Richard Nixon actually said...
The fact that the operation did succeed; the fact that, as you know, our casualties since Cambodia have been reduced by two-thirds; that 100,000 Americans have come home since that time and are continuing to come home; the fact that as a result of that operation the South Vietnamese have developed the confidence and the ability that they now can undertake on the ground by themselves, as far as the ground action is concerned in operation, to cut the Communist supply line coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail--all of this, it seems to me, indicates how the American Legion, in the person of its commander, at a time when it would have been easy not to stand up, did stand up.
Context
Remarks on Receiving the American Legion's Distinguished Service Medal for 1969.
02/15/1971