History of the United States II / Unit 14 USH2 1953 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Ask Not
Captions available
The idea
At his inauguration on January twentieth, nineteen sixty-one, Kennedy told Americans: ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
In practice
The National Archives' note that the line was honed from a thought on sacrifice Kennedy had long voiced in campaign speeches.
Where people slip
The next entries follow what the promise became.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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