Today we still welcome those winds of change--and we have every reason to believe that our tide is running strong.
John F. Kennedy
The Public Record
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president, at 43 years, and the first Catholic president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A member of the Democratic Party, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress before his presidency.
★ Featured Quote
January 1, 1962
There is no longer any reason why American children should suffer from polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, or tetanus.
— John F. Kennedy
gutenberg.org
We steer our ship with hope, as Thomas Jefferson said, "leaving Fear astern.
But now the winds of change appear to be blowing more strongly than ever, in the world of communism as well as our own.
If at times our actions seem to make life difficult for others, it is only because history has made life difficult for us all.
Through hot wars and cold, through recession and prosperity, through the ages of the atom and outer space, the American people have never faltered and their faith has never flagged.
The modern globe is too small, its weapons are too destructive, and its disorders are too contagious to permit any other kind of victory.
For we seek not the worldwide victory of one nation or system but a worldwide victory of man.
If they choose peaceful competition, they shall have it.
Tomorrow it can form the framework for a world of law--a world in which no nation dictates the destiny of another, and in which the vast resources now devoted to destructive means will serve constructive ends.
Today the United Nations is primarily the protector of the small and the weak, and a safety valve for the strong.
While we shall never weary in the defense of freedom, neither shall we ever abandon the pursuit of peace.