But even before the days of digital publication, it made appearances in magazines, newspapers, and books, and has been printed on tote bags, t-shirts, and coffee mugs — always attributed to John F.
Kennedy actually said this. Without even basic proof that JFK said it, how did it become so widespread? The backstory is complicated. It starts in , when the John F. Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy helped out by providing a statement for the exhibit brochure that was picked up by reporters across the country as they covered the tour.
She wrote:. He believed that one man can make a difference — and that every man should try. When Look magazine printed the quote in , it was still rightly attributed to the former First Lady.
Republished from fee. Facebook Twitter Instagram. News Ticker. Madison Cawthorn running in new congressional district News. 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. 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. In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty.
The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe. Inaugural moment. 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.
How do the words President John F. Kennedy spoke on January 20, resonate across the decades? Gordon Radley would single out these words as speaking to the Peace Corps community: 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. John F. This much we pledge — and more.
Joe Kennedy. Peace Corps history. People cried in the dusty streets of Africa when he died. Of the greatest rarity. From the estate of General Maxwell Taylor. Used with the permission of Shapell legacy partnership. Related to This Manuscript. Between The Lines.
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