March 10, 1962 - President John F. Kennedy's remarks at a Fundraising Dinner in Miami Beach, Florida

President John F. Kennedy's Address at Miami Beach at a fundraising Dinner in Honor of Senator Smathers.
Testimonial dinner for U.S. Senator George Smathers at the Fountainbleau Hotel, Miami Beach. President Kennedy spoke at the Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami Beach, Fla. In his opening words he referred to Senator George A. Smathers, Representative Dante B. Fascell, who served as chairman of the dinner, Governor Farris Bryant, and Senator Spessard L. Holland, all of Florida; Abraham Ribicoff, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare; and Senator Jennings Randolph of West Virginia.

[@david24262]

It's refreshing - even after 50 years - to hear a President who could express himself and his vision for this country in a coherent, clear and concise matter. Listening to recordings of JFK is time well-spent.

[@williampond40]

I agree. JFK - articulate, and well versed in government

[@mpmcgee82]

What makes this speech even more amazing is that it very largely is extemporaneous. He's composing it in his head as he goes along. If you look at the Kennedy Library archives for the notes on this event, you will find several very traditional, very fine draft speeches from Ted Sorensen and others about the work of Sen. Smathers, the leadership of Gov. Bryant, the importance of Florida, all the usual themes. He's clearly absorbed much of that material and the main themes, and then in the moment woven in the Smathers story (a version of which he had told once before while campaigning in 1960) and delivered it with perfect pitch and timing as you see. He adds some traditional points from the draft speeches as he goes, while adding a warm, personal touch in calling Smathers a friend (which he was) saying, "which is the most important thing." The resulting speech is greater than the sum of the parts. What a mind. What class. One of a kind.

[@rare6499]

When JFK spoke, you listened. Unbelievable class, vision, and respect for the fundamental principles of the constitution and the concept of liberty.

[@Buzzbox3rd]

Well said , i for one just wish to thank you for your kind and generous words, good on you .

[@dannyburch2122]

Josh Charlie well said. .

[@frettchengretchen1345]

That's why they murdered him.. :'(

[@bgmeadows6085]

Amen! Perfectly stated.

[@albertopalma1663]

"A man has to be what he was born to be: Free and Independent" One of my favorite quotes of JFK.

[@vecumex9466]

I used to think that JFK was one of the best presidents we ever had. I now believe that Jack epitomizes the best of our country.

[@alexanderdelacruz9249]

Well said, and I concur 🥂

[@dannyburch2122]

Well said.

[@martinleavitt6094]

Well said Carlos,he's missed dearly at this address..were all lucky to have all this rare footage to view now and then...rest easy President Kennedy..🇺🇸

[@freduklernas3637]

God bless JfK.. a charismatic , intelligent and last but not least, a very humane person... unlike subsequent presidents we had.

[@williampond40]

I agree - Although he came from a wealthy family, he proved his mettle: Harvard with honors, received war medal in World War II saving his crew on the PT-109, wrote books: 'Why England Slept' and 'Profiles In Courage', and always ALWAYS in a state of pain: with his back and wore a back brace, Addison's Disease, colitis, took medication everyday and still led the country. Amazing.

[@davenelson8505]

President Kennedy was funny! He also could laugh at himself! Great sense of humor!#missed

[@albertopalma1663]

Yes. Trump should listen to Kennedy so he may learn how to speak in public with class.

[@evaadams8298]

Alberto Palma you just know Obama had studied JFK as well... another President who was an amazing Orator with total class. JFK was the original though 😀

[@actualideas8078]

Alberto Palma trump already saw the Kennedy assassination as it really happened. I doubt he is interested in learning from Kennedy

[@LJ-ht4zs]

@@albertopalma1663 No Trump will not understand what JFK is saying. won't learn anything as he listens only to himself

[@albertopalma1663]

@@LJ-ht4zs True!

[@lyndatrones1787]

John Kennedy is widely known as our most brilliant President...he was also our kindest and most humorous!! My heart still breaks every time I think of him or see footage like this. He could have done great great things....💔

[@bgmeadows6085]

What a speaker! So much charisma. Love his accent.

[@aminemaia9878]

And most of the time he was in distressing pain.

[@kkennedy3466]

Yea truly a great President.

[@jeffmejia3556]

Charm, wit, intelligence, charisma and looks. This man had it.

[@robertchaykin1405]

A truly great president , we miss him .

[@albertopalma1663]

A true leader like no other. RIP Mr. President.

[@christinesmith9813]

A great speaker with a great sense of humor.

