US Presidency
1971

While we hear and read much of isolated acts of cruelty, we do not hear enough of the tens of thousands of individual American soldiers, I have seen them there, building schools, roads, hospitals, clinics, who, through countless acts of generosity and kindness, have tried to help the people of South Vietnam. We can and we should be very proud of these men. They deserve not our scorn, but they deserve our admiration and our deepest appreciation. The way to express that appreciation is to end America's participation in this conflict not in failure or in defeat, but in achievement of the great goals for which they fought: a South Vietnam free to determine its own future and an America no longer divided by war but united in peace. That is why it is so important how we end this war. By our decision we will demonstrate the kind of people we are and the kind of country we will become.