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The Kennedy Administration's Public Pronouncements On The Matter Suggested That The Presence Of Soviet Nuclear Missiles In Castro's Cuba Would Represent An Unacceptable Strategic Threat To The United States. . . . This Urgent Transformation Of Cuba Into An Important Strategic Base - By The Presence Of These Large, Long-range, And Clearly Offensive Weapons Of Sudden Mass-destruction - Constitutes An Explicit Threat To The Peace And Security Of All The Americas. . . .

-John F. Kennedy

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The Kennedy Administration's Public

John F. Kennedy

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The Kennedy Administration's Public Pronouncements On The Matter Suggested That The Presence Of Soviet Nuclear Missiles In Castro's Cuba Would Represent An Unacceptable Strategic Threat To The United States. . . . This Urgent Transformation Of Cuba Into An Important Strategic Base - By The Presence Of These Large, Long-range, And Clearly Offensive Weapons Of Sudden Mass-destruction - Constitutes An Explicit Threat To The Peace And Security Of All The Americas. . . .

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Mass Destruction

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I Think The American People Expect More From Us Than Cries Of Indignation And Attack. The Times Are Too Grave, The Challenge Too Urgent, And The Stakes Too High - To Permit The Customary Passions Of Political Debate.

Real Men Stay Faithful. They Don't Have Time To Look For Other Women Because They're Too Busy Looking For New Ways To Love Their Own.

Peace Need Not Be Impracticable, And War Need Not Be Inevitable.

And A Revolution Of Automation Finds Machines Replacing Men In The Mines And Mills Of America, Without Replacing Their Incomes Or Their Training Or Their Needs To Pay The Family Doctor, Grocer And Landlord.

Let Us Never Negotiate Out Of Fear. But Let Us Never Fear To Negotiate.

If Scientific Discovery Has Not Been An Unalloyed Blessing, If It Has Conferred On Mankind The Power Not Only To Create But Also To Annihilate, It Has At The Same Time Provided Humanity With A Supreme Challenge And A Supreme Testing

Too Often We... Enjoy The Comfort Of Opinion Without The Discomfort Of Thought.

I Really Don't Know Why It Is That All Of Us Are So Committed To The Sea, Except I Think It Is Because In Addition To The Fact That The Sea Changes And The Light Changes, And Ships Change, It Is Because We All Came From The Sea. And It Is An Interesting Biological Fact That All Of Us Have, In Our Veins The Exact Same Percentage Of Salt In Our Blood That Exists In The Ocean, And, Therefore, We Have Salt In Our Blood, In Our Sweat, In Our Tears. We Are Tied To The Ocean. And When We Go Back To The Sea, Whether It Is To Sail Or To Watch It We Are Going Back From Whence We Came.

The Time Is Not Far Off When Many Nations In Many Parts Of The World Of Many Political Shades And Commitments Will Possess Nuclear Or Even Thermonuclear Weapons.

Now Is The Time...for This Nation To Take A Clearly Leading Role In Space Achievement, Which In Many Ways May Hold The Key To Our Future On Earth.

Someone Always Needs Rescuing, Yet There's Only One Person Who Ever Seems To Understand You. It's A Lot Like Being Lassie.

The Farmer Is The Only Man In Our Economy Who Buys Everything At Retail, Sells Everything At Wholesale, And Pays The Freight Both Ways.

We Must Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Or They Will Abolish Us.

Nuclear Weapons

If An American, Because His Skin Is Dark, Cannot Eat Lunch In A Restaurant Open To The Public, If He Cannot Send His Children To The Best Public School Available, If He Cannot Vote For The Public Officials Who Represent Him, If, In Short, He Cannot Enjoy The Full And Free Life Which All Of Us Want, Then Who Among Us Would Be Content To Have The Color Of His Skin Changed And Stand In His Place? Who Among Us Would Then Be Content With The Counsels Of Patience And Delay?

Forgive Your Enemies, But Never Forget Their Names.

I Do Ask Every Publisher, Every Editor, And Every Newsman In The Nation To Reexamine His Own Standards, And To Recognize The Nature Of Our Country's Peril. In Time Of War, The Government And The Press Have Customarily Joined In An Effort Based Largely On Self-discipline, To Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures To The Enemy. In Time Of "clear And Present Danger," The Courts Have Held That Even The Privileged Rights Of The First Amendment Must Yield To The Public's Need For National Security.

I'm 43 Years Old And I'm The Healthiest Candidate For The Presidency Of The United States. You've Travelled With Me Enough To Know That I'm Not Going To Die In Office.

There Is A Terrific Disadvantage In Not Having The Abrasive Quality Of The Press Applied To You Daily. Even Though We Never Like It, And Even Though We Wish They Didn't Write It, And Even Though We Disapprove, There Isn't Any Doubt That We Could Not Do The Job At All In A Free Society Without A Very, Very Active Press.

Our Alliance Is Born, Not Of Fear, But Of Hope. It Is An Alliance That Advances What We Are For, As Well As Opposes What We Are Against.

