The White House Blog

Yesterday, President Obama spoke on the Iran deal at American University's School of International Service.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy also delivered a historic foreign policy speech at American University. Just eight months after the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy had boldly entered into a diplomatic agreement with an adversary of the United States -- the Soviet Union. He faced criticism at home for choosing to pursue a peaceful weapons agreement with a country no one trusted.

President Kennedy addresses the American University Commencement, recieves honorary degree. 

 

President Kennedy's diplomatic approach succeeded in advancing the national security interests of the United States -- and the Iran deal does the same. 

 

50 years ago, JFK spoke of peace in a nuclear age at @AmericanU. Today, @POTUS will too. Read JFK's speech: http://t.co/Vk6SI5hkiF #IranDeal

— The Iran Deal (@TheIranDeal) August 5, 2015

 

Both Presidents believed that a peaceful agreement was preferable to alternatives which would likely lead to military confrontation. 

"52 years ago, President Kennedy, at the height of the Cold War, addressed this University on the subject of peace." —@POTUS #IranDeal

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 5, 2015

 

"The agreement now reached between the international community and Iran builds on that tradition of strong, principled diplomacy." —@POTUS

— The Iran Deal (@TheIranDeal) August 5, 2015

 

These are some of our favorite quotes from President Kennedy's 1963 speech -- and the parallels from President Obama's remarks on the Iran Deal. 

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"Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many of us think it is unreal. But that is dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable -- that mankind is doomed -- that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. We need not accept that view."

— President John F. Kennedy

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"It was diplomacy—hard, painstaking diplomacy...that ratcheted up the pressure on Iran" —@POTUS: http://t.co/3PJ1t1gVwu #IranDeal

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 5, 2015

 

“How can we in good conscience justify war before we have tested a diplomatic agreement that achieves our objectives?" —@POTUS #IranDeal

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 5, 2015

 

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"Let us focus instead on a more practical, more attainable peace -- based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions -- on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the interest of all concerned."

— President John F. Kennedy

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"A negotiated agreement offered a more effective, verifiable & durable resolution" —@POTUS on preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 5, 2015

 

"Let’s not mince words—the choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy or some form of war." —@POTUS: http://t.co/3PJ1t0Zk7U #IranDeal

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 5, 2015

 

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"Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process -- a way of solving problems."

— President John F. Kennedy

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"'Peace is not absence of conflict,' President Reagan once said. It is 'the ability to cope with conflict by peaceful means'" —@POTUS

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 5, 2015

 

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"While defending our vital interest, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy -- or of a collective death-wish for the world."

— President John F. Kennedy

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"This deal is not just the best choice among alternatives—this is the strongest non-proliferation agreement ever negotiated." —@POTUS

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 5, 2015

 

You can read the full text of the Iran Deal here.