"FORMER FOES HAVE BECOME FAITHFUL FRIENDS"

JFK ARRIVES IN WEST GERMANY TO BEGIN EUROPEAN JOURNEY

Bonn, West Germany (JFK+50) On June 23, 1963, President John F. Kennedy arrived here in Bonn on the first day of a ten day European journey.  This marked the eighth overseas trip for the president.

JFK arrived aboard Air Force One at 9:50 a.m. local time and was greeted by Konrad Adenauer*, Chancellor of West Germany.

Speaking at Wahn Airport, President Kennedy said...

"Former foes have become faithful friends.  Your safety is our safety.  Your liberty is our liberty."

*Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (1876-1967) was born in Cologne & served as mayor of the city 1917-1933.  KA served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany 1949-1963 & was said to be the oldest statesman ever to function in an elected office.

 

 

President Kennedy & Chancellor Adenauer

West Germany (1963)

 
 

"KOELLE ALAAF"

JFK VISITS BONN & COLOGNE
 

Cologne (JFK+50) On June 23, 1963, President John F. Kennedy arrived in West Germany to begin the first day of his ten day European tour.  The President arrived at 9:50 a.m. local time and was greeted by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer*.

In a short speech at Wahn Airport, JFK said...

"Together we look forward to a new future.  Former foes have become faithful friends.  Your safety is our safety, your liberty is our liberty."

Later at Market Square in Bonn, the President declared..."The city of Bonn is the capital of the free world."  

The President then made an appearance at Cologne's Rathaus.  In a speech there, JFK said...

"I come to Cologne to see the best of the past and the most promising of the future."

JFK concluded his remarks with the old Rhemish saying "Koelle Alaaf"**.

*Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (1876-1967) was born in Cologne & studied law & politics at the universities of Freiburg, Munich & Bonn.  KHJA served as the 1st Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963.

*Translated into English, "Cologne Above All Else."  A phrase used since the 16th Century.

JFK and Konrad Adenauer

Rathaus

Cologne, Germany

Foto Marburg

Art Resource, New York

YOUR SAFETY IS OUR SAFETY, YOUR LIBERTY IS OUR LIBERTY!

PRESIDENT KENNEDY KICKS OFF EUROPEAN TRIP IN WEST GERMANY

Bonn (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy arrived here in Bonn on June 23, 1963 kicking off the first day of a ten day European tour.  The President arrived at 9:50 a.m. local time and was greeted by West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer*.

In a short speech at Wahn Airport, JFK said...

"Together we look forward to a new future.  Former foes have become faithful friends.  Your safety is our safety, your liberty is our liberty."

Later at Market Square in Bonn, the President declared..."The city of Bonn is the capital of the free world," and at Cologne's Rathaus, JFK said...

"I come to Cologne to see the best of the past and the most promising of the future."

JFK concluded his remarks with the old Rhemish saying "Koelle Alaaf".

*Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (1876-1967) was born in Cologne & studied law & politics at the universities of Freiburg, Munich & Bonn.  KHJA served as the 1st Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963.

JFK and Konrad Adenauer

Rathaus

Cologne, Germany

Foto Marburg

Art Resource, New York

JFK IN ANN ARBOR

JFK CAMPAIGNS IN ANN ARBOR

Ann Arbor, Michigan (JFK+50) Fifty-four years ago today, October 14, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy, coming from his third televised debate with Richard M. Nixon, was welcomed here in Ann Arbor at 2 o'clock in the morning.

The Democratic candidate was greeted by 10,000 students at the University of Michigan. The Massachusetts senator did not give a formal speech but spoke for three minutes.

JFK said...

"Thanks to you, as a graduate of the Michigan of the East, Harvard University.  How many of you who are going to be doctors are willing to spend your days in Ghana?  Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service? (Are you willing) to contribute part of your life to this country?"

This was the first public reference by JFK to his plans for a Peace Corps.

JFK Speaks at Ann Arbor

University of Michigan

Student Union

Photo by Ann Arbor News

www.michigantoday.umich.edu

JFK SENDS LETTER TO GERMAN CHANCELLOR 

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The White House released 51 years ago today, October 14, 1963, a letter from President John F. Kennedy to retiring West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

The President wrote...

"You have created in your own land a stable, free and democratic society which stands in sharp contrast to the repression still enforced on so many of your countrymen."

Konrad Adenauer

February 25, 1955

Photo by Rolf Unterberg

German Federal Archive

TR SHOT IN MILWAUKEE 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (JFK+50) Former President of the United States and Progressive presidential nominee in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, was shot 102 years ago today, October 14, 1912, while greeting the public in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel here in Milwaukee.

TR was shot in the chest as a 32-caliber bullet passed through his glasses case and folded manuscript which were in his breast pocket.

Despite the wound, the former president went on to speak for 90 minutes and at one point pulled the bloody 50 page manuscript from his pocket, held it up for the audience to see, and  said...

 "It takes more than one bullet to kill a Bull Moose*."

Doctors determined the bullet did not penetrate either TR's heart or lung, and therefore decided it would be better to not make an attempt to remove it.

TR, who had broken with Taft and the Republican Party, made only two more speeches during the 1912 campaign.  Woodrow Wilson, the Democrat, took advantage of the split in the Republican Party and won the Election of 1912.

The man who shot TR, John Schrank**,  was found insane and committed to the Central State Mental Hospital in Waupun, Wisconsin.

TR in Milwaukee

October 14, 1912

*TR often would say he was as fit as a Bull Moose.  The Progressive Party, accordingly, was often referred to as the Bull Moose Party.

