John F. Kennedy's Inauguration

My political awakening took place fifty years ago today. I had followed the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy presidential race and even stayed up late on election eve to watch the results; my parents were Democrats, so I was gratified by the outcome.

But it was the presidential inauguration on a bright, cold, snowy day in Washington, with an aged Robert Frost stumbling over his new poem, and Kennedy calling on Americans, "ask not what your country will do for you – ask what you can do for your country," that inspired my sustained interest in public affairs.

As a symbol of this interest, I started a scrap book with pictures of political leaders and even a transcript of that speech. I still have the scrapbook and am posting here the inaugural address transcript that I saved.

Skipping ahead, I was in biology class at school when Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. This pained me so badly that all these decades later, and with all the knowledge I now have, it still brings a lump to my throat and near-tears to my eyes. (January 20, 2011)

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