President John F. Kennedy delivers the commencement address at American University on June 10, 1963. CECIL STOUGHTON/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
| By DR. E. MARTIN SCHOTZ | Published: 11-21-2024 5:07 PMOpinionCummington MAfacebook |
Today marks the 61st anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination. In the last year of his presidency, Kennedy took extraordinary steps in the direction of world peace. He tried to educate the public by outlining his understanding of the world peace process in a commencement address that he delivered at American University on June 10, 1963. This is a speech unlike any we have ever heard from a president of the United States. Too few of us are aware of this speech.
The speech was given at a high point in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. At the time the speech so impressed Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev that he had the speech reprinted in newspapers throughout the Soviet Union. Unfortunately nothing like that happened here. Following the speech the United States and the Soviet Union rapidly came to an agreement banning the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.
What did Kennedy understand, and what did he say?
He said that world peace is “the most important topic on earth … What kind of peace do I mean and what kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by weapons of war — not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace — the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living — the kind of peace that enables …[people] and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children — not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women — not merely peace in our time but peace in all time.”
In the long run, President Kennedy envisioned an end to war through “… general and complete disarmament — designed to take place by stages, permitting parallel political developments to build the new institutions of peace which would take the place of arms.” This was to be “… based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution of human institutions — on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the interests of all concerned. There is no single, simple key to peace — no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. Peace is a way of solving problems … World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor — it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement.” He emphasized the importance of focusing on what agreements are possible today that could give people hope and provide momentum.
He urged us to understand the positive achievements and qualities of our opponents, to take seriously their concerns, and while not being “… blind to our differences … let us also direct attention to our common interests and the means by which those differences can be solved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity.”
He urged that we “conduct our affairs in such a way that it becomes in the communists’ interests to agree to a genuine peace. And above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy — or of a collective death-wish for the world.”
“Is not peace, in the final analysis, basically a matter of human rights — the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation — the right to breathe air as nature provided it — the right of future generations to a healthy existence.”
If we, as Americans, want to have leaders who truly work for our security, we must have leaders who truly understand the genuine peace process. This rests first of all on us as ordinary citizens understanding that process and demanding it of our representatives. This Nov. 22, I urge my reader to spare a half-hour and find President Kennedy’s 1963 American University speech on the internet. Listen to it, ponder its wisdom, share it with others, and reflect on what you can do to join in contributing to a true peace process.
It can be found here: https://ratical.org/ratville/JFK/HWNAU/JFK061063.html.
Dr. E. Martin Schotz is a retired physician who lives in Cummington. He is a member of the Franklin County for Peace and board member of Traprock Center for Peace and Justice.