THE MAKING OF A NATION 210 - John Kennedy Inauguration, Firs

THE MAKING OF A NATION -September 12, 2002: John Kennedy, Part 1 / First 100 Days

By Jerilyn Watson

VOICE 1:
This is Rich Kleinfeldt.
VOICE 2:
And this is Phil Murray with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history

of the United States.
(Theme)
Our program today is about the beginning of the administration of President John Kennedy.
((Music)
)
VOICE 1:
January twentieth, nineteen-sixty-one. John Kennedy was to be sworn-in that day as

president of the United States.

It had snowed heavily the night before. Few cars were in the streets of Washington.
Yet, somehow, people got to the ceremony at the Capitol building.
VOICE 2:
The outgoing president, Dwight Eisenhower, was seventy years old. John Kennedy was just forty-three. He was

the first American president born in the twentieth century.
Both Eisenhower and Kennedy served in the military in World War Two. Eisenhower

served at the top. He was commander of allied¹ forces in Europe. Kennedy was one of
many young navy officers in the pacific battle area.
Eisenhower was a hero of the war and was an extremely popular man. Kennedy was

extremely popular, too, especially among young people. He was a fresh face in
American politics. To millions of Americans, he represented a chance for a new
beginning.

VOICE 1:

Not everyone liked John Kennedy, however. Many people thought he was too young to be president. Many

opposed him because he belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. A majority of Christians² in America were

Protestant. There had never been a Roman Catholic president of the United States. John Kennedy would be the
first.
VOICE 2:
Dwight Eisenhower served two terms during the nineteen-fifties. That was the limit for American presidents. His

vice³ president, Richard Nixon, ran against Kennedy in the election of nineteen-sixty.
Many Americans supported Nixon. They believed he was a stronger opponent of communism than Kennedy.
Some also feared that Kennedy might give more consideration to the needs of black Americans than to white
Americans.

(Photo - National Archives)

The election of nineteen-sixty was one of the closest in American history. Kennedy defeated Nixon by fewer than
one-hundred-twenty thousand popular votes. Now, he would be sworn-in as the nation's thirty-fifth president.
((Music)
)

VOICE 1:
One of the speakers at the ceremony was Robert Frost. He was perhaps America's most popular poet at the time.
Robert Frost planned to read from a long work he wrote especially for the ceremony. But he was unable to read
much of it. The bright winter sun shone blindingly on the snow. The cold winter wind blew the paper in his old
hands.

VOICE 2:
John Kennedy stood to help him. Still, the poet could not continue. Those in the crowd felt concerned for the

eighty-six-year-old man. Suddenly, he stopped trying to say his special poem. Instead, he began to say the words
of another one, one he knew from memory. It was called "The Gift Outright⁴.
"
Here is part of that poem by Robert Frost, read by Stan Busby:
The land was ours before we were the land's.
She was our land more than a hundred years before we were her people ..
.
Something we were withholding⁵ made us weak
until we found out that it was ourselves
we were withholding from our land of living ..
.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright.
VOICE 1:
Soon it was time for the new president to speak. People watching on television could see his icy breath as he

stood. He was not wearing a warm coat. His head was uncovered.
Kennedy's speech would, one day, be judged to be among the best in American history. The time of his
inauguration⁶ was a time of tension and fear about nuclear weapons. The United States had nuclear weapons. Its

main political enemy, the Soviet⁷ Union, had them, too. If hostilities⁸ broke out, would such terrible weapons be
used?
VOICE 2:
Kennedy spoke⁹ about the issue. He warned of the danger of what he called "the deadly atom." He said the United

States and communist nations should make serious proposals for the inspection¹⁰ and control of nuclear weapons.

He urged both sides to explore the good in science, instead of its terrors.
KENNEDY: "Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate¹¹ disease, tap the ocean depths, and
encourage the arts and commerce ... Let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power,
but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.
"

VOICE 1:
Kennedy also spoke about a torch -- a light of leadership being passed from older Americans to younger

Americans. He urged the young to take the torch and accept responsibility for the future. He also urged other
countries to work with the United States to create a better world.
KENNEDY: "The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all


who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what
your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: Ask not
what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

((MUSIC)
)
VOICE 2:
John Kennedy's first one-hundred days as president were busy ones.
He was in office less than two weeks when the Soviet Union freed two American airmen. The Soviets¹² had shot

down their spy plane over the Bering Sea. About sixty-million people watched as Kennedy announced the
airmen's release. It was the first presidential news conference broadcast live on television in the United States.
Kennedy welcomed the release as a step toward better relations with the Soviet Union.

The next month, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev made another move toward better relations. He sent Kennedy a
message. The message said that disarmament would be a great joy for all people on earth.

VOICE 1:
A few weeks later, President Kennedy announced the creation of the peace corps¹³. He had talked about this
program during the election campaign. The peace corps would send thousands of Americans to developing
countries to provide technical help.

Another program, the alliance for progress, was announced soon after the peace corps was created. The purpose
of the alliance for progress was to provide economic aid to latin American nations for ten years.

VOICE 2:
The space program was another thing Kennedy had talked about during the election campaign. He believed the
United States should continue to explore outer space.

The Soviet Union had gotten there first. It launched the world's first satellite in nineteen-fifty-seven. Then, in
April, nineteen-sixty-one, he Soviet Union sent the first manned spacecraft into orbit around the earth.

VOICE 1:
The worst failure of Kennedy's administration came that same month. On April seventeenth, more than one-
thousand cuban exiles landed on a beach in western Cuba. They had received training and equipment from the
United States Central Intelligence Agency. They were to lead a revolution to overthrow¹⁴ the communist
government of Cuba. The place where they landed was called Bahia de Cochinos -- the Bay of Pigs.

The plan failed. Most of the exiles were killed or captured by the Cuban army.
VOICE 2:
It had not been President Kennedy's idea to start a revolution against Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Officials in the

last administration had planned it. However, most of Kennedy's advisers¹⁵ supported the idea. And he approved it.

In public, the president said he was responsible for the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion. In private, he said, "All
my life I have known better than to depend on the experts. How could I have been so stupid.
"
VOICE 1:
John Kennedy's popularity was badly damaged by what happened in Cuba. His next months in office would be
a

struggle to regain¹⁶ the support of the people. That will be our story next week.
(Theme)


VOICE 2:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson.
This is Phil Murray.
VOICE 1:
And this is Rich Kleinfeldt. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history

of the United States.

 

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1 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

2 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

5 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

6 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

11 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

12 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

13 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

14 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

15 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

16 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。