“We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of worldwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth—but neither will we shrink from that risk at any time it must be faced.”
John F. Kennedy
Address During The Cuban Missile Crisis (Primary source)
On the evening of October 22, 1962, at 7:00 p.m., Kennedy spoke on television, revealing the evidence of Soviet missiles in Cuba and calling for their removal. He reported that the installations included medium-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead for more than 1,000 nautical miles—each capable of striking Washington, D.C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or any other city in the southeastern part of the United States.
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“We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“We have had our failures, but so have others, even if they do not admit them. And they may be less public.”
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“This is a time for action—not for war, but for mobilization of every bit of peace machinery.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt Primary source“A war postponed may be a war averted.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“If you have time don’t wait for time.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“In War: Resolution, In Defeat: Defiance, In Victory: Magnanimity, In Peace: Goodwill.”
— Winston Churchill Primary sourceResolution Defiance War Atoms Nuclear war