Jimmy Carter photo

Order of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association Remarks at the Annual Dinner of the Supreme Lodge.

February 25, 1980

Today at noon, on the south entrance to the White House, I welcomed 21 young Americans, who walked up the stairs with gold medals— [applause] —and they had gold medals around their necks. And I thought, as they walked up, wouldn't it be wonderful if we have a permanent Summer Olympic site in Greece.

How many of you know where AHEPA was founded? More than 50 years ago, this great organization was founded in Georgia, and more than 50 years ago, I started my own life in Georgia. I have to admit that AHEPA made a much greater impression on the Nation than did I- [laughter] —but we have a lot in common. And tonight I want to talk about a few things that have been on my mind since I found that I was going to be able to talk to you tonight.

The English poet Shelley said, and I quote from him: "We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our art have their roots in Greece." There's even more evidence that what Shelley said is true today. The Greek concept of democratic government, of individual freedom and responsibility has helped mold not only the world in which we live but the world which someday we hope to build together.

This is the eve of one of our great democratic traditions. The first primary elections will be held tomorrow. This, in our country, as you well know, is a family affair. When I informed my mother confidentially back in 1975 that I was going to run for President, her response, as you may know, was, "President of what?" [Laughter] She learned in a hurry, and she spent a lot of time in New Hampshire in 1976. [Laughter] And now she goes back to visit her old friends 4 years later.

It's an important, integral part of our political life. And as you well know, the tradition of democratic elections was born in Greece. This annual AHEPA dinner is another great democratic tradition.

Our Nation is made up—and I thank God for it—of people from every corner of the world, from every religious and ethnic group. So our unity, our strength, comes not from homogeneity, not from the fact that we're all just alike, but because no matter how diverse or how different we are, one from another, we strengthen our belief in freedom, in opportunity for all people, in the worth of an individual human being, and in the democratic principles which you honor here tonight.

Many forces tend to fragment our Nation. These cause me, as President, great concern. This is not a new problem. The problem is as old as Thucydides, and the danger too is the one about which he wrote: While everyone looks out for one's personal problems or personal needs, our common cause may be lost. Recent world events have shown us how precious democracy is, how precious human freedom is, how dangerous is the world in which we try to practice human freedom.

Soviet troops in Afghanistan at this moment attempt to subjugate a freedom loving and deeply religious people. And this is a painful reminder of the period in which we live. It also is a reminder of the time shortly after World War II, when a threat from the same source was of deep concern to Greece and to the adjacent countries. United States resolve, expressed in the Truman Doctrine, and the unity of the Allies—my allies, your allies, the allies of the people of Greece today-halted that threat. And today, in a vastly different world, United States resolve and unity among Greece, the United States, and other allies will help to preserve the freedom and independence of human beings and of nations which are threatened by subjugation.

I know how concerned all of you are here tonight about Cyprus, and I share this deep concern with you. We have been disappointed that this dispute .has not been readily or easily or quickly resolved.

As soon as I became President, I sent Clark Clifford as special emissary to go to Greece, to .go to Turkey and to Cyprus. And since then our Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary of State, our Vice President, and myself have negotiated at long hours with the Prime Minister of Greece, the Prime Minister of Turkey, the President of Cyprus, and other leaders on that troubled island. We continue to make concrete proposals for the settlement of the difficult issues which deprive people of their basic human rights.

As you know, neither the Cypriot leaders, who are Greeks or Turks, desire the United States to be an active, publicly acknowledged intermediary. But we continue to support, openly and privately, the efforts of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to bring together the two disputing parties and to finally resolve these issues. Agreement between them is an essential element in a just and a lasting settlement.

Although we are not wanted to intercede directly, either, between Turkey and Greece, we are directly involved in discussions when asked. And we've been very gratified in the last few days to learn that both Turkey and Greece have finally resolved one of the most difficult issues affecting the Aegean Sea area, and that is concerning civil aviation. And we hope that this progress, although slow and although fumbling and although sometimes not certain, will now spread to other issues. And we see encouraging signs about this in recent weeks.

Not related directly to these issues, we support the reintegration of Greek armed forces into the NATO military command. We seek to strengthen our own defense agreements with the nation of Greece, our long-time, staunch ally in a critical area.

As you know, and to repeat the first comment I made, I will continue to lead the efforts of our own country and of others to secure a permanent home for the Summer Olympics in Greece. Your president, Nick Smyrnis, was in the group that went, along with some of my other close friends, to Greece to bring back the torches from Mount Olympus for the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. This is the first time that that flame had ever been brought from Greece to the United States.

Prime Minister Karamanlis arranged for our U.S. delegation to visit a proposed site. And he sent me a map, by one of my chief aides, of the area around Olympia where he proposes that 8,000 or more acres be dedicated permanently to the International Olympic Committee for these permanent facilities. Such a move would return the games to their homeland, where they belong, and would help to restore the true spirit of individual athletic excellence and friendly competition for which the Olympic games were revived back in 1896.

