the deadliest divisions: class against class,
people against people, nation against nation—
we cannot escape the implication of these attacks,
their complete indifference to human life and to the individual;
it is clearly part of the same calculated assault
that the aggressor is simultaneously pressing
in Indochina and in Malaya,
and of the strategic situation
that manifestly embraces the island of Formosa—
the destruction of freedom everywhere!
It is, friends, a spiritual struggle.
And at such a time in history, we who are free
must proclaim anew our faith; we are called as a people
to give testimony in the sight of the world
to our faith that the future shall belong to the free!
History does not long entrust
the care of freedom to the weak or the timid—
we must be ready to dare all for our country!
Human liberty and national liberty
must survive against Communist aggression
which tramples on human dignity;
upon all our peoples and nations
there rests a responsibility to serve worthily
the faith we hold and the freedom we cherish
— which means essentially a free economy.
Let none doubt this:
we are free men.
I don’t like the word “compulsory”;
I am against the word “socialized”;
everything about such words seems to me
to be a step toward the thing
that we are spending so many billions to prevent—
the overwhelming of this country by any force,
power, or idea that leads us to forsake
our traditional system of free enterprise.
Private investment has been the major stimulus
for economic development throughout this hemisphere;
this is the true way of the Americas — the free way—
by which people are bound together for the common good.
Make no mistake:
the reason we have representatives around the world
is to protect American interests
wherever they may be endangered or in difficulties;
we do everything we can to protect the interests
of the United States everywhere on the globe—
the peace we seek is nothing less than
the practice and fulfillment of our whole faith!
It is on such simple facts as these, ladies and gentlemen,
that your foreign policy is founded
and established and maintained.
I know these facts, these simple ideals,
are not new; this idea of a just and peaceful world
is not new or strange to us — all of this springs from
the enlightened self-interest
of the United States of America.
But to be free and stay free,
we must be strong — and we must stay strong!
We shall never try to placate an aggressor
by the false and wicked bargain
of trading honor for security!
If we allow any section of the world that is vital to us,
because of what it provides us — say, manganese,
or uranium, or cobalt — anything that we need
— if we allow any of those areas to fall
to a form of government inimical to us,
that wants to see freedom abolished from the earth,
then we have trouble indeed!
It is necessary
that we earnestly seek out and uproot
any traces of Communism at any place
where it can affect our national life,
that all of us by our combined dedication and devotion
may merit the great blessings
that the Almighty has brought to this land of ours!
It is up to every American to realize
that he has a definite personal responsibility
in the protection of these resources — they belong
to the people who have been created in His image:
they must, at any cost, remain armed, strong,
and ready for the risk of war!
In that way only, can we permanently aspire
to remain a free, independent, and powerful people,
living humbly under our God—
in the final choice, a soldier’s pack
is not so heavy a burden as a prisoner’s chains.
But there is no security for a free nation
in the sword alone.
Security must spring
from the hearts and minds of free men—
our defense, our only defense,
is in our own spirit and our own will!
If we ponder this a moment,
we all know that this really means the defense
of those spiritual values and moral ideals
cherished by generations of Americans
— the true treasure of our people;
this treasure of the spirit
must be defended above all
with weapons of the spirit:
our patriotism,
our devotion,
our readiness to sacrifice.
Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world
must first come to pass in the heart of America;
the true way to uproot Communism in this country
is to understand what freedom means,
and thus develop such an impregnable wall
that no thought of Communism can enter;
and we must seek
in our churches,
our schools,
our homes and
our daily lives,
the clearness of mind and strongness of heart
to guard the chance to live in freedom.
I know of nothing I can add
to make plainer the sincere purpose of the United States.
My grateful thanks
go out to each of you for your prayers,
because your prayers for divine guidance on my behalf
are the greatest gift you could possibly bring to me.
Today I think that prayer is just simply a necessity,
there is a need we all have in these days and times
for some help which comes from outside ourselves
as we face the multitude of problems
that are part of this confusing situation—
if we can back off from our problems
and depend on a Power greater than ourselves,
I believe that we begin to draw these problems into focus.
In our quest of understanding,
we beseech God’s guidance.
We have begun in our grasp
of that basis of understanding,
which is that all free government is firmly founded
in a deeply felt religious faith;
if we understand, then we won’t have Communism.
That, it seems to me,
is the prayer that all of us have today:
that we shall remain free, never to be proven guilty
of the one capital offense against freedom,
a lack of staunch faith.
That is the way I see it.
My friends, thank you for being with us. Good night.
God bless you.
PART TWO: FRIDAY MORNING
8. What a Glorious Morning for America!
reads the sign being erected on the Roof of the Astor Hotel overlooking Times Square. The sun is rising, sending its prophylactic shafts deep into the city canyons, dispersing not only the Phantom and all his legions, but all thought of them as well. Although the Supreme Court will not reconvene for hours, there is already, with the first hazy glimmer of sunlight, a new certainty in the air, a confidence, bookies refuse to take more bets, the electrocutions seem a sure thing, preparations resume. Traffic is once more blocked off, carpenters and electricians busy themselves about the sabotaged stage, the Phantom’s filthy litter is swept away by Sanitation Department crews. There is a resurgence of pride, even the taxi drivers leave off their complaints as traffic snarls around the edges. The temperature is already in the seventies and rising, the humidity is falling, it’s going to be a beautiful day. It feels good to wake up, get out on the streets.