There Is No Other Airport In The World Which Serves So Many People And So Many Airplanes. This Is An Extraordinary Airport. . . It Could Be Classed As One Of The Wonders Of The Modern World.

If A Beach-head 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 One Hundred Days. Nor Will It Be Finished In The First One Thousand Days, Nor In The Life Of This Administration, Nor Even Perhaps In Our Lifetime On This Planet. But Let Us Begin.

I Am Flatly Opposed To Appointment Of An Ambassador To The Vatican. Whatever Advantages It Might Have In Rome - And I'm Not Convinced Of These - They Would Be More Than Offset By The Divisive Effect At Home.

Art Establishes The Basic Human Truths Which Must Serve As The Touchstones Of Our Judgement. The Artist... Faithful To His Personal Vision Of Reality, Becomes The Last Champion Of The Individual Mind And Sensibility Against An Intrusive Society And An Offensive State.

A Man May Die, Nations May Rise And Fall, But An Idea Lives On.

So Let Us Persevere. Peace Need Not Be Impracticable, And War Need Not Be Inevitable. By Defining Our Goal More Clearly, By Making It Seem More Manageable And Less Remote, We Can Help All Peoples To See It, To Draw Hope From It, And To Move Irresistibly Toward It.

I Do Not Belive That Washington Should Do For The People Wha They Can Do For Themselves Through Local And Private Effort.

No Country Can Possibly Move Ahead, No Free Society Can Possibly Be Sustained, Unless It Has An Educated Citizenry Whose Qualities Of Mind And Heart Permit It To Take Part In The Complicated And Increasingly Sophisticated Decisions That Pour Not Only Upon The President And Upon The Congress, But Upon All The Citizens Who Exercise The Ultimate Power.

If At Times Our Actions Seem To Make Life Difficult For Others, It Is Only Because History Has Made Life Difficult For Us All.

There Will Always Be Dissident Voices Heard In The Land, Expressing Opposition Without Alternatives, Finding Fault But Never Favor, Perceiving Gloom On Every Side And Seeking Influence Without Responsibility.

All Over The World, Particularly In The Newer Nations, Young Men Are Coming To Power--men Who Are Not Bound By The Traditions Of The Past--men Who Are Not Blinded By The Old Fears And Hates And Rivalries-- Young Men Who Can Cast Off The Old Slogans And Delusions And Suspicions.

There's An Old Saying. Never Send A Boy To Do A Man's Job, Send A Lady.

It Is Our Task In Our Time And In Our Generation, To Hand Down Undiminished To Those Who Come After Us, As Was Handed Down To Us By Those Who Went Before, The Natural Wealth And Beauty Which Is Ours.

Physical Fitness Is The Basis For All Other Forms Of Excellence.

Physical Fitness

It Is True That My Predecessor Did Not Object, As I Do, To Pictures Of One's Golf Skill In Action. But Neither, On The Other Hand, Did He Ever Bean A Secret Serviceman.

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.

Where Nature Makes Natural Allies Of Us All, We Can Demonstrate That Beneficial Relations Are Possible Even With Those With Whom We Most Deeply Disagree-and This Must Someday Be The Basis Of World Peace And World Law.

The Cost Of Freedom Is Always High, But Americans Have Always Paid It. And One Path We Shall Never Choose, And That Is The Path Of Surrender, Or Submission.

Don't Ask 'why', Ask Instead, 'why Not'.

I Would Not Look With Favor Upon A President Working To Subvert The First Amendment's Guarantees Of Religious Liberty ... Neither Do I Look With Favor Upon Those Who Would Work To Subvert Article Vi Of The Constitution By Requiring A Religious Test - Even By Indirection.

There Is, Of Course, A Legitimate Argument For Some Limitation Upon Immigration. We No Longer Need Settlers For Virgin Lands, And Our Economy Is Expanding More Slowly Than In The Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries.

Is This Nation Stating It Cannot Afford To Spend An Additional $600 Million To Help The Developing Nations Of The World Become Strong And Free And Independentan Amount Less Than This Countrys Annual Outlay For Lipstick, Face Cream, And Chewing Gum?

The Complacent, The Self-indulgent, The Soft Societies Are About To Be Swept Away With The Debris Of History.

The Highest Duty Of The Writer, The Composer, The Artist, Is To Remain True To Himself And To Let The Chips Fall Where They May.

For Without Belittling The Courage With Which Men Have Died, We Should Not Forget Those Acts Of Courage With Which Men Have Lived.

I Have A Nice Home, The Office Is Close By, And The Pay Is Good.

The Jewish People, Ever Since David Slew Goliath, Have Never Considered Youth As A Barrier To Leadership.

The Republican Party Can Lead Any Person To Believe That Their Promises Will Be Fulfilled In The Future. They Follow The Hitler Line – No Matter How Big The Lie; Repeat It Often Enough And The Masses Will Regard It As Truth.

The Stories Of Past Courage... Can Offer Hope, They Can Provide Inspiration. But They Cannot Supply Courage Itself. For This Each Man Must Look Into His Own Soul.

