Eisenhower's Farewell Address: JFK's Inaugural Address

    Eisenhower's Farewell Address: JFK's Inaugural Address

      As an aging, bald President Eisenhower stepped down, he passed the baton to the young, handsome, blessed-with-great-hair John F. Kennedy, whose inaugural address still stands as one of the best speeches in the American tradition. It was arguably more elegant, rhythmic, and poetic than Eisenhower's last speech. It contained the famous phrase, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

      But it definitely had the same inspirational appeal to the ideals of America. It gives a vision of peace with the Soviet Union and all other hostile nations, and gives us hope that we can help heal the wounds of the world.

      If there was ever a template for how to transition between Presidential administrations, the Eisenhower-Kennedy transition would be a pretty good one. Eisenhower's address anticipated the rhetoric and idealism of Kennedy, and Kennedy's echoed the best parts of Eisenhower's farewell and legacy.

      And as far as we know, JFK resisted making any bald jokes.