The Sixties and Beyond

January 20, 1961

The torch is passed to a new generation.” Kennedy’s rhetoric, his image, and his passing

The Inaugural Speech of John F. Kennedy in 1961: ‘The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.’ Other phrases from that single, short speech are commonly quoted. JFK’s call to his ‘fellow Americans’ to ‘ask not what your country can do for you’ but rather ‘ask what you can do for your country’ – such quotes from this speech have become the common among political rhetoric far beyond the United States.

JFK, giving his inaugural speech in January 1961.