We need an adequate defense, but every arms dollar we spend above adequacy has a long-term weakening effect upon the nation and its security.

We now have a broadly based and efficient defensive strength, including a great deterrent power, which... is, for the present, our main guarantee against war; but, unless we act wisely and promptly, we could lose that capacity to deter attack or defend ourselves.

Conscription is the vitality of a nation, the purification of its morality, and the real foundations of all its habits.

When people have a sense of our military capability, nobody will ever dare to cast an evil eye on our nation.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

My profoundest conviction is that the American people will say, as one man: No matter what the exertions or sacrifices, we shall maintain that necessary strength! But we could make no more tragic mistake than merely to concentrate on military strength. For if we did only this, the future would hold nothing for the world but an Age of Terror.