Annotations

The War Between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness.

The Vision of Dwight David Eisenhower (from Public Papers of the Presidents, January 20-June 19, 1953)

(149-156)


149.1-5
Tonight,
as you sit in your homes all across this broad land,
I want to talk to you about an issue
affecting all our livesMay 19, 1953—the question
that stirs the hearts of all sane men:April 16, 1953

149.6-11
   How far have we come in man's long pilgrimage
from darkness toward the light?
Are we nearing the light—
a day of freedom and peace for all mankind?
Or are the shadows of another night
closing in upon us?January 20, 1953

149.12-20
   Since the century's beginning,
a time of tempest has seemed to come upon
the continents of the earth—great nations of Europe
have fought their bloodiest wars; thrones
have toppled and vast empires have disappeared.January 20, 1953
The shadow of fear has darkly lengthened across the world.April 16, 1953
   We sense with all our faculties
that forces of Good and Evil are massed and armed and opposed
as rarely before in history.January 20, 1953

150.1-10
   No principle or treasure that we hold,
from the spiritual knowledge of our free schools and churches
to the creative magic of free labor and capital,
nothing lies safely
beyond the reach of this struggle.January 20, 1953
   You are even puzzled
as to whether it is wise to say anything,
because anything that one in my position might say
could be used as an excuse to make
these conditions worse.March 5, 1953

150.11-18
   But do you cure cancer
by pretending it does not exist?June 17, 1953
We must see, clearly and steadily,
just exactly what is the danger before us;
it is more than merely a military threat.May 19, 1953
   The forces threatening this continent strikeApril 12, 1953 directly
at the faith of our fathers and the lives of our sons,January 20, 1953
at the very ideals by which our peoples live!April 12, 1953

150.19-20
   Freedom is pitted against slavery;
lightness against the dark!January 20, 1953

150.21-26
   Here, then, is joined no argument
between slightly differing philosophiesJanuary 20, 1953—
for this whole struggle, in the deepest sense,
is waged neither for land
nor for food nor for power
—but for the Soul of Man himself!June 10, 1953

150.27-35
   We are Christian nations,
deeply conscious that the foundation
of all liberty is religious faith:April 12, 1953
we trust in the merciful providence of God,
whose image, within every man,
is the source and substance
of each man's dignity and freedom.June 11, 1953
   This faith rules our whole way of lifeJanuary 20, 1953—
we live by it and we intend to practice it.March 14, 1953

150.36-151.10
   I think that is not hard to prove
in the case of America:May 7, 1953 when we came
to that turning point in history, when we intended
to establish a government for free men
and a Declaration and a Constitution to make it last,
in order to explain such a system we had to say:
"We hold that all men are endowed by their Creator"February 5, 1953
—thus establishing once and for all
that our civilization and our form of government
is deeply imbedded in a religious faith.
Indeed, those men felt that
unless we recongnized that relationship
between our form of government and religious faith,
that form of government made no sense!May 15, 1953

151.11-13
   Now, that is the doctrine of the administration.
It is most certainly the doctrine of the Republican Party
and those Republican leaders in Congress.March 14, 1953

151.14-25
   The faith we hold
belongs not to us alone
but the free of all the world.
This common bond
joins the grower of rice in Burma
and the planter of wheat in Iowa,
the shepherd in southern Italy
and the mountaineer in the Andes,
the French soldier who dies in Indochina,
the British soldier killed in Malaya,
the American life given in Korea.January 20, 1953
   We believe.June 11, 1953

151.26-36
   The enemies of this faith
know no god but force, no devotion but its use;
they tutor men in treason;January 20, 1953
they seek not to eradicate poverty and its causes
but to exploit it and those who suffer itApril 12, 1953—
they feed upon the hunger of others.January 20, 1953
   These forces
seek to bind nations not by trust but by fearApril 12, 1953—
whatever defies them, they torture,
especially the truth.January 20, 1953 Against these forces
the widest oceans offer no sure defense.April 12, 1953

151.37-42
   We live in a time of peril.May 19, 1953
This is one of those times in the affairs of nations
when the gravest choices must be madeApril 16, 1953—a moment
when man's power to achieve good or to inflict evil
surpasses the brightest hopes and the sharpest fears
of all ages.January 20, 1953

152.1-7
   The worst to be feared
and the best to be expected can be simply stated:
the worst is atomic war . . . the best:
a life of perpetual fear and tension.April 16, 1953
We must act from a lesson learned at terrible cost:
to serve our reasoned hope for the best,
we must be ready steadfastly to meet the worst.March 4, 1953

152.8-10
   These plain and cruel truths
define the peril and point the hope
that come with this spring of 1953April 16, 1953 . . .

