英语资讯
News

John F. Kennedy Begins His Presidency With Strong Public Support

Source: 恒星英语网  Onion  2007-03-27   English BBS   Favorite  

直接点击下载音频[保存到本地收听] 

By Jeri Watson / Broadcast: Thursday, March 22, 2007

voice ONE:

This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

voice TWO:

And this is Phil Murray with THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

(MUSIC)

John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy

Our program today is about the beginning of the administration of President John Kennedy.

(MUSIC)

voice ONE:

January twentieth, nineteen sixty-one. John Kennedy was to be sworn-in that day as president of the United States.

It had snowed heavily the night before. Few cars were in the streets of Washington. Yet, somehow, people got to the ceremony at the Capitol building.

voice TWO:

The outgoing president, Dwight Eisenhower, was seventy years old. John Kennedy was just forty-three. He was the first American president born in the twentieth century.

Both Eisenhower and Kennedy served in the military in World War Two. Eisenhower served at the top. He was commander of allied forces in Europe. Kennedy was one of many young navy officers in the pacific battle area.

Eisenhower was a hero of the war and was an extremely popular man. Kennedy was extremely popular, too, especially among young people. He was a fresh face in American politics. To millions of Americans, he represented a chance for a new beginning.

voice ONE:

Not everyone liked John Kennedy, however. Many people thought he was too young to be president. Many opposed him because he belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. A majority of Christians in America were Protestant. There had never been a Roman Catholic president of the United States. John Kennedy would be the first.

voice TWO:

Dwight Eisenhower
Dwight Eisenhower

Dwight Eisenhower served two terms during the nineteen-fifties. That was the limit for American presidents. His vice president, Richard Nixon, ran against Kennedy in the election of nineteen-sixty.

Many Americans supported Nixon. They believed he was a stronger opponent of communism than Kennedy. Some also feared that Kennedy might give more consideration to the needs of black Americans than to white Americans.

The election of nineteen-sixty was one of the closest in American history. Kennedy defeated Nixon by fewer than one hundred-twenty thousand popular votes. Now, he would be sworn-in as the nation's thirty-fifth president.

(MUSIC)

voice ONE:

Robert Frost
Robert Frost

One of the speakers at the ceremony was Robert Frost. He was perhaps America's most popular poet at the time. Robert Frost planned to read from a long work he wrote especially for the ceremony. But he was unable to read much of it. The bright winter sun shone blindingly on the snow. The cold winter wind blew the paper in his old hands.

voice TWO:

John Kennedy stood to help him. Still, the poet could not continue. Those in the crowd felt concerned for the eighty-six-year-old man. Suddenly, he stopped trying to say his special poem. Instead, he began to say the words of another one, one he knew from memory. It was called "The Gift Outright."

Here is part of that poem by Robert Frost, read by Stan Busby:

voice THREE:

The land was ours before we were the land's.

She was our land more than a hundred years before we were her people ...

Something we were withholding made us weak

Until we found out that it was ourselves

We were withholding from our land of living ...

Such as we were we gave ourselves outright.

voice ONE:

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy giving his inaugural speech
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy giving his inaugural speech

Soon it was time for the new president to speak. People watching on television could see his icy breath as he stood. He was not wearing a warm coat. His head was uncovered.

Kennedy's speech would, one day, be judged to be among the best in American history. The time of his inauguration was a time of tension and fear about nuclear weapons. The United States had nuclear weapons. Its main political enemy, the Soviet Union, had them, too. If hostilities broke out, would such terrible weapons be used?

voice TWO:

Kennedy spoke about the issue. He warned of the danger of what he called "the deadly atom." He said the United States and communist nations should make serious proposals for the inspection and control of nuclear weapons. He urged both sides to explore the good in science, instead of its terrors.

KENNEDY: "Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce ... Let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved."

voice ONE:

Kennedy also spoke about a torch -- a light of leadership being passed from older Americans to younger Americans. He urged the young to take the torch and accept responsibility for the future. He also urged other countries to work with the United States to create a better world.

President and Mrs. Kennedy arrive at National Guard Armory for Inaugural Ball, 20 January 1961
President and Mrs. Kennedy arrive at National Guard Armory for Inaugural Ball, 20 January 1961

KENNEDY: "The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

(MUSIC)

voice TWO:

John Kennedy's first one hundred days as president were busy ones.

