Profiles in Courage

By John F. Kennedy

“You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”

– Caroline Kennedy

(Kennedy 2006, XIV)

“The magistrate is the servant not of his own desires, not even of the people, but of his God.”

(Kennedy 2006, 40)

“This measure will cost you and me our seats,” young Adams remarked to a colleague, as the select committee completed its work and its members made their way to the senate floor, “but private interest must not be put in opposition to the public good.”

(Kennedy 2006, 43)

Senator James W. Grimes:

“I shall ever thank God that in that troubled hour of trial, when many privately confessed that they had sacrificed their judgment and their conscience at the behests of pray newspapers and party hate, I had the courage to be true to my oath and my conscience … perhaps I did wrong not to commit perjury by order of a party; but I cannot see it that way … I became a judge acting on my own responsibility and accountable only to my own conscience and my maker; and no power could force me to decide on such a case contrary to my convictions, whether that party was composed of my friends or my enemies.”

(Kennedy 2006, 138)

Yet the changing nature of the senate, its works and its members, seems to have lessened the frequency with which the nation is given inspiration by a selfless stand for great but unpopular principles. Perhaps we are still too close in time to those in our own midst whose actions are more detached historical perspective may someday stamp as worthy of recording in the annals of political courage.

(Kennedy 2006, 168-169)

Winston Churchill:

“Democracy is the worst form of government – except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

The true democracy, living and growing and inspiring, puts its faith in the people – faith that the people will not simply elect men who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but also elect men who will exercise their conscientious judgment – faith that the people will not condemn those whose devotion to principle leads them to unpopular courses, but will reward courage, respect honor and ultimately recognize right.