My 19-year-old son decided to pop in one of the tapes in my John F. Kennedy collection -- a collection of Kennedy's speeches.
His acceptance speech at the 1960 Democratic National Convention was -- in my mind -- brilliant, but I was struck by how much of the speech could easily be applied to this year's presidential campaign.
Below I've included highlights from the speech which I think Kerry could have copy-pasted in any number of his speeches this year.
In stark contrast, however, is the allusion to the "religion issue." Kennedy had to assure "complete separation of church and state" while Kerry can't make such a public claim.
I look at it this way: the Democratic Party has once again placed its confidence in the American people, and in their ability to render a free, fair judgment. And you have, at the same time, placed your confidence in me, and in my ability to render a free, fair judgment -- to uphold the Constitution and my oath of office -- and to reject any kind of religious pressure or obligation that might directly or indirectly interfere with my conduct of the Presidency in the national interest. My record of fourteen years supporting public education -- supporting complete separation of church and state -- and resisting pressure from any source on any issue should be clear by now to everyone.
I hope that no American, considering the really critical issues facing this country, will waste his franchise by voting either for me or against me solely on account of my religious affiliation. It is not relevant. I want to stress, what some other political or religious leader may have said on this subject. It is not relevant what abuses may have existed in other countries or in other times. It is not relevant what pressures, if any, might conceivably be brought to bear on me. I am telling you now what you are entitled to know: that my decisions on any public policy will be my own -- as an American, a Democrat and a free man.
Under any circumstances, however, the victory we seek in November will not be easy. We all know that in our hearts. We recognize the power of the forces that will be aligned against us. We know they will invoke the name of Abraham Lincoln on behalf of their candidate -- despite the fact that the political career of their candidate has often seemed to show charity toward none and malice for all.
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Perhaps he could carry on the party policies--the policies of Nixon, Benson, Dirksen and Goldwater. But this Nation cannot afford such a luxury. Perhaps we could better afford a Coolidge following Harding. And perhaps we could afford a Pierce following Fillmore. But after Buchanan this nation needed a Lincoln -- after Taft we needed a Wilson -- after Hoover we needed Franklin Roosevelt. . . . And after eight years of drugged and fitful sleep, this nation needs strong, creative Democratic leadership in the White House.
But we are not merely running against Mr. Nixon. Our task is not merely one of itemizing Republican failures. Nor is that wholly necessary. For the families forced from the farm will know how to vote without our telling them. The unemployed miners and textile workers will know how to vote. The old people without medical care -- the families without a decent home -- the parents of children without adequate food or schools--they all know that it's time for a change.
But I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high -- to permit the customary passions of political debate. We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future. As Winston Churchill said on taking office some twenty years ago: if we open a quarrel between the present and the past, we shall be in danger of losing the future.
Today our concern must be with that future. For the world is changing. The old era is ending. The old ways will not do.
Abroad, the balance of power is shifting. There are new and more terrible weapons -- new and uncertain nations -- new pressures of population and deprivation. One-third of the world, it has been said, may be free -- but one-third is the victim of cruel repression -- and the other one-third is rocked by the pangs of poverty, hunger and envy. More energy is released by the awakening of these new nations than by the fission of the atom itself.
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An urban population explosion has overcrowded our schools, cluttered up our suburbs, and increased the squalor of our slums.
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A peaceful revolution for human rights--demanding an end to racial discrimination in all parts of our community life -- has strained at the leashes imposed by timid executive leadership.
A medical revolution has extended the life of our elder citizens without providing the dignity and security those later years deserve. And a revolution of automation finds machines replacing men in the mines and mills of America, without replacing their incomes or their training or their needs to pay the family doctor, grocer and landlord.
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Too many Americans have lost their way, their will and their sense of historic purpose. Their pledge is a pledge to the status quo -- and today there can be no status quo.
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For courage -- not complacency -- is our need today -- leadership -- not salesmanship. And the only valid test of leadership is the ability to lead, and lead vigorously.
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There may be those who wish to hear more -- more promises to this group or that [...], more assurances of a golden future, where taxes are always low and subsidies ever high. But my promises are in the platform you have adopted -- our ends will not be won by rhetoric and we can have faith in the future only if we have faith in ourselves.
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That is the choice our nation must make--a choice that lies not merely between two men or two parties, but between the public interest and private comfort -- between national greatness and national decline -- between the fresh air of progress and the stale, dank atmosphere of "normalcy" -- between determined dedication and creeping mediocrity.
All mankind waits upon our decision. A whole world looks to see what we will do. We cannot fail their trust, we cannot fail to try.