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.
No, no proposal came in any of the meetings that I had with the Presidents.
Mr. McNamara chose the plane he chose because he felt it most efficient, because he thought it would do the job and because he thought it would save the Government hundreds of millions of dollars.
The first is the right of every nation to govern itself, to be free from outside dictation and coercion, to mold its own economy and society in any fashion consistent with the will of the people.
So I am delighted to have you all here, representing, as you do, our best hopes for this hemisphere.
Second is the right of every individual citizen to political liberty, the right to speak his own views, to worship God in his own way, to select the government which rules him, and to reject it when it no longer serves the need of a nation.
This group of young men and women, who represent a good many others, by working to secure the 500,000 signatures, which represents a tremendous labor, from the people of Costa Rica, committing them to the success of the Alliance for…
I want to express my very warm appreciation to all of you for your kindness to all of us who came from North America to this conference.
We are committed to four basic principles in this hemisphere in the Alliance for Progress.
It is a great pleasure to leave Washington, where I am lectured to by professors, to come to Costa Rica where I can speak to students.
The impression that we, all of us, from the United States carry back is of the hands of friendship which have been extended to us and the strong feeling that while we came in a sense as strangers 3 days ago, we leave tonight as friends.
Occasionally, universities are regarded as dangerous places for Presidents, and we are grateful to you for your warm welcome to all of us on this occasion.
And I must say, Mr. President, I know of no more vital, energetic, warmhearted, vigorous, hopeful people than the great citizens of this great democracy.
We want to express our thanks to particularly all those who are in these clubs.
Well, we want to express our great welcome to those who are working in the trade union movement, which is essential for a progressive democracy, so we are glad to have you here today.
Those are the things which together we must achieve for our people, and I want to assure you through the Alliance for Progress we will stand and work shoulder to shoulder in making this hemisphere an example of what democracy can mean.
If there is any theme which I think this conference best expresses, it is the common dependence we have one upon another.
It is sometimes easy for us, living in our nations' capitals, to become disheartened about the nature of the struggle.
Gentlemen: I want to again express, on behalf of all of us, our great appreciation to our hosts, the Presidents of the Central American Republics, and the President of Panama.
Education, homes, jobs, health, security-those are the things for which this country stands.
I come here today with 180 million fellow Americans who want this hemisphere to be free, and who want this hemisphere to be an example to a watching world in the crucial years of this century and this decade.
Our high voyage, Mr. President, is not to seek new lands to conquer, but to make sure that old lands remain free.





