Remarks on Arrival at Manchester, New Hampshire.

MRS, NIXON and I would like to express our very warm appreciation to all of you for this wonderful welcome to New Hampshire, and to tell you that we have many pleasant memories of this State going back over many years. But I think today, on this' magnificent day, to find these thousands of people at the airport welcoming us on this visit will perhaps be the memory that will stay with us longer than ever. Thank you very much for coming to the airport.

Now, could I also say that on this occasion I; am so happy to have the Governor of the State welcome us, and I know you will want to give him a hand, Governor Peterson.

We have brought with us the two Senators from the State of New Hampshire: my old friend who came to the Senate the year that I did, Norris Cotton, Senator Cotton. Come on, Norris.

Just to keep the bipartisan nature of this meeting, we also are very happy to have the junior Senator from the State of New Hampshire, Senator Tom Mcintyre, Tom.

And Manchester's own, Lou Wyman. Our other Congressman from the State of New Hampshire, Congressman Cleveland, who was here to to greet us.

Now, we have a number of other distinguished guests. You saw Mrs. Nixon a moment ago. I wonder if Julie is here. Oh, yes.

I would like--before going on with my remarks which will be very brief, but I think appropriate for the occasion--to thank all of the musical organizations that are here. You know, I have been, before I was President, the national chairman of the Boys' Clubs of America; it is a wonderful organization--and to have The Muchachoes¹ from the Boys' Club. Let's give them a hand, over here.

¹The Muchachoes Drum and Bugle Corps.

I remember that we had a wonderful reception where we shook hands with 3,000 people at the St. Augustine Church in Manchester, so we have the Black Knights² from St. Augustine's Church over here.

²The Saint Augustine's Black Knights Drum and Bugle Corps.

This is a new one. I haven't seen this. How about The Gazebos³ from the Manchester Park? Well, we want to thank all of you for coming.

³A band from the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department.

Now, a word about our visit to New Hampshire and our memories of this State. First, I recall that it was on February 2, 1968, that Mrs. Nixon and I came to New Hampshire. We came then with our two daughters, Tricia and Julie. And on that occasion, we came for the purpose of participating in the New Hampshire primary. When I made a speech that time in New Hampshire, there was a huge crowd. And one of those who welcomed me pointed out, "You know, the trouble is that every presidential candidate comes to New Hampshire in the primary and then we never see him again until 4 years later."

So I made a promise. I said at the beginning of the speech, "Win or lose, I will be back to New Hampshire before 4 years." So here I am. I am glad to be back.

Speaking of winning or losing, I know there are a lot of people here from Nashua. I remember that one of the most pleasant meetings that we had in that primary period was the Junior Chamber of Commerce annual dinner in Nashua. Some of you perhaps may have attended it.

There were two guests of honor that night. I was one; I had to make a speech. And the other was Greg Landry. I recall that on that occasion I made a prediction that Greg Landry, who had just been drafted by the Detroit Lions, was going to make it in the big time. Well, he did go on, as you know, to become one of the great stars in the National Football League, and I must say that I am very proud to have gone up the same way that Greg Landry has gone up.

One change has occurred in our family-as a matter of fact, two--since we were here. Tricia was married, and there was a small audience looking at it, I understand, on television, and we were there to see her in New York just a couple of days ago; and Julie, who was with us in 1968 on that occasion, and who was then attending Smith College, has also been married. Her husband, David, not following his grandfather's advice or his father's advice, both of whom were proud members of the United States Army, has joined the Navy and now is a Navy ensign and, having served with the Sixth Fleet, is back in Florida. Julie and David are here with us today. I think you would like to see them. Come up here, Julie and David.

Julie, incidentally, is going to follow in her mother's footsteps, and she is going to be teaching next year in the second grade. I must say, if she can handle those second graders, that will prove that she is really able to handle anybody.

One other thing on a personal note that I would like to say: On July 3 I had a very great honor--and, of course, the President has so many great honors--on that occasion we initiated, as you may recall, the Bicentennial Era for the United States of America, because just 5 years from last July 4th the United States will be 200 years old.

So on July 3, in the Archives Building, the Chief Justice of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President, I, participating in this particular program, initiated this Bicentennial Era.

On that occasion I made a little speech. I said several things in the speech that I thought were worthwhile. But I want you to know that that section of the speech that got the most reaction, the most letters from clear across this country, was a quotation from a talk that had been made by the valedictorian of a high school class fight here in New Hampshire, Cynthia Frink. She is here. She is going on to Smith College, which is the college that Julie attended. I think all of New Hampshire and all of America can be proud of this fine, young American for that wonderful speech she made when she graduated from high school. Here is Cynthia.

