Nation: All This Will Not Be Finished

A dignified top hat sat squarely upon his head, but beneath it a boyish grin showed that the young man was having the time of his life. On that day—Jan. 20, 1961—John Fitzgerald Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President of the United States. And when he had taken the oath of office, he stood bareheaded in a bitter winter wind and delivered an inaugural address that crackled with the gusto of youth, yet had an eloquence that was ageless.

"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been...

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