Remarks at the Civic Reception for President Eisenhower in Brasilia

Mr. President, Dr. Pinheiro, citizens of Brasilia:

I am most grateful for the cordial welcome you have extended to me. I am glad that my return to this hospitable land has taken place in this magnificent new city, a living testimony to your own tireless efforts, Mr. President, and a symbol of Brazilian progress. It is an inspiration to get this new glimpse of the vision and energy which characterize modern Brazil and its leadership.

Brasilia has captured the imagination of my fellow countrymen who have visited here and, who, on their return home, have been lavish in their praise of the wonders they have seen.

For several reasons, Brasilia fascinates citizens of the United States. In the first place, your decision to carve a beautiful city out of the wilderness reminds us of our own decision many years ago to move the capital of our fledgling nation from Philadelphia to the District of Columbia.

In the second place, this pioneering venture recalls to our minds the rolling advance of our own frontier--the winning of the American West-a process which was barely accomplished when I was a youngster. Indeed, having now witnessed the speed with which Brasilia is being completed, I understand why Brazil itself is sometimes described as a "country in a hurry." Brasilia is an epic worthy of this nation's vast possibilities and aspirations.

And thirdly, one senses here a "boom" spirit not unlike that which pervaded frontier western communities in the United States such as my boyhood town of Abilene, Kansas.

It has been said, somewhat facetiously, that Brazil and the United States--both influenced by the stern demands of the frontier--ought to get along well together because each has so many of the other's faults. At least we are both willing to confess that we do have faults. And of course we get along well because we have many of the same virtues-we are, indeed, much alike. Our vast expanses of land have many similarities in physiography and resources. Our constitutional systems and forms of government are similar. The people of both our countries have various national origins, gaining strength from diversity. Both countries are forever committed to democracy, human dignity, and freedom with justice.

Our common heritage will be emphasized for us when you inaugurate your new capital next April 21--Tiradentes Day. It was in 1787, when Thomas Jefferson, then our Minister in France, gave sympathetic counsel to Jose' Joaquim da Maia, emissary of Tiradentes and his little band of Inconfidentes. Those Brazilian patriots--to recall the observation of Joaquim Nabuco--had their eyes fixed on the new democracy to the north at a time when, here, even to think of independence was a crime. Your freedom and ours were won by men of dauntless courage and passionate vision, and it is these qualities in our peoples today that will carry us forward to the brighter future so eloquently dramatized by this new city of the frontier.

To you, Dr. Pinheiro, and your thousands of associates, has been entrusted the enormous task of transplanting the inspired dream of planners into reality. I congratulate you for the marvels you are fashioning.

And now to the workers assembled here and through them to all Brazilian labor, I bring special greetings. May your toil be fruitful in advancing Brazil's development and well-being. May your hands be firmly clasped with those of the workers of the United States and the entire free world in the building of a richer life, in freedom, for yourselves, your children, and all generations to follow.

I thank all of you here for the honor you today have done me and my country. This has been a moving and memorable experience.

I thank you for the privilege of being here.