JFK Liberal Lion

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

"For of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each of us, recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state, our success or failure, in whatever office we hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions:

First, were we truly men of courage, with the courage to stand up to one’s enemies, and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one’s associates, the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed?

Secondly, were we truly men of judgment, with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past, of our mistakes as well as the mistakes of others, with enough wisdom to know what we did not know and enough candor to admit it?

Third, were we truly men of integrity, men who never ran out on either the principles in which we believed or the men who believed in us, men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust?

Finally, were we truly men of dedication, with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group, and comprised of no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest?

Courage, judgment, integrity, dedication; these are the historic qualities … which, with God’s help … will characterize our Government’s conduct in the four stormy years that lie ahead."

(from a speech to the Massachusetts State Legislature, 9 January 1961, three weeks before his inauguration as the 35th President of the USA)

- John F. Kennedy, born today on 29 May 1917.

“If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties - someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal", then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal.”

The 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his death in 1963.


“The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie - deliberate, contrived and dishonest - but the myth - persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” 

“A revolution is coming – a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough – but a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.”

“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future. ”

The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.

John F. Kennedy, Speech at Vanderbilt University, May 18, 1963