第一篇：美国经典英文演讲100篇Address_on_Taking_the_Oath_of_Office
美国经典英文演讲100篇: Address on Taking the Oath of Office
Gerald R.Ford
Address on Taking the Oath of the U.S.Presidency
delivered 9 August 1974 East Room of the White House, Washington, D.C.[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.]
[Oath of Office administered by Chief Justice Warren E.Burger] Mr.Chief Justice, my dear friends, my fellow Americans: The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the Constitution.But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans.This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.Therefore, I feel it is my first duty to make an unprecedented compact with my countrymen.Not an inaugural address, not a fireside chat, not a campaign speech--just a little straight talk among friends.And I intend it to be the first of many.I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers.And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many.If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises.I have not campaigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency.I have not subscribed to any partisan platform.I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman--my dear wife--as I begin this very difficult job.I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it.Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends.They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name.It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people.Thomas Jefferson said the people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.And down the years, Abraham Lincoln renewed this American article of faith asking, “Is there any better way or equal hope in the world?” I intend, on Monday next, to request of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate the privilege of appearing before the Congress to share with my former colleagues and with you, the American people, my views on the priority business of the Nation and to solicit your views and their views.And may I say to the Speaker and the others, if I could meet with you right after these remarks, I would appreciate it.Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs.We cannot stand still or slip backwards.We must go forward now together.To the peoples and the governments of all friendly nations, and I hope that could encompass the whole world, I pledge an uninterrupted and sincere search for peace.America will remain strong and united, but its strength will remain dedicated to the safety and sanity of the entire family of man, as well as to our own precious freedom.I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself.That bond, though stained, is unbroken at home and abroad.In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.Our Constitution works.Our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men.Here, the people rule.But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate.In the beginning, I asked you to pray for me.Before closing, I ask again your prayers, for Richard Nixon and for his family.May our former President, who brought peace to millions, find it for himself.May God bless and comfort his wonderful wife and daughters, whose love and loyalty will forever be a shining legacy to all who bear the lonely burdens of the White House.I can only guess at those burdens, although I have witnessed at close hand the tragedies that befell three Presidents and the lesser trials of others.With all the strength and all the good sense I have gained from life, with all the confidence of my family, my friends, and my dedicated staff impart to me, and with the good will of countless Americans I have encountered in recent visits to 40 States, I now solemnly reaffirm my promise I made to you last December 6: To uphold the Constitution;to do what is right as God gives me to see the right;and to do the very best I can for America.God helping me, I will not let you down.Thank you.
第二篇：美国经典英文演讲100篇Address_on_Taking_the_Oath_of_Office
美国经典英文演讲100篇: Address on Taking the Oath of Office
delivered 9 August 1974 East Room of the White House, Washington, D.C.[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.]
[Oath of Office administered by Chief Justice Warren E.Burger] Mr.Chief Justice, my dear friends, my fellow Americans: The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the Constitution.But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans.This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.Therefore, I feel it is my first duty to make an unprecedented compact with my countrymen.Not an inaugural address, not a fireside chat, not a campaign speech--just a little straight talk among friends.And I intend it to be the first of many.I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers.And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many.If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises.I have not campaigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency.I have not subscribed to any partisan platform.I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman--my dear wife--as I begin this very difficult job.I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it.Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends.They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name.It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people.Thomas Jefferson said the people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.And down the years, Abraham Lincoln renewed this American article of faith asking, “Is there any better way or equal hope in the world?”
I intend, on Monday next, to request of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate the privilege of appearing before the Congress to share with my former colleagues and with you, the American people, my views on the priority business of the Nation and to solicit your views and their views.And may I say to the Speaker and the others, if I could meet with you right after these remarks, I would appreciate it.Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs.We cannot stand still or slip backwards.We must go forward now together.To the peoples and the governments of all friendly nations, and I hope that could encompass the whole world, I pledge an uninterrupted and sincere search for peace.America will remain strong and united, but its strength will remain dedicated to the safety and sanity of the entire family of man, as well as to our own precious freedom.I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself.That bond, though stained, is unbroken at home and abroad.In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.Our Constitution works.Our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men.Here, the people rule.But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate.In the beginning, I asked you to pray for me.Before closing, I ask again your prayers, for Richard Nixon and for his family.May our former President, who brought peace to millions, find it for himself.May God bless and comfort his wonderful wife and daughters, whose love and loyalty will forever be a shining legacy to all who bear the lonely burdens of the White House.I can only guess at those burdens, although I have witnessed at close hand the tragedies that befell three Presidents and the lesser trials of others.With all the strength and all the good sense I have gained from life, with all the confidence of my family, my friends, and my dedicated staff impart to me, and with the good will of countless Americans I have encountered in recent visits to 40 States, I now solemnly reaffirm my promise I made to you last December 6: To uphold the Constitution;to do what is right as God gives me to see the right;and to do the very best I can for America.God helping me, I will not let you down.Thank you.
