Remarks to the National Citizens' Committee on United Nations Day

Mr. Weil and members of the Committee:

I wish to thank you for the resolution you have presented to me and for the thought that it expresses.

Since I first came to the White House in 1945, I have worked to build and strengthen the United Nations. In this work, I think that I have done no more than the American people wanted me to do.

This Nation looks upon the United Nations as the cornerstone of our foreign policy. We see in the United Nations the world's best hope for peace. We have pledged our support to the United Nations because it stands for the only principles upon which true peace can be based. These are the principles of mutual respect among nations and justice and morality in international affairs.

These great principles were brutally violated by the aggression in Korea. The authority and the future existence of the United Nations were threatened by that aggression. This Nation understood then and understands now that if we let brute force destroy the United Nations there can be no hope for peace any time in the future. The other free nations also realize this fact. They have joined with us in the defense of Korea and in the defeat of the Communist aggressors there.

When we entered the United Nations in 1945, we did not know that it would be put to the test so soon. But we did not enter lightly on this great international compact. We were determined at the outset-and we are determined now--that the United Nations will work, and we have sacrificed much to make it work.

In spite of the great achievements of the United Nations, in spite of the hope that it holds for all mankind, we face within our borders a growing attempt to undermine it.

Since Senator Vandenberg died, the old isolationists have grown bolder. They are urging us to abandon our allies, to pull out of Europe and out of Korea, to slash our mutual security program, and to turn back in our onward march toward peace. This attack on the United Nations offers us no plan for the future and no hope for eventual success. The enemies of the United Nations tell us one day to pull out of Korea-and on the next day they tell us to extend the conflict even further. They ask us to reduce our defenses and at the same time to take steps that create a greater risk of total war. They lament the loss of millions of people to Communist enslavement, and yet, at the same time, they recommend that we should cut off aid to those who are still free.

We must disregard this hysterical and conflicting advice. We must withstand the efforts of those who would play politics with security and the welfare of our Nation and the freedom of our allies.

This is the last time that I shall meet with this group while I am President. My last official word to you is to continue your work for the United Nations with all your might and main. You must give even more of your energies to telling the people in this country and around the world about the basic concepts of the United Nations. You must make it clear that the United Nations is supported by the people.

The world problems we face are not ordinary ones. They are not--and must not become--questions of party politics. They involve not only the fate of our own Nation but the future hopes and aspirations of mankind.

We should not become discouraged by the obstacles that lie ahead. Instead we should understand that in the difficulties of this time we have a glorious opportunity-the opportunity to attain the greatest prize the world could hope for--a just and lasting peace.