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 technology has no conscience of it's own. Whether it becomes a
force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of
pre-eminence can we help decide if this new ocean will be a sea of peace--or a terrifying new
theatre of war.
Introduction
This page is dedicated to the political life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, in particular, it is
devoted to his Presidency. For those of you looking for information on his private life, this
page is not directed toward you. Nor is it directed toward those looking for information on the
assassination of the President, or any of the theories inspired by that assassination. For any
who may be interested in these aspects of the life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, I will provide a
new link at the bottom of each page, and you may find what you seek in those pages.
My goal here is to provide a chronological listing of the political life of President Kennedy.
I will do this through his speeches. I will add some brief commentary where appropriate, but I
believe John Kennedy made his views and policies very clear in his speeches. This then will be
the basic format these pages will follow. I may deviate from this format if I feel adding a
certain link, or photo, or any other source will illuminate what is being said in these speeches.
I hope you find this page interesting and/or educational. It is indeed a fascinating period in
history
Without further delay, the history begins with Kennedy announcing his candidacy for the
Presidency.
Statement of Senator John F. Kennedy Announcing His Candidacy for the Presidency of the
United States
Senate Caucus Room, Washington, D.C., January 2, 1960
I am announcing today my candidacy for the Presidency of the United States.
The Presidency is the most powerful office in the Free World. Through its leadership can come
a more vital life for our people. In it are centered the hopes of the globe around us for freedom
and a more secure life. For it is in the Executive Branch that the most crucial decisions of this
century must be made in the next four years--how to end or alter the burdensome arms race, where
Soviet gains already threaten our very existence--how to maintain freedom and order in the newly
emerging nations--how to rebuild the stature of American science and education--how to prevent
the collapse of our farm economy and the decay of our cities--how to achieve, without further
inflation or unemployment, expanded economic growth benefiting all Americans--and how to give
direction to our traditional moral purpose, awakening every American to the dangers and
opportunities that confront us.
These are among the real issues of 1960. And it is on the basis of these issues that the
American people must make their fateful choice for the future.
In the past 40 months, I have toured every state in the Union and I have talked to Democrats
in all walks of life. My candidacy is therefore based on the conviction that I can win both the
nomination and the election.
I believe that any Democratic aspirant to this important nomination should be willing to
submit to the voters his views, records and competence in a series of primary contests. I am
therefore now announcing my intention of filing in the New Hampshire primary and I shall announce
my plans with respect to the other primaries as their filing dates approach.
I believe that the Democratic party has a historic function to perform in the winning of the
1960 election, comparable to it's role in 1932. I intend to do my utmost to see that that victory
is won.
For 18 years, I have been in the service of the United States, first as a naval Officer in the
Pacific during World War II and for the past 14 years as a member of the Congress. In the last
20 years, I have travelled in nearly every continent and country--from Leningrad to Saigon, from
Bucharest to Lima. From all of this, I have developed an image of America as fulfilling a noble
and historic role as the defender of freedom in a time of maximum peril--and of the American
people as confident, courageous and perservering.
It is with this image that I begin this campaign.
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