Audiobook in MP3 file format.
John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address January 20, 1961
John Kennedy woke up fifty-six years ago on Friday, January 20, 1961–after a long night of parties celebrating the imminent beginning of his presidency had crept well into the morning hours. He practiced his upcoming inaugural address as he bathed. An hour later he rehearsed again during breakfast, when the man who would soon become the first Catholic President of the United States enjoyed bacon with his eggs and coffee because the Pope had given special dispensation to Washington-area Catholics permitting them to eat meat on this Friday.
About an hour after finishing his breakfast, Kennedy stepped into the eight inches of snow that had fallen on Washington, DC to go to mass at Holy Trinity Church near Georgetown University. Following mass, he and his wife Jackie went to the White House for a brief visit with President Dwight Eisenhower, from whom he would be taking the reins of power shortly. Within an hour, Kennedy would step onto the podium to take the oath of office and then speak to the United States and the world.