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Presidential Inauguration Speeches 1933-2001 #4
John F. Kennedy: The Inaugural Address
John F. Kennedy's inaugural address of 1961 was an unforgettable, stirring call to arms, in which he exhorted all Americans "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of that address, Viking will issue a handsome, collectible edition of the speech, which also features an introduction by Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president, and a vivid historical overview of the state of the world at that date by award-winning author Elizabeth Partridge. Also included are Robert Frost's poem read on the occasion of the inauguration and excerpts from some of John F. Kennedy's other most memorable speeches.
60 pages, Hardcover
First published January 20, 1961
22 people are currently reading
296 people want to read
About the author
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
361 books441 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress prior to his presidency.
Born into the prominent Kennedy family in Brookline, Massachusetts, Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in 1940, joining the U.S. Naval Reserve the following year. During World War II, he commanded PT boats in the Pacific theater. Kennedy's survival following the sinking of PT-109 and his rescue of his fellow sailors made him a war hero and earned the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, but left him with serious injuries. After a brief stint in journalism, Kennedy represented a working-class Boston district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953. He was subsequently elected to the U.S. Senate, serving as the junior senator for Massachusetts from 1953 to 1960. While in the Senate, Kennedy published his book, Profiles in Courage, which won a Pulitzer Prize. Kennedy ran in the 1960 presidential election. His campaign gained momentum after the first televised presidential debates in American history, and he was elected president, narrowly defeating Republican opponent Richard Nixon, the incumbent vice president.
Kennedy's presidency saw high tensions with communist states in the Cold War. He increased the number of American military advisers in South Vietnam, and the Strategic Hamlet Program began during his presidency. In 1961, he authorized attempts to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro in the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion and Operation Mongoose. In October 1962, U.S. spy planes discovered Soviet missile bases had been deployed in Cuba. The resulting period of tensions, termed the Cuban Missile Crisis, nearly resulted in nuclear war. In August 1961, after East German troops erected the Berlin Wall, Kennedy sent an army convoy to reassure West Berliners of U.S. support, and delivered one of his most famous speeches in West Berlin in June 1963. In 1963, Kennedy signed the first nuclear weapons treaty. He presided over the establishment of the Peace Corps, Alliance for Progress with Latin America, and the continuation of the Apollo program with the goal of landing a man on the Moon before 1970. He supported the civil rights movement but was only somewhat successful in passing his New Frontier domestic policies.
On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. His vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, assumed the presidency. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the assassination, but he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby two days later. The FBI and the Warren Commission both concluded Oswald had acted alone, but conspiracy theories about the assassination persist. After Kennedy's death, Congress enacted many of his proposals, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Revenue Act of 1964. Kennedy ranks highly in polls of U.S. presidents with historians and the general public. His personal life has been the focus of considerable sustained interest following public revelations in the 1970s of his chronic health ailments and extramarital affairs. Kennedy is the most recent U.S. president to have died in office.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress prior to his presidency.
Born into the prominent Kennedy family in Brookline, Massachusetts, Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in 1940, joining the U.S. Naval Reserve the following year. During World War II, he commanded PT boats in the Pacific theater. Kennedy's survival following the sinking of PT-109 and his rescue of his fellow sailors made him a war hero and earned the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, but left him with serious injuries. After a brief stint in journalism, Kennedy represented a working-class Boston district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953. He was subsequently elected to the U.S. Senate, serving as the junior senator for Massachusetts from 1953 to 1960. While in the Senate, Kennedy published his book, Profiles in Courage, which won a Pulitzer Prize. Kennedy ran in the 1960 presidential election. His campaign gained momentum after the first televised presidential debates in American history, and he was elected president, narrowly defeating Republican opponent Richard Nixon, the incumbent vice president.
Kennedy's presidency saw high tensions with communist states in the Cold War. He increased the number of American military advisers in South Vietnam, and the Strategic Hamlet Program began during his presidency. In 1961, he authorized attempts to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro in the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion and Operation Mongoose. In October 1962, U.S. spy planes discovered Soviet missile bases had been deployed in Cuba. The resulting period of tensions, termed the Cuban Missile Crisis, nearly resulted in nuclear war. In August 1961, after East German troops erected the Berlin Wall, Kennedy sent an army convoy to reassure West Berliners of U.S. support, and delivered one of his most famous speeches in West Berlin in June 1963. In 1963, Kennedy signed the first nuclear weapons treaty. He presided over the establishment of the Peace Corps, Alliance for Progress with Latin America, and the continuation of the Apollo program with the goal of landing a man on the Moon before 1970. He supported the civil rights movement but was only somewhat successful in passing his New Frontier domestic policies.
