Evening star., 1960-07-29

lCCcpCS the prcSl0enClal
publican Party in Chi
WirephOtO.
time to speak up for America
at home.
And. my friends, let us
recognize America has its
weaknesses, and constructive
criticism of those weaknesses is
essential, essential SO that we
can correct our weaknesses in
the best traditions Of our
democratic process.
But let us also recognize this:
While it is dangerous to see
nothing wrong in America, it
is just as wrong to refuse to
recognize what is right about
America.
And tonight I say to you no
criticism should be allowed to
obscure the truth either at
home or abroad that today
America is the strongest Nation
militarily. economically, ideol-
ogically in the world; and we
have the will and the stamina
and the resources to maintain
that strength in the years
ahead.
/ And now, if we may turn to
the future: We must recognize
that the foreign policy problems
of the SOS will be different and
they will be vastly more difficult
than those of the sos through
which we have just passed.
We are in race tonight, my
fellow Americans, in a race for
survival, in which our lives, our
fortunes. our liberties are at
stake. We are ahead now, but
the only way to stay ahead in
a race is to move ahead; and
the next President will make
decisions which will determine
whether we win or whether we
lose this race.
! What must he do? These
things 1 believe: He must re-
solve first and above all that
the United States must never
settle for second best in any,
thing.
Security Put First
Let us look at the specifics.
Militarily, the security of the
United States must be put be-
fore all other considerations.
Why? Not only because this
is necessary to deter aggres-
sion. but because we must make
sure that we are never in a
position at the conference table
where Mr.. Khrushchev or his
successor is able to coerce an
American President because of
his strength and our weakness.
Diplomatically. let us look at
what the problem is. Diplo-
matically, our next President
must be f1rm-firm on princi-
Piles; but he must never be
beligerent, he must never en-
gage in a war of words which
might heat up the interna-
tional climate to the igniting
point of nuclear catastrophe.
But while he must never
answer insults in kind, he must
leave no doubt at any time that
whether it is in Berlin or in
Cuba or anywhere else in the
world, America will not toler-
ate being pushed around by
anybody any place. Because
we have already paid a terrible
price in lives and resources to
learn that appeasement leads
not to peace but to war, it will
indeed take great leadership
to steer us through these years,
avoiding the extremes of bel
ligerency, on the one hand,
and appeasement, on the other.
Now. Mr.. Kennedy has sug-
gested that what the world
needs is young leadership: and,
understandable this has great
appeal. because it is true that
youth does bring boldness and
IMAGINATION and drive to lead
ership, and we need all those
things. But I think most peo-
pie will agree with me tonight
when I say that President de-
Gaulle. Prime Minister Macmil-
Ian. Chancellor Adenauer. are
not young men-but we are
indeed fortunate in that we
have their wisdom and their
experience and their courage on
our side in the struggle for
freedom today in the world.
And I might suggest that as
we consider the relative merits
of youth and age. it is only
fair to point out that it was
not Mr. deGaulle or Mr.. Mac
milan and/or Mr.. Adenauer.
but Mr.. Kennedy who made the
rash and impulsive suggestion
that Pre- dent Eisenhower
could have apologized or sent
regrets to Mr.. Khrushchev for
the U-2 flights which the
President had ordered to save
our country from surprise at
tack.
Another Aggression
But formidable as will be the
diplomatic and military prob