Clarion Defender_1973-05-04

... Full text of Nixon's address WASffiNGTON - (AP) - Here is the text of President Nixon's nationally broadcast address last night: I w.ant to talk to you tonight f·rom my heart on a subject of deep concern to every American. In recent months, members of my administration and officials of the Committee for the Re-election of the Presi– .dent - including some of my closest friends and mo~t trusted aides - have been charged with involvement m what has come to be known as the Watergate affair. These include charges of illegal activity during the preceding 1972 Presidential election and charges that responsible of– ficials participated in efforts to cover up that illeegal ac– tivity. The inevitable result or these charges has been to raise serious questions about the integrity of the White House itself. Tonight I wish to address those questions. Last June 17, while I was in Florida trying to get a few days' rest after my visit to Moscow, I first .learned from news reports of the Watergate break-in. I was appalled at this senseless, illegal action, and I was shocked to learn that employes of the re-election committee were apparent– ly among those guilty. I immediately ordered an investiga– tion by appropriate government authorities. On September 15, as you will recall, indictments were brought against seven defendants in the case. Stories discounted at first As the investigations went forward, I repeatedly asked those conducting the investigation whether there was any reason to believe that members of my administrati-:.n were · in any way involved. I received repeated assurances that there were not. Because of these continuing reassurances - because I believed the reports I was gettlng, because I had faith in the persons from whom I was getting them - ·I discounted the stories in the press that appeard to impli– cate members of my administration or other officials of the campaign committee. Until March of this year, I remained convinced that the denials were true and that the charges of involvement by members of the White House staff were false. The comments I made during this periU4, and the comments made by my press secretary on my behalf, were based on the information provided to us at the time we made those comments. However, new information then came to me which persuaded me that there was a real possibility that some of these charges were true, and suggesting further that there had been an effort to conceal the facts· both from the public, from you and from me. As a result, on March 21, I personally assumed the responsibility for coordinating intensive new inquiries into the matter, and I personally ordered those conducting the investigations to get all the facts and to report them di– rectly to me, right here in this office. I again ordered that all persons in the government or at the re-election committee should cooperate fully with · the F. B. I., the prosecutors and thf] grand jury. I also ordered that anyone who refused to cooperate in telling the truth would be asked to resi8Jl from government service. And, with ground rules adopted that would preserve the basic constitutional separation of powers between the Con– gress and the presidency, I directed that' members of the White HOtlSe staff should appear and testify voluntarily under oath before the Senate committee investigating Wa– tergate. •rruth should be fully brought out' I was detennined that we should get to the bottom of the matter, and that the truth should be fully brought out-no matter who was involved. At the same time, I was detennined not to take precip– itous action, and to avoid, if at all possible, any action that would appear to reflect on innocent people. I wanted to be fair. But I knew that in the final analysis, the in– tegrity of this office - public faith in the integriy of this office - would have to take priority over all personal considerations. Today, in one of the most difficult decisions of my presidency, I accepted the resignations of two of my clos– est associates in the White House - Bob Haldeman, John Ehrlichman - two of the finest public servants it has been my privilege to know. I want to express that in accepting these resignations, I mean to leave no implication whatever of personal wrongdoing on their part, and I leave no implication to– night of implication on the part of others who have been charged in this matter. But in matters as sensitive as guarding the integrity of our democratic process, it is essential not oaly that rigorous lega) and ethical standards be observed, but also that the public, you have total con– fidence that they are both being observed and enforced by those in authority and particularly by the President of the United States. They agreed with me that this move was necessary in order o restore that confidence. Because Attorney General Kleindienst - thQugh a dis– tinguished public servant, my personal friend for 20 years, with no personal involvement whatever in this matter - has. been a close personal and professional associate of some of those who are involved in this case, he and I both felt that it was also necessary to name a new attorney general. The counsel to the President, John Dean, has also resigned. As the new attorney general, I have today named Elliot Richardson, a man of unimpeachable integrity ~d .rigorously high principle. I have directed him to do