Commencement Speeches

American University Commencement Address

President John F. Kennedy made the commencement speech at American University on June 10, 1963. This speech marked the start of detente with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The president spoke about his concerns regarding atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. A month later, the U.S., Soviet Union, and Great Britain officially agreed to end such testing. This speech is courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. close

Kennedy, Dimona and the Nuclear Proliferation Problem: 1961-1962

by Avner Cohen and William Burr

President John F. Kennedy worried that Israel’s nuclear program was a potentially serious proliferation risk and insisted that Israel permit periodic inspections to mitigate the danger, according to declassified documents published today by the National Security Archive, Nuclear Proliferation International History Project, and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/kennedy-dimona-and-the-nuclear-proliferation-problem-1961-1962

Today the clouds have lifted a little so that new rays of hope can break through. The pressures on West Berlin appear to be temporarily eased. Political unity in the Congo has been largely restored. A neutral coalition in Laos, while still in difficulty, is at least in being. The integrity of the United Nations Secretariat has been reaffirmed. A United Nations Decade of Development is under way. And, for the first time in 17 years of effort, a specific step has been taken to limit the nuclear arms race.

https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/united-nations-19630920