JFK SHARES CONCERNS ABOUT PHYSICAL FITNESS OF AMERICANS
New York City (JFK+50) On December 5, 1961, President John F. Kennedy* spoke at the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Banquet held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel here in New York City.
While the President acknowledged the talent and athleticism of professional athletes, he added...
"The rest of us--and too many of our children--get our exercise from climbing up to the seats in stadiums, or from walking across the room to turn on our television sets."
JFK was discouraged that America's youth lagged behind Europe's children in physical fitness and the fact that out of six million young men undergoing medical exams for military service, more than one million were rejected "as physically unfit."
President Kennedy called for adoption of his minimum program for physical fitness. He said...
"What we must do is literally change the physical habits of millions of Americans--and that is far more difficult than changing their tastes, their fashions, or even their politics."
*The JFK Library says a month after the inauguration, JFK "convened a conference on physical fitness, reorganized the President's Council on Youth Fitness, and chose a new director, Charles "Bud" Wilkinson. The president's council unquestionably became President Kennedy's council."
SOURCES
"Address in New York City at the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Banquet, December 5, 1961," Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy, January 20 to December 31, 1961, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1962.
"The Federal Government Takes On Physical Fitness," www.jfklibrary.org/
President's Council on
Physical Fitness Ad
JFK Library Image
New York City (JFK+50) On December 5, 1961, President John F. Kennedy* spoke at the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Banquet held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel here in New York City.
While the President acknowledged the talent and athleticism of professional athletes, he added...
"The rest of us--and too many of our children--get our exercise from climbing up to the seats in stadiums, or from walking across the room to turn on our television sets."
JFK was discouraged that America's youth lagged behind Europe's children in physical fitness and the fact that out of six million young men undergoing medical exams for military service, more than one million were rejected "as physically unfit."
President Kennedy called for adoption of his minimum program for physical fitness. He said...
"What we must do is literally change the physical habits of millions of Americans--and that is far more difficult than changing their tastes, their fashions, or even their politics."
*The JFK Library says a month after the inauguration, JFK "convened a conference on physical fitness, reorganized the President's Council on Youth Fitness, and chose a new director, Charles "Bud" Wilkinson. The president's council unquestionably became President Kennedy's council."
SOURCES
"Address in New York City at the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Banquet, December 5, 1961," Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy, January 20 to December 31, 1961, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1962.
"The Federal Government Takes On Physical Fitness," www.jfklibrary.org/
President's Council on
Physical Fitness Ad
JFK Library Image
