preview

President Richard Nixon 's Speech

Decent Essays

Persuasion

I strongly believe that Nixon 's speech should be included in the argument chapter of the next edition of 40 model essay. On November 3, 1969, President Richard Nixon gave a televised address to the nation on his Vietnam War policy called “Vietnamization”. The speech, which Richard Nixon wrote himself, was given in response to a protest against the Vietnam War in cities across the nation. During his successful campaign for the presidency in 1968, Richard Nixon promised he had a secret plan to end the war in Vietnam, yet early in his administration Nixon decided against a quick withdrawal. Unhappy with the ongoing war, protesters staged the largest antiwar demonstrations in U.S. history. The protests took place in cities across the nation, including Washington, D.C., which was the scene of an antiwar rally that included over 200,000 protesters. Richard Nixon’s main objective throughout his speech was peace, freedom, and right decision- making.
To start with responding to the widespread protests, Nixon outlined his new Vietnam War policy in this speech; Called “Vietnamization”, Nixon’s war policy called for contraction in American troops but continued fighting. Nixon contrasted his international strategy of political realism with the idealism of a vocal minority. He ended his speech with the famous words that his speech became known by: “So tonight, to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans, I ask for your support;”

Get Access