US Presidency
1964

The problems of this hemisphere would be far more serious if Castro today sat at the councils of the Organization of American States disrupting debate and blocking decision, if Castro had open channels of trade and communication along which subversion and terror could flow, it his economy had been a successful model rather than a dismal warning to all of his neighbors. The effectiveness of our policy is more than a matter of trade statistics. It has increased awareness of difference and danger, it has revealed the brutal nature of the Cuban regime, it has lessened opportunities for subversion, it has reduced the number of Castro's followers, and it has drained the resources of our adversaries who are spending more than $ 1 million a day. We will continue this policy with every peaceful means at our command. A fourth area of continuity and change is the battle for freedom in the far East. In the last 20 years, in two wars, millions of Americans have fought to prevent the armed conquest of free Asia.