Kathleen Arabella Kennedy

Chapter 38

October 24, 1964

Congratulations Mrs. Kennedy. You are carrying twins this time, Dr.Booth said.

I'm what, You said.

See. Baby A and Baby B, Dr.Booth said as she points at the screen.

I'm going to kill my husband, You said.

I say that you about one month and week along, Dr.Booth said.

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You are already familiar with the reception in the House of the President’s speech. Only twice did applause break out and then it rippled fitfully across the crowded hall of Congress and died. Reporters noted that never in recent history had a presidential message been received with such a deep sense of awareness of what that message might eventually mean to the security of this country and to the peace of the world. The President, as you will remember, stated that “Greece must have assistance if it is to become a self-supporting and self-respecting democracy,” and that Turkey must also have assistance if it is to maintain its security.

This preoccupation of the United States with those countries that form the bridgehead of the peoples and civilizations of the East and the once-powerful, now destitute and suffering people of Europe, is no new one for the United States. It was not President Truman who said, “A strong hope has long been entertained, founded on the heroic struggle of the Greeks, that they would succeed in their contest and resume their equal station among the nations of the earth. It is believed that the whole civilized world would take a deep interest in their welfare.” It was not President Truman but that able, cautious man who first enunciated the doctrine that placed American strength behind the guarantee of freedom for the western hemisphere, James Monroe.

I support the President’s proposal for assistance to the governments of Greece and Turkey. I feel it to be essential to the security of our country. I propose here to give the reasons for my belief.

Long a cornerstone of our foreign policy has been the belief that American security would be dangerously threatened if the continent of Europe or that of Asia was dominated by anyone's power.

We fought in 1917 when it appeared that Germany would break the thinning lines of the French and the British and win through to domination of the European continent. We fought again in 1941 to oppose the domination of Asia by the Empire of Japan. We fought in Europe to prevent the fall of Britain and of Russia and the consequent subjugation of Europe and Africa and the Middle East.

The Atomic Bomb and guided-missile have not yet weakened that corner-stone. We would still fight, I believe, to prevent Europe and Asia from becoming dominated by one great military power and we will oppose bitterly, I believe, the suffering people of Europe and Asia succumbing to the false, soporific ideology of Red totalitarianism. Our proposed assistance to Greece and Turkey, therefore, is not turning the page to a new chapter in American Foreign Policy. Our Foreign Policy is the same as it has always been from the day that the discerning Monroe first enunciated the principles of the Monroe Doctrine. It merely means that time and space have brought a new interpretation to that historical document.

We have only to look at the map to see what might happen if Greece and Turkey fell into the Communist orbit. The road to the Middle East would be flung open. The traditional goal of the Russian foreign policy, an opening to the Mediterranean with all of its strategic implications would be gained. If we give way and Greece and Turkey succumb, it would have tremendous strategic ideological repercussions throughout the world. It would be a sign to all of those hard-pressed governments who are resisting those disciples of the party line, who feed on the misery and despair of the post-war world. Our neutrality would strengthen greatly the prestige of Soviet Russia. The barriers would be down and the red tide would flow across the face of Europe and through Asia with new power and vigor.