"NOW THE TRUMPET SUMMONS US AGAIN . . . TO BEAR THE BURDEN OF A LONG
TWILIGHT STRUGGLE . . . AGAINST THE COMMON ENEMIES OF MAN-- TYRANNY,
POVERTY, DISEASE, AND WAR ITSELF": Inaugural Address of the President
(Kennedy), January 20, 1961*
VICE PRESIDENT JOHNSON, MR. SPEAKER, MR. CHIEF JUSTICE, PRESIDENT
EISENHOWER, VICE PRESIDENT NIXON, PRESIDENT TRUMAN, REVEREND CLERGY, FELLOW
CITIZENS:
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 forebears 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 we]l 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 old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we
pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot
do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can
do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our
word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to
be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find
them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly
supporting their own freedom--and to remember that, in the past, those who
foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
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.
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.
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 tho 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.
-- 30 --
* White House press release dated Jan. 20, 1961 (text as printed in the
Department of State Bulletin, Feb. 6, 1961, pp. 175-176); also issued
as S. Doc. 9, 87th Cong., and as Department of State publication
7137. The President's address was delivered from the steps of the
west portico of the Capitol and carried by the principal radio and
television networks.
