>> I john Fitzgerald Kennedy do solemnly swear

>> that you will faithfully execute the office of President of the United

States

>> that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States

>> and will to the best of your ability

>> and will to the best of my ability

>> preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States

>> preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States

>> so help you God?

>> so help me God.

[Cheering & Applause]

Vice President Johnson,

Mr. Speaker,

Mr. Chief Justice,

President Eisenhower,

Vice President Nixon,

President Truman,

reverend clergy, fellow citizens,

We observe today not a victory of party,

but a celebration of freedom

symbolising 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 forebears 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.

Let the word go forth from this time and place,

to friend and foe alike,

that the torch has been passed

to a new generation of Americans

born in this century, tempered by war,

disciplined by a hard and bitter peace,

proud of our ancient heritage

and unwilling to witness or permit

the slow undoing of those human rights

to which this nation has always been committed,

and to which we are committed today

at home and around the world.

[Applause]

Let every nation know,

whether it wishes us well or ill,

that we shall pay any price,

bear any burden, meet any hardship,

support any friend, oppose any foe,

to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

[Applause]

This much we pledge and more.

To those old allies

whose cultural and spiritual origins we share,

we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends.

United, there is little we cannot do

in a host of cooperative ventures.

Divided, there is little we can do

for we dare not meet a powerful challenge

at odds and split asunder.

To those new States whom we welcome

to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word

that one form of colonial control

shall not have passed away

merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny.

We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view.

But we shall always hope to find them

strongly supporting their own freedom

and to remember that, in the past,

those who foolishly sought power

by riding the back of the tiger

ended up inside.

[Applause]

To those people in the huts and villages across the globe

struggling to break the bonds of mass misery,

we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves,

for whatever period is required

not because the Communists may be doing it,

not because we seek their votes,

but because it is right.

If a free society cannot help the many who are poor,

it cannot save the few who are rich.

[Applause]

To our sister republics south of our border,

we offer a special pledge

to convert our good words into good deeds

in a new alliance for progress

to assist free men and free governments

in casting off the chains of poverty.

But this peaceful revolution of hope

cannot become the prey of hostile powers.

Let all our neighbours know

that we shall join with them

to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas.

And let every other power know

that this Hemisphere intends to remain

the master of its own house.

[Applause]

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations,

our last best hope

in an age where the instruments of war

have far outpaced the instruments of peace,

we renew our pledge of support

to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective

to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak

and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary,

we offer not a pledge but a request:

that both sides begin anew the quest for peace,

before the dark powers of destruction

unleashed by science

engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness.

For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt

can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations

take comfort from our present course

both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons,

both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom,

yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror

that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

So let us begin anew

remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness,

and sincerity is always subject to proof.

Let us never negotiate out of fear,

But let us never fear to negotiate.

[Applause]

Let both sides explore what problems unite us

instead of belabouring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time,

formulate serious and precise proposals

for the inspection and control of arms

and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations

under the absolute control of all nations.

[Applause]