JFK Inaugural Address (1961)
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--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 Issues, 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, in order 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 neighbors 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-destruction.
We dare not tempt them with weakness.
For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt
can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never
be employed.
But neither can two great and powerful
groups of nations take comfort from our present course--both
sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons,
both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly
atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance
of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.
So let us begin anew--remembering on
both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness,
and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never
negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems
unite us instead of belaboring those problems which
divide us.
Let both sides, for the first time,
formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection
and control of arms--and bring the absolute power
to destroy other nations under the absolute control
of all nations.
Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders
of science instead of its terrors. Together let us
explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate
disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts
and commerce.
Let both sides unite to heed in all
corners of the earth the command of Isaiah--to "undo
the heavy burdens ... and to let the oppressed go
free."
And if a beachhead of cooperation may
push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides
join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance
of power, but a new world of law, where the strong
are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.
All this will not be finished in the
first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first
1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration,
nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But
let us begin.
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more
than in mine, will rest the final success or failure
of our course. Since this country was founded, each
generation of Americans has been summoned to give
testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young
Americans who answered the call to service surround
the globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again--not
as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as
a call to battle, though embattled we are--but a call
to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year
in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient
in tribulation"--a struggle against the common
enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war
itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a
grand and global alliance, North and South, East and
West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all
mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only
a few generations have been granted the role of defending
freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink
from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe
that any of us would exchange places with any other
people or any other generation. The energy, the faith,
the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will
light our country and all who serve it--and the glow
from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not
what your country can do for you--ask what you can
do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask
not what America will do for you, but what together
we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of
America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same
high standards of strength and sacrifice which we
ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward,
with history the final judge of our deeds, let us
go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing
and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's
work must truly be our own.
