Why has the American preoccupation with the assasination of President JFK been so intense and lasted so long - Essay Example

John F. Kennedy (JFK) was probably one of the most beloved President’s in American history who won the hearts of not just the Americans but of peopleacross nations. There could be various reasons attributed to his popularity or the legacy that he has left behind. The Americans remain entranced by his charisma even so many years after his assassination. Is it the martyr status attained through assassination or his administrative qualities or his legacy has nothing to do with his political career? Is it the culture and idealism that he introduced in office which made him into an unparallel hero? Born in Massachusetts in 1917, JFK was the second of nine children in the family. His education stretched from the London School of Economics to the Harvard from where he majored in government and international relations. President JFK grew up in a political family and led an extraordinary life. He was the youngest man ever elected for the president of a nation. Rich, handsome, charming, articulate and elegant, JFK was admired equally by the people of the United States as well as abroad. Various events shaped his physical and intellectual growth and character development. In 1938, JFK happened to be in Europe when the Munich crisis mounted and that fired his imagination. When he went back to studies after vacations, he excelled in the government classes. At the time of the onset of war on the European continent, his father was the ambassador to the Court of St. James and JFK was in the final year at Harvard. Events like these stirred his emotions and interest and he read plenty of books. The favorite authors during his formative years were Lord David Cecil, John Buchan (Lord Tweedsmuir), and Winston Churchill. He had an Irish ancestry but his public policies were deeply embedded in British history (Fair, 2006). As a seaman, Kennedy led the survivors through perilous waters to safety when the PT boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer; as a reporter he covered the United Nations conference at San Francisco in 1845. He decided to enter politics in 1946 and in 1952 he won the seat in the US Senate. In 1960 he became the youngest and the first ever Roman Catholic President. Immediately he took up economic reforms and fought against poverty. The words of his inaugural address ring in people’s ears even today, “Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country”. The brief period of presidency of Kennedy was one of intensifying change in several fields (Borstelmann, 2000). In the first year itself a major housing bill was passed, a law increasing the minimum wage and a bill granting federal aid to the economically depressed was passed (Encarta, 1993). During his brief tenure as the president of the United States, he signed several agreements and brought radical changes on various platforms. The introduction of Equal Pay Act prohibited discrimination against women (Sorensen, 2003). He was also responsible for attempting to abolish racial discrimination and he personally oversaw the admission of two black students at the University of Alabama. He established a hotline link between Moscow and Washington. The Limited Test Ban Treaty, the first major arms control agreement of the nuclear age was also signed by him. Establishing the Inter-American Development Bank, fixing the neutral status of Laos, setting global ground rules for civil aviation, nuclear energy, trading in wheat, diplomatic privileges, and cultural exchanges are some of the major achievements of JFK during his brief tenure as the President of the United States. He was also instrumental in strengthening the United Nations and made it a more effective instrument of peace. He could not avoid the escalating racial conflicts. This threatened a crucial tenet of Kennedy’s foreign policy. The ‘cold war’ required the support of the black and white Americans, Africans and Europeans. He wanted to support racial equality but did not want to alienate either side (Borstelmann). Kennedy’s attitude was remarkable as he entered the White House without any strong personal feelings about civil rights and racial discrimination. He was completely at ease amongst people of color is social settings. Kennedy was passionate about waging the cold war. Africans appreciated his attention and he had an unprecedented number of African Americans in his administration. Because of his ease with people of color, he had close ties with both the First World and the Third World nations and worked to play down the differences. He won the hearts of not only the Africans in America or the people in his own country but also of millions across the world. JFK was a great leader and a great administrator. He was highly interested in the past and used history as a guide or the intellectual origins for decision making. Appropriating historical events does lead to false analogies. Using history to resolve domestic and foreign dilemmas have been debatable and hence JFK’s policy not to hold on to records was justified (Fair). While he did tape key meetings and conversations, especially during struggles, but such candid records were kept with him or with his advisors. His staff had clear instructions not to record the daily discussions at the White House because “remarks tossed off gaily or irritably in conversation, he knew, looked very different in print” (Beschloss, 2002). President Kennedy was heavily criticized for the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba in 1961. He supported the invasion to oust the country’s communist leader Fidel Castro but the invasion failed (SPTimes, n.d.). It was criticized as it was supposed to have been a case of wrong judgment and misinterpreting of words of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs (Neustadt, 2001). He expected that the CIA and the Joint Chief of Staffs would take him for his word but they expected Kennedy to eat his own words as they were used to in the past. Kennedy kept his word and the invasion failed but he learned a great deal in the process. The most critical even during the Kennedy presidency was the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. He used historical parallels in his deliberations and his actions during the Cuban crisis revealed imaginative thinking. He possessed this incredible capacity for informed and flexible judgment. His prudent judgment and political awareness could avert the nuclear war conflict with world super powers. Incidents such as these brought out the greatness in his character. He represented charm, strength and optimism which helped awaken the youth and steer the nation towards prosperity. JFK had a reflective manner and a desire for knowledge and he found books to be the best way to attain