Kennedy, a scholar of history, begins his speech by addressing several of the dignitaries in attendance: "Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens," referring to Lyndon Baines Johnson, the new vice president; Sam Rayburn, Johnson's mentor, the Speaker of the House; Earl Warren, the chief justice; Dwight D. Eisenhower, the outgoing president; Richard M. Nixon, the outgoing vice president and Republican candidate for president against Kennedy; and Harry Truman, the only other former president at the proceedings. Using the phrase "fellow citizens" to refer to the rest of his audience goes back to the first inaugural address, on April 30, 1789, when George Washington began his speech, "Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives."

He begins his remarks with a nod to another famous phrase:

We observe today not a victory of...