and

sputnik has proved the ussr's areas of technical ability. throughout the vast stretches of this empire you find new industrial cities, plants, assembly lines, the most modern equipment. soviet products of every distinction are awaiting delivery and reaching industrially backward areas of the noncommunist world. teams of russian technicians are available to operate this machinery. this is economic penetration, paving the way for political takeover. that band of soviet friendship which usually precedes an attempt as economic penetration has been reaching into every part of the world which shows the slightest inclination to

receive it. recently we saw it extend into our own hemisphere, turbulent cuba where it was embraced as "a triumph of soviet policy." a few statistics will demonstrate how steers this threat is becoming to the free world. of the entire annual soviet economic capability, their gross national product, 70% or it may run as high as 80%, is devoted to the area of heavy industry. the u.s. and free world share of gross national product devoted to the same area is certainly not much more than 20%. in terms of volume applied to this area of gross national product, the soviet union is begibing to surge ahead. finally, the communist attempt ideological penetration. perhaps their strongest efforts go in this kind of penetration into the free world. before we talk about ideological penetration itself, let's talk a look at the reasons why this

form of penetration is so important to the communists. for one thing, communist aggression has alarmed many free nations and reduced their will to resist and all other forms of soviet penetration to a number of trade agreements. the united states and other industrially-strong nations of the free world are actively promoting better living conditions all over the world. this has the effect, not only of helping these countries to improve their industrial and economic positions, but, also, of providing a defense against communist intrigue which flourishes in depressed economic areas. the military potential of the free world has been received by such mutual defense packs as the north atlantic treaty organization in europe. the southeast asia treaty organization, to counterer aggression in this part of the

world. the anzas treaty and the free throwy to provide hemisphere defense. all over the world, our allies are now setting up their own defense bases. with the technical know-how to operate them. this kind of military help by us is not by any means, a one-sided operation. the nations involved contribute as heavily as they can. no less valuable are the morale and friendly relations being generated by servicemen of all participating countries, in joint training programs and demonstrating their respective skills to each other. they cross the language barrier to comradeship. this banding together for nations with a common purpose has produced strength, not only in the military and economic field but in the moral spiritual values as well. at a meeting of the nato atlantic congress in 1989, a statement was adopted which called to the moral unity binding the member nations.

this document, recognizes respect for human dignity as the inalienable basis offivization, on the fundamental rights of machine specifically named, respect for the sanctity of human life. the right to freedom of speech, of conscience and religion. of opinion and belief. the right of every man to work and to receive his just reward. the right of the family to stability. and the right of parents over their children and their education. in all these ways, economically, militarily, morally, the world outside the communist orbit slowly draws itself together. the practical communist appraise this consolidation of free world defenses. it confronts them with a serious

deterrents to their world ambitions, hence, they must destroy allied unity or, at least weaken it. how? well, here we return to the subject of ideological penetration. for if all other forms of penetration don't work, if the united strength of the noncommunist world makes political entrags unfeasible and economic penetration unsuccessful, if cultural penetration does not do the job the communist can always hope to succeed by resorting to ideological warfare against their strongest opponent, meaning us. americans, go home! wall street war amongers. with impairalism. peace, their propaganda screamed. on communist terms, naturally. inside the free world, communists and their sympathizers seek to ferment

suspicion and distrust of our motives, even attempt to influence our allies to eliminate our overseas bases, which are proteblting them as well as us. their mediums of mass communication are tireless in vilifying us as a nation and -- depicting you as a brut and a ravager. is there a chance the communists will succeed? is there a possibility that our allies will accept this malicious perversion of us and everything we stand for? in large part, that will depend on how forly we understand this conflict and how dedicated we are to victory. understanding is a continuing process. and it embraces many different aspects of our day-to-day living. it is a function that involves the flow of information. i am lowell thomas, we live amid the greatest abundance of information any people has ever

had. >> but survey after survey reveals an astonishingly low informational level among us. to be sure, the right to remain uninformed is one of the privileges of a democracy. but in a contest like the one we're engaged in, it is one of the surest ways of losing our freedom. being informed does not mean only keeping up to date on current events, important though that is. it means also being aware of developments within our only nation and the forces that move through it. it's weaknesses as well as its strength, we all design our own freedom and demean it. but that's not the full story. if it were, our system would have collapsed long before this. the full story is in the progress we consistently make through law. and through education, the way free men must. the communist would like to have you, as well as people in every country in the world, believe