第三篇：美国经典英文演讲一百篇
美国20世纪经典英语演讲100篇（MP3+文本）
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第四篇：美国经典英文演讲100篇
美国经典英文演讲100篇:Brandenburg Gate Address
时间:2008-6-12 10:19:20 来源:本站原创
作者:echo
(女宇航员选拔标准 | 招聘英语编辑)
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Ronald Reagan
Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate
delivered 12 June 1987, West Berlin
[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.(2)]
Thank you.Thank you, very much.Chancellor Kohl, Governing Mayor Diepgen, ladies and gentlemen: Twenty four years ago, President John F.Kennedy visited Berlin, and speaking to the people of this city and the world at the city hall.Well since then two other presidents have come, each in his turn to Berlin.And today, I, myself, make my second visit to your city.We come to Berlin, we American Presidents, because it's our duty to speak in this place of freedom.But I must confess, we’re drawn here by other things as well;by the feeling of history in this city--more than 500 years older than our own nation;by the beauty of the Grunewald and the Tiergarten;most of all, by your courage and determination.Perhaps the composer, Paul Linke, understood something about American Presidents.You see, like so many Presidents before me, I come here today because wherever I go, whatever I do: “Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin” [I still have a suitcase in Berlin.]
Our gathering today is being broadcast throughout Western Europe and North America.I understand that it is being seen and heard as well in the East.To those listening throughout Eastern Europe, I extend my warmest greetings and the good will of the American people.To those listening in East Berlin, a special word: Although I cannot be with you, I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me.For I join you, as I join your fellow countrymen in the West, in this firm, this unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin.[There is only one Berlin.]
Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe.From the Baltic South, those barriers cut across Germany in a gash of barbed wire, concrete, dog runs, and guard towers.Farther south, there may be no visible, no obvious wall.But there remain armed guards and checkpoints all the same--still a restriction on the right to travel, still an instrument to impose upon ordinary men and women the will of a totalitarian state.Yet, it is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly;here, cutting across your city, where the news photo and the television screen have imprinted this brutal division of a continent upon the mind of the world.Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German separated from his fellow men.Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar.President Von Weizsäcker has said, “The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed.” Well today--today I say: As long as this gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, it is not the German question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all mankind.Yet, I do not come here to lament.For I find in Berlin a message of hope, even in the shadow of this wall, a message of triumph.In this season of spring in 1945, the people of Berlin emerged from their air-raid shelters to find devastation.Thousands of miles away, the people of the United States reached out to help.And in 1947 Secretary of State--as you've been told--George Marshall announced the creation of what would become known as the Marshall Plan.Speaking precisely 40 years ago this month, he said: “Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.”
In the Reichstag a few moments ago, I saw a display commemorating this 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan.I was struck by a sign--the sign on a burnt-out, gutted structure that was being rebuilt.I understand that Berliners of my own generation can remember seeing signs like it dotted throughout the western sectors of the city.The sign read simply: “The Marshall Plan is helping here to strengthen the free world.” A strong, free world in the West--that dream became real.Japan rose from ruin to become an economic giant.Italy, France, Belgium--virtually every nation in Western Europe saw political and economic rebirth;the European Community was founded.In West Germany and here in Berlin, there took place an economic miracle, the Wirtschaftswunder.Adenauer, Erhard, Reuter, and other leaders understood the practical importance of liberty--that just as truth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom.The German leaders--the German leaders reduced tariffs, expanded free trade, lowered taxes.From 1950 to 1960 alone, the standard of living in West Germany and Berlin doubled.Where four decades ago there was rubble, today in West Berlin there is the greatest industrial output of any city in Germany: busy office blocks, fine homes and apartments, proud avenues, and the spreading lawns of parkland.Where a city's culture seemed to have been destroyed, today there are two great universities, orchestras and an opera, countless theaters, and museums.Where there was want, today there's abundance--food, clothing, automobiles--the wonderful goods of the Kudamm.¹ From devastation, from utter ruin, you Berliners have, in freedom, rebuilt a city that once again ranks as one of the greatest on earth.Now the Soviets may have had other plans.But my friends, there were a few things the Soviets didn't count on: Berliner Herz, Berliner Humor, ja, und Berliner Schnauze.[Berliner heart, Berliner humor, yes, and a Berliner Schnauze.²]
In the 1950s--In the 1950s Khrushchev predicted: “We will bury you.”
