John F. Kennedy's inaugural address as 35th US president: transcript

Key points

• Kennedy takes the presidential oath and says the day celebrates freedom, not a victory of party.
• He says the torch has passed to a new generation and the nation will pay any price and bear any burden to assure the survival and success of liberty.
• He makes pledges to old allies, newly free states, people in poverty, Latin American neighbors through an alliance for progress, and the United Nations.
• He asks adversaries to begin anew the quest for peace, saying never negotiate out of fear but never fear to negotiate.
• He proposes that both sides seek arms inspection and control and use science to explore the stars, conquer disease and encourage the arts.
• He closes with the call to ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

Chapters

1. 0:00Taking the oath of office
2. 1:12A new generation and the pledge to defend liberty
3. 3:22Pledges to allies, new states and the poor
4. 6:21Alliance for progress and the United Nations
5. 7:56A request to adversaries to begin anew
6. 10:59A long twilight struggle against common enemies
7. 13:17Ask not what your country can do for you

Full transcript

0:00I, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, do solemnly swear that you will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

0:32Preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God. So help me God. Thank you. Vice President Johnson.

1:12Mr. 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

2:15all 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 generosity of the state but from the hand of God we dare not forget today That 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 been passed to a new generation of Americans born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this

3:22nation has always been committed and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden. Meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge and more. To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we

4:26cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is 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 ranks 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 He sought power.

5:19By 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 free society cannot help the many who are poor it cannot save the few who are rich to our sister republics south of our border we offer a special pledge to convert our

6:21good words into good deeds in a new alliance for progress to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty but this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas, and let every other power know that this hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

7:02to that World Assembly of Sovereign States, the United Nations, our last best hope, in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective, to strengthen in its shield of the new and the weak, and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run. Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge, but a request.

7:56That both sides begin anew the quest for peace. Before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction. we dare not tempt them with weakness for only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed but neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

8:59So let us begin anew. Remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness. And sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

9:33Let both sides for the first time formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations. Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together, let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depth, and encourage the arts and commerce.

10:19Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah to undo the heavy burdens. And let the oppressed go free. If a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor. Not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just, and the weak secure, and the peace preserved.

10:59All this will not be finished in the first 100 days, nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin. In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.

11:38Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans. Who answered the call to service, surround the globe. Now the trumpet summons us again, not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need, not as a call to battle, though in battle we are, but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle year in and year out, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, a struggle against the common enemies of man, tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself. Can we forge against

12:38these enemies a grand and global alliance, north and south, east and west, that can assure more fruitful life for all mankind will you join in that historic effort in the long history of the world Only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.

13:17I do not shrink from this responsibility. I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. the energy the faith the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it and the glow from that fire can truly light the world and so my fellow americans ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country Fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

14:23I believe whether you are Citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience, our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds let us go forth to lead the land we love asking his blessing and his help but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own

Source and licence

Recording: File:John F. Kennedy Inauguration Speech.ogv by John F. Kennedy (1961-01-20), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The transcript is machine speech-to-text by the TidyTools Audio & video transcriber; the summary, key points and chapters were written by Claude from that transcript. Both may contain errors: check the recording before quoting it.