I believe that statement by Kennedy is tainted by the Vietnam War. It is seared into the memory of many a Vietnam Vet as many of my generation took that statement to mean that if we went into the Armed Forces, especially if we made the ultimate sacrifice, our nation would support us and sacrifice and perservere until victory in Vietnam. That statement was made just a few years before the post-John Kennedy Democrats and their MSM operatives ignored that statement and took the nation to the extreme left. In my opinion, including that statement only demeans the others.
Here is the same statement, from Kennedy's Inaugural Address, in a broader context - (note the mention of God)Could a Democratic Leader make this speech today?
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge—and more.