White House State Dinner 1973: SPEECH BY PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON in the exchange of toasts between President Richard Nixon and PM Lee Kuan Yew

"Singapore is the best run country in the world." And here is the man who runs it. 

 

Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Vice President, ladies and gentlemen:

We have welcomed many very distinguished guests in this room, and I would say that none is more deserving of our respect and of being honored, as we honor him tonight, than the Prime Minister and, I may say, his wife.

I recall the occasions that we have met previously in his country and also here, and I recall also the enormous impression that the Prime Minister has made on various emissaries from the United States who have visited his country. The Vice President and Mrs. Agnew have had the opportunity to visit Singapore, Secretary Rogers and Mrs. Rogers. I have not, since coming into this office.

I think perhaps the best summary of the attitude of all of those who have visited Singapore during the past 3 to 4 years, since I have been having rather regular reports on the situation, was when Secretary Connally returned from his trip around the world when he was Secretary of the Treasury. He came into my office and said, "Singapore is the best run country in the world." And here is the man who runs it.

I would add to that, however, by saying that the best run country in the world could mean a country that was run very well without freedom, because I suppose that if you look at countries around the world, those that have the least obvious problems are those that have no freedom, and therefore, it would be the best run.

And the Prime Minister tonight deserves our honor and our respect, because in this relatively new country with a very old history and a very able people, he has been able to run it well, but run it with respect for the great traditions of freedom which our two countries both adhere to, and for this, we all, of course, hold him in very high regard.

On the two previous occasions he has been here since I have been in this office, he came alone, and, consequently, on one occasion we had a stag dinner. This time, fortunately, he brought Mrs. Lee with him. Now, I had read something about their courtship. I knew that, like Secretary Rogers and Mrs. Rogers, they had gone to school together, they had both graduated from law school in the same class, and so tonight, very early in the evening, when you saw me turning to Mrs. Lee, I said, "Mrs. Lee, tell me, is it true that you were number one in the class at Cambridge Law School and your husband was number two?" And she said, "Mr. President, do you think he would have married me if that were the case?"

But I probed further, and I found that, as a matter of fact, Mrs. Lee, our distinguished guest, did receive a first at Cambridge Law School. Her husband did also, but like a very loyal wife, she said, "He had a first with a star after his name, and that is something very special."

But the purpose of that is simply to say that we are very happy here to welcome our distinguished guests because of their personal qualities, because of their great ability, and because of the leadership they have given to their own country.

I would only add this: In the talks that I have had with the Prime Minister, in 1967 when we first met--at a time that neither he nor I had any idea that we would be meeting again today in this place---but in any event, in 1967 when we first met, on the other two occasions, what has impressed me enormously has been his profound understanding, not just of his own country and not just of Southeast Asia, of which his own country is a very important part, but of the entire world scene. In other words, we honor tonight and we welcome here a world statesman of the first rank, who has contributed, with his intelligence, with his understanding, to all of, us, in helping us to develop the kinds of policies that will maintain a world in which freedom can survive for larger countries like the United States and for smaller countries like Singapore.

There is no more articulate and intelligent spokesman for what I would call free societies in the world than the Prime Minister of Singapore, and for that reason I know all of you will want to join me in raising your glasses to Prime Minister Lee. Prime Minister Lee.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3802

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