Remarks at the Pageant of Peace Ceremonies.

[ Delivered over radio and television at 5:15 p.m. ]

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Vice President and Mrs. Nixon, My Good Friends--good evening to all of you:

As once again we meet in this annual ceremony, we count ourselves a very fortunate people. In a land at peace, we are gathered about the National Christmas Tree to set its lights aglow with their symbolic message of peace and good will to men.

The custom we now observe brings us together for a few minutes on this one night. But this brief ceremony is warm in a spirit that gives meaning to all our days and all our labors.

For you and I, here, are not alone in a world indifferent and cold. We are part of a numerous company--united in the brotherhood of Christmas. And, as a brotherhood, we remember with special concern, the weak, the helpless, the hungry.

And beyond this tree that towers above us in the dusk; beyond the shadows and limits of this place, a mighty host of men and women and children are one great family in the spirit of Christmas-tide.

Tens of millions of them are fellow Americans. At this moment they are sitting in safe and cheerful homes. They visit among themselves in the lighted squares of small towns. They hurry along the crowded streets of busy cities. Freely they drive and fly and ride the transport lanes of the nation. They are at work, at work of their own choosing, in shops and factories and fields. They are on distant posts and stations, and on the approaches to the South Pole and to Greenland, on every continent and on many islands, doing their tasks far from home for the peace and well-being of all of us at home.

All are united in the renewed hope which we feel at Christmas time, that the world will somehow be a better place for all of us.

In the days just preceding our Holiday Season, I had the opportunity to work closely with the leaders of our NATO allies. Later this evening, the Secretary of State and I shall report to America on that meeting. But here let me say that, in dedication to peace, in our determination and readiness collectively to sustain that peace, we are firmly joined with our NATO partners--as indeed we are with other friendly nations around the world.

And, across national boundaries, and the mountains and oceans of the earth, hundreds of millions more are one with us. They speak in many tongues. They walk by many paths. They worship through many rites and, in some lands, observe different Holy Days. But by the good cheer they spread, the fellowship they express, the prayers that each makes to his own Heaven-they are all akin and like to us.

The spirit of Christmas helps bridge any differences among us. Faith and hope and charity are its universal countersigns. Peace and good will are its universal message. But these noble words will be words only, hollow and empty, unless we confirm them:

In sweat and toil that translate good intentions into fruitful action;

In courage that does not hesitate because the risk is great or the odds immeasurable;

In patience that does not quit because the road is hard or the goal far off;

In self-sacrifice that does not dodge a heavy duty because the cost is high or the reward unsure.

And so we confirm our faith that men may walk one day unafraid under the Christmas light, at peace with themselves and their fellows.

To all peoples who prize liberty, who seek justice and peace for their fellowmen, even to those who in the climate of this era may fear or suspect us, I speak for all Americans in a heartfelt message that happiness may belong to all men at this Christmastide.

Now, as I turn on the lights of our National Christmas Tree, Mrs. Eisenhower joins me in the wish to all of you, our fellow countrymen, that God will keep you and bless you and give you a Merry Christmas.