President Kennedy’s Speech from His Campaign Stop in Texarkana

It was in September of 1960 that John F. Kennedy made a campaign stop in Texarkana. He participated and rode in the Four States Fair Parade, and gave this speech at the Fairgrounds.

I was able to be in the crowd for Jimmy Carter when he made a campaign stop in Texarkana. I was also able to see and shake the hand of Ronald Reagan, and I had a photo taken with Bill Clinton when those Presidents made campaign stops. President Kennedy was assassinated years before I came to be, but he came thru Texarkana in September of 1960. The American Presidency Project has the speech on record...

Massachusetts and Texas are several thousand miles apart, but Boston, Tex., and Boston, Mass., are only a few inches apart in their common devotion to the principles of this country. [Applause.] I have been taken from the Pass of the North, El Paso, on Sunday night, across the great State of Texas to the eastern borders of Texas and Arkansas-Louisiana. I come to this State on this occasion as the Democratic standard bearer, representing not Massachusetts, but representing a national Democratic Party which has its roots in Texas as well as in my own State. [Applause.] Yesterday I was shown the Alamo, and I was informed of all the brave deeds of all the Texans, of Bowie and Crockett and all the rest. So I said last night, "Haven't you heard of Paul Revere" They said, "Yes, he is the one who ran for help." [Laughter.]

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