Aug. 28, 1962 - President Kennedy told 5,000 college students today that the burden of preserving world freedom in the next 10 or 20 years “will be placed completely on our country.” The President’s theme in a talk to the summer interns on the South Lawn of the White House was this: although the American Constitution is an extraordinary document, it must be interpreted and made to work by men. He said that he hoped the students who had been working as interns in the executive and legislative branches would return for careers in Government. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy also spoke to a group of 1,500 interns. He said the nation was headed for disaster unless it moved quickly to end racial discrimination. “If we don’t make a major breakthrough in this area by 1970, we’re going to have a very difficult time in proving to the world that we deserve to be a leader and believe in liberty and freedom,” he said.