[@nancytrueblood263]

8

[@wendydiaz476]

He should 45th US president🤣

[@wendydiaz476]

Science again yan🤣🤣 balik scientist program act?i got🤣🤣🤫🤫

[@timothygilmore5493]

I never thought there would be a day in my life time, that a simple wish of having a president who honestly cared about our country as this man did. This day going forward, I will never again take for granted the responsibility of electing a president. Ben Franklin was so right when he said " a republic, if you can keep it!"

[@martinleavitt6094]

Well said Timothy!!🇺🇸👍

[@GregJay]

Can't help but just love John Kennedy.

[@pentameteriamb6196]

Yeah, me too....

[@tanmaxwell4599]

Had he lived,and his brother RFK and MLK lived,these three would have altered this nation's course from where it is now.

[@Steph-lc7hy]

@@tanmaxwell4599 sad, they always kill the game changers.

[@marymcgowan6249]

My grandfather was Senator Smathers aid/assistant for many years. My grandparents went to this dinner and my grandmother still has the program for it which JFK also signed. What a wonderful thing it is to be able to watch this myself.

[@genghisthegreat2034]

What a gentle memory that must have been for them.

[@toniscott1029]

Wow!

[@henochparks]

I could listen to this president all day

[@actualideas8078]

Lynette Agueda wtf? Are you joking? Women shouldn’t even be voting. Politics has moved further left. Jfk was a Classical Liberal, he was more conservative than Eisenhower or Nixon. JFK constantly decreased military funding. He also brought taxes way down and did not want to pass the Civil Rights act. JFK was Conservative. That’s why he was great

[@boomds5602]

@Lynette A too far to the right? Are you high?

[@boomds5602]

@@actualideas8078 he wasn’t conservative at all, in any sense but then again you said women shouldn’t vote so it’s clear you are a troll.

[@actualideas8078]

Boom ds JFK was conservative and yes we should repeal the 19th amendment. Grow a pair. It’s like you support Democracy or something... (I understand that Kennedy was liberal, but he was an American conservative for sure; he was a nationalist).

[@lilliannardone9148]

What a difference from the socialist party now. He was against the communist. He was funny! His son JFK Jr was great when he was running for the seat in New York and when he passed hilary clinton ran for that seat. Wow Democrats left us when JFK passed now the Democrats are socialists, He would be turning on His grave. What a great man

[@jayrosen6663]

No one said it better than his brother, Robert Kennedy. He made us feel young again!!!!

[@brianedwards4161]

I truly love this man! What a loss to lose him the way we did.

[@community1949]

Back then the country was floating on air with this man as our President. My parents just adored him so we went to Washington DC in August 1962 and went through the White House. The next year he was killed and all of the joy and trust just went out of politics. Notice you are not hearing any rambling, incoherent statements - just wonderful sense of humor and a twinkle in his eye. He made us all feel wonderful to be Americans.

[@genghisthegreat2034]

We miss him in Ireland 🇮🇪 too.

[@wayofthinkin]

Thank you Mr. Reenberg. These films are priceless. Moments in time to be cherished forever. Pres. Kennedy was our last great President. So much promise unrealized. RIP JFK.

[@dannyburch2122]

Well said Love J.F.K.

[@wendylee9779]

Yes, thank you, Mr. Reenberg. Your music to the videos is truly heartwarming. President Kennedy left us far, far too soon. RIP, Mr. President.

[@msbhat463]

@@wendylee9779 What a lovely comment for jfk. And to reenberg my heart is full.

[@dannydubya9410]

Every speech I've ever heard from JFK involves him passionately talking about the future. Now our leaders either warn of impending doom, or glamorize how good the past was

[@graphicsRat]

Yup. All his speeches were meant to inspire.

[@maryguy9013]

no comparison between the mindless bozo Biden and John FItzgerald Kennedy(class act)

[@raoulbataller5454]

Talk of the future was what us baby boomers wanted most to hear. Our fathers returning on troop ships in '46 told us that the future was ours, and we wanted to hear what it would be like. And after JFK we wanted StarTrek to show us how it WOULD LOOK.

[@bradleysmall2230]

yet he only had about 20 months of future till the bethesda fradulent autopsy..

[@LawFirm1970]

He was outstanding

[@LJS232]

A truly class! The greatest President of United States ever

[@marcschneider4845]

No, he was not. That's absurd. Better than average, for sure. But, the best? No way.

[@chiemxerxobi]

Marc Schneider so who was then?

[@marcschneider4845]

@@chiemxerxobi Well, just off the top of my head, Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Washington, Jefferson, perhaps Truman were all better.

[@beatle1956]

I guess you forgot about Lincoln and Roosevelt, among many others.

