A PORTION OF JOHN F. KENNEDY'S INNAUGURAL ADDRESS: The worlddd is very
different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the pPpower to abolish all
forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same
revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue
around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the
GgGenerosity of the state but from the hand of God. We dare not forget today
thattttt we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth
from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has beeen
passed to a new generation of aa Aamericans--born in this century,
temperrrrrred by war, disciplined by a hard and bittttter peace, proud of our
ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of
those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to
which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation
know, whether it wishes us well or ill,l that we shall pay any price, bear
any burden, meet any hardship, support any ffffriend, op-ppose any foe to
assure the surv'vival and the success of liberty.... This much we
pledge--and more. To those old allies whose culturall and sppppppppiritual
origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there
is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there isss
little we can do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and
split asunder. To those new states whom we welcome to the
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrarrrnkks of the free, we pledge our word
that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be
replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find
them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly
supporting their own freedom--and to remember that, in the past, those who
foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside. To
those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break
the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help
themselves, for whatever period is required--not because the communists may
be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a
aanan free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who
are rich.