In his 1961 inaugural address, we hear a young president rooted in optimism and public service. In his Civil Rights address, an aspiration for a nation where all people are truly free. Each speech brims with hope and ambition, reminders of an agenda only partly realized before it was cut short by an assassin’s bullet. Just days after my visit, President Kennedy’s only grandson, Jack Schlossberg, announced he will run for the U.S. House—the same institution where his grandfather began his political career. And, hope, aspiration, and a sense of vigor—vigah!—are qualities we still need in our candidates and in our politics.