I Speak Of Peace, Therefore, As The Necessary Rational End Of Rational Men. I Realize The Pursuit Of Peace Is Not As Dramatic As The Pursuit Of War... But We Have No More Urgent Task.

Political Action Is The Highest Responsibility Of A Citizen.

We Must Use Time As A Tool, Not As A Couch.

Now Let Me Make It Clear That I Believe There Can Only Be One Defense Policy For The United States And That Is Summed Up In The Word 'first.' I Do Not Mean First, But. I Do Not Mean First, When. I Do Not Mean First, If. I Mean First - Period.

The Function And Responsibility Of The President Is To Set Before The American People The Unfinished Business, The Things We Must Do If We Are Going To Succeed As A Nation.

Unfinished Business

The True Democracy, Living And Growing And Inspiring, Puts Its Faith In The People - Faith That The People Will Not Simply Elect Men Who Will Represent Their Views Ably And Faithfully, But Will Also Elect Men Who Will Exercise Their Conscientious Judgment - Faith That The People Will Not Condemn Those Whose Devotion To Principle Leads Them To Unpopular Courses, But Will Reward Courage, Respect Honor, And Ultimately Recognize Right.

Harry Truman Once Said, 'there Are 14 Or 15 Million Americans Who Have The Resources To Have Representatives In Washington To Protect Their Interests, And That The Interests Of The Great Mass Of The Other People - The 150 Or 160 Million - Is The Responsibility Of The President Of The United States, And I Propose To Fulfill It.'

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.

We Don't Want To Be Like The Leader In The French Revolution Who Said There Go My People, I Must Find Out Where They Are Going So I Can Lead Them.

If A Free Society Cannot Help The Many Who Are Poor, It Cannot Save The Few Who Are Rich.

There Is An Old Saying That The Course Of Civilization Is A Race Between Catastrophe And Education. In A Democracy Such As Ours, We Must Make Sure That Education Wins The Race.

The New Frontier Of Which I Speak Is Not A Set Of Promises, It Is A Set Of Challenges. It Sums Up Not What I Intend To Offer The American People, But What I Intend To Ask Of Them.

But Colonialism In Its Harshest Forms Is Not Only The Exploitation Of New Nations By Old, Of Dark Skins By Light, Or The Subjugation Of The Poor By The Rich. My Nation Was Once A Colony, And We Know What Colonialism Means; The Exploitation And Subjugation Of The Weak By The Powerful, Of The Many By The Few, Of The Governed Who Have Given No Consent To Be Governed, Whatever Their Continent, Their Class, Their Color.

We Do Not Seek The Unanimity That Comes To Those Who Water Down All Issues To The Lowest Common Denominator - Or To Those Who Conceal Their Differences Behind Fixed Smiles - Or To Those Who Measure Unity By Standards Of Popularity And Affection, Instead Of Trust And Respect. We Are Allies. This Is A Partnership, Not An Empire. We Are Bound To Have Differences And Disappointments - And We Are Equally Bound To Bring Them Out Into The Open, To Settle Them Where They Can Be Settled, And To Respect Each Other's Views When They Cannot Be Settled.

One Hundred And Fifty Years Ago The Vacant Lands Of The West Were Opened To Private Use. One Hundred Years Ago The Congress Passed The Homestead Act, Probably The Single Greatest Stimulus To National Development Ever Enacted. Under The Impetus Of That Act And Other Laws, More Than 1.1 Billion Acres Of The Original Public Main Have Been Transferred To Private And Non-federal Public Ownership. The 768 Million Acres Remaining In Federal Ownership Are A Valuable National Asset.

The Supreme Reality Of Our Time Is The Vulnerability Of Our Planet.

I Am Talking About Genuine Peace, The Kind Of Peace That Makes Life On Earth Worth Living, The Kind That Enables Men And Nations To Grow And To Hope And To Build A Better Life For Their Children - Not Merely Peace For Americans But Peace For All Men And Women - Not Merely Peace In Our Time But Peace For All Time.

For A Subject Worked And Reworked So Often In Novels, Motion Pictures, And Television, American Indians Remain Probably The Least Understood And Most Misunderstood Americans Of Us All.

The World Knows That America Will Never Start A War. This Generation Of Americans Has Had Enough Of War And Hate... We Want To Build A World Of Peace Where The Weak Are Secure And The Strong Are Just.

We Must Start Now To Provide Additional Stimulus To The Modernization Of American Industrial Plants I Shall Propose To The Congress A New Tax Incentive For Businesses To Expand Their Normal Investment In Plant And Equipment.

The Weapons Of War Must Be Abolished Before They Abolish Us.

Nuclear Disarmament

Political Sovereignty Is But A Mockery Without The Means Of Meeting Poverty And Illiteracy And Disease. Self-determination Is But A Slogan If The Future Holds No Hope.

I Believe In An America ... Where No Public Official Either Requests Or Accepts Instructions On Public Policy From The Pope, The National Council Of Churches, Or Any Other Ecclesiastical Source.

