In 1973, Richard Nixon described the end of the Vietnam War as "Peace with honor". It was a message that often is invoked when the US struggles to extricate itself from difficult conflicts, but in 1977 President Gerald Ford had to give it new meaning. After years of anti-military spending, President Gerald Ford was calling for increases in national defense and new pride in America's military strength. Just months after defeating Ronald Reagan and his message of "Peace through strength" in the primaries, President Ford had one last chance to re-brand "Peace with Honor" to mean that American could only remain in peace if we are number one in military strength. "Peace with honor" had to become associated with "Peace through strength".
Since the first days when Gerald Ford was sworn in as President, he spoke out against rigid legislation that was restricting the ability of the President to act militarily. Ford believed it was the President's constitutional duty to execute foreign policy, but his ability to do so was being hampered by legislative decisions and budget cuts. In the years after the Vietnam war, anti-military sentiment led to restrictions on the President's war powers and declines in military spending. At the peak of the war, spending reached as high as 10 percent of GDP, but a decade later in 1979 it fell to 5.5 percent. For comparison, defense spending rose to 22 percent at the end of World War 1 and peaked at 41 percent during World War I. Since 2011, it has been at 4.4 percent. In 1976, after submitting the two biggest defense budgets in peacetime history, Ford flat out told Congress that "there is no room for major reduction". On March 30, from the Pentagon President Ford issued a warning, "I want to serve notice today, that if the Congress sends me a defense budget that shortchanges the future safety of the American people, I will veto that defense bill, unprecedented though that may be.”
Despite the anti-military sentiment, Gerald Ford was feeling political pressure from within his own party to shore up America's military strength. As a first term president, Ford was facing a tough primary from a California governor who was calling for bigger defense budgets and a stronger stance against the Communists. Ronald Reagan who had campaigned with Barry Goldwater in 1964 was out selling the nation on the concept of "Peace Through Strength". President Ford was in a tough position, military spending was declining here at home, but steadily increasing in the Soviet Union. Many Americans and especially Republican voters now believed that peace at home and peace around the world was tied to America's military strength. They understood that the freedoms we enjoy and our survival as an independent people depended on our military strength. Despite, Ronald Reagan's defeat in the 1976 Republican primaries, his message of peace through strength was gathering momentum across the nation. Upon Accepting the 1976 Republican Presidential Nomination in Kansas City, President Ford fully adopted "Peace through strength" as America's policy.
"The world now respects America's policy of peace through strength. The United States is again the confident leader of the free world. Nobody questions our dedication to peace, but nobody doubts our willingness to use our strength when our vital interests are at stake, and we will. I called for an up-to-date, powerful Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines that will keep America secure for decades. A strong military posture is always the best insurance for peace. But America's strength has never rested on arms alone. It is rooted in our mutual commitment of our citizens and leaders in the highest standards of ethics and morality and in the spiritual renewal which our Nation is under- going right now."President Ford now in his last few days tried to sell the same message to Congress. In his 1977 State of the Union Address, he explained the challenges to Congress and warned of the "most serious political consequences if the world came to believe that our adversaries have a decisive margin of superiority".
"America's first goal is and always will be peace with honor. America must remain first in keeping peace in the world. We can remain first in peace only if we are never second in defense.
In presenting the state of the Union to the Congress and to the American people, I have a special obligation as Commander in Chief to report on our national defense. Our survival as a free and independent people requires, above all, strong military forces that are well equipped and highly trained to perform their assigned mission.
I am particularly gratified to report that over the past 2½ years, we have been able to reverse the dangerous decline of the previous decade in real resources this country was devoting to national defense. This was an immediate problem I faced in 1974. The evidence was unmistakable that the Soviet Union had been steadily increasing the resources it applied to building its military strength. During this same period the United States real defense spending declined. In my three budgets we not only arrested that dangerous decline, but we have established the positive trend which is essential to our ability to contribute to peace and stability in the world.
The Vietnam war, both materially and psychologically, affected our overall defense posture. The dangerous anti-military sentiment discouraged defense spending and unfairly disparaged the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces.
The challenge that now confronts this country is whether we have the national will and determination to continue this essential defense effort over the long term, as it must be continued. We can no longer afford to oscillate from year to year in so vital a matter; indeed, we have a duty to look beyond the immediate question of budgets and to examine the nature of the problem we will face over the next generation.
I am the first recent President able to address long-term, basic issues without the burden of Vietnam. The war in Indochina consumed enormous resources at the very time that the overwhelming strategic superiority we once enjoyed was disappearing. In past years, as a result of decisions by the United States, our strategic forces leveled off, yet the Soviet Union continued a steady, constant buildup of its own forces, committing a high percentage of its national economic effort to defense.
The United States can never tolerate a shift in strategic balance against us or even a situation where the American people or our allies believe the balance is shifting against us. The United States would risk the most serious political consequences if the world came to believe that our adversaries have a decisive margin of superiority."
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2020). Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on the State of the Union | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-reporting-the-state-the-union-0 [Accessed 9 Jan. 2020].Nytimes.com. (2020). ‘Why Make The Rubble Bounce?’. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/31/archives/why-make-the-rubble-bounce.html [Accessed 9 Jan. 2020].
Usgovernmentspending.com. (2020). Defense Spending Analysis. [online] Available at: https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/defense_spending_analysis [Accessed 9 Jan. 2020].
Fordlibrarymuseum.gov. (2020). Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. [online] Available at: https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/speeches/760733.asp [Accessed 9 Jan. 2020].
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