On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. His vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, assumed the presidency. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the assassination, but he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby two days later. The FBI and the Warren Commission both concluded Oswald had acted alone, but conspiracy theories about the assassination persist. After Kennedy's death, Congress enacted many of his proposals, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Revenue Act of 1964. Kennedy ranks highly in polls of U.S. presidents with historians and the general public. His personal life has been the focus of considerable sustained interest following public revelations in the 1970s of his chronic health ailments and extramarital affairs. Kennedy is the most recent U.S. president to have died in office.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 7, 2019
One of the greatest speeches every given. Truly outstanding full of wisdom and inspiration that is still extremely valuable today as it was to the original audience. I have read and listened to it many times, and it never gets old or fails to inspire me to be a better person.
June 25, 2025
This book reminds us of what we have lost and it leaves me aching.
March 15, 2018
Kennedy’s Inauguaral
I believe it should be required reading. Politics while we were not yet in the abyss. Worth your time for sure.
I believe it should be required reading. Politics while we were not yet in the abyss. Worth your time for sure.
July 27, 2018
A piece to read in these troubled times of selfishness and violence. JFK was a leader of people, a man who showed the way with words and actions. He united a divided country and sent us to the moon. We need a reminder of his dreams and plans, and to remember that good leadership does exist. This is something to read again and again.
January 15, 2012
I loved it- very short, read it in 3 minutes, but I actually liked reading it. It's nice to know that even only 50 years ago we had a president like Kennedy.
December 29, 2013
Great president of the United States
Love this book and miss that man for he was a great president of the United States and a great man. RIP John F Kennedy
Love this book and miss that man for he was a great president of the United States and a great man. RIP John F Kennedy
Read
January 24, 2020effing reds
February 27, 2021
Favorite quotes:
"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
"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."
"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
"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."
October 19, 2019
This is a positive inaugural address that reveals a lot of forward thinking. However, it is filled with ellipses, so I am now believing there is a lot removed from the speech and not published in this Kindle version.
October 30, 2019
Great! 👍👍👍
We as citizens of this world should periodically read and absorb this message and pass it forward from one generation to another. We are responsible for our own actions.
We as citizens of this world should periodically read and absorb this message and pass it forward from one generation to another. We are responsible for our own actions.
March 21, 2022
must read
Get your head out of your millennial ass and read this if you don’t you’re an idiot and probably an anti vaxxer and trump slave
Get your head out of your millennial ass and read this if you don’t you’re an idiot and probably an anti vaxxer and trump slave
Read
August 7, 2024[ap lang summer hw (2/6)]
Want to read
February 7, 2025I bought this at Half Price Books in OKC.
June 16, 2025
Deeply moving words
John Kennedy, as we'd only later learn, was not a perfect president, nor a perfect man, but there seemed a genuine desire on his part to change the world for the better. His inaugural address is filled with sentiments that we are still attempting to realize, however the relationship between the world's powers becomes increasingly brittle, especially when there are leaders who don't share Kennedy's hope for a better world, united in ridding humanity of the strife and miseries that has crippled it for thousands of years. Kennedy was looking forward and not backwards. Being born in 1964 I never had the opportunity to experience the Kennedy era and envy those who did. We've strayed far from these ideals and have regressed. Reading these words and viewing them in light of current events it's hard not to tear up a little and wonder what might have been had he lived. Where might we be today?
John Kennedy, as we'd only later learn, was not a perfect president, nor a perfect man, but there seemed a genuine desire on his part to change the world for the better. His inaugural address is filled with sentiments that we are still attempting to realize, however the relationship between the world's powers becomes increasingly brittle, especially when there are leaders who don't share Kennedy's hope for a better world, united in ridding humanity of the strife and miseries that has crippled it for thousands of years. Kennedy was looking forward and not backwards. Being born in 1964 I never had the opportunity to experience the Kennedy era and envy those who did. We've strayed far from these ideals and have regressed. Reading these words and viewing them in light of current events it's hard not to tear up a little and wonder what might have been had he lived. Where might we be today?
February 17, 2020
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country"...famous lines that probably every American over 40 has heard but might not be sure where those lines come from. This speech is very stirring to listen to. He calls for world peace and friendship among nations while being very careful in determining the authenticity of this friendship. His generation having fought a devastating war, people were war weary. This speech must have struck a chord with people to have a hope for the future. A future filled with peace and prosperity.
October 19, 2013
Amazing words. Funny as I was reading this, I was thinking to myself that everyone in congress should get a copy of it and read it. Including the president.
Even though JFK was talking about world problems, this line fits in our own divided government now.
"Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us."
Even though JFK was talking about world problems, this line fits in our own divided government now.
"Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us."
Read
October 30, 2016This book is the Inaugural Address given by John F. Kennedy. Along with the speech is vivid pictures to give more description and an idea of what Mr. President meant.
I would introduce this book when talking about past presidents or around the time of the Inaugural Address for the new president.
I would introduce this book when talking about past presidents or around the time of the Inaugural Address for the new president.
February 14, 2013
The stark contrast is amazing 50 years later.
December 21, 2016
Biblical references. Request of people to take action not depend on people doing for them.
April 30, 2017
Inspirational. There is little else to say. Sadly the end of an era where we believed in public service, and trusted our government. Yet, there are calls which I think still relevant, and still important.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews