Fifty years ago today, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a 43-year-old man who took the nation, and the globe, by storm.  He had a narrow electoral win over Richard Nixon, and all of his Hollywood friends (including one Francis Albert Sinatra) were ready to celebrate.  But first, there was the little matter of the inaugural address.  On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy made his most famous speech to the world, and today, Google is honoring the 50th anniversary of JFK’s inaugural address with a special-made Google Doodle.

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.  My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

Several people contributed to the speech, including Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith, but most of the heavy lifting was done by Theodore Sorenson, Kennedy’s primary speech writer, and Kennedy himself, who liberally peppered his speeches with famous quotations from other speakers.  Perhaps then it’s fitting that the words are what gain the greatest emphasis in Google’s JFK Doodle, not the man himself.  After all, the words of the speech are are memorable as the man who delivered it.

Tags: famous speeches, John F. Kennedy, JFK, 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, inauguration, JFK’s inaugural speech, Google, Google Doodle, Google honors JFK’s inaugural speech with a doodle, 50th Anniversary of JFK’s inaugural speech honored by Google, Google Doodle to honor 50th anniversary of JFK’s inaugural speech, Kennedy inauguration speech, Theodore Sorenson

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