State of the Union AddressesKennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald)
History
State of the Union Addresses
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald)
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
In Asia, the relentless pressures of the Chinese Communists menace the
security of the entire area--from the borders of India and South Viet Nam
to the jungles of Laos, struggling to protect its newly-won independence.
We seek in Laos what we seek in all Asia, and, indeed, in all of the
world--freedom for the people and independence for the government. And this
Nation shall persevere in our pursuit of these objectives.
In Africa, the Congo has been brutally torn by civil strife, political
unrest and public disorder. We shall continue to support the heroic
efforts of the United Nations to restore peace and order--efforts which
are now endangered by mounting tensions, unsolved problems, and decreasing
support from many member states.
In Latin America, Communist agents seeking to exploit that region's
peaceful revolution of hope have established a base on Cuba, only 90 miles
from our shores. Our objection with Cuba is not over the people's drive for
a better life. Our objection is to their domination by foreign and domestic
tyrannies. Cuban social and economic reform should be encouraged. Questions
of economic and trade policy can always be negotiated. But Communist
domination in this Hemisphere can never be negotiated.
We are pledged to work with our sister Republics to free the Americas of
all such foreign domination and all tyranny, working toward the goal of a
free hemisphere of free governments, extending from Cape Horn to the Arctic
Circle.
In Europe our alliances are unfulfilled and in some disarray. The unity of
NATO has been weakened by economic rivalry and partially eroded by national
interest. It has not yet fully mobilized its resources nor fully achieved a
common outlook. Yet no Atlantic power can meet on its own the mutual
problems now facing us in defense, foreign aid, monetary reserves, and a
host of other areas; and our close ties with those whose hopes and
interests we share are among this Nation's most powerful assets.
Our greatest challenge is still the world that lies beyond the Cold
War--but the first great obstacle is still our relations with the Soviet
Union and Communist China. We must never be lulled into believing that
either power has yielded its ambitions for world domination--ambitions
which they forcefully restated only a short time ago. On the contrary, our
task is to convince them that aggression and subversion will not be
profitable routes to pursue these ends. Open and peaceful competition--for
prestige, for markets, for scientific achievement, even for men's minds--is
something else again. For if Freedom and Communism were to compete for
man's allegiance in a world at peace, I would look to the future with ever
increasing confidence.
To meet this array of challenges--to fulfill the role we cannot avoid on
the world scene--we must reexamine and revise our whole arsenal of tools:
military, economic and political.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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