February 4, 2008
In his February 4th article for the Boston Globe entitled “JFK's torch for Obama,” James Carroll wrote about Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s endorsement of Barack Obama for President of the United States. In his article he indicated that “the real meaning of that torch-passing was defined by where it occurred.”
On June 10th 1963, President John F. Kennedy gave a commencement address at Washington DC’s American University. Ted Kennedy endorsed Obama on the same stage from which his brother John Kennedy gave his commencement address to the graduating class of 1963. On that day, as Carroll explains, “At American University John Kennedy laid out an urgent vision for this country. He did not live to advance that vision, and it remains unrealized to this day.”
As Carroll continues to explain, “The most telling fact about the commencement address Kennedy delivered on June 10, 1963, is that Kennedy wrote it in secret. A small circle of trusted aides contributed to the text, but Kennedy kept the national security establishment in the dark about his intentions, which is surprising, given his subject. He came ‘to this time and place,’ he said, ‘to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived - yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace.’”
The vision of President Kennedy, albeit of a different time and place is nevertheless applicable today. James Carroll concludes in his article that “That vision, conceived negatively, boils down to this: If humans do not change the way we resolve international conflicts, the planet is ultimately doomed to nuclear devastation. The abolition of all nuclear weapons, starting with our own, must be at the top of the new president's agenda.”
The important message of JFK’s speech is that we need a new way of thinking of how the United States interacts with the other nations of this world, and we must endeavor “To rekindle the flame of the American University speech.”