But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history.In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind--too little food.Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself.After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity.Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace.Freedom is the victor.And now--now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom.We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness.Some political prisoners have been released.Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed.Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness;for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty--the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace.There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate.Mr.Gorbachev, open this gate.Mr.Gorbachev--Mr.Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this continent, and I pledge to you my country's efforts to help overcome these burdens.To be sure, we in the West must resist Soviet expansion.So, we must maintain defenses of unassailable strength.Yet we seek peace;so we must strive to reduce arms on both sides.Beginning 10 years ago, the Soviets challenged the Western alliance with a grave new threat, hundreds of new and more deadly SS-20 nuclear missiles capable of striking every capital in Europe.The Western alliance responded by committing itself to a counter-deployment(unless the Soviets agreed to negotiate a better solution)--namely, the elimination of such weapons on both sides.For many months, the Soviets refused to bargain in earnestness.As the alliance, in turn, prepared to go forward with its counter-deployment, there were difficult days, days of protests like those during my 1982 visit to this city;and the Soviets later walked away from the table.But through it all, the alliance held firm.And I invite those who protested then--I invite those who protest today--to mark this fact: Because we remained strong, the Soviets came back to the table.Because we remained strong, today we have within reach the possibility, not merely of limiting the growth of arms, but of eliminating, for the first time, an entire class of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.As I speak, NATO ministers are meeting in Iceland to review the progress of our proposals for eliminating these weapons.At the talks in Geneva, we have also proposed deep cuts in strategic offensive weapons.And the Western allies have likewise made far-reaching proposals to reduce the danger of conventional war and to place a total ban on chemical weapons.While we pursue these arms reductions, I pledge to you that we will maintain the capacity to deter Soviet aggression at any level at which it might occur.And in cooperation with many of our allies, the United States is pursuing the Strategic Defense Initiative--research to base deterrence not on the threat of offensive retaliation, but on defenses that truly defend;on systems, in short, that will not target populations, but shield them.By these means we seek to increase the safety of Europe and all the world.But we must remember a crucial fact: East and West do not mistrust each other because we are armed;we are armed because we mistrust each other.And our differences are not about weapons but about liberty.When President Kennedy spoke at the City Hall those 24 years ago, freedom was encircled;Berlin was under siege.And today, despite all the pressures upon this city, Berlin stands secure in its liberty.And freedom itself is transforming the globe.In the Philippines, in South and Central America, democracy has been given a rebirth.Throughout the Pacific, free markets are working miracle after miracle of economic growth.In the industrialized nations, a technological revolution is taking place, a revolution marked by rapid, dramatic advances in computers and telecommunications.In Europe, only one nation and those it controls refuse to join the community of freedom.Yet in this age of redoubled economic growth, of information and innovation, the Soviet Union faces a choice: It must make fundamental changes, or it will become obsolete.Today, thus, represents a moment of hope.We in the West stand ready to cooperate with the East to promote true openness, to break down barriers that separate people, to create a safer, freer world.And surely there is no better place than Berlin, the meeting place of East and West, to make a start.Free people of Berlin: Today, as in the past, the United States stands for the strict observance and full implementation of all parts of the Four Power Agreement of 1971.Let us use this occasion, the 750th anniversary of this city, to usher in a new era, to seek a still fuller, richer life for the Berlin of the future.Together, let us maintain and develop the ties between the Federal Republic and the Western sectors of Berlin, which is permitted by the 1971 agreement.And I invite Mr.Gorbachev: Let us work to bring the Eastern and Western parts of the city closer together, so that all the inhabitants of all Berlin can enjoy the benefits that come with life in one of the great cities of the world.To open Berlin still further to all Europe, East and West, let us expand the vital air access to this city, finding ways of making commercial air service to Berlin more convenient, more comfortable, and more economical.We look to the day when West Berlin can become one of the chief aviation hubs in all central Europe.With--With our French--With our French and British partners, the United States is prepared to help bring international meetings to Berlin.It would be only fitting for