Toasts of the President and Chancellor Brandt of the Federal Republic of Germany

¹ Dr. Von Braun was Deputy Associate Administrator for Planning, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

² James A. Lovell, Jr., Commander of Apollo 13.

³ On the night of September 28, 1969, the President called Chancellor Kiesinger and, on the basis of incomplete election returns, congratulated him for winning the German elections; Chancellor Brandt proved to be the eventual winner.

Note: The President spoke at 9:50 p.m. in the State Dining Room at the White House.

Chancellor Brandt responded as follows:

Mr. President, Mrs. Nixon, ladies and gentlemen:

On behalf of the German delegation and, of course, also on behalf of Mrs. Brandt and myself, I would like to thank you, Mr. President, very cordially for your impressive words. This gratitude goes also for the friendliness with which you received us and the kindness you have shown to me by inviting me to spend a few restful days at beautiful Camp David.

My words of grateful response, Mr. President, are not only meant for the present occasion. They also include appreciation of the fact that you have always favored closer relations between the United States and Europe; that in doing so you have always shown understanding for the affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, and that last, not least, the vital interests of West Berlin have been and are close to your heart.

When I mention Berlin, let me add without hesitation that the cradle of German-American friendship stood there after World War II. I think we met first in 1954, Mr. President, when I was a member of the Bundestag visiting this great country. When we met again, also that was 12 years ago, February of 1958, you as Vice President, I as Governing Mayor, you presented me with a gavel carved from the old White House wood. With that gavel I have for many years conducted meetings which dealt, in Berlin, with the inspiring work of reconstruction, but also meetings at which grim decisions had to be taken which derived from the ever-deepening division of the city, my city.

Mr. President, your visit to Bonn and West Berlin lives on in our memories. Right at the beginning of your term of office you were given proof of the strength of the confidence which my fellow-countrymen place in you and in the United States. This confidence is part of the capital you cannot weigh or measure which nations invest in history. It bears interest--and it is in the duty of political leaders not to spend such interest frivolously, but to add it as an increment to the capital.

I have come to Washington at a time when it is natural to look back, but necessary to look ahead. Twenty-five years have passed since the end of World War II. The ruins have gone. Hopelessness and despondency have disappeared long ago. This is--and we shall not forget it--largely a result of the American people's willingness to help and of political foresight which are so characteristic of this great country.

I say that, Mr. President, in full awareness of our debt to the men who have paved the way for us, and I am grateful that a number of these men, the fathers of the new relation. ship between our countries, are together with us here tonight, and whose counsel we must still heed today.

But now it is incumbent upon us to seek an ever clearer definition of our concept for the 1970's and to assist, if possible, the young generation in finding an outlook on life in conformity with their aspirations and carrying conviction.

Both in the United States and in Europe there is now-25 years after the end of the war--a new generation; yet, it is a restless one. Although it grew up in relative peace it is highly sensitive to the upheavals of our time. It is searching for convincing answers that hold the promise of the future. We are called upon to meet this challenge, and I believe we can meet it.

If we take the emerging new generations seriously, it would be a disservice to them if we only told them what they want to hear. I think we must tell them that there is no alternative to the long march to achieve reforms and the equally long march to secure peace.

I have said, Mr. President, it is necessary to form an idea of the future, not as wishful thinking but in terms of a world where existing division does not necessarily imply hostile confrontation but could be accepted as a point of departure for the search for patterns of cooperation.

It is certainly no accident that your formula, Mr. President, has met with such response and that there are clear indications in various places of the readiness to set out along that path. If we did not perceive such readiness also outside the Western sphere or thought it at least possible, then some of our efforts would indeed be meaningless.

This is the concept on which my Government's policy is based. We in Germany know that the painful partition of our country can only be cured if the split dividing Europe is healed. We are striving for a structure of peace in Europe under which the countries on either side of the line, which today divides our continent as well as the world powers, will be able to achieve a higher degree of security through a higher degree of cooperation.

In our efforts we must start out from the existing situation, that is to say from realities, in order to arrive at a more normal relationship with our eastern neighbors. We pursue this task free from illusion but with perseverance.

There have been voices that accused the Germans of being willing to plunge into a course of - realpolitik in a questionable sense. They implied that we tried to follow a policy of self-interest in disregard of the moral values which, of course, must also guide international policy.

I am certainly not thinking in terms of that kind of - realpolitik when I speak of the necessity to accept realities. Freedom, democracy, and self-determination are values which we would never renounce. Not only has their significance been borne out by our experience, they also define our moral position in world politics. Because we believe in them we made the Atlantic Alliance a cornerstone of our policy and consider the cultivation of German-American relations an overriding interest of ours.

Mr. President, I have studied with close attention your Report on a New Strategy for Peace which you submitted to Congress on February 18. It contains the statement that the United States can no more disengage from Europe than from Alaska. Let me make it quite clear: This statement works the other way around as well. Today in the second half of the 20th century, Europe can no more disengage from the United States than from herself.

This awareness must inevitably determine our future action and it will again and again make it essential for us to seek common answers to solve the problems--they will sometimes certainly not be easy ones--which are related to the continued and adequate military presence of the United States in Europe without which there can be no security for all of us; to solve the problems with regard to the economic relations between America and Europe which arise from the development and the envisaged enlargement of the Common Market, and to ensure continued close cooperation in our endeavor to relax tensions and to venture peaceful co-existence.

In your report, Mr. President, you enumerated three principles essential in building up a structure of peace: partnership, strength, and willingness to negotiate. My Government wholeheartedly endorses these principles. It will use its best endeavors to bear its due share to the full extent.

As between our two nations, partnership holds paramount rank for us. It is rounded not only on common interests, but even more so on common beliefs.

It is in the spirit of this partnership that I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, to raise your glasses to join me in proposing a toast to the happiness of the American people, to the friendship between our two nations, to your health, Mrs. Nixon, and to the health of the President of the United States.