The Enduring Legacy of President John F. Kennedy

In this 50^th year since his election, and on this 48^th anniversary of his death, I would like to share a few thoughts with you about President John F. Kennedy.

First, see the results of this presidential popularity poll from December 2010:

“Nearly fifty years after he was assassinated, President John F. Kennedy remains the highest rated modern president, according to a new Gallup Poll.  Kennedy earned an 85 percent retrospective job approval rating, the highest among the nine U.S. presidents who have served in the past 50 years.”

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/06/kennedy-remains-most-popular-modern-president/?hpt=Sbin

Now add this follow-up, from September 2011:

“There is no question who the most beloved president of the last half century is: John F. Kennedy. 74% of American voters have a favorable opinion of Kennedy, and only 15% an unfavorable one.”

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2011/09/jfk-reagan-clinton-most-popular-recent-ex-presidents.html

No doubt about it.  For all his flaws, John Kennedy was and is loved and respected.

It is easy to understand why people idolized President Kennedy in his own time, and in the years following.  He was young, optimistic, and embodied the hope and vigor of a new generation.  He had a storybook life until it was stolen away.  After his death, things went far wrong.  First there was the extraordinary escalation of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, under the leadership of JFK’s Vice President and successor Lyndon Johnson.  Then there was the Watergate Scandal of the early 1970s, under the leadership of JFK’s political rival and second successor Richard Nixon.  It was easy, right up until the 1980s, to think of the Kennedy administration as the last of the “good times” in America.

I was surprised, though, to find that JFK still tops this list today.  It has been a half century since he was elected, and I did not expect that JFK’s charisma and the charm of “Camelot” would reach so far into the future.  President Kennedy certainly had some amazing characteristics and accomplishments; I just had my doubts about whether Americans today would remember them.

My next comments may surprise you, coming from this conservative-leaning moderate, but I concur wholeheartedly.  John Kennedy was indeed one of the greatest presidents of the past century.  Personally, I would rank President Kennedy behind only Ronald Reagan among great presidents of the past 50 years.  (Reagan ranked second in both quoted polls.)

Contrary to what you may hear from a small but vocal group of naysayers, John Kennedy was a president of amazing character, ability, and accomplishment.  Consider what President Kennedy was able to do in three short years.  He inspired a generation to love America and to get involved.  He launched the U.S. space program, ultimately reaching the moon in 1969.  He stood up to racism and started the process of reform that after his death became the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  He pulled together Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, New Englanders and Texans and Californians and people from all parts of the nation, and inspired them to work together for the good of America.  He made friends for America around the world, and enhanced the image of the nation abroad.  He founded the Peace Corps.  These are only a few of his accomplishments as President, and do not include his accomplishments as an author or as a war hero in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

As impressive as all that is, I have yet to mention President Kennedy’s greatest achievement.  Even though it is impossible to prove the conviction I am about to share, I confidently believe that if a lesser man had been in the White House in 1962, we would have experienced the greatest disaster of modern human history.  In October 1962, President Kennedy adeptly navigated the perils of the Cuban Missile Crisis.  His quick thinking, keen insight, and statesmanship prevented the one thing we feared more than any other: a war with atomic weapons.  If generals had been allowed to make the decisions, if Richard Nixon had won the election in 1960, if Kennedy had given in to the pressure to strike first…  Words cannot describe the tragedy that would have come upon us.  Sometimes we have to remember great leaders not only for what they do, but also for what they prevent.

The death of John Kennedy was the first public event I remember.  At the time I was too young to understand much.  But I understand now.  I am privileged, all these years later, to be able to share my gratitude for the man who may have done more than any other person in my lifetime to ensure the survival of my world, the world in which I was able to grow up, the world in which I still live.

It’s hard to argue against the man who just might have saved the world, isn’t it?

Gryphem

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” 

Maybe today we should think once more about the wisdom in these words from President Kennedy.

P.S. If you want a very good portrayal of how the Cuban Missile Crisis looked from the White House Situation Room, and exactly how President Kennedy stared down the atomic threat without plunging the world into a radioactive World War III, check out the movie Thirteen Days, a tense and historically accurate portrayal with the tagline, “You’ll never believe how close we came.”