John Fitzgerald Kennedy
The Public Record
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States, serving from January 20, 1961, until his assassination on November 22, 1963. A member of the Democratic Party, he was born in Massachusetts and is often remembered for his leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Kennedy also established the Peace Corps, promoting international service and cooperation, and he advocated for civil rights, laying the groundwork for future legislation in this area.
It is therefore a particular source of satisfaction to welcome you to the United States, which also many years ago passed through a similar experience.
It is therefore a particular source of pleasure to me, Mr. President, to inform you that we recognize in your life and in your efforts and in your commitments, a strong passion for freedom for your own people and for people everywhere.
They found that they had a common approach to the problems of the free world.
The situation in regard to Germany was reviewed and there was full agreement on the necessity of maintaining the rights and obligations of the allied governments in Berlin.
Our friendship with Great Britain goes back to our earliest beginnings.
Occasion was given to review the need for economic collaboration and expansion in the general interest of developed and underdeveloped countries alike.
Their discussion covered the major problems, both economic and political, and revealed once again the close agreement of the two governments in pursuing their common purposes.
So I express my thanks to you all, and tell you that having gone just about around the circle from Washington, that I am particularly glad to be in this country where the prospects are so pleasing.
The actions it has taken to assist the freedom of people after people around the globe have given it a special prestige.
Particular attention was also given to the nuclear tests conference and to the question of disarmament.
I want to express how important I believe your responsibility is here in this great country.
On Laos, the President and the Prime Minister noted with satisfaction the agreement in Vienna on the need for an effective cease fire which, in their opinion, should lead to progress in Geneva towards an agreement permitting the…
I had not only the opportunity to see Mr. Khrushchev, the members of your government, but also to hear played the Tales of the Vienna Woods, so that it has been a very pleasant trip.
I want on behalf of my wife and myself and also the people of the United States to express our great appreciation to the Government of Austria, to you, sir, personally, and to the Mayor and to the people of Vienna.
If I were Mr. Khrushchev, however, and had spent some time in the West, I would take a somewhat different view of the tide of history.
In France, as I said, I think the vitality of a very old race, which the French people are.
In answer to the first part of the question, the answer was we have discussed these matters.
I want to express my thanks to all of you for having been kind enough to come out in the rain and to express your good will to my country.
The United States made a determination on three different occasions in this century, in 1917, in 1941, in 1948 and '49, that the security of my country must inevitably be linked with the security of a free Europe.
I have not been informed, and all my information is to the contrary, that there was any involvement by members of the CIA or any other members of the American Government.