[@gregdemeterband]

Obama said that he was the Greatest....Funny isn't it?

[@ronniebishop2496]

The best president we ever had and our evil side killed him. Can you imagine if he went two terms, and then Bobby, every time we would look back we would say that was our greatest era. I’ve never seen anything like him. Wow!!!

[@spazzcat03]

Dear Sir , I wanna thank you so very much for sharing all these Jfk Films with us . That is so very nice of you . Take care , So Many I have not seen .

[@jayrosen6663]

What a brilliant wit and speaker!!!!

[@manuelperales8217]

This exceptional man had just what is called "Class"...

[@freduklernas3637]

uniquely Gifted, inspirational and Class of another league...

[@petercraig6802]

Thought a lot about this man recently for some reason (I'm a Brit and was 11yrs old when he died). The most common word that comes to mind is 'inspirational'. Find me a politician today on either side of the Atlantic whom you can respect and admire so much (please).

[@azul8811]

Agreed, Peter. I was 13 when he was killed. I guess that we just live in different times today. I think what’s lacking today is genuine leadership. At least that how it feels to me.

[@maureennewman905]

Unfortunately there is no one, if there was he would undoubtedly be assassinated

[@DrAmithBhat]

“Don’t do it, can’t win, bad eeah” 😂 JFK is a legend. All hail the King.

[@metsfan164]

I've never been into politics but I could listen to this man talk all day

[@jkrasney1]

Always - President Kennedy.

[@jryecart8017]

@@jkrasney1 First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s press secretary Pamela Turnure had a quick romance with her boss’s husband, the alleged affair coming to light in the book “The Kennedy Half-Century” by Larry J. Sabato. Turnure, who is said to have had a remarkable resemblance to Jackie, began a two-year affair with JFK in 1961 when she was aged 21. JFK is even believed to have encouraged his wife to hire her after she worked as his own secretary when he was a Senator.

[@brianocallaghan7172]

telegenic smile with wonderful mock cadences and voice inflections drawing you in aching to hear his next sentence. wonderful sense of fun and immense charm with shyness perhaps at the heart of his feigned hesitancy because for all his good looks and he was a very handsome man with a suitably resonant voice he really was very shy and generated laughter as that was his calling card.I have studied greatness in men and with this man one need look no further .he had it all in spades.god rest mr president

[@mmjhcb]

This is charisma, people! Nothing like it today.

[@eduardjozefgregor5103]

DJ Trump má väčšiu .

[@mmjhcb]

@@eduardjozefgregor5103 Whatever! 😂😎😂😎😂😎

[@mooncrab]

@@eduardjozefgregor5103 yeah right ( sarcasm)

[@jamesscully529]

Hard to believe that JFK's 102nd birthday is in a month or so.

[@smgri]

As I listen to an amazing speech I sit here watching tapes of the assault on the capital . We have fallen so far from a point when the world looked up to America . So depressingly sad .

[@leonardobitran8098]

A great visionary leader and a superb speaker.

[@ruthcook4397]

Listening and recalling with moist eyes how proud we were of our country and united we were regardless of party affiliation. Those were the days.

[@maureenmccarthy4204]

To me the best president you ever had in America maybe I’m a bit bias as he was the first Irish - American president as I’m Irish myself I was and still am so proud of him what a lost he was love JFK

[@genghisthegreat2034]

Taoiseach den scoth de shliocht Ghaeil ab ea é, go ndéanfaidh Dia grást dó. Bhí sé lán le thírghrá, agus le grá don chine daonna uilig. Slán leat go síoraí Eóghan Gearaltach Ó Cinnéide ! Éireann go brách ! 😃

[@willisknapick4405]

Irish or not he was a great speaker and a human being. No President since then can claim to be his equal. I was in my teens when he was president and his speech were must see TV.

[@jonmajarucon51]

Those were turbulent years. People have either forgotten or did not live through it. This man was so courageous and good. RIP JFK

[@Loveoldies50]

JFK had a way of making you feel he was a friend. In his short time as President, he made his mistakes, but, also, made some wonderful decisions and actions for all Americans. He saved us from a nuclear war, made civil rights a central cause, despite opposition, and made us proud Americans. I was only a child when he was assassinated, but, he still has a firm place in my heart as a wonderful President.

[@danielcolasuonno8311]

They don't make them like that anymore one of a kind

[@peterherriott237]

One of the greatest orators ever. No auto que, no hesitation or errors. Knew what he wanted to say and said it.

