It is often said that the big difference between talking and communicating lies in the fact that the speaker only conveys information, while the communicator is also able to arouse emotions in its auditorium. Kennedy is the best example.
Emotions that move to action. This week marks the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's historic visit to Germany, during which he delivered a memorable ten-minute speech in which he proclaimed that "all free men are citizens of Berlin". On that June morning in 1963, Kennedy proved once again that he was a giant of communication. As he confessed to his closest aides, as he left the stage he had the feeling that if he had said: "Now march to the wall and destroy it", the crowd would have done so.
The president's European tour was to reach its climax in West Berlin. JFK's reputation in Germany was sky-high. Even the more progressive sections of the population had abandoned the traditional anti-Americanism of the European left and saw the young American leader as a kind of role model, if not outright hero. Crowds poured into the streets of the western quarter to cheer him. Cheers and waving handkerchiefs greeted the appearance of the open Mercedes in which Kennedy was travelling, along with Chancellor Adenauer and Mayor Willy Brandt, on every street corner.
Kennedy's 1963 Berlin speech
During his speech at Rudolph Wilde Platz (can be viewed in full on Youtube), Kennedy He spoke of unity, hope and the commitment of the United States to the defence of European democracies. But above all, he spoke of freedom. He had just seen with his own eyes the "wall of shame" that had divided the city since August 1961, when the communist authorities of the German Democratic Republic had erected a surprise barrier of concrete and barbed wire almost three metres high around the western sector of the city. The aim was to prevent East Germans from continuing to flee in their thousands through West Berlin to the capitalist world.
The sight of the wall horrified him. After the protocol greetings, his first words sounded harsh: "There are many people in the world who don't really understand, or say they don't understand, what the big difference is between the free world and the communist world. Let them come to Berlin! There are those who say that communism is the way of the future. Let them come to Berlin! And there are those in Europe and everywhere who say that we can collaborate with the communists. Let them come to Berlin! And there are even some who say that it is true that communism is a perverse system, but it allows economic progress to be made. Let them come to Berlin. Kennedy's final "Let them come to Berlin!" in German ("lass' sie nach Berlin kommen") sent the packed square into delirium.
Arthur Schlesinger, the president's adviser and biographer, reveals how Kennedy worked on his political speeches: "He used to start by calling the writer and sketching out some ideas. When the speech was intended for a serious occasion, he would read the draft very carefully, make illegible notes in the margin, and then go over the result with the writer". Although a perfectly competent draftsman, JFK rarely had time to compose a piece from beginning to end. The first version of the text was usually a matter of Ted Sorensenone of his trusted advisors. Kennedy worked in close association with him for more than ten years.
Sorensen is probably the father of one of the president's most remembered phrases ("don't ask what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country".) and the architect of two discursive devices that Kennedy frequently used and which worked to perfection. The first is staccato sentences, such as "we will pay the price that must be paid; we will bear the burdens that must be borne; we will make the sacrifices that must be made; we will support any friend and oppose any foe to ensure the survival and success of freedom". The second is the use of balanced sentences, such as "never have the nations of the world had so much to lose or so much to gain" or "together we will save our planet or together we will perish in its flames".
I am a Berliner
For the Berlin speechSorensen prepared two of his genius phrases. The only two that President Kennedy said in German and which he had written in his own handwriting on an index card. The first, as we have seen, served to get the crowd in tune at the beginning of the speech. The second, although also enunciated at the beginning, was his final punch line. The perfect climax to a speech that has gone down in history as a example of what people expect from a political leader. "Freedom is indivisible, and when anyone is enslaved, no one is free. When all are free we can look forward to the day when this city will be united, and this country and this great continent of Europe will form a peaceful and hopeful whole. Until that day finally comes, and it will surely come, the people of West Berlin can be sensibly satisfied that they have been in the vanguard for almost two decades. All free men, wherever they live, are citizens of Berlin; and, therefore, as a free man, I am proud to say: 'Ich bin ein Berliner' (I am a Berliner)".
I think it was one of the best speeches my brother ever made," wrote Edward Kennedy. It generated hope in an oppressed people. It conveyed a message on the need for freedom for all peopleThe message was consistent both at home and abroad. Although he was realistic about the time it would take and the effort that had to be made to achieve that ideal of freedom and equality, Jack was mindful of the importance of building alliances, challenging people to do their best and sowing goodwill.
When Kennedy boarded the presidential plane that night to take him to Dublin, he was enormously satisfied. "As long as we live, we'll never live another day like this," he confessed to the faithful Sorensen during the flight.
Luis Sala