Kerry: In the 1960s, ‘the Cold War Actually Felt Pretty Hot’

"I am really happy to be back in Munich and I’m very happy to share thoughts with this, the 52nd edition of the Security Conference.

And I think if you all think back, 1963, the first year of the Munich Security Conference, this forum has always been about the pursuit of peace. And back then, here in Germany as elsewhere, the Cold War actually felt pretty hot. The wall was a concrete indication of a new reality. Barbed wire was strung across the heart of the country – indeed the heart of Europe. And that was the year that President Kennedy spoke at Rudolph Wilde Platz, and said to all who doubted the courage and resolve of free people: 'Let them come to Berlin.'"