Undelivered speech reflects Kennedy's strong Catholic ties
Words spurred
November 21, 2013 11:38 PM
Cecil Stoughton/White House photographs/Getty Images
President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy arrive at Love Field in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.
They stand among the most eloquent words that John F. Kennedy never said. Instead, they exist in writing only -- forming the speech Kennedy was scheduled to deliver at the Trade Mart in Dallas to influential business and research leaders early in the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963.
Kennedy was assassinated en route to the gathering, and the words hovered in obscurity amid the panic and devastation that followed.
But over the years, people have taken a fresh look at the Trade Mart speech. The words have inspired a tribute book, choral works and a video tribute in Dallas. They've inspired legislation -- and litigation -- in Kentucky.
For those who continue to ruminate on Kennedy's truncated legacy, the words have become something of an unintentional last will and testament -- a soaring call for progress in space exploration, civil rights, national security, foreign aid and even in critical thinking.
And it quoted freely from the Bible, invoking broad religious sentiments that may seem surprising coming from Kennedy. The nation's only Roman Catholic president is better known for proclaiming a strict separation of church and state during the 1960 presidential campaign, seeking to allay fears that he would take orders from the Vatican.
"We, in this country, in this generation, are -- by destiny rather than by choice -- the watchmen on the walls of world freedom," the text said, alluding to Isaiah, chapter 62.
"We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve ... the ancient vision of 'peace on earth, good will toward men,' " the text continued, quoting from the angels' announcement of Jesus' birth in Luke 2.
"The righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength," Kennedy would have continued, concluding with a nod to Psalm 127. "For as was written long ago: 'except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain.' "
The words serve as a bookend to the speech Kennedy gave elsewhere in Texas three years earlier -- an address to Houston-area Baptist ministers in which Kennedy sought to downplay his Catholicism. That was a political liability in the then-Democratic stronghold of the Bible Belt. Kennedy badly needed Texas' electoral votes in 1960, and his Dallas trip represented his attempt to retain them in 1964.
Kennedy was assassinated en route to the gathering, and the words hovered in obscurity amid the panic and devastation that followed.
But over the years, people have taken a fresh look at the Trade Mart speech. The words have inspired a tribute book, choral works and a video tribute in Dallas. They've inspired legislation -- and litigation -- in Kentucky.
For those who continue to ruminate on Kennedy's truncated legacy, the words have become something of an unintentional last will and testament -- a soaring call for progress in space exploration, civil rights, national security, foreign aid and even in critical thinking.
And it quoted freely from the Bible, invoking broad religious sentiments that may seem surprising coming from Kennedy. The nation's only Roman Catholic president is better known for proclaiming a strict separation of church and state during the 1960 presidential campaign, seeking to allay fears that he would take orders from the Vatican.
"We, in this country, in this generation, are -- by destiny rather than by choice -- the watchmen on the walls of world freedom," the text said, alluding to Isaiah, chapter 62.
"We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve ... the ancient vision of 'peace on earth, good will toward men,' " the text continued, quoting from the angels' announcement of Jesus' birth in Luke 2.
"The righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength," Kennedy would have continued, concluding with a nod to Psalm 127. "For as was written long ago: 'except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain.' "
The words serve as a bookend to the speech Kennedy gave elsewhere in Texas three years earlier -- an address to Houston-area Baptist ministers in which Kennedy sought to downplay his Catholicism. That was a political liability in the then-Democratic stronghold of the Bible Belt. Kennedy badly needed Texas' electoral votes in 1960, and his Dallas trip represented his attempt to retain them in 1964.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2013/11/22/Undelivered-speech-reflects-Kennedy-s-strong-Catholic-ties/stories/201311220137#ixzz2lNiFLdP0
Thanks to Deacons Bench
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