[Found on Dave Farber's always thought provoking Interesting People list.]
Our word was as good as our gold. At the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis, former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, President Kennedy’s special envoy to brief French President de Gaulle, offered to document our case by having the actual pictures of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba brought in. "No," shrugged the usually difficult de Gaulle: "The word of the President of the United States is good enough for me."Eight months later, President Kennedy could say at American University: "The world knows that America will never start a war. This generation of Americans has had enough of war and hate...we want to build a world of peace where the weak are secure and the strong are just."
Compare and contrast with the current administration. And read the whole speech by Ted Sorenson at the New School commencement. It's a good sum up of the political situation and what's changed, and what needs to change...
Posted by katster at May 29, 2004 01:39 PM