He was in office less than two weeks when the Soviet Union freed two American airmen. The Soviets had shot down their spy plane over the Bering Sea. About sixty million people watched as Kennedy announced the airmen's release. It was the first presidential news conference broadcast live on television in the United States. Kennedy welcomed the release as a step toward better relations with the Soviet Union.

The next month, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev made another move toward better relations. He sent Kennedy a message. The message said that disarmament would be a great joy for all people on earth.

voice ONE:

A few weeks later, President Kennedy announced the creation of the Peace Corps. He had talked about this program during the election campaign. The Peace Corps would send thousands of Americans to developing countries to provide technical help.

Another program, the alliance for progress, was announced soon after the peace corps was created. The purpose of the alliance for progress was to provide economic aid to Latin American nations for ten years.

voice TWO:

The space program was another thing Kennedy had talked about during the election campaign. He believed the United States should continue to explore outer space.

The Soviet Union had gotten there first. It launched the world's first satellite in nineteen fifty-seven. Then, in April, nineteen sixty-one, the Soviet Union sent the first manned spacecraft into orbit around the earth.

voice ONE:

The worst failure of Kennedy's administration came that same month. On April seventeenth, more than one thousand Cuban exiles landed on a beach in western Cuba. They had received training and equipment from the United States Central Intelligence Agency. They were to lead a revolution to overthrow the communist government of Cuba. The place where they landed was called Bahia de Cochinos -- the Bay of Pigs.

The plan failed. Most of the exiles were killed or captured by the Cuban army.

voice TWO:

It had not been President Kennedy's idea to start a revolution against Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Officials in the last administration had planned it. However, most of Kennedy's advisers supported the idea. And he approved it.

In public, the president said he was responsible for the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion. In private, he said, "All my life I have known better than to depend on the experts. How could I have been so stupid."

voice ONE:

John Kennedy's popularity was badly damaged by what happened in Cuba. His next months in office would be a struggle to regain the support of the people. That will be our story next week.

(MUSIC)

voice TWO:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Phil Murray.

voice ONE:

And this is Rich Kleinfeldt. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

闂備線娼уΛ娆撳礉濡や焦娅犲ù鍏兼綑杩濋梺璺ㄥ櫐閹凤拷2濠电姰鍨归悘鍫ュ疾閻愪警鏁婇柛銉e妽婵挳鏌ㄩ悤鍌涘4000闂備礁鎲¢〃鍡椕哄┑瀣剨婵犻潧顑嗛崕宥夋煕閺囥劌寮炬繛灏栨櫊閹鍠婃径瀣伓   闂備線娼уΛ娆撳礉濡偐鐭撻柟缁㈠枛绾惧湱绱掑Δ鍕┾偓鈧柛瀣崌閺佹捇鏁撻敓锟�5.5闂備胶枪缁绘劙宕埡鍐崥闁圭虎鍠楅崵宥夋煕鐏炲墽绠ラ柛銈忕畵閺屻劌鈽夊Ο缁樻嫳闂佽桨鑳堕崑銈呯暦濡棿娌柦妯侯槺閵堫噣姊洪崨濠勬噽闁搞劋鍗冲畷銏ゅΧ閸ャ劌顏哥紒缁㈠幖閹虫劕危閹间焦鐓曟慨妯煎亾鐎氾拷
闂備線娼уΛ娆撳礉濡ゅ懌鈧懘骞橀鑲╊槴闂佸磭鎳撶花閬嶅磻閹捐绠i柨婵嗘媼娴煎棝鏌i悩鍙夌ォ闁告ê銈歌棟濠电姵鑹鹃弸浣圭箾閸℃鎹fい蹇涗憾閹鎮界化鏇炰壕婵炴垶鍑规导鍥⒑閹稿海鈽夐柤娲诲灦瀹曘垽濡堕崶銊ヮ伕閻熸粎澧楃敮鈺呭汲濞嗘挻鐓曟繛鍡樼懄鐎氾拷2闂備胶鍘ч幖顐﹀磹閹间絸鍥ㄧ節濮橆剚鐎┑鐐叉鐢晠宕甸敓锟� 闂備線娼уΛ娆撳礉濡ゅ啫鍨濆ù鍏兼綑缁€澶嬬箾閹寸偟澧ら柛瀣崌楠炲鎮欏顔芥緬闂備礁鎼悧蹇涘磿閵堝棛顩插ù鐘差儏閸欏﹪鏌i弮鍥仩缂佸婀遍埀顒侇問閸犳帡宕戦幘缁樷拺妞ゆ劧缍€婢规﹢鏌¢崱顓熷

