As we ask where our next stepsshould fall on this path, we would do well to learn a lessonfrom our ownhistory. In the aftermath of World War II and its great toll, America had thechoice,just like we do today, to turn inward. Instead, Secretary of StateGeorge Marshall saw in bothdefeated and allied nations the threat ofbankruptcy, homes and railways destroyed, people whowere starving, economiesdecimated.
He had the foresight to know thatthere could be no political stability and no peacewithout renewed economicstrength. He knew we had an obligation to partner with Europe,help it rebuild,modernize it, and give it the push that it needed to become the powerfulandpeaceful trading partner it is today. After the war, my friends, we didn’tspike the football;we created a more level playing field, and we are strongerfor it today.
When I was 12 years old, I hadthe privilege of living in Berlin, Germany, where my father,a Foreign Serviceofficer, was called to duty. And one day, I visited the eastern side of Berlin,thepart that hadn’t received any of the help from the United States and itscourageous MarshallPlan.
The difference was undeniable,even to my 12-year-old eyes. There were few people on thestreets, few smileson the faces of those who were there. I saw the difference between hopeanddespair, freedom and oppression, people who were given a chance to do somethingandpeople who weren’t. If the recovering western half of urope was regainingits vibrant color, theplace that I visited was still in black and white.
When I went back to West Berlin,two things happened. First, I was summarily groundedfor having venturedwithout permission to the other side of the city. (Laughter.) And second,Istarted to pay special attention to the plaques on the buildings thatrecognized the UnitedStates of America for lending a hand in the rebuilding.And I was proud.
The Marshall Plan, the IMF, theWorld Bank, and other postwar organizations led by theUnited States areevidence of our ability to make the right decisions at the right time,takingrisks today in the interest of tomorrow.
Now we face a similar crossroads.We can be complacent, or we can be competitive. Asnew markets bloom in everycorner of the globe – and they will, with or without us – we can bethere tohelp plant the seeds, or we can cede that power to others.
Given the chance to lead a secondgreat American century, let’s not just look to the globallandscape around ustoday; let’s look to the one ahead of us, look over the horizon, look tothedays to come 15 and 50 years from now, and marshal the courage that defined theMarshallPlan so that we might secure a new future of freedom.
Let’s remember that theprinciples of Jefferson’s time, in a nation that was just getting usedto itsindependence, still echo in our own time, in a world that’s still getting usedto ourinterdependence. America’s national interest in leading strongly stillendures in this world.
So let me leave you with athought. When tragedy and terror visit our neighbors around theglobe, whetherby the hand of man or by the hand of God, many nations give of themselvestohelp. But only one is expected to.