JOHN F. KENNEDY Inaugural Address: An Introduction to AMERICA in the 1960’s

Context  John F. Kennedy was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the presidency in the 1960 presidential election, defeating Republican candidate Richard Nixon. In doing so he became the youngest man elected U.S. president.  It is widely considered to be among the best presidential inauguration speeches in American history, and it challenged Americans to serve their country at a time when the Cold War was stirring overseas and the civil rights struggle, in addition to other kinds of social reform, was growing at home.

Fun Facts  The speech was also the first inaugural address delivered to a televised audience in color.  The whole country was watching!  To show his youth and vigor compared to his predecessor who wore a huge coat and scarf, Kennedy wore no overcoat whatsoever.  He was young, handsome, and full of energy!

Big Ideas everyone!  The goals of a better world require that effort is given by everyone!  He wants citizens to ask themselves how they can help out the situation. He firstly says what not to do, and then he tells America what should be done.  JFK made it clear that “the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans” (now even the young need to get involved and help their country!)

Successful Response Steps To Writing A Successful Response:  Using the skills that you have learned with REAP (Read, Encode, Analyze, and Ponder), write a 1-2 page response to the speech.  What do you think of it? What does it tell you about America in the 1960’s? What lingering questions do you have? Knowing that The Outsiders takes place in the 60’s, what assumptions do you have about the characters and the time period?  Make sure you are being DETAILED and THOUGHTFUL in your responses. This includes:  Re-reading and thoroughly annotating  Summarizing Kennedy’s speech (the big ideas)  Forming an opinion about it, and then adding quotes and details to support your opinion  Discuss HOW EFFECTIVE this speech was. How could he have improved?  Reflecting on what you have written.