Remarks at a Reception for Foreign Students on the White House Lawn

Ladies and gentlemen, students:

I first of all have to express rather sad news, that my wife is home--which is over there--in bed with a cold, as a result of christening a ship the other day. So she wanted to express her regret, but she is looking out the window and sends you all her very best wishes. I did not have, almost, sufficient courage to come out here by myself, but we are glad to have you here.

We had an earlier occasion last year in which we welcomed the students from abroad who were studying in Washington. And I hope that in other cities a similar effort will be made to bring together on an occasion the students from different countries who come here to study.

We regard this as a great compliment. I hope you will permit us to do so. And we regard it also as an indication of your curiosity and interest in this free society which we believe develops an intellectual atmosphere which permits progress. The other night we had a reception in the White House in which we had those people from this country who had won the Nobel prize.¹ And though these aren't national prizes, I am pleased, as a believer in a free society, that over 40 percent of all the prizes given in the last 30 years have been given to people who studied here--and working here. They are not all Americans. Ten or twelve of them grew up in other countries and came here. But I like to believe that this society, which we are attempting to build--and obviously we have not succeeded yet in building it, and I suppose never will, but we are working towards it--permits maximum intellectual development and therefore maximum individual development.

All of us, at least many of us, have been foreign students. The Secretary of State, the Under Secretary of State, the head of the Policy Planning were all Rhodes scholars; the Deputy Attorney General and others; the Chairman of the Senate foreign Relations Committee. My wife was a student in Paris for a year. I studied at the London School of Economics--my brother did. I am a great believer in the effort which we make to understand each other, and to learn, and to develop.

We have had a lot of foreign students in this country. A lot of them came in the thirties, and many of them went back to be leaders of their country. They may have gotten an impression of the United States, in those days, which may not have been as sympathetic as we would hope it would be today. Those were the days of the depression, when we were meeting many serious challenges at home.

I hope that when you go back--and you will be the future leaders of the country-many of you come from countries which have only a handful, as newly independent countries, of educated men and women. You are their investment in the future. And I know you will go home, and I know that you will regard this great effort which has been made, to bring you here and which you have made, not merely as an opportunity to advance your economic interest but to advance the welfare of your country.

I hope that you will think well of this country and recognize what we are trying to do. To run a free society is very difficult. Winston Churchill once said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other systems that have been tried." And it is very difficult. It is not easy. And I hope that while you are here you will have an opportunity to gain more knowledge of us--our good things and our bad.

As Oliver Cromwell once said, "Paint me with all my warts and moles," and that's the way we want you to see our country.

The last point I want to make, and that's really addressed to my fellow Americans, I think a good many foreign students come here and are left alone, and feel alone-see other foreign students--don't see many Americans. I hope that we are making progress in that area. This is not an organized society, we treat our own students that way. When I was at Harvard, no one spoke to me for the first 9 months. And I suppose if I hadn't been staying, I might have gone back to another country, and had a conclusion about this country which wouldn't have been accurate.

I hope that those Americans who are desirous of doing something for their country will think of the thousands of foreign students who are here and give them a chance to see American life intimately. That's one of the reasons that you are here. And I hope you will feel that even though your "fun and games" is not organized by the United States Government, fortunately, that that is part of living in a free society: to be left alone, and to sink or swim. And if anybody wants it differently, then of course the Government's responsibilities would have to change. So I'm sure you understand that.

I am sure you realize we are glad to have you here. We regard this as the greatest possible compliment. We are extremely interested in intellectual development and activity, and we believe it's the basis of a free society. So ladies and gentlemen, you are very welcome to this White House, which belongs to the American people.

We know that some other President, in other days, will be greeting you as either the Prime Ministers or the Presidents or the first Ladies of significant countries. And I hope when you do that, you will say that you were at the White House once before.

Thank you.