Like. Cspan powered by cable. Youre watching cspans American History tv. With the special series on speeches that the find the presidency. We continue to speak with a look at john f. Kennedy. He was in the white house for just over 1000 days from 1961 to 1963. In the short time, he challenged americans ask what you can do for your country, to go to the booth and proclaim each been iron berlin or. Here is jon kennedy and speeches that help the fines presidency. [applause] 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 forbears prescribed nearly a century and threequarters 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 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 nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let 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 cannot 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 sought power by 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 good 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. To 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 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 that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental selfdestruction. 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 mankinds final war. So 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. Let 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 depths and encourage the arts and commerce. Let 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. And 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. All this will not be finished in the First One Hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand 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. Since 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 embattled 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 these enemies a grand and global alliance, north and south, east and west, that can assure a 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. I 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. My fellow citizens of the world ask not what america will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, 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 gods work must truly be our own. President pitzer, mr. Vice president , governor, congressman thomas, senator wiley, and congressman miller, mr. Webb, mr. Bell, scientists, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen i appreciate your president having made me an honorary visiting professor, and i will assure you that my first lecture will be very brief. I am delighted to be here and im particularly delighted to be here on this occasion. We meet at a college noted for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, in a state noted for strength, and we stand in need of all three, for we meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds. Despite the striking fact that most of the scientists that the world has ever known are alive and working today, despite the fact that this nations own scientific manpower is doubling every 12 years in a rate of growth more than three times that of our population as a whole, despite that, the vast stretches of the unknown and the unanswered and the unfinished still far outstrip our collective comprehension. No man can fully grasp how far and how fast we have come, but condense, if you will, the 50,000 years of mana s recorded history in a time span of but a half a century. Stated in these terms, we know very little about the first 40 years, except at the end of them advanced man had learned to use the skins of animals to cover them. Then about 10 years ago, under this standard, man emerged from his caves to construct other kinds of shelter. Only five years ago man learned to write and use a cart with wheels. Christianity began less than two years ago. The Printing Press came this year, and then less than two months ago, during this whole 50year span of human history, the steam engine provided a new source of power. Newton explored the meaning of gravity. Last month electric lights and telephones and automobiles and airplanes became available. Only last week did we develop penicillin and television and nuclear power, and now if americaa s new spacecraft succeeds in reaching venus, we will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight. This is a breathtaking pace, and such a pace cannot help but create new ills as it dispels old, new ignorance, new problems, new dangers. Surely the opening vistas of space promise high costs and hardships, as well as high reward. So it is not surprising that some would have us stay where we are a little longer to rest, to wait. But this city of houston, this state of texas, this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward and so will space. William bradford, speaking in 1630 of the founding of the plymouth bay colony, said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage. If this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred. The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the Great Adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space. Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be a part of it we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding. Yet the vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we in this nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first. In short, our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the worlds leading spacefaring nation. We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like Nuclear Science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. I do not say the we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but i do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours. There is no strife, no prejudice, no National Conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon . Why choose this as our goal . And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain . Why, 35 years ago, fly the atlantic . Why does rice play texas . We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. It is for these reasons that i regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in space from low to high gear as among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the presidency. In the last 24 hours we have seen facilities now being created for the greatest and most complex exploration in mans history. We have felt the ground shake and the air shattered by the testing of a saturn c1 booster rocket, many times as powerful as the atlas which launched john glenn, generating power equivalent to 10,000 automobiles with their accelerators on the floor. We have seen the site where five f1 rocket engines, each one as powerful as all eight engines of the saturn combined, will be clustered together to make the advanced saturn missile, assembled in a new building to be built at Cape Canaveral as tall as a 48 story structure, as wide as a city block, and as long as two lengths of this field. Within these last 19 months at least 45 satellites have circled the earth. Some 40 of them were made in the United States of america and they were far more sophisticated and supplied far more knowledge to the people of the world than those of the soviet union. The mariner spacecraft now on its way to venus is the most intricate instrument in the history of space science. The accuracy of that shot is comparable to firing a missile from Cape Canaveral and dropping it in this stadium between the 40yard lines. Transit satellites are helping our ships at sea to steer a safer course. Tiros satellites have given us unprecedented warnings of hurricanes and storms, and will do the same for forest fires and icebergs. We have had our failures, but so have others, even if they do not admit them. And they may be less public. To be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for some time in manned flight. But we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead. The growth of our science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school. Technical institutions, such as rice, will reap the harvest of these gains. And finally, the space effort itself, while still in its infancy, has already created a great number of new companies, and tens of thousands of new jobs. Space and related industries are generating new demands in investment and skilled personnel, and this city and this state, and this region, will share greatly in this growth. What was once the furthest outpost on the old frontier of the west will be the furthest outpost on the new frontier of science and space. Houston, your city of houston, with its manned spacecraft center, will become the heart of a large scientific and engineering community. During the next 5 years the National Aeronautics and Space Administration expects to double the number of scientists and engineers in this area, to increase its outlays for salaries and expenses to 60 million a year; to invest some 200 million in plant and laboratory facilities; and to direct or contract for new space efforts over 1 billion from this center in this city. To be sure, all this costs us all a good deal of money. This yeara s space budget is three times what it was in january 1961, and it is greater than the space budget of the previous eight years combined. That budget now stands at 5,400 million a year a staggering sum, though somewhat less than we pay for cigarettes and cigars every year. Space expenditures will soon rise some more, from 40 cents per person per week to more than 50 cents a week for every man, woman and child in the United States, for we have given this program a High National priority even though i realize that this is in some measure an act of faith and vision, for we do not now know what benefits await us. But if i were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, reentering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun almost as hot as it is here today and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out then we must be bold. Im the one who is doing all the work, so we just want you to stay cool for a minute. [laughter] however, i think were going to do it, and i think that we must pay what needs to be paid. I dont think we ought to waste any money, but i think we ought to do the job. And this will be done in the decade of the sixties. It may be done while some of you are still here at school at this college and university. It will be done during the term of office of some of the people who sit here on this platform. But it will be done. And it will be done before the end of this decade. I am delighted that this university is playing a part in putting a man on the moon as part of a Great National effort of the United States of america. Many years ago the Great British explorer george mallory, who was to die on mount everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, because it is there. Well, space is there, and were going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask gods blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked. Thank you. I [crowd chanting] [crowd chanting] [crowd chanting] [crowd chanting] [crowd chanting] am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of west berlin. And i am proud to visit the federal republic with your distinguished chancellor who for so many years has committed germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow american, general clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed. Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was Civis Romanus sum. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ich bin ein berliner. I appreciate my interpreter translating my german there are many people in the world who really dont understand, or say they dont, what is the great issue between the free world and the communist world. Let them come to berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to berlin. And there are some who say in europe and elsewhere we can work with the communists. Let them come to berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lasssie nach berlin kommen. Let them come to berlin. Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of west berlin. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of the communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together. What is true of this city is true of germany real, lasting peace in europe can never be assured as long as one german out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So let me ask you as i close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of berlin, or your country of germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind. Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great continent of europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of west berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades. All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, i take pride in the words ich bin ein berliner. [applause] [crowd chanting] thank you for joining us on cspan American History tv special series, featuring the presidency. Next week, Lyndon Johnson on Great Society of immigration and Richard Nixon on the silent majority in his 1974 resignation. And as a reminder, or at the speeches in the series are available to listen and watch online at cspan dot slash history. 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