TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/us/fed/kene

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                ┤                                                              John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address 

January 20, 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 forebearers 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 forebearers fought are still at issue around the
globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the
generosity of the state 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 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 co-operative 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 people in the huts and villages of half 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] let the
oppressed go free."

   And if a beachhead of co-operation may push back the jungle
of suspicion, let both sides join in creating 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.

   In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than 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 here 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.