Inaugural Address EDITED JFK

Inaugural Address
President John F. Kennedy

Washington, D.C.
January 20, 1961
We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as
a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God
the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters
ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of
human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our
forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from
the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs
of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the
torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war,
disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or
permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and
to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden,
meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of
liberty.
This much we pledge--and more.
To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass
misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required--
not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is
right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge--to convert our good words
into good deeds--in a new alliance for progress--to assist free men and free governments in casting
off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile
powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or
subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere
intends to remain the master of its own house.
To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where
the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support-
-to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective--to strengthen its shield of the new and
the weak--and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.
Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a
request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction
unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.
We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can
we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course--
both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread
of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of
mankind's final war.
So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity
is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide
us.
Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and
control of arms--and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of
all nations.
Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore
the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and
commerce.
Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah--to "undo the heavy
burdens . . . (and) let the oppressed go free."
And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in
creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are
just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.
All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand
days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us
begin.
Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a call
to battle, though embattled we are-- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in
and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of
man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West,
that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending
freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do
not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.
The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who
serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for
your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do
for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high
standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure
reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His
blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

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Inaugural Address

President John F. Kennedy

This much we pledge--and more.

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