President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's inaugural address of 20 January 1961 is the greatest, most well-crafted and inspirational speech of the 20th Century. Even with the prospect of Jonny and Ruthers' oratorical debuts on the horizon, Kennedy's place in history is, I think, assured. Kennedy's address cannot fail to inspire. Its poetic brilliance will raise the hairs on the back of your neck and make you weep for the untimely loss of America's greatest son. Lap up Kennedy's Massachusetts's drawl, revel in the memorable, now legendary turn of phrase:
"man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life"Don't forget, all these great lines were part of just one short speech. The address, which largely focussed on international issues, marked the optimistic and brave beginning of what should have been a new golden age of liberal enlightenment for America.
"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"
"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, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
"United, there is little we cannot do…Divided, there is little we can do"
"those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside."
"Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."
And perhaps most memorable of all,
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country."
It was not to be.
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In order to fully appreciate the impact of this speech, it is necessary to consider what went before and to examine the horrific events which were to follow.
The story of the Kennedy dynasty is a classic rags to riches - American Dream - boy fae the Milton -tale. Jack descended from Irish forebears who immigrated to Boston. His grandfather started out as a barman in a seedy Boston dive but went on to become a leading Boston politician. His father graduated from Harvard, became a bank president at 25, and married the Mayors daughter (which was nice). JFK was born on May 29, 1917, (some 60 years and a day before myself). As an infant he lived in a comfortable but modest frame house in the suburbs of Boston. As the family grew and the father's fortune increased, the Kennedy's moved to larger, more impressive homes, first in Brookline, then in suburbs of New York City.
During the 2nd World War (aged only 25!) Jack took command of a torpedo boat in the Solomon Islands. While his boat was cruising west of New Georgia (in adventures of the kind that I'm sure Bully can relate to) his boat was rammed and sunk by a Jap destroyer. Kennedy was thrown across the deck onto his back. Despite his injury he rallied the survivors and managed to lead them to an island. He towed a wounded man three miles through the rough shark infested seas and for several days repeatedly risked his life swimming into dangerous waters hoping to find a rescue ship. He finally encountered two friendly islanders and sent them for aid with a message that he carved on a coconut. For his Boys Own heroics he later received the Purple Heart and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.
Jack was to suffer great personal tragedy throughout his life. His brother Joseph, who had himself been destined for political greatness, was killed during the Second World War. In the early years of his married life Jack's third child, Patrick Bouvier, died aged only two days. Such untimely deaths would continue to rock the Kennedy Dynasty throughout the century. On 13 May 1948, JFK's sister Kathleen dies in a plane crash. On 5 June 1968, JFK's brother and US Presidential candidate, Bobby Kennedy is assassinated, on 18 July 1969, JFK's brother, Senator Edward Kennedy is involved in a car accident in which he apparently leaves his passenger to die. On 25 August 1984, Bobby Kennedy's son, David Kennedy, dies of drugs overdose. On 31 December 1997, another of Bobby Kennedy's sons, Michael Kennedy, dies in a ski-ing accident.
And most recently, on 16 July 1999, JFK's son, JFK Jr, dies in a plane crash off Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. Also killed in the crash, JFK Jr's wife and sister-in-law).
Jack was the youngest person ever to be elected to the US presidency. He was also the first Roman Catholic (but we won't hold that against him). He combined vast amounts of personal wealth, with equally large measures of ambition and courage coupled with striking good looks and devastating personal charm. He was a bit like me really. Kennedy was a wanton womaniser, with Marilyn Monroe (who would herself die in dubious circumstances) amongst his notable conquests. Many who grew up in the fifties and sixties were fascinated by the "Camelot" myth and legend that had evolved around Jack. Just ask yer maw.
So, the administration that Jack built was youthful and stylish. It was also tenacious, efficient and hard as nails, not afraid to face up to unpopular issues or situations when they arose. During his brief term of office, Jack dealt with some major challenges, not just to his presidency, but to world peace and indeed to the destiny of mankind itself. For an anxious week during the Cuban Missile Crisis the world waited as the threat of thermonuclear war cast its long shadow. It is difficult for us, even in this post-9/11 world, to imagine the level of tension and state of anxiety that existed at this time. The combination of a clear and present thermonuclear threat, two expanding Communist regimes and a pair of seemingly unstable political leaders was enough to bring the world to the brink of nuclear meltdown. The tension was only relieved when Soviet arms-carrying ships bound for Cuba returned to Russian ports. "We're eyeball to eyeball," Secretary of State Rusk said, "and I think the other fellow just blinked." (In other words, Kruschev shat it).
