Toast by the President at a Luncheon Given in His Honor by President Thomaz at Ajuda Palace

Mr. President, Mrs. Thomaz, ladies and gentlemen:

I am grateful for your words to me, my country, and the people of the United States.

In the past, hardy Portuguese explorers spent many months penetrating the uncharted distances between our two continents. Today the space between us has been reduced to a few hours on a jet plane. May this shrinking distance symbolize the ever more binding ties between our two nations.

Founding partners in the NATO alliance, we are of a like abiding confidence in its strength and in the ideals which it seeks to preserve and defend.

Ladies and gentlemen, to Portuguese-American friendship: may it be in the future as it has been in the past--warm, steadfast, and enduring.

Ladies and gentlemen, will you join me in a Toast to the President of Portugal.