[@jb-vb8un]

no facts

[@captaincarl8230]

@@jb-vb8un Y'all must be a troll. Sorry to break it to you, kid, but there hasn't been another President like him since. A man who stood and stuck up for his convictions.

[@jb-vb8un]

@@captaincarl8230 thanks for the NO FACTS OR EVIDENCE CRT claim .... always amusing - - - The 18-month affair Alford reveals reduced her 19-year-old self to the status of presidential plaything. She would do her college classwork in the limo on the way to have sex. JFK never kissed her on the mouth. Even in bed, she called him Mr President. Afterwards, she would listen to Little Peggy March or the Shirelles ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow?"). He preferred Tony Bennett or Frank Sinatra. The dark side of the man she calls "the Great Compartmentaliser", and who would identify himself on the telephone as "Michael Carter", was never far away. One day in the swimming pool, he decided that Dave Powers was looking "tense", and coerced Alford into giving the first friend a blow job. "I don't think the president thought I'd do it, but I'm ashamed to say that I did. The president silently watched." With sex, came drugs. Alford states she was "the guinea pig" for the president's fascination with amyl nitrate - poppers.

[@jb-vb8un]

@@captaincarl8230 The legislation established the Civil Rights Commission and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which have publicized and prosecuted civil rights violations ever since. REPUBLICAN Eisenhower had broken the Southern stranglehold on civil rights legislation and, with passage of a voting rights act in 1960, set the stage for the groundbreaking legislation of 1964-65. Eisenhower’s judicial appointments constituted his greatest contribution to African-American civil rights. On September 30, 1953, Eisenhower selected California Governor Earl Warren-a man he knew was liberal on race-to replace Fred Vinson, who had died unexpectedly, as chief justice of the United States. REPUBLICAN Eisenhower also refused to appoint known segregationists to the lower federal courts. In an attempt to depoliticize the appointment process, the president and Attorney General Brownell moved it from the White House to the Justice Department and instituted American Bar Association assessment of potential nominees. When Brownell left office in 1957, Eisenhower continued to appoint pro-desegregation judges in the South. DEMOCRAT President John F. Kennedy, in contrast, returned to appointing segregationists. As a result, the civil rights movement migrated from the courts to the streets.

[@jb-vb8un]

@@captaincarl8230 On September 24, 1957, REPUBLICAN Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce a federal court order by one of his own appointees to desegregate Central High School. DEMOCRAT KKK SUPPORTER Governor Orval Faubus had deployed the Arkansas National Guard to bar nine black students from attending the school. After meeting with the president and agreeing to change the orders of the Guard to protect the black students, Faubus instead withdrew the troops, leaving the students at the mercy of the DEMOCRAT KKK mob. That is when REPUBLICAN Eisenhower acted. In a televised address to the nation on the night of the 24th, Eisenhower vowed, “The president and the executive branch of government will support and ensure the carrying out of the decisions of the federal courts, even, when necessary, with all the means at the president’s command.” For decades, historians have assumed, thanks to the important legislation passed in 1964-65, that DEMOCRATS John F. Kennedy and Lyndon V Johnson were the era’s great civil rights leaders and that Eisenhower failed to “speak out” on the issue. But Ike’s record speaks for itself. JFK and LBJ did not commit to the cause until 1963, when horrific violence in the South compelled them to. It is time, finally, to bury the myth that Ike did nothing on civil rights. In the 1950s, REPUBLICAN Dwight Eisenhower was more progressive in advancing African-American civil rights than Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson.

[@63bplumb]

Have NO idea how old the other commenters are. I'm 65 work in construction. Know EXACTLY where I was standing when I heard the news of his death. Visited that SAME spot on the 50th anniversary. My point. After his opening remarks when he got into the meat of his speech I started to cry. The loss of his abilities and what is before us today and those that will be in leadership is truly Hard to Take!

[@darlenelongo8589]

such a Renaissance man..with charm and vision....

[@mizzury54]

No teleprompter, little glancing at notes. . You will never hear a coherent continuous delivery like this from our current President.

[@503945158]

Maybe Obama.

[@huascar66]

Amazing, isn't it? JFK was a tremendous orator.

[@riccaruso7791]

huascar66 ~ Yes, but in his youth {like most of us} he “stumbled” a lot in College, etcetera.

[@selvitr3945]

Glancing on Notes or using smartphones arent a crime

[@maureennewman905]

President Trump is also great to listen to , no matter what you think of him , he loves America

[@boradle]

Of corse he had to be taken out , he was doing absolutely way too much for the average human being...

[@jaimemaldonado4152]

Oh how far we have fallen .

