There's No Structure Here, We're Just Chatting

To be honest, there's no clear and defining structure to Nixon's speech. There's a logical flow, and the speech was created with a goal in mind, but it's not really broken down into separate components.

But even that was intentional. Nixon did not want to sound too formal. A lot of people already thought that he was kind of a jerk. Nixon wanted to make it seem like he was chatting…with all of America.

In other words, too much structure would make him sound like a robot. And what politician wants to sound like that?

How It Breaks Down

The Vietnam War Is Getting Pretty Tiring, Guys

Everyone knows that the Vietnam War thing stopped working out a long time ago. But hey—who hasn't been in a toxic relationship that's hard to leave? You know that you need to get out for your own sanity, but you need to leave with a little self-respect, too. That's how Nixon describes Vietnam in this first section. Except unlike dating, there's a little bit more bloodshed and violence involved.

How Do We Know We're Going to Win If We Leave Now?

Nixon really doesn't want to leave Vietnam on a low note. Who likes being a loser? That's what he's asking in this section. Not America, that's for sure. America sees things through. Including Vietnam.

The Game Plan

Nixon is basically the head coach of the U.S. military, so he's letting his fans (the American public) know that he's got the game plan necessary for the big W. First, he wants to get his Vietnamization plan off the ground, so he tells everyone that the Vietnamese are going to start doing more of the fighting. Second, he wants to start bombing the other team more. That, according to Nixon, is the recipe for success.

This Plan Is Going to Work…or Else

Nixon wants everyone to know that he's got a lot more hidden up his sleeve. His main goal is to get American troops out of Vietnam altogether. But he wants America to know that if the North Vietnamese even think about upping the ante, he's going to kick their butts. At this moment, you can imagine Nixon rolling up his shirtsleeves and making fists.

Who's With Me?

This is the "you're either with me or you're against me"part of the speech. Nixon already knows that the anti-war crowd is against him, so he wants them to ignore the rest of his speech. He wants the patriotic Americans, those in the "great silent majority," to get together and give him the support he believes that he truly deserves.