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

Rob Arnold
Maurice Heaphy
Dave Mason
Kathleen Temple
Bruce Todd
Garfield Shears
Frank Mcgourty
Teresa Martin
Nigel Mohammed
John Joseph
Robert Hockett
Michael Stettler
Cindy Guadalupe
Christian Hamann
Ray Villanueva
Maureen Finlay
Louise Hayward
Gina Borggrebe
Sydney Bredenberg
Deborah Harper
Jesse Descavich
Judy Seagondollar
Rebecca Peppas
William Goodwin
Jayne Hayden
Barry Bruce
Tim Kilian
Angélica Ramírez Cruz
Alex Barrett
James Anderson
832 signatures

Sign the petition here:

  • Rob Arnold
    signed 2023-05-24 16:45:55 -0400
    We are closer now to thermonuclear exchange than we ever were during the Cold War.

    All people, everywhere, need to let that fact, and it’s an absolute fact, sink in.

    We are on a threshold of potential disaster and calamity, and we do not have the luxury of indifference, or apathy, with petty partisan politics as a distraction.

    The existential threat is upon us.
  • Maurice Heaphy
    signed 2023-05-24 16:44:38 -0400
  • Dave Mason
    signed via 2023-05-24 16:42:33 -0400
  • Kathleen Temple
    signed 2023-05-24 16:40:55 -0400
  • Bruce Todd
    signed 2023-05-24 16:33:38 -0400
  • Garfield Shears
    signed 2023-05-24 16:31:28 -0400
  • Frank Mcgourty
    signed 2023-05-24 16:24:28 -0400
  • Teresa Martin
    signed 2023-05-24 16:05:30 -0400
  • Nigel Mohammed
    signed 2023-05-24 15:32:01 -0400
    Jesus Christ is the only hope for manykind. He alone is the Logos, the Alpha and Omega. He holds ALL THINGS together. This is His world and He will not give up on the work of His hands. The Russian people knew as Solzhenitsyn said We have forgotten God, that is why all this has happened. This not a naive oversimplification. We were made by Love and for Love.
  • John Joseph
    signed 2023-05-24 15:26:50 -0400
  • Robert Hockett
    signed 2023-05-24 15:21:20 -0400
  • Michael Stettler
    signed 2023-05-24 15:20:01 -0400
    The World Cant Wait

    Ventura County Courthouse

    Victoria and Telephone Oct 5th 2006.

    The Larouche Connection had a viewership of 250,000.
  • Cindy Guadalupe
    signed 2023-05-24 15:16:28 -0400
  • Christian Hamann
    signed 2023-05-24 15:14:03 -0400
    It is this great idealism, policy of constitutional principles and independence of the money oligarchy that we have to revive.
  • Ray Villanueva
    signed 2023-05-24 15:07:34 -0400
  • Maureen Finlay
    signed 2023-05-24 15:07:34 -0400
  • Louise Hayward
    signed 2023-05-24 15:04:30 -0400
  • Gina Borggrebe
    signed 2023-05-24 15:03:32 -0400
    Thank you for fighting the necessary fight to get our great nation back on the right track!!!
  • Sydney Bredenberg
    signed 2023-05-24 15:02:24 -0400
  • Deborah Harper
    signed 2023-05-24 14:34:18 -0400
    Nato need to step back, back to Germany where it was agreed. Peace talks need to start as Putin has indicated and the Ukraine needs to clean up its act. No more pandering to global interests, no more fighting with their neighbour because the people do not wage war their governments do.
  • Jesse Descavich
    signed 2023-05-24 14:15:08 -0400
  • Judy Seagondollar
    signed 2023-05-24 14:11:19 -0400
  • Rebecca Peppas
    signed 2023-05-24 14:09:15 -0400
  • William Goodwin
    signed 2023-05-24 14:05:00 -0400
  • Jayne Hayden
    signed 2023-05-24 14:03:43 -0400
  • Barry Bruce
    signed 2023-05-24 14:02:59 -0400
  • Tim Kilian
    signed 2023-05-24 13:58:09 -0400
  • Angélica Ramírez Cruz
    signed via 2023-05-24 13:54:54 -0400
    Gracias por esta iniciativa. Necesitamos despertar de un prolongado letargo a través del arte.
  • Alex Barrett
    signed 2023-05-24 13:38:11 -0400
    Blaming our “leadership” and doing nothing is tantamount to being complacent. Complacency means approval of the current regime, no one said it better than Shakespeare… Don’t be complacent, do something to bring about change!!!
  • James Anderson
    signed 2023-05-24 13:32:22 -0400

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