JFK SPEAKS TO THE NATION ON BERLIN
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy spoke to a national television audience this evening on the situation in Berlin.
In response to Soviet threats & the announcement of an increase in the Soviet military budget, JFK said that he is proposing an additional 217,000 men be added to the US military rolls.
The President also will be asking Congress for $1.8 million to be appropriated for new weapons & military equipment.
In explaining to the American people why these proposals are necessary, JFK said:
"We cannot & will not permit the communists to drive us out of Berlin for the fulfillment of our pledge to that city is essential to the....security of Western Germany, to the unity of Western Europe & to the faith of the entire Free World."
JFK concluded his speech by saying:
"In meeting my responsibilities....I need your....support &, above all, your prayers."
Presidential Address to the Nation
July 25, 1961
July 25, 1915
KENNEDYS ANNOUNCE BIRTH OF FIRST CHILD
Hull, Massachusetts (JFK+50) Mr. & Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy announced the birth today of their first child, a son, named Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr.
Joe Junior was delivered by Kennedy family doctor Frederick L. Good in a rented cottage on Atlantic Avenue in Nantasket.*
*Joe Jr. graduated from Harvard in 1938, studied at the London School of Economics, served as a delegate to the 1940 Democratic Convention & joined the US Navy in WWII. Joe Jr. flew Liberator bombers based in England & was killed during a mission on August 12, 1944.
"The Golden Trio"
Joe Jr., Kathleen & Jack
London (1938)
July 25, 1945
TRUMAN TELLS STALIN ABOUT ATOMIC BOMB
Potsdam, Germany (JFK+50) President Harry S Truman informed Premier Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union today that the United States has successfully developed a new weapon.
Mr. Truman characterized the atomic bomb as "the most terrible (weapon) in the history of the world."
The information was passed along by the President only after Stalin had given his pledge to join the US in the war against Japan.*
Afterwards, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain said to the President "How did it go"?
Truman replied: "He (Stalin) never asked a question."
Note: Eyewitnesses to the conversation between Truman & Stalin commented later that Stalin showed little reaction to the news of the bomb.
*Most advisers believed it was necessary to inform the USSR of the development of the atomic bomb to prevent a post-war atmosphere of suspicion.
Stalin, Truman & Churchill
Potsdam, Germany
Truman Library Photo
July 25, 1969
NIXON ANNOUNCES "VIETNAMIZATION" POLICY
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President Richard M. Nixon announced today the United States will slowly withdraw its troops from Southeast Asia & replace them with South Vietnamese troops.*
*This policy will be known as "Vietnamization" & the "Nixon Doctrine".
July 25, 1965
BOB DYLAN ELECTRIFIES NEWPORT FESTIVAL
Newport, Rhode Island (JFK+50) Folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan performed today at the Newport Folk Festival playing an electric guitar instead of his customary acoustic.*
*Dylan, who rose to fame with "Blowin' in the Wind" & "The Times Are A-Changin'", was the premier folk song writer of the 1960s.
