WEBVTT 00:00:00.750 --> 00:00:04.476 Remarks of President John F. Kennedy upon arriving in Phoenix, Arizona, 00:00:04.509 --> 00:00:12.245 November 17, 1961. 00:00:12.278 --> 00:00:15.206 Right. 00:00:15.239 --> 00:00:20.977 I want to express my pleasure at coming back again to Arizona. And 00:00:21.010 --> 00:00:25.046 particularly coming back on an occasion. Which I think has so much 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:30.806 significance as this does. Arizona, which is a comparatively speaking, a 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:36.135 young state. is represented in the United States Senate by a senator who 00:00:36.168 --> 00:00:41.217 has been so intimate a part of the life of this state. So in saluting 00:00:41.250 --> 00:00:47.536 Senator Hayden for 50 years of devoted service, we also salute Arizona and 00:00:47.569 --> 00:00:51.746 the Southwest and the best of the United States. Thank you for the warm 00:00:51.779 --> 00:00:56.847 welcome, and I share your pride and satisfaction in the work of this state 00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:00.226 and in the work of a man so intimately identified with it. And thank you 00:01:00.259 --> 00:01:08.259 for coming to the airport. 00:01:12.010 --> 00:01:15.566 A press conference held by President John F. Kennedy for high school 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:23.406 editors in Phoenix, Arizona, 17th of November 1961. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:30.186 Senator Hayden, where the, where is the representative of the Carl Hayden 00:01:30.219 --> 00:01:32.626 High School? that's where they ought to be. Well, we want to express, uh, 00:01:32.659 --> 00:01:36.266 I want to say what a great pleasure it is at coming here to Senator 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:41.786 Hayden's 50th anniversary. I think that uh sometimes uh around the world, 00:01:41.819 --> 00:01:47.855 the United States is regarded as a somewhat elderly country, somewhat old. 00:01:47.888 --> 00:01:53.566 And uh I think it's a welcome reminder. To come to this occasion. Where 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:58.406 our 48th state, where Arizona became part of the Union, where this was 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:02.126 really part of the American frontier in the life of one of our most 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:06.566 distinguished senators, President Pro Tem of the Senate, and also Chairman 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:10.585 of the Senate Appropriations Committee. This is a great state and a great 00:02:10.618 --> 00:02:14.656 part of the United States, and I want to express my great pleasure at 00:02:14.689 --> 00:02:21.356 finding the high school editors here today. In the next 1020 or 30 years. 00:02:21.389 --> 00:02:24.957 Uh, you will have an opportunity not only to report the news, but I hope 00:02:24.990 --> 00:02:29.616 participate in making it. I hope that all of you, and I think that the 00:02:29.649 --> 00:02:34.136 fact that you're here today and by your interest, I hope that all of you 00:02:34.169 --> 00:02:39.805 will, as either Republicans or possibly even as Democrats, you will uh. 00:02:39.838 --> 00:02:42.316 That you will 00:02:42.349 --> 00:02:47.555 decide to commit part of your lives to this country, that you will 00:02:47.588 --> 00:02:50.755 consider in a whole variety of ways how you can serve it both here and 00:02:50.788 --> 00:02:55.126 around the world. That you will use your time in high school and I hope in 00:02:55.159 --> 00:03:00.286 college to uh prepare yourself better, to maintain this country, to 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:05.126 maintain it as Senator Hayden has done for 50 years, and in your time do 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:09.686 what he has done, strengthen it, serve it, and remain faithful to it. 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:17.719 Thank you. 00:03:21.949 --> 00:03:25.596 Remarks of the president at a dinner held in the honor of Senator Carl 00:03:25.629 --> 00:03:33.629 Hayden. November 17, 1961. 