Berlin to serve as the site of United Nations meetings, or world conferences on human rights and arms control, or other issues that call for international cooperation.There is no better way to establish hope for the future than to enlighten young minds, and we would be honored to sponsor summer youth exchanges, cultural events, and other programs for young Berliners from the East.Our French and British friends, I'm certain, will do the same.And it's my hope that an authority can be found in East Berlin to sponsor visits from young people of the Western sectors.One final proposal, one close to my heart: Sport represents a source of enjoyment and ennoblement, and you may have noted that the Republic of Korea--South Korea--has offered to permit certain events of the 1988 Olympics to take place in the North.International sports competitions of all kinds could take place in both parts of this city.And what better way to demonstrate to the world the openness of this city than to offer in some future year to hold the Olympic games here in Berlin, East and West.In these four decades, as I have said, you Berliners have built a great city.You've done so in spite of threats--the Soviet attempts to impose the East-mark, the blockade.Today the city thrives in spite of the challenges implicit in the very presence of this wall.What keeps you here? Certainly there's a great deal to be said for your fortitude, for your defiant courage.But I believe there's something deeper, something that involves Berlin's whole look and feel and way of life--not mere sentiment.No one could live long in Berlin without being completely disabused of illusions.Something, instead, that has seen the difficulties of life in Berlin but chose to accept them, that continues to build this good and proud city in contrast to a surrounding totalitarian presence, that refuses to release human energies or aspirations, something that speaks with a powerful voice of affirmation, that says “yes” to this city, yes to the future, yes to freedom.In a word, I would submit that what keeps you in Berlin--is “love.”
Love both profound and abiding.Perhaps this gets to the root of the matter, to the most fundamental distinction of all between East and West.The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship.The totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and of worship an affront.Years ago, before the East Germans began rebuilding their churches, they erected a secular structure: the television tower at Alexander Platz.Virtually ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower's one major flaw: treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind.Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere, that sphere that towers over all Berlin, the light makes the sign of the cross.There in Berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed.As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner(quote):
“This wall will fall.Beliefs become reality.”
Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall, for it cannot withstand faith;it cannot withstand truth.The wall cannot withstand freedom.And I would like, before I close, to say one word.I have read, and I have been questioned since I've been here about certain demonstrations against my coming.And I would like to say just one thing, and to those who demonstrate so.I wonder if they have ever asked themselves that if they should have the kind of government they apparently seek, no one would ever be able to do what they're doing again.Thank you and God bless you all.Thank you.美国经典英文演讲100篇:Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Address
时间:2008-6-12 10:19:08 来源:本站原创
作者:echo
(女宇航员选拔标准 | 招聘英语编辑)
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William Jefferson Clinton
Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Prayer Service Address
delivered 23 April 1995 in Oklahoma City, OK
[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.(2)]
Thank you very much, Governor Keating and Mrs.Keating, Reverend Graham, to the families of those who have been lost and wounded, to the people of Oklahoma City, who have endured so much, and the people of this wonderful state, to all of you who are here as our fellow Americans.I am honored to be here today to represent the American people.But I have to tell you that Hillary and I also come as parents, as husband and wife, as people who were your neighbors for some of the best years of our lives.Today our nation joins with you in grief.We mourn with you.We share your hope against hope that some may still survive.We thank all those who have worked so heroically to save lives and to solve this crime--those here in Oklahoma and those who are all across this great land, and many who left their own lives to come here to work hand in hand with you.We pledge to do all we can to help you heal the injured, to rebuild this city, and to bring to justice those who did this evil.This terrible sin took the lives of our American family, innocent children in that building, only because their parents were trying to be good parents as well as good workers;citizens in the building going about their daily business;and many there who served the rest of us--who worked to help the elderly and the disabled, who worked to support our farmers and our veterans, who worked to enforce our laws and to protect us.Let us say clearly, they served us well, and we are grateful.But for so many of you they were also neighbors and friends.You saw them at church or the PTA meetings, at the civic clubs, at the ball park.You know them in ways that all the rest of America could not.And to all the members of the families here present who have suffered loss, though we share your grief, your pain is unimaginable, and we know that.We cannot undo it.That is God's work.Our words seem small beside the loss you have endured.But I found a few I wanted to share today.I've received a lot of letters in these last terrible days.One stood out because it came from a young widow and a mother of three whose own husband was murdered with over 200 other Americans when Pan Am 103 was shot down.Here is what that woman said I should say to you today:
