“Only if our citizens are physically fit will they be fully capable of such an effort.”

— John F. Kennedy

1960, Sport at the New Frontier: The Soft American
Context: But physical fitness is as vital to the activities of peace as to those of war, especially when our success in those activities may well determine the future of freedom in the years to come. We face in the Soviet Union a powerful and implacable adversary determined to show the world that only the Communist system possesses the vigor and determination necessary to satisfy awakening aspirations for progress and the elimination of poverty and want. To meet the challenge of this enemy will require determination and will and effort on the part of all Americans. Only if our citizens are physically fit will they be fully capable of such an effort.

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John F. Kennedy469

35th president of the United States of America 1917–1963

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