November 22, 1963

 From the concluding lines of President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address - January 20, 1961:

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. 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. 

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Inaugural addresses typically ask us to consider our better selves, the ideal and vision of how things might look in a "perfect" world.

Fifty years after his death, many of the words President Kennedy left us with are still used to shine a light in the dark.

If we truly wanted to know what we could do for America rather than what America could do for us... imagine how the tenor of debate would change on both sides of the aisle.


I was two months and two days old the day he was shot.

As I've related in this space before, the story I heard at home as I grew was that when Dad called home to tell Mom the terrible news, she was more upset because the ringing of the phone woke me... and she had just gotten her colicky son to sleep.

It's thought that his assassination was one of the days that changed the world.  One of the more popular parlor games is to think how this country and our world would be different had he lived to complete his terms in office.  Some of that has to do with the youthful promise the 46 year old President gave the country and the world.

He's been dead longer now than he lived.  Despite the dreams of some who thought of him as a perfect leader... he wasn't.  Those who thought his time in office would leave the world a worse place... he didn't do that either.

Rather, he challenged the country to reach the moon; reach out to poor; treat our fellowmen as equals; look for ways toward peace; and during a harrowing time on the brink of war with the Soviets helped find a way to resolve it.  

“Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right- not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this Hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world.” 
JFK, October 22, 1962

Regardless of political affiliation - these words could go a long way to guide our leaders today.  If it did, that could create an even longer lasting legacy than Astronaut Neil Armstrong's small step for man.

The picture of the president and Presidential quotes are from the website of the John F Kennedy Presidential Museum.