00:03:34.969 --> 00:03:38.217 We are very happy to come in here under your protection tonight, uh, 00:03:38.250 --> 00:03:44.396 Senator. I tell you what a pleasure it is to be here. The, the, uh, vice 00:03:44.429 --> 00:03:48.156 president made some reference to uh the oratorical abilities of Senator 00:03:48.189 --> 00:03:54.275 Hayden and looking at one of his early speeches before he, uh, Assumed his 00:03:54.308 --> 00:03:59.835 present status, he once said in 1914, I know that Congress does not 00:03:59.868 --> 00:04:04.146 conduct its business in an efficient manner. If any corporation had a 00:04:04.179 --> 00:04:08.077 board of directors as inefficient as Congress, it would become bankrupt in 00:04:08.110 --> 00:04:13.096 a year. 00:04:13.129 --> 00:04:18.236 Senator Yeah. 00:04:18.269 --> 00:04:25.805 You're right, these things are never erased. 00:04:25.838 --> 00:04:28.995 Yeah 00:04:29.028 --> 00:04:32.395 My first contact with the senator was after I'd been in the Senate about 2 00:04:32.428 --> 00:04:38.197 months in 1953 and I got up to take part in the debate as a new member and 00:04:38.230 --> 00:04:42.786 after speaking for a few minutes, sat down next to Senator Hayden and said 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:46.036 , Senator, what is the difference between the senator as you know it and 00:04:46.069 --> 00:04:52.495 now. And the senator said, uh, new members did not speak in those days, so 00:04:52.528 --> 00:04:54.947 uh. 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:59.836 So I uh 00:04:59.869 --> 00:05:04.515 I went back to my seat. I am 00:05:04.548 --> 00:05:10.926 very proud to be here. I think it is a remarkable fact. That two leading 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:15.317 positions in the United States. Positions of the greatest responsibility 00:05:15.350 --> 00:05:20.036 were held by uh Speaker Rayburn as the presiding officer of the Senate and 00:05:20.069 --> 00:05:22.596 by the President Pro Tem of the Senate from the neighboring state of 00:05:22.629 --> 00:05:28.387 Arizona. When a congressional district or a state sends men back year 00:05:28.420 --> 00:05:34.137 after year, Uh, they, uh, may serve themselves, but they may not realize 00:05:34.170 --> 00:05:38.026 that the seniority system of the House and the Senate gives those members 00:05:38.059 --> 00:05:43.406 a profound influence over the policies of our country at home and abroad. 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:48.187 Congressmen or senators who may serve a district with particular vigor, 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:52.346 who may arrange to have its interests particularly well protected, and may 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:59.007 be rewarded, may someday become the great voice on a committee. which 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:04.656 decides great issues of national security. The size of our force levels, 00:06:04.689 --> 00:06:09.137 what our actions will be in space, what our actions will be abroad. So 00:06:09.170 --> 00:06:14.075 that the District of Bonham, which year after year, 00:06:14.108 --> 00:06:19.666 A which sent back year after year. Senator Hayden made one man the Speaker 00:06:19.699 --> 00:06:23.187 of the House in the most difficult and critical period in the life of our 00:06:23.220 --> 00:06:27.887 country. And made the other the president pro temp of the Senate, and also 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:31.606 the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which provides the 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:36.697 funds, which makes it possible for all these programs to be carried on. So 00:06:36.730 --> 00:06:41.296 while I command the Speaker of the House and Senator Hayden, I also 00:06:41.329 --> 00:06:45.846 command the good judgment of the people of Texas and the people of Arizona 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:50.127 in recognizing character and patriotism and courage when they found it and 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:58.160 rewarding it. 00:07:01.548 --> 00:07:06.796 Heracles once said that if you want to see his monument look around you, 00:07:06.829 --> 00:07:12.325 and I think that's particularly true in Arizona. This state has benefited 00:07:12.358 --> 00:07:18.067 year after year by the constant care and attention. which Senator Hayden 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:22.796 has given to the development of Arizona and the Southwest. Very few 00:07:22.829 --> 00:07:28.467 sections of our country have required wider and wiser federal programs for 00:07:28.500 --> 00:07:33.455 its development than the state of Arizona, this city, Tucson, and the rest. 00:07:33.488 --> 00:07:37.745 This city and this state live on water. And from the days when he was 00:07:37.778 --> 00:07:42.627 first there in his fight for reclamation and irrigation and all the rest 00:07:42.660 --> 00:07:46.937 down to the present time, he has spoken for the country and he has spoken 00:07:46.970 --> 00:07:51.786 for Arizona. And I am confident that this state, which has seen the 00:07:51.819 --> 00:07:56.666 extraordinary growth which the governor described, from 200,000 who were 00:07:56.699 --> 00:08:01.187 here when he went to the Congress, to the 1,300,000 people who are here 00:08:01.220 --> 00:08:06.226 today, and the 2,300,000 people who will be here, I'm sure by the turn of 00:08:06.259 --> 00:08:11.055 the century, they must know the people of this state. How vitally 00:08:11.088 --> 00:08:15.526 important it is that the leadership of Senator Hayden be continued so that 00:08:15.559 --> 00:08:23.559 Arizona and the country may continue to move forward. 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:32.446 Every federal program which has contributed to the development of the West 00:08:32.479 --> 00:08:39.125 , irrigation, power, reclamation bears his mark, and the great Federal 00:08:39.158 --> 00:08:44.047 Highway program, which binds this country together, which permits this 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:49.086 state to be competitive east and west, north and south, this in large 00:08:49.119 --> 00:08:55.047 measure is his creation. But as I said at the beginning, his great 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:59.667 contribution has been to our country. When he went to the Congress of the 00:08:59.700 --> 00:09:04.427 United States before World War One, our problems were simple. Now the 00:09:04.460 --> 00:09:09.106 United States occupies a key position in the arch of freedom all around 00:09:09.139 --> 00:09:15.467 the globe. I know that many Americans are often unhappy and concerned 00:09:15.500 --> 00:09:19.385 about all the problems that the United States faces abroad, but I think 00:09:19.418 --> 00:09:24.066 you should say pride and satisfaction in realizing that only the United 00:09:24.099 --> 00:09:28.996 States and our power and strength and commitment. Permits dozens of 00:09:29.029 --> 00:09:33.946 countries scattered all over the world to maintain their freedom. And if 00:09:33.979 --> 00:09:38.836 we did not bear the heavy burdens we now bear, the United States would be 00:09:38.869 --> 00:09:43.076 isolated with only a few of the countries of Western Europe to look to. It 00:09:43.109 --> 00:09:46.667 is the United States that carries this great burden, and however 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:51.356 dissatisfied you may be, as you look at a troubled world around you, and 00:09:51.389 --> 00:09:55.717 however you may wish for peace and contentment, as we all do, you should 00:09:55.750 --> 00:10:00.336 take pride in the fact that under the administrations of both parties, 00:10:00.369 --> 00:10:04.297 beginning with the days of the close of World War II, it has been the 00:10:04.330 --> 00:10:08.936 United States, first in Western Europe, and now in Latin America, and now 00:10:08.969 --> 00:10:13.417 in Africa, and now in the Middle East, and now in Asia, and now in CETO, 00:10:13.450 --> 00:10:18.616 and now in CEO and now in NATO, and now in the OAS, it really does the 00:10:18.649 --> 00:10:26.649 heavy work that makes it possible for these institutions to survive. 00:10:29.369 --> 00:10:34.015 Other countries look to their own interests. Only the United States has 00:10:34.048 --> 00:10:39.385 obligations which stretch 10,000 miles across in the Pacific and 3 or 4000 00:10:39.418 --> 00:10:44.375 miles across in the Atlantic and thousands of miles to the south. Only the 00:10:44.408 --> 00:10:49.297 United States, and we are only 6% of the world's population, bears this 00:10:49.330 --> 00:10:54.976 kind of a burden, and as an American, it is a source of satisfaction to me. 00:10:55.009 --> 00:10:59.427 Looking back over 50 years of service. That the people of this frontier 00:10:59.460 --> 00:11:04.385 state had the good judgment to put their stamp of approval on him, and 00:11:04.418 --> 00:11:10.467 year after year have given it to him again. Senator, as a uh one as which 00:11:10.500 --> 00:11:16.667 we all are who love our country, it is a source of pride to me that 00:11:16.700 --> 00:11:20.418 Arizona and you are so happily matched.