John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address

It was fifty years ago today that President John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the thirty-fifth President of the United States. Watching the 13-minute, 43-second inaugural address in its entirety - thus putting it in more of a real sort of context - you understand exactly what President Kennedy was saying on that cold January day. He exhorted Americans and free peoples of the rest of the world to work together and make as many sacrifices as necessary to secure a lasting peace and a greater prosperity for the globe. He offered nothing except his own service, and asked to be held accountable for his service just like anyone else. It may have been the last time a President encouraged us to give of ourselves (though, in 1979, President Jimmy Carter scolded us for not doing so). Of the more than fifty presidential inaugural addresses given since 1789, this is one of only three or four addresses that anyone cares to remember.

You've heard all the quotable lines from this speech, in fact, quoted; I will only repeat one of them. It was the quote just before the famous one about asking what you can do for the country. President Kennedy said the endeavor of the struggle would create a great fire of energy . . . "and the glow from that fire can truly light the world." (The Kennedy memorial stamp issued by the U.S. post office in 1964 included that quote.)

Here is the full speech on video, from a C-SPAN rebroadcast.

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