John F. Kennedy, Jr. Autograph Manuscript Signed - Middle School Poem, "To be sung to America the beautiful" (1974-75)

Autograph manuscript signed "John Kennedy," one-page handwritten composition written by Kennedy as a student at the Collegiate School in New York City, circa 1974-1975. The composition, penned in black ink on an 8 x 10.5 sheet of lined notebook paper, is signed at the upper left by a 14- or 15-year-old Kennedy and begins, "To be sung to America the beautiful." The socially conscious poem continues: "Oh lovely land of racial lies / of crooked ways to fame / From Kent State to Sharon Tate / we're proud to bear thy name / America America / God spared his grace on thee / From atom bombs to nuclear arms / be proud of U.S.A. / II And though your bad / we love you much / your taught us right and wrong / just look at vietnam and its trouble / that we caused / America America, God looks at us from high / To guide us by forefathers cry / just like Jerry Ford." In fine condition, with light creasing and a horizontal fold. A topical original poem by the young John F. Kennedy, Jr. that touches on many of America's most pressing social and political issues, including race relations, the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons, the Kent State shootings, the Sharon Tate murders, and the presidency of Gerald Ford.