I respect your idealism.

I share your concern for peace.

I want peace as much as you do.

. . . But I want to end it in a way which will increase the chance that their younger brothers and their sons will not have to fight in some future Vietnam someplace in the world.

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.

. . . Let us be united for peace. Let us also be united against defeat. Because let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that.

As President I hold the responsibility for choosing the best path to that goal and then leading the Nation along it.

I pledge to you tonight that I shall meet this responsibility with all of the strength and wisdom I can command in accordance with your hopes, mindful of your concerns, sustained by your prayers.

Thank you and goodnight..

The Vietnam war ended roughly six years later. In the end we did withdraw "precipitously," as you can see by the photo on the right.

And what happened? The Vietnamese, North and South, figured things out their own way, and today Vietnam has the fastest growing economy in Asia and hosts some of the most luxurious beach side resorts in the world catering to Europeans and Americans.

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