“Defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger”. – JFK
I was 12 when I watched JFK’s inaugural address and tonight watched it again on YouTube as a 76 year-old.
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility — I welcome it.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love.
JFK’s address inspired Americans to think beyond their daily challenges and to see the role our nation has played in protecting and extending the freedom that every man and woman deserves. Sadly, the inaugural address we are about to suffer through on Jan. 20, 2025, will likely do the opposite. I expect a speech that is devoid of inspiration and even darker and more depressing than his first.
I expect no references to defending freedom, of liberty, of justice, of honesty, of morality, of tolerance, of humility, of civility, of responsibility, of a good conscience, of bearing any burden at all. I do expect false claims, misinformation and lies.
In light of that, I was comforted by watching JFK’s address again tonight and by the confidence it inspired in me that the day will come when our nation’s greatness will reassert itself, and we will look past our daily hurdles and once again aspire to do all we can for the freedom and dignity of each other, of mankind itself, and of our entire planet’s survival.
In his Gettysburg address Lincoln reminded Americans that our nation was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. And he told Americans that the Civil War was testing whether our nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.
The question is the same today. Can this nation long endure?
FDR spoke of four American freedoms — the freedom of speech, the freedom of worship, the freedom from want, and the freedom from fear. The challenge, for all of us who cherish the freedoms Americans have always aspired to, will require relentless energy and optimism.
I am resolved, and I know that JFK, in the spirit of his inaugural address, would admire Amanda Gorman’s last verse and encourage Americans to read it often.
“When the day comes, we step out of the shade, Aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light. If only we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it.”
