John F. Kennedy: Inaugural Address

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Although debate has continued as to who actually wrote his Inaugural Address, Kennedy himself is understood as the author, with contributions of suggestions from Theodore Sorensen, his special counsel, in particular, as well as ideas and phrases from Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; John Kenneth Galbraith; Adlai Stevenson; and others. From his earliest years, Kennedy was an avid reader and a collector of important or catchy quotations. Often confined to bed because of illness, he read. Writing was another passion. His senior thesis at Harvard, “Appeasement at Munich,” was published as Why England Slept (1940); reviews were positive, and the book became a best seller. In 1957 his Profiles in Courage won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography.

Kennedy's Inaugural Address demonstrates his skill as a writer and an editor. Kennedy began work on the speech following his election. He instructed Sorensen to research previous inaugural addresses and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, seeking to discover why each was a success or failure. He determined that his address would not be long; in fact, it was less than 1400 words in length and lasted fourteen minutes. Taking the cue from Lincoln's address, Kennedy used comparatively simple language, both for impact and in consideration of the fact that the speech would be translated into many languages across the globe. Straightforward language would lessen chances for misunderstandings. The tone of the speech was largely positive. Negative elements were discarded through the various drafts, and the first person “I” was omitted in favor of “we,” underlying the point that all Americans were to be involved in the new endeavors of the Kennedy presidency. Of the speech's twenty-seven paragraphs, eleven focus on peace and eight on freedom.

The speech underwent a number of drafts, as Kennedy, writing on sheets of yellow legal paper, incorporated suggestions from Sorensen and others, crafting them into a document that was still in progress as he spoke the words at the inauguration itself. As he read from the final draft, Kennedy made thirty-two small but significant changes, such as changing individual words and tightening sentences for sharper impact. Only an author supremely confident in his message and in his skill with words could have so “improved” his work before a live audience.

The salutation addresses “fellow citizens,” as was customary since George Washington's First Inaugural Address (1789), and, in a second tradition initiated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his Fourth Inaugural Address (1945), recognizes the individuals sitting on the inauguration platform by name; Kennedy acknowledges the specific people first and ends with “fellow citizens.” The first sentence of the speech itself shows the balance characteristic of the whole, hailing “not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom” in echoes of the language of Winston Churchill. Kennedy had read Churchill extensively and memorized passages when he was recuperating from surgery in 1955. The next paragraph focuses on human beings' power for doing good as well as their capacity for destruction, a specific reference to the nuclear threat. The possibility of nuclear annihilation was a concern expressed by Kennedy in his first campaign in 1946, when he stated, “We have a world which has unleashed the powers of atomic energy … a world capable of destroying itself” (qtd. in Tofel, p. 95). He reiterated this concern throughout his presidential campaign and in his 1960 acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.

The following paragraph sums up what Kennedy had been saying for years and also reflects his personal history as one of the “new generation of Americans.” Kennedy was the first president “born in this century,” and he, too, was tempered by war, through both the fighting and the witnessing of it. The image of passing the torch may originate from the Olympics and has been used over the ages. It is a classic symbol of heroism, invoked in this instance by a war hero, and also represents the passing of the duties of president of the United States from the oldest president yet, Eisenhower, to the youngest, Kennedy, intimating a change from a tired “runner” to someone newer and fresher. The paragraph concludes with a statement of commitment to human rights “at home and around the world.” The insertion of the words “at home” is the sole acknowledgment of civil rights or any other domestic issues in the address. In considering the potential scope of the address, Kennedy did not want to allude to any partisan concerns. He felt that references to domestic policy might be too divisive and told Sorensen, “Let's drop out the domestic stuff altogether” (qtd. in Sorensen, p. 242). However, Kennedy later responded to the suggestion by advisers that the final six words of the third paragraph be added, acknowledging the support that he had received from African Americans during the election.

The next paragraph, rewritten to replace the word “enemy” with “foe,” is a strong statement of what America was prepared to do to guarantee liberty. It has, in fact, been criticized as being warlike. In his delivery, Kennedy paused between each of these five pledges to stress their gravity. Like Churchill, he repeated a key word. Churchill had famously used “fight” in his speech to the House of Commons on June 4, 1940, following the British evacuation of Dunkirk in World War II: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Here, Kennedy uses “any” before each noun, and in speaking he omitted several words from the reading copy of the speech, tightening up the sentence and creating an almost drumlike cadence.

The next sentence, “This much we pledge—and more,” serves as a transition to the next six paragraphs, a series of promises to different audiences around the world. Kennedy first addresses “those old allies,” stressing the importance of continuing to stand together. To former colonies that have become nations, he vows to protect their new freedom and specifically warns against “a far more iron tyranny,” an allusion to Soviet incursions into new nations. His use of the metaphor of the tiger, originally from the limerick “There was a young lady of Niger,” resulted in the only instance of laughter from the audience. Churchill had used the metaphor in 1938 after the Munich agreement, referring to dictators: “Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry” (Clarke, p. 130). The Munich agreement had allowed the Germans to take over part of Czechoslovakia without going to war, basically appeasing the German chancellor Adolph Hitler. Kennedy uses the metaphor to warn against those seeking power through the guise of helping newly emancipated nations. Concerning those in developing countries who are still living in “huts and villages,” Kennedy simply states that the nation must help “because it is right.”

