If, when the chips are down, the world's most powerful nation, the United States of America, acts like a pitiful, read more

If, when the chips are down, the world's most powerful nation, the United States of America, acts like a pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and free institutions throughout the world.

I would rather be a one-term President and do what I believe is right than to be a two-term President read more

I would rather be a one-term President and do what I believe is right than to be a two-term President at the cost of seeing America become a second-rate power and to see this Nation accept the first defeat in its proud 190-year history.

We have forgotten that Vietnam, and Iraq
resent being invaded and know the ground better than we do.

We have forgotten that Vietnam, and Iraq
resent being invaded and know the ground better than we do.

First thing I killed was no kind of thing at all. It was an enemy soldier. Which is a hell read more

First thing I killed was no kind of thing at all. It was an enemy soldier. Which is a hell of a lot easier to say, than the first thing I ever killed was a man.

I am afraid [if the present trend in Vietnam continues] that direct confrontation, first of all between Washington and Peking, read more

I am afraid [if the present trend in Vietnam continues] that direct confrontation, first of all between Washington and Peking, is inevitable.

I defended him [John McCain] in those hearings when some stupid-ass right-wing idiot accused him of being the Manchurian Candidate, read more

I defended him [John McCain] in those hearings when some stupid-ass right-wing idiot accused him of being the Manchurian Candidate, that somehow the Vietnamese had brainwashed him. This is the most unbelievably callous, degrading, nonsensical piece of crap I've ever heard in my life, coming from some chicken hawk out there, to hurl at somebody who spent as long as he did being tortured and standing up for his country, and caring about it as much as he did. It's incredible that people would behave like that, absolutely stunning.

This war in Vietnam is, I believe, a war for civilization. Certainly it is not a war of our seeking. read more

This war in Vietnam is, I believe, a war for civilization. Certainly it is not a war of our seeking. It is a war thrust upon us and we cannot yield to tyranny.

The Vietnamese people deeply love independence, freedom and peace. But in the face of United States aggression they have risen read more

The Vietnamese people deeply love independence, freedom and peace. But in the face of United States aggression they have risen up, united as one man.

It [the war in Vietnam] poisons everything. It has disrupted the economy, envenomed our politics, hurt the alliance, divided our read more

It [the war in Vietnam] poisons everything. It has disrupted the economy, envenomed our politics, hurt the alliance, divided our people, and now it is interfering with this critical question of the arms race.