Funny how different people's views can be.
I see JFK as a rich-kid playboy whose father bought him first his senate seat, and then the presidency. (Which he stole via election fraud in several places, most notably Chicago.)
Jim,
Do rich kid playboys join the military and serve with heroic distinction in COMBAT ?
Neither Cook County or his father won the election for him.
It was TV...... and the debates which were televised.
He was charming, had a great sense of humor, was young, had a beautiful, stylish wife and knew how to deal with the media.
The book and the movie, "The Last Hurrah" touches on how politics transformed, or was transformed by the transition to the medium of television.
Certain individuals were a perfect match for TV and the media.
Kennedy, Regan and Cllinton were amongst them.[/color]
He appointed his kid brother, then in his mid-30's, to maybe the 3rd most powerful position in the country.
# 3 is a little high.
He appointed someone he trusted, who was bright and energetic. When you look at his choice, and compare it to others that preceded and followed, it's pretty good.[/color]
He compromised himself, and therefore the nation, with probably thousands of women, including at least one well-known spy.
Thousands ? I'm starting to like him better already.
If you think the Prime Ministers and Presidents that preceded him were squeeky clean, you're naive. You may prefer the Jimmy Carter type, I don't.
If you're refering to Judith Exner, she wasn't a spy.[/color]
As for his pain medication, the nation SHOULD have been told about that. More than just a little important to know that the commander in chief must take ten to twelve drugs per day. That secrecy is typical of the irresponsibility JFK practiced throughout his life. That the press gave and gives him a pass on all this shouts volumes about the 4th estate.
The press protected all of the Presidents, respected the offices of power and peoples private lives prior to Watergate.
Roosevelt's condition was kept from the American people.
Some say Regan's was as well.
JFK's pain medication was nobody's business except his and his physician's. I"m not worried about someone's back being out of kilter, I"m worried about their brain being out of kilter.
JFK remained sharp as a tack up until his untimely death.
Today, a law known as HIPPA protects patient's privacy.
The press in 1960 was far, far different than the press of today.[/color]
One main thing stopped the Kennedy dynasty from really taking shape. The Kennedys themselves. Ultimately, they were too self-destructive. If ever a Faustian deal was made, they fit the bill. Sadly, that seems to play out to this day. Hard to imagine a family that has suffered more tragedy -- so much of it self-inflicted.
I admire the Kennedy's, the Bush's, The Rockerfellers and the Bloomberg's of the world.
They could have led lives of leasure, yet, they dedicated themselves to public service, in an elective and openly hostile environment.
LUCK has a lot more to do with tradgedy than you think.[/color]
Rant over.
Patrick, Kennedy shined in the debates. No question. He still loses the election if not for the hijinx in Chicago.
I don't know exactly where Attorney General stands in the power hierarchy. I do believe it is one of the several key positions in the U.S, and therefore the world. IMO no president should appoint his brother to that position. The potential conflicts of interest and nepotism are too glaring. JFK did it to put another building block in the growing Kennedy dynasty. You don't think father Joe may have had something to do with that, do you?
Sexual affairs: for most men that is their business and no one else's but maybe their family's. A president is different. It leaves him open to blackmail. He can become compromised. He can make poor or terrible errors in judgement. Clinton repeatedly refusing to admit the truth about Monica, and all that followed is one example. There are also reports, unsubstantiated, that JFK was blackmailed over at least one of his affairs, the one with Exner, who at the same time was a mistress of mafia boss Sam Giancana.
Exner is not the spy I was thinking of. (Though the problem of a prez bedding the mafia chief's mistress is a vast problem by itself.) JFK apparently had affairs with a German spy during WWII -- he almost got kicked out of the navy over it and may have been sent to the South Pacific because of it (where his service was mostly a mess) -- and then again with an East German spy, Ellen Rometsch, after he became president.
Most chilling of all, Kennedy's womanizing may have contributed to his death. Instead of constantly refining and working on safety procedures, he had his Secret Service agents finding women for him. (And often sharing in the fun). In fact, several of them spent the night of November 21 drinking in a Fort Worth bar.
On November 22, the secret service broke procedure in what has been called unprecedented ways. This made the assassination much easier. If JFK had kept things more professional -- if he hadn't been conducting a womanizing free-for-all with the men who were supposed to guard his life -- history may have turned out very different that day.
JFK's mind was sharp to the end? I wonder how you know. He reportedly was taking ten to twelve pain drugs per day. Would surprise me if they did not muddle his thinking.
The health of a president should NEVER be private. It's too important to the nation. We need to know if the prez has a serious or fatal disease (as JFK did, though he always lied about that to the nation).
More generally, privacy is one privilege you must give up, if you want to hold that position. We darn well need to know the president's foibles, weaknesses, vulnerabilities. The world's fate rests on his shoulders. (At some point, maybe soon, "his" will be "hers".)
I really hope HIPPA does not apply to the prez. If so, p.c. thinking has sunk to new self-destructive lows.
Maybe the biggest difference in our point of view lies in admiration of the Kennedys, Bushes, Rockefellers, etc. IMO they did not dedicate themselves to public service. They dedicated themselves to power. "Public service" was the means, the vehicle they used to achieve it. They parlayed their vast wealth into vast executive and political power. So much so that David Rockefeller supposedly considered the presidency a demotion from his own position.
Thank God, or whatever entity you choose, that our system still puts some limits on what the powerful can do. Even so, these multi-generational dynasties are a real danger to freedom. They seem to have an almost rock-and-roll appeal to many of the people. Sad.
BTW, whenever we see corruption, lies or abuse in our government, I believe it is critical the world learns about it. No matter which party is in power. It's the only way to keep the old adage about power and corruption from drowning us.