Name: President Kennedy's family reflects on his 100th birthday
Uploaded: 2017-05-30T07:50:52.000Z
Duration: 4 min 27 s
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Modal verbs - B1

May 29th would be my father's 100th birthday.

I've thought about him and missed him every day of my life.

But growing up without him was made easier

thanks to all the people who kept him in their hearts,

who told me that he inspired them to work

I remember hiding underneath my father's Oval Office desk

when I was little, and sitting on his lap on the Honey Fitz.

He would point out the white shark and the purple shark

who always followed the boat, although I could never

He said they especially liked to eat socks,

and would have his friends throw their socks overboard,

They marched for justice, they served in the Peace Corps,

His brothers carried on that work, fighting against poverty,

violence and war, championing human rights,

As my father said in his inaugural address,

this work will not be finished in our lifetime.

It's up to us to continue to pass these values on

in my life is with someone I have never met.

My grandfather, President John F. Kennedy.

It's a little odd to be connected to someone you don't know,

especially when everyone else has access to much

of the same information about him that you do.

Throughout my life, I have been able to connect

with my grandfather through the study of history,

which I know he loved, both studying his life

and studying the eras and patterns that fascinated him.

as a historical figure rooted in the past

but also as a person connected to so much

of what came after him, through his writings

and from the stories my relatives have told me.

But while my grandfather had reverence for the past

and the lessons it could impart, he also knew

that America was a country where change was possible,

where we aren't bound solely by tradition

if we understand the past with which we are breaking.

- I'm inspired by my grandfather's sense of equality,

his courage in naming the injustices in American society,

His words and his ideals mean so much to me

But we are still faced with tremendous inequality

criminal justice system and mass incarceration.

My grandfather would be proud of how far we've come

as a nation since 1963, but he'd have been the first

to tell us that we have a long way to go.

I hope everyone, regardless of age or party,

It was founded on the principle that all men

are created equal, and that the rights of every man

are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.

- President Kennedy was elected on a platform

Not for what he would offer the American people

as president, but what he would ask of them.

My favorite speech is the one that President Kennedy

gave at Rice University, where he makes the case

He said that that challenge was worthwhile not because

it would be easy but because it would be so hard.

My generation will inherit a complicated world,

but it's the type of change I think my grandfather

would have been energized about and eager to solve.

and he recognized that only if America leads the world

in solving global problems can we make sure

From that speech at Rice, and from the space program

but important lesson, great challenges are opportunities,

and it is each generation's responsibility

to meet those challenges with the same combination

of energy, faith and devotion that President Kennedy

and his contemporaries displayed decades ago.

but we have to demand action from our leaders,

- As his family, we're so proud of what my father

and how powerful those values remain today.

I hope that these reflections on President Kennedy's life

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President Kennedy's family reflects on his 100th birthday

recognize

tremendous

poverty

legacy