US Presidency
1961

This must be prudently and wisely spent, and that will be our common endeavor. Military and economic assistance has been a heavy burden on our citizens for a long time, and I recognize the strong pressures against it; but this battle is far from over, it is reaching a crucial stage, and I believe we should participate in it. We can not merely state our opposition to totalitarian advance without paying the price of helping those now under the greatest pressure. VI. OUR OWN MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE In line with these developments, I have directed a further reinforcement of our own capacity to deter or resist non nuclear aggression. In the conventional field, with one exception, I find no present need for large new levies of men. What is needed is rather a change of position to give us still further increases in flexibility.