Remarks in the Cabinet Room at the Unveiling of a Bust of John F. Kennedy.

Mrs. Shriver, ladies and gentlemen:

All of us who knew him, loved him, and worked with him here in this historic room are grateful today for the opportunity to display this magnificent bust of President Kennedy. In his thousand days of our leadership, President Kennedy made decisions which will be remembered and respected for a thousand years. Certainly so long as men are free, and so long as they inhabit this planet in peace and in courage and in calmness, October 1962 will be honored.

Through many of those anxious hours when life on this earth was in the balance, John Fitzgerald Kennedy's finest moments were spent here in this room at that table.

I am personally grateful, and I know the Nation will be grateful, to Mrs. Kennedy for giving us the privilege of placing this bust here until it is moved to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library at Cambridge.

This fine work done by Mr. de Weldon was commissioned by President Kennedy's three military aides, General Clifton, Captain Shepard, and General McHugh. Fortunately a bronze replica is being shown publicly in the Kennedy Library Exhibit, which is traveling across the Nation, and many Americans will have the opportunity to see this work in that form.

For all of us, the tragic anniversary of this weekend makes this a very sad and sober time. We can here reflect upon the irony that President Kennedy himself had placed in this room a bust of another martyred President, Abraham Lincoln.

As was said of the Great Emancipator, we can say of our friend and our brother and our great leader: He belongs to the ages.