Good Evening, my fellow Americans.
Tonight I want to talk to you on a subject of deep concern to all Americans and to many people in all parts of the world, the war in Vietnam.
I believe that one of the reasons for the deep division about Vietnam is that many Americans have lost confidence in what their Government has told them about our policy.
The American people cannot and should not be asked to support a policy which involves the overriding issues of war and peace unless they know the truth about that policy.Tonight, therefore, I would like to answer some of the questions that I know are on the minds of many of you listening to me.How and why did America get involved in Vietnam in the first place?How has this administration changed the policy of the previous Administration?What has really happened in the negotiations in Paris and the battlefront in Vietnam?What choices do we have if we are to end the war?What are the prospects for peace? Now let me begin by describing the situation I found when I was inaugurated on Jan.
20th: The war had been going on for four years.
Thirty-one thousand Americans had been killed in action.
The training program for the South Vietnamese was behind schedule.
Five hundred forty-thousand Americans were in Vietnam with no plans to reduce the number.
No progress had been made at the negotiations in Paris and the United States had not put forth a comprehensive peace proposal.The war was causing deep division at home and criticism from many of our friend, as well as our enemies, abroad.In view of these circumstances, there were some who urged withdrawal of all American forces.
From a political standpoint, this would have been a popular and easy course to follow.
After all, we became involved in the war while my predecessor was in office.
I could blame the defeat, which would be the result of my action, on him -- and come out as the peacemaker.
Some put it to me quite bluntly: this was the only way to avoid allowing Johnson’s war to become Nixon’s war.But I had a greater obligation than to think only of the years of my Administration, and of the next election.
I had to think of the effect of my decision on the next generation, and on the future of peace and freedom in America, and in the world.Let us all understand that the question before us is not whether some Americans are for peace and some Americans are against peace.
The question at issue is not whether Johnson’s war becomes Nixon’s war.
Thank you!
晚上好，我的美國同胞們。
今晚我想和你們談?wù)剬?duì)所有美國人和世界各地的許多人的深切關(guān)注，越南戰(zhàn)爭。
我認(rèn)為，越南對(duì)越南戰(zhàn)爭的深層次原因之一是，許多美國人對(duì)政府的政策失去了信心。
美國人民不能，也不應(yīng)被要求支持戰(zhàn)爭和和平的壓倒一切的政策，除非他們知道有關(guān)這項(xiàng)政策的真相，因此，我想回答的問題，我知道你們?cè)S多人聽我說，如何以及為什么在越南美國參與了第？這屆政府如何改變以往的政府政策？什么真的在巴黎和越南前線的談判呢？如果我們結(jié)束這場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭，我們有什么選擇？和平的前景是什么？現(xiàn)在讓我首先描述的情況，我發(fā)現(xiàn)當(dāng)我就職于1月
第二十：戰(zhàn)爭已經(jīng)持續(xù)了四年。
三零一千名美國人被殺害。
越南南部的訓(xùn)練計(jì)劃落后于日程安排。
五十四萬美國人在越南，沒有計(jì)劃，以減少數(shù)量。
在巴黎和美國的談判中沒有取得任何進(jìn)展，美國沒有提出一個(gè)全面的和平建議，這場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭在國內(nèi)引起了嚴(yán)重的分裂，對(duì)我們的許多朋友，以及我們的敵人，在國外，在這種情況下，有一些人敦促所有美國軍隊(duì)撤出。
從政治的角度來看，這將是一個(gè)流行的和容易的課程遵循。
畢竟，當(dāng)我的前任在辦公室的時(shí)候，我們就開始參與戰(zhàn)爭了。
我能責(zé)備失敗，這將是我戰(zhàn)斗的結(jié)果，他——作為和平使者來了。
有些人對(duì)我說：這是的方法，以避免讓約翰遜的戰(zhàn)爭成為尼克松的戰(zhàn)爭，但我有一個(gè)更大的義務(wù)，比我的管理，并在未來的選舉年。
我必須想到我的決定對(duì)下一代的影響，以及在美國和世界的和平與自由的未來，讓我們都明白，在我們面前的問題是，一些美國人是為了和平，而一些美國人反對(duì)和平。
問題的問題不是約翰遜的戰(zhàn)爭變成了尼克松的戰(zhàn)爭。
謝謝你！
Tonight I want to talk to you on a subject of deep concern to all Americans and to many people in all parts of the world, the war in Vietnam.
