The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts

Washington D.C. hosts many memorials to past presidents. But only one comes alive with over 2,000 events a year: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The memorial to our ﬁrst president George Washington is an iconic obelisk, the tallest structure in the nation’s capital. The memorial to President Lincoln is designed in the style of an Ancient Greek temple, and features a marble statue of the “Great Emancipator.”

The memorial to JFK is quite different. It’s a place full of people — artists and audiences — who come here 365 days a year to be inspired. Our memorial also comes alive for visitors who take one of our free tours of the Kennedy Center building, the REACH, or Campus Highlights.

By an act of Congress — Public Law 88-260 signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson — it was originally planned to be called The National Cultural Center. But in January of 1964, it officially became the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

On January 23, 1964, President Johnson said, “All those who worked in this cause can now know that they are not only honoring the memory of a very great man, but they are enriching our whole American life.”

President Kennedy was not an artist. He was a champion of the arts. “If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him,” he said in 1961. “We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.”

He recognized that if the United States was to continue to grow and ﬂourish, it would have to continue to develop its culture, declaring, “To further the appreciation of culture among all the people. To increase respect for the creative individual, to widen participation by all the processes and fulﬁllments of art — this is one of the fascinating challenges of these days.”

His time in office was all too brief. But in those 35 months, President Kennedy brought us safely through the Cuban Missile Crisis. He began the political work that led to the passage sweeping civil rights legislation. And he set the goal that pointed us toward the moon.

But perhaps his greatest achievement was to be a visionary leader who understood the value of supporting the visions of others; that enriching and supporting the arts was the means to make our nation into the best version of herself. With his eyes always on the future, he said in 1961, “I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty.”

“...ask what you should do for your country.”

These clips demonstrate why President Kennedy is considered one of the ﬁnest orators in modern history to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Witness these iconic moments that have reverberated throughout history.

Art Knows No National Boundaries

He was a statesman who recognized that culture and art are the true hallmarks of a ﬂourishing society.

In this televised speech from 1962, President Kennedy eloquently explains the power of art to build “bridges between peoples” reminding us “that the forces that unite are deeper than those that divide."

President Kennedy's Full Inaugural Address

"Ich Bin Ein Berliner"

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You

Who Was JFK?

No one expected him to become president. He had too much stacked against him. His religion. His youth. His background.

But John F. Kennedy never balked in the face of struggle. His unﬂagging spirit carried him to the White House, and to one of the most iconic presidencies in the history of our nation. This exclusive ﬁlm tells that story.

Who Was JFK?

No one expected him to become president. He had too much stacked against him. His religion. His youth. His background.

But John F. Kennedy never balked in the face of struggle. His unﬂagging spirit carried him to the White House, and to one of the most iconic presidencies in the history of our nation. This exclusive ﬁlm tells that story.

“We must be bold.”

It was President Kennedy’s boldness that led us to do something humans have considered ever since they walked upright: travel 238,900 miles through the darkness of space to walk on the surface of the moon.

In Houston, Texas, on September 12, 1962, President Kennedy declared, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

Fewer than seven years later, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong made good on President Kennedy’s promise when he became the ﬁrst person to set foot on the moon.

Shooting for the Moon

Speech to Congress

“Our desire to live in peace, our desire to be of help.”

At the height of the Cold War, President Kennedy had the vision to found a new organization dedicated to peace: the Peace Corps, a global service organization, staﬀed by young people. This revolutionary enterprise combined the ideals of service and cultural exchange, and transformed the lives of countless people.

“A great change is at hand.”

For President Kennedy, the battle to grant civil rights to African-Americans wasn’t simply a moral struggle, it was a legal necessity and a constitutional imperative. He used all his political will to create the legislation to end the legal practices of segregation.

After his assassination on November 22, 1963, his successor, President Johnson, secured the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“A great change is at hand.”

For President Kennedy, the battle to grant civil rights to African-Americans wasn’t simply a moral struggle, it was a legal necessity and a constitutional imperative. He used all his political will to create the legislation to end the legal practices of segregation.

After his assassination on November 22, 1963, his successor, President Johnson, secured the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.