**John Schrank (1876-1943) was born in Bavaria and emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 9.  He turned to religion after the death of both parents and the aunt and uncle who had then cared for him as a youth.

After his attempt on TR's life, a note was discovered written by Schrank beforehand which indicated that he had been told by the ghost of President McKinley to "avenge" his death.

Schrank died of natural causes in Wisconsin.

John Schrank

Milwaukee (1912)

PRESIDENT KENNEDY IN GERMANY DAY ONE

June 23, 2013

PRESIDENT KENNEDY IN GERMANY ON 1ST STOP OF HIS LAST FOREIGN TRIP 50 YEARS AGO

Bonn/Cologne, West Germany (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy arrived in Bonn 50 years ago today, June 23, 1963, the 1st of a 10 day European journey.

This was the 8th time President Kennedy had traveled outside the United States during his presidency.

JFK arrived at 9:50 a.m. local time and was greeted by West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer* at the Bonn-Cologne airport.

Chancellor Adenauer said:

"Wherever you go you will become aware of the feelings of gratitude and friendship the Germans have for the American people."

*Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) was born in Cologne.  He studied law at Freiburg, Munich and Bonn Universities before his service as mayor of Cologne from 1917 to 1933.  He was dismissed by the Nazis because of his political views and principles.  He served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to October 1963.  His funeral service in Cologne was attended by LBJ.

President Kennedy responded:

"I am grateful for your invitation and I am happy to be here.  Our unity was forged in a time of danger; it must be maintained in a time of peace.

I have come to this country, the most populous in Western Europe, to express the respect of the people of the United States for the German peoples' industry and their initiative, for their culture and their courage.

Together we look forward to a new future.  Former foes have become faithful friends.  Your safety is our safety, your liberty is our liberty.

I have also come...to pay tribute to a great...statesman, an architect of unity, a champion of liberty, a friend of the American people--Chancellor Konrad Adenauer."

JFK and Konrad Adenauer

About an hour later, JFK spoke at Cologne's Rathaus** after signing the Golden Book.***

President Kennedy said...

"It is a pleasure and an honor to sign the Golden Book of this ancient city.  I bring you greetings from the citizens of America, including the citizens of Cologne, Minnesota, Cologne, New Jersey and even Cologne, Texas.

It is...appropriate that I come to a city...(which) is not only an ancient German city, it is also an ancient European city, a city which, since Roman times, has played a special role in preserving Western culture, and Western religion, and Western civilization.

I come to Cologne to see the best of the past and the most promising of the future.  May I greet you with the old Rhenish saying, "Koelle Alaaf."

                              Rathaus
                  Cologne, Germany
         Photo by Politikaner (2010)

**Rathaus, located in Cologne,Germany's oldest city hall dating back 900 years.

***The Golden Book contains the signatures of the special guests of the city.

At 1:30 p.m., President Kennedy spoke from the steps of City Hall.  He said...

"I am very proud to come from my own capital of Washington to the capital of the Federal Republic.

I am proud of the fact that...the United States...has found it possible to play a significant part in the great fight for freedom all around the globe.

We will keep this world free until the day comes, as Thomas Jefferson predicted...that the disease of liberty...spreads throughout the world.

In the last 100 years, 6 million Germans have...come to the United States.  Today there are 25 million Americans of German descent.

The city of Bonn is the capital of the free world.  Because of the efforts of the Chancellor and all of the German people it will continue to be a center of the free world.  I salute you."

Later in the afternoon, JFK spoke to the staff of the American Embassy in the Plittersdorf Theater at Bad Godesberg.****

The President said...

"I hope those of you who are German citizens feel that in working with us so closely, you are also working for the welfare of your own country and the security and freedom of the West.

This is an outpost...of freedom...and it is essential that we maintain the closest relations...with the Federal Republic.

Thank you very much for what you are doing."

****Bad Godesberg is a district of Bonn on the west bank of the Rhine which houses the majority of foreign embassies.

JFK concluded the 1st day of his European trip with a dinner at the Palais Schaumburg***** in Bonn. 

After a toast to the President of the United States by Chancellor Adenauer, JFK paid tribute to the mutual decision of the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany after WWII to rebuild a free and democratic Germany.  

JFK said this decision made by President Truman and sustained by President Eisenhower "was essential to the security of Western Europe and to the security of the United States."

JFK proposed a toast to the Chancellor...

"His example, precept, and guidance serves us as well in 1963 as it did a decade ago.  I hope all of you will join in drinking with me to his prosperity and very good health."

                    Palais Schaumburg
                        Bonn, Germany
                   Photo by Leit (2006)

*****Palais Schaumburg was the official residence of the Chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1976.  It was built before 1860.


SOURCE

"Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy," United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1964.

KONRAD ADENAUER

On November 15, 1962, JFK met with West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in the oval office from 4:00 to 4:45 p.m.  


Adenauer was the 1st chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, aka West Germany.  


This was the section of Germany originally occupied by the US, France & Great Britain at the end of WWII.  


It be came the free Federal Republic of Germany while the eastern section, occupied by the USSR, became communist East Germany.


At the time, Berlin was located within East Germany but was also divided into an Eastern & Western section.  


In 1961, the Berlin Wall had been built by the communists & divided the city.


JFK was to visit West Berlin in 1963 where he would make one of the best known speeches of the "Cold War".


The following quote is posted on today's JFK Library website: 


"Freedom is indivisible and when one man is enslaved, all are not free." 
                                                                 JFK