Inaugural Address
Friday, January 20, 1961
Heavy snow fell the night
before the inauguration, but thoughts about
cancelling the plans were overruled.
The election of 1960 had been close,
and the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts
was eager to gather
support for his agenda. He attended
Holy Trinity Catholic Church in
Georgetown that morning before joining
President Eisenhower to travel to
the Capitol. The Congress had extended
the East Front, and the inaugural
platform spanned the new addition. The
oath of office was administered
by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Robert
Frost read one of his poems at the
ceremony.
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.
1
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 state,
but
from the hand of God.
2
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.
3
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.
4
This much we pledge—and
more.
5
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.
6
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.
7
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.
8
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.
9
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.
10
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.
11
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.
12
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.
13
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.
14
Let both sides explore what
problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.
15
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.
16
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.
17
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."
18
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.
19
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.
20
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.
21
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.
22
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?
23
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.
24
And so, my fellow Americans:
ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your
country.
25
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.
26
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.
27
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States. 1989.
The New Bartleby Library
The Gift Outright
by Robert Frost - 1942
The land was ours before we were the land's.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia,
But we were England's, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.