them. Through books he developed an intellectual maturity which set him apart from others. The fact that he was reading The World Crisis by Winston Churchill while convalescing in bed a student, shows that apart from a reflective and an analytical mind, he had interest in world affairs (Fair). Under the president ship of Kennedy, United States Intelligence Agency (USIA) embarked for the first time to gather world sentiment in a systematic way through surveys and opinions. The memo given to Kennedy contained a summary of the data while JFK insisted on complete raw data to be submitted to him. This shows his acumen for precision and explains the importance he placed on public opinion (Haefele, 2001). He used this information to plan his foreign policies. The image of the nation was vital to Kennedy which expresses his love and loyalty to the nation. His action was action-oriented although many felt this helped to mask his poor policy decisions. Some feel he manufactured crises to improve his domestic image. His toughness was considered extreme and debilitating. Critics associate Kennedy’s decision for the space race in 1960s to be caused by a desire to achieve a space milestone before the Soviet Union, but ultimately it was the image of the nation that he had in mind. He used ‘racing metaphors’ on most public speeches where space policies were concerned and he was criticized for the high costs of the Apollo moon program. He distrusted the Soviets and at one point even rejected the possibility of co-operating with them in space exploration (Kay, 2003). Even before his presidency, when Kennedy was gearing up for the Senate reelection campaign, the missile gap controversy broke up. Kennedy declared at that time that the nation was losing the satellite-missile race with the Soviet Union and he was convinced that United States was several years behind in the development, perfection and stockpiling of intermediate and long range ballistic missiles (Preble, 2003). His chief source of information was Joseph Alsop, the Eisenhower’s leading missile gap critic in the media. Kennedy was criticized for his dependence on Alsop for this information which led him to problems later. The speech titled “The Strategy of Peace” delivered by JFK in 1963 was one of the finest ones, which even today is as important, relevant and realistic as it was then, says Sorensen (2003). His appeal for sanity and restrain stemmed from the previous year’s success in removal of missiles from Cuba without firing a shot and without violating the international law. JFK also envisioned United States to be an example to the rest of the world. He wanted to use diplomacy instead of arms; he wanted to supply food instead of weapons. He valued learning and felt listening was a great way to learn; he felt the opinions of mankind have to be respected. He was aware of the respect the United States commanded for its fairness, generosity, values and the opportunities it offered to others. He always talked of strategies of peace. He laid the groundwork for major changes during his presidency. Kennedy was criticized for treating the military not as advisers but as bureaucratic adversaries. Immediately after he assumed office, the Joint Chiefs of Staff advised Americanizing the Vietnam conflict but Kennedy turned it down (Johnson, 2003). He preferred political reforms with limited military operations. Kennedy’s Vietnam policy attracted international criticism but he never expected it to deteriorate enough to harm the country’s diplomatic standing. Kennedy had a great sense of humor even in times of great crises. He told a group of Republican business leaders, “It would be premature to ask for your support in the next election and inaccurate to thank you for it in the past.” Even though his advocacy for civil rights made him lose popularity, he continued to speak out against segregation. When the steel price was increased despite an agreement signed with him, Kennedy called it an ‘unjustifiable and irresponsible’ act and used all his powers to get the steel companies to rescind the increase (Encarta). The assassination of Kennedy in 1963 not just shocked the nation, it shook the world. While Kennedy’s tenure as the president was brief, it was intense. He won the admiration of many across nations but as with most successful political leaders, he too was subject to criticism by many, both in the domestic and foreign corridors of power. His daughter, Caroline Kennedy expresses her appreciation in these words, “My father felt his greatest admiration for those in politics who had the courage to make decisions of conscience without fear of the consequences,” (JFK Library, 2006). He influenced the people of his times in various ways. He was truly a magnificent leader remembered even today with respect and honor. The image and philosophy he has left behind make him the legacy, an international hero ever to be remembered. People have still not got over the shock of the assassination primarily because he paved the way for several issues, which the nation is still benefiting from. He charmed everyone around him – be they people in his administration, the business class or people of color across the world. This is precisely the reason why the American preoccupation with the assassination of Kennedy been so intense and lasted so long. References: Beschloss, M. (2002), Knowing What Really Happened, Centre for the Study of the Presidency, Presidential Studies Quarterly 32, no. 4 (December) Borstelmann, T. (2000), “Hedging Our Bets and Buying Time”: John Kennedy and Racial Revolutions in the American South and Southern Africa, DIPLOMATIC HISTORY, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Summer 2000). Encarta (1993), John F. Kennedy, Encyclopedia Article, 06 Oct 2006 Fair, J. D. (2006), The Intellectual JFK: Lessons in Statesmanship from British History, Diplomatic History, Vol. 30, No. 1 ( January 2006). Haefele, M. (2001), John F. Kennedy, USIA, and World Public Opinion, Diplomatic History, Vol. 25, No. 1 ( Winter, 2001) JFK Library (2006), Special One Hour Documentary "Profiles in Courage: A Kennedy Legacy" to be Broadcast Nationally on August 26, on NBC Stations, 05 Oct 2006 Johnson, R. D. (2004), The Kennedy Myth, Diplomatic History, Vol. 28, No. 3 ( June, 2004) Kay, W. D. (2003), Problem Definitions and Policy Contradictions: John F. Kennedy and the “Space Race”, The Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2003 Neustadt, R. E. (2001), The Contemporary Presidency: The Presidential “Hundred Days”: An Overview, Presidential Studies Quarterly 31, no. 1 (March) Preble, C. A. (2003), "Whoever believed in the Missile Gap?" Presidential Studies Quarterly 33, no. 4 (December)March Sorensen, T. C. (2003), JFK’s Strategy of Peace, World Policy Journal, Fall 2003 SPTimes (n.d.), JFK: A timeline of his life, 05 Oct 2006 Read More