[MUSIC] >> When Jack was elected president, I felt how fortunate I was out of all the millions of mothers in the United States to be the one to have her son inaugurated president on that cold, cold day. >> Kennedy's inauguration was a cross between a coronation and a Hollywood extravaganza. There were appearances and performances by a host of stars. Frank Sinatra, actor Peter Lawford, who of course was Kennedy's brother-in-law, Leonard Bernstein, Bette Davis, Sidney Poitier. Laurence Olivier, Ella Fitzgerald, Gene Kelly, Alan King, Tony Curtis, Nat King Cole, Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, and the list goes on and on. The celebrations continued the next day, warming the biting chill of winter in Washington. >> Poet Robert Frost, and Marian Anderson, famed contralto. Who of many guests representing the arts in America. >> Congressman, foreign dignitaries, artists, writers, academics, VIPs from all fifty states congregated on the East steps of the capitol to hear John Kennedy's inaugural address. That address soared through the cold January air and it was one of the most memorable in American history. Take a look at this video, which gives you a segment of what President Kennedy had to say in his inaugural address. It captivated the crowd, the nation, and indeed, the world. >> Vice President Johnson, Mister Speaker, Mister Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, Reverend Clergy, Fellow Citizens. We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God, the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago. The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands, the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought, are still an issue around the globe. The belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God. We dare not forget today, that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike. That the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and better peace. Proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow line doing of those human rights. To which this nation has always been committed and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. >> [SOUND] You just heard some of those segments from President Kennedy, but it's important to focus in on a few of those lines. Let the [CROSSTALK] word go forth from this time. >> From this time and place, to friend and foe alike. That the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and better peace. Proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights, to which this nation has always been committed. And to which we are. >> [CROSSTALK] Committed today at home and around the world. Probably the two most important words there, at home. It's the only real reference to civil rights. It's so understated that it went right over or under most of the people listening to the speech. But the Kennedys, even though they're identified today with civil rights, were always cautious about it and nervous about the issue. Because after all, President Kennedy had carried a good deal of the south and needed to carry it again in 1964. The president declared that the American people would, pay any price, bear any burden. >> Any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. >> A president would have a more difficult time today making that kind of pledge. Many Americans would resent it. But in those cold war times, Americans expected it. They had lived through the great depression, they lived through World War II. To them it made sense. Kennedy stressed that the generation taking over had been tempered by war, tempered by World War II. He was part of that younger contingent, the millions who had served during and after World War II who wanted to have a row in government, who wanted to have a seat at the table. As he said, this generation taking control today was born in this century, the 20th century. And, and it was true, there were no other presidents after JFK who were born in the 19th century. Of all the lines in the inaugural, the most famous by far still echoes today, still repeated by many politicians in many places. And so my fellow Americans, ask not. >> Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. >> [SOUND] >> This line became an instant classic. It may be the sentence most associated with John F Kennedy, even in the 21st century. You have to consider what President Kennedy said in the context of the times. He was speaking to generations that had suffered during the great depression, during World War II, during Korea, and even during the Cold War in the 1950's. People had made great sacrifices in order to produce a society that was the envy of the world. And so Kennedy was reinforcing a sentiment that was widely believed at the time, that the good of the whole took precedence over the needs of individuals. I'm not so sure that, that sentiment is as widely shared today in America as it was then. Far more memorable than most inaugural addresses, Kennedy's speech resonated with Americans, and especially young people who were searching for purpose in their lives. It was a fitting start to a presidency that brought with it a welcome sense of style, of humor, of high culture. Over the course of three years, the Kennedy's managed to transform the sleepy village of Washington into a vibrant intellectual and cultural center. The New Frontier, which is what Kennedy called his program, had many attractive signs. John Kennedy did indeed recruit the best and the brightest from many of the sectors of American business, to government. While Jackie Kennedy worked tirelessly to give the American people a White House they could be proud of. And the First Lady was a huge part of the Kennedy administration's public appeal. The generation that had been born during one World War and tested by another, was eager to govern. They were confident that their idealism and energy would triumph over all adversity. That was precisely what John Kennedy communicated in his inaugural address. But all the new challenges loomed on the horizon. And they would challenge this young President in ways that he couldn't even have imagined on his triumphant first day in office. [MUSIC]
