I remember reading about this speech and the more conciliatory tone it took toward the Soviet Union but I'd never actually read the speech itself. Here's a link -
http://americanrhetoric.com/...
Comparing the rhetoric of today's politicans to those of the past is sort of eerie. In our current case, the past is both an inspiration of what the United States can be and a depressing indicator of how far we've fallen.
As I understand Kennedy's administration, Kennedy felt like he looked very weak when he met with Khrushchev in 1961 and felt like he had to prove his strength, which partiallly contributed to the Cuban Missile Crisis. This speech in 1963 was supposed to be a new, confident Kennedy, strong enough to make peace and reconciliation the centerpiece of the address. It was delivered a little more than 5 months before he was assassinated.
Some choice quotes below the fold.
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