“My fellow Americans,
ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
country.” - John F. Kennedy
On this day 50 years
ago, President John F. Kennedy was tragically assassinated during a parade
through Dallas, Texas. Even though his time in office was short, the
Massachusetts-born president advanced civil rights in America, committed the
country to the Apollo program, and created the humanitarian organization, the
Peace Corp. President Kennedy endeared himself to the world due to
his dedication of serving others. Upon his death, then-United
Nations Ambassador Adlai Stevenson said “All of us will bear the grief of his
death until the day of ours.”
Although on this day in
1963 will forever live in infamy, President John F. Kennedy’s legacy will
forever live on. Posted below is President Kennedy’s famous “City
Upon a Hill” Speech, which was delivered to the Massachusetts General Court as
his last formal address before his inauguration as president.
"City Upon a
Hill" Speech (January 9, 1961)
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
I have welcomed this
opportunity to address this historic body, and, through you, the people of
Massachusetts to whom I am so deeply indebted for a lifetime of friendship and
trust.
For fourteen years
I have placed my confidence in the citizens of Massachusetts—and they have
generously responded by placing their confidence in me.
Now, on the Friday
after next, I am to assume new and broader responsibilities. But I am not here
to bid farewell to Massachusetts.
For forty-three
years—whether I was in London, Washington, the South Pacific, or elsewhere—this
has been my home; and, God willing, wherever I serve this shall remain my home.
It was here my
grandparents were born—it is here I hope my grandchildren will be born.
I speak neither
from false provincial pride nor artful political flattery. For no man about to
enter high office in this country can ever be unmindful of the contribution
this state has made to our national greatness.
Its leaders have
shaped our destiny long before the great republic was born. Its principles have
guided our footsteps in times of crisis as well as in times of calm. Its
democratic institutions—including this historic body—have served as beacon
lights for other nations as well as our sister states.
For what Pericles
said to the Athenians has long been true of this commonwealth: "We do not imitate—for
we are a model to others."
And so it is that
I carry with me from this state to that high and lonely office to which I now
succeed more than fond memories of firm friendships. The enduring qualities of
Massachusetts—the common threads woven by the Pilgrim and the Puritan, the fisherman
and the farmer, the Yankee and the immigrant—will not be and could not be
forgotten in this nation's executive mansion.
They are an
indelible part of my life, my convictions, my view of the past, and my hopes
for the future.
Allow me to
illustrate: During the last sixty days, I have been at the task of constructing
an administration. It has been a long and deliberate process. Some have
counseled greater speed. Others have counseled more expedient tests.
But I have been
guided by the standard John Winthrop set before his shipmates on the flagship
Arbella three hundred and thirty-one years ago, as they, too, faced the task of
building a new government on a perilous frontier.
"We must
always consider," he said, "that we shall be as a city upon a
hill—the eyes of all people are upon us."
Today the eyes of
all people are truly upon us—and our governments, in every branch, at every
level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill—constructed and
inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities.
For we are setting
out upon a voyage in 1961 no less hazardous than that undertaken by the
Arabella in 1630. We are committing ourselves to tasks of statecraft no less
awesome than that of governing the Massachusetts Bay Colony, beset as it was
then by terror without and disorder within.
History will not
judge our endeavors—and a government cannot be selected—merely on the basis of
color or creed or even party affiliation. Neither will competence and loyalty
and stature, while essential to the utmost, suffice in times such as these.
For of those to
whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high
court of history sits in judgment on each one of us—recording whether in our
brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state—our
success or failure, in whatever office we may hold, will be measured by the
answers to four questions:
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 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 that we did not know, and enough candor to admit it?
Third, were we
truly men of integrity—men who never ran out on either the principles in which
they believed or the people who believed in them—men 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.
Courage—judgment—integrity—dedicationthese
are the historic qualities of the Bay Colony and the Bay State—the qualities
which this state has consistently sent to this chamber on Beacon Hill here in
Boston and to Capitol Hill back in Washington.
And these are the
qualities which, with God's help, this son of Massachusetts hopes will characterize
our government's conduct in the four stormy years that lie ahead.
Humbly I ask His
help in that undertaking—but aware that on earth His will is worked by men. I
ask for your help and your prayers, as I embark on this new and solemn journey.
