Kennedy and Biden’s Irish values united across years

ON JANUARY 20, 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated as 35th President of the USA.

At 43, he became the youngest man to be elected to that office and his motto – “Ask not what your country can do for you. Rather ask what you can do for your country” – has inspired people all over the world, ever since.

JFK was the first Irish American Roman Catholic to occupy the presidency. He had very strong Irish roots of which he was immensely proud.

Not only was he a breath of social democratic fresh air in the USA but he also lifted the spirits of the Irish. He became “our man” in the White House and he represented values Ireland could identify with.

On Friday, November 22, 1963, JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, by Lee Harvey Oswald. Irish people were shocked and saddened by the untimely loss of “one of our own”, who had made a spectacularly successful visit to Ireland in June 1963. JFK described his visit to Ireland as four of the best days of his life.

On January, 20, 2021, 60 years after JFK’s inauguration, 78-year-old Joe Biden was inaugurated as 46th President of the USA.

President Biden is an Irish American Roman Catholic with a strong love of Ireland. The Irish people have a reciprocal affection for Joe Biden, who shares many of the core values of JFK. He is a welcome voice of moderation, respect and compassion after four toxic years of Donald Trump.

May God grant him good health and keep him safe in his challenging task and on his visit home to Ireland.

Billy Ryle

Tralee, Co Kerry