The Challenge President Kennedy gave Americans.

The late President J F Kennedy made a powerful speech on his inauguration 50 years ago as the 35th President of USA. That speech remains to date a challenge to the people of America.  It can also be used as a yardstick for the measurement of the achievements of successive Presidents up to and including Barack Obama

"The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God."  he said.     Lest we forget, America is a God fearing nation and was designed so by its founders.It is a great nation today because of that. Amending its constitution to remove references to God is a mistake, for the vision of removing poverty and protecting the human life can only be achieved through continued dedication to God.

He placed a noble task in the hands of  Americans when he said  : ".......unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world."  Today the President of China is on a state visit to USA. Perhaps this is another opportunity for US to engage China constructively on the issue of human rights. I believe this is what JFK would have wanted.

On the international political stage, his vision of the role of UN can be deduced from his words when he said "To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support -- to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective, to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak, and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run." A historical review of the performance of USA within the umbrella of the UN to date has been less than impressive. This why the peoples of the troubled regions of the world rejoiced when Barack Obama was elected under the banner of change.

The poor peoples of the world are holding the Americans to the promise he made to them in the speech. He said  : "To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required -- not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."

I salute this fallen Heroe and great Son of America and hope his people will carry on the torch which he lit.