As President I hold the responsibility for choosing the best path for that goal and then leading the nation along it.

I pledge to you tonight that I shall meet this responsibility with all of the strength and wisdom I can command, in accordance with your hopes, mindful of your concerns, sustained by your prayers.

Thank you and good night. (137.1-139.1)

There's more to these closing statements then just a polite farewell to the American people. We can actually catch a little glimpse of Nixon's leadership style in these final words.

Say what you want about Nixon (and, trust us, people have had a lot of things to say about Nixon), but he was a guy that knew what he wanted and was willing to do just about anything to get it.

He was like this to a fault.

But you can kind of see this Nixonian quality throughout the speech and even in these closing lines. He claims to "hold the responsibility for choosing the best path for that goal" (137.1). He says this as if he was the only person in the United States with a vision to end the war in Vietnam.

Or, at least, he is sort of claiming that his vision is going to be the choice no matter what, so the rest of America might as well support him in his decision-making.