John F. Kennedy photo

Remarks Upon Arrival at the London Airport

June 04, 1961

Mr. Prime Minister:

I want to express on behalf of my wife and myself our appreciation for the generous welcome accorded us by Her Majesty the Queen, and by you, sir, and Lady Dorothy Macmillan and the members of your government.

We have had a long and varied journey, and it is a great pleasure to come to this ancient country from which so many of our great traditions in my own country have sprung.

I hope I may say that I come not to Great Britain as a stranger. I spent many months here in the days before the Second War. Two of my sisters had the good judgment to marry citizens of Great Britain, and tomorrow I am about to assume my most sober responsibility, which is to become the godfather of a new English citizen. So I am glad to be here.

I am especially glad, Mr. Prime Minister, to have an opportunity to counsel with you, and I must say that I consider it to be a fitting climax to a journey which has taken us from Washington to Paris, to Vienna, and to London. So, Mr. Prime Minister, I hope you will permit me to say to the citizens of your country that we are very glad to be among them.

Note: The President's opening words referred to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.

John F. Kennedy, Remarks Upon Arrival at the London Airport Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/234789

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