Beschreibung:

KENNEDY, John Fitzgerald (1917-1963), President . Two speeches (one typescript, one manuscript) delivered by Senator Kennedy, the typescript entitled "Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy before Annual New England Air Reserve Review," with reading markings; KENNEDY'S AUTOGRAPH DRAFT OF ANOTHER SPEECH, his Holy Cross College Address, boldly penned in ink on the blank versos of the typescript. [28 October-15 November 1955]. Typescript: 6 pages, 4to (10½ x 8 in.), typed double-spaced on heavy bond stock, several sections of text lined through by Kennedy, other sections bracketed and some passages underlined for emphasis in delivery. Manuscript: 5 pages, 4to, penned on the versos of pp.1-5 of the typescript, comprising some 650 words in the Senator's quick, upward-slanting script. "IT IS FOLLY TO 'CRY PEACE, PEACE, WHEN THERE IS NO PEACE'": KENNEDY CONSIDERS THE REALITY OF DETENTE: TWO SPEECHES IN ONE A remarkable double manuscript. On the rectos is the reading typescript from which Kennedy delivered his address at the annual New England Air Reserve Review, at the South Weymouth Naval Air station, on Friday, October 28, 1955. In that address, Kennedy observes that President Eisenhower and Secretary of States Dulles recently "came back from a summit of the 'Big Four' at Geneva" and reported that "the leaders of the Soviet Union had assured him...that that nation 'intended to pursue a new spirit of conciliation and cooperation'." Kennedy carefully considers the reliability of these optimistic predictions. He analyzes reported reductions of the armed forces of the Soviet Union and its satellites, concludes that they are essentially "meaningless" and expresses skepticism about the Soviet's "attitude of sweetness and light." Since "we have yet to see any real evidence of that transformation, and, quoting a Hebrew prophet, he contends, "it is folly to 'cry peace, peace, when there is no peace.'" In spite of reductions, the "Communist military power in Europe" remains "many, many times as large" as that of NATO. He expresses alarm at military reductions by France and Britain, and warns that "here in the United States the past few years have witnessed deplorable cuts in every branch of the service." On the verso of this address, Kennedy has rapidly penned the rough draft of another address, delivered at Holy Cross College on 15 November 1955, largely devoted to the same issues, especially the relative balance of power between the NATO allies and the Communist block. Kennedy details five new problems raised by the recent Geneva summit; he observes, "NATO has not developed militarily as was earlier presumed-but it has served its purpose--& Western Europe is still free." He asserts that "since Geneva NATO has suffered severe blows," and although "prospects of war have faded in W. Europe," "it is folly to reduce" our capacity for defense. A concluding section of the draft discusses the problem of refugees and immigration policy.