The anger you feel is valid, but you must not allow yourselves to be consumed by it.The hurt you feel must not be allowed to turn into hate, but instead into the search for justice.The loss you feel must not paralyze your own lives.Instead, you must try to pay tribute to your loved ones by continuing to do all the things they left undone, thus ensuring they did not die in vain.Wise words from one who also knows.You have lost too much, but you have not lost everything.And you have certainly not lost America, for we will stand with you for as many tomorrows as it takes.If ever we needed evidence of that, I could only recall the words of Governor and Mrs.Keating: “If anybody thinks that Americans are mostly mean and selfish, they ought to come to Oklahoma.If anybody thinks Americans have lost the capacity for love and caring and courage, they ought to come to Oklahoma.”
To all my fellow Americans beyond this hall, I say, one thing we owe those who have sacrificed is the duty to purge ourselves of the dark forces which gave rise to this evil.They are forces that threaten our common peace, our freedom, our way of life.Let us teach our children that the God of comfort is also the God of righteousness: Those who trouble their own house will inherit the wind.¹ Justice will prevail.Let us let our own children know that we will stand against the forces of fear.When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it.When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it.In the face of death, let us honor life.As St.Paul admonished us, Let us “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”²
Yesterday, Hillary and I had the privilege of speaking with some children of other federal employees--children like those who were lost here.And one little girl said something we will never forget.She said, “We should all plant a tree in memory of the children.” So this morning before we got on the plane to come here, at the White House, we planted that tree in honor of the children of Oklahoma.It was a dogwood with its wonderful spring flower and its deep, enduring roots.It embodies the lesson of the Psalms--that the life of a good person is like a tree whose leaf does not wither.³
My fellow Americans, a tree takes a long time to grow, and wounds take a long time to heal.But we must begin.Those who are lost now belong to God.Some day we will be with them.But until that happens, their legacy must be our lives.Thank you all, and God bless you.
第五篇：美国经典英文演讲100篇The_Marshall_Plan
美国经典英文演讲100篇:“The Marshall Plan”George C.Marshall
The Marshall Plan
[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.]
Mr.President, Dr.Conant, members of the Board of Overseers, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am profoundly grateful, touched by the great distinction and honor and great compliment accorded me by the authorities of Harvard this morning.I am overwhelmed, as a matter of fact, and I am rather fearful of my inability to maintain such a high rating as you've been generous enough to accord to me.In these historic and lovely surroundings, this perfect day, and this very wonderful assembly, it is a tremendously impressive thing to an individual in my position.But to speak more seriously, I need not tell you that the world situation is very serious.That must be apparent to all intelligent people.I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation.Furthermore, the people of this country are distant from the troubled areas of the earth, and it is hard for them to comprehend the plight and consequent reactions of the long-suffering peoples of Europe and the effect of those
reactions on their governments in connection with our efforts to promote peace in the world.In considering the requirements for the rehabilitation of Europe, the physical loss of life, the visible destruction of cities, factories, mines, and railroads was correctly estimated, but it has become obvious during recent months that this visible destruction was probably less serious than the dislocation of the entire fabric of European economy.For the past ten years conditions have been highly abnormal.The feverish preparation for war and the more feverish maintenance of the war effort engulfed all aspects of
national economies.Machinery has fallen into disrepair or is entirely obsolete.Under the arbitrary and destructive Nazi rule, virtually every possible enterprise was geared into the German war machine.Long-standing commercial ties, private
institutions, banks, insurance companies, and shipping companies disappeared through loss of capital, absorption through nationalization, or by simple destruction.In many countries, confidence in the local currency has been severely shaken.The breakdown of the business structure of Europe during the war was complete.Recovery has been seriously
retarded by the fact that two years after the close of hostilities a peace settlement with Germany and Austria has not been
