Address to the United Nations General Assembly

Abstract

President Kennedy’s address to the United Nations General Assembly in September 1961 was given at a critical moment in the life of that body, one week after the death of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld who had had been killed in a plane crash in the Congo. Some counseled the President to cancel his plans to address the opening of the General Assembly on September 25. But the President believed the UN had to have a future and he decided to speak forcefully on the real issues confronting the Assembly and the world: a stronger United Nations – disarmament and a nuclear test ban – cooperation on outer space and economic development – an end to colonialism – and recognition of the Communist threats to peace over Berlin and Southeast Asia. On September 25, 1961, President Kennedy stood before the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, endorsing a complete and general disarmament, and challenging the Soviet Union to a “peace race.”