President Kennedy speaks at the Democratic Party fundraising dinner on the anniversary of his Inaugural Address. In keeping with his self-depreciated wit, it is a humorous parody of the infamous Inaugural Address…
”I spoke a year ago today, to take the Inaugural, and I would like to paraphrase a couple of statements I made that day by saying that we observe tonight not a celebration of freedom but a victory of party, for we have sworn to pay off the same Party debt our forebears ran up nearly a year and three months ago.
Our deficit will not be paid off in the next 100 days, nor will it be paid off in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this administration. Nor perhaps even in our lifetime on this planet, but let us begin—remembering that generosity is not a sign of weakness and that Ambassadors are always subject to Senate confirmation, for if the Democratic Party cannot be helped by the many who are poor, it cannot be saved by the few who are rich. So let us begin.”