The Consequences Of Kennedy's Death
The death of our president and head of state was enough to inspire a whole decade of American exceptionalism. With the quick passage of civil rights acts, successful social reforms and even a man landing on the moon to cap it all off. Most of this, done in Kennedy's name and for his memory. Had Kennedy lived his small influence and unpopularity would have made him a far less successful chief executive and his presidency would've been less effective as a result. Let's also remember the many flaws Kennedy had. Chronic back pain required him to take high amounts of medication which some say could have impaired his judgement, especially if his presidency stretched on for 6 more years. There's also the fact that Kennedy was a womanizer and quite unsafe, letting in multiple women to the white house at a time when the cold war was at its hottest. Who knows how many enemies could've taken advantage of Kennedy's libido? Perhaps sending women to infiltrate what should have been the most secure building in the country, and get compromisingly close to the leader of our nation.
I think of JFK as one of the greatest leaders and perhaps the last true President the US had. He truly wanted to make positive change and though I was born in 1982 I still owe my life to him for standing up to Russia during the missile crisis. If things had gone south then I likely would not have been born. I think so highly of him, when I visited Washington DC the top thing on my list of things to do was to pay my respects at Arlington (which I thought was beautifully looked after and everyone was very quiet and respectful).
He was the only president to try to lead the US down the path of peace. He wanted to end the cold war with soviets. I know he wasn’t a perfect man, I know about the infidelity and the shady background his father Joe Kennedy had but what JFK attempted has never been seen again, peace not war. I know there is a many Reagan fans here and I love Reagan but to compare the times of "the great communicator" to JFK the height of the cold war would not be fair.
Forgot to mention how JFK wanted America and Russia to join together for a better space program and a joint mission to the moon so I can say without a doubt (and I'm sure everyone will agree) that the space program would've been ten times better then what it was if JFK was never killed. In my mind, if Kennedy had not been assassinated, The Civil Rights Act would have still been enacted. After Kennedy won re-election, he would have had the freedom to call out those in Congress who were sitting on the bill in committee. Plus, he had the weapon of Johnson as his Veep, who could have, as President of the Senate, still had large influence on its passage. Also, I agree that he would not have stepped into Viet Nam as Johnson did, because he was more cautious. He would have tried to use tactics such as those used to avert the Cuban Missile Crisis. . . diplomacy and pragmatic actions such as the blockade he used against Cuba.
JFK actually served in the Navy so he knew how wars were fought. FK would've done better, he would've defunded the CIA and encouraged an end to the racism, pulled back on foreign affairs and audited and/or ended the Federal Reserve cronies because he had the vision of USA being a FREE and OPEN society, but nah CIA Feds and Military Industrial Complex wanted to end him at all costs.
