On the eve of the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, it’s clear the man is loved more for his persona and sacrifice, but not for his policies, most of which were complete failures.
Videos By Rare
Polls regularly put Kennedy in the top 10 U.S. presidents and a recent Politico poll ranking the best presidents since 1950 has him in first place.
Kennedy was both a great communicator and campaigner—with the help of his father’s limitless money. He was knowledgeable and telegenic and the fact that he died in the service of his country—not to mention his heroic service during World War II—commands our deep sympathy and respect.
However, any dispassionate examination of Kennedy’s policies, both foreign and domestic, would have to place him toward the bottom of the presidential rankings — not the top.
The Bay of Pigs invasion
Shortly after becoming president Kennedy approved an Eisenhower-initiated attack on Cuba, a former close ally, then led by the communist revolutionary Fidel Castro. While the invasion plan preceded his presidency, his decision to pull air support doomed it and cost the lives of most of the invaders. The assault was a humiliating disaster for the U.S. and it set the stage for future confrontations.
Civil rights reluctance
Kennedy is celebrated as a civil rights leader, but he was drug kicking and screaming into that battle. It wasn’t that he was unconcerned; he just didn’t want to alienate the south, which could cost him the presidential election (or his reelection). His most decisive action came only after front-page pictures of dogs and fire hoses being trained on peaceful marchers forced his hand.
Legislative novice
Conservatives frequently cite Kennedy as a committed tax-cutter. He wanted to reduce income tax rates, especially the top individual rate from 91 percent to 70 percent—which was 30 percentage points higher than today’s top personal rate. Not what you’d call a bold move. Heck, even President Obama might be willing to cut a 91 percent income tax rate on the richest people (on second thought, maybe not).
Kennedy also wanted to move a civil rights bill, plus a bill to provide government health coverage for seniors and the poor. But none of his important bills went anywhere in large part because he did not know how to manage the legislative process, and he refused to listen to the counsel of Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who was one of the most effective majority leaders of the Senate.
When LBJ became president after JFK’s assassination, he was able to move all of the above. Kennedy seems to get much of the credit, but it was Johnson who made it happen.
The Vietnam quagmire
Kennedy greatly expanded President Eisenhower’s very limited U.S. role in Vietnam—700 advisors in 1955 vs. 16,000 when Kennedy died. There have been years of scholarly debate over whether Kennedy would have expanded it as much as Johnson did, but it was Kennedy who made keeping South Vietnam out of communist hands U.S. policy. And one reason for the expansion effort is widely seen as political: to reassert U.S. power so he didn’t seem weak after the Bay of Pigs—and thereby lose his 1964 reelection bid.
The Cuban missile crisis
If Kennedy had one major success, it had to be his victory in staring down Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Nearly all of his advisors and generals, including Johnson, pushed him to attack Cuba over the presence of Russian-made missiles and the shooting down of a reconnaissance plane — only his brother, Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, counseled caution and restraint. JFK kept hesitating, and he did so just long enough that Khrushchev blinked and agreed to remove Russia’s Cuban-based missiles. It was a big victory for Kennedy but would the crisis have happened had Kennedy not attacked the Bay of Pigs in the first place?
Disarmament
Having seen how close the world came to nuclear war, Kennedy wanted to change direction and so proposed a ban on nuclear tests in the atmosphere. Khrushchev agreed. By contrast, President Ronald Reagan ramped up U.S. military efforts—and it ended the cold war.
The rampant womanizing
While Kennedy’s rampant womanizing didn’t necessarily shape his foreign or domestic policies, it does shed light on his judgment.
Wife Jackie was warned about it before their marriage, but apparently thought she could change him. She’s the one who had to change—by letting the Secret Service know when she was returning to the White House so the bimbos could flee. Trysts included skinny-dipping with women in the White House swimming pool and women with mob ties.
JFK reportedly said, “If I don’t have sex every day, I get a headache.” He certainly gave the Secret Service a headache trying to protect him. And speaking of protection, the press remained silent through it all, almost to the point of complicity.
Like another more-recent, young, telegenic, liberal presidential candidate, JFK may have brought new hope and promise to the White House, but not much more.