JFK Library and Museum - John F. Kennedy Speeches John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

Before an estimated crowd of 10,000 people, President Kennedy made clear the need for a nation to represent itself not only through its strength but also through its art.

JFK appeared on television to inform Americans of the recent Soviet military buildup in Cuba including the ongoing installation of offensive nuclear missiles, and informed the people of the US of the "quarantine" placed around Cuba by the Navy.

President Kennedy delivered a speech describing his goals for the nation’s space effort before a crowd of 35,000 people in the football stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

In a television address announcing the nuclear test ban agreement, Kennedy claimed that a limited test ban “is safer by far for the United States than an unlimited nuclear arms race.”

At an Independence Day celebration in historic Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1962, President Kennedy delivered an address on the importance of the Declaration of Independence to contemporary Americans.

Full of references to Irishmen who fought in the American War of Independence, President Kennedy championed the important role of small nations in the pursuit of world peace.