US Presidency
1961

It's for this reason that I have asked the Congress to pass a Youth Employment Opportunities Act to guide these hands so that they can make a life for themselves. Equally important, if our young people are to be well trained and skilled labor is going to be needed in the next years, and if they are to be inspired to finish their studies, the Federal Government must meet its responsibility in the field of education. I am not satisfied if my particular community has a good school. I want to make sure that every child in this country has an adequate opportunity for a good education. Thomas Jefferson once said, If you expect a country to be ignorant and free, you expect what never was and never will be. It's not enough that our own home town has a good school, we want the United States as a country to be among the best educated in the world. And I believe that we must invest in our youth. Secondly, we need a program of retraining our unemployed workers.