Coline Berthe 5/05/2020

Peace speech June 1963

The peace speech in 1963 by John F. Kennedy is mentioned around minute 45 of the
podcast “The bomb”.

On June 10th, 1963, at the American University in Washington D.C., President John F.

Kennedy made a plea for peace around the world. The speech meant so much to the

President that very few trustworthy advisors got to revise the speech before it got

delivered. Kennedy’s main argument was that “if we cannot end now our differences, at

least we can help make the world safe for diversity1”. These worldwide known words are

still considered to be one of the greatest speeches of any American president. Up to

today, these thoughts have an impact on how the world is governed and on what actions

are taken towards peace.

Kennedy’s words were directly influenced by his stressful experience during the

1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that had nearly lead to a nuclear war. Since then, documents

have been shown that some generals such as the submarine officer Vasili Arkhipov2,

neglected their indirect orders to launch nuclear attacks and start a war. Once the crisis

was done, many thought war had been avoided thanks to soldiers’ rationality however,

1
Kennedy, John F. “Commencement Address at American University, Washington, D.C., June 10, 1963.”
JFK Library​, Presidential Library and Museum,
www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/american-university-19630610.
2
Jogalekar, Ashutosh. “JFK, Nuclear Weapons and the 1963 Peace Speech: How Far Have We Come?”
Scientific American Blog Network​, Scientific American, 10 June 2013,
blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/jfk-nuclear-weapons-and-the-1963-peace-speech
-how-far-have-we-come/.
Coline Berthe 5/05/2020

JKF did not. He believed that it had only been luck and therefore felt the urge to speak

to his people about peace.

Kennedy was therefore well aware of how quickly and undpredictibaly war could

explode. He had given a speech two years before in front of the United Nations to which

the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had said to have common opinions on, something

incredibely rare between the two nations. This brought the instalation of a telephone

hotline between the two coutries to increase communication between leaders and losen

tensions.

Kennedy also started the innitiative of making new treaties regarding nuclear

weapons. The Partial Test Ban Treaty3 that banned nuclear tests underwater, in the air

and in space was signed by the UK, US, Soviet Union and Nothern Ireland right after the

conference on August 5th, 1963. This was followed by many other treaties later on,

always reducing the amount of nuclear weapons in these countries. Some years after

this speech, less expected coutries too deicded to give up their arms such as South

Africa, Lybia, Sweeden, Brazil, and the former Soviet Republics.

The ​Peace Speech​ in June 1963 gave hope not only to American citizens but also

to the rest of the world. It was very optimistic which was what people wanted to hear at

the time. Some national initiatives were recommended in order to reach the President’s

goal such as the on on to join the Peace Corps, an oragnization that promotes peace

3
“Limited or Partial Test Ban Treaty (LTBT/PTBT).” ​Atomic Heritage Foundation,​ 10 June 2016,
www.atomicheritage.org/history/limited-or-partial-test-ban-treaty-ltbtptbt.
Coline Berthe 5/05/2020

across the world. Through his rethorical questions, Kennedy allowed the whole world to

reflect on the topic and take local action towards their objective.

There are still struggles that are being faced by nations in order to reach

Kennedy’s goal. Although actions have been taken, there have been some withdraws

from nations. This kind of regression and challenge had however been realisticallly

predicted by the president as his words reported “genuine peace must be the product of

many nations, the sum of many acts”. There is still hope though that one day, this

objective will be fully real.

Work Cited

Jogalekar, Ashutosh. “JFK, Nuclear Weapons and the 1963 Peace Speech: How Far
Have We Come?” ​Scientific American Blog Network​, Scientific American, 10 June 2013,
blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/jfk-nuclear-weapons-and-the-1
963-peace-speech-how-far-have-we-come/.

Kennedy, John F. “Commencement Address at American University, Washington,

D.C., June 10, 1963.” ​JFK Library​, Presidential Library and Museum,
www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/american-unive
rsity-19630610.

“Limited or Partial Test Ban Treaty (LTBT/PTBT).” ​Atomic Heritage Foundation​,

10 June 2016,
www.atomicheritage.org/history/limited-or-partial-test-ban-treaty-ltbtptbt.

Harris, Sam. ​Making Sense Podcast #186 - The Bomb.​ 17 Feb. 2020,
samharris.org/podcasts/186-the-bomb/.

Horgan, John. “50 Years Later, JFK ‘Peace Speech’ Still Inspires-and Has Been
Scientifically Validated!” ​Scientific American Blog Network​, Scientific American, 10
June 2013,
blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/50-years-later-jfk-peace-speech-still-inspires
-and-has-been-scientifically-validated/.
Coline Berthe 5/05/2020

Goldgeier, James. “J.F.K.'s 'Strategy of Peace'.” ​The New York Times,​ The New York
Times, 9 June 2013,
www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/opinion/global/jfks-strategy-of-peace.html.