US Presidency
1965

Thus, the groundwork has already been laid for a long range development plan for all of southeast Asia, led by Asians, to improve the life of Asians. In South Viet-Nam today, brave and enduring people are carrying on a determined resistance against those who would destroy their independence. They will win this fight, and the United States of America is going to help them win it. But there is another and a much more profound struggle going on in that country, and that is the struggle to create the conditions of hope and progress which are really the only lasting guarantees of peace and stability. The 16 million people of South Viet-Nam survive on an average income of $ 100 per year. More than 60 percent of the people have never learned to read or write. When disease strikes, medical care is often impossible to find. As I remarked the other day here, there is only one doctor for every 29,000 people, compared with one for every 740 in the United States. They have 200 doctors; whereas, they need 5,000.