more effective instrument for peace, to make it a truly global security system, a system capable of resolving disputes on the basis of law, of guaranteeing the security of large and small and of creating conditions in which the weapons at the same time we seek to maintain peace within the non-communist world where many nations, all friendly, are divided by issues that weaken Western unity, invite communist intervention or threaten to break out into war, our efforts in New Western Guinea in the Congo in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent have been persistent and patient despite criticism from both sides.

We have also tried to set an example for others by trying to adjust small but significant differences with our closest neighbors in Mexico andCanada, talking about other nations. I wish to make one point clear: we are linked to many nations by alliances; These alliances exist because our concerns and theirs substantially overlap with our commitment to defending Western Europe and, for example, West Berlin remains intact because of the identity of our vital interests. not to make any deal with the Soviet Union at the expense of other nations and other peoples not only because they are our partners but also because their interests and ours converge, but our interests converge not only in the defense of the borders of freedom but also in the search for the paths of peace.

Our hope and the purpose of Allied policy is to convince the Soviet Union that it too must let each nation choose its own future, as long as that choice does not interfere with the choices of others. The communist drive to impose its political and economic system. others is the main cause of the current world tension because there can be no doubt that if all nations could refrain from interfering in the self-determination of others, peace would be much more assured, this will require a new effort to achieve world law in a new context. Greater understanding between the Soviets and us will be necessary for global discussions, and greater understanding will require greater contact and communication.

One step in this direction is the proposed agreement for a direct line between Moscow and Washington to avoid dangerous delays, misunderstandings and misinterpretations on each side. Among other actions that could occur in a time of crisis, we have also been talking in Geneva about our first-step arms control measures designed to limit the intensity of the arms race and reduce the risk of accidental war, our primary interest to long term inHowever, Geneva is a general and complete disarmament designed to be carried out in stages that allow parallel political developments to build new peace institutions that would replace weapons.

The pursuit of disarmament has been an effort of this government since the 1920s and has been urgently pursued. For the last three administrations and no matter how dark the prospects are today, we intend to continue this effort so that all countries, including our own, can better understand what the problems and possibilities of disarmament are. The end is in sight, but where a new beginning is urgently needed is in a treaty to ban nuclear testing. The conclusion of a treaty of this type so near and so far would stop the spiral of the arms race in one of its most dangerous areas, it would place the nuclear Powers in a position to confront more effectively one of the greatest dangers facing man in 1963. .

Greater proliferation of nuclear weapons would increase our security. It would diminish the prospects for war. Without a doubt, this goal is important enough to resume our constant search. Without giving in to the temptation to give up the entire effort or the temptation to give up our insistence on vital and responsible safeguards, I take this opportunity to announce two important decisions in this regard, First President Kusov, Prime Minister McMillan, and I have agreed High-level discussions will soon begin in Moscow with a view to reaching an early agreement on a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Our hopes must be tempered with the caution of history, but with our hopes come second the hopes of all humanity to make clear our good faith. and with solemn convictions on this matter I now declare that the United States does not intend to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere until other states do so we will not do so we will not be the first to resume such a declaration is not a substitute for a formal binding treaty, but I hope that help us achieve it, nor would it be a substitute for disarmament, but I hope it helps us achieve it.

Finally, my fellow Americans, let us examine our attitude toward peace and freedom here at home. The quality and spirit of our own Society must justify and support our efforts abroad. We must demonstrate it in the dedication of our own lives, as many of you graduating today will have the opportunity to do by serving without pay in the Peace Corps overseas or in the proposed National Service Corps here at home, but wherever we are. , we all in our daily lives must live up to the ancient faith that peace and freedom walk together in many of our cities today peace is not secure because freedom is incomplete.

It is the responsibility of the executive branch at all levels of local, state and national government to provide and protect that freedom for all of our citizens by all means within our Authority. It is the responsibility of the legislative branch at all levels wherever the authority is not now. adequate to make it adequate and it is the responsibility of all citizens and all sectors of this country to respect the rights of others and respect the law of the country. All this is not foreign to world peace when a man's path pleases the Lord. The Scriptures tell us that he makes even his enemies at peace with him and is peace in the analysis of Lost basically a matter of Human Rights the right to live our lives without fear of Devastation the right to breathe air like the nature provided it. of future generations to a healthy existence while we proceed to safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests and the elimination of war and weapons is clearly in the interests of both;

No treaty, however beneficial to all, however strict it may be drawn up, can provide absolute security against the risks of deception and evasion, but it can, if it is sufficiently effective in its application and is sufficiently in the interest of its sinners. , offer much more security and much less risk than a constant, uncontrolled and unpredictable arms race. The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We don't want a war. Now we don't expect a war. This generation of Americans has had enough of war, hate, and oppression. We will be ready if others wish.

We will be vigilant to try to stop it, but we will also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task nor without hope of success. Confident and without fear, we must work. Not towards a strategy of annihilation but towards a strategy of peace.