[@XYZ-lz3xv]

My God, he was tremendous

[@dianem8254]

This man held the U.S. in the palm of his hand with his arms securely around us. We all felt a part of his Camelot. Thank you forever 💞

[@Kayte-tv2cw]

Beautifully stated…

[@jb-vb8un]

classic empty words : no substance

[@captaincarl8230]

@@jb-vb8un Neither are yours.

[@jb-vb8un]

@@captaincarl8230 thanks for taking the bait - - - Judith Campbell Exner, who served as a conduit between JFK and mobster Sam Giancana, had an abortion after becoming pregnant with the President’s child, revealing details about their alleged affair in her 1977 memoir “My Story.” Jackie Kennedy is said to have been unsurprised by what the book revealed. The alleged mafia moll Exner spoke again of her relationship with the president in a 1997 interview with Vanity Fair in which she revealed that she ended her two-year affair with Kennedy in early 1963. It is around this time she claims that she aborted his child. Introduced to Kennedy via her ex Frank Sinatra, she ferried envelopes between the President and Sam Giancana, to whom she was also a mistress, including, she claims, alleged payoffs or instructions for vote-buying in elections and plans to kill Fidel Castro. “Jack never in a million years thought he was doing anything that would hurt me, but that’s the way he conducted himself; the Kennedys have their own set of rules,” she said.

[@jb-vb8un]

@@captaincarl8230 BLAZE STARR The celebrated stripper told People magazine in 1989 that she had a brief affair with Kennedy before he became President which she’d hoped to continue once he was elected. The famed burlesque dancer is said to have been disappointed when the Cuban Missile Crisis got in the way of her dalliance with the President in the Lincoln Room. The pair first met in 1954 when JFK, then a Congressman, would visit her Maryland strip club, Crossroads. In an interview in 1989, Starr described Kennedy as “very quick and very wild,” adding “he knew exactly what he was doing with girls, so it didn’t take him long. No, that bad back didn’t faze him.”

[@nurula007]

Ugh he's just so charming

[@thejerseyj9422]

More wit, substance, vision and passion in this one speech than any entire Presidency of those who followed him. "JFK, like no other".

[@jeffg6008]

No notes, no teleprompter, no tweets, just a brilliant orator. Still sadly missed 😞

[@thankgodjustice9550]

I love president Kennedy forever

[@luke3807]

President Kennedy mentions the *"Alliance for Progress"* at 5:05. If he implemented his vision for developing nations, you would not have all the human suffering in the world today, with refugees pouring into Europe and the US.

[@albertopalma1663]

Bingo!

[@RoberttAvro]

Wow, what a great speech. At once friendly, humorous, light, transitioning to profound and future reaching.

[@pentameteriamb6196]

He sure was great and always missed and never forgotten....

[@hannahchap9764]

He was so funny!

[@constantdarkfog49]

I'll never forget Nov.22 when I was in HS, I felt the great loss of this wonderful President, we have never recovered from losing JFK.

[@brianocallaghan7172]

i think that is so true and also so so sad.america was said to have lurched towards some decline after his death . . .maybe

[@kirtkoppes7896]

There Was Washington, Jefferson, The Wright Brother's, Chaplin, Edison, Lindbergh, Disney, AND JFK, So On . . .

[@sdhscrosscountry]

This still holds true today. He talks about issues that are still important today. President Kennedy talks about issues and is not even reading anything.

[@snoroof58]

He was a strident anti-communist and laid his life on the line in the south Pacific and very nearly lost it which left him fighting pain the rest of his life. Profoundly thoughtful, with a personality and charisma that was honest and genuine, his charming retorts in press conferences always managed to keep things calm even in stormy times. There will never be another like him and he was stolen from history far too young. I am a conservative Republican yet I think I am smart enough to recognize greatness whether I agree politically or not. In the yin and yang of politics both sides are humbled in history by the wit, charm and steely calm JFK displayed in his short time at the helm of out nation.

[@albertopalma1663]

My respects to you and your words. This is what politicians should be like. Even if one is convinced of his/her political ideas, there must be room in our minds to acknowledge the fact that true leaders, like Jack Kennedy, can and must be supported for the well being of us and the country and human kind, regardless of his political affiliation. Well said.

[@pepez5263]

As a brit I just love John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the most frustration I have is the murderers of this president got away with it and were never brought to justice!!

[@julianroberts5407]

Absolutely. The CIA, FBI, LBJ, anti-castro Cubans, military industrial complex George H. W Bush, mossad, oil barons, were all responsible for this great man's shocking death.

