"Peace With
Honor": Radio-television broadcast,
President Nixon re: initialing of the Vietnam Agreement,
23 Jan. 1973
(Text from PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, vol.
9 (1973), pp. 43-5)
Good evening. I have asked for this
radio and television time tonight for the purpose of announcing that we today
have concluded an agreement to end the war and bring peace with honor in
Vietnam and in Southeast Asia.
The following statement is being issued at this moment in Washington and
Hanoi:
At 12:30 Paris time today [Tuesday], January 23, 1973, the Agreement on Ending
the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam was initialed by Dr. Henry Kissinger
on behalf of the United States, and Special Adviser Le Duc Tho on behalf
of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
The agreement will be formally signed by the parties participating in the
Paris Conference on Vietnam on January 27, 1973, at the International Conference
Center in Paris.
The cease-fire will take effect at 2400 Greenwich Mean Time, January 27,
1973. The United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam express the
hope that this agreement will insure stable peace in Vietnam and contribute
to the preservation of lasting peace in Indochina and Southeast Asia. .
That concludes the formal statement.
Throughout the years of negotiations, we have insisted on peace with honor.
In my addresses to the Nation from this room of January 25 and May 8, [1972]
I set forth the goals that we considered essential for peace with honor.
In the settlement that has now been agreed to, all the conditions that I
laid down then have been met. A cease-fire, internationally supervised, will
begin at 7 p.m., this Saturday, January 27, Washington time. Within 60 days
from this Saturday, all Americans held prisoners of war throughout Indochina
will be released. There will be the fullest possible accounting for all of
those who are missing in action.
During the same 60-day period, all American forces will be withdrawn from
South Vietnam.
The people of South Vietnam have been guaranteed the right to determine their
own future, without outside interference.
By joint agreement, the full text of the agreement and the protocols to carry
it out, will be issued tomorrow.
Throughout these negotiations we have been in the closest consultation with
President Thieu and other representatives of the Republic of Vietnam. This
settlement meets the goals and has the full support of President Thieu and
the Government of the Republic of Vietnam, as well as that of our other allies
who are affected.
The United States will continue to recognize the Government of the Republic
of Vietnam as the sole legitimate government of South Vietnam.
We shall continue to aid South Vietnam within the terms of the agreement
and we shall support efforts by the people of South Vietnam to settle their
problems peacefully among themselves.
We must recognize that ending the war is only the first step toward building
the peace. All parties must now see to it that this is a peace that lasts,
and also a peace that heals, and a peace that not only ends the war in Southeast
Asia, but contributes to the prospects of peace in the whole world.
This will mean that the terms of the agreement must be scrupulously adhered
to. We shall do everything the agreement requires of us and we shall expect
the other parties to do everything it requires of them. We shall also expect
other interested nations to help insure that the agreement is carried out
and peace is maintained.
As this long and very difficult war ends, I would like to address a few special
words to each of those who have been parties in the conflict.
First, to the people and Government of South Vietnam: By your courage, by
your sacrifice, you have won the precious right to determine your own future
and you have developed the strength to defend that right. We look forward
to working with you in the future, friends in peace as we have been allies
in war.
To the leaders of North Vietnam: As we have ended the war through negotiations,
let us now build a peace of reconciliation. For our part; we are prepared
to make a major effort to help achieve that goal. But just as reciprocity
was needed to end the war, so, too, will it be needed to build and strengthen
the peace.
To the other major powers that have been involved even indirectly: Now is
the time for mutual restraint so that the peace we have achieved can last.
And finally, to all of you who are listening, the American people: Your
steadfastness in supporting our insistence on peace with honor has made peace
with honor possible. I know that you would not have wanted that peace
jeopardized. With our secret negotiations at the sensitive stage they were
in during this recent period, for me to have discussed publicly our efforts
to secure peace would not only have violated our understanding with North
Vietnam, it would have seriously harmed and possibly destroyed the chances
for peace. Therefore, I know that you now can understand why, during these
past several weeks, I have not made any public statements about those efforts.
The important thing was not to talk about peace, but to get peace and to
get the right kind of peace. This we have done.
Now that we have achieved an honorable agreement, let us be proud that America
did not settle for a peace that would have betrayed our allies, that would
have abandoned our prisoners of war, or that would have ended the war for
us but would have continued the war for the 50 million people of Indochina.
Let us be proud of the 2 1/2 million young Americans who served in Vietnam,
who served with honor and distinction in one of the most selfless enterprises
in the history of nations. And let us be proud of those who sacrificed, who
gave their lives so that the people of South Vietnam might live in freedom
and so that the world might live in peace.
In particular, I would like to say a word to some of the bravest people I
have ever met-the wives, the children, the families of our prisoners of war
and the missing in action. When others called on us to settle on any terms,
you had the courage to stand for the right kind of peace so that those who
died and those who suffered would not have died and suffered in vain, and
so that, where this generation knew war, the next generation would know peace.
Nothing means more to me at this moment than the fact that your long vigil
is coming to an end.
Just yesterday, a great American, who once occupied this office, died. In
his life President [Lyndon B.] Johnson endured the vilification of those
who sought to portray him as a man of war. But there was nothing he cared
about more deeply than achieving a lasting peace in the world.
I remember the last time I talked with him. It was just the day after New
Year's. He spoke then of his concern with bringing peace, with making it
the right kind of peace, and I was grateful that he once again expressed
his support for my efforts to gain such a peace. No one would have welcomed
this peace more than he.
And I know he would join me in asking for those who died and for those who
live, let us consecrate this moment by resolving together to make the peace
we have achieved a peace that will last.
Thank you and good evening.
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