FOCUS ON...JFK INAUGURATION

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. I'm not so sure whether I find it more interesting that I was not born when he delivered his infamous inaugural address or that I feel I was very alive since I've heard parts of it many times. I believe I heard the entire address today for the first time. Much of what he said could have been repeated by Barack Obama two years ago and it would have been pertinent.

Do yourself a favor and hit play on the video below and listen. Then wonder what might have been had he not been assassinated in Dallas less than two years later.

Finally, in this time of rhetoric and attacks by politicians, imagine that they were forced to live by JFKs great words that day:

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

Imagine the America we would live in if we lived by that simple rule.

1. John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address (Text, Video,MP3). [American Rhetoric]
2. JFK's Inaugural Address was Fifty Years Ago today. [The Huffington Post]
3. JFK's words: The torch still burns. [The Washington Post]
4. John F. Kennedy inaugural address: How good was it? [The Christian Science Monitor]



5. Congress pays tribute to 50th anniversary of JFK's inaugural address. [The Boston Globe]
6. Rare and Unseen: JFK's Inauguration (Photos). [Life]
7. John F. Kennedy's only Inaugural Address: 50th Anniversary (Photos). [The Huffington Post]
8. JFK library opens 1st online presidential archive. [Associated Press]

Learn More About This Topic By Reading:
Sounding the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address