[@MonaLisa-lu8zi]

Yes, and publicly lied about how he was shot, and afterwards had the poor patsy LHO arrested and also shot.. and lied, and lied... 🤥

[@tanmaxwell4599]

He was a serious president with vision.That's why we admire him.He also personified all his speeches and news conferences. Outside of that, he had enemies - overseas,in the states ,and in high places of government who saw him as a threat to their agenda for this nation. He was a peoples' president - not a bureaucrat president.He had his faults,but who doesn't.

[@tanmaxwell4599]

Clinton,Obama,even Reagan copied his format - and used it to get in office when other candidates didn't get it. USA People wanted a JFK type president .Sadly, there was only and will only be one and he was murdered in broad daylight .He was killed by the politicians that didn't have it.

[@tanmaxwell4599]

TRUMP is now successfully using the JFK format - as a radio/tv talk show host - and a rude Twitter user.People can identify with him - and can only admire how skilled he is at getting things done,while his boring politically polished opponents gravel far behind in frustration.

[@gregoryphillips3969]

Have studied the Kennedy family from many angles. John Kennedy was endlessly fascinating, charasmatic and brave in ways that very few will ever know unless they have taken a real long look. Yes he had his flaws like all of us do. But keeping in mind what he stood for and wanted for this country and the wonderful way he expressed it makes him my all time hero and greatest American president. When Kennedy speaks it still stirs the emotions in wavs that no one else ever has who has occupied the white house. He indeed lit up the world.

[@kathrynbellerose3925]

Jack we love and miss you. Rest In Peace.

[@dannyburch2122]

How far we've Fallen!

[@spudjohnsonn8122]

He had wit, style, charisma, class, the greatest speaker I ever heard in my life, God I miss this guy.

[@jimmcaleenan7243]

Rest in peace John and Bobby

[@GBM6988]

I love listening to him speak I wished I was around when he was still around. He gives me a chill down my spine how much we have accomplished in space because of him and his policies. One of the greatest presidents we ever had.

[@jgjperlman]

I was born in 55..saw it all

[@felipegonzalez9735]

Wow what a good President we lost

[@jeffallcock4561]

Smathers was a conservative , anti-Castro FL Democrat and one of JFK's cronies. This speech has something for Cold Warriors and the New Frontier: the USA as the sentinel at the gates of freedom, and space exploration and the expansion of educational opportunity

[@RJN8580]

Totally agree!!! Please explain that to stupid liberals

[@gregklein547]

As a matter of fact, in the final analysis JFK is a righteous dude.

[@dmmchugh3714]

Loved his humor - which he delivered generally at the start of his speeches. Not making fun of anyone or ridiculing - just interjecting some short witticism to smooth the speech intro. A brilliant speaker ; his Presidency was before my time, but he seemed Ike a wonderful leader. The epitome of an American president. Fascinating here too that they are all looking forward to accomplishments in space, to coming advancements in technology and to the emphasis on improving schools and colleges. The 'new frontiers' in science, technology , engineering and mathematics would benefit Florida and the entire country.

[@joaquinpraveenvishnu8509]

Words can't simply put how we feel the loss. Can you imagine the greatest sacrifice one can do is with one's life? The 1964 civil rights act was made a possibility because this man arrived in Dallas Texas on November 22, 1963.

[@mackdog832]

The last true intelligent American President

[@metsfan164]

Orating came so naturally to him

[@xxShelbieLynnxx]

where are people like that now???? Every time I see or evening hear trump I want to throw up.

[@albertopalma1663]

Really? I wonder why? Pardon my sarcasm.

[@azul8811]

This country no longer seems to produce such people. I guess it's a reflection of cultural changes. When I compare DJT to JFK my head wants to explode.

[@PoetryMan11]

The very apt title of the PBS American Experience documentary on JFK was "Like No Other". After you watch this speech, go and sample the bellowing of LBJ, the pomposity of NIxon, Gerald Ford's nonsense, Jimmy Carter's nice guy who moved nobody, Ronald Reagan's smooth and bland nothings, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama,-- stuffed shirts all of them. JFK was a rich kid whose ambition knew no bounds. His family (especially Bobby) were a bunch of pushy and snotty snobs. Still, if you listen to his eloquence, passion, and the force of his conviction you will know why so many of those who were alive at the time of his presidency remember him with fondness and forgive him of his many sins and hypocrisies. He was and remains "like no other".

[@aa697]

JFK was and still is the kind of Greatness we will never see again. What a tremendous and immeasurable loss.

