Power in a President's Words

Review by Bill Doughty

WWII heroes John F. Kennedy and Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.

The president didn't say this: "Words alone are not enough ... Where our strength and determination are clear, our words need merely to convey conviction, not belligerence. If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be of no help."

President John F. Kennedy was scheduled to share those thoughts in remarks in Dallas, Texas, Nov. 22, 1963, but a gunman cut him down. His killer may have silenced JFK's voice – but not his words.


Speechwriter Ted Sorensen reminds us of Kennedy's continuing "gifts of reason, intellect, and vitality" as well as his honesty, courage, eloquence in this inspiring collection:

"Let the Word Go Forth: The Speeches, Statements, and Writings of John F. Kennedy, 1947 to 1963," selected and with an introduction by Theodore C. Sorensen, Delacorte Press, 1988.

Character: In the book's introduction, Sorensen describes JFK with a quote by Lord Rosebery about the oratory of William Pitt: "It is not merely the thing that is said but the man who says it that counts, the character which breathes through the sentences."

A Navy veteran of World War II, like his brother Joe (who was killed in action in Europe), Kennedy's character was forged in service. JFK's words personified Navy core values of honor, courage and commitment.

He was able to balance being both serious and cool. And, he admitted to not being a perfect person or leader. Above all, he could connect with, inspire and unite people.

Sorensen selects some of Kennedy's speeches, statements and writings, primarily from his presidency, that show "John F. Kennedy at his wisest, warmest and wittiest." These excerpts are especially relevant today, more than fifty years later.


Honor

"...(O)ur nation is founded on the principle that observance of the law is the eternal safeguard of liberty and defiance of the law is the surest road to tyranny. The law which we obey includes the final rulings of the courts, as well as the enactments of our legislative bodies. Even among law-abiding men few laws are universally loved, but they are uniformly respected and not resisted. Americans are free, in short, to disagree with the law but not to disobey it. For in a government of laws and not of men, no man, however prominent or powerful, and no mob however unruly or boisterous, is entitled to defy a court of law. If this country should ever reach the point where any man or group of men by force or threat of force could long defy the commands of our court and our Constitution, then no law would stand free from doubt, no judge would be sure of his writ, and no citizen would be safe from his neighbors." – Televised address, Sept. 30, 1962

"If we are to be successful in the days to come ... then we need a government that is honest, a government that is efficient, a government that is dedicated, a government that is committed solely to the public interest." – Wittenberg College, Oct. 1, 1960

The president addresses the nation with honor and dignity.

"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth – persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forbears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." – Yale University, June 11, 1962

"The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies, and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust." – State of the Union, Jan. 30, 1961

"[I]t is hardly an accident that Robert Frost coupled poetry and power, for he saw poetry as the means of saving power from itself. When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment. The artist, however faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state. The great artist is thus a solitary figure." – United States Senate, June 14, 1960

"Leaving Fear Astern." A Sailor jogs aboard USS Abraham Lincoln in 2008. (MC2 James Evans)

Courage

"We are not lulled by the momentary calm of the sea or the somewhat clearer skies above. We know the turbulence that lies below, and the storms that are beyond the horizon this year. But now the winds of change appear to be blowing more strongly than ever ... For 175 years we have sailed with those winds at our back, and with the tides of human freedom in our favor. We steer our ship with hope, as Thomas Jefferson said, 'leaving Fear astern.'" – State of the Union, Jan. 14, 1963

"First, were we truly men of courage – with the courage to stand up to one's enemies – and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one's own associates – the courage to resist public pressure as well as private greed?
"Secondly, were we truly men of judgment – with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past – of our own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others – with enough wisdom to know what we did not know, and enough candor to admit it?
"Third, were we truly men of integrity – men who never ran out of either the principles in which we believed or the people who believed in us – men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust?
"Finally, were we truly men of dedication – with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group, and compromised by no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest?" – Massachusetts State Legislature, Jan. 9, 1961

President Kennedy meets with unidentified naval officers at the White House.