152.11-27
   The world, at least, need be divided no longer
in its clear knowledge of who has condemned
humankind to this fateApril 16, 1953—we all know something
of the long record of deliberately planned Communist aggression!
It has been coldly calculated by the Soviet leaders,
for by their military threat they have hoped
to force upon America and the free world
an unbearable security burden leading to
economic disaster!
They have plainly said
that free people cannot preserve their way of life
and at the same time provide enormous military establishments
—Communist guns, in this sense,
have been aiming at an economic target
no less than a military target: prolonged inflation
could be as destructive of a truly free economy
as could a chemical attack against an army in the field!May 19, 1953

152.28-39
   They seek to promote,
among those of us who remain free and unafraid,
the deadliest divisions: class against class,
people against people, nation against nationApril 12, 1953—
we cannot escape the implication of these attacks,
their complete indifference to human life and to the individual;June 17, 1953
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 FormosaFebruary 2, 1953—
   the destruction of freedom everywhere!May 19, 1953

152.40-153.13
   It is, friends, a spiritual struggle.June 10, 1953
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 to the timid—
we must be ready to dare all for our country!January 20, 1953
Human liberty and national liberty
must survive against Communist aggression
which tramples on human dignity;June 7, 1953
upon all our peoples and nations
there rests a responsibility to serve worthily
the faith we hold and the freedom we cherishApril 12, 1953
   —which means essentially a free economy.May 14, 1953

153.14-15
   Let none doubt this:April 16, 1953
we are free men.January 20, 1953

153.16-27
   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.March 14, 1953
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.April 12, 1953

153.28-154.2
   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 globeMarch 5, 1953—
the peace we seek is nothing less than
the practice and fulfillment of our whole faith!January 20, 1953
It is on such simple facts as these, ladies and gentlemen,
that your foreign policy is founded
and established and maintained.May 7, 1953
   I know these facts, these simple ideals,
are not new;April 12, 1953 this idea of a just and peaceful world
is not new or strange to usApril 16, 1953—all of this springs from
the enlightened self-interest
of the United States of America.May 7, 1953

154.3-4
   But to be free and stay free,
we must be strong—and we must stay strong!May 19, 1953

154.5-14
   We shall never try to placate an aggressor
by the false and wicked bargain
of trading honor for security!January 20, 1953
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!May 7, 1953

154.15-32
   It is necessary
that we earnestly seek out and uproot
any traces of Communism at any place
where it can affect our national life,May 15, 1953
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!February 1, 1953
It is up to every American to realize
that he has a definite personal responsibility
in the protection of these resourcesJune 18, 1953—they belong
to the people who have been created in His image:February 1, 1953
they must, at any cost, remain armed, strong,
and ready for the risk of war!April 16, 1953
In that way only, can we permanently aspire
to remain a free, independent, and powerful people,
living humbly under our GodMay 15, 1953—
   in the final choice, a soldier's pack
is not so heavy a burden as a prisoner's chains.January 20, 1953 . . .

154.33-34
   But there is no security for a free nation
in the sword alone.May 15, 1953

154.35-155.24
   Security must spring
from the hearts and minds of free menMay 15, 1953—
our defense, our only defense,
is in our own spirit and our own will!April 12, 1953
   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.May 19, 1953
Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world
must first come to pass in the heart of America;January 20, 1953
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;May 15, 1953
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.June 10, 1953

155.25-26
   I know of nothing I can add
to make plainer the sincere purpose of the United States.April 16, 1953

155.27-38
   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.February 1, 1953
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.February 5, 1953

155.39-40
   In our quest of understanding,
we beseech God's guidance.January 20, 1953

156.1-10
   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;February 5, 1953
if we understand, then we we won't have Communism.May 15, 1953
   That, it seems to me,
is the prayer that all of us have today:February 5, 1953
that we shall remain free, never to be proven guilty
of the one capital offense against freedom,
a lack of stanch faith.January 20, 1953 . . .

156.11-13
   That is the way I see it.March 26, 1953
My friends, thank you for being with us. Good night.

God bless you. June 7, 1953