every thing necessary to insure that the' Department of Justice has the confidence and trust of every law-abiding person in tbls country. Special prosecutor if needed I have given him absolute authority to make all deci– sions bearing upon the prosecution of the Watergate case and related matters. I have instructed him that if he should consider it approp~ate, he has the authority to name a special supervising prosecutor for matters arising out of the case. Whatever may apj>ear to have been the case before - whatever improper activitae& may yet be discovered in connection with this whole sordid affair - I want the American people, I want you to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that during my terms as President, justice will be pursued fairly, fully and impartially, no matter who is involved. This office is a sacred trust and I am determined to be worthy of that trust. Looking back at the history of this case, two questions arise: How could it have happened? Who i s to blame? Political commentators have correctly observed that during my 27 years in politics I have always previously' insisted on nmning my own campaigns for office. But 1972 presented a very dift't:rent situation. On both domestic and foreign policy, 1972 was a year of crucially important decisions, of intense negotiations, of vital new directions, particularly in working toward the goal which has been my overriding concern throughout by political career - the goal of bringing peace to America and peace to the world. That is why I decided, as the ·1972 campaign ap– proached, that the presidency should come first and poli– tics 11econd. To the maximum extent possible, therefore, I sought to delegate campaign operations, and to remove the day-to-day campaign decisions from the ?resident's office and from the White House. I also, as you recall, severely limited the number of my own campaign appearances. Who, the1;1, is to blame for what liappened in this case? For specific criminal actions by specific individuals, those who committed those actions must, of course, bear the liability and pay the penalty. For the fact that alleged improper actions took place within the White House or within my campaign organiza– tion, the easiest course would be for me to blame those to who I delegated the responsibility to run the campaign. But that would be a cowardly thing to do. I will not place the blame on subordinates - on people whose zeal exceeded their judgment, and who may have done wrong in a cause they deeply believed to be right. In any organization, the man at the top must bear the responsibility. That responsibility, therefore, belongs here, in this office. I accept it. And I pledge to you tonight, from this office, that I will do everything in my power to ensure that the guilty are brought to justice and that such abuses are purged from our political processes in the years to come, long after I have left this office. •system brought facts to light' Some people, quite properly appalled at the abuses that occurred, will say that the Watergate demonstrates the bankruptcy of the American political system. I believe precisely the opposite is true. Watergate represented a series of illegal acts and bad judgments by a number of individuals. It was the system that has brought the facts to light and that will bring those guilty to justice - a system that in this case has included a determined grand jury, honest prosecutors, a courageous judge, John Sirica, and a vigorous free press. It is essential now that we place our faith in that system - and especially in the judicial system. It is essen– tial that we let that process go forward, respecting those safeguards that are established to protect the innocent as well as to convince the guilty. It is essential that in react– ing to the excesses of others, we not fall into excesses ourselves. It is also e:JSential that we not be so distracted by events such as this that we neglect the vital work before us, before this nation, before America, at a time of critical importance to America and the world. Since March, when I first learned that the Watergate affair might in fact be far more serious than I had been led to believe, it has claimed far too much of my own time and attention. Whatever may now transpire in the case - whatever the actions of the grand jury, whatever the outcome of any eventual trials - I must now tum my full attention once aga:in to the larg~r duties of this office. I owe it to this great office that I hold, and I owe it to you - to our country. I know that as attorney general, Elliot Richardson will be both fair and fearless in pursuing this case wherever it leads. I am confident that with him in charge, justice will be done. Other 'wort< that cannot wait' There is vital work to be dune toward our goal of a lasting structure of peace in the world - work that cannot wait. Work that I must do. Tomorrow, for example, Chancellor Brandt of West Germany will visit the White House for talks that are a vital element of "The Year of Europe," as 1973 has been called. We are already preparing for the next Soviet-Amer– ican summit meeting, later this year. . _ This is also a year in which we are seekmg to negoti– ate a mutual and balanced reduction of armed forces m Europe, which will reduce our defense budget and allow us to have funds for other purposes at homP so desperately ' needed. It is