Document I-12

"To Deal With the World It Must Be Seen in All Its Fantastic Complexities": REMARKS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY BY THE PRESIDENT (JOHNSON) AT THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE ALFRED E. SMITH MEMORIAL FOUNDATION, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 14, 1964 (EXCERPT) 37

We have learned that to deal with the world it must be seen in all its fantastic complexities.

Almost all general statements about the world are wrong. They are not necessarily false. They are just inadequate.

It is true, for example, that communism is a danger. But Russia is a different kind of danger from Yugoslavia. A small Communist Party in Africa is a different danger from the Government of Red China.

These different dangers require different policies, different actions, and different replies.

Beware of those who come to you with simple slogans. Theirs is the path of peril and not of peace.

As President I have no special gift of prophecy. But I do have a special perspective, and a special responsibility to anticipate the dangers and opportunities of the future.

Tonight I would like to look toward this future in three fields.

First, we will work to make the greatness of our institutions match the grandeur of our intentions.

Foreign policy does not work in the abstract. It is conducted by men working within institutions. Its effectiveness depends upon the talent of the men and the toughness of the institutions.

You are already served with devotion and love of country by thousands of outstanding men and women you do not know, in places you cannot name. I am proud of them.

I intend to do even more to attract the best minds and most brilliant talents to our foreign operations-regardless of background, or race, or party.

I want, also, to bring more young people to the conduct of foreign policy. This is the first generation to come of age in an outward looking America. It is a concerned generation. Its members are our greatest asset. We intend to encourage them and give them early responsibility. This will be a first order of business.

We will strengthen not only our own institutions but those which we share with others.

We will continue to work toward European unity and Atlantic partnership, knowing that progress will require initiative and sacrifice from us as well as from Europe-that success will come from years of

"Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963-64, vol. II, pp. 1331-1335. Due to the lateness of the hour at which he spoke, President Johnson decided to give a shortened version of the speech printed here, but he stated: "I stand upon everything in the somewhat fuller exposition." The as-delivered text is printed ibid., pp. 1329–1331.

patient effort and not a single dramatic move-that the steps ahead may be more difficult than the ones behind.

Beyond the association of the West is the association of the world. I do not intend to withdraw from the United Nations. I do not intend to weaken it. I intend to strengthen it.

The United Nations has flaws and it has had failures. It now faces a major constitutional crisis. That crisis must be resolved so that every nation bears its full share of the costs and burdens.38

Let no one think this position is shaped by the pressures of an election. This principle is vital if the United States is to command the respect and confidence which its great purpose requires.

With all its defects, the United Nations has been a source of innumerable achievements for peace and for the dignity of man.

And wherever it has gone-from the Congo to the Gaza strip-the Communists have not conquered. This is not because it is our ally in the cold war. But it is on the side of the independence of nations. And that is the side we are on.

Twenty years after World War I the League of Nations was dying and war was near. Twenty years after World War II the United Nations is stronger than ever and peace is nearer.

A second field of danger and opportunity is in our confrontation with Russia and Communist China.

There is no longer one cold war. There are many. They differ in temperature, intensity, and danger.

Our relations with the Soviet Union have come a long way since shoes were banged on desks here in New York 39 and a summit meeting collapsed in Paris.40

The test ban treaty and the "hot line" 42 would not have been possible 10 years ago. Conditions did not permit such acts of reason. When this is so men must work to change these conditions. This we did, from the Marshall plan 43 to the Cuban crisis.**

And men must also have the vision to seize the day of opportunity when it comes. This too we have done.

I believe we may be nearing a time for further and more lasting steps toward decreasing tensions and a diminishing arms race. I will try to take those steps-always in consultation with our friends.

I will expect respect for our courage and our convictions. I will offer understanding for the concerns and interests of others.

I will work for the growth of freedom and the survival of man. In Asia there is a different prospect. On that strife-streaked continent an ambitious and aggressive power menaces weak and poor nations.

38 See post, docs. II-11 et seq.

30 Reference is to certain actions of Soviet Premier Khrushchev during the fifteenth session of the U.N. General Assembly; see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1960, pp. 58 ff.

See ibid., pp. 409 ff.

"Text ibid., 1963, pp. 1032-1034.

