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The President: And that's why 50 years later
John F. Kennedy stands for prosperity,
as he did in life.
Young and bold and daring.
And he stays with us in our imagination
not because left us too soon,
but because he embodied the character
of the people he led --
resilient, resolute, fearless and fun-loving,
defiant in the face of impossible odds,
and, most of all, determined to make the world anew,
not settling for what is, but rather for what might be.
And in his idealism,
his sober, square-jawed idealism,
we are reminded that the power to change this country is ours.
You know, this afternoon Michelle and I were joined
by President Clinton and Secretary Clinton
to pay tribute to that proud legacy,
and we had a chance to lay a wreath at the gravesite
at Arlington where President Kennedy is surrounded
by his wife and younger brothers,
and where he will rest in peace for all time,
remembered not just for his victories
in battle or in politics,
but for the words he uttered all those years ago.
We will be remembered for our contribution
to the human spirit.
How blessed we are to live in a country where these
contributions overflow in ways both heralded
and not so heralded.
The thousands of people in San Francisco
who just helped a little boy recovering from cancer
live out his super hero dreams,
that's part of that spirit.
The Marine deploying relief after a devastating typhoon
all across an ocean,
people checking on their neighbors after a tornado,
the families across the country who will spend Thanksgiving Day
cooking feasts so others less fortunate might eat,
that's part of the spirit.
That's who we are, a people whose greatness comes
not by settling for what we can achieve in our own lives,
but also because we dare to ask what we can do as citizens
to contribute to this grand experiment we call America.
