John Fitzgerald Kennedy

And that will entitle my predecessors and will entitle the Chancellor and those who have worked with him, it seems to me, to a very important page in the history of our times.

Every effort will be made to strengthen common defense planning and joint operation of NATO defense forces.

Western Europe and the United States really are islands of prosperity in a sea of poverty.

No, I think the Chief Justice is leading the American delegation to that coronation, although I hope to see him during my visit to Italy.

Well, I would hope that-and it has been the policy of the United States for a great many years not to recognize in the juridical sense the division of Germany.

I want to express my special appreciation to the Chancellor.

So I hope you will join with me in drinking to the German people, to those who lead them, and most especially to our distinguished host, the President of the Federal Republic.

I am sure that the Chancellor never thought that there was any prospect, any more than we have considered the prospect, that other allies of ours would sell out the interests of the Free World.

The primary purpose is the treaty, but I am sure the other matter may come into the conversation.

But the Chancellor in his time, meeting his responsibility, made the right judgment and, therefore, he is an historic figure and one to whom all of us who believe so strongly in the cause of freedom feel privileged to come and pay him our…

They regard it as a privilege to play their part in these great days.

Therefore, I hope those of you who are German citizens feel that in working with us so closely, you are also working for the welfare of your own country and the security and freedom of the West, and those things which make the West worth…

So, ladies and gentlemen, I am very proud to be here.

Now, suddenly, the United States, by the force of events, history, and by our own choice--and I want to emphasize 'by our own choice'--have been propelled into the world where we are the key, the archstone, the basic element in the…

There are 1 million Americans serving outside the frontiers of the United States.

I want to express my thanks to you for your generous welcome to us all.

We are allies in the only war we seek--the war against poverty, hunger, disease, and ignorance in our own countries, and around the world.

In this respect, he is true to the saying that the young student in Cologne would go to Paris to learn about life, to Holland to learn to count, and to Great Britain to become a tradesman.

Your fellow citizen, Chancellor Adenauer, has fulfilled these obligations as a citizen of the West in full measure.

But I am certain that no one has made that complaint here about the Adenauers in the City of Cologne.

Our unity was forged in a time of danger; it must be maintained in a time of peace.

It was here for many years, that he first practiced the art of statecraft which has served the West so well.

Here in Western Germany you have achieved a solid framework of freedom, a miracle of economic recovery, and an opportunity to express your political ideals through action in Europe and through the world.

For Cologne is not only an ancient German city, it is also an ancient European city, a city which, since Roman times, has played a special role in preserving Western culture, and Western religion, and Western civilization.

As a citizen of Boston, which takes pride in being the oldest city in the United States, I find it sobering to come to Cologne where the Romans marched when the Bostonians were in skins.