Robert Frost, JFK, Amherst.... 

American political Culture and Rhetoric in 1960's

      It was around 1 AM on January 21,1961, Korea. Dark winter night, bitter cold.

     I was listening to the AFKN broadcast of John F. Kennedy’s inauguration

     through my tiny "Sanyo" transistor radio. That night,  I was one of those who were

     huddled  around radios in the forgotten corner of the world(per Obama),

     listening to the American stories of the young ,new leadership.

     I had read the translated version of ”Profiles in Courage" by JFK

     and was waiting for the inauguration.  I promised to listen to the broadcast

     for one of my high school classmates, a close friend  and competetitor.

     We were in   the middle of the long winter break after finishing our freshman

     year of   high school at the lovely age of 16.

     We were very close buddies, spending many after-school hours together,

     but in unspoken competition, seeing who could memorize more lines from

     Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, or the romantic poems of William Butler

     Yeats or John Keats.  Maybe, it was more to impress girls(?).

     In spite of the static noise, like lapping sounds of the Pacific waves

     through the radio, I was able to listen to Marian Anderson's “Star

     Spangled Banner”, followed by Robert Frost reading "The Gift Outright"

     and the memorable JFK address, coproduced by him and Ted Sorensen.

     To be honest, some parts I could not understand, especially the poetry of

     Robert Frost (I was not quite familiar with until Professor Pi Chun Deuk

     introduced me to the  poetry works of Frost later, who was a close

     personal friend of him), but I managed to obtain the manuscript of the JFK

     speech from USIS couple of weeks later.

     For Korean youngsters, getting out of the shock of the 4-19 revolution,

     the election of young JFK as the president of the United States, then full of

     optimism, freedom, and prosperity was an event good enough for most of us,

     hungry for democracy, to fall in love, "Americophilia”, if I may call it.

     I still remember my grandfather, a Confucian scholar, mentioning

     "That is democracy !" after seeing the newspaper photograph of

     Eisenhower shaking hands with JFK, all in smiles with his top hat.

     For the following several weeks, I practiced the JFK speech, just for the fun

     and reliving the beauty of the words, starting with  "We observe today

    not a victory of a party but a celebration of  freedom,

    symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning."

     1963 was a memorable year for me.

     After the grueling and anxiety-filled senior year of College Preparation, I

     learned that I had passed the entrance examination to the Premed,

     and I was able to enjoy the long vacation before the start of College.  

     Sometime during the winter, I learned of the passing of Robert Frost, and

     of course later that year the tragic death of JFK that followed.

     In spite of the sadness of the two losses, I came to learn two of the

     best American Speeches that were made that year. One was made by JFK

     at Amherst College (recently reminisced by Prof.Min Gong-gi 민공기) as

     the eulogy at the dedication of the Robert Frost Library,  in which JFK

     defined the spirit of that civilized country, the culture,art, and the truth

     one should strive for. I personally think this was a better speech than

     his famous inauguration speech.

     JFK said at the dedication of the Robert Frost Library,

     "A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces

     but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers”, and the  

     eulogy contained many memorable lines such as "Art is not a form of

     propaganda: it is form of truth."

     A couple of days after the Kennedy assassination in November that year,

     the new president Lyndon B. Johnson delivered the famous speech "Let us  

     Continue" at the joint session of the US Congress and Senate. For those of us

     who remembered that the original Kennedy inauguration speech  contained

     little repetition of “let us begin", "Let us begin anew," that was a fantastic

     oration, eliminating the anxiety of the worried Americans at that moment in history,

     confirming the legitimacy of  Johnson presidency.

     In recent years, it appears the tradition of American political rhetoric was

     further upgraded by President Obama's series of excellent speeches.

     "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place

    where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our

    founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our

    democracy, tonight is your answer.(in 2008, Grant Park, Chicago)

     Fifty some years later,as I watch the Korean politics and TV debates

     recently for the selection process of both the "새누리당" and  "더민주당"  

     chairmen of the two parties, I must confess  " Baby! It's a long way to go."

     Wait a minute! There is  Donald T. in USA....ㅎㅎㅎ

JFK at Amherst, October,1963

        JFK mauscript with his handwritten correction for the Amherst speech

prepared by J.H. Choh (class of 1969)