I put the JFK quote in my signature and then went looking for an audio or video of the whole speech. Whoa, did I get my money's worth. He was mostly before my time and I have no memory of hearing him speak when he was alive. His assassination is the first public event I can remember. Being sent home on the school bus early, none of us exactly sure why. But you can see why he inspired so many people. The Peace Corps -- new college grads going to the ends of the earth to do good. "I want to see a man on the moon in 10 years." He had the power to move people. It was not as partisan then. (My father, who never voted for a Democrat before Obama, came home from work upset and angry. "They should hang him by his thumbs," he said). These days JFK would be called a centrist. He was tough on foreign policy and hesitant to hit the racist south too hard.

Enough of me. This is worth half an hour of your time IMO.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkamericanuniversityaddress.html