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- President Kennedy's legacy in Berlin
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- Dan Tritle
JFK's "ich bin ein Berliner" speech in June 1963 inspired residents of a city beseiged by the pressures of Cold War politics. Piece includes comments by JFK speechwriter Ted Sorensen and Berlin residents who comment on the speech's impact. Piece also includes dramatic crowd sounds and excerpts of the speech itself.
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Piece Description
JFK's "ich bin ein Berliner" speech in June 1963 inspired residents of a city beseiged by the pressures of Cold War politics. Piece includes comments by JFK speechwriter Ted Sorensen and Berlin residents who comment on the speech's impact. Piece also includes dramatic crowd sounds and excerpts of the speech itself.
Transcript
Kennedy?s eight hours in West Berlin in the summer of 1963 are remembered as a source of hope and inspiration for residents of the divided city. In the early 60?s West Berlin was an island of freedom surrounded by a sea of communism, walled off from East Germany, ground zero in the battle of ideology between the United States and Soviet Union. Retired State Department Foreign Service officer Bill Rugh was a student in West Berlin in 1963.
?The West Berliners felt under siege, and were very much afraid that they would be the first to suffer if there was a hot war or something broke out, and so they looked to America as protection."
Kennedy was visiting five Western European countries with the goal of spreading good will and building unity among America's allies. He?d already been to three West German cities by the time he landed in West Berlin on June 26th. Travel...
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Timing and Cues
Host introduction:
It was 45 years ago on November 22nd that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. And while Kennedy is a revered figure here in America, he also is remembered around the world as a defender of democracy whose election ushered in a new generation of politics. The American legacy is particularly strong in Germany, where he delivered a reverberating speech in Berlin just a few months before he was killed. Dan Tritle (try'-dull) recently visited Berlin, and filed this report.
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Emily Corwin
Posted on November 19, 2008 at 06:11 AM | Permalink
Review of President Kennedy's legacy in Berlin
This piece compellingly illuminates the the significance of JFK's 1963 "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, without exalting the former president unnecessarily. The speech excerpts, crowd sounds, copy and guests are all pieced together effectively and concisely. I could go for a whole series of short pieces like this on important political speeches. Very nice!