49

See ibid., pp. 522-523.

Text in A Decade of American Foreign Policy: Basic Documents, 1941–49, pp. 1268-1270.

44 See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 399–471.

Here as we have done in Europe-we must help create the conditions which can make peace possible. The task is different and more difficult. It is not less important.

We will assist against attack. We will strengthen our commitments of alliance. We will work with the nations of Asia to build the hope and self-confidence on which their independence must rest.

The final outcome will depend on the will of the Asian people. But as long as they turn to us for help we will be there. We will not permit the great civilizations of the East-almost half the people of the world-to be swallowed up in Communist conquest.

Let no one be foolhardy enough to doubt the strength of that unyielding American commitment.

In Viet-Nam we believe that, with our help, the people of South Viet-Nam can defeat Communist aggression. We will continue to act on this belief without recklessness and without retreat.

A third field of opportunity and danger is our relation to the developing world.

Here, there is a lesson from our own history-one that I know so well. America still bears many scars because our South lagged behind while the North leaped forward. That gap contributed to a civil war and a great depression.

Today Rio and New Delhi are close to New York; closer than Atlanta or Johnson City once were.

I do not believe that our island of abundance will be finally secure in a sea of despair and unrest, or in a world where even the oppressed may one day have access to the engines of modern destruction.

Moreover, there is a great moral principle at stake. It is not right— in a world of such infinite possibilities that children should die of hunger, that young people should live in ignorance, that men should be crippled by disease, that families should live in misery, shrouded in despair.

If we truly mean our commitment to freedom, we must help strike at the conditions which make a mockery of that hope.

Since President Truman announced the point 4 program " we have extended the hand of compassion toward the world's oppressed. We will continue this help. But it is now clear that the tools we have developed will not do the job alone.

I will propose steps to use the food and agricultural skills of the entire West in a joint effort to eliminate hunger and starvation.

We will seek ways to stabilize the prices of the tropical commodities which are the life blood of many economies. I will press for prompt execution of the worldwide coffee agreement," and seek action for other products.

We will give our support most of all to those governments whose efforts are directed toward the welfare of all their people and not a privileged few.

"Text in A Decade of American Foreign Policy: Basic Documents, 1941-49, pp. 1366-1367.

See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 1424–1427; ibid., 1963, pp. 1140-1142; post, docs. XI-20 and 24.

And we will always give first attention to our close friendship with the people of Latin America. Those who share the views and values of our civilization, who share our convictions in the council chambers, must also share the dividends of progress and the dignity of freedom.

We have the skills and resources to improve the life of man. I do not believe we lack the imagination to find ways to shatter the barrier between man's capacity and man's needs.

Part II

THE UNITED NATIONS, SPECIALIZED AGENCIES, AND DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

A. United States Participation in the United Nations

Document II-1

United States Participation in the United Nations During 1964: LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT (JOHNSON) TO THE CONGRESS TRANSMITTING THE NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT ON U.S. PARTICIPATION IN THE U.N., MARCH 1, 19661

To the Congress of the United States:

Pursuant to the provisions of the United Nations Participation Act, I submit herewith the nineteenth annual report covering United States participation in the United Nations during 1964.

This report, like its predecessors, describes the activities of the United Nations agencies and programs that together carry out the aims of the Charter: to maintain peace and security, to adjust and settle international disputes, to cooperate in economic and social development, and to promote the self-determination of peoples and worldwide respect for human rights. It also covers legal, administrative, and financial matters at the United Nations.

The activities covered in this report document the commitment of this Nation to the purposes and programs of the United Nations—a commitment demonstrated by the extent and character of our participation in and financial support for a broad range of United Nations activities over the past twenty years.

During 1964 the constitutional-financial crisis in the General Assembly tended to overshadow in the public mind all other affairs at the United Nations. The Assembly was limited to those minor actions which could be taken by unanimous consent without a vote. It is regrettable that a major organ of the United Nations could not

1U.S. Participation in the UN: Report by the President to the Congress for the Year 1964 (Department of State publication 7943), pp. iii-vi.

2

* Text in A Decade of American Foreign Policy: Basic Documents, 1941-49, pp. 156-159.

3 See post, docs. II-11 et seq.