I believe that one of the reasons for the deep division about Vietnam is that many Americans have lost confidence in what their Government has told them about our policy.
The American people cannot and should not be asked to support a policy which involves the overriding issues of war and peace unless they know the truth about that policy.Tonight, therefore, I would like to answer some of the questions that I know are on the minds of many of you listening to me.How and why did America get involved in Vietnam in the first place?How has this administration changed the policy of the previous Administration?What has really happened in the negotiations in Paris and the battlefront in Vietnam?What choices do we have if we are to end the war?What are the prospects for peace? Now let me begin by describing the situation I found when I was inaugurated on Jan.
20th: The war had been going on for four years.
Thirty-one thousand Americans had been killed in action.
The training program for the South Vietnamese was behind schedule.
Five hundred forty-thousand Americans were in Vietnam with no plans to reduce the number.
No progress had been made at the negotiations in Paris and the United States had not put forth a comprehensive peace proposal.The war was causing deep division at home and criticism from many of our friend, as well as our enemies, abroad.In view of these circumstances, there were some who urged withdrawal of all American forces.
From a political standpoint, this would have been a popular and easy course to follow.
After all, we became involved in the war while my predecessor was in office.
I could blame the defeat, which would be the result of my action, on him -- and come out as the peacemaker.
Some put it to me quite bluntly: this was the only way to avoid allowing Johnson’s war to become Nixon’s war.But I had a greater obligation than to think only of the years of my Administration, and of the next election.
I had to think of the effect of my decision on the next generation, and on the future of peace and freedom in America, and in the world.Let us all understand that the question before us is not whether some Americans are for peace and some Americans are against peace.
The question at issue is not whether Johnson’s war becomes Nixon’s war.
Thank you!
晚上好，我的美國同胞們。
今晚我想和你們談?wù)剬?duì)所有美國人和世界各地的許多人的深切關(guān)注，越南戰(zhàn)爭。
我認(rèn)為，越南對(duì)越南戰(zhàn)爭的深層次原因之一是，許多美國人對(duì)政府的政策失去了信心。
美國人民不能，也不應(yīng)被要求支持戰(zhàn)爭和和平的壓倒一切的政策，除非他們知道有關(guān)這項(xiàng)政策的真相，因此，我想回答的問題，我知道你們?cè)S多人聽我說，如何以及為什么在越南美國參與了第？這屆政府如何改變以往的政府政策？什么真的在巴黎和越南前線的談判呢？如果我們結(jié)束這場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭，我們有什么選擇？和平的前景是什么？現(xiàn)在讓我首先描述的情況，我發(fā)現(xiàn)當(dāng)我就職于1月
第二十：戰(zhàn)爭已經(jīng)持續(xù)了四年。
三零一千名美國人被殺害。
越南南部的訓(xùn)練計(jì)劃落后于日程安排。
五十四萬美國人在越南，沒有計(jì)劃，以減少數(shù)量。
在巴黎和美國的談判中沒有取得任何進(jìn)展，美國沒有提出一個(gè)全面的和平建議，這場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭在國內(nèi)引起了嚴(yán)重的分裂，對(duì)我們的許多朋友，以及我們的敵人，在國外，在這種情況下，有一些人敦促所有美國軍隊(duì)撤出。
從政治的角度來看，這將是一個(gè)流行的和容易的課程遵循。
畢竟，當(dāng)我的前任在辦公室的時(shí)候，我們就開始參與戰(zhàn)爭了。
我能責(zé)備失敗，這將是我戰(zhàn)斗的結(jié)果，他——作為和平使者來了。
有些人對(duì)我說：這是的方法，以避免讓約翰遜的戰(zhàn)爭成為尼克松的戰(zhàn)爭，但我有一個(gè)更大的義務(wù)，比我的管理，并在未來的選舉年。
我必須想到我的決定對(duì)下一代的影響，以及在美國和世界的和平與自由的未來，讓我們都明白，在我們面前的問題是，一些美國人是為了和平，而一些美國人反對(duì)和平。
問題的問題不是約翰遜的戰(zhàn)爭變成了尼克松的戰(zhàn)爭。
謝謝你！