Address at Yale University, 11 June 1962
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 best...
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OCR Page 1 of 169FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY MONDAY, JUNE 11, 1962
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
REMARKS OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY,
COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES, YALE UNIVERSITY,
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, JUNE 11, 1962
(As Delivered)
President Griswold; members of the faculty,
graduates and their families, ladies and gentlemen: Let
me begin by expressing my appreciation for the very deep
honor that you have conferred upnn me, As General DeDaulle
occasionally acknowledges, America to be the daughter of
Europe, so I am pleased to come to Yale, the daughter of
Harvard. It might be said now that I have the best of
both worlds, a Harvard education and a Yale degree.
I am particularly glad to become a Yale man
because as I think about my troubles, I find that a lot of
them have come from other Yale men. Among businessmen I
have had a minor disagreement with Roger Blough, of the
Law School Class of 1931, and I have had some complaints too
from my friend Henry Ford, of the class of 1940. In
journalism, I seem to have a difference with John Hay
Whitney, of the class of 1926 -- and sometimes I also
displease Henry Luce of the class of 1920, not to mention
alsoWilliam F. Buckley, Jr., of the class of 1950. I even
have some trouble with my Yale advisors. I get along with
them, but I am not always sure how they get along with
each other.
I have the warmest feelings for Chester Bowles
of the class of 1924 and for Dean Acheson, of the class
of 1915, and my assistant, McGeorge Bundy, of the class of
1940, but I aam not 100 per cent sure that these three wise
and experienced Yale men wholly agree with each other on
every issue.
So this Administration which aims at peaceful
cooperation among all Americans has been the victim of a
certain natural pugnacity developed in this city among
Yale men. Now that I, too, am a Yale man, it is time for
peace. Last week at West Point, in the historic tradition
of that Acadamy, I availed myself af the powers of
Commander in Chief to remit all sentences of offending cadets.
In that same spirit, and in the histori c tradition of Yale,
let me now offer to smoke the clay piple of friendship with
all of my brother Elis, and I hope that they may be
friends not only with me but even with each other.
In any event, I am very glad to be here and as
a new member of the club, I have been checking to see what
earlier links existed between the institution of the
Presidency and Yale, I found that à member of the class
of 1878, William Howard Taft, served one term in the White
House as preparation for becoming a member of this faculty.
And a graduate of 1804, John C. Calhoun, regarded the Vice
Presidency as too lowly a station for a Yale alumnus --
and became the only man in history to ever resign that office.
Calhoun in 1804 and Taft in 1878 graduated into a
world very different frcm ours today. They and their
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Yale University
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