Feb. 15, 1962 - Former Vice President Nixon opposed today criticism of the buildup by the U.S. of military forces in South Vietnam to bar a Communist take-over. Mr. Nixon, engaged in a campaign for the Republican nomination for Governor of California, said: “I don’t agree at all with any partisan or other criticism of the U.S. build-up in Vietnam. My only question is whether it may be too little, too late. It is essential that the U.S. commit all the resources of which it is capable to avoid a Communist take-over in Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia. I support President Kennedy to the hilt and I only hope he will step up the build-up and under no circumstances curtail it because of possible criticism.” Mr. Nixon’s statement in Sacramento came as a sequel to a charge by “Battle Line,” a Republican National Committee publication, that President Kennedy was following a “secretive” policy in the Vietnam situation.
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