Exchange of Remarks With Prime Minister Macmillan Upon Arriving at Windsor Field in Nassau, the Bahamas.
Prime Minister:
I want to express my appreciation for your warm words of welcome. As you say, this is the sixth meeting that we have had--Key West, twice in Washington, once in London, once in Bermuda, and now in the Bahamas. And I do think it fair to say that we really do much better in warmer climates, so I am delighted that we are here today.
I am not sure that the world is so much better off after our previous five meetings, but I feel that at least as President I have been better off, and have benefited greatly from the counsel and friendship which you have shown to me, Prime Minister, to my predecessor, your old friend General Eisenhower, and also to the American people who have a heavy claim laid on you from earliest birth.
I want to express our appreciation to the people of the Bahamas for their welcome. The world looks better today than it did yesterday, and I am sure it's due to our pleasure in being on this island in the sun.
We thank you all for your warm welcome.
Note: Prime Minister Macmillan's remarks of welcome follow:
Mr. President:
It is a very great privilege for me to be asked to welcome you most heartily to the Bahamas on your visit here today. We hope that you will enjoy your stay.
I would like to add perhaps that these forms of meetings that I have had the privilege of having both with you, sir, and your predecessors, mark a most important, indeed vital part in the close association between our countries, who have been through so much together in the past, and who have such high hopes together for the future.
Since I became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom I have had the good fortune to have many meetings, both with you, sir, and your predecessor. Indeed, this is the 16th such meeting that I have had, and as I say, I believe they are of the greatest value. But they are all the more agreeable when we are allowed to have them in surroundings such as we see here today, and we are very grateful to the Governor, to the administration, and to all the people of the island for their kindness, for their reception o1 us, for the good will that I am sure you feel, Mr. President, they have toward you and the country of which you are proud to be the head. I trust that the work that we shall do will be, more so because it will be held in such delightful surroundings, effective and fruitful. I welcome you, sir.
John F. Kennedy, Exchange of Remarks With Prime Minister Macmillan Upon Arriving at Windsor Field in Nassau, the Bahamas. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/236810