agreed upon.But even given a more prompt solution of these difficult problems, the rehabilitation of the economic structure of Europe quite evidently will require a much longer time and greater effort than had been foreseen.There is a phase of this matter which is both interesting and serious.The farmer has always produced the foodstuffs to exchange with the city dweller for the other necessities of life.This division of labor is the basis of modern civilization.At the present time it is threatened with breakdown.The town and city industries are not producing adequate goods to exchange with the food-producing farmer.Raw materials and fuel are in short supply.Machinery, as I have said, is lacking or worn out.The farmer or the peasant cannot find the goods for sale which he desires to purchase.So the sale of his farm produce for money which he cannot use seems to him an unprofitable transaction.He, therefore, has withdrawn many fields from crop cultivation and he's using them for grazing.He feeds more grain to stock and finds for himself and his family an ample supply of food, however short he may be on clothing and the other ordinary gadgets of civilization.Meanwhile, people in the cities are short of food and fuel, and in some places approaching the starvation levels.So, the
governments are forced to use their foreign money and credits to procure these necessities abroad.This process exhausts funds which are urgently needed for reconstruction.Thus, a very serious situation is rapidly developing which bodes no good
for the world.The modern system of the division of labor upon which the exchange of products is based is in danger of breaking down.The truth of the matter is that Europe's requirements for the next three or four years of foreign food and other essential products--principally from America--are so much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help or face economic, social, and political
deterioration of a very grave character.The remedy seems to lie in breaking the vicious circle and
restoring the confidence of the people of Europe in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole.The manufacturer and the farmer throughout wide areas must be able and willing to exchange their product for currencies, the continuing value of which is not open to question.Aside from the demoralizing effect on the world at large and the possibilities of disturbances arising as a result of the desperation of the people concerned, the consequences to the economy of the United States should be apparent to all.It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace.Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.Such assistance, I am convinced, must not be on a piecemeal basis, as various crises develop.Any assistance that this Government may render in the future should provide a cure rather than a mere palliative.Any government that is willing to assist in the task of recovery will find full cooperation, I am sure, on the part of the United States Government.Any government which maneuvers to block the recovery of other countries cannot expect help from us.Furthermore, governments, political parties, or groups which seek to perpetuate human misery in order to profit there from politically or otherwise will encounter the opposition of the United States.It is already evident that before the United States Government can proceed much further in its efforts to alleviate the situation and help start the European world on its way to recovery, there must be some agreement among the countries of Europe as to the requirements of the situation and the part those countries themselves will take in order to give a proper effect to whatever actions might be undertaken by this Government.It would be neither fitting nor efficacious for our Government to undertake to draw up unilaterally a program designed to place Europe on its feet economically.This is the business of the Europeans.The initiative, I think, must come from Europe.The role of this country should consist of friendly aid in the drafting of a
European program and of later support of such a program so far as it may be practical for us to do so.The program should be a joint one, agreed to by a number, if not all, European nations.An essential part of any successful action on the part of the United States is an understanding on the part of the people of America of the character of the problem and the remedies to be applied.Political passion and prejudice should have no part.With foresight, and a willingness on the part of our people to face up to the vast responsibility which history has clearly
placed upon our country, the difficulties I have outlined can and will be overcome.I am sorry that on each occasion I have said something publicly in regard to our international situation, I have been forced by the necessities of the case to enter into rather technical
discussions.But, to my mind, it is of vast importance that our people reach some general understanding of what the
complications really are, rather than react from a passion or a prejudice or an emotion of the moment.As I said more formally a moment ago, we are remote from the scene of these troubles.It is virtually impossible at this distance merely by reading, or listening, or even seeing photographs and motion pictures, to grasp at all the real significance of the situation.And yet the whole world of the future hangs on a proper judgment.It hangs, I think, to a large extent on the realization of the American people, of just what are the various
dominant factors.What are the reactions of the people? What are the justifications of those reactions? What are the sufferings? What is needed? What can best be done? What must be done? Thank you very much.
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