Inaugural Addresses: John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy's inaugural address is memorable for many reasons. It was the first delivered to a televised audience in color. Kennedy was inaugurated on Friday, January 20, 1961 at the eastern portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The speech Kennedy gave is considered among the best presidential inaugural speeches. The address was 1364 words and took 13 minutes and 42 seconds to deliver, making it the fourth-shortest inaugural address ever delivered thus far.The oath of office for the President was administered by Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren to Kennedy using a closed family Bible at 12:51 p.m. (ET) Kennedy did not wear an overcoat when taking the oath of office and delivering the inaugural address, despite the cold conditions of 22 °F (−6 °C) with windchill at 7 °F (−14 °C). The inaugural address is famous for the words "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
The speech was said to be the product of Kennedy himself and his speech writer Theodore Sorensen. Kennedy asked Sorensen to study President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address as well as a number of other inaugural addresses. Kennedy began working on the speech in late November 1960 and made several drafts, gathering ideas from a number of sources, including Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith and former Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson.
As a president coming into power at the height of the Cold War, Kennedy was confronting the newly dangers of nuclear power and the accelerating arms race. The theme of the speech is said by some to be the relationship between duty and power. In the first part of the speech, Kennedy says: "Man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life". Later he says, "United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do."
Kennedy spoke not just to Americans, but to the whole world. He addressed third world nations as well as Central and South America, stating:
"To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required--not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge--to convert our good words into good deeds--in a new alliance for progress--to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house."
Kennedy spoke about the threat of living "in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace" and he pledged protection for the weak. He addressed aggressor nations, stating:
"Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction. We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed. But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course--both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war. So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us. Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms--and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations. Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce. Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah--to 'undo the heavy burdens . . . (and) let the oppressed go free.'"
Kennedy acknowledged that achieving peace would not be an overnight matter, stating: "All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."
Kennedy next called on Americans to "answer the call" in the "struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself." In a lead in to the most famous quotation from the speech, Kennedy said:
"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
A parade along Pennsylvania Avenue followed the inauguration ceremony. Kennedy mounted a reviewing stand shared with honored guests that included former President Harry Truman and former First Ladies Edith Wilson and Eleanor Roosevelt. At 43 years of age, Kennedy was the youngest elected president and was replacing the oldest president in American history at that time, Dwight Eisenhower. Kennedy was also the first person born in the 20th century to have been inaugurated as President.