otherwise. and once they have succeeded in letting the idea take root that our deficiencies are our chief characteristic, once they have managed to erode our faith in ourselves, at least a little, that much of the battle is lost. >> a snake of a whisper is a broad that americans have lost touch with their past. is it true? it can't be. if we are to survive and win. if we understand is conflict, then we understand the need to keep america strong in our greatest challenge, by keeping alive the standards and the traditions which have been our glory. what are the bull marcs of our past, upon which our society has been built? there are many and we've discussed some of them. our spiritual heritage and our belief in individual liberty. but there is yet, another, as important as any of these. >> i am helen hayes. many of us who are living now

will never see the end of the conflict which dominates our lives. leaders change and leadership passes from one generation to the next. but for generations, or certainly, for many years, the challenge which confronts us will continue. so it becomes not just a hope, but an urgent condition for a peaceful future that those who are catapulted into the problems of maturity with every passing year, will understand the challenge. and devote themselves to it even as you and i must. interest cannot lag. efforts not cease. it will require the sternest kind of dedication. bred as it were, into the american character. the training grounds in which this discipline will be planted and perfected are the institutions which have shaped our society.

particularly, the home, which is always been, in our culture, the nucleus of society itself. the home is the well spring of the strongest qualities of citizenship. and it must remain so if we are to preserve the toughness of moral fiber, which is our strongest heritage. >> a toughness of moral fiber. a belief in the right as god gives us to see the right as lincoln put it in words which are carved into our national soul. these are the threats of our past. keeping america strong, this is our challenge. keeping the vision of liberty bright. keeping the threat of our past. the strands of moral toughness with which our history is bound. moral toughness, the quality which made men work instead of weep on the hostile shores of new england, which bled

mortally, yet never died on hundreds of fields and oceans stretching out in valley forge. which moved strong men west, bringing with them first, only their pride. and then their railroad. which built cities and governments. and created wealth. and above all, made freedom the birth right of every man. that quality must still live within us for without it, we're surely lost. and it will live, so long as we keep faith in our future. and faith in our past. this is the challenge. as compelling, as severe, as crucial as americans at any age have ever faced. ♪ glory, glory, hallelujah

♪ his truth is marching on 25 years ago, on march 4th, 1987, president ronald reagan

addressed the nation in primetime from the oval office. he responded to findings of the tower commission. three men appointed to investigate the iran contra affair. the commission members were former senator john tower of texas. former senator edwin must must key of main and brent scowcrt. this is about 12 minutes. >> my fellow americans, i have spoken to you from this historic office on many occasions and about many things. the power of the presidency is often thought to reside within this oval office. yet, it doesn't rest here. it rests in you. the american people and in your trust. your trust is what gives a president his powers of leadership and his personal strength and it's what i want to talk to you about this evening. for the past three months i've been silent about the revelations about iran and you must have been thinking, why doesn't he tell us what's happening? why doesn't he speak to us as he

has in the past when we faced troubles or tragedies? others were thinking what is he doing hiding out in the white house? the reason i haven't spoken to you before now is in the white. well, the reason i haven't spoken to you before now is this. you deserve the truth, and as frustrating as the waiting has been, i felt it was improper to come to you with sketchy reports or possibly erroneous statements which would then have to be corrected, creating more doubt and confusion. there's been enough of that. i paid a price for my silence in terms of your trust and confidence. but i've had to wait as you have for the complete story. that's why i appointed ambassador david abshire as special counselor to get out thousands of documents to the various investigations, and i appointed a special review board, the tower board, which took on the chore of putting the truth together for me.

it has now issued its findings. i am often accused of being an opt mist, and it is true, i had to hunt hard to find any good news in the board's report. as you know, it is well stocked with criticisms which i will discuss in a moment, but i was very relieved to read this sentence. the board is convinced that the president does indeed want the full story to be told. and that will continue to be my pledge to you as the other investigations go forward. i want to thank the members of the panel, former senator john tower, former secretary of state, edmond muskie, and former national security adviser brent scowcroft. they have done the nation as well as me personally a great service by submitting a report of such integrity and depth. they have my genuine and enduring gratitude. i studied the board's report. its findings are honest, convincing, highly critical, and i accept them.