将本页收藏到:
上一篇:Get A Military Education At the United States Military Academy at West Point
下一篇:Billie Holiday,1915-1959:The Lady Sang the Blues
  • 88闁诲骸鍘滈崑鎾趁归敐鍥у妺闁伙綁浜堕弻銈夊捶椤撶偛濡哄┑鐘亾鐎规洖娲犻崑鎾舵兜閸涱喚銆愬┑鐘亾妞ゅ繐鐗婇崑顏呫亜閹板墎鍒伴柛鎾插嵆閺岋繝宕奸姀鐘崇亪濠碘槅鍋勯悘婵婎暰闂婎偄娲﹂幐鑸电椤栫偞鈷戞い鏃傚亾濞呮洟鏌℃担鍝勪壕缂佸顦甸崺鈧い鎺戝瀹撲線鏌涘☉鍗炵仭闁哄棴鎷�
  • 缂傚倸鍊稿ú銈団偓娑掓櫊瀵娊鎮㈤崫銉㈡灃闂佹悶鍎荤粻鎴濃枔閻樼粯鐓曟繛鍡樏煎ù閿嬬箾閸忕厧濮嶉柟钘夊€归敍鎰媴閾忚鏀�17婵°倗濮烽崑娑㈩敋椤撱垺鍋嬫い鎺戝閹瑰爼鏌i弮鍌氬姦闁稿鎸炬禒锕傛寠婢跺妲�
  • 闂備焦鐪归崐銈夊磻閸涙潙纾块煫鍥ㄧ☉鐎氬鏌i弬鍨倯闁挎冻鎷� 闂佸搫顦弲鈺傜濠靛牃鍋撳顓熷暗闁瑰憡甯¢、鏃堝礋椤撶喐鐤呭┑鐘灩閻栥垽宕橀妸褏袣婵犵數鍋涘Λ搴ㄥ垂閼测晜宕查柨鐕傛嫹
  • 缂傚倸鍊稿ú銈嗩殽缁嬫5鐟拔旈崨顓狀槯濡炪倖宸婚崑鎾绘煕濞嗘瑧绡€鐎殿噣娼ч濂稿川椤撗勫尃闁诲氦顫夐幃鍫曞磿閹殿喚绀婇柡鍐ㄧ墛閸も偓闂佸憡渚楅崹鎵崲娴g硶妲堥柡鍌濇硶缁犳煡鏌℃笟鍥ф珝妤犵偞鍔欓弫鎾绘晸閿燂拷
  • 闂備線鈧稓鈹掗柛銊ょ矙閸┾偓妞ゆ帒鍊搁弸娆撴倵濮橆剛锛嶉柟椋庡█閺佹捇鏁撻敓锟�:闂傚倸鍊搁悧鍕垂婵犳碍鍎楅柛銉墯閹偞銇勯幇鈺佺仾闂婎剦鍓氱换娑㈠窗閹绘帗鍣虹紒鈧崘顭嬪綊鏁愰崱娆戠劶闁荤姵鍔楅崰鎰八囨导瀛樺亜闁告繂瀚ч幐鍛存⒑閸涘﹤鐏ラ柟纰卞亰瀵偊鏁撻敓锟�
  • 缂傚倷绀佹晶浠嬪疾椤愩倐鍋撻悷鎵紞闁轰緡鍣e畷鎺戔槈濞嗗本瀵楁繝鐢靛仦閹瑰洭寮查懠顒傜當闁绘柨鎲″▍鐘绘煟閹邦喖鍔嬫慨锝嗗姍閺岋綁濡搁妷銉还缂備胶濮垫竟鍡涘箟閹绢喖纾兼繝闈涙搐椤酣鏌i悩闈涘壋闁瑰嚖鎷�

  • 论坛精彩内容
    网站地图 - 学习交流 - 恒星英语论坛 - 关于我们 - 广告服务 - 帮助中心 - 联系我们
    Copyright ©2006-2007 www.Hxen.com All Rights Reserved