Posts

James Meredith Ole Miss
, , ,

James Meredith: On a Mission From God

On this day in 1962, James Meredith, having twice been denied admission to the University of Mississippi is escorted onto Ole Miss campus by U.S. Marshals, forcing integration, and causing a race riot in which two men were killed.

It took more than 3,000 federal soldiers to stop the violence.

Meredith is a nine-year Air Force veteran of African American, British Canadian, Scottish Irish, and Choctaw heritage.

He was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s January 20, 1961 inaugural address (yes, the “ask not” speech):
“For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”

So, Meredith sent a letter to Ole Miss the following day requesting an application in order to exercise his constitutional right to apply to the all-white school.

Then, in a letter to Thurgood Marshall, he lays out his motives:
“I am making this move in what I consider the interest of and for the benefit of: (1) my country, (2) my race, (3) my family, and (4) myself. I am familiar with the probable difficulties involved in such a move as I am undertaking and I am fully prepared to pursue it all the way to a degree from the University of Mississippi.”

Also, decidedly understated, he added that he was “familiar with the probable difficulties involved in such a move as I am undertaking and I am fully prepared to pursue it all the way to a degree from the University of Mississippi.”

“Divine Responsibility”

After all, as he said:
“Nobody handpicked me… I believed, and believe now, that I have a Divine Responsibility to break white supremacy in Mississippi, and getting in Ole Miss was only the start.”

In the prologue to his memoir Mission from God, he wrote:
“I have no fear because I am an American citizen, heir to a sacred covenant of citizenship bestowed on me by George Washington and the Founding Fathers and Mothers of the nation. … And I am on a mission from God.”

Finally, powerfully, James Meredith is quoted as saying:
“My answer to the racial problem in America is to not deal with it at all. The founding fathers dealt with it when they made the Constitution.”

James Meredith Ole Miss

 

/0 Comments/by
John F. Kennedy Moon shot JFK
, ,

NASA : “the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure”

On this day in 1958, Congress passes legislation establishing NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

A few years later, on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivers his Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs. During “Section IX: Space,” he famously challenged:
“First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

Later, on September 12, 1962 he reiterated that important challenge:
“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, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

There

Finally, he concluded with stirring simplicity:
“Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, “Because it is there.”

Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”

John F. Kennedy Moon shot JFK

/0 Comments/by
John F. Kennedy Acceptance Speech Democratic National Convention 1960
, ,

JFK: “We too, shall wait upon the Lord”

Nominated

On this day in 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy is nominated for the presidency by the Democratic Convention, defeating Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who is named his running mate the next day.

Upon accepting the nomination, JFK closed his address with these words:

“Give me your help, your hand, your voice, your vote. Recall with me the words of Isaiah: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary.”

As we face the coming challenge, we too, shall wait upon the Lord, and ask that he renew our strength. Then shall we be equal to the test. Then we shall not be weary. And then we shall prevail.”

Kennedy went on to win one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history, narrowly besting Vice President Richard M. Nixon, becoming the youngest candidate ever elected to the presidency and also the first Catholic president. 

Inaugurated

JFK opened his famous inaugural address with these words:

“We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom–symbolizing an end as well as a beginning–signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”

He closed with these:

“The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it–and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.“

After less than three years in office, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

John F. Kennedy Acceptance Speech Democratic National Convention 1960

/0 Comments/by
President Ronald Reagan first inaugural address
,

Prayerful January 20th Inaugural Address Quotes

Since 1937, Inauguration Day occurs on January 20th following a presidential election. So, here is a collection of quotes from four January 20 inaugural addresses from four different presidents:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, fourth inaugural address, 1945

As I stand here today, having taken the solemn oath of office in the presence of my fellow countrymen–in the presence of our God— I know that it is America’s purpose that we shall not fail.
…
The Almighty God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has become the hope of all peoples in an anguished world.

So we pray to Him now for the vision to see our way clearly–to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow men–to the achievement of His will to peace on earth.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, first inaugural address, 1953

My friends, before I begin the expression of those thoughts that I deem appropriate to this moment, would you permit me the privilege of uttering a little private prayer of my own. And I ask that you bow your heads:
Almighty God, as we stand here at this moment my future associates in the Executive branch of Government join me in beseeching that Thou will make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people in this throng, and their fellow citizens everywhere.

Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby, and by the laws of this land. Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all the people regardless of station, race or calling.

May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who, under the concepts of our Constitution, hold to differing political faiths; so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory. Amen.
…
We are summoned by this honored and historic ceremony to witness more than the act of one citizen swearing his oath of service, in the presence of God. We are called as a people to give testimony in the sight of the world to our faith that the future shall belong to the free.
…
In the swift rush of great events, we find ourselves groping to know the full sense and meaning of these times in which we live. In our quest of understanding, we beseech God’s guidance. We summon all our knowledge of the past and we scan all signs of the future.
…
It is because we, all of us, hold to these principles that the political changes accomplished this day do not imply turbulence, upheaval or disorder. Rather this change expresses a purpose of strengthening our dedication and devotion to the precepts of our founding documents, a conscious renewal of faith in our country and in the watchfulness of a Divine Providence.

John F. Kennedy, 1961

We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom–symbolizing an end as well as a beginning–signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution.
…

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.

Ronald Reagan, first inaugural address, 1981

To a few of us here today this is a solemn and most momentous occasion, and yet in the history of our nation it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place, as it has for almost two centuries, and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every 4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.
…
[Y]ou, the citizens of this blessed land. Your dreams, your hopes, your goals are going to be the dreams, the hopes, and the goals of this administration, so help me God.
…
I’m told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day, and for that I’m deeply grateful. We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each Inaugural Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.
…
[B]elieve that together with God’s help we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.

And after all, why shouldn’t we believe that? We are Americans.

 

Finally, even with no constitutional requirement for a Bible while taking the oath of office, the custom endures. After all, as Abraham Lincoln said “it is the best gift God has given to man.”

President Ronald Reagan first inaugural address

/0 Comments/by
John F. Kennedy Except the Lord
,

John F. Kennedy : United in our heritage

John F. Kennedy Except the Lord
On this day in 1963, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dallas, Texas. He was the fourth U.S. president to be assassinated.

Words from the speeches he was unable to deliver are helpful yet today.

“Ancient vision” and “Our hopes for the future”

First, an excerpt of remarks he was to give later that day to the Texas Democratic State Committee in Austin:

“So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our Nation’s future is at stake. Let us stand together with renewed confidence in our cause–united in our heritage of the past and our hopes for the future–and determined that this land we love shall lead all mankind into new frontiers of peace and abundance.”

President Kennedy was going to the Trade Mart to speak to the Dallas Citizens Council when he was assassinated. The following is a portion of that undelivered speech:

“We, in this country, in this generation, are — by destiny rather than by choice — the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of “peace on earth, good will toward men.” That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: “except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain.”

Finally, the next day, President Lyndon B. Johnson “appoint[ed] November 25, the day of the funeral service of President Kennedy, to be a national day of mourning…” He said, “I earnestly recommend the people to assemble on that day in their respective places of divine worship, there to bow down in submission to the will of Almighty God, and to pay their homage of love and reverence to the memory of a great and good man.”

 

John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

/0 Comments/by
JFK eternal flame
,

John F. Kennedy: “Our time and for all time…”

On this day in 1967, the body of President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent resting site at Arlington National Cemetery, just a few feet from the original site.

Kennedy had been assassinated more than three years earlier, on November 22, 1963.

Here are the closing words from the luncheon speech he never gave that day:

“We in this country, in this generation are, by destiny rather than choice, the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of “peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago, “Except the Lord Keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”

Eternal

JFK was a World War II veteran so he qualified for a plot at Arlington National Cemetery. Reportedly, the spring before he died he remarked to a friend that the view of the Potomac from the Custis-Lee Mansion at Arlington was “so magnificent I could stay forever.”

Symbolically, the eternal flame marking his final resting place is fueled by a natural gas line. A continuous electronic flashing spark reignites the flame if it is extinguished by rain or wind.

May the flame lit by our shared faith, founding, and freedom never die out!

John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

/0 Comments/by