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Throwback Thursday: Kennedy speaks

By Mark Alden Branch ’86 | 1:11am June 10 2026

Sixty-four years ago tomorrow, as seen on our July 1962 cover, President John F. Kennedy accepted an honorary degree at Yale's commencement. Breaking with a long tradition of having no speeches at the ceremony, the university invited Kennedy to address the gathering. His speech is perhaps remembered for his quip, "It might be said now that I have the best of both worlds: a Harvard education and a Yale degree." But he also discussed the sluggish national economy in an address that journalist Walter Lippmann called "the most significant . . . since he was inaugurated."

Filed under Commencement, Throwback Thursday, John F. Kennedy

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