I WANT to congratulate these young people on being the prizewinners in this great undertaking they are going through. The country needs them, and it is going to need them worse in the coming generation than it needs them now. And the more important science becomes, the more necessary it is to have people who know how to take advantage of the opportunity.
I think you young people are faced with the greatest age in history. I am an optimist, and I rather think we are going to have a peaceful world over the next century, and it will be your turn some day to make that world operate. And I am more than happy to see that you are preparing yourselves for that purpose.
I am glad you are here. I hope you will enjoy your visit, and that you will learn a lot about the United States and its Government and its relations with the other countries in the world, which is most important for you to know.
Thank you very much.
Note: The President spoke at 12:50 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House. The group included 40 young people from throughout the United States who were winners in the annual Science Talent Institute sponsored by the Westinghouse Corporation.
Harry S Truman, Remarks to the Winners of the 11th Annual Science Talent Search. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/231474