Peace Does Not Rest In The Charters And Covenants Alone. It Lies In The Hearts And Minds Of All People. So Let Us Not Rest All Our Hopes On Parchment And On Paper, Let Us Strive To Build Peace, A Desire For Peace, A Willingness To Work For Peace In The Hearts And Minds Of All Of Our People. I Believe That We Can. I Believe The Problems Of Human Destiny Are Not Beyond The Reach Of Human Beings.

We In This Country, In This Generation, Are, By Destiny Rather Than Choice, The Watchmen On The Walls Of World Freedom.

That Is The Kind Of America In Which I Believe. And It Represents The Kind Of Presidency In Which I Believe - A Great Office That Must Neither Be Humbled By Making It The Instrument Of Any One Religious Group Nor Tarnished By Arbitrarily Withholding Its Occupancy From The Members Of Any One Religious Group. I Believe In A President Whose Religious Views Are His Own Private Affair, Neither Imposed By Him Upon The Nation Or Imposed By The Nation Upon Him As A Condition To Holding That Office.

The Exploration Of Space Will Go Ahead, Whether We Join In It Or Not, And It Is One Of The Great Adventures Of All Time, And No Nation Which Expects To Be The Leader Of Other Nations Can Expect To Stay Behind In This Race For Space.

All My Life Ive Known Better Than To Depend On The Experts. How Could I Have Been So Stupid, To Let Them Go Ahead?

Aggressive Conduct, If Allowed To Go Unchecked And Unchallenged, Ultimately Leads To War.

If More Politicians Knew Poetry, And More Poets Knew Politics, I Am Convinced The World Would Be A Little Better Place In Which To Live.

You Have, At The Same Time, Placed Your Confidence In Me, And In My Ability To Render A Free, Fair Judgment - To Uphold The Constitution And My Oath Of Office - And To Reject Any Kind Of Religious Pressure Or Obligation That Might Directly Or Indirectly Interfere With My Conduct Of The Presidency In The National Interest.

Our Economy Today Depends Upon Women In The Labor Force. One Out Of Three Workers Is A Woman. Today, There Are Almost 25 Million Women Employed, And Their Number Is Rising Faster Than The Number Of Men In The Labor Force.

Peace Is A Process, A Way Of Solving Problems

Problem Solving

Hold Fast To The Best Of The Past And Move Fast To The Best Of The Future.

Our Most Basic Common Link Is That We All Inhabit This Small Planet.

The Only Valid Test Of Leadership Is The Ability To Lead, And Lead Vigorously.

Those Who Do Nothing Are Inviting Shame As Well As Violence. Those Who Act Boldly Are Recognizing Right As Well As Reality.

Every Area Of Trouble Gives Out A Ray Of Hope; And The One Unchangeable Certainty Is That Nothing Is Certain Or Unchangeable.

One Person Can Make A Difference, And Everyone Should Try.

Whatever One's Religion In His Private Life May Be, For The Officeholder, Nothing Takes Precedence Over His Oath To Uphold The Constitution And All Its Parts - Including The First Amendment And The Strict Separation Of Church And State.

Genuine Peace Must Be The Product Of Many Nations, The Sum Of Many Acts. It Must Be Dynamic, Not Static, Changing To Meet The Challenge Of Each New Generation. For Peace Is A Process-a Way Of Solving Problems.

What's The Use Of Being Irish If The World Doesn't Break Your Heart?

Ireland And The Irish

Lobbyists Are In Many Cases Expert Technicians And Capable Of Explaining Complex And Difficult Subjects In A Clear, Understandable Fashion. They Engage In Personal Discussions With Members Of Congress In Which They Can Explain In Detail The Reasons For Positions They Advocate. Because Our Congressional Representation Is Based On Geographical Boundaries, The Lobbyists Who Speak For The Various Economic, Commercial, And Other Functional Interests Of This Country Serve A Very Useful Purpose And Have Assumed An Important Role In The Legislative Process.

A Tax Cut Means Higher Family Income And Higher Business Profits And A Balanced Federal Budget....as The National Income Grows, The Federal Government Will Ultimately End Up With More Revenues. Prosperity Is The Real Way To Balance Our Budget. By Lowering Tax Rates, By Increasing Jobs And Income, We Can Expand Tax Revenues And Finally Bring Our Budget Into Balance.

One Hundred Years Of Delay Have Passed Since President Lincoln Freed The Slaves, Yet Their Heirs, Their Grandsons, Are Not Fully Free. They Are Not Yet Freed From The Bonds Of Injustice. They Are Not Yet Freed From Social And Economic Oppression. And This Nation, For All Its Hopes And All Its Boasts, Will Not Be Fully Free Until All Its Citizens Are Free.

Our True Choice Is Not Between Tax Reduction On The One Hand And The Avoidance Of Large Federal Deficits On The Other. It Is Increasingly Clear That No Matter What Party Is In Power, So Long As Our National Security Needs Keep Rising, An Economy Hampered By Restrictive Tax Rates Will Never Produce Enough Revenues To Balance Our Budget, Just As It Will Never Produce Enough Jobs Or Enough Profits.

