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The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society. And we are as a people,
inherently and historically, opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret
proceedings. We decided long ago, that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment
of pertinent facts far outweigh the dangers which are are cited to justify it.
Even today, there is little value in opposing the thread of a closed society by imitating
its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in assuring the survival of
our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that
an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand
its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not
intend to permit to the extent that it's in my control. And no official of my administration
whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here
tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes,
or to withhold from the press or the public the facts they deserve to know.
For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily
on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence, on infiltration instead of invasion,
on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night
instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources
into the building of a tightly knit highly efficient machine that combines military,
diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations
are concealed, not published. It's mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters
are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret
is revealed.
But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb
the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other
things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve
to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one
that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend
to win, and the others, too.