Speech
Honors Day 2007 Ceremony Address
University of Texas at Austin Honors Day 2007, April 14, 2007
James B. Steinberg, Dean, LBJ School of Public Affairs
Thank you President Powers for your kind introduction; I am honored to be here.
When President Powers asked me to be the Honors Day speaker, I was, of course,
flattered but a little puzzled. I went home and wracked my brain to discern why he would
select me. After all, I'm a recent transplant to UT who grew up in the cold austere climes
of New England. At first I thought—how clever—he's picked a graduate school Dean so
none of the schools represented here would feel that they were being discriminated
against. But then it dawned on me—the Boston-Austin connection.
Now, none of you are old enough to remember the Boston-Austin connection. In fact,
most of your parents are barely old enough to remember. And of course, I'm not talking
about the new Jet Blue non-stop service, for which my mother is eternally grateful since
it gets her here more often to see her grandchildren. I'm talking of course about the
political partnership of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, two extraordinary but very
different leaders who made such an impact on my generation. What made both Kennedy
and Johnson so remarkable was their ability to speak to, and inspire young people to
make the most of their lives, and particularly to make a contribution to those who were
less fortunate. Many of Kennedy's great phrases will live on in memory, but perhaps
none so much as his words from his inaugural address—"ask not what your country can
do for you, ask what you can for your country."
Download the complete speech in PDF format
Copyright 2007 The Lyndon B. Johnson
School of Public Affairs
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University of Texas at Austin Honors Day
