dread, rather do we welcome, their
progress in education and industry. We wish them success in their
demands for more intellectual freedom, greater security before their own
laws, fuller enjoyment of the rewards of their own toil. For as such
things come to pass, the more certain will be the coming of that day
when our peoples may freely meet in friendship.

So we voice our hope and our belief that we can help to heal this
divided world. Thus may the nations cease to live in trembling before
the menace of force. Thus may the weight of fear and the weight of arms
be taken from the burdened shoulders of mankind.

This, nothing less, is the labor to which we are called and our strength
dedicated.

And so the prayer of our people carries far beyond our own frontiers, to
the wide world of our duty and our destiny.

May the light of freedom, coming to all darkened lands, flame
brightly--until at last the darkness is no more.

May the turbulence of our age yield to a true time of peace, when men
and nations shall share a life that honors the dignity of each, the
brotherhood of all.

* * * * *

JOHN F. KENNEDY, INAUGURAL ADDRESS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1961

[Transcriber's note: Heavy snow fell the night before the inauguration,
but thoughts about cancelling the plans were overruled. The election of
1960 had been close, and the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts was
eager to gather support for his agenda. He attended Holy Trinity
Catholic Church in Georgetown that morning before joining President
Eisenhower to travel to the Capitol. The Congress had extended the East
Front, and the inaugural platform spanned the new addition. The oath of
office was administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Robert Frost read
one of his poems at the ceremony.]

Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President
Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy,
fellow citizens, we observe today not a victory of party, but a
celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end, as well as a
beginning--signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn
before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears
prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the
power 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 a