Student Loans Have Been Helpful To Many. But They Offer Neither Incentive Nor Assistance To Those Students Who, By Reason Of Family Or Other Obligations, Are Unable Or Unwilling To Go Deeper Into Debt. ... It Is, Moreover, Only Prudent Economic And Social Policy For The Public To Share Part Of The Costs Of The Long Period Of Higher Education For Those Whose Development Is Essential To Our National Economic And Social Well-being. All Of Us Share In The Benefits - All Should Share In The Costs.

If This Nation Is To Be Wise As Well As Strong, If We Are To Achieve Our Destiny, Then We Need More New Ideas For More Wise Men Reading More Good Books In More Public Libraries.

Today, We Need A Nation Of Minutemen, Citizens Who Are Not Only Prepared To Take Arms, But Citizens Who Regard The Preservation Of Freedom As The Basic Purpose Of Their Daily Life And Who Are Willing To Consciously Work And Sacrifice For That Freedom.

Bullfight Critics Row On Row Fill The Enormous Plaza De Toros But Only One Is There Who Knows And He Is The One Who Fights The Bull.

The Physical Fitness Of Our Citizens Is A Vital Prerequisite To America's Realization Of Its Full Potential As A Nation, And To The Opportunity Of Each Individual Citizen To Make Full And Fruitful Use Of His Capacities.

President Roosevelt And President Truman And President Eisenhower Had The Same Experience, They All Made The Effort To Get Along With The Russians. But Every Time, Finally It Failed. And The Reason It Failed Was Because The Communists Are Determined To Destroy Us, And Regardless Of What Hand Of Friendship We May Hold Out Or What Arguments We May Put Up, The Only Thing That Will Make That Decisive Difference Is The Strength Of The United States.

Never Let Your Fears Hold You Back From Pursuing Your Hopes.

The Civil Rights Movement Should Thank God For Bull Connor. He's Helped It As Much As Abraham Lincoln.

I Was Never Accepted Into Certain Parts Of New England Society Because My Grandfather Was An Irish Barkeep.

Our Present Tax System ... Exerts Too Heavy A Drag On Growth ... It Reduces The Financial Incentives For Personal Effort, Investment, And Risk-taking ... The Present Tax Load ... Distorts Economic Judgments And Channels An Undue Amount Of Energy Into Efforts To Avoidtaxliabilities.

Sometimes It Just Amazes Me How Many People Desperately Want To Protect My Personal Information. Ten Thousand Reflections Hide The True Gem. Those Who Make Peaceful Revolution Impossible Will Make Violent Revolution Inevitable.

The Basis Of Effective Government Is Public Confidence.

Ethical Standards

To Exclude From Positions Of Trust And Command All Those Below The Age Of 44 Would Have Kept Jefferson From Writing The Declaration Of Independence, Washington From Commanding The Continental Army, Madison From Fathering The Constitution, Hamilton From Serving As Secretary Of The Treasury, Clay From Being Elected Speaker Of The House And Christopher Columbus From Discovering America.

'the Green Beret' Is Again Becoming A Symbol Of Excellence, A Badge Of Courage, A Mark Of Distinction In The Fight For Freedom. I Know The United States Army Will Live Up To Its Reputation For Imagination, Resourcefulness, And Spirit As We Meet This Challenge.

Liberty Without Learning Is Always In Peril And Learning Without Liberty Is Always In Vain.

The Leadership Of The American Legion Has Not Had A Constructive Thought For The Benefit Of This Country Since 1918.

We Have Become More And More Not A Nation Of Athletes But A Nation Of Spectators.

The Great Revolution In The History Of Man, Past, Present And Future, Is The Revolution Of Those Determined To Be Free.

I Had Always Enjoyed The Title Of Commander-in-chief Until I Was Informed ... That The Only Forces That Cannot Be Transferred From Washington Without My Express Permission Are The Members Of The Marine Corps Band. Those Are The Only Forces I Have. I Want It Announced That We Propose To Hold The White House Against All Odds At Least For Some Time To Come.

This Knowledge, The Knowledge That The Physical Well-being Of The Citizen Is An Important Foundation For All Of The Activities Of The Nation, Is As Old As Western Civilization Itself.

We Have Some Of The Most Influential Members Of Congress Here Today, And I Do Hope That We Can Get This Appropriation For These Day-care Centers, Which Seems To Me To Be Money Very Wisely Spent, And Also Under Consideration Of The Tax Bill, That We Can Consider The Needs Of The Working Mothers, And Both Of These Will Be Very Helpful, And I Would Like To Lobby In Their Behalf.

Ask Not What Your Community Can Do For You; Ask What Your Community Can Not Do For Anyone Else.

The Basis Of Effective Government Is Public Confidence, And That Confidence Is Endangered When Ethical Standards Falter Or Appear To Falter.