Kennedy refers to the countries south of the U.S. border, constituting Latin America, as “sister republics,” intimating a strong bond. Here he uses the phrase “alliance for progress,” naming for the first time a program that would be part of his presidency. Again he warns of “hostile powers,” though he does not specifically name Communism. His reference to the United Nations as “our last best hope” echoes the language of Thomas Jefferson and of Lincoln, who, in addressing Congress in 1862, had remarked, “We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth” (qtd. in Tofel, p. 105). To close out this series of addresses, Kennedy reserves words for the nation's enemies, using again not the word enemy but the more conciliatory word adversary; he does not offer a “pledge” but “requests” that both sides work together to avoid nuclear destruction.

Paragraph 12 functions as a bridge to a series of proposals aimed at decreasing tensions in the cold war. His statement concerning weakness shows his understanding of history, both from his reading and from his experience, as he watched the beginnings of and finally was involved in World War II. The line “We dare not tempt them with weakness” was offered by Adlai Stevenson. Sorensen had changed “them” to “you,” but Kennedy, again in an effort to soften the address, changed “you” back to “them.” The perceived necessity of being adequately armed was indicative of Kennedy's foreign policy during his presidency. In September 1960, Kennedy stated in a speech given in Seattle, Washington, that the only way to have Khrushchev agree to disarmament was “by our strength of armaments, enough to stop the next war before it starts.”

In the paragraph that opens “So let us begin anew,” the reference to civility refers to a specific incident during Eisenhower's presidency when Secretary of State John Foster Dulles refused to shake hands with the Chinese envoy Zhou Enlai in Geneva during negotiations concerning the war in Indochina. The next sentences—“Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”—were contributed by Galbraith and offer an example of Kennedy's use of antithesis, word choice emphasizing a contrast. Such sentences illustrate the seeking of a balance between equal but opposite forces. The device of antithesis can be effective for the expression of conflicting ideas in a concise and memorable way. Kennedy used antithesis in almost every paragraph of the address.

The ensuing proposals for cooperation between the two opposing forces of the cold war are constructive, looking toward the future rather than back at the past. Specific proposals include “the inspection and control of arms,” the exploration of the world (including space), the eradication of disease, the promotion of trade, and even the development of the arts. The following paragraph includes the first of the address's two quotes from the Bible, with words of Isaiah from the Old Testament urging aid to the oppressed. Continuing his invitation to the Soviets to reduce cold war tensions, he proposes “a new endeavor, not a new balance of power.”

In retrospect, the next paragraph is full of sad irony, as Kennedy states, “All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days … nor in the life of this Administration.” The truth of this statement became clear on November 22, 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated.

Again ironically, the statement “In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine” foreshadows the future, as Kennedy's programs would ultimately need to be carried forward by others; his civil rights bill would be promoted and signed into law by his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, but his Alliance for Progress became a failure. The opening phrase here comes directly from Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, in which Lincoln was trying to dissuade action on the part of the southern states. Kennedy, on the other hand, is introducing a call to action. The next sentence, referring to the generation of Americans who have “answered the call to service,” illustrates the concept of Americans “giving testimony” by doing. In previous addresses, as he reflected on his older brother (who had died in World War II) and his PT-109 crew members, Kennedy's voice filled with emotion, speaking of those dead in graves or memorials around the globe.

A sounding trumpet has long been a call to arms and to revitalization. In this address, it represents a call to “struggle against the common enemies of man.” The language is reminiscent of Handel's Messiah (“The trumpet shall sound”), with the excitement of the image and sound intended to stir Americans into battle with those “common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.” The quote “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation” is from St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, in the Bible's New Testament. Kennedy's rhetorical questions as to whether nations can join together to provide “a more fruitful life for all mankind” and whether “you”—each individual—will help were answered by hundreds of voices shouting, “Yes.”

Paragraph 24 again refers to the present as a time of “maximum danger,” reflecting the concern over nuclear war that Kennedy had expressed throughout his campaign. Unlike in the rest of the address, Kennedy here uses the first-person “I.” When he avowed to the nation that he would not “shrink from this responsibility” of “defending freedom,” he dropped his voice, to then raise it to “welcome” the challenge in the second part of the sentence. The image of a fire lighting the world has been used in other speeches, including Washington's First Inaugural Address. Many believe that the image inspired the eternal flame on Kennedy's grave.