[@dianabasile2592]

A beautiful tribute to a friendly young president with a big heart!❤️

[@mariasmith2667]

I still cry. So missed!❤️

[@dpm-jt8rj]

@JFKLancer I have been watching these videos you have posted and wanted to join others in thanking you for posting them. I have watched the beginning of several of his speeches and I am very impressed that he always thanked the dignitaries in order of precedence and always says ladies and gentlemen. If today's politicians could learn some manners they too might be respected as well, but not as much as Kennedy. Kennedy was savvy and knew how to use it, he always seemed to treat people with respect regardless of the R or the D.

[@jonah1940]

JFK . . . I'm speechless !

[@TesseRact7228]

And, unfortunately, today we have FJB (a nice way of saying "Let's go Brandon").

[@shawngregory1429]

JFK was THE MAN!

[@shaungarratt9941]

I know I'm looking through rose tinted spectacles but I so, so wish that I had lived back then.

[@willruha3983]

As this clip reveals, Jack Kennedy was a wonderfully, warm, witty, and accommodating politician, even to those whose treachery was blatantly obvious in their votes. Senator George Smathers opposed JFK 62% of the time on legislative matters. He was so forceful an anti-Castro advocate, insisting on Kennedy taking extreme action, that at one point, Jack - known for his grace under pressure - so emphatically objected to Smathers’ insistent demands, that he thrust his dining fork downward with such force, as he told Smathers’ “Dammit, George, I’m NOT going to do that!” that he cracked his White House dinner plate. Kennedy liked him personally, as a friend, but in many instances they were bitterly opposed to each other’s political views. Smathers was a spokesman for the ultra-conservative Young Americans for Freedom group that CIA asset Bill Buckley established, and by mid-1963, integrated into the various anti-Castro Cuban paramilitary groups, with both being financed in part by rightwing extremist Joseph Milteer, who disclosed to undercover police asset William Somerset, the Miami plot to assassinate Kennedy via triangulated rifle fire (“We even have the patsy picked out,” he boasted.) At the time, Smathers was being exposed in Senate hearings, along with Lyndon Johnson, for massive corruption in the Bobby Baker scandal. When Kennedy visited him in his office on November 15, he told Smathers he really did NOT want to travel to Florida and Texas to try and resolve political squabbles in which the Florida solon and the vice president were involved. Smathers emphatically insisted to Kennedy that he make both trips. While in Smathers’ office, Jack graciously accommodated the wishes of the Senator’s young secretary, a Roman Catholic former layworker, who idolized the president and wanted to meet him and receive an autograph. Kennedy signed a photo for her. She had only agreed to work for Smathers owing to the chance she might have to meet JFK, knowing that Kennedy and Smathers were friends, personally. But she became terribly dissatisfied with Smathers’ opposition to JFK’s policies. At the center of Smathers’ political activities, she was acutely aware of a great deal of his nefarious dealings. At the time, she was roommate with Nancy Carole Tyler, personal secretary to Lyndon Johnson’s Senate secretary, Bobby Baker. A week later, when JFK was shot dead, she stared out of Smathers’ office window, “As if she could see things that no one else could,” as one former co-worker mentioned. She soon quit Smathers’ service, went to work for RFK, and as one of Robert Kennedy’s intelligence-gathering trust during his brief presidential race, did a great deal of research into various key political figures and their connections. Thus, following Bobby’s assassination, she found opportunity one evening to ask for a meeting to speak with Ted Kennedy. He said, “Sure, we can speak on my way back to the Edgartown Inn.” Her name was Mary Jo Kopechne. Nixon’s CIA surrogates, like Tony Ulasewicz, already on the island of Chappaquiddick, ensured that she didn’t survive. Her roommate in 1963, Nancy Tyler, had been dispatched earlier, being killed in a mysterious private plane crash on May 9, 1965. With both secretaries dead, and the Bobby Baker scandal swept under the rug, Johnson and Smathers managed to escape prosecution, impeachment, and imprisonment, to became president and a rich political lobbyist, respectively. And by 1969, their political enemies, the Kennedys had all been killed or character assassinated.

[@roadrules3671]

@Will Ruha; NEVER knew that. That's Outstanding info.

[@thejerseyj1636]

Wow. Never new any of that. JFK is the greatest President ever. And, despite flaws (as we all have) he was a good and honorable human being. We will never be able to grasp the enormity of our loss.

[@lifehope4603]

Suspected Ted Kennedy was setup

[@gregklein547]

Will Ru

[@gregklein547]

Will Ruha ,thankyou sir. I have always thought the public loved him and a lot of politicians were jealous of him.

[@t18amgr]

I laughed and cried in the same video. Bless.