Ethical Standards

It Might Be Said Now That I Have The Best Of Both Worlds. A Harvard Education And A Yale Degree.

It Is Increasingly Clear That No Matter What Party Is In Power, So Long As Our National Security Needs Keep Rising, An Economy Hampered By Restrictive Tax Rates Will Never Produce Enough Jobs Or Enough Profits.

While It May Be Theoretically Possible To Demonstrate The Risks Inherent In Any Treaty... The Far Greater Risk To Our Security Are The Risks Of Unrestricted Testing, The Risks Of A Nuclear Arms Race, The Risks Of New Nuclear Powers.

Washington Is A City Of Southern Efficiency And Northern Charm.

The Most Powerful Single Force In The World Today Is Neither Communism Nor Capitalism, Neither The H-bomb Nor The Guided Missile -- It Is Man's Eternal Desire To Be Free And Independent.

Once You Say You're Going To Settle For Second, That's What Happens To You In Life.

Freedom Has Many Difficulties And Democracy Is Not Perfect, But We Have Never Had To Put Up A Wall To Keep Our People In.

In A Very Real Sense, It Will Not Be One Man Going To The Moon It Will Be An Entire Nation. For All Of Us Must Work To Put Him There.

Mr. Nixon Has, In The Last Seven Days, Called Me An Economic Ignoramus, A Pied Piper, And All The Rest. I've Just Confined Myself To Calling Him A Republican. But He Says That Is Getting Low.

Our Deep Spiritual Confidence That This Nation Will Survive The Perils Of Today - Which May Well Be With Us For Decades To Come - Compels Us To Invest In Our Nation's Future, To Consider And Meet Our Obligations To Our Children And The Numberless Generations That Will Follow.

The Federal Government Is The People And The Budget Is A Reflection Of Their Need.

This Nation Was Founded By Men Of Many Nations And Backgrounds. It Was Founded On The Principle That All Men Are Created Equal, And That The Rights Of Every Man Are Diminished When The Rights Of One Man Are Threatened ... It Ought To To Be Possible, In Short, For Every American To Enjoy The Privileges Of Being American Without Regard To His Race Or His Color.

The Great Enemy Of The Truth Is Very Often Not The Lie, Deliberate, Contrived And Dishonest, But The Myth, Persistent, Persuasive And Unrealistic.

We In This Country, In This Generation, Areby Destiny Rather Than Choicethe Watchmen On The Walls Of World Freedom. We Ask, Therefore, That We May Be Worthy Of Our Power And Responsibility, That We May Exercise Our Strength With Wisdom And Restraint, And That We May Achieve In Our Time And For All Time The Ancient Vision Of Peace On Earth, Good Will Toward Men. That Must Always Be Our Goal, And The Righteousness Of Our Cause Must Always Underlie Our Strength. For As Was Written Long Ago: Except The Lord Keep The City, The Watchman Waketh But In Vain.

For To Save Mankind's Future Freedom, We Must Face Up To Any Risk That Is Necessary. We Will Always Seek Peace - But We Will Never Surrender.

There's An Old Saying That Victory Has A Hundred Fathers And Defeat Is An Orphan.... I'm The Responsible Officer Of The Government.

The Processes Of Growth Are Gradual, Bearing Fruit In A Decade, Not A Day.

Our Children And Grandchildren Are Not Merely Statistics Towards Which We Can Be Indifferent.

Acting On Our Own, By Ourselves, We Cannot Establish Justice Throughout The World, But Joined With Other Free Nations, We Can ... Assist The Developing Nations To Throw Off The Yoke Of Poverty.

Victory Has A Thousand Fathers, But Defeat Is An Orphan.

The Great Battleground For The Defense And Expansion Of Freedom Today Is The Whole Southern Half Of The Globe... The Lands Of The Rising Peoples. Their Revolution Is The Greatest In Human History. They Seek An End To Injustice, Tyranny And Exploitation. More Than An End, They Seek A Beginning.

The Very Word Secrecy Is Repugnant In A Free And Open Society.

In The Dark Days And Darker Nights When England Stood Alone-and Most Men Save Englishmen Despaired Of England's Life-he [churchill] Mobilized The English Language And Sent It Into Battle.

I Believe That This Nation Should Commit Itself To Achieving The Goal, Before This Decade Is Out, Of Landing A Man On The Moon And Returning Him Safely To The Earth. No Single Space Project...will Be More Exciting, Or More Impressive To Mankind, Or More Important...and None Will Be So Difficult Or Expensive To Accomplish.

When Things Don't Go Well They Like To Blame Presidents; And That's Something That Presidents Are Paid For.

It Is In The American Tradition To Stand Up For One's Rights--even If The New Way To Stand Up For One's Rights Is To Sit Down.

If There Is One Path Above All Others To War, It Is The Path Of Weakness And Disunity.

My Fellow Americans, Let Us Take That First Step. Let Us...step Back From The Shadow Of War And Seek Out The Way Of Peace. And If That Journey Is A Thousand Miles, Or Even More, Let History Record That We, In This Land, At This Time, Took The First Step.

