Richard Nixon photo

Remarks on Departure From Andrews Air Force Base for Austria, the Soviet Union, Iran, and Poland.

May 20, 1972

Mr. Vice President, members of the Cabinet, Members of the Congress, and ladies and gentlemen:

We really do appreciate your coming to the airport today on this rainy day to wish us Godspeed on this trip. In just a few minutes we will be boarding the plane, the Spirit of '76, on a trip that will take us first to Austria, then to the Soviet Union, then to Iran, and finally to Poland before returning here on the first of June.

I know that as we visit these four countries that I can say to the people of all of these countries that I bring with me the best wishes, the friendship of all the people of the United States for the people of these countries because we Americans feel friendship for the Austrian people, for the Russian people, for the people of Iran, and for the Polish people.

As you know, the visit that we will be making to the Soviet Union is the first state visit that a President of the United States has ever made to that country. It is a visit that will be different from those that have occurred on previous occasions between American Presidents and the leaders of the Soviet Union. The others were important, but they did not deal primarily with substance. That is why we often hear them referred to as the "spirit of Camp David," or the "spirit of Vienna," or the "spirit of Geneva," or the "spirit of Glassboro."

In this case we are not going there simply for a better spirit, although that is important, and we think that may be one of the results of the trip. But we are going there for substance, very important substantive talks. We are not going there to make headlines today. We are going there in order to build what we hope will be a structure that can lead to better relations between the Soviet Union and the United States, and a better chance for peace tomorrow and in all the years ahead.

The negotiations will cover a wide range of subjects. Many of these areas are ones where we have not agreed in the past and where we will not find agreement in the period of discussions that we have on this occasion. But, on the other hand, we do expect to make some progress. And the progress that we make, we trust, will lay the foundation for more progress in the future in which two great peoples, the Russian people and the American people, can find a way despite philosophical differences that are very deep, despite competitive positions in the world that are quite different, can find ways to live in peace in the world and to use their great influence along with other nations to avoid those situations that lead to conflict any place in the world.

This is our goal, and it is one that all of us will be working toward on this trip.

I simply want to say finally that we have been very touched that over the past week, as was the case before we took off for Peking a few months ago, we have received so many calls and letters and wires from people all over the country wishing us well. We thank you for wishing us well. We go there not in any personal sense, but we go there representing all the American people and the hopes and aspirations of all of our people, particularly the hopes of the children of America, those of generations to come. And we hope that we can conduct ourselves in a way that will be worthy of your hopes and worthy of your prayers for a better relation between the Soviet Union and the United States, between the Russian people and the American people, between the people of all the countries that we will visit and the American people, and your hopes and prayers for what all people in the world want, a world of peace, a world of progress for all.

Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 9:10 a.m. at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. He spoke without referring to notes.

Richard Nixon, Remarks on Departure From Andrews Air Force Base for Austria, the Soviet Union, Iran, and Poland. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/254826

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