In Honor of the
82nd Anniversary
of the Birth of
President John F. Kennedy

JFK Graphic

Blue Divider Image

Happy Birthday Mr. President

In 1963, the Irish Ambassador to the United States, Thomas P. Kiernan, brought a gift to President Kennedy from the people of Wexford in honor of the birth of his son, John F. Kennedy Jr. Upon presenting the gift, Ambassador Kiernan asked the President's permission to recite verses written by an Irish poet friend of his some thirty years earlier for the birth of the Ambassador's own son. President Kennedy appreciatively agreed and the Ambassador recited the lines below. President Kennedy, visibly moved by the poem, said he wished it had been written for him -- and so it is, in celebration of the 82nd Anniversary of his birth...

We wish to the new child...
A heart that can be beguiled by a flower
That the wind lifts as it passes
Over the grasses after a summer shower;
A heart that can recognize, without aid of the eyes
The gifts that life holds for the wise.

When the storms break for him,
May the trees shake for him their blossoms down.
In the night that he is troubled,
May a friend wake for him,
So that his time is doubled.

And at the end of all loving and love,
May the Man Above give him a crown.

In his quest for a lasting peace, President Kennedy said:

"We can help make the world safe for diversity. 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."

(Commencement Address at American University, June 10, 1963)

"Never before has man had such capacity to control his own destiny, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery. We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world -- or make it the last."

(Address to the United Nations General Assembly, September 20, 1963)

"Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the Earth the command of Isaiah--to 'undo the heavy burdens... [and] let the oppressed go free.'"

"My fellow Americans, let us take that first step. Let us... step back from the shadow of war and seek out the way of peace. And if that journey is a thousand miles, or even more, let history record that we in this land at this time, took the first step."

(Radio and Television Address to the American People on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, July 26, 1963)

US Flag Image

WEXFORD salutes President Kennedy . . .

In the spirit of Peace...

John F. Kennedy Library & Museum
http://www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/index.htm

The Kennedy Center
http://kennedy-center.org

The White House's Glimpse of JFK, Our 35th President
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/glimpse/presidents/html/jk35.html

U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy's Home Page
http://www.senate.gov/~kennedy

The White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov

Links to Information about Other Presidents of the United States
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/glimpse/presidents/html/presidents.html

National Archives and Records Administration
http://www.nara.gov

Remembering Jack and Bobby

A Kennedy Anthology

Edited by Sheila L. Cassidy

Sheila Cassidy, Executive Director and founder of WEXFORD, has worked in public education for over thirty years, inspired to do so by the lives and words of John and Robert Kennedy. Sheila was motivated to publish her favorite quotations by and about John and Robert Kennedy so that their voices may be heard again, and so that we may be inspired anew by their legacies to us.

Remembering Jack and Bobby may be obtained through the John F. Kennedy Library's museum store, The Peace Academy or Amazon.com Books. Part of the proceeds from the sale of this book are used to support work for peace.