Aug. 27, 1963 - President Kennedy urged the youth of America today to seek public office in their nation’s government rather than rely “on people with special interests who inundate us with their views while the great majority of the people are unheard from.” The President made the impassioned plea to 5,000 college students who spent the summer working in Federal offices in Washington, D.C. Welcoming them to the South Lawn of the White House as “fellow students of government,” Mr. Kennedy said their services were “vitally needed” in the future, whether they planned to embark on Federal careers or to play active roles as citizens. He told the students their generation would have to deal with “the most difficult, the most sensitive problems” in this nation’s history.
