154. Editorial Note
On August 21, 1980, President Jimmy Carter delivered remarks at the annual convention of the American Legion, taking place in Boston, Massachusetts at the John B. Hynes Veterans Auditorium. The President began his remarks by outlining the efforts of the Veterans Administration in providing support for veterans, especially those who served during the Vietnam war. He then described the four specific objectives of his administration’s national security policy: preventing war, sharing in the protection of industrial democracies in Europe and Asia, safeguarding and strengthening links to nations in the Middle East, and defending America’s vital interests if threatened anywhere. After a brief summary of the administration’s efforts to enhance U.S. strategic forces and deterrent capabilities, the President explained the relationship of this effort to projections of American force:
“Our strategy, now modernized to take advantage of Soviet planning and Soviet attitudes, must leave them no room for the illusion that they can obtain any advantage over the United States of America by the [Page 771] use of their force. And we will keep our forces that strong and that clearly dominant.
“Recently there’s been a great deal of press and public attention paid to a Presidential directive that I have issued, known as PD–59. As a new President charged with great responsibilities for the defense of this Nation, I decided that our Nation must have flexibility in responding to a possible nuclear attack—in responding to a possible nuclear attack. Beginning very early in my term, working with the Secretaries of State and Defense and with my own national security advisers, we have been evolving such an improved capability. It’s been recently revealed to the public in outline form by Secretary of Defense Harold Brown. It’s a carefully considered, logical, and evolutionary improvement in our Nation’s defense capability and will contribute to the prevention of a nuclear conflict.
“No potential enemy of the United States should anticipate for one moment a successful use of military power against our vital interest. This decision will make that prohibition and that cautionary message even more clear. In order to ensure that no adversary is even tempted, however, we must have a range of responses to potential threats or crises and an integrated plan for their use.
“Equally vital for our strategic purposes is the pursuit of nuclear arms control and balanced reduction of nuclear arsenals in the world. Just as we build strategic forces equal to our needs, we seek through negotiated agreements to keep unnecessary competition from carrying us into a purposeless and dangerous nuclear arms race to the detriment of our Nation’s security and to the detriment of the adequate strength of our conventional and other forces. We will continue to make every responsible effort to bring our forces and those of any potential foe under strict, balanced, and verifiable controls, both in the quantity of strategic arms and in their quality.
“I want to make clear that if an unlimited nuclear arms race should be forced upon us, we will compete and compete successfully. Let no one doubt that for a moment. But to initiate such a dangerous and costly race, abandoning our efforts for nuclear weapons control, would be totally irresponsible on our part.
“The destructive power of the world’s nuclear arsenals is already adequate for total devastation. It does no good to increase that destructive power in search of a temporary edge or in pursuit of an illusion of absolute nuclear superiority. To limit strategic nuclear weapons, as the SALT treaties do, is not to reduce our strength, but to reduce the danger that misunderstanding and miscalculation could lead to a global catastrophe. This is a course that has been pursued by the last six Presidents, both Democratic and Republican. To go beyond the reductions that [Page 772] were outlined in the SALT II treaty, as I firmly intend to do, is to advance the stability on which genuine peace can be built.”
The President then surveyed the steps his administration had taken to uphold U.S. strategic interests in several geographic regions and to support democratization, independence, and development in other nations. In his concluding remarks, he returned to the theme of American strength:
“We do not maintain our power in order to seize power from others. Our goal is to strengthen our own freedom and the freedom of others, to advance the dignity of the individual and the right of all people to justice, to a good life, and to a future secure from tyranny. In choosing our course in the world, America’s strength must be used to serve America’s values.
“The choices ahead are every bit as demanding as the ones we’ve already made. Facing them takes a clear understanding of where we are and where we want to go as a nation. Responding to dangers that might menace our future security also will measure America’s common sense and courage, just as previous history has measured America’s common sense and courage.
“I’ve known America’s courage by seeing it tested. I’ve seen it in the men who went to Iran to attempt so valiantly in an isolated desert to rescue their fellow Americans who are still held hostage there. I saw it in the families of the men who died in that effort, and I’ve seen it in the families with whom I’ve met as frequently as possible of the citizens who are still held captive in Iran. What a nation we are to produce such men and women. All Americans are thankful to them.
“And finally let me say that our country also has the courage to reject the easy illusions of something for nothing, the fantasy goals of strength without sacrifice, the irresponsible advocacy of shortcut economics and quick-fix defense policy. There are no magic answers. Easy solutions are very difficult to find. Courage, sometimes quiet courage, unpublicized courage, is the most to be appreciated.
“I see this kind of courage in you, as veterans who have served and sacrificed already, but who still work continuously for the sake of service, not for recognition or reward. Your example strengthens my faith in our Nation and in the future of our Nation. With your help and with your courage and with your common sense, I know America will continue to be a nation of unmatched strength, a nation that faces the world as it is today and works with realism to bring to the world of the future freedom, peace, and justice.” (Public Papers: Carter, 1980–81, Book II, pages 1549–1556)
Documentation on PD/NSC–59 “Nuclear Weapons Employment Policy,” issued July 25, is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, vol. IV, National Security Policy.