JFK’s “ Deal of the Century”
Lao Tzu wrote in Chapter 67 of the Tao Te Ching: “Don’t dare to be the first in the world.” Since ancient times, putting forward alternative viewpoints and starting new careers have always faced huge resistance and risks. Kennedy would not have known this, but on key issues, personal success or failure is no longer important.
Author: GUDORDI | 2024-10-15
After resolving the Cuban crisis, Kennedy established a certain degree of mutual trust with Soviet General Secretary Khrushchev. (Wikimedia Commons)
What kind of a peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and build a better life for their children — not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women — not merely peace in our time but peace for all time .
──John F. Kennedy
Kennedy's landmark "Peace Strategy" speech
The above content is excerpted from Kennedy’s “Strategy for Peace” speech mentioned last time. As the author pointed out last time, this speech should be the most ambitious American presidential speech in the 20th century, and it also proves that Kennedy is a very unique American president. What makes him different from many politicians is that he has the courage to choose the right and will not succumb to the difficulties in front of him. These qualities were reflected in his attitude toward the Soviet Union.
Kennedy hoped that through this “Peace Strategy” speech, the American people’s perception of the Soviet Union would gradually change. (Wikimedia Commons)
As we all know, since the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union have formed two major hostile camps. There are huge ideological differences between the two sides. It seems that a “you die or I die” pattern has been formed. However, the Cuban crisis in 1962 made Kennedy realize that if this pattern cannot be changed, the final result will be a nuclear war that will harm both sides, and mankind may also be destroyed as a result. On the other hand, after resolving the Cuban crisis, Kennedy and Soviet General Secretary Khrushchev established a certain degree of mutual trust, allowing Kennedy to believe that it was possible to move forward. Therefore, he hoped that this speech would gradually change the American people’s perception of the Soviet Union, lay the foundation for the two sides to gradually stop the arms race, and lay the foundation for reducing the risk of nuclear war globally.
The spirit of "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"
Lao Tzu wrote in Chapter 67 of the Tao Te Ching: “Don’t dare to be the first in the world.” Since ancient times, putting forward alternative viewpoints and starting new careers have always faced huge resistance and risks. Kennedy would not have known this, but on key issues, personal success or failure is no longer important, and whether the results can be seen in his lifetime has become irrelevant. Therefore, Kennedy repeatedly quoted Lao Tzu’s famous saying from Chapter 64 of the Tao Te Ching: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” However, Kennedy’s English version seems to have a slightly different flavor than Lao Tzu’s classical version. Kennedy said this: “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” This sentence is worth pondering, and may also be one of the important angles from which to evaluate Kennedy’s historical legacy.
The author believes that Kennedy has profound inspiration and influence on future generations in at least five aspects. The first is world peace, the second is civil rights, the third is space exploration, the fourth is the importance of poetry, art and literature, and the fifth is the mission of universities and education in human society. Kennedy’s most well-known contribution should be space exploration, but in terms of importance, peace and civil rights are not necessarily less important than space exploration. Although poetry and education are rarely mentioned, the author believes that their significance is not necessarily inferior to the first three. The most important thing is that if Kennedy’s thoughts in these five aspects are integrated, it can form a fairly complete vision for the future of the United States and mankind, which is worthy of our reflection.
A "disenchanted idealist" deal of the century
Of course, some people think that the real Kennedy is not exactly the same as the Kennedy in the written world. But in any case, Kennedy’s thoughts in these five areas are quite consistent, and it is not easy to express them. Moreover, Kennedy did try to put it into practice and described himself as “an idealist without illusions.”
From this perspective, Kennedy’s “Peace Strategy” speech in 1963 can be regarded as the “grand bargain” of the century that he worked hard to broker, or the so-called “deal”. This speech may have been addressed to Khrushchev, the American people, and current and future policymakers and the public. It is worth noting that in order to facilitate a transaction, both parties must be willing and based on a certain degree of mutual trust. If you think about it carefully, isn’t this the essence of free market transactions? From this perspective, can the transaction proposed by Kennedy be understood as normal market behavior in the “free commercial society” in Adam Smith’s mind? If the answer is yes, what implications does this have for the nature of the free market? We’ll talk about that next time.