The Efforts Of Governments Alone Will Never Be Enough. In The End, The People Must Choose And The People Must Help Themselves.

I Believe The American People Are More Concerned With A Man's Views And Abilities Than With The Church To Which He Belongs. I Believe The Founding Fathers Meant It When They Provided In Article Vi Of The Constitution That There Should Be No Religious Test For Public Office. And I Believe That The American People Mean To Adhere To Those Principles Today.

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.

We Must Create World-wide Law And Law Enforcement As We Outlaw World-wide War And Weapon

To Those Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected.

The Very Word 'secrecy' Is Repugnant In A Free And Open Society; And We Are As A People Inherently And Historically Opposed To Secret Societies, To Secret Oaths, And To Secret Proceedings.

Knowledge Of The Oceans Is More Than A Matter Of Curiosity. Our Very Survival May Hinge Upon It.

As Every Past Generation Has Had To Disenthrall Itself From An Inheritance Of Truisms And Stereotypes, 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 Truth Is Very Often Not The Lie-deliberate, Contrived And Dishonest-but The Myth-persistent, Persuasive And Unrealistic. Mythology Distracts Us Everywhere.

It Is A Paradoxical Truth That Tax Rates Are Too High And Tax Revenues Are Too Low And The Soundest Way To Raise The Revenues In The Long Run Is To Cut The Rates Now Cutting Taxes Now Is Not To Incur A Budget Deficit, But To Achieve The More Prosperous, Expanding Economy Which Can Bring A Budget Surplus.

Physical Fitness Is Not Only One Of The Most Important Keys To A Healthy Body, It Is The Basis Of Dynamic And Creative Intellectual Activity. The Relationship Between The Soundness Of The Body And The Activities Of The Mind Is Subtle And Complex. Much Is Not Yet Understood. But We Do Know What The Greeks Knew: That Intelligence And Skill Can Only Function At The Peak Of Their Capacity When The Body Is Healthy And Strong; That Hardy Spirits And Tough Minds Usually Inhabit Sound Gods.

A Tired Nation, Said David Lloyd George, Is A Tory Nation, And The United States Today Cannot Afford To Be Either Tired Or Tory.

The Fact That We Live In A World That Moves Crisis By Crisis Does Not Make A Growing Interest In Outdoor Activities Frivolous, Or Ample Provision For Them Unworthy Of The Nation's Concern.

According To The Ancient Chinese Proverb, A Journey Of A Thousand Miles Must Begin With A Single Step.

We Prefer World Law In The Age Of Self-determination To World War In The Age Of Mass Extermination.

Now We Have A Problem In Making Our Power Credible, And Vietnam Is The Place.

There Are Many People In The World Who Really Don't Understand, Or Say They Don't, What Is The Great Issue Between The Free World And The Communist World. Let Them Come To Berlin. There Are Some Who Say That Communism Is The Wave Of The Future. Let Them Come To Berlin. And There Are Some Who Say In Europe And Elsewhere We Can Work With The Communists. Let Them Come To Berlin. And There Are Even A Few Who Say That It Is True That Communism Is An Evil System, But It Permits Us To Make Economic Progress. Lass' Sie Nach Berlin Kommen. Let Them Come To Berlin.

As We Express Our Gratitude, We Must Never Forget That The Highest Appreciation Is Not To Utter Words, But To Live By Them.

You Never Know What's Hit You. A Gunshot Is The Perfect Way.

I Want Every American To Be Free To Stand Up For His Rights, Even If Sometimes He Has To Sit Down For Them.

Food Is Strength, And Food Is Peace, And Food Is Freedom, And Food Is A Helping Hand To People Around The World Whose Good Will And Friendship We Want.

Easy Money, Sudden Fortunes, Increasingly Powerful Political Machines And Blatant Corruption Transformed Much Of The Nation; And The Senate, As Befits A Democratic Legislative Body, Accurately Represented The Nation.

The Margin Is Narrow, But The Responsibility Is Clear.

The Most Ideal Approach To Advance Is The Way Of Opportunity.

The Greater Our Knowledge Increases The More Our Ignorance Unfolds.

The United States Has To Move Very Fast To Even Stand Still.

The American, By Nature, Is Optimistic. He Is Experimental, An Inventor And A Builder Who Builds Best When Called Upon To Build Greatly.

Freedom Is Not Merely A Word Or An Abstract Theory, But The Most Effective Instrument For Advancing The Welfare Of Man.

What Church I Go To On Sunday, What Dogma Of The Catholic Church I Believe In, Is My Business; And Whatever Faith Any Other American Has Is His Business.

The Great French Marshall Lyautey Once Asked His Gardener To Plant A Tree. The Gardner Objected That The Tree Was Slow Growing And Wouldn't Reach Maturity For 100 Years. The Marshall Replied, "in That Case, There Is No Time To Lose; Plant It This Afternoon!

If I Don't Have A Woman For Three Days, I Get Terrible Headaches.

