Inaugural Address by JFK
b'This is a complete recording of of the Inaugural Address by JFK. It is sourced from the JFK Library and is unedited. You can get an ebook version for free here: https://librecron.com/product/inaugural-address-by-john-f-kennedy/
On January 20th, 1961, John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president of the United States. On that day, he gave his only inaugural address; he was assassinated November 22nd, 1963. During his speech, Kennedy addressed several things \\u2013 what it meant to be American, the problems facing the world (namely, the power to destroy civilization several times over), and the long road that Humanity, as a species, faced.
Kennedy wrote his inaugural address with the help of Ted Sorensen, his special counsel, adviser, and primary speechwriter. According to Sorensen, the most famous line in the speech \\u2013 \\u201cAsk not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.\\u201d \\u2013 was written by Kennedy (although he later claimed that he didn\\u2019t remember who had come up with it).
As Kennedy came into power during the height of the Cold War, he had to strike a balance with his speech. He had to present the United States as a power that wouldn\\u2019t back down in the face of adversity or tense relations, but also as one that wouldn\\u2019t do anything to provoke another country. He stressed the importance of peaceful relations between America and other countries, and lending a helping hand to the parts of the world that were overrun with poverty.
The speech spoke to the importance of striking a balance. War couldn\\u2019t be used to solve every problem and with the advent of nuclear weapons, it was all the more imperative to ensure that rival nations (such as the United States and the U.S.S.R) not act in such a way to devolve relations. Ideally, they would come together in some way to bring the devastating power under control and use the power at their fingers to do what was right & just. Kennedy wanted separate sides to be able to reach across the table and meet the other on decisions that would be not only mutually beneficial, but beneficial to the world.
To learn more about JFK, The Classic Biography and Profiles in Courage are good starts. Five Days in November focuses on the assassination, while Let the Word go Forth focuses on his speeches and texts.
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