1961: John F Kennedy sworn in as US president The Democrat John F Kennedy has been sworn in as the youngest ever elected president of the United States. The 43-year-old Roman Catholic was inaugurated as the 35th president on a snow-covered Capitol Hill in Washington. He takes over from the oldest president in American history, General Dwight Eisenhower, who is bowing out aged 70. The president's Republican rival, Richard Nixon, who came a close second in the race for the White House, also attended the inauguration ceremony. Millions watched the swearing-in of the new president on television. He chose to wear formal dress, including a top hat, for the occasion. Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country President John F Kennedy President Kennedy began his speech by addressing "my fellow citizens" - the term first used by President George Washington but rejected by later presidents in favour of the less formal "my fellow Americans". His ten-minute address appealed to Americans to unite in the fight against the common enemy of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself. For the people of the world struggling against the "bonds of misery", the president pledged, "our best efforts to help them help themselves". He continued: "If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich." He also appealed to the Soviet Union to begin a new quest for peace. "Let both sides for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations," he said. President Kennedy closed his speech with the words: "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." His words were greeted with rousing applause.