RFK Jr.’s Message of Peace

On October 1, 1960, then-senator John F. Kennedy addressed the Polish American Congress in Chicago. Commenting on the limitations of, as he called it, “the policy of liberation,” #JFK stated: “We do not want to mislead the people of #Poland or #Hungary again, that the #United-States is prepared to liberate them. Therefore, within the general framework of present events, what policies should we carry out? What can we do to maintain the spirit of independence? What can we do to help, in Thomas Jefferson's words, the disease of liberty to spread? Poland is a satellite government, but the Poles are not a satellite people. We have no right, unless we are prepared to meet our commitments, to incite them to national suicide.” And while he did not advocate for abandoning Poland to the whims of the overlords in Moscow, the future president clearly understood how harmful a policy of building up expectations of the Americans “coming to the rescue” can be in Eastern Europe and preferred a policy of cautious realism.
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