The Constitution of the United States makes the President the Commander
in Chief of the Army and Navy of the Nation, but I do not want a big
Army subject to my personal command. If danger comes, I want to turn to
you and the rest of my fellow-countrymen and say, "Men, are you ready?"
and I know what the response will be. I know that there will spring up
out of the body of the Nation a great host of free men, and I want those
men not to be mere targets for shot and shell. I want them to know
something of the arms they have in their hands. I want them to know
something about how to guard against the diseases that creep into camps,
where men are unaccustomed to live. I want them to know something of
what the orders mean that they will be under when they enlist under arms
for the Government of the United States. I want them to be men who can
comprehend and easily and intelligently step into the duty of national
defense. That is the reason that I am urging upon the Congress of the
United States at any rate the beginnings of a system by which we may
give a very considerable body of our fellow-citizens the necessary
training.
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