Patrick Henry - Anaheim Elementary

John Fitzgerald Kennedy's Inaugural Speech

JFK's Inaugural Speech was delivered on January 20, 1961

Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens:

We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom -- symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning -- signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge -- and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom -- and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required -- not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge: to convert our good words into good deeds, in a new alliance for progress, to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support -- to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective, to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak, and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course -- both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

Who Wrote JFK's Inaugural? Does it matter? By Mike Vuolo

Who Wrote JFK's Inaugural? 

Does it matter?  

by Mike Vuolo

In my childhood imagination, John F. Kennedy slotted somewhere below DiMaggio and above De Niro in a loose ranking of latter-day American deities. When I was just a toddler, the late president left a lasting impression on me, literally, after I pulled a terracotta reproduction of Robert Berks' iconic sculpture—weighing considerably less, thankfully, than the 3,000-pound original—down from a sideboard and onto my head. On my bedroom wall hung two plaques, one a list of "coincidences"—many trivial, some factually incorrect—between the political careers and assassinations of Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln. The other, also arguably incorrect, was a portrait of Kennedy embossed on black metal, staring out above his famous entreaty in all caps:

ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU,
ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY.

It's no secret that presidents often speak words they themselves did not write. When George Washington delivered the very first inaugural address, on Apr. 30, 1789, he was reading from a reworked draft composed by his friend and frequent ghostwriter James Madison. In 1861, with the country on the brink of civil war, Lincoln pitched his address to a restive South and planned to end on the crudely formed question, "Shall it be peace or sword?" That is, until his soon-to-be Secretary of State William Seward suggested a less combative, more poetic conjuring of "mystic chords" and "the 
better angel guardian angel of the nation," which Lincoln then uncrossed and altered to "the better angels of our nature." Small matter, perhaps. We don't require that our politicians be great writers, after all, only effective communicators, and they in turn sometimes benefit from a misattribution in perpetuity of someone else's eloquence.

In Kennedy's case, the gift of rhetoric was owed largely to his longtime counsel and legislative aide, Ted Sorensen, who later became his principal speechwriter after the two developed a simpatico understanding of oratory. In his 1965 biography Kennedy, Sorensen wrote:

As the years went on, and I came to know what he thought on each subject as well as how he wished to say it, our style and standard became increasingly one. When the volume of both his speaking and my duties increased in the years before 1960, we tried repeatedly but unsuccessfully to find other wordsmiths who could write for him in the style to which he was accustomed. The style of those whom we tried may have been very good. It may have been superior. But it was not his.

Kennedy believed his inaugural address should "set a tone for the era about to begin," an era in which he imagined foreign policy and global issues—not least the specter of nuclear annihilation—would be his chief concern. But while Sorensen may have been the only person who could reliably give voice to Kennedy's ideas, the coming speech was too historic to entrust to merely one man. On Dec. 23, 1960, less than a month before Kennedy would stand on the East Portico of the Capitol to take the oath of office, Sorensen sent a block telegram to 10 men, soliciting "specific themes" and "language to articulate these themes whether it takes one page or ten pages."

Although Sorensen was without question the chief architect of Kennedy’s inaugural, the final draft contained contributions or borrowings from, among others, the Old Testament, the New Testament, Lincoln, Kennedy rival and two-time Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson, Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., and, we believe, Kennedy himself.

But an unequivocal puzzling out of exactly who wrote what is, with some exceptions, impossible. Late in his life, Sorensen, who died in 2010, admitted to destroying his own hand-written first draft of the speech at the request of Jacqueline Kennedy, who was deeply protective of her husband's legacy. When pressed further, Sorensen was famously coy. If asked whether he wrote the speech's most enduring line, for example, he would answer simply, "Ask not." During an interview with Richard Tofel, author of Sounding the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address, Sorensen seemed to suggest that preservation of the myth was more essential than any single truth about the man:

I recognize that I have some obligation to history, but all these years I have tried to make clear that President Kennedy was the principal author of all his speeches and articles. If I say otherwise, that diminishes him, and I don't want to diminish him.

If Jacqueline Kennedy and Ted Sorensen were willing to tear up what may have been the only categorical proof of Sorensen's primary authorship, President Kennedy—in an incident that can only be described as out-and-out deception—was willing to lie. On Jan. 16 and 17, 1961, at the Kennedy vacation compound in Palm Beach, Fla., Sorensen and JFK polished a near-final draft of the inaugural address and even typed it up on carbon paper. Later on the 17th, the two flew back to Washington aboard Kennedy's private plane, the Caroline, with Timecorrespondent Hugh Sidey, whose reporting on the president veered between the credulous and the hagiographic.

