This fascinates me because I've never understood the fixation with Kennedy. What is there to root for? He's a silver spoon rich kid. His dad made his money bootlegging and then the whole family turned into a bunch of self righteous do-gooders who periodically show their true colors by drowning mistresses and getting busted buying drugs in Harlem. Before this it is well known that Kennedy, Sr. was involved in extensive stock market manipulation and magically "got out" just in time to avoid losing his money in the Depression, and there is substantial evidence that the schemes devised by his pals (notably causing "short squeezes") were a key factor in causing the crash. When Kennedy's dad was ambassador to England he tried to arrange meetings with Hitler to "improve relations between Germany and the United States." Finally the U.S. had to call him back and he resigned because he was an embarassment to right minded people everywhere. Then he took over a movie business and spent years banging Gloria Swanson while he was having children with his wife every other day. All around - a great guy. Someone Americans can admire...an unqualified success who was utterly lacking in any moral or ethical values beyond making himself rich. And of course such a man would be highly qualified to introduce his children into politics because he was...rich...and without scruples. These are two huge factors in political success to this day.
Quite a few people believe JFK stole the election from Nixon since his daddy had mob contacts in Illinois from his bootlegging days and amazingly...when the Illinois precincts reported...and they were the ones he needed to carry the day...voila...Kennedy won! This is what they call "the Kennedy magic." The rest of us call it cheating.
His own staff has described JFK as a womanizer that would make Clinton blush (have to note that Kennedy actually went after ATTRACTIVE women) and he deployed the Secret Service to cover it up. He lost Cuba, and if you watched that movie "JFK" you know that he was trying to stop the Vietnam War...after...STARTING it by helping those jerks knock off President Diem. In addition, Kennedy gets a lot of credit in terms of civil rights, but Kennedy actually did nothing on this issue. All the civil rights legislation was passed during LBJ's term, and LBJ did all the armtwisting. Not a Kennedy in sight there, and to this day he is worshipped as a champion of minorities largely based on speeches that amounted to nothing. Overall the Kennedy story is one of...style over substance...and proves that overall...the American people...are not really qualified to elect a President, let alone evaluate one.
But it depends on how you LEAVE office. As in...if you're CARRIED OUT of office in a box, people will like you no matter how bad you were.
According to a new Gallup survey, President John F. Kennedy remains the highest-rated president in modern history. President Ronald Reagan came in second with a 74% approval rating while Richard Nixon remained last with 29%. The survey, published Monday, asked Americans "whether they approve or disapprove of how each [president] handled his job in office."
In many ways, it's about how you leave office, writes James Joyner at Outside the Beltway: John Kennedy has become radically more popular in death than he ever was as president. But he's a special case: a handsome, charismatic fellow who was martyred in office.
[The Atlantic Wire]
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