US Presidency
1961

But firmness and reason can lead to the kind of peaceful solution in which my country profoundly believes. We are committed to no rigid formula. We see no perfect solution. We recognize that troops and tanks can, for a time, keep a nation divided against its will, however unwise that policy may seem to us. But we believe a peaceful agreement is possible which protects the freedom of West Berlin and allied presence and access, while recognizing the historic and legitimate interests of others in assuring European security. The possibilities of negotiation are now being explored; it is too early to report what the prospects may be. For our part, we would be glad to report at the appropriate time that a solution has been found. For there is no need for a crisis over Berlin, threatening the peace- and if those who created this crisis desire peace, there will be peace and freedom in Berlin. The events and decisions of the next ten months may well decide the fate of man for the next ten thousand years.