The master sentence in Kennedy's Inaugural Address, presented in the form of an antithesis, comes near the close: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” These are undoubtedly the address's most remembered words. With the casual opening “And so,” Kennedy leads up to the noble request that his listeners look into themselves and discover what they could do for the United States—how they might selflessly commit to implementing the proposals presented by their new president. The phrase is reminiscent of one uttered by the Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who in an 1884 Memorial Day address had stated, “It is now the moment when by common consent we pause to become conscious of our national life and to rejoice in it, to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for our country in return” (qtd. in Tofel, pp. 123–124). Some consider Kennedy's second use of the “ask not” phrasing here to be anticlimactic.

In the final paragraph, the conclusion, Kennedy fully broadens his message to address all those around the globe, calling his worldwide audience to action. The inaugural addresses of American presidents have customarily invoked God for his blessing and aid, and Kennedy's does so here. Using moving alliteration, he urges his listeners “to lead the land we love,” making the conclusion both a prayer and a poem. In closing, President Kennedy reminds people, in less poetic language, that “God's work” must be accomplished by humankind.

Additional Commentary by Chester Pach, Ohio University

Kennedy wanted his inaugural address to establish the tone for his presidency. Instead of proposing new initiatives or outlining specific policies, he decided to concentrate on broad themes that would inspire the American people and express the national hope of extending freedom both abroad and at home. Kennedy's principal speechwriter, Theodore Sorensen, studied previous inaugural addresses and concluded that the most eloquent were usually the briefest. The speech Kennedy delivered proved to be one of the shortest in history, barely half the average length of previous inaugural addresses. He drew on suggestions from advisers, friends, and journalists, and Sorensen incorporated the various words and ideas into drafts that he kept revising until the day before Kennedy took the oath of office. Kennedy also realized that the speech would be only as good as his delivery. He practiced time and again in the days before the inauguration, even reading passages in the bathtub on the morning before the ceremony. Although Sorensen was responsible for much of the exact wording, the address that Kennedy delivered in the winter sunshine on January 20, 1961, was thoroughly his own.

Beginning with the theme of change amid continuity, Kennedy asserts that his new leadership would seek to preserve enduring American principles. He refers to the presidential oath that the framers of the Constitution had prescribed and to the beliefs that he and his fellow citizens had inherited from the nation's Founders. He then makes a bold declaration that “the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans” who are proud of their “ancient heritage” and are determined to preserve the “human rights to which this nation has always been committed … at home and around the world.” Kennedy believed that a fundamental shift had occurred, as the oldest president to that point in U.S. history was leaving the nation's highest office to the youngest president ever elected. The new generation that Kennedy represented would make a supreme national effort to protect the nation's security and advance American values around the world. Kennedy expresses this idea in one of the most memorable passages of his address, proclaiming 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.”

Next concentrating on international affairs, Kennedy gives high priority to developing nations, many of which had not chosen sides in the cold war. In the year that Kennedy was elected president, some seventeen African nations gained independence from European colonial rule. Many of those nations, as well as others in the developing world, endured grinding poverty, widespread hunger, and political turmoil. Kennedy promises to help these nations “break the bonds of mass misery” because it is the right thing to do. Cold war realism as well as altruism shaped his outlook. Kennedy was keenly aware that the third world—developing nations not aligned with either side in the cold war—had become an area of intense competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1950s, and he contended that the Dwight Eisenhower administration had not done enough to counter the growth of Communist influence. In his address, he pledges that his administration would not allow colonial rule to be succeeded by “a far more iron tyranny,” by which he means Communist domination. He also promises a new “alliance for progress” with the nations of Latin America. Behind his high-minded rhetoric was a realization that “the chains of poverty” created discontent and hopelessness that allowed Communist revolutionaries to win popular support.

Kennedy combines his determination to prosecute the cold war more vigorously with an appeal to America's cold war adversaries to make new efforts to achieve peace. He calls for agreements to control the growth of existing nuclear arsenals and the spread of “the deadly atom” to more nations. To those who worry that arms accords with the Soviets might weaken U.S. security, Kennedy declares, “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.” Kennedy looks forward to Soviet-American cooperation in using science not to develop more sophisticated weapons but to eradicate disease and explore space. He hopes that eventually a “world of law” will replace the “balance of power,” such that all nations, strong and weak, might live in peace and security. He acknowledges that these great goals will take enormous efforts and considerable time—longer than “one thousand days” or “the life of this Administration” or even “our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”

At the close of his address, Kennedy challenges the American people to serve and sacrifice in the “long twilight struggle… against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.” He asserts that Americans in the 1960s faced the extraordinary task of “defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.” He hopes that his fellow citizens will welcome this obligation as he does, and he calls on them to meet their civic responsibility in what became the most famous line of his address: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

Kennedy earned high praise for an eloquent address that encouraged Americans to think about national challenges rather than individual success and to put the good of their country ahead of personal benefit. His appeal for service to a higher cause inspired many Americans to join the Peace Corps, a new organization created in 1961 to help people in developing nations, or to work at home for social justice by enlisting in the civil rights movement. The speech achieved its main purpose: Kennedy proclaimed his administration's challenge to the American people to make a new commitment to improving their society, bettering the world, and prevailing in the cold war.