Monday, January 9, 1961
January 9, 1961
JFK was in Boston, Massachusetts where he addressed a Joint Convention of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as the state legislature is formally known.
This short speech of 8 minutes 39 seconds would become known as the “city on a hill” speech. In it, JFK declared that Massachusetts would always remain his home. In addition, he quoted John Winthrop on the pilgrim ship Arabella who said, “We must always consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill – the eyes of all people are upon us.”
Kennedy closed by describing four themes – courage, judgement, integrity, and dedication – he wished to stress in his upcoming administration, challenging every man (women were not mentioned) to ask if those attributes apply to him.
clip of city upon a hill speech
[JFKL]