Urgent Appeal by Citizens and Institutions from All Over the World to the (Next) President of the United States!

May 17, 2023

PDF of the petition

June 10, 2023 will be the 60th anniversary of the famous American University speech by JFK on what he himself called “the most important topic on earth: world peace.”

President Kennedy gave that speech less than a year after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, in the middle of the Cold War, but he was able to elevate his listeners to see above the geopolitical conflict and to look at the interest of humanity as a whole.

Today we are faced with a strategic situation far more dangerous than that at the height of the Cuban missile crisis. Offensive NATO weapon systems are much closer to the border of Russia than Cuba is to the United States. The destructive power of the NATO weapons is even greater, the warning time before their launch shorter, and the trust between the leaders of the big nuclear powers is virtually non-existent, compared to that between Kennedy and  Khrushchev. The doomsday clock has been set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at 90 seconds before midnight, and that may be overly optimistic.

The world is in danger of splitting into two blocs, a NATO-U.S.-UK-EU bloc, and a Russia-China- “Global South” bloc. This represents the acute danger of a new world war, which would be nuclear, and would therefore mean the annihilation of the human species. Since Russia and the U.S. presently have 90% of all nuclear weapons directed against each other, which weapons could destroy the world many times over, it is an urgent matter of concern for every human being on earth that we find a way out. The solution must be on a plane that overcomes geopolitics and takes the perspective of the interest of the one humanity.

We, the undersigned, therefore express our hope, that the (next) President of the United States finds the greatness in herself or himself to adopt the viewpoint which was expressed by JFK in his historic speech. 

President Kennedy said on June 10, 1963:

What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children—not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women—not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.

Many may think that it is impossible today for an American President to make such a speech. And indeed, Russian President Putin is today portrayed as more evil than Khrushchev was at the time, and China is also painted as a great threat. But President Kennedy nevertheless praised the Russians, and lauded their great contributions in science, industry and culture. He praised their courage in defeating Hitler in World War II, in which cause, they sacrificed more than 26 million lives. The world needs an American president who can see the best tradition in every nation, including Russia and China, as the basis for mutual trust and the basis for peace.

We the undersigned want America to be again the America expressed in that beautiful speech of JFK. We want the United States to be again a beacon of hope and a temple of liberty. We believe that this is the basis for “peace for all time,” as JFK said.

Initiating signer

Helga Zepp-LaRouche (Germany), founder Schiller Institute

Who's signing

Timothy Williamson
Josiah Preston
James Hanson
Wayne Smith
Dylan Swift
Daniel Berrier
Margaret Vincent
Lilian Simone Godoy Fonseca
jovita harrah
Stacey Peacock
Jennifer Hall
John Harris
Christopher Agumadu
Ronald Converse
Malcolm Burn
Deborah Brown
Alfred Molison
doro pollex
Ray Schmitz
Beat Schillinger
Erwin Fink
Lubega Geoffrey Bob
Fletcher Glass
Leonida Katunge
Joyce Chu
D Aslan
Ross Dixon
marty miller
Sergei Dyshlevsky
Steen Holmgren
835 signatures

Sign the petition here:

  • Timothy Williamson
    signed 2023-06-03 22:24:22 -0400
  • Josiah Preston
    signed 2023-06-03 22:04:46 -0400
  • James Hanson
    signed 2023-06-03 19:16:27 -0400
  • Wayne Smith
    signed 2023-06-03 17:23:25 -0400
  • Dylan Swift
    signed 2023-06-03 17:01:00 -0400
    The world needs this,
  • Daniel Berrier
    signed 2023-06-03 12:26:23 -0400
  • Margaret Vincent
    signed via 2023-06-03 11:30:02 -0400
    Much risk for nuclear destruction at present. Please call senators,reps at 202.224.3121 and president during midweek at 202.456.1111 to demand efforts toward peace
  • Lilian Simone Godoy Fonseca
    signed 2023-06-03 08:37:09 -0400
  • jovita harrah
    signed 2023-06-03 01:54:47 -0400
  • Stacey Peacock
    signed via 2023-06-03 01:40:02 -0400
  • Jennifer Hall
    signed 2023-06-03 00:10:53 -0400
  • John Harris
    signed 2023-06-02 21:28:58 -0400
  • Christopher Agumadu
    signed 2023-06-02 21:12:52 -0400
    The world will have peace if the leaders can tap from the Light in Jesus Christ.
  • Ronald Converse
    signed 2023-06-02 20:03:04 -0400
  • Malcolm Burn
    signed 2023-06-02 19:37:24 -0400
  • Deborah Brown
    signed via 2023-06-02 18:30:02 -0400
  • Alfred Molison
    signed 2023-06-02 17:28:09 -0400
  • doro pollex
    signed 2023-06-02 17:07:43 -0400
  • Ray Schmitz
    signed 2023-06-02 16:44:30 -0400
  • Beat Schillinger
    signed 2023-06-02 15:07:17 -0400
  • Erwin Fink
    signed 2023-06-02 09:54:51 -0400
  • Lubega Geoffrey Bob
    signed 2023-06-02 09:45:01 -0400
  • Fletcher Glass
    signed 2023-06-01 23:41:13 -0400
    We the people demand an end to industrial war complex and unipolar hegemony and interference in global trade from the perpetrators of war and misery.
  • Leonida Katunge
    signed 2023-06-01 21:54:30 -0400
    Great work peace before all else
  • Joyce Chu
    signed 2023-06-01 20:26:49 -0400
  • D Aslan
    signed 2023-06-01 20:19:49 -0400
  • Ross Dixon
    signed 2023-06-01 19:52:46 -0400
  • marty miller
    signed 2023-06-01 17:04:50 -0400
  • Sergei Dyshlevsky
    signed 2023-06-01 16:59:36 -0400
  • Steen Holmgren
    signed 2023-06-01 16:34:50 -0400

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