“It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.
“No President should fear public scrutiny of his program.
For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition.
And both are necessary.
I am not asking your newspapers to support the Administration,
but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people.
For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.
And so it is to the printing press–to the recorder of man’s deeds, the keeper of his conscience,
the courier of his news–
that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent.”
JFK 1963
