President John F, Kennedy "Separation of Church & State Speech" to The Greater Houston Ministerial Association, 9/12/1960
President John F, Kennedy (National Archives)
Watching the news today, they mentioned that Biden was only the second Catholic elected President. Which made me think of the first one: JFK.
At the time there was much more prejudice against Catholics than there is now. Some people were saying that if a Catholic were to become president, he would "Take his orders from the Pope". That he would be more loyal to The Vatican than to America.
There were several ways JFK could have dealt with these false claims, but he decided to face it head on. He decided to address The (Protestant) Greater Houston Ministerial Association.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
John F. Kennedy's Separation of Church and State Speech. Rice Hotel, Houston, Texas - September 12, 1960
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An important event in American History!
It was some time ago,and I've seen this video several times since, but IIRC I saw this speech live on TV at the time. (Black & White TV).
This is especially significant to me as this was the first political campaign I worked on, and to this day I still think of him as one of our greatest Presidents!
OK, I admit it-- I am a bit biased