I think all of you realize that the Olympic games this summer should not be held in Moscow, because Russia is an invading nation. To do so would violate those very principles of peace and of brotherhood and of nonpolitical alignment of those who participate in the games—exactly the kind of defects that would be corrected with a permanent site established as I've just described.

As an American, as a President, I realize from the history of our country that Greeks came very early to America, to the benefit of all other Americans. The first house, as you know, restored in Williamsburg belonged to a Greek-born friend of both Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

Many more Greeks came later, seeking opportunity and freedom, as did the ancestors of many other Americans. Perhaps no other group, however, found opportunity to build their dreams so quickly as did our Greek immigrants, through their hard work, the practicals which they brought with them, and their courage and dedication.

Greeks coming here in the early 20th century, for instance, among 23 different ethnic groups, ranked 18th in educational achievement when they arrived. Yet by the 1970 census, no ethnic group surpassed Greek Americans born in this country in their level of education. It's no accident that one-third of all the Rhodes scholars in the Congress today— [laughter] —two out of six, as you know—happen to be Greek Americans: Senator Sarbanes and Congressman Brademas. I don't know what happened to the other Greek Congressmen— [laughter] —but they, like I, are continuing our own education in politics.

This rapid rise in educational achievement was not an accident; it was not a statistical aberration. It reflects the Greek American's love of learning, strong sense of family, and concern for young people. The church has also played a central role in preserving your cultural heritage, while strengthening family life, love of the young, and deep awareness of obligations to improve ourselves and to help others.

You also grew up with an awareness, because of your own heritage, that education was not just something that one learns at college but the ongoing process of a lifetime of study and experience and the sharing of trials and tribulations, challenge, achievement, accomplishments, with others whom we love.

You learned very early in life, because you had to, the satisfaction of doing a good job, even when it meant a lot of drudgery; of surmounting obstacles, not alone, but together; and sharing the joys and the laughter of everyday life.

Like many of you, after military service I returned home to the community of my father, and we established a business. It wasn't easy. The first year my partner, Rosalynn, and I had a total income of less than $200. But we continued to work and to learn and to share as a family. And that mutual achievement was the basis for the progress that we later made.

Our Nation's founders never promised us that freedom would be easy or comfortable, or that opportunity would ever come without sacrifice. They believed, as you and I believe, that our freedom and our opportunity are worth the price, that the weight of responsibility is infinitely lighter than would be the weight of oppression.

As I talk to you tonight, our Nation is faced with international dangers that are both serious and complex. They impose on you and me an additional burden of responsibility and an additional need to assess our own strengths, to achieve unity of purpose, and not to violate the principles which have been the guiding light for our own lives and for the lives of our ancestors.

Fifty-three innocent Americans are now being held captive, illegally, at this moment, deprived of their freedom. But there is not a single American who is not aware of their plight and deeply concerned about their lives and, equally important, about their freedom. Though we are increasingly hopeful that their long ordeal may soon be over, there is no certainty about it. They will never be forgotten.

And I think it's a tribute to our country and to our principles that we do have 220 million Americans deeply concerned about 50 human beings, not famous human beings, but American human beings. It's a test of our priorities, and it's a test of our commitment to basic human rights.

Soviet troops are still in Afghanistan, a diametrically opposite kind of philosophy being exerted by military force in an attempt to stamp out freedom, with a callous disregard for human life. The United States has responded to these challenges with firmness, with restraint, and with resolve. Unlike our adversaries, we've acted as responsible members of the international community, basing our actions on international law.

Every action we've taken has protected our Nation's interests and principles and has enhanced the prospect for peace. We are winning support from other countries because we are doing the fight thing, and the world knows it. As the President of a strong and peace-loving people, I have sought peace in every way open to me. I've sought peace not through weakness, but through strength.

Americans have indeed been tested under fire, and we've passed the test. We've stood up for individual human rights and for the right of nations to be free and independent.

As President, I have had to make some very difficult decisions that involve sacrifices now and which will involve sacrifices in the years to come. We do face challenges, and we do face dangers. But also we face opportunities in this country which are unparalleled in history. If we keep our country strong, if we continue to meet each challenge with courage and with conviction, if we can preserve the peace, we may at last see, throughout the world, the hungry fed, the ignorant know the truth, the sick healed, and a world built where all people have freedom and justice and opportunity.

Like Plato, we Americans seek a perfect world which we see in our dreams. We are disappointed that we have not yet built that perfect world for our children and for others. Yet all around us is evidence that tyranny and oppression can be changed to freedom. The ancient ideals of Greece—the spirit of liberty, the love of learning, the urge for independence-survive in the human breast despite all that despots can do.

The eager immigrants, like your parents and grandparents and like my parents and grandparents, continue to come here to this country, fleeing persecution, seeking opportunity, proving that in the United States of America, freedom and democracy are now and will always be a beacon of hope in a hungry and desperate world.

Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 8:02 p.m. in the Sheraton Ballroom at the Sheraton-Park Hotel.

Jimmy Carter, Order of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association Remarks at the Annual Dinner of the Supreme Lodge. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/250424

Filed Under

Categories

Location

Washington, DC

Simple Search of Our Archives