January 18, 2005: Ask Not
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January 18, 2005: Ask Not
| Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "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." |
- January 31, 2005: Headlines: COS - Niger: Country Directors - Niger: Presidents - Bush: Inaugural Address: News Max: Niger Country Director James R. Bullington says President Bush's Inaugural Speech speaks directly to Peace Corps and to Peace Corps' role in Niger Tuesday, February 01, 2005 - 1:07 am [1]
- January 27, 2005: Headlines: Presidents - Bush: Speeches: Speaking Out: Beverly Citizen: If Bush's inaugural address is to be more than rhetoric, we hope he'll follow it up with some concrete moves to nurture freedom, the rule of law and the protection of minorities overseas. Let's talk about expanding the Peace Corps, improving public diplomacy, and retooling or military so it is as effective at peace-keeping and nation-building as it is at war-making. Friday, January 28, 2005 - 9:35 pm [1]
- January 21, 2005: Headlines: Presidents - Kennedy: Speaking Out: Inaugurals: Aspen Daily News: Kennedy, for all his personal and sexual demons, understood without equivocation that the New Frontier he foresaw needed the clean-burning fuel of personal sacrifice. If America were to get what it wanted in the world, then we would have to give without necessarily expecting anyone would give anything back in return Friday, January 28, 2005 - 9:34 pm [1]
- January 22, 2005: Headlines: Speaking Out: Presidents - Bush: Toronto Star: Since its birth, the United States has always been a beacon light of freedom and has spread the good word about democracy and self-government through ideas and aid — but not at gunpoint. Has Bush ever heard of the Marshall Plan, the Peace Corps, the Voice of America and exchange student programs? Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 12:49 pm [1]
- January 21, 2005: Headlines: Presidents - Bush: Inaugural: Speeches: Detroit Free Press: In Inaugural Address, Echoing John F. Kennedy, Bush wants young Americans to serve their country, but while Kennedy formed the Peace Corps, Bush hasn't said what he means. Friday, January 21, 2005 - 11:02 pm [1]
- January 21, 2005: Headlines: Presidents - Bush: Inaugural: Speeches: Taunton Gazette: In his Inaugural, the president made no reference to diplomacy or peace talks or the Peace Corps, despite a groundswell even among fellow Republicans for the use of such strategies. Friday, January 21, 2005 - 11:00 pm [1]
- January 17, 2005: Town Hall: If we inquire from whom President Bush may draw inspiration, I believe it would be President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 1:29 pm [1]
- January 15, 2005: Headlines: Presidents - Kennedy: Speeches: Inauguration: New York Times: Ask How by Tunisia RPCV Thurston Clarke Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 5:34 pm [2]
- October 24, 2004: Headlines: Presidents - Kennedy: San Fransisco Chronicle: "Kennedy was more than the 'principal architect' of his inaugural address; he was its stonecutter and mason, too." Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 1:20 pm [1]
- January 20, 1961: Headlines: Presidents - Kennedy: JFK Library: Inauguration Address of John F. Kennedy Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 12:05 pm [3]
By Anonymous (cpe-75-85-30-223.socal.res.rr.com - 75.85.30.223) on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 6:53 pm: Edit Post |
Ever notice how Kennedy lifted this quotation from President Harding?
"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."
Kennedy, Inauguration 1961
"In the great fulfillment we must have a citizenship less concerned about what the government can do for it and more anxious about what it can do for the nation"
--Warren G. Harding
Address at the Republican Convention, June 7, 1916 Chicago
By Daniel (34.gardena-05rh15-16rt.ca.dial-access.att.net - 12.72.74.34) on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 2:04 pm: Edit Post |
Well, do note that there is a different idea here:
Harding said that people should want the government to work for the good of the nation as a whole, rather than that it should focus on their interests. Kennedy said that individuals should work for the collective good, rather than wanting the collective to work for them.
But, yes, Kennedy does see to have adapted Harding without giving credit and without reasonable expectation that the audience would recognize the words as allusion.