At some point during the flight, Kennedy began scribbling on a yellow legal pad in front of Sidey, as if working out just then his thoughts about the speech. What Kennedy in fact wrote was some of the precise language that had already been committed to typescript. During an interview with historian Thurston Clarke, author of Ask Not: The Inauguration of John F. Kennedy and the Speech that Changed America, Sidey recalled thinking, "My God! It's three days before the inauguration, and he hasn't progressed beyond a first draft?"

Not only had Kennedy progressed well beyond that, but he and Sorensen had nailed down what we know to be the penultimate version. Even worse, Kennedy later copied out by hand six or seven more pages—directly, one assumes, from the typewritten copy—and dated it "Jan 17, 1961." After JFK's assassination, the pages were displayed in what would become his presidential library and identified as an early draft.

There are a total of 51 sentences in the only text of the inaugural that now matters to the world, the speech as read on Jan. 20, 1961, though it can't be said, without at least some conjecture, that Kennedy was the principal author of any one of them. I asked Tofel, who is now president of ProPublica, what it means that Kennedy may have been a mere messenger of what many Americans consider to be one of the most pivotal speeches of the 20th century, second only to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream":

Kennedy lives on in our history not because of, frankly, enormous accomplishment—he died, at the most generous, before he could accomplish a great deal—but because of his ability to articulate, I think, our most profound values and highest aspirations much better than anyone has before or since. And that is his. It is not Sorensen's. It is not Galbraith's. It is not Schlesinger's. We are talking about him at great length here 50 years after his death, and I believe we are doing that because of the power of words. And in that sense they are his words.

Should Sorensen's original draft or other lost fragments ever materialize, whatever they might say is surely no match for the shrine that history has erected and the symbolism that hung on the walls of my childhood bedroom. And in that sense, those words belong to me.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
SOURCE: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2013/11/john_f_kennedy_s_inaugural_address_who_wrote_jfk_s_speech.html

Inaugural Speech:
https://helpfulhistorynotebook.blogspot.com/2018/02/john-fitzgerald-kennedys-inaugural.html

Quizlet (Speech's literary devices): https://quizlet.com/115913932/jfk-inagural-address-flash-cards/

Help with Language and Composition: http://alsaplanguageclass.blogspot.com/2014/09/jfk-questions.html

Rhetorical Analysis of the Speech - various essays:
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Jfk-Inaugural-Speech-Rhetorical-Analysis-PKRVRPCVJ

By Max Atkinson  Rhetoric expert
Author of: Lend Me Your Ears: All You Need to Know about Public Speaking and Presentation and Speech-making and Presentation Made Easy
Analysis and observations:   http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-12215248

6 Secrets to the Success of this Speech:

• 1. Contrasts
• 2. Three-part lists
• 3. Contrasts combined with lists
• 4. Alliteration
• 5. Bold imagery
• 6. Audience analysis

How Judges and Justices Are Chosen

Legendary Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that a Supreme Court Justice should be a "combination of Justinian, Jesus Christ, and John Marshall."

Why are venerable former justices sources of guidance in understanding necessary qualities for federal judges?

The Constitution is silent on judicial qualifications. It meticulously outlines qualifications for the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the presidency, but it does not give any advice for judicial appointments other than stating that justices should exhibit "good behavior." As a result, selections are governed primarily by tradition.

The Nomination Process

The Constitution provides broad parameters for the judicial nomination process. It gives the responsibility for nominating federal judges and justices to the president. It also requires nominations to be confirmed by the Senate. First, look at the numbers.

More than 600 judges sit on district courts, almost 200 judges sit on courts of appeals, and 9 justices make up the Supreme Court. Because all federal judges have life terms, no single president will make all of these appointments.

But many vacancies do occur during a president's term of office. Appointing judges, then, could be a full-time job. A president relies on many sources to recommend appropriate nominees for judicial posts.

Recommendations often come from the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, members of Congress, sitting judges and justices, and the American Bar Association. Some judicial hopefuls even nominate themselves.

A special, very powerful tradition for recommending district judges is called senatorial courtesy. According to this practice, the senators from the state in which the vacancy occurs actually make the decision. A senator of the same political party as the President sends a nomination to the president, who almost always follows the recommendation. To ignore it would be a great affront to the senator, as well as an invitation for conflict between the president and the Senate.

Selection Criteria

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was nominated to fill the position vacated by Thurgood Marshall. He served on the U.S. Court of Appeals before his nomination to the Supreme Court by George Bush.

Presidents must consider many factors in making their choices for federal judgeships:

• Experience — Most nominees have had substantial judicial or governmental experience, either on the state or federal level. Many have law degrees or some other form of higher education.
  
