John F. Kennedy photo

Remarks Upon Arrival at Honolulu International Airport.

June 08, 1963

Governor, Mr. Mayor, Senator Inouye, Senator Fong, Sparky, Tom Gill, ladies and gentlemen:

I want to express a very warm aloha at being back here in Hawaii, and to tell you that I come from another part of the United States, 6,000 miles away, and we are proud of this city and this State and what it stands for.

I have come here to speak to the mayors of the United States on a matter which concerns us all, and that is, how the American people can live more happily and more securely together. And there is no place where it is more appropriately said and understood than in this part of the United States, here on this island.

Reaching into the Pacific, yet part of the United States, this island represents all that we are and all that we hope to be. I am proud to come here.

In 1960 I went to Alaska and did not come here. I carried here and lost Alaska. But nevertheless, in spite of that ominous sign, I am glad to come here on this occasion and to tell you that those of us who live to the east of you look to you, and, indeed, in these difficult days, to all Americans who represent the best hope on earth, who are a proud, progressive people, who are determined to maintain their freedom and their liberty, and to maintain the freedom and liberty of those associated with us.

I am glad to come here tonight, and I want to express a warm thanks to all of you for having come to the airport and held out a warm hand of greeting to all of us who have traveled so far. We will stay here so briefly, but we will go back to Washington knowing that this country is still all that it is and all that it will be.

Thank you very much and God bless you all.

Note: The President's opening words referred to John A. Burns, Governor of Hawaii; Neil S. Blaisdell, Mayor of Honolulu; and Daniel K. Inouye and Hiram L. Fong, U.S. Senators, and Spark M. Matsunaga and Thomas P. Gill, U.S. Representatives-all of Hawaii.

John F. Kennedy, Remarks Upon Arrival at Honolulu International Airport. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/236624

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