"The primary purpose of our arms is peace, not war – to make certain that they will never be used – to deter all wars, general or limited, nuclear or conventional, large or small – to convince all potential aggressors that any attack would be futile – to provide backing for diplomatic settlement of disputes – to insure the adequacy of our bargaining power for an end to the arms race. The basic problems facing the world today are not susceptible to a military solution."
"The elimination of waste, duplication, and outmoded or unjustifiable expenditure items from the defense budget is a long and arduous undertaking, resisted by special arguments and interests from economic, military, technical, and other special groups ... But hard decisions must be made. Unneeded facilities or projects must be phased out. The defense establishment must be lean and fit, efficient and effective, always adjusting to new opportunities and advances, and planning for the future. The national interest must be weighed against special or local interests; and it is the national interest that calls upon us to cut our losses and cut back those programs in which a very dim promise no longer justifies a large cost." – Special Message to Congress on Defense Policies and Principles, March 28, 1961

Commander in Chief Pres. Kennedy with Army Green Beret leaders.

"(We) have no greater asset than the willingness of a free and determined people, through its elected officials, to face all problems frankly and meet all dangers free from panic or fear." 
"The deadly arms race, and the huge resources it absorbs, have too long overshadowed all else we must do. We must prevent that arms race from spreading to new nations, to new nuclear powers, and to the reaches of outer space."
"We must sharpen our political and diplomatic tools – the means of cooperation and agreement on which an enforceable world order must ultimately rest." – State of the Union, Jan. 30, 1961

"The most effective means of upholding the law is not the State policeman or the marshals or the National Guard. It is you. It lies in your courage to accept those laws with which you disagree as well as those with which you agree." – 
Radio/TV remarks, Sept. 30, 1962

Dawn breaks over San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23) Aug. 5, 2018 in the Pacific Ocean. (MC3 Ryan M. Breeden)

Commitment

From "The New Ocean of Space":

"Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolution, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power; and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be a part of it—we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.
"Yet the vows of this Nation can only be fulfilled if we in this Nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first. In short, our leadership in science and industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world's leading space-faring nation.

JFK delivers his New Ocean of Space speech at Rice University, Sept. 12, 1962

"We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. I do not say that we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.
"There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
"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, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win ..." – Rice University, Sept. 12, 1962

Kennedy proposes sweeping civil rights legislation to Congress in 1963.

"[T]he average American of Caucasian descent does not realize that it is he who is a member of a minority race – and a minority religion – and a minority political system – and that he is regarded with some suspicion, if not hostility, by most of (a) restless, envious, surging majority. The tide of human dignity is worldwide – and the eyes of that world are upon us. It is not enough to deplore violence in other lands. It is up to us to prove that our way – the way of peaceful change and democratic processes – can fulfill those goals better than any other system under the sun. It is up to us to rebuild our image abroad by rebuilding our image here at home." – NAACP Rally, July 10, 1962

"To our sister republics to the south, we have pledged a new alliance for progress – Alianza para el Progreso. Our goal is a free and prosperous Latin America, realizing for all its states and all its citizens a degree of economic and social progress that matches their historic contributions of culture, intellect and liberty. – Latin American Diplomatic Corps, March 13, 1961

"No one can doubt that cooperation in the pursuit of knowledge must lead to freedom of the mind and freedom of the soul." – University of California, Berkeley, March 23, 1962

The prospective aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) is the second ship in the Gerald R. Ford class, the Navy's newest class of nuclear aircraft carriers. The ship's first steel was cut in Dec. 2010, and delivery to the Navy is scheduled no later than 2022. (U.S. Navy courtesy photo, DVIDS)

The Unfinished Agenda

A theme running through Kennedy's (and Sorensen's) words is unity, e pluribus unum: out of many, one.

"Let our patriotism be reflected in the creation of confidence in one another, rather than in crusades of suspicion. Let us prove we think our country great, by striving to make it greater. And, above all, let us remember, however serious the outlook, however harsh the task, the one great irreversible trend in the history of the world is on the side of liberty – and we, for all time to come, are on the same side." -- Remarks in L.A. Nov. 18, 1961

"The forces that unite are deeper than those that divide." – National Cultural Center, Nov. 29, 1962

Sorensen concludes this collection with a speech he calls "The Unfinished Agenda," Kennedy was to again call for unity and for all Americans to fight against "ignorance and misinformation" and the "voices preaching doctrines wholly unrelated to reality."

"We in this country, in this generation, are – by destiny rather than choice – the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time an for all time the ancient vision of 'peace on earth, goodwill toward men.' That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength." – Remarks prepared for delivery in Dallas (undelivered), Nov. 22, 1963.


BONUS – President Kennedy's Visit with U.S. Coast Guard :

Semper Paratus