I am not old enough to say that I remember where I was when President Kennedy was shot. However, I am a part of the generation that grew up hearing their parents talk about that. I have always enjoyed reading and learning about President Kennedy, a young man in the prime of his life that was adored by his country. I know that as the years go along, his reputation only gets better as it does for any young leader cut down in their prime. I enjoyed reading John. F. Kennedy, A Life that Amazon made available for free on Kindle a few weeks ago. This is a short book and a very quick read. I wouldn’t suggest that you rush right out and buy a copy, but if you ever see it available for free again, it’s worth picking up to gather just a few more nuggets about President Kennedy.
- For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
- Nobody is going to force me to do anything I don’t think is in the best interest of the country. We’re not going to plunge into an irresponsible action just because a fanatical fringe in this country puts so-called national pride above national reason.
- In public, however, JFK took sole responsibility, famously invoking the old saying that “victory has a hundred fathers, and defeat is an orphan.”
- JFK also meant to fulfill his campaign promise to lead the nation to a “new frontier” encompassing “the uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus.”
- “We must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent nor omniscient,” he said, “that we are only 6 percent of the world’s population, that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind, that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity, and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem.”
- Kennedy often said he wanted his epitaph to read: “He kept the peace.”