What JFK learned from Mormons

Considering the discussions about Mitt Romney’s “Mormon issue”, and usual comparison with JFK, I've found it interesting to hear what JFK thought of Mormons.

On September 26, 1963, about two months before his assassination, Kennedy visited Utah and gave a foreign policy speech from the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

In the speech, Kennedy makes several references to Mormon history, and says that their rise from persecution to prominence should inspire those who feel the nature of US involvement around the world is “hopeless”:

[L]et us remember that the Mormons of a century ago were a persecuted and prosecuted minority, harried from place to place, the victims of violence and occasionally murder, while today, in the short space of 100 years, their faith and works are known and respected the world around, and their voices heard in the highest councils of this country.

As the Mormons succeeded, so America can succeed, if we will not give up or turn back.

(this quote comes right at 7 minutes in the audio)

Kennedy obviously tailored his speech to his Utah (and primarily Mormon) audience. But his references are far from token statements. He uses Mormon history as the core of his argument that the US had to persevere in the face of opposition, and that time would show their actions to be worth while. He concluded thusly:

Therefore, I think this country will continue its commitments to support the world of freedom, for as we discharge that commitment we are heeding the command which Brigham Young heard from the Lord more than a century ago, the command he conveyed to his followers, "Go as pioneers . . . to a land of peace."

Kennedy knew firsthand the role religion could play in winning or losing an election. Can his approval of Mormons in the “highest councils” of the Nations be used as an endorsement of Romney? Probably not. But I do think his thoughts on the viability of the Mormon faith are worthy of discussion.

DK

(The entire speech provides interesting parallels and insights into the current status of US foreign affairs. You can find the full text here: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=9437
& audio here: http://www.archive.org/download/jfk19630926/jfk_1963_0926_mormontabernacle_64kb.mp3 )