May 3 1961 Remarks George Washington

### About this speech John F. Kennedy May 03, 1961 Source John F. Kennedy Presidential Library President Kennedy gives some remarks as he accepts an honorary degree bestowed by George Washington University. He describes the importance of universities in the time of the Cold War, and explains that though democracies may seem disadvantaged by their divisions, he believes “over the long run people want to be free,” and the West is capable of providing that freedom. Rather than posting the full speech video, which is the Miller Center's customary practice, this video contains only an excerpt (bolded in the transcript). It was the only video material available from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, which owns the copyright of this video. Please contact the Foundation if you are interested in using the footage. Audio of the full speech is available for download below. [Presidential Speeches](/the-presidency/presidential-speeches) | John F. Kennedy Presidency ## May 3, 1961: Remarks at George Washington [Play Video](https://d4q9blt8qjhv3.cloudfront.net/video/mp4/512K/spe_1961_0503_kennedy.mp4)   Fast-forward 10 seconds 0:00 [ Download audio ](https://d4q9blt8qjhv3.cloudfront.net/audio/spe_1961_0503_kennedy.mp3 "\(opens in a new window\)") Embed Your browser does not support the video tag. [Miller Center: May 3, 1961: Remarks at George Washington](https://uvamiller.prod.acquia-sites.com/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/may-3-1961-remarks-george-wa
shington) Download media * [Download Full Video](https://d4q9blt8qjhv3.cloudfront.net/video/mp4/512K/spe_1961_0503_kennedy.mp4?download=1) * [Download Audio](https://d4q9blt8qjhv3.cloudfront.net/audio/spe_1961_0503_kennedy.mp3?download=1) View Transcript ### Transcript Mr. President: I want to express my appreciation to the President and to the Fellows of this University for the honor that they have bestowed upon me. My wife beat me to this honor by about 8 or 9 years. It took her 2 years to get this degree and it took me 2 minutes, but in any case we are both grateful. I am also glad to be here because this University bears the distinguished name of the father of our country, George Washington. It is a matter of great interest that there has been an intimate relationship between the great political leaders of our country and our colleges and universities. This University bears the name of George Washington, which showed his understanding in his day of the necessity of a free society to produce educated men and women. John Adams and John Quincy Adams from my own State of Massachusetts had an intimate relationship with Harvard University. Both of them, I believe, were members of the board of overseers. In both of their lives, Harvard and its development played a major part. Washington and Lee shows an intimate relationship, for General Lee, the fact that he was willing to devote his life at the end of the war to educating the men and women of the South, indicated his understan
ding of this basic precept. Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt--and all the rest. **I don't think that there has ever been a time when we have had greater need for those qualities which a university produces. I know that many people feel that a democracy is a divided system, that where the Communists are certain in purpose and certain in execution, we debate and talk and are unable to meet their consistency and their perseverance.** **I do not hold that view. There are many disadvantages which a free society bears with it in a cold war struggle, but I believe over the long run that people do want to be free, that they desire to develop their own personalities and their own potentials, that democracy permits them to do so. And that it is the job of schools and colleges such as this to provide the men and women who will with their sense of discipline and purpose and understanding contribute to the maintenance of free societies here and around the world.** A hundred years ago, George William Curtis of my own State asked a body of educators during the Kansas-Nebraska controversy, "Would you have counted him a friend of ancient Greece who quietly discussed the theory of patriotism on that hot summer day through whose hopeless and immortal hours Leonidas and the three hundred stood at Thermopylae for liberty? Was John Milton to conjugate Greek verbs in his library when the liberty of Englishmen was imperiled?" No, quite obviously, the duty of the educated man or woman, the duty of 
the scholar, is to give his objective sense, his sense of liberty to the maintenance of our society at a critical time. This is our opportunity, as well as our responsibility; and I am particularly glad to be here today when we are witnessing the swearing-in of a new President. Many years ago, as most of you know, at Harvard University somebody came around and asked for President Lowell. They said, "He's in Washington seeing Mr. Taft." I know that some other day, when they are asking for the President of your University, they will say that he is over at the White House seeing Mr. Kennedy. They understood at Harvard, and you understood here, the relative importance of a University President and a President of the United States. Thank you. View Transcript Previous [April 27, 1961: "President and the Press" Speech](/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/april-27-1961-president-and-press-speech) Next [May 17, 1961: Address before the Canadian Parliament](/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/may-17-1961-address-canadian-parliament) ### More John F. Kennedy speeches [View all John F. Kennedy speeches](/the-presidency/presidential-speeches?field_president_target_id\[34\]=34) [May 17, 1961: Address before the Canadian Parliament](/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/may-17-1961-address-canadian-parliament) video icon audio icon transcript icon [May 25, 1961: The Goal of Sending a Man to the Moon](/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/may-25-1961-goal-sending-man-moon) video icon aud
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