History In Ink®  Historical Autographs


2432801

John F. Kennedy

Scroll down to see images of the item below the description

Kennedy signs an excerpt from his declaration of the New Frontier

in his acceptance speech at the 1960 Democratic convention

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1917–1963.  35th President of the United States, 1961–1963.  Printed brochure, signed John F. Kennedy, from the 1960 presidential campaign.

It was in his acceptance speech at the 1960 Democratic National Convention that Kennedy coined the term “New Frontier,” which came to symbolize his presidency.  It was the charismatic Kennedy at his eloquent best. 

This exceptional piece, with a beautiful signature, is a panel from Kennedy’s 1960 California campaign brochure. It contains an excerpt from his acceptance speech.  Kennedy has signed in blue ballpoint at the end of the excerpt where it reads:  “give me your help, your hand, your voice, your vote.”  In a bit of campaign rhetoric, whoever designed the brochure added the request for “your vote,” which Kennedy did not say in his acceptance speech.

In that speech, which he delivered at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 15, 1960, Kennedy said that “we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier—the frontier of the 1960s, the frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, the frontier of unfilled hopes and unfilled threats.”  He distinguished the promises of “Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom” and “Franklin Roosevelt&squo;s New Deal,” insisting that “the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises. It is a set of challenges.”  With shades of what would become his most famous line, “ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country,” Kennedy challenged the assembled Democrats and the nationwide television audience.  The New Frontier, he said,

sums up not what I intend to offer to the American people, but what I intend to ask of them. . . . It appeals to our pride, not our security.  It holds out the promise of more sacrifice instead of more security.

The New Frontier is here whether we seek it or not.

Beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. It would be easier to shrink from that new frontier, to look to the safe mediocrity of the past, to be lulled by good intentions and high rhetoric . . . .

But I believe that the times require imagination and courage and perseverance.  I'm asking each of you to be pioneers towards that New Frontier.  My call is to the young in heart, regardless of age—to the stout in spirit, regardless of Party, to all who respond to the scriptural call: "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be [thou] dismayed."

For courage, not complacency, is our need today; leadership, not salesmanship. And the only valid test of leadership is the ability to lead, and lead vigorously. . . .

There may be those who wish to hear more -- more promises to this group or that, more harsh rhetoric about the men in the Kremlin as a substitute for policy, more assurances of a golden future, where taxes are always low and the subsidies are always high. . . . Our ends will not be won by rhetoric, and we can have faith in the future only if we have faith in ourselves.

For the harsh facts of the matter are that we stand at this frontier at a turning-point of history. We must prove all over again to a watching world, as we said on a most conspicuous stage, whether this nation, conceived as it is with its freedom of choice, its breadth of opportunity, its range of alternatives, can compete with the single-minded advance of the Communist system.

. . . .

Have we the nerve and the will? Can we carry through in an age where we will witness not only new breakthroughs in weapons of destruction, but also a race for mastery of the sky and the rain, the ocean and the tides, the far side of space, and the inside of men's minds?

That is the question of the New Frontier.

That is the choice our nation must make -- a choice that lies not merely between two men or two parties, but between the public interest and private comfort, between national greatness and national decline, between the fresh air of progress and the stale, dank atmosphere of "normalcy," between dedication of mediocrity.

All mankind waits upon our decision. A whole world looks to see what we shall do. And we cannot fail that trust. And we cannot fail to try.

Kennedy concluded with a plea:  “Give me your help and your hand and your voice. . . . As we face the coming great challenge, we . . . shall wait upon the Lord, and ask that He renew our strength.  Then we shall be equal to the test.”

This piece evidently has been removed along the fold line from what was originally a bi-fold brochure.  The back side argues that “california needs kennedy!” and says, among other things, that “California needs a young and vigorous President who understands and sympathizes with its problems of growth and expansion,” one “willing to use the powers of government for the benefit of all the people.”

Kennedy lost California to Republican Richard Nixon, a California native who had represented the state in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, although Kennedy ended up winning one of the closest presidential elections in American history.  He lost California by 35,623 votes out of 6,483,821 votes cast.  Nixon’s margin in California was the closest of the states that he won, and the California vote was the fourth closest in the election.

This piece has a classic Kennedy signature. Kennedy has signed next to his printed name in a blank area beneath the plea for votes.  There is a tad bit of paper loss at the upper edge, which does not detract from the overall attractiveness of the piece, and a tiny stain toward the bottom that is well removed from the signature and that we mention for the sake of accuracy.  It is in very fine condition.

This would be stunning framed with a photo of JFK speaking at the convention. 

Unframed.  Please ask us about custom framing this piece.

Click here to see other Presidents and First Ladies autographs.

$2,950.00

ORDER THIS ITEM

.

 

home  |  presidents  |  supreme court  |  american history  |  world history  |  contact us

     

© History In Ink, L.L.C.

           

 

 

 Registered Dealer # RD281