January 20th 1961.
He wasn’t just a good speaker he was a great President, and the best
President America ever had!
Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President
Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy,
fellow citizens, we observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration
of freedom — symbolising an end, as well as a beginning — signifying
renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty
God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century
and three quarters ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the
power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.
And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are
still at issue around the globe — the belief that the rights of man come
not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let
the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that
the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans — born in
this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace,
proud of our ancient heritage — and unwilling to witness or permit the
slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always
been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and
around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay
any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend,
oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge and more.
To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we
pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do
in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do — for
we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we
pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed
away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not
always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always
hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom — and to
remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding
the back of the tiger ended up inside.
To those peoples in the huts and villages across 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 neighbours 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.
To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last
best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the
instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support — to prevent it
from becoming merely a forum for invective — to strengthen its shield of
the new and the weak — and to enlarge the area in which its writ may
run.
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-destructio
Rating: User: rclark23 2007-06-25T09:56:59.927Z
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