the year when the United States and Soviet negotiators will seek to work out the second and C\'en more important round of our talks on limiting nuclear arms, and of reducmg the danger of a nuclear war that would destroy civilization as we know it. It is a year in which we co~front the difficult tasks of maintaining pean' in Southeast Asia, and in the potentially explosive Middle East. There is also vital work to be done right here in America - to insure prosperity, and· that means. a g~od job ,for everyone who wants to ~ork; to control mfl_attOn that I know worries every houseWJfe, everyone who tnes to balance a family budget in America; to set in motion new and better ways of ensuring progress toward a better life for all Americans. . When I think of this office - of what it means - . T think of all the things that I want to accomplish for tlus nation- of all the things l want to accomplish for you. Goals for second term On Christmas Eve, during my terrible personal ·ordea.l of the renewed bombing of North Vietnam, which after _12 years of war finally helped to bring America peace With honor I sat down just before midnight. I wrote out some ol my g~als for my second term as President. Let me read them to you. "To make it possible for our children, and for our children's children, to live in a world of peace. "To make this country be more than ever a land of opportunity-of equal opportunity, full opportunity for ev· ery American. "To provide jobs for all who can work, and generous help for all who cannot. . . . . "To establish a climate of decency, and CIVIlity, m which each person respects the feelings and the diginity and the God-given rights of his neighbor. "To make this a land in which each person can dare to dream, can live in his dream-not in fear, but in hope– proud of his community, proud of his country, proud of what America has meant to himself and to the world." These are great goals. I believe we can, we must, work for them. We can achieve them. But we cannot achieve these goals unless we dedicate ourselves to anoth– er goal. 'No whitewash at White House' We must maintain the integrity of the White House, and that integrity must be real, not transparent. There can be no whitewash at the White Rouse. We must reform our political process-ridding it not only of the violations of the law, but ~!so of t~e ugly mo,b violence and other inexcusable campaign tactics that ha\e been to~ often practiced and too readily accepted in the past-including those that may have been a response by one side to the excesses or expected excesses of the other side. Two wrongs do no.t make a right. I have been in public life for more than a quarter of a century. Like any other calling, politics bas good_ ~pi~, and bad people. And let me tell you, the great maJO~ty m politics, in the Congress, in the federal governme~t, m the state government, are good people. I know that It c~ be very easy, under the intensive pressures of a camp~tgn, for even well-intentioned people to fall into shady tactics– to rationalize this on the grounds that what is at stake is of such importance to the nation that the end justifies the means. And both of our great parties have been guilty of such tactics in the past. In recent years, however, the campaign excesses that have occurred ·on all sides have provided a· sobering dem– onstration of how far this false doctrine can take us. The lesson is clear: America, in its political campaigns, must not again fall into the _trap of letting the end, however great that end is, justify the means. I urge the leaders of both political parties, I urge citizens, all of you, everywhere, to join in working toward. a new set of standards, new rules and procedures - to ensure that future elections will be as nearly free of such abuses as they possibly can be made. This is my goal. I ask you to join in making it America's goal. '1 ,461 days-no more, no less' When I was inaugurated f(Jf a second term this past January 20, I gave each member of mY cabi~et and each member of my senior White House staff a special four-year calendar, with each day marked to show the number of days remaining to the administration. In the inscription on each calendar, I wrote th~se words: "The .presidential term which begins today consists of 1 461 days - no more, no less. Each can be a day of stre~gthening and renewal for AI!Ierica: ea~h can ad,d depth and dimension to the Amencan expenence. If we strive together, if we make the most of the challenge and the opportunity that these days offer us, they can sta~d out as great days for America, and great moments m the history of the world." I looked at my own calendar this morning up at Camp David as I was working on this speech. It showed exactly 1,361 days remaining in my term. I want these to b~ the best days in America's history, because I love Amenca. T deeply believe that America is the hope of the world, and. I know that irt. the quality and wisdom of the leadership America gives lies the only hope for millions of people all over the world, that they can live their lives in peace and freedom. We must be worthy of that hopt, in every sense of the word. Tonight, I ask for your prayers to help ~e in every– thing that I do throughout the days of my presidency to be worthy of their hopes and of yours. God bless America and God bless each and everyone of you. 'Just Co11tirtue To Give Me Hell ...