US Presidency
1961

It is a great pleasure for Mrs. Kennedy and for me, for the Vice President and Mrs. Johnson, and for the Members of Congress, to welcome the Ambassadorial Corps of our Hemisphere, our long time friends, to the White House today. One hundred and thirty nine years ago this week the United States, stirred by the heroic struggle of its fellow Americans, urged the independence and recognition of the new Latin American Republics. It was then, at the dawn of freedom throughout this hemisphere, that Bolivar spoke of his desire to see the Americas fashioned into the greatest region in the world, greatest, he said, not so much by virtue of her area and her wealth, as by her freedom and her glory. Never in the long history of our hemisphere has this dream been nearer to fulfillment, and never has it been in greater danger. The genius of our scientists has given us the tools to bring abundance to our land, strength to our industry, and knowledge to our people.