Following the Crisis, Kennedy oversaw a nuclear test ban treaty which brought about a relaxation in cold war tensions and permitted the world to breathe a collective sigh of relief. On 5 August 1963, after lengthy negotiations, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union signed a limited nuclear test-ban treaty, forbidding atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. This treaty, which was subsequently signed by most other nations of the world, marked the first limitation of arms expansion since the cold war had began.
Another of Jack's great achievements was the moon landings. In another of his great speeches Jack declared "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…". It is no exaggeration to say that it was Jack's great vision and drive which kick-started the U.S. space program throughout the 1960s, culminating in Apollo 11s 1969 moon landing. Again, to assess the magnitude and impact these two events (the Cuban Missile Crisis and the first Moon Landing) had on people's lives - just ask your parents.
40 years ago today (22 November 1963), the world's most powerful man, the youngest U.S. president ever elected, handsome, charming Jack, was publicly executed.
Standing on a four-foot-high concrete block Abraham Zapruder, hefts a 8mm Bell and Howell Movie Camera and shoots a 26-second, 500-frame film that will serve a macabre testimony to the days devastation. Picture the scene on Elm Street. Its 12.30 pm. Watch as the Presidential convoy swings past the Texas School Book Depository and rolls down Elm Street at ten or twelve miles an hour, the presidential car, a black, stretch Lincoln Continental limousine, is twenty-one feet long and weighs over three tons. Listen to the cheering and clapping as the Texans salute their President. "Mr President, you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you". "No, you certainly can not" (these were to be Jack's last words). BangBang. Shots ring out. See Jackie turn towards her husband who has a quizzical look on his face. See his clenched hands rise to his throat; his elbows push out to the sides, indicating an automatic nervous reaction to a spinal injury. See Secret Service Agent Clinton J. Hill leap in desperation for the back of the open car. Hear Roy Kellerman radio from the lead car, "Let's get out of here; we are hit, we are hit." Bang. Another shot rings out. See Kennedy's head explode, thrown back and to the side, back and to the side. See Jackie lean over towards him, reaching out in a futile gesture to recover part of her husband's brain, blown clean away by the assassins' deadly bullet. See Mrs. Kennedy struggle up from the back seat and reach across the back of the car. Hear people everywhere scream and shout as they throw themselves down onto the grass to avoid being caught in the line of fire. The President is dead.
The murder was over in seconds. The search for the truth has continued these past 40 years. More words have been written about Kennedy's death than any other individual's death in history. Oswald, the alleged killer, was arrested within hours only to fall victim of a bullet within forty-eight hours himself. Could he, a mediocre-to-poor marksman, fire a twenty-five dollar, World War One vintage rifle with a single bolt action and a misaligned telescopic sight with such speed and precision at a moving target, partly obscured by trees? Was he an agent of the FBI? The CIA? Or both? Was there one gunman, two or three? Some sources claim over fifty different names as potential shooters that day. What were the three "tramps" doing on the overpass? Why was the Presidential motorcade allowed to drive so slowly with the bubbletop removed? What was the "Umbrella Man" doing on the grass verge? Why was there no army presence on the streets of Dallas that day? Was the Mafia behind the killing or the CIA or rogue elements within the military establishment? Was it the Russians or the Cubans or some right-wing movement? How did it happen, why did it happen and, most of all, who could have made it happen?
In twenty-six unindexed volumes, the Warren Commission, which had been established to investigate the assassination, posed just as many questions as it answered. It concluded that it "found no evidence" that Oswald "was part of any conspiracy…to assassinate President Kennedy." In 1979 the Warren Commission was discredited when the influential House assassinations committee concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald probably was part of a conspiracy.
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison would come to call events of that day the "murder at the heart of the American dream." He went on, "what took place on November 22, 1963 was a coup d'etat. Its most direct and tragic result was a reversal of President Kennedy's commitment to withdraw from Vietnam. War is the biggest business in America worth $80 billion a year."
During this period other great men, men like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, John Lennon, Mahatma Gandhi and Jack's younger brother Bobby Kennedy - who had himself seemed destined to follow his elder brother to the presidency - men who, like JFK, were committed to change, reform and peace, were also assassinated by "lonely, crazed gunmen".
So, who did actually kill Kennedy and what lessons can we hope to learn from his untimely death? Join us in Dunmore for the After Hours discussion as we answer these and other questions that have baffled historians for decades.
