JFK GREETS MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL GRADS IN ROSE GARDEN
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On the morning of June 21, 1962, President John F. Kennedy greeted students from the graduating class of Glen Lake (Michigan) High School in the Rose Garden at the White House here in the Nation's Capital.
The President was impressed that the students had built up a fund for their trip to Washington only to give up their money to help one of their classmates. The 33 graduates spent their funds on cancer treatment for Duane Richardson. Their trip was financed instead by a group of residents of Washington, D.C.
The President said...
"You are very much honored guests here. This house belong to all of you. This house is...a symbol of all that is best about our country--that magnolia tree...was planted by Andrew Jackson.
All the people you read about in your history books--Lincoln, the Adamses, Monroe, the Wilsons, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower....all lived here & all participated in making this country greater."
White House Rose Garden (2007)
White House Historical Association
