Press copy, Inaugural address of President John F. Kennedy, 20 January 1961
This item is a press copy of President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address in Washington D.C. In his speech, President Kennedy urges American citizens to participate in public service and "ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country."
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OCR Page 1 of 3RELEASE 12 NOON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1961
TO ALL NEWSPAPERS, RADIO AND TV STATIONS
OFFICE OF THE WHITEHHUSE PRESS SECRETARY
THE WHITE HOUSE
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
of
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
AS ACTUALLY DELIVERED
Vice President Johnoon, 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 --
symbolizing 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 towwich 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 merefy
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 scught power by riding-the back ofthe-tigerended
up inside.
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