Probably The Greatest Concentration Of Talent And Genius In This House Except For Perhaps Those Times When Thomas Jefferson Ate Alone.

Nor Problem Of Human Destiny Is Beyond Human Beings.

We Are Inclined To Think That If We Watch A Football Game Or A Baseball Game, We Have Taken Part In It.

The Human Mind Is Our Fundamental Resource.

There Is Danger That Totalitarian Governments, Not Subject To Vigorous Popular Debate, Will Underestimate The Will And Unity Of Democratic Societies Where Vital Interests Are Concerned.

But I Think The American People Expect More From Us Than Cries Of Indignation And Attack. The Times Are Too Grave, The Challenge Too Urgent, And The Stakes Too High To Permit The Customary Passions Of Political Debate. We Are Not Here To Curse The Darkness, But To Light The Candle That Can Guide Us Through That Darkness To A Safe And Sane Future. As Winston Churchill Said On Taking Office Some Twenty Years Ago: If We Open A Quarrel Between The Present And The Past, We Shall Be In Danger Of Losing The Future.

The Complacent, The Self-indulgent, The Soft Societies Are About To Be Swept Away With The Debris Of History. Only The Strong, Only The Industrious, Only The Determined, Only The Courageous, Only The Visionary Who Determine The Real Nature Of Our Struggle Can Possibly Survive.

The Science Of Weapons And War Has Made Us All One World And One Human Race With One Common Destiny.

When Power Corrupts, Poetry Cleanses

Do Not Pray For Easy Lives. Pray To Be Stronger Men.

While We Cannot Guarantee That We Shall One Day Be First, We Can Guarantee That Any Failure To Make This Effort Will Make Us Last.

Guarantees That

It Is With Great Satisfaction That I Have Signed Into Law The Social Security Amendments Of 1961. They Represent An Additional Step Toward Eliminating Many Of The Hardships Resulting From Old Age, Disability, Or The Death Of The Family Wage-earner. A Nation's Strength Lies In The Well-being Of Its People. The Social Security Program Plays An Important Part In Providing For Families, Children, And Older Persons In Time Of Stress, But It Cannot Remain Static. Changes In Our Population, In Our Working Habits, And In Our Standard Of Living Require Constant Revision.

You Know Nothing For Sure...except The Fact That You Know Nothing For Sure.

No President Should Fear Public Scrutiny Of His Program. For From That Scrutiny Comes Understanding; And From That Understanding Comes Support Or Opposition And Both Are Necessary. I Am Not Asking Your Newspapers To Support The Administration, But I Am Asking Your Help In The Tremendous Task Of Informing And Alerting The American People. For I Have Complete Confidence In The Response And Dedication Of Our Citizens Whenever They Are Fully Informed.

I Look Forward To An America Which Will Not Be Afraid Of Grace And Beauty.

Those Who Foolishly Sought Power By Riding The Back Of The Tiger Ended Up Inside

I Think When We Talk About Corporal Punishment, And We Have To Think About Our Own Children, And We Are Rather Reluctant, It Seems To Me, To Have Other People Administering Punishment To Our Own Children, Because We Are Reluctant, It Puts A Special Obligation On Us To Maintain Order And To Send Children Out From Our Homes Who Accept The Idea Of Discipline. So I Would Not Be For Corporal Punishment In The School, But I Would Be For Very Strong Discipline At Home So We Don't Place An Unfair Burden On Our Teachers.

Sometimes Party Loyalty Asks Too Much.

Truth Is A Tyrant-the Only Tyrant To Whom We Can Give Our Allegiance. The Service Of Truth Is A Matter Of Heroism.

A Country Is As Strong, Really, As Its Citizens. And I Think That Mental And Physical Health - Mental And Physical Vigor - Go Hand In Hand.

The First Man-made Satellite To Orbit The Earth Was Named Sputnik. The First Living Creature In Space Was Laika. The First Rocket To The Moon Carried A Red Flag. The First Photograph Of The Far Side Of The Moon Was Made With A Soviet Camera. If A Man Orbits The Earth This Year His Name Will Be Ivan.

I Am Sorry To Say That There Is Too Much Point To The Wisecrack That Life Is Extinct On Other Planets Because Their Scientists Were More Advanced Than Ours.

There Are Those Who Regard This History Of Past Strife And Exile As Better Forgotten. But, To Use The Phrase Of Yeats, Let Us Not Casually Reduce "that Great Past To A Trouble Of Fools." For We Need Not Feel The Bitterness Of The Past To Discover Its Meaning For The Present And The Future.

Let Us Think Of Education As The Means Of Developing Our Greatest Abilities, Because In Each Of Us There Is A Private Hope And Dream Which, Fulfilled, Can Be Translated Into Benefit For Everyone And Greater Strength Of The Nation.

Courage--judgment--integrity--dedication--these Are The Historic Qualities Of The Bay Colony And The Bay State....and These Are The Qualities Which, With God's Help, This Son Of Massachusetts Hopes Will Characterize Our Government's Conduct In The Four Stormy Years That Lie Ahead.

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