99. Editorial Note

President Eisenhower referred to events in Poland in an address to the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America delivered in Washington at 10:15 p.m. on October 23, as follows:

“A people, like the Poles, who have once known freedom cannot be for always deprived of their national independence and of their personal liberty. That truth applies to every people in Eastern Europe who have enjoyed independence and freedom.”

The President continued:

“The day of liberation may be postponed where armed forces for a time make protest suicidal. But all history testifies that the memory of freedom is not erased by the fear of guns and the love of freedom is more enduring than the power of tyrants. But it is necessary that the inspiration of freedom, and the benefits enjoyed by those who possess it, are known to those oppressed.

“We, as a nation—in that light—have a job to do, a mission as the champion of human freedom. This is it:

  • “First—So to conduct ourselves in all our international relations that we never compromise the fundamental principle that all peoples who have proved themselves capable of self-government have a right to an independent government of their own full, free choice.
  • “Second—So to help those freedom-loving peoples who need and want and can profitably use our aid that they may advance in their ability for self-support and may add strength to the security and peace of the free world.”

For text, see Department of State Bulletin, November 5, 1956, pages 702–703.