Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "46820028",
    "label": "Address to U.N. General Assembly, 25 September 1961",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/46820028"
}

{
    "id": "46820028",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/46820028",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Address to U.N. General Assembly, 25 September 1961",
    "description": "This folder contains materials collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning President Kennedy's address before the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City. In his speech the President addresses the recent death of U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, presents six proposals for the new Disarmament Program, and provides information on the current crises in Laos, South Vietnam, and Berlin, Germany. Materials in this folder include a draft, press copy, and reading copy of the speech.",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/46820028",
    "identifierLocal": "JFKPOF-035-048",
    "collections": [
        "Papers of John F. Kennedy: Presidential Papers: President's Office Files",
        "Speech Files"
    ],
    "subjects": [
        "United Nations. General Assembly"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/8200/46820028/content/presidential-libraries/kennedy/POF/JFKPOF-035-048/JFKPOF-035-048-p0002.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/8200/46820028/content/presidential-libraries/kennedy/POF/JFKPOF-035-048/JFKPOF-035-048-p0002.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/8200/46820028/content/presidential-libraries/kennedy/POF/JFKPOF-035-048/JFKPOF-035-048-p0002.jpg",
    "imageCount": 85,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/46820028",
    "naId": 46820028,
    "coverageEndDate": {
        "day": 25,
        "logicalDate": "1961-09-25",
        "month": 9,
        "year": 1961
    },
    "coverageStartDate": {
        "day": 25,
        "logicalDate": "1961-09-25",
        "month": 9,
        "year": 1961
    },
    "itemCount": 1,
    "levelOfDescription": "fileUnit",
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}

{
    "seq": 20,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/8200/46820028/content/presidential-libraries/kennedy/POF/JFKPOF-035-048/JFKPOF-035-048-p0021.jpg",
    "mediaId": "ec58e0f682ae185b",
    "ocrText": "4\nSuch a plan would not bring a world free from conflict or greed -- but\nit would bring a world free from the terzors of mass destruction. It\nwould not usher in the era of the super state but it would usher in an\nera in which no state could annihilate or be annihilated by another.\nIn 1945, this Nation proposed the Baruch Plan to internationalize the\natom before other nations even possessed the bomb or demilitarized\ntheir troops. We proposed with our allies the Disarmament Plan of\n1951 while still at war in Korea. And we make our proposals today,\nwhile building up our defenses over Berlin, not because we are\ninconsistent or insincere or intimidated, but because we know the\nrights of free men will prevail because while we are compelled\nagainst our will to rearm, we look confidently beyond Berlin to the kind\nof disarmed world we all prefer.\nI therefore propose, on the basis of this Plan, that disarmament negotia-\ntions resume promptly, and continue without interruption uniil an entire\nprogram for general and complete disarmament has not only been agreed\nbut has been actually achieved.\nIV.\nThe logical place to begin is a treaty assuring the end of nuclear tests\nof all kinds, in every environment, under workable controls, The United\nStates and the United Kingdom have proposed such a treaty that is both\nreasonable, effective and ready for signature. We are still prepared to\nsign that treaty today.\nWe also proposed a mutual ban on atmospheric testing, without inspection\nor controls, in order to save the human race from the poison of radio-\nactive fall out. We regret that that offer was not accepted,\nFor 15 years we have sought to make the atom an instrument of peaceful\ngrowth rather than of war. But for 15 years our concessions have been\nmatched by obstruction, our patience by intransigence. And the pleas of\nmankind for peace have met with disregard.\nFinally, a.s the explosions of others beclouded the skies, my country was\nleft with no alternative but to act in the interests of its own and the Free\nWorld's security. We cannot endanger that security by refraining from\ntesting while others improve their arsenals. Nor can we endanger it by\nanother long, uninspected ban on testing. For three years WE accepted t\nthose risks in our open society while seeking agreement on inspection.\nBut this year, while we were negotiating in good faith in Geneva, others\nwere secretly preparing new experiments in destruction.\nOur tests are not polluting the atmosphere. Our deterrent weapons are\nguarded against accidental explosion or use. Our doctors and scientists\nstand ready to help any Nation measure and meet the hazards to health\nwhich inevitably result from the tests in the atmosphezes\nmore"
}