tonight i want to share with you my thoughts on these findings and report to you on the actions i'm taking to implement the board's recommendations. first, let me say i take full responsibility for my own actions and for those of my administration. as angry as i may be about activities undertaken without my knowledge, i am still accountable for those activities. as disappointed as i may be in some who served me, i am still the one who must answer to the american people for this behavior, and as personally distasteful as i find secret bank accounts and diverted funds, as the navy would say, this happened on my watch. let's start with the part that is the most controversial. a few months ago, i told the american people i did not trade arms for hostages. my heart and my best intention still tells me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not. as the tower board reported, what began as a strategic opening to iran deteriorated in

implementation into trading arms for hostages. this runs counter to my own beliefs, to administration policy, and to the original strategy we had in mind. there are reasons why it happened, but no excuses. it was a mistake. i undertook the original iran initiative in order to develop relations with those that might assume leadership in a post comain ee government. it is clear from the board's report that i let my personal concern for hostages spill over into the geopolitical strategy of reaching out to iran. i asked home questions about the hostages' welfare that i didn't ask enough about the specifics of the total iran plan. let me say to the hostage families we have not given up. we never will. and i promise you, we'll use every legitimate means to free your loved ones from captivity, but i must also caution that those americans that freely

remain in such dangerous areas must know that they're responsible for their own safety. now, another major aspect of the board's findings regards the transfer of funds to nicaraguan contras. the tower board wasn't able to find out what happened to this money, so the facts here will be left to the continuing investigations of the court appointed independent counsel and two congressional investigating committees. i am confident the truth will come out about this matter as well. as i told the tower board, i didn't know about any diversion of funds to the contras, but as president, i cannot escape responsibility. much has been said about my management style. a style that's worked successfully for me during eight years as governor of california and for most of my presidency. the way i work is to identify the problem, find the right individuals to do the job, and then let them go to it. i found this invariably brings

out the best in people. they seem to rise to their full capability, and in the long run, you get more done. when it came to managing the nfc staff, let's face it, my style didn't match its previous track record. i have already begun correcting this. as a start, yesterday i met with the entire professional staff of the national security council. i defined for them the values i want to guide the national security policies of this country. i told them that i wanted a policy that was as justifiable and understandable in public as it was in secret. i wanted a policy that reflected the will of the congress as well as the white house. and i told them that there will be no more free-lancing by individuals when it comes to our national security. you heard a lot about the staff at the national security council in recent months. i can tell you they are good and dedicated government employees who put in long hours for the nation's benefit. they're eager and anxious to serve their country.

one thing still is upsetting me, that no one kept proper records of meetings or decisions. this led to my failure to recollect whether i approved an arms shipment before or after the fact. i did approve it. i just can't say specifically when. but rest assured, there's plenty of record keeping going on now at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. for nearly a week now i have been studying the board's report. i want the american people to know that this wrenching ordeal of recent months has not been in vain. i endorse every one of the tower board's recommendations. in fact, i'm going beyond its recommendations so as to put the house in even better order. i'm taking action in three basic areas. personnel, national security policy, and the process for making sure that the system works. first, personnel. i brought in and accomplished a highly respected new team here

at the white house. they bringew blood, new energy, new credibility and experience. former senator howard baker, my new chief of staff, possesses a breadth of legislative and foreign affairs skills that's impossible to match. i am hopeful that his experience as minority and majority leader of the senate can help us forge a new partnership with the congress, especially on foreign and national security policies. i am genuinely honored that he has given up his own presidential aspirations to serve the country as my chief of staff. frank car luch ee, my new national security adviser is respected for his experience in government and trusted for his counsel. under him, the nsc staff is rebuilt with proper management and discipline. already, almost half the professional staff is comprised of new people. yesterday, i nominated william webster, a man of sterling reputation, to be director of

the central intelligence agency. mr. webster has served as director of the fbi and as a u.s. district court judge. he understands the meaning of rule of law. so that his knowledge of national security matters can be available to me on a continuing basis, we will also appoint john tower to serve as a member of my foreign intelligence advisory board. i am considering other changes in personnel and i'll move more furniture as i see fit in the weeks and months ahead. second, in the area of national security policy, i ordered the nsc to begin a comprehensive review of all covert operations. i also directed any covert activity be in support of clear policy objectives and in compliance with american values. i expect a covert policy that if americans saw it on the front page of their newspaper, they'd say that makes sense. i had issued a directive

prohibiting nsc staff itself from undertaking covert operations, no ifs, ands, or buts. i asked them to review our terrorist policy in light of the events that occurred. third, in terms of the process of reaching national security decisions, i am adopting in total the tower report's model of now the nsc process and staff should work. i direct mr. carlucci to take the necessary steps to make that happen. he will report to me on further reforms that may be needed. i have a legal adviser to assure greater sensitivity to matters of law. i am determined to make the congressional oversite process work. proper procedure for consultation with the congress will be followed not only in letter but in spirit. before the end of march, i will report to congress on all the