2007年VOA标准英语-Past US Presidents Tried to Rally Public During

By Jim Malone
Washington
12 January 2007

U.S. President George Bush faces a difficult challenge, as he tries to win support for a new strategy in Iraq, even as opinion polls indicate much of the public no longer believes the war is winnable.  But as VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports, U.S. presidents have often faced unique challenges during wartime.

During the American Civil War in the 1860's, President Abraham Lincoln came under intense criticism for the high number of casualties suffered by northern troops trying to turn back the southern rebellion. President Lincoln won re-election in 1864, defeating one of his former generals, George McClellan.

During the early days of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt used his popular fireside radio chats to rally public support, even when there was discouraging news from the battlefield. 

 
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
ROOSEVELT: "Soon we, and not our enemies, will have the offensive.  We, not they, will win the final battles and we, not they, will make the final peace."

President Harry¹ Truman faced a similar challenge during the Korean War in the early 1950's, after early success on the battlefield ground to a stalemate.

TRUMAN:  "Now, many persons, even some who applauded our decision to defend Korea, have forgotten the basic reason for our action.  It is right for us to be in Korea now.  It was right last June [1950].  It is right today."

In the 1960's and 1970's, four U.S. presidents had to deal with the war in Vietnam.

Shortly before his death in 1963, President John Kennedy discussed the prospects² for withdrawing U.S. troops from Vietnam within a year or two with his national security adviser³, McGeorge Bundy.

 
President Lyndon Johnson
No president had more at stake in Vietnam than Lyndon Johnson.  Under his leadership, the war quickly expanded in the mid-1960's.  But as more troops were sent in with mixed results on the battlefield, discontent over the war began to grow at home and took a toll⁴ on President Johnson's political support.

In March of 1968, Mr. Johnson shocked the country when he announced he would not seek re-election.

JOHNSON:  "With our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan⁵ causes, or to any duties other than the awesome⁶ duties of this office, the presidency⁷ of your country."

President Bush faces a similar challenge in trying to rebuild support for the war in Iraq.

 
President George Bush concludes his address to the nation from the White House Library, 10 Jan 2007
"Now, America is engaged in a new struggle that will set the course for a new century," said Mr. Bush.  "We can and we will prevail."

While public support for the war in Vietnam eroded⁸ over a period of years, the decline in support for the effort in Iraq has developed more quickly.

Professor John Mueller of Ohio State University has studied the impact of war on public opinion.

"When [public] support in Iraq had gotten down to 50 percent or so, about 2,000 Americans had died," he noted⁹.  "When support of the Vietnam War had gotten down to about 50 percent, about 20,000 Americans had died.  So, that suggests that people are much less willing to expend¹⁰ lives on this venture in Iraq than they were in the one in Vietnam."

In his recent address to the nation on Iraq, President Bush said the U.S. commitment there is not open-ended, but he urged Americans to give his new strategy a chance.

Public opinion experts question how long the public is willing to wait to see progress in Iraq.

Christopher Gelphi (Jell'-pee) is a political science professor at Duke University in North Carolina.

"If it takes a year or more for this increase in troops to start to have an effect, that is a real problem for the president," he explained.  "If, on the other hand, we can see a real effect within the next couple of months, he might be able to turn things around."

The polls suggest President Bush has a lot of convincing to do.  Recent surveys indicate about two-thirds of the public opposes the troops increase for Iraq, and about 70 percent disapprove¹¹ of the president's handling of the war.

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

6 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

8 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 expend   

vt.花费，消费，消耗

参考例句：

• Don't expend all your time on such a useless job.不要把时间消耗在这种无用的工作上。
• They expend all their strength in trying to climb out.他们费尽全力想爬出来。

11 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。