[@dannyburch2122]

So inspiring idealist without a illusion self-described JFK

[@lorrainechandler7864]

I lived in Florida when Kennedy was president .My Daddy was in the Air Force stationed at Patri c k Air Force Base,Satelite Beach near Cape Canaveral.I was eight years old when he was assassinated.

[@storysource889]

One of the sharpest tacks in the drawer. He wrote the material & delivered with great comic timing

[@joelsanikomoonga1763]

What a President JFK was but most importantly what a decent human being he was. There are a few good men indeed!

[@Ice-fg9jc]

Even though he cheated on his wife?

[@joelsanikomoonga1763]

@@Ice-fg9jc hehehe yes

[@ignatiusjk]

Kennedy at his finest.Imagine a candidate like this running for President today.Instead look what we have.

[@troubledsole9104]

We are Rome in decline and Trump is our Nero.

[@francisstern9332]

it’s called tds. Trump Derangement Syndrome.

[@albertopalma1663]

We are on the path of Rome; dying from inside like the Roman Empire did. The difference is that Rome lasted longer than the US.

[@theresesouthworth227]

Kennedy was groomed for the presidency unwittingly in his early years by intelligent discussions of world matters at the dinner table for the benefit of his older brother Joe who was killed in WWII. He was an avid reader with a thirst for knowledge. The whole mature JFK was the perfect president who charmed the world and did what was best for America. One of our greatest losses.

[@albertopalma1663]

@@theresesouthworth227 Well said. RIP Mr. President.

[@ollehedstrom3536]

Another visionary speech, among many, of this incredible political leader. Where and how did he acquire these qualities of statesmanship? Unbelievable. His successors on the post weren’t even close.

[@genghisthegreat2034]

He was reared in a large family, which valued learning, and ambition. His background was Irish Catholic, a people where liberty was prized , being so long denied, and it was anathema to him that any Americans would be left behind, in education, in healthcare, in employment, in housing. And no case is so obvious that it doesn't need to be stated and argued.

[@quentinkirk3870]

We Will Never See Another President with His Charisma,Wit And Intelligence in our Lifetime, Barack Obama Was Nowhere in Kennedy's League.

[@brianocallaghan7172]

Kennedy in terms of oratory had no equal.He was exceedingly well read and had a razor sharp intellect and yes he came from a privilaged background but throw in good looks, Irish charm, and a wonderful sense of fun and comic timing on top of an avuncular bearing and then my friends you have just about scratched the surface! This guy was something else.I saw him as a nine year old boy and I am sixty five now when he visited Ireland some five months before he died and he had brought so much joy and colour to this then dull grey land that when he was assassinated Ireland grieved in a very deep and unremitting way.We were distraught

[@gladysbullock4354]

I agree with you 💯 percent

[@pekozelenovic7233]

I wish we had another kennedy like him

[@theresesouthworth227]

Has nt

[@albertopalma1663]

His son but as father's, his life was cut b4 he attempted to get into politics.

[@mjermitano6697]

What could have been 4 America if JFK was not assassinated?

[@josephdubiel7129]

CANNOT BEAT J.F.K. GREATEST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY

[@russelljohnson7067]

I think JFK was the only American president to be awarded a Purple Heart 💜

[@lorrainechandler7864]

Thanks for sharing.Love JFK.💙

[@AnonymousEponymousPodcast]

Wouldn't you love to be able to have a President again this clever, fun, inspiring, astute and well-presented? Sadly, it won't happen in our lifetimes. All politics now is "gotcha" and sound byte theatrics. I wish I could have lived during JFK's presidency.

[@MapleSyrupPoet]

Charm of the Irish 💚 just can't be beat 😅

[@jayrosen6663]

The difference between then and now-20,000 years of evolution!!!!!

[@johnbrown7009]

What a pleasure to hear an articulate, welll-educated executive give an extempore speech. Good-humoured, charming and witty. A man who cared deeply about his country, but wore his robes of office lightly.

[@peterfranks6243]

Look at America then.....and look at America at the end of the decade...two completely different planets

[@mandolindleyroadshow706]

George Smathers and JFK were best friends in the Senate. In fact, when there was some talk of replacing LBJ on the 1964 ticket, it was Smathers' name that was bandied about. Smathers problem was that he was anti-Civil Rights and Kennedy could not convince him to change his opinion. For Smathers, it was not a core belief, but a fear of his Florida electorate. In the end, on the Civil Rights issue, LBJ showed the Dixecrats who was boss.

[@nancypoopongpaibul5642]

A president who had visions and full of energy inspired people. We miss him.

[@theluminary832]

Wonderful thank you for posting!! An excellent reminder of the last great President of the USA