TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/cal/kene

Text File | 1991-05-13 | 9KB | 167 lines

                B                                                            ««               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.