a strategy of peace speech

He did not refer to towers or to campuses. The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. When he addressed the graduates, he did not gloss over the differences between the United States and the Soviet Union. Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. Today, should total war ever break out againno matter howour two countries will be the primary target. We have also been talking in Geneva about our first-step measures of arm controls designed to limit the intensity of the arms race and reduce the risk of accidental war. We all cherish our children's future. For we can seek a relaxion of tensions without relaxing our guard. We must, therefore, persevere in the search for peace in the hope that constructive changes within the Communist bloc might bring within reach solutions which now seem beyond us. "There are few earthly things more beautiful than a university," wrote John Masefield in his tribute to English universitiesand his words are equally true today. It makes no sense in an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and water and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn. Our efforts in West New Guinea, in the Congo, in the Middle East, and in the Indian subcontinent, have been persistent and patient despite criticism from both sides. But surely the acquisition of such idle stockpiles--which can only destroy and never create--is not the only, much less the most efficient, means of assuring peace. All we have built, all we have worked for, would be destroyed in the first 24 hours. Yeah, that's peace all right. Stand Together. Commencement Address at American University, Washington, D.C., June 10, 1963, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Almost unique among the major world powers, we have never been at war with each other. Overwhelmingly, evidence from archaeology and anthropology reveals that war is a relatively recent (less than 13,000 years old) cultural "invention," as anthropologist Margaret Mead put it, that culture can help us transcend. The American University speech, titled A Strategy of Peace was a speech delivered by President John F. Kennedy at the American University Spring Commencement on June 10, 1963. We are both caught up in a vicious and dangerous cycle with suspicion on one side breeding suspicion on the other, and new weapons begetting counter-weapons. Kennedy's statement that "Our problems are manmade--therefore, they can be solved by man" has been empirically validated. The Strategy of Peace [Kennedy, John Fitzgerald] on Amazon.com. JFK - A Strategy of Peace Skyler Velazco 24 subscribers Subscribe 91 5.7K views 9 years ago Here's a video I made for my freshman English composition class. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable--that mankind is doomed--that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. According to Special Assistant Ted Sorensen the speech was kept confidential in fear that the unprecedented tone would "set off alarm bells in more bellicose quarters in Washington" and allow political attacks against Kennedy in advance of the speech. The speech was endorsed by Hubert Humphrey and other Democrats, but labeled a "dreadful mistake" by Goldwater and "another case of concession" by Everett Dirksen, the leader of the Senate Republicans. I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men. One of the most original issues in the speech was the reintroduction of the Russian people to the Americans as a great culture with important achievements in science and space, and as promoting economic and industrial growth on their own. After several months the opposition in the Senate lessened and gave the Kennedy Administration the opportunity to pursue the ban with the Soviet Union. What is different about Churchill's "Sinews of Peace" speech and JFK's "A Strategy of Peace" speech? Such a declaration is no substitute for a formal binding treatybut I hope it will help us achieve one. The Communist drive to impose their political and economic system on others is the primary cause of world tension today. And, for our part, we do not need to use threats to prove that we are resolute. No treaty, however much it may be to the advantage of all, however tightly it may be worded, can provide absolute security against the risks of deception and evasion. Director of Strategy & Impact, Free Speech and Peace. Finally, my fellow Americans, let us examine our attitude toward peace and freedom here at home. "[17], Robert McNamara, Kennedy's Secretary of Defense, declared at a 2003 memorial event at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum that the speech was "one of the great documents of the 20th century." But a presidential address is hard to pass up, and Ms. Frederick graciously stepped aside. Dated December 28, 1962", Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture, "COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 10, 1963", JFK and the Unspeakbale. This speech laid out clearly, a vision of peace through strength and strength through international coalitions committed to the protection and expansion of the American ideals of Peace, Liberty and Justice for all. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitablethat mankind is doomedthat we are gripped by forces we cannot control. And it is the responsibility of all citizens in all sections of this country to respect the rights of others and respect the law of the land. Dirksen and Charles A. Halleck, the second-ranking House Republican, warned that the renewed negotiations might end in "virtual surrender. And man can be as big as he wants. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children--not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women--not merely peace in our time but peace for all time." April 28, 2023. The university already had a scheduled commencement speaker, Pauline Frederick, a journalist who had graduated from AU. It will require increased understanding between the Soviets and ourselves. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly towards it. Video: Full Speech We must show it in the dedication of our own lives--as many of you who are graduating today will have a unique opportunity to do, by serving without pay in the Peace Corps abroad or in the proposed National Service Corps here at home. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and build a better life for their childrennot merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and womennot merely peace in our time but peace in all time. As Sorensen worked on the speech, White House officials scrambled to find an appropriate venue. One step in this direction is the proposed arrangement for a direct line between Moscow and Washington, to avoid on each side the dangerous delays, misunderstandings, and misreadings of the others' actions which might occur at a time of crisis. 