President John F. Kennedy: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City April 27, 1961

“Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:

I appreciate very much your generous invitation

to be here tonight.”

-UNO-
“I want to talk about our common responsibilities
in the face of a common danger.

... the dimensions of its threat have loomed large

on the horizon for many years. Whatever our

hopes may be for the future, there is no escaping

either the gravity or the totality of its challenge

to our survival and to our security, a challenge

that confronts us in unaccustomed ways in every

sphere of human activity.”

-DOS-
“The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and
open society; and we are as a people inherently
and historically opposed to secret societies, to
secret oaths and to secret proceedings.

... today no war has been declared, and however

fierce the struggle may be, it

may never be declared in the

traditional fashion. Our way of

life is under attack!

... Those who make
themselves our enemy are
advancing around the globe.
And yet no war has been declared,
no borders have been crossed by
marching troops, no missiles have
been fired.

... If the press is awaiting a declaration of

war before it imposes the self-discipline of

combat conditions, then I can only say that no

war ever posed a greater threat to our security.

... If you are awaiting a finding of ‘clear and
present danger’, then I can only say that the
danger has never been more clear and its
presence has never been more imminent.

... For we are opposed around the world

by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy

that relies primarily on covert means

for expanding its sphere of influence.

On infiltration instead of invasion, on

subversion instead of elections, on

intimidation instead of free choice, on

guerrillas by night instead of armies by day.

... It is a system which has conscripted vast
human and material resources into the
building of a tightly knit, highly efficient
machine that combines military,
diplomatic, intelligence, economic,
scientific and political operations.

...Its preparations are concealed, not

published. Its mistakes are buried, not

headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not

praised. No expenditure is questioned, no

rumor is printed, no secret is revealed.”

-TRES-
... “And that is our obligation to inform and alert the
American people the perils, the prospects, the
purposes of our program and the choices that we
face.

... That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon

decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink

from controversy. And that is why our press was

protected by the First Amendment... not primarily

to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the

trivial and the sentimental, not to simply ‘give the

public what it wants’, but to inform, to arouse, to

reflect, to state our dangers...

... We look for strength and assistance, confident
that with your help man will be what he was born
to be: ‘Free and independent’.”