Incidentally, I was interested to know that Cynthia is working in a supermarket to get ready and earn some expenses for college, which reminds me that when I was her age I was working in a grocery store. So we were both starting the same way. Who knows, this might be the first woman President that you have just seen right here.

Now, one final word, if I could, to all of you here. I am so glad to see everybody here, of course, particularly happy to see so many old friends that we have met on other occasions, on other visits, and particularly happy that so many young people could be here. I know that school is out and, consequently, you have an opportunity to come to affairs like this that you would not normally have.

We look at America today and its role in the world, and I know that many are worried about that, because when you listen to television and you read your newspapers, naturally what makes news is what is wrong with America, and what is wrong with what we do in the world. And that is legitimate. When anything is wrong, we ought to point it out.

But just let me say, if I may paraphrase what Cynthia Frink tried to say, and said so very, very well in that valedictory speech, let me tell you that at this time in America's history, on a day like this, with thousands of people out in the State of New Hampshire on this beautiful day, people, young people, older people, Democrats, Republicans, people of all walks of life--let me say that when I look over a crowd like this, when I hear and feel your warm welcome, I just want to say this is not an ugly country; this is a good country. It is a beautiful country, it is a great country, and I am proud to be here right in the heart of this country, in New Hampshire.

As I think of the future, I think a bit of the past. When I came to New Hampshire on February 2, 1968, over 300 Americans a day were being killed in Vietnam, and there was no end in sight in that war. The casualties in Vietnam--I mean 300 a week, I meant to say--the casualties in Vietnam this past week were 14. That is too many, but we now are reaching the point when not only have we cut the casualties from 300 a week to 14 a week and 12 a week, but when we can see that the American involvement in that war, which has been so long and so difficult, will come to an end, and America can be at peace with every nation in the world. This is what we are doing, and this is what we plan for the young people of America.

But even more important, may I say to all of the young people here today, the new generation, the next generation, and to your parents, my generation, that our interest goes far beyond simply ending a war that we are in. It goes far beyond simply having peace for the next election or the next 5 years.

As I look back over the history of this country, over the past century, America has been in four wars; we have had a war every generation. There has not been a generation without a war. We can be proud of our role because we have fought every one of those wars, we have fought it with sacrifice, with bravery, and we have not gotten an acre of territory or anything out of it. We have fought always for the freedom of others; we have fought for peace, not to break the peace.

But, on the other hand, I think it is time that we develop in America a foreign policy in which Americans can have peace for a generation and not have it broken by war, in which we can develop a policy in which we can have prosperity based on peace and not at the cost of war. That is what we want for America, and that is what we are working for in this Nation today.

That is the reason why in our foreign policy--and some will be critical of it, and I understand that--that we look not only to keeping America strong, which we must; we look not only to finding a way to end the war in Vietnam, which we are doing in a way that will contribute to a lasting peace rather than in a way that will encourage those who might start another war; but we must also look far down the road, 25 years from now when these young people will be standing in this place, or in the place of the Congressmen and the Senators, and we want that to be a world in which there is the better chance for peace.

That is why I am taking a long journey in a few months, a journey that will take me to a land in which 800 million people live. I take this journey for this purpose-I take it for the purpose of ending the isolation of 800 million of the most able people in the world from the rest of the world, because, my friends, let me tell you: Unless that is done, we will have a tremendous threat to the peace of the world which I do not want to see be borne by these young people that are here.

So to all of you, let me say: The President of the United States, Senators, Congressmen, Democrats or Republicans, all share one great goal. We want peace in our time, but we want peace in your time, you, your young people as well. We are working for it. We want a world that is open, in which all peoples of the world will have a chance to know other peoples of the world. We are working toward that.

I pledge to you as I return to New Hampshire after seeing you on February 2, 1968, that we have made great progress toward that goal by winding down the war we are in, by opening new negotiations with those who might be involved in conflict in the future. I believe that in the end, that you, as Americans, as Democrats or Republicans, will look at this policy, and I hope that you will be able to say it was a policy that we supported and that we can applaud, because it did not look just simply at what we are going to do today, tomorrow, or next year, but it thought of our children, and of building a better world for them than we have had,

My friends, we can have a peaceful world. We can have it for a generation, and we can have these young people with jobs that are based not on the lives and deaths of our boys abroad, but on their working for peace at home.

That is what we want, and that is what I believe in.

Thank you very much for coming out.