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Barack Obama to echo JFK with call for self-sacrifice

Barack Obama will call on Americans to replace the "anything goes" culture of recent years with a new "era of responsibility" in his inaugural address.

Aides said the President-Elect's first words as president would hark back to John F Kennedy's plea to "ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country".

Rahm Emanuel, who will be chief of staff in the new White House, said: "We need that culture of responsibility, not just to be asked of the American people, but its leaders must also lead by example."

The president-elect and his speechwriter have been working on the draft for two months, and the finished article will draw on great inaugural speeches in American history, from Lincoln, Franklin D Roosevelt and John F Kennedy, delivering a message of hope and unity blended with self-sacrifice.

Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)