US Presidency
1961

In particular it will enable us to meet any deliberate effort to avoid or divert our forces by starting limited wars in widely scattered parts of the globe. I have directed prompt action to step up our Polaris submarine program. Using unobligated ship-building funds now ( to let contracts originally scheduled for the next fiscal year ) will build and place on station- at least nine months earlier than planned substantially more units of a crucial deterrent- a fleet that will never attack first, but possess sufficient powers of retaliation, concealed beneath the seas, to discourage any aggressor from launching an attack upon our security. I have directed prompt action to accelerate our entire missile program. Until the Secretary of Defense's reappraisal is completed, the emphasis here will be largely on improved organization and decision making on cutting down the wasteful duplications and the time lag that have handicapped our whole family of missiles.