Dates of addresses by John F. Kennedy in this eBook:
January 30, 1961
January 11, 1962
January 14, 1963
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State of the Union Address
John F. Kennedy
January 30, 1961
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the Congress:
It is a pleasure to return from whence I came. You are among my oldest
friends in Washington--and this House is my oldest home. It was here, more
than 14 years ago, that I first took the oath of Federal office. It was
here, for 14 years, that I gained both knowledge and inspiration from
members of both parties in both Houses--from your wise and generous
leaders--and from the pronouncements which I can vividly recall, sitting
where you now sit--including the programs of two great Presidents, the
undimmed eloquence of Churchill, the soaring idealism of Nehru, the
steadfast words of General de Gaulle. To speak from this same historic
rostrum is a sobering experience. To be back among so many friends is a
happy one.
I am confident that that friendship will continue. Our Constitution wisely
assigns both joint and separate roles to each branch of the government; and
a President and a Congress who hold each other in mutual respect will
neither permit nor attempt any trespass. For my part, I shall withhold from
neither the Congress nor the people any fact or report, past, present, or
future, which is necessary for an informed judgment of our conduct and
hazards. I shall neither shift the burden of executive decisions to the
Congress, nor avoid responsibility for the outcome of those decisions.
I speak today in an hour of national peril and national opportunity. Before
my term has ended, we shall have to test anew whether a nation organized
and governed such as ours can endure. The outcome is by no means certain.
The answers are by no means clear. All of us together--this Administration,
this Congress, this nation--must forge those answers.
But today, were I to offer--after little more than a week in
office--detailed legislation to remedy every national ill, the Congress
would rightly wonder whether the desire for speed had replaced the duty of
responsibility.
My remarks, therefore, will be limited. But they will also be candid. To
state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past.
The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies, and gives a
faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust. And,
while the occasion does not call for another recital of our blessings and
assets, we do 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.