2023 Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc. Too many think it is unreal. In his book To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace, author Jeffrey D. Sachs writes: The great turning point of the cold war, the stepping back from the nuclear abyss, was an act of political. And above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. Our military forces are committed to peace and disciplined in self-restraint. But we can still hail the Russian people for their many achievements--in science and space, in economic and industrial growth, in culture and in acts of courage. To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace. . The United States will make no deal with the Soviet Union at the expense of other nations and other peoples, not merely because they are our partners, but also because their interests and ours converge. No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue. It would place the nuclear powers in a position to deal more effectively with one of the greatest hazards which man faces in 1963, the further spread of nuclear arms. So let us persevere. We have a story to tell about the differences between the two systems now competing for the hearts and minds of mankind. So it is easy to see why Ted Sorensen later called Kennedys AU speech the most important and the best speech he ever gave and why Time magazine named it to its list of the top ten commencement speeches. After the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Kennedy was determined to construct a better relationship with the Soviet Union to discourage another threat of nuclear war. I believe we can help them do it. For peace is a processa way of solving problems. Our hopes must be tempered with the caution of history--but with our hopes go the hopes of all mankind. "A Strategy of Peace" is remembered as one of the president's finest and one of the most inspiring commencement addresses ever delivered. with Heidi Campbell and Paul Brandeis Raushenbush For peace is a process--a way of solving problems. There is no single, simple key to this peace, no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. This special issue by . A Strategy of Peace - Wikisource, the free online library A Strategy of Peace A Strategy of Peace (1963) by John F. Kennedy related portals: Speeches. The speech, delivered at AU's 49th Commencement on June 10, 1963, and written by Kennedy's primary speechwriter, Ted Sorensen, is known as one of Kennedy's finest orations. The speech was unusual in its peaceful outreach to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, and is remembered as one of Kennedy's finest and most important speeches. Countless millions of homes and families were burned or sacked. ISBN 9780786454556. The high point of Kennedy's speech, for me, was when he repudiated the notion that permanent peace is a utopian fantasy. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their. World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor--it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement. For peace is a processa way of solving problems. Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. True enough. [6], In the days before the speech, Kennedy was committed to addressing the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Honolulu and asked Sorensen to construct the initial draft with input from several members of Kennedy's staff. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. [15] Republican Senator Barry Goldwater accused Kennedy of taking a "soft stance" on the Soviet Union. Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at, U.S. Never Really Ended Creepy "Total Information Awareness" Program*, A Bloomsday Appreciation of Ulysses by James Joyce, Greatest Mind-Scientist Ever, surveys I've carried out for more than a decade now, most people favor Obama's pessimistic view, The evidence for this hypothesis is flimsy, Thanksgiving and the Myth of Native American 'Savages', The Problem with Protesting Violence with Violence. Noteworthy are his comments that the US was seeking a goal o. We are unwilling to impose our system on any unwilling people--but we are willing and able to engage in peaceful competition with any people on earth. . And however dim the prospects may be today, we intend to continue this effort--to continue it in order that all countries, including our own, can better grasp what the problems and possibilities of disarmament are. But plenty of others would vote for a commencement address given sixteen years later: John F. Kennedys arms control speech to the graduating class of American University, which he gave on June 10, 1963. All this is not unrelated to world peace. It led to the Partial Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and a thaw in the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union. Those alliances exist because our concern and theirs substantially overlap. And is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rightsthe right to live out our lives without fear of devastationthe right to breathe air as nature provided itthe right of future generations to a healthy existence? We all breathe the same air. (Thank you.). Latin America Studies Program, Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: Religion and Technology, Virtual Event The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. First: Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. [16] The speech was met with some skepticism within the US. And it is the responsibility of all citizens in all sections of this country to respect the rights of all others and to respect the law of the land. . President Anderson, members of the faculty, board of trustees, distinguished guests, my old colleague, Senator Bob Byrd, who has earned his degree through many years of attending night law school, while I am earning mine in the next 30 minutes, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: It is with great pride that I participate in this ceremony of the American University, sponsored by the Methodist Church, founded by Bishop John Fletcher Hurst, and first opened by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. It is the responsibility of the executive branch at all levels of government--local, State, and National--to provide and protect that freedom for all of our citizens by all means within their authority." It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. He did not refer to spires and towers, to campus greens and ivied walls. In this Cold War . It would increase our securityit would decrease the prospects of war. https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=A_Strategy_of_Peace&oldid=4649672. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. We will not be the first to resume. However fixed our likes and dislikes may seem, the tide of time and events will often bring surprising changes in the relations between nations and neighbors. Our commitment to defend Western Europe and West Berlin, for example, stands undiminished because of the identity of our vital interests.

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