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contemporaries spent entire careers stretching over 40 years
in grappling with a few dramatic issues on which the nation
was sharply and emotionally divided, issues that occupied the
attention of a generation at a time: the National Bank,
the disposal of the public lands, nullification or union.
freedom or slavery. gold or silver, Today these old
sweeping issues very largely have disappeared. The central
domestic issues of our time are more subtle and less simple.
They relate not to basic clashes of philosophy or ideology
but to ways -and-imeans of reaching common goals -- to research
for sophisticated solutions to complex and obstinate issues.
The world of Calhonn, the world of Taft had its own hard
problems and notable challenges. But its problems are not
our problems. Their age is not our age. As every past
generation has had to disenthrall itself from an inheritance
of truism and stereotype, so in our own time we must move
on from the reassuring repetition of stale phrases to a new,
difficult but essential confrontation with reality.
For the great enemy of the truth is very often not
thelie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the
myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic, Too often
we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject
all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations.
We
enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of
thought.
Mythology distracts us everywhere- in government as
in business, in politics as in economics, in foreign affairs
as in deomstic policy. But today I want to partiunlarly
consider the myth and reality in our national economy. In
recent months many have come to feel, as I do, that the
dialog between the parties -- between business and
government -- is clogged by illusion and platitude and fails
to reflect the true realities of contemporary American
society.
I speak of these matters here at Yale because of
the self evident truth that a great universi ty is always
enlisted against the spread of illusion and on the side of
reality. No one has said it more clearly than your
President Griswold: "Liberal learing is both a safeguard
againstfalse ideas of freedom and a source of true ones.
Your role as university men, whatever your calling, will be
to increase each new generation's grasp of its new cuties.
There are three great areas of our domestic affairs
in which, today, there is a danger that illusimmay prevent
effective action. They are, first, the question of the
size and the shape of government's responsibilities; second,
the question of public fiscal policy and third, the matter
of confidence, business confidence or public confidence,
or simply confidence in America. I want to talk about all
three, and I want to talk about them careflly and dispassion-
ately -- and I umphasize that I am concerned here not with
political debate but with finding ways to separate false
problems from real ones.
If a contest in angry argument were forced upon it,
no Administration could shrink from response, and history
does not suggest that American Presidents are totally
without resources in an engagement forced upon them because
of hostility in one sector of society. But in the wider
national interest, we need not partisan wrangling, but common
concentration on common problems. I come this morning to
ask you to join in this great task.
Let us take first the question of the size and
shape of government. The myth here is thatgovernment is big,
Document source description
This file contains materials collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning President Kennedy's remarks at the 1962 Yale University graduation ceremony. In his speech the President thanks the University for the honorary degree bestowed upon him, and discusses three areas of domestic concern where the prevalence of myth dangerously impedes progress: fiscal policy, confidence in an administration, and the concept of "big government." Materials in this folder include various memoranda of suggested talking points, a draft by Special Assistant to the President and speechwriter Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., a press copy, and a reading copy of the speech with handwritten notations by the President, as well as a luncheon menu, program for the commencement exercises, and an additional transcript of the speech published by Yale University.
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"ocrText": "- 2 -\ncontemporaries spent entire careers stretching over 40 years\nin grappling with a few dramatic issues on which the nation\nwas sharply and emotionally divided, issues that occupied the\nattention of a generation at a time: the National Bank,\nthe disposal of the public lands, nullification or union.\nfreedom or slavery. gold or silver, Today these old\nsweeping issues very largely have disappeared. The central\ndomestic issues of our time are more subtle and less simple.\nThey relate not to basic clashes of philosophy or ideology\nbut to ways -and-imeans of reaching common goals -- to research\nfor sophisticated solutions to complex and obstinate issues.\nThe world of Calhonn, the world of Taft had its own hard\nproblems and notable challenges. But its problems are not\nour problems. Their age is not our age. As every past\ngeneration has had to disenthrall itself from an inheritance\nof truism and stereotype, so in our own time we must move\non from the reassuring repetition of stale phrases to a new,\ndifficult but essential confrontation with reality.\nFor the great enemy of the truth is very often not\nthelie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the\nmyth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic, Too often\nwe hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject\nall facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations.\nWe\nenjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of\nthought.\nMythology distracts us everywhere- in government as\nin business, in politics as in economics, in foreign affairs\nas in deomstic policy. But today I want to partiunlarly\nconsider the myth and reality in our national economy. In\nrecent months many have come to feel, as I do, that the\ndialog between the parties -- between business and\ngovernment -- is clogged by illusion and platitude and fails\nto reflect the true realities of contemporary American\nsociety.\nI speak of these matters here at Yale because of\nthe self evident truth that a great universi ty is always\nenlisted against the spread of illusion and on the side of\nreality. No one has said it more clearly than your\nPresident Griswold: \"Liberal learing is both a safeguard\nagainstfalse ideas of freedom and a source of true ones.\nYour role as university men, whatever your calling, will be\nto increase each new generation's grasp of its new cuties.\nThere are three great areas of our domestic affairs\nin which, today, there is a danger that illusimmay prevent\neffective action. They are, first, the question of the\nsize and the shape of government's responsibilities; second,\nthe question of public fiscal policy and third, the matter\nof confidence, business confidence or public confidence,\nor simply confidence in America. I want to talk about all\nthree, and I want to talk about them careflly and dispassion-\nately -- and I umphasize that I am concerned here not with\npolitical debate but with finding ways to separate false\nproblems from real ones.\nIf a contest in angry argument were forced upon it,\nno Administration could shrink from response, and history\ndoes not suggest that American Presidents are totally\nwithout resources in an engagement forced upon them because\nof hostility in one sector of society. But in the wider\nnational interest, we need not partisan wrangling, but common\nconcentration on common problems. I come this morning to\nask you to join in this great task.\nLet us take first the question of the size and\nshape of government. The myth here is thatgovernment is big,"
}