• Political ideology — Presidents usually appoint judges who seem to have a similar political ideology to their own. In other words, a president with a liberal ideology will usually appoint liberals to the courts. Likewise, conservative presidents tend to appoint conservatives.
  
• Party and personal loyalties — A remarkably high percentage of a resident's appointees belong to the president's political party. Although political favoritism is less common today than it was a few decades ago, presidents still appoint friends and loyal supporters to federal judgeships.
  
• Ethnicity and gender — Until relatively recently, almost all federal judges were white males. Today, however, ethnicity and gender are important criteria for appointing judges. In 1967, Lyndon Johnson appointed the first African American Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall. In 1981, Ronald Reagan appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor. All recent presidents have appointed African Americans, Latinos, members of other ethnic minority groups, and women to district courts and courts of appeal.

Because federal judges and Supreme Court justices serve for life, a president's nomination decisions are in many ways his or her most important legacy. Many of these appointments will serve long after a president's term of office ends. Whether or not the results are a "combination of Justinian, Jesus Christ, and John Marshall," these choices can have an impact on generations to come.

SOURCE: http://www.ushistory.org/gov/

American History Living Books

Abigail Adams – This biography about John Adams’ wife. She was such a strong woman. I’m not sure what impressed me more – the fact that she didn’t run screaming from the house when the Revolutionary War broke out in sight of her house or the fact that she let her young son travel for France with his father, knowing she wouldn’t see either of them for years.

Justin Morgan Had a Horse – This is the story of Justin Morgan and Lil’ Bub. The fact that there is lots of history subtly woven into the story might be lost on younger readers.. It is simply a  great story about the little horse t them. A great example of a living history book.

Guns for General Washington –  Guns? Battles? Treacherous treks through the wilderness? Yeah, this one appeals to boy…but girls still enjoy it.

Janie’s Freedom –  This captivating book tells the story of five children, born into slavery, who make their way North for a better life after gaining freedom at the end of the Civil War.

Theodore Roosevelt – This is part of the Heroes of History series by Janet and Geoff Benge. These are  the kind of stories that kids  want to keep reading longer than called for on the lesson plans. Teddy Roosevelt was a fascinating man and this biography makes the details of his life leap off the page. (As an aside, he looks very much like Robin Williams in my mind. Thanks, Night at the Museum.)

Ambush in the Wilderness – This story of a young boy who witnesses his fur-trader father’s death at the hands of a group of Indians is one of the few stories for kids (to my knowledge) about the French and Indian War.

Robert E. Lee – Many people learn more about the Civil War through this biography than they ever learned in high school. This book is a great example of living history books in general. We learn and retain more by reading these kinds of books than reading dry facts and memorized dates.

Samuel F. B. Morse – This biography is a memorable one because there are so many connections made  between the story of Morse’s life and other people and events. It’s fun to discover which historical figures were living during the times of others and how their lives intertwined.

Michael Faraday – A tear jerker because we follow Michael's life story all the way through to his death.

Thomas Edison – A book to make you laugh while you learn. We have determined that Mr. Edison was ADHD before it had a name.

source:http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/american-history-books-for-kids/

The World of Abraham Lincoln - Living History Book

1940 Newbery Honor Title

Published by Beautiful Feet Books

Originally published in 1944, Foster earned her reputation by her masterful display of "horizontal history" telling the story of world events in the geo-political sphere, while giving as much importance to advances in science, medicine, music, literature, and exploration. 

Thus, while Abe Lincoln was a boy romping the woods of Kentucky:

• Thomas Jefferson was completing his eighth year as president, 
• George III reigned in Great Britain and 
• Napoleon was about to meet his Waterloo.
•  Beethoven and Sir Walter Scott were at the height of their creative powers, while 
• Victor Hugo was staging plays at school.

 By the time Lincoln was old enough to help his father chop wood, other young boys and girls were being prepared for the future parts they would play. 

• Harriet Beecher was reading anything she could get her hands on, 
• Charles Darwin was collecting toads, crabs and shells, and 
• the impoverished boy Dickens was working in a shoe blacking factory in London. 

When Lincoln opened his shop in Salem:

• David Livingstone was opening up deepest Africa, and 
• thousands of Americans were opening up the West on the Oregon Trail. 
• The spirit of freedom was moving around the globe as 
• the abolitionist movement gained power in the States and 
• serfdom saw its demise in Russia. 
• Technologically the world was bursting with the invention of the telegraph, the railroad and the steamboat. 

With her whimsical and informative illustrations and timelines Foster has magnificently captured a remarkable age and a remarkable man.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is great story telling and a fun way to learn history. The World of Abraham Lincoln is not just about Abraham Lincoln, but the world in which he lived from birth to death. It covers from Lincoln's boyhood days in which Napoleon and Queen Victoria are discussed along with other major global figures. Throughout the book we are taken to various parts of the world to learn about impacting events and persons that shape history. From 1800 to 1865 is covered. The events of the USA are discussed: events like:

• the War of 1812
• the Mexican War
• the Alamo
• the Missouri Compromise
• the Kansas-Nebraska Act and much more. 
• One learns about the first Reich of Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm. 

The life of Abraham Lincoln is interwoven throughout these history time slices. This book is not just about helping kids learn about and love history, but for adults to learn history as well.

Living Books - Early American History

The list is ordered chronologically.

Pocahontas is d’Aulaire book, which pretty much means it’s going to be good because the authors write biographies in such rich and living words.  This book shares the settling of Jamestown from the perspective of Pocahontas, daughter of the Powhatan chief.  The illustrations are great, too!

Squanto, Friend Of The Pilgrims is historical fiction that shares a picture of the first Thanksgiving from the viewpoint of the Native Americans.  It also gives a deeper picture into the life of Squanto, one of the Patuxet who befriended the English people coming to America. 

This is a "traditional" history book that, obviously does not tell the whole story. Be sure to reference: 

Thanksgiving 1, 2, 3, Squanto, Eucharista, Belloc

The Witch of Blackbird Pond is one of my all-time favorite reads from the Colonial period of history.  In living fashion, appropriate for 4th grade and older, it tackles the topic of superstition and fear the Puritan people had toward those who were “different” than them – people they liked to believe were witches.  Great read!

The Courage of Sarah Noble is the quick, easy and true story of an 8-year-old little girl who goes into the 1707 Connecticut wilderness to forge new land for their family.  She must show great courage as she travels long distances, meets new animals and encounters Native Americans.  Most precious is the friendship formed among her family and their Native neighbors.

Amos Fortune, Free Man is a powerful story about an African prince who was captured and sold into slavery at the age of fifteen.  For 45 years, he keeps the dream of becoming a free man, all the while maintaining his character through hard work and dedication in the midst of his trials.

Calico Bush brings early pioneer life to the forefront as you journey with a 13-year-old orphaned immigrant girl as she lives both the life of a pioneer and an indentured servant.  There are many hardships to overcome, but perseverance leads to joy.

Calico Captive, not to be confused with Calico Bush, is the exciting and harrowing story of a young New Hampshire girl and her family who are taken captive by Indians during the French and Indian War.  It’s based on the actual diary entries of the main character.  It’s no surprise I love this book, because I pretty much love everything written by Elizabeth George Speare.

Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison is another book about an Indian capture.  In this one, the main character is not only held hostage, but adopted into a Seneca family.  Will she ever learn to love her new role in Red Bird’s family?  This story offers a unique perspective and we loved it.

The Sign of the Beaver is a great story of pioneer survival and a sweet friendship that is both full of adventure and a bit of suspense.  It’s perfect for boys because the main character, who is just thirteen, is left alone in the new settlement while his father sets out to bring the rest of the family to their new home.

Johnny Tremain is set in Boston and takes place during the upheaval leading to the Revolutionary War.  Johnny, the main character, is a prideful young man who must overcome several personal obstacles.  His story intertwines beautifully with the political upheaval of the era – like the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere’s ride and the battle at Concord.

The Cabin Faced West shares the story of a young girl who is less than thrilled when her family moves West.  She misses her friends and finds pioneer life hard, but attempts to stay positive and demonstrate bravery.  A surprise guest (shhh…George Washington) visits the family and changes everything.

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch is the story of an unlikely sailor who meets many unfortunate circumstances in his life.  At the same time, he demonstrates great determination as he perseveres and educates himself about the sailing life that he loves.  As history proves, his hard work made him one of the most famous marine navigators of all time.

Seaman’s Journal is historical fiction (from the perspective of a dog) about the adventures of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  I was surprised at how much historical information was included in the text – stops along the way, dangers encountered, and more.  The illustrations are great, too!

Abraham Lincoln’s World isn’t the first Genevieve Foster book I’ve recommended.  I love how her books can act as both a textbook and living literature.  In this volume, you walk through the happenings of the world around the time of Abraham Lincoln’s life.

Minn of the Mississippi is a Holling C. Holling book – and, yes, I would recommend any of them!  Minn is a snapping turtle traveling down the Mississippi River.  History, science and geography are all intricately woven into the story line – as well as the beautiful illustrations.

source: http://ourjourneywestward.com/10-living-books-teach-early-american-history/