76-06-B4
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Pardons[edit]
Transcript[edit]We the people traditionally hold as one of the most admirable traits of those who take public office their keeping of campaign promises. But, what if a candidate, in campaigning, expresses an intention to do something, if elected, which the majority of the people don't think should be done? Nevertheless, they elect him because the particular issue is outweighed by other considerations. I believe we have such a situation with President-elect Carter. He stated that while he would not favor amnesty for those who avoided service in the Vietnam war either by draft evasion or desertion, he would grant them a pardon and expressed the belief there was a difference. The dictionary goes to some length to explain, no such difference exists. Amnesty means to pardon and vice versa. Whatever our feelings about the Vietnam war, those who fled our land broke the law. To grant a blanket forgiveness regardless of whether there is repentance or not; to ignore that while some may have been motivated by principle, and others were simply running for cover, is to set a precedent that will haunt us for years to come. There has never been a blanket amnesty after an American war. Lincoln pardoned deserters if they returned and served our their enlistments without pay. Coolidge granted amnesty to 100 deserters who had deserted after the armistice in World War I. In 1933 Roosevelt pardoned 1500 draft evaders--after they had served their sentences. After World War II, Truman granted amnesty to 1523 out of 15,803 violators after a review of each individual case. In 1952 he granted amnesty to peace time deserters who left their units between World War II and the Korean War. There was no amnesty following the Korean War and indeed -- going back to George Washington -- there has never been an unconditional amnesty for deserters or draft evaders. Some 55,000 young men gave their lives in Vietnam. Others will bear grievous wounds for the rest of their lives. I'm sure none of them wanted to go to war, but they accepted the responsibility. We all have to meet certain demands of the society in which we live. Another group endured the longest, most brutal captivity ever imposed on American fighting men; accepting unbelievable torture because they knew there are some things men must be willing to die for if civilization is to be preserved. Now a few thousand wives, children , and parents go through torture waiting for the final words on husbands, fathers and sons who are still unaccounted for -- listed as missing in action. Some of these who wait and some of those returned prisoners are asking their fellow Americans to help in a program to circulate petitions asking the President-elect to reconsider his position with regard to a blanket pardon. They have written to all the former P.O.W.s asking for contributions to help with getting out the petitions. They wouldn't mind if some of the rest of us pitched